Jumping Jack Clennett

Thanks George, you’re right, except he wasn’t told to come back. I just put myself through the agony of watching the 50 m incident again( on high volume). I was completely wrong about Melksham manning the mark for a team mate. He alone was on the mark. You were right that he was more than 5 m over the mark. The umpire yelled “hold”when he was already over the mark,. Williams looked as if he would play on to the left,so Melksham moved laterally and forward slightly as he yelled” hold” again. I think the umpire should have called “ back”, and then he would have known he was over the mark and quickly stepped back. The umpires seem to get a kick out of yelling “hold”, and it is not clear exactly what it means. Hold what? I hope Melksham has learned to be sure not to go forward at all when on the mark, when told to “ hold”.H e can go sideways, but not forward.

What exactly does "hold!" mean when the umpire yells it out? Does it mean " stop running in the direction you're going?" Does it mean "stop dead in your tracks"? Does it mean "turn and run at right angles away from the protected area?" What was Melksham meant to do when the umpire yelled "hold"? He was trying to do the team orientated act of manning the mark so the defender who was on the mark could move downfield. He appeared to be running wide of Williams. Was it already too late because he'd entered the protected area?. He appeared to be more than 5 metres from Williams at the time. An anomaly I've noted is when the umpire yells"play on" when a player takes too long to take his kick. He's immediately grabbed from behind and it's "holding the ball". Wasn't the player behind him inside the protected area?

Past.... Flower, Schwarz, Icke Current Oliver

Also there was that game v.Bullies at the MCG years ago, when Darcy got a free in front against Jimmy for the winning goal. The ump. that perpetrated that was on his first game back after recovering from a serious accident the previous year(he had to learn to walk and talk again). It was his last AFL match. It didn't help us....we lost because of it.

We’ve been on the very bad side of the ledger every game against the Bulldogs for years. ( remember last year when they got a very dubious ruck free against Max,for a match-clinching late goal, and Max responded to the umpire’s explanation with....”that’s ruck-craft, big boy!”) It’ll be interesting to see how we go on a Saturday after our surprisingly good go against the Mudpies.

That wasn’t the point of my O.P.

Sometimes.....but usually not.

I reckon the penalty of reversing a free kick for an indiscretion is too severe. It's really like 2 free kicks in one. The side loses the distance they were going to achieve PLUS the other side gets the benefit of a kick. It's often given for very minor offences, and can change a game ,...e.g. Carlton's lucky win against Freo. A more logical penalty would be to just ball it up. That would be equivalent to the normal penalty for a rule infraction...i.e. one free kick( in this case , loss of a free kick). What do other Demonlanders think?

That was the game where Footscray got that very significant late goal from a mysterious free against Max. Max came out with the gem...”that’s ruck craft, big boy!” We had all the momentum and looked like winning at that stage.

We won our last 3 games at Victoria Park. All most enjoyable!

Just practise, practise , practise. Any number of supporters would volunteer to collect the balls and return them to the kicker.

Here I am, Titan!!! When we are less than a goal behind, with very little time to go, Gawn should do a dummy lead out wide, taking the opposition's spoilers and crumbers with him. Another marking tall(??Petracca Weed or TMac) and lots of our crumbers should lead to the centre circle. It's mandatory for the defenders to go straight up the centre in these circumstances. Our guys should be drilled in this basic set-play. I reckon the "safe" option of kicking wide to Gawn works only about one in 5 to 10 tries. Another of my hobby-horses is the necessity for our players to know there's less than 20 sec or so before a quarter or half, time break, and especially before the end of the game. It's frustrating when one of our players has the ball in the centre, there's 15 sec to go, and he does a short kick back or wide. There's no downside or risk to ROOSTING the thing toward the goalsquare under these circumstances. If the oppsition get it, there isn't time for them to rebound up the other end. 20 sec to go could be signalled with a red light or placard from the interchange area.

I noted that incident where Lockhart “didn’t take his turn”,and thought he was a definite “goner” for next week. But my attitude changed in the third quarter afterHawthorn’s 3 goal comeback. All of the Dees ‘ 3 quick follow-up goals started with quick, accurate handballs from Lockhart just backward of centre. That was the end of the Hawks.

“The Red Fox” should be the top of the list.....not 50th!

I have about 20 years’ worth of scarves from 3 family members clogging up cupboard space. My wife has put her foot down....she wants them out. I think someone offered a solution once before on DEMONLAND. Can someone remind me of a good way to dispose of them? I thought perhaps the club could use them to drape over seats if we play again this year in Melbourne with no crowds. ( eg when we play an MCG final in Sept. with no crowd...as I confidently expect!)

I just wish AVB would get it occasionally.

I played for Uni Reds, under legendary coach, Kenny Frencham , in 1971/72. There were quite a few Demon diehards in our team, and I wonder if any of them are now Demonlanders like me. We played against Reservoir, Fawkner, Brunswick Districts, Jacana, Merlynston, Brunswick Districts and Westgarth All Blacks( captained by Pastor Doug Nicholls' son.) We struggled. The next year we joined the lowest level of the VAFA. Less physical! I wasn't sure which forum to post this in, but this seemed the least inappropriate! It'd be great to "swap notes" with any of my ex team-mates. I'm sure they will have stuck by the Demons all these years!

If only he hadn’t dropped that sitter dead in front early in Q1. I’m sure we’d have won. ( to say nothing of Pickett missing from 10 m out straight in front.) I

I can’t stand seeing such scathing criticism of Viney. It’s hard to think of any player who does more to give his all for his club. He throws himself in , gets the hard ball from impossible positions, then does his best to move the ball on from congestion. What a gutsy team player! I admire him greatly, and it hurts to see fellow supporters suggesting we should trade him. Keep fighting for us, Jack, you’re a Demon through and through!

Harley must be injured.

What fantastic spirit and endeavour our guys showed. An ounce of luck, and we’d have won. Does anyone notice how Geelong get away with quick throws, and we don’t? Surely Tommy should have had a free when hit by Henry!

We want the ball more than Geelong. Keep it up and it’ll be a great win!

How good are the Dees!? We knock off Carlton on their home ground, then they beat the Cats at their dung-heap! But Hawthorn and Carlton don’t know what it’s like with 30000 Cats fans pumping up the players, and influencing the umps. Essendon and Collingwood don’t know either.

I'm amazed our club leaders either turned a blind eye, or somehow failed to recognise his life-style. I thought that sort of behaviour was mainly at West Coast. Brock should have gone there. He would have had a bonanza. Was it endemic at Melbourne? Are any players like that now?

I have been watching old games on YouTube while on the exercise bike. So few wins, I'm watching a few losses now. I just saw that 2007 Ess game at Docklands,Danners last as coach. Yes....we were 17 up with 4 min 25 sec to go. Then the UMPIRES!!!. made three diabolical decisions. Lucas's first was a result of a very definite throw. The next came after Bruce was tackled by the legs, in what the commentators described as a "professional free" ("cynical foul" in soccer).....NOT PAID.!! The other goal came as a result of a dubious holding the ball("?dragged it in") in our forward line, when the umps had otherwise "swallowed the whistle". Melbourne had fought back brilliantly after being 30 points down early. I remember walking away from that match feeling absolutely cheated. Otherwise, I had eradicated it from my memory.