Jumping Jack Clennett

One or two from each club. Has any other club got six or seven examples. I'm not talking about pick 17(Clay Smith, Cam McCarthy)... I'm talking about picks in the top 5. Petracca,Brayshaw, Scully, Watts, Trengrove,Salem,even Cale Morton ruptured his posterior cruciate ligament in a practice match early in his career,holding back his progress badly. Other clubs get one or two top pick casualties. We get half a dozen.

Equals Petracca what about the other 6?

Are you sure that's right, Barrie? I reckon Danny played after the drop kick had faded out. But he could barrel them with a torp. And he was so tough! Tassie did the big drops.

That's one....not half a dozen.

Am I paranoid, or are Melbourne perpetually unlucky with injuries to high draft picks? Petracca, Salem and Brayshaw have all had their careers seriously affected by injury/illness into their early years. Hogan missed a whole year. Watts missed most of his second year with back trouble. Can Demonlanders remind me of others? The Bulldogs get full seasons from the "Bont", Macrae,etc... these guys have rapidly become match winners. Ditto the Swans with Heaney, and the Blues with Wetering, Cripps etc........the list goes on. Is it just that I'm more familiar with our very high draftees, and don't notice the other teams' injury woes?

James Frawley would surrender one or two goals a week with unforced turnovers. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to happen now he's playing for a more experienced side. That could be the moral of this thread.

I can' t understand why any Demon supporter would contemplate letting Tom McDonald go. In my opinion he is right up there with the best tall defenders in the Comp., and is improving each year.Sure, he makes errors. But as he gains experience we're benefitting from his attacking play more and more. Meanwhile, we have his younger brother who is taller, and more skilled, who looks like developing into a top key position player. We should move heaven and earth to keep these two!

Torpedoes are banned by coaches, yet they allow dribble "check side " kicks with players running into open goals. Players love practising those fiddly skills like curvy dribble kicks from impossible angles. You see AFL players (and kids in parks) spending lots of time having fun practising those things. I contend that training and practising in the special skill of spiral punting should be a routine part of AFL skills drills, which would be thoroughly enjoyed by the players. I think it could be worth 2 or 3 goals a match if all Melbourne players were the best in the league at torpedoes. Have a look at "Fork ''em's" You tube post above. See how inspiring those torps were !

Demonlanders will yawn that I'm on my old hobby horse again, but there was an interesting incident yesterday involving Jeff Garlett doing a torp. The ball ended up at our full forward line, but had to be relayed back to a player with a free outside 50. Garlett had the ball right on the full back line. He effortlessly torpedoed the ball 65 m back to the waiting Demon. Yet I'm sure that if Jeff had to have a set shot from 45, he'd pass it off, knowing he couldn't make the distance with a drop punt. I think players should practise torpedoes,since there are occasions when they'd be the kick of choice. e.g. a set shot from 55 after the siren, or running from defence and spotting a forward 60 metres downfield requiring a kick over the back. Dunny occasionally lets one go from full back, and critics complain it often comes straight back. But in a situation when you're, say 3 goals down with three min to go, it's worth a "punt"( a torpedo punt!) Coaches ban torps ,because they're so liable to come off the side of the boot and create a turnover. However this unpredictability can be an advantage, creating "chaos" near the goals. Would anyone ever argue that turnovers never occur with drop punts? With current players' skill levels, and the large amount of time they have to practise skills, I think torps should be part of our training programme. I'm suggesting a "torpedo-inspired recovery!"

Hey Bobby.....I'm intrigued that you too are reminded of Don Williams by Jayden Hunt. I thought exactly the same thing, and I think I posted it on this forum,but I can't find it. Jayden might not have Dasher's ability to take the "hanger", or do drop kicks on the run after 3 bounces, but he does mark well, and those runs out of defence inspire the whole team. "Stinger" used to lift the team with his dashing runs, too.

Thanks for bringing the thread back to topic with you thoughtful comment,Ralphius.

When there's a scrimmage in the full back area, the last thing you want is for one of your defenders to gain possession and do a quick short kick without time to seek a target. These kicks invariably land in the hands of a waiting forward, who has a set shot for goal. I think "zone defence " makes this possible, because defenders are 5-10 metres from their man. What should the defender do? He can't handball toward the boundary line.He has to dispose of the ball quickly. Should he make sure the kick goes low, and bounces before 15 metres? Obviously, if there's time the kick should go long and wide(assuming there's no time to seek a team-mate up field), but I'm talking about the really quick ball to boot, short kick out of the pack. Have other Demonlanders noticed this frequent cause of "turnover" goals?

Yes, Davo The Sydney players would be much more accustomed to training and playing in slippery conditions. Even our older players have little experience of conditions like today's. Watching sport in Sydney on TV, it's amazing how often the players(rugby or AFL), or horses in the racing,are knee deep in mud. Its rare in Melbourne( except at Casey kart weekend!)

Did any other Demonlanders notice the colour of the sky at sunrise this morning? Vivid red and blue. Coincidence?

Who'd know!?

So it's still an incentive to tank.

That's correct. I was on the opposite side of the ground, but had a good view. Rod failed to mention that it was a very windy day. The kick was a tumble punt into the wind. It wobbled around, and Grinter took a swing at it, just missing, but collecting Wallace's suntanned face. The umpire was close at hand....no report. No Footscray player remonstrated. They saw the incident clearly. The media hyped it up, and generated the first video report. If Wallace cleaned his teeth instead of sitting in front of the ray lamp, Grinter's hand wouldn't have got infected!!!! ( just joking!)

I think Collingwood only kicked 2.7 altogether that day. It must have been mortifying for the Mudpie supporters. Some revenge for the '58 debacle. Should have been 5 flags on the trot.

It would be great to recruit the grandson of our terrific, tough full-back of the 1950's, Keith Carroll. But I know I'm too much of a sentimentalist.

There was one decision where the Ump said " you're lying on his back!"( when the Scray guy was holding the ball). That would happen 50 times a match without being paid " in the back".

Can someone tell us the individual player stats for the Scorps, or show me the link? Thanks

That's two games North have won due to incomprehensible frees to Goldstein in scoring zones( St K and us) Their luck can't last.

And Alan Rowarth

We should be ready for this frequent tactic of Martin. It gives him extra time to choose the best option for disposal, which he does excellently. I work with a martial arts expert, and I asked him about this. He says that the mistake people make when confronted with a push away is that they push back. The better response is to pull back, using the momentum of his push, to pull him off balance. Perhaps another approach would be to make a concerted effort to grab that outstretched hand and not let go. He'd then be in the difficult position of not being able to handball. Whatever they decide to do , they should be ready for Martin to push them in the face when he's tackled.His effectiveness would be greatly nullified if they could somehow counteract it.