1 hour ago, 4_Kent_Watts said:

Won't make it as a Test opener has NO confidence in his defence, Not saying he can't play but as a Test opener needs to last long enough to make it easier for his team mates,  T20 or One Dayers maybe. I ain't convinced. 

Did you see how he batted when he made a century in each innings early this Shield season?   I think he can adapt to the situation.

Which top player didn’t attend preseason?

Trac missed the B and F ( wisely) because he was training overseas.

So who missed preseason? I must have missed this with my cricket obsession.

????something to do with where they were recruited from?????
Unlikely , with Cameron , Ashcroft and ANB , for example being from different states.

Perhaps they’ve all never been suspended.

I give up.

This is driving me mad!

10 hours ago, Demonstone said:

McHale played 261 games for Collingwood from 1903 to 1920, a huge number for that era.

He won one GF as a player, one as playing Coach and seven more as Coach.

191 of his games were consecutive, which was the VFL record at the time until broken by Jack Titus in 1943.

As we all know, Jim Stynes then became the new record holder with 244 but will likely be passed in 2025 as Collingwood's Jack Crisp needs only eight more games to take the mantle.

We should pay someone to line him up like Maynard did with Gus. I guess we don’t play him till after round 8 , so hopefully someone from another side will stop him from breaking our Jimma’s record.

I was just watching the replay of this year’s  Kings BD match.

Collingwood supporters were booing May throughout, because of his completely accurate comments at the B and F function.

What gross hypocrisy!!!!
Imagine how they would behave if, say, Maynard and Moore played for us, and pole-axed N Daicos and Pendlebury.

The Brayshaw  thuggery not only robbed us of one of best players forever, but compromised the club grossly financially. The Moore ? accident not only gravely injured Trac, but left him with ( thankfully temporary) psychological problems which disrupted the whole club.

 I reckon we are more justified in booing them!

7 hours ago, monoccular said:

 

123etc  - I must say I tend to agree re Campbell. Has he shown anything at all as a forward option?  I understood that he was really a pure back up ruck, in which case AJ would probably be well ahead of him in the Pedersen mold. 
 

Sharp should be close. Not so sure, at this stage, re Spreadsheet as he hasn’t been in full training yet, has he?

I remember being impressed by Campbell when we played North in Hobart in 2021.

He took two strong marks up forward , and nailed the goals from  about 40-45metres.

On 13/12/2024 at 07:32, Whispering_Jack said:

Don’t forget …

Who would have guessed that Jimmy Plunkett would become a League footballer!!

 

On 22/11/2024 at 09:41, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

Here's another entity that may be supporting (and helping fund??) our move. It's gotta be influential, right? What else could be expected from the *cough* 'No.1 club'?...

Today's Age:

'Collingwood presidential candidate Barry Carp is determined to maintain the Magpies' position as the league's "No.1 club", as the Pies eye potentially taking over Melbourne's AAMI Park facilities in future...'

'...the Magpies were poised to confirm...that if and when the Demons leave AAMI Park for a new home, the Pies would look at expansion.'

'"We are in the best sporting precinct in the world...So any opportunity to...expand that...we'd have a look at. And...[taking over Melbourne's space at AAMI Park] would be part of that."'

 

Would it be wrong to leave some land mines when we go?

5 hours ago, BDA said:

Payout to Gus of $3.1m and legal fees of $900k put a huge dent in the results. 

So Collingwood pole-axing Gus won them a premiership and put us into negative finances.

And people wonder why I hate that club so much.

2 hours ago, biggestred said:

fox footy had 1998 r4 v carlton on yesterday arvo. tuned in and out whilst doing other things. dogga's first game, complete with pony tail. 3 goals down with 10 to go and won by 2 points. viney brown and woey all played their parts in the win. this also makes me feel very old!

Seecamp got reported and suspended for punching Pearce up the jaw early in the game.  He should have got off , because his punch was a reflex response to a vicious "below the belt" punch from Pearce.

James McDonald's winning goal looked a bit like a behind on the replay, but Carlton had been spoonfed throughout by the umps.

What a modest and likeable young man he is. He just gave a really  impressive interview on SEN.

He said he wished he had been tried down back a bit earlier.  A lot of us on Demonland thought that at the time, too.

Richmond really deserved to beat Essendon.

A two goal turn around occurred when a player gave the ball to a teammate instead of the ump, costing a goal. After the ball up,the ball went up Richmond’s end, and a snap landed on the goal line, then  amazingly bounced straight backwards.

A mysterious free for Hawks’ first goal.

Later, Bannan  marked in forward pocket, then a  strange decision was paid for interference against her. It would have been a tough goal from the angle, but she’s done it before.

 We deserved to win.

Is 199cm tall enough for a ruckman these days.?

Might he have grown since last year's measurement?

Is 199cm his true height?

His skills are good...and improving.

Our girls went in really hard all the game, with relentless tackling and pressure.

At one stage we had 17 frees to their 3, which was pretty significant, but doesn’t compensate for the mauling we got from the umps in Fremantle.

2 hours ago, djr said:

Good article by Robbo in the HS.

Mark Robinson: In the professional era, Clayton Oliver needs to accept he’ll be a Demon in 2025

The Dees have walked a tightrope with Clayton Oliver and he can whinge and moan if he wants about a failed trade, but he must be ready to give his best to the Dees in 2025, writes Mark Robinson.

Footy changed for many of us when Alastair Clarkson handballed two club greats – Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis – to other clubs at the end of the Hawks’ dynasty.

The four-time premiership heroes became commodities and they were no longer needed by Hawthorn.

With comforting words from Clarkson, it was basically off you go lads, thanks for everything.

Professionalism has grown year-on-year in this billion-dollar industry, but this was a different kind of professionalism. This was a ruthless business decision from a club looking after its best interests.

The romanticism of being a one-club player, and all those lovey-dovey words such as loyalty, camaraderie, integrity, respect and trust, didn’t mean much in the end.

Clubs do what they have to do – in their best interests.

Which brings us to Clayton Oliver.

I’m bored of the Oliver headlines generated by certain media people – presumably having spoken to Oliver’s management – wanting the football world to feel sorry for the Melbourne midfielder. Oh, Oliver doesn’t want to be there and wants to go to Geelong.

He will take a pay cut. And he’s cleaned out his locker.

All because he’s upset because the club decided to shop him.

Well, boo hoo. I find it difficult to feel sorry for Clayton Oliver. He’s got mental health woes, sure, but find someone in this world who hasn’t. That’s not being dismissive of Oliver’s issues, but it is the reality for everyone, for mental health is a national epidemic.

Oliver’s may be extreme, but at the same time, he has extremely high-level care and assistance available to help him.

For sure, Melbourne has had its challenges dealing with real-world problems in the cocoon world of AFL, but those challenges, in part, have been delivered on a platter by Oliver.

That’s not sheeting home all of Melbourne’s off-field drama to him, but there is a question to be asked: Did the bad culture influence Oliver or did Oliver help bring the bad culture?

The Demons have walked a tightrope with the 27-year-old for some time. Stupidly, they put him on a bumper deal that pays him $1.3 million per year when they were aware of his mental distress. His volcanic off-field behaviour may have come later.

For at least two years now, Melbourne has tried to help him. Medically and psychologically. They have cuddled him and cared for him. They have forgiven him and they encouraged him and they have also eyeballed him.

In turn, Oliver has let himself and the club down, although it must be said the Demons are thrilled with the maturity of Oliver throughout the year. Clearly, there’s people at Melbourne who wanted to trade him. And to think chief executive Gary Pert went lone wolf is laughable.

And there’s people at Melbourne who don’t want to give up on him and they include the club’s stand-in president Brad Green.

The fact is Melbourne shopped him. They let it be known that he was gettable if the price was right. As yet, there are no takers. And there won’t be this trade period.

Is it any surprise that the Demons were open to the idea?

They fluffed it by telling pork pies at the start of trade week, but other than that, they haven’t done too much wrong. Everyone lies – that’s another national epidemic – and they got caught out.

So, it looks like Oliver is staying, which brings us back to professionalism.

Football is a business, players are a commodity and, right now, Oliver is signed to a $1.3m-a-season contract. He can whinge and moan until the cows come home, but the expectation is that he returns for the 2025 season fit and energised to fulfil his contract at the Demons.

To be fair, Melbourne people say that despite the past 10 days of headlines, Oliver understands the situation. And he hopes – and the Demons hope – and footy hopes – that he rediscovers the form that had him rated as a top-10 player in the competition for many years.

Which brings us to Bailey Smith. He also has his mental health issues and also wants to get to Geelong. At 23, he said recently: “There’s a level of when you outgrow a place, or you just need a fresh change for whatever reason. I won’t get too deep into it. I feel like I’d be doing myself a disservice for the player I want to become and the person I want to become by staying in the same environment.”

We’re all for self-discovery, but the Bulldogs, who spent years managing Smith’s complex world, are all for looking after their best interests.

They want a pick better than Geelong’s No. 17, but that doesn’t look like eventuating.

Don’t send him to the draft. Take the pick and run. It’s a business, after all.

I think it’s a pathetic article.

Tells us nothing new.

Poorly written and uninformed.

13 hours ago, Demonsone said:

When you have only missed finals twice since 07 and won 3 flags it says your culture is good not perfect that’s the difference 

It helps to have 8 games per year on their  own uniquely shaped ground, where they train, and with no opposition supporters at matches, which not only inspires Geelong players, but influences the umpires.  These factors more than compensate for any “ culture” deficiencies.

I’ve often felt our girls get a bad trot with the umps…..but not tonight!!! 
The one_sided free count( our way) certainly decided the match. I’d be furious if I went for the Crows.

But we deserved the win for the relentless endeavour.

Sorry……I meant to put this in the match thread.

I was there.

i didn’t see Clarrie but Tommy Sparrow told me that he was on their table.

Thanks a lot for the podcast, Fritschy, . What a great interview!

Am I alone in seeing an analogy to 2011 ( after 186)when we sacked Bailey, when all the players wanted Schwabb to go, not him?

During the 57 years we were non-flag winners, I always thought that what we lacked were about 4 absolute star players.

Finally, by 2021, we had them!

Let's get rid of the lot! That seems like a pretty good idea!

I was expecting Robbo to one day  accidentally punch Gerard's ample nose with his wild gesticulations.

On 23/09/2024 at 14:49, Pennant St Dee said:

Just don’t think he’s big enough for AFL, 199cm, very good WAFL player but the step up is massive 

Will Verrall is "only" 199cm.