DemonDave

Ugh, this episode directly cost us a goal. Miller was more worried about jostling with some of the Carlton defenders, oblivious to the fact Jamar was standing ten metres behind him having a rest at FF in what was clearly a scheduled move. By the time he realised and tried to charge into the square it was too late and luckily he pulled up before the line. But the damage was done, Sylvia vainly tried to win the tap only to see Kreuzer scoop the ball off the ground and dish to a midfielder who hit a carlscum forward lace out for a goal. Damage well and truly done. Pathetic lack of concentration for a veteran player.

Why are some people on here being so precious about criticism of a player who had a measly 3 posessions for the entire game? Does being a high draft pick mean you are allowed to not be held accountable for your performance? Watts was awful today, and does not deserve a game next week based on the past fortnights efforts.

Congratulations to Brian Dixon, elevated to the AFL Hall of Fame tonight: Brian Dixon MFC Wiki Now we need a few more players from our glorious albeit unfortunately non-tv era to be rightfully nominated...

Dustin Martin has taken the Rising Star Nom for this week. No surprises really, he's been due it a few weeks now, and they cant ignore him when they win. Gys' time will come in the next month or so hopefully.

6-Davey 5-Jamar 4-Green 3-Miller 2-Trengove 1-Frawley

Hearts in mouth stuff, a momentous win! Brad Greens two clutch goals were absolutely game-saving, how many times has he done that over the years? Jamar was again colossul. He definitely needs a rest or a partner next week down at the cattery, was absoultely spent in that last quarter. Terrible telecast, so many replays shown after play had restarted, and virtually no post-game show. A huge game for Frawley to hold the dangerous Motlop for so long, and Jones, despite his poor decision making when he had the ball for his stopping job (and a left-field choice by the coaching staff) to completely blanket Pearce.

Any word on whats happened to offseason Casey recruit Scott Simpson from Geelongs VFL side? I know he was injured pre-season but thought he would be back by now. Still no Stefan Martin listed in the side either...

The NFL play a regular season game in London every year now. They do it at the very start of the season, so there's precedent from another major sporting code to play halway across the globe. The EPL seriously looked at the feasibility of playing an additional 39th round in their season exclusively in 'commercially marketable' countries.

I read that article with disbelief as well, sloppy sloppy journalism that has now been rectified. They now have Hamish McIntosh as the ruckman, someone must've pointed out their error.

Where was the Stefan Martin Experience? From all the excellent in depth player reviews I've read here, I cant see him mentioned once?

Is McKenzie also eligible for a Rising Star Nom? I was also wondering the same of Grimes last night, given he played 9 games before the start of the year.

Given that its rivalry round this week. And we have such a long standing rivalry with North that every time this fixture comes around its a grudge match. On no wait, thats not North at all. Seriously the league must've had Melbourne, North, Geelong and Richmond left in the pool, and not known how to work it so that there was a perceived rivalry between any of them, so just hoped people wouldnt notice. Can anyone name any historic, famous or vital match we've played against North since a Prelim Final all those years ago?

Now that the squad is up, I cant wait for the first poster to say "I hope they drop Bartram" or "I hope they drop Bruce" despite the fact they're both named in the starting 18. FWIW I'd pick Jordie Mc, Joel Mc, Bennell and Juice from those 7 interchange players. Scully to have a dominant hitout for Casey to get some confidence.

The wind was very swirly and strong on Sunday, perhaps it had something to do with that, but I noticed it as well, you could hardly hear the start of the song. If only they showed such discretion with the mega-decibel ads they blast on the screen at any break, I can almost hear them from my house...

So still no Jared Rivers. Does anyone know anything about his injury, severity/length of time on sidelines other than its a 'knee'? Very frustrating. Would doubt Garland would be rushed in that quickly, seeing he didnt play in the VFL last week, but given they've got Tippett, Hentschel and Walker up forward all offering tall leading and marking targets (and Frawley is the obvious matchup for Dangerfield) we may not have a choice. Also good to see they didnt bring Miller straight back in, his spell in purgatory continues for at least another week. I for one hope they don't drop Bate, he's the type of player who's better served finding touch and fitness in our forward line. So my preferred bench would be McKenzie, Jones, Bate & Newton or Garland.

Has anyone seen Michael Newton? He's the missing one of the I/C list...

McKenzie's start to the season justifies Adelaides attempts in the off season to lure him over there, that fact that he was offered a 2 year deal on their senior list, and knocked it back, speaks volume of the commitment of this kid, I love the way he goes about his footy. Last year nothing stood out to me from his games, and yet this year he really seems to have taken the next step.

Nathan Thompson playing for Kangaroos vs Melbourne a few years ago a perfect case in point. The game was there to be won, he'd been killing us earlier in the game, and he put his hand up saying he wanted to go off in the heat of battle. Copped a rightful caning for his decision too.

Being dropped while in the leadership group is not a good sign for Brad Miller.

We certainly are scraping the barrel here arent we? Interestingly from the MFC story Newton had 29 possies and 4 goals last week, so good luck to him, he's earnt the callup from hard work. The article also states which 3 players are actually on our long term injury list to allow the now 3 rookies to play: "and joins fellow rookies Jake Spencer and Jordie McKenzie on the senior list in place of injured trio Max Gawn, Luke Tapscott and Liam Jurrah"

Well our bench : Strauss, Spencer, McKenzie, Scully have a total of 0,6,3 and 0 games! The emergencies: Maric, Bail, Bartram have a total of 11,1 and 59 games. The hawks bench: Kayler-Thomson, Peterson, Suckling, Shiels have 0,0,1 and 11 games experience. Beat us by 3 games(!) Their emergencies: Duryea, Stratton, Williams have 0,0 and 0. 3 duck eggs. Talk about inexperienced bench and emergencies!

The Blues beat Fevolas mob at Judd Park. You'd think it'd be almost a certainty one of the two papers will publish a 'pre-season' ladder to fill papers this week. I think we'd almost certainly be last, not a good portent.

Funny you should mention Gerard Healy. In the last quarter my Dad stated that Trengove reminded him very much of a young Healy. Let's hope he doesnt bugger off to Sydney chasing a big bundle of cash when about to hit his peak!

Well I'll add my observations that probably reinforce what others have already said. The first and most obvious was Trengove. Wow. This kid is gonna be something, would've had high 20s-30s in stats, in the first quarter he went back with the flight to take a pack mark deep in defence, you'd have to rub your eyes to make sure it wasnt just a flashback to that mark for Sturt in the PF last year. His running, silky kicking and second efforts to offer himself as an option were a sight to behold. He ran all day too, and stood out more and more for his class as the game went on. Scully got more involved as the game went on, his hands look very good. He does look very similar in size, stature and haircut as Clint Bartram, who was playing on the same whites team as him. Playing for large parts of the game on our Captain can only help him too. Gysberts has great hands, didnt get a lot of it but was clean and assured. Probably not ready to push for seniors just yet, but I'm sure they'll give him a run in the NAB Cup. Fitzpatrick got very little of it, made one nice turn for a guy his size, but it wasnt a good day to be a whites forward, the Red defenders led ably by Chipper (who was on Newton all day) towelled them up. Down the other end the matchups were Bail on Jurrah, and Warnock on Miller, which was a terrific physical contest between those two. Probably points would goto Warnock, but Miller wasnt too bad. Jurrah didnt touch the ball much but when he did the crowd were electrified, he almost took a Shaun Smith-esque 'Mark of the Century' in the first quarter, leapt over the pack from behind the goal lines. Spencer was the big improver for mine and will grab a NAB Cup spot too. Kicking the first two goals of the game within 5 minutes was a pleasant surprise. Great to see Garry Lyon there with Jimmy. Chris Connolly MC'ing before the game to the grandstand crowd was a treat, as was his quip for the bus driver of the Bendigo Demons to return to the bus to turn his lights off, or it'd be a very long walk home at quarter time. Kudos also to the players for being so obliging for the kids with the photos and autographs for a good while after the game.

The highlight of the night for me was the presentation of Stuart Spencer with his 56 Truscott Cup. He said the club told him to keep the night free for a presentation. He went through the checklist with his family - "I'm a Life Member, in the MFC Team of the Century and the AFL Hall of Fame so I dont know what else it could be". The guernsey presentation was also extremely well done, past prominent players were on hand to give over each number as follows: #5 David Schwarz -> Jordan Gysberts #9 David Neitz & Brian Dixon -> Jack Trengove #28 David Cordner -> Joel McDonald #31 Ron Barassi & Paul Wheatley -> Tom Scully #35 Noel McMahon & Antony McDonald -> Luke Tapscott #37 Jim Stynes - Max Gawn #48 Darren Cuthbertson(!) -> Jack Fitzpatrick No other jumper number changes were mentioned other than those already stated by WJ. There were relatively few questions from the floor this year. Bails gave a good, lengthy answer to a query on our seemingly growing injury list. Mentioned we won 21 quarters of football in 2008, and this increased to 33 this year. The average points kicked against us dramatically dropped this year compared to last, but our points kicked remained reasonably stagnant, he said we need to improve our attack this year, and that the more players play together, the better we'll get at this. The night ended with a rousing rendition of the club song led by Brian Dixon & Noel McMahon, arm in arm.