The Panglossian

I heard Gary Lyon on SEN. this morning and I thought..... does he watch Melbourne games, or is he too busy in his job watching the “big games”, unfortunately not involving the Dees? Gary’s opinion was based on on his kicking, which I think has improved immensely over the last two years, but he didn’t seem to recognise that. I’m a Frost fan, but I think his deficiencies are in decision making, not kicking. But I think Frosty has improved year by year in that respect. In my opinion his improvement with experience vastly outweighs his tendency for “ clangers”. Clarkson’s interest in Frost should raise alarm bells in Melbourne list managers. There aren’t too many like him around.Please keep him!

I'm not happy about Sellwood being allowed to stay on the ground covered in blood. It is arguable that we missed the top four last season because Max was dismissed for the last minute at Geelong with the merest speck of blood on his lip.

A slight tinge of green in the pitch, and inexperienced captain Paine says”we’ll have a bowl”. Shades of Ponting after McGrath trod on the ball.

Agreed...but who is she?

Who's his Mum? (Mrs Elliot, I know!, but is she an accomplished sportswoman?

I suspect there would be Heritage Overlay, preventing the demolition of an historically significant building. Would this not affect the site’s resale value detrimentally?

Thanks for the great posts, Drunkn, we all admire you and your brother very much . By the way, you sound like a dedicated trainer. What level of footy have you attained?

I suspect Heritage Overlay would prevent its development as real estate.

Steve Smith reckons their cricket bats are ok,too!

I don't understand the changes. I dropped in to Vic Park and saw the second half on Sunday. Spargo, (who I think has a great future), didn't get a kick. Didn't see Billy Stretch do much. Nibbler and Marty Hore did well. Chandler showed a lot of pace , and it's good to see him get a game. Preuss absolutely dominated the ruck, and is a superb replacement if Max is ever hurt or needs a rest, Meanwhile, I thought OMac looked promising up forward, and deserved another try there. Can't see why Hunt, Petty, or Baker were dropped. Are some of the omissions due to injury?

Footscray looked brilliant against the druggies. How good are we!? If “big boy” understood ruck craft, I reckon we’d have beaten them.

I thought OMac looked ok up forward,even before that brilliant goal!

It's unbelievable how the Druggies get an armchair ride every week! Out possessed by 40-odd, yet nearly double the frees to Essendon. No doubt due to their whining crowd. Their constant booing of Rampe was childish to say the least. What?... booing him for (stupidly)trying to climb the goal post up in Sydney!!!??? They didn't deserve to win either of those games. The umps absolutely gifted them the Whorethorn game last week, too. I hope their chooks turn into Emus and kick their dunny door down.

Listening to the game on Casey radio, it was almost identical to the seniors. The ball in our forward line the whole time, missing easy shots, then the ball goes down their end for a split second, and they "strike it beautifully" from 52. The only difference was....we won.!

I haven’t read the whole thread so I suspect this has been brought up before ..... but..... Max kept doing his backward tap outs, and Zorko and Neil kept clearing it. Wouldn’t it have been sensible for Max to try to whack it away from the centre, away from the two guys who were tearing us apart!!?? I know the coaching mantra is against the tactic of hitting the ball randomly, since it might go straight to the opposition, and leave you opened up, but...... every centre bounce, you just KNEW Bris would get the clearance with Max trying his dinky backwards tap outs.

Max...stop trying to find our midswith knockouts . Just thump the b thing!

I don’t think we’ve ever been beaten overseas. We’ve won in London, Canada, USA,( California and Hawaii),China and , I think, New Zealand. All “JLT” type games, but most hotly contested. The USA game was against reigning premiers, Geelong,in 1963, after the Grand Final, to make us world premiers! Was there a South Africa game I’ve forgotten? Can anyone correct me by reminding me of a Demon loss abroad?

I'm worried about our CWC game tonight v. Bangladesh. Their batting was superb v. WI earlier this week. WI attack not too bad. Once Starc and Cummins are off, our other bowlers are all very vulnerable to being smashed.

Can't agree at all! Top player, courageous, and popular with team-mates. Get his brother when his contract is up.

We dropped Omar after Jenkins got 2 goals on him. Jenkins has Phil Davis, in my opinion one of the 2 or 3 best tall defenders in the AFL on him tonight. So far Jenkins has 3 goals in 2 1/2 quarters. Should Davis be dropped? Or is Jenkins an ok player?

But don't we normally have more inside 50's than the opposition? Even when we lost to Geelong by 80pts! So in fact, it makes the forward 50 frees discrepancy even more incomprehensible.

The guy was in tears! There’s no doubt at all it was burning in his guts.

Surprising that we were clearly the better side with 15 out of our 22 players getting negative reviews from Joeboy. I think his judgment was ( justifiably) clouded by his disappointment.

Greg Parke a knuckle man?????? No....As you say,.he was an amazing mark, a wonky kick,and a top-class team player.

Macca you earlier agreed that “ home town decisions” occur. It is disgraceful that officials allow themselves to be influenced by the crowd. I think eliminating this bias is far more important than all the other measures you suggest. The fact that umpires are consistently succumbing to this weakness adds to the antipathy of the fans. One can’t help but think of them as weak individuals if they allow their judgment to be influenced by the noise they hear from the crowd.