The Panglossian

The umpire was the dumb one. The touch was blatant.

Item no. 1 above. Rivers tackled him straight away, because he knew it was obviously touched in transit....directly in front of him, and an umpire. It should have been holding the ball.

What about how he fails to keep his feet in contests, i.e. goes to ground? How many dropped chest mark scan we tolerate? He’s never dominated a reserves game the way AJ did last match( admittedly v weak opposition)

Brereton got it right ( for once) when he said you reflexly clench your fists when intending to bump . May’s hands were open at the time of the clash.in an intent to grab the ball.

It was just luck that Moore didn’t rupture that guy’s spleen . I was hoping Freo would kick a high one to Moore in “ the hole”, and Treacy would rush in with his knee in the back , the way he did twice to Gawn in the pre-season game. Or perhaps Brayshaw would do a “ football act “ spoil on skunkhead Maynard , ending his career. Neither happened, but at least they lost.

L Actually , Xerri coat-hangered Lindsay in the first quarter, with 3 min to go. It was “strikingly” ( pardon the pun) similar to the Sparrow hit.

Ex Bomber David Shaw coached me in the Ormond College footy team in the late 60’s. He told us, if we couldn’t reach to spoil, punch the back of the head, because the player loses vision momentarily. I don’t think we did it. But Newman did!

18.11 wasn’t accurate enough. We might get 19.6 v Carlton. And….We must remember to pretend we’ve touched it every time they kick a goal.

I reckon that almost every dropped contested mark involves arm chopping by the player trying to spoil. Similarly, most contested marks are partly a result of clever blocking by a team-mate. Like with “ ruck-lotto”, every now and then an umpire will pay a free for a block or an arm chop. Collingwood still whinge about the block on Maynard when Dom Sheed took the GF winning mark. But it happens, unpenalised all the time. The commentators compliment the players on a “clever block.” Similarly, with pushing in the back in marking contests . A principle of our game is to play in front. But if you do, the guy behind gives you a shove, a nudge or a bump in the back and marks it as if unopposed. Every now and then an umpire will pay a push in the back, but nowhere near often enough, in my opinion. Are those marks recorded as “ contested”, when the man in front is just shoved out of the way?

I was just watching the Replay of the North game. In the second quarter, Xerri swung a forearm into Xavier Lindsay’s head, knocking him over with a glancing blow. Very similar to the Sparrow incident, but luckily ( for him and X),with no serious consequences. The fact that he’s done it twice in one game shows that it’s more than just an unfortunate incident. He’s aggressive and clumsy.

Who doesn’t!?

We were dead stiff. Definitely the better side in 3 of the 4 losses.

I have a weird feeling we’re going to kick straight tomorrow……18.6, or something like that!

I don’t think the Demonland pod can learn ANYTHING from the Deebrief. Vice versa perhaps…….a bit of sophisticated analysis rather than vapid attempts at humour.

It’s hard to take the Deebrief seriously. One of them has stopped watching games, yet still pontificates about what the club should do. One of them says he prefers watching the soccer. Every time someone drops the “F bomb”, they all giggle like school kids.

I had no.9 on my Demons jumper as a schoolboy. I’m forever grateful to him for standing up against his mate, Ridley, in the merger debate. He was as important as anyone in saving our club in 1996.

That doesn’t seem new to me. I thought that is how it always was interpreted.

How about the free against him(? Iin the back) when he took that fine contested mark on the commentary side wing( ?Q2). It might have been a push, but at the same time Melk was having his head pulled off. Conveniently ignored by the umps.

Smallest big man in tee AFL.

I reckon Comben is very good. Pink isn’t bad, either.

See ya.

Hasn’t he done well on Walker in the past?

Interestingly, the only player on the ground who took more marks than Sparrow was a Demon.

I just saw Treacy get a heavy knee in the ribs while going for a mark. I hope it hurt . Remember how he ruthlessly attacked Max’s back with his knee twice in the pre-season game this year. I felt it went beyond the “ duty of care” .

I don’t agree. He has been competitive this season against some good opponents in the ruck. He’s built his body up considerably, and is not so easy to shove aside now. He doesn’t take enough marks at this stage, but handles the ball and kicks well, and is very mobile. I hope we don’t let him go to another club who , in a year or two, would benefit from the schooling he’s had at the Dees . I have a lot of respect for Campbell, who I think we should have used a bit in the Seniors to give Max a break(far preferable to having Jeffo, Petty or JVR as 2nd ruck). BUT… I think Casey’s use of Campbell is retarding Will Verrall’s development.