DemonDave

Watts also mentioned that he would most likely play school football next year on that show, so even if we draft him we may not see him onfield until 2010.

Was beaten time and again by Grover in the one-on-ones when he went near it, kicked a nice albeit flukey goal in that apparition of a first quarter, and then went missing for the next 70 minutes. I thought he may have even been injured as he wasnt seen even in the screeen if he was on the ground just not touching it. And his pathetic, lazy effort at a 1-handed mark going back with the flight of it into the corridor summed up his career to date, promises much but ultimately fails to deliver on said promise... Having said that Bailey tends to give young kids 3 games to prove themselves, so me may survive to play the Kangas...

Warnock had 13 disposals and 13 hitouts, but was barely noticed. He won't be the 'saviour' in the ruck if we do somehow manage to snaffle him in the pre-season draft. In comparison Jamar had 14 disposals/14 hitouts, Johnson 15d/7HO and big Sandilands had 15/23HO's. I would say there was no clear winner in the big-man stakes today, Jamar was certainly more than serviceable again today, his improvements are tending to be more baby steps than quantum leaps, but he's getting there.. Oh, and all 3 of Sandilands, Jamar and Johnson kicked 1.0, although Sandilands did hit one out on the full as well...

Matthew Bate's disposal effective % was 52 from his 23 touches today, the worst in our side by 4% from Paul Wheatley. He butchered the ball and gave away cheap frees when the heat was on, and in junk time he finally got a bit of cheap footy to boost his overall numbers (hello Newton, Sylvia and Jones, you're in the same boat in terms of junk time stats)...

Sandringham 24.19.163 defeated Tasmania 11.10.76. Finally the losing streak is broken! Sandringham Goal Kickers: N. Sautner 7, B. Holland 4, C. Liddell 3, J. White 2, A. Yze 2, G. Martyn 2, R. Crowe, P. Summers, M. Johnston, A. Maric Best Players: N. Carroll, N. Sautner, B. Holland, R. Crowe, A. Biddlecombe, J. Bode Tasmania Goal Kickers: K. Richter 2, A. Cornelius 2, E. Taylor 2, L. Shackleton, J. Hardy, A. Bielski, T. Plummer, M. Robinson Best Players: R. Andrews, K. Richter, B. Setchell, M. Robinson, P. Koulouriotis, L. Shackleton And the return of Dutchy, hallelujah!

So many players just butchered the ball that quarter, disgraceful effort. Morton and Sylvia two of the chief suspects. Our leading forwards apart from Miller were absymal, Juice has had about 3 touches for the game, Aussie not many more. And that holding the ball against Martin was a disgrace, notice Jakovich said it was a good decision, no surprises there, nor did he have much to say when it was obvious Sandilands had dropped that mark inside 50. Geez, its gonna be a long plane flight home for these boys...

Have a listen to Glenn Jakovich's commentary on the game, all he does is talk about Fremantle! Its unbelievable! When a Dees player does something well, there's silence and finally Dwayne-pipe chimes in with some praise for us. He is so biased its unbelievable, dont think I heard one positive about us from this west coast trashbag! Oh, and yeah, great quarter, really committed, positive stuff. We should play in this lovey silver guernsey more often!

Well I'd love us to string some wins together, but an analysis of the draw puts it into better perspective, we're playing 2 teams in the Top 8 the next two weeks! Here's our run home, vs West Coast and Freos: Next week: Melb v Roos (8th) WCE v Saints (7th) Port(13th) v Freo Rnd 18: Bombres(12th) vs Melb Freo v WCE Rnd 19: Melb v Geel (1st) Sydney (4th) v Fre WCE v Bombres (12th) Rnd 20: Melb v WCE Freo v Saints (7th) Rnd 21: Rich (10th) v Freo Port (13th) v Melb WCE v Dawks (3rd) Rnd 22: Geel(1st) v WCE Freo v Pies (5th) Melb v Tigers (10th) Realistically, I see us winning today, and maybe against an undermanned Bombers and the awful Eagles. Thats 3 maybe 5 wins, I'd settle for 4 to keep our priority pick

Awesome post, some great insights, thanks darkhorse!

Congratulations to Saunts, well done! Lets hope you end up with another 'Frosty' in the trophy cabinet at the end of the year. Will this be his last year? Could well be. Chad Lidell our ex-captain is another who may struggle to find the motivation to go on again next year. Still no Ezra Poyas which is a shame also. Also, anyone know whats happened to Tom Paterakis? Havent seen his name for quite some weeks.

Well the most ironic thing about this amazing gesture, is that he was using it to plug his restaurant in Werribbee, which isnt even going to be open for another couple of months! Nevertheless, a great gesture, thanks fella!

Well his brother plays a lot of the time out of the goalsquare at Tigerland. I dont know how their heights compare between the 3 brothers, but they all seem to be a fairly similar size height-wise. Obviously the other two have a lot more muscle, so there's plenty of upside in Cale filling out.

Gee, and I'm sure a lot of us may well have shuddered at the in of Colin Garland back then, given he'd shown nothing in the 3 games at the start of the year. How important have these 3 been since forcing their way back into the side?

That is a really honest interview, great reading. I really hope he gets a farewell game, as he's given us great service over his career.

Well Brad Green has just done his hamstring, so dont speak too soon!

I actually quite liked the way Jamar went about it yesterday, and to a similar extent last week. He looked far more at ease, and able to patrol a game more comfortably, in a very similar vein to the way he moves when he plays at Sandy. If anyone has seen the way he plays out games at Sandy, compared to the way he had played them at Melbourne in the past, would probably know what I mean. While he's not going to get 25 touches as White did in his heyday, he can still offer us something as a big, bullocking type. An interesting stat from yesterday was that he had 6 tackles, which surely shows that his workrate and confidence at this level has increased significantly since he's been handed the #1 ruck role the past fortnight. Do we need to look for a new number 1 ruckman? Probably yes, but in the meantime Jamar is performing as good as we can expect from him. If he can carry the last 2 weeks form till the end of the year, he will have earned the right next year to carry the division until a youngster, presumably a 1st or 2nd round draftee, is ready to come in and take over.

I though Bartrams game on Akermanis was very good today though. Why on earth would he be dropped?

Just have a look at Mortons two brothers, and see what he's going to end up like body size-wise. They're noth now, after a year and 2 years in the system, able to mix it with their new-found bulk. But still, as some wise heads have pointed out on here, he's no good, delist at years end for mine.

Big thanks to everyone that turned up, and all the people that helped organise it. It was great to hear from Brent Moloney and James Frawley, and just be able to mingle with them. They also enjoyed watching the old highlights on the big screen, and having a laugh at Frawleys coach for today, Andy Lovell, and his long flowing blonde mullet.

No James McDonald, which is also disappointing...

Its not an official function but the club have given it their blessing, and remember all monies raised on the night go straight back to the club! I urge everyone to come along, meet fellow demonlanders, and revel in our birthday!

They're licensed till 1AM, gives you plenty of time to get down there!

Hmm, the Demons don't have Franklin averaging 5 goals a game, Roughead 3 or Williams 2 per game to take away Aussie's goals as Rioli does though....

I havent seen many dogs games this year, I know he's been earmarked as a 'forward' this year, but has he really spent much time there, or is he still a 2nd ruckman coming off the bench? I guess 12 goals so far is a reasonable return for him, so yeah maybe you're right. Welsh has been beaten in the past by Daniel Bell, he looms as the danger man as these kind of players always have days out against us.

Interestingly Bartram played his very first game for the Dees on Aker in a pre-season game 2 years ago, and played very well on him on a wing/half back. I think he will start on him. With McLean now out, we will need Bruce's drive in the midfield, Johnson hasn't been in great form of late and Warnock has the pace to go with him. Garland athletically is very similar to Murphy so will take him. Not sure of a matchup for Martin may sit out this week. Ins: McDonald, Morton, Yze (and as its a Sunday add White, Newton and Frawley to the mix) Outs: Martin, McLean, Davey