Jumping Jack Clennett

It doesn't really matter whether the opposition know our routine. The important thing is that our players know approximately how long is left, for the reasons outlined in the opening post. "Traffic lights" were just a suggestion. Perhaps a bright light on the bench when there 's less than a minute to go. Does anyone else ever get the same sense of frustration I do , when there' s 10 sec to go in the quarter ,we have the ball in the centre, and we kick it sideways or backwards?

My suggestion which started this topic was serious. Most of the replies have either dismissed it, or made glib witticisms, or missed the point altogether, diverting the thread to a debate on the virtues of a count down clock on the scoreboard. I don't think my proposal was ridiculous. It suggests a simple method whereby our players have more idea than the opposition how much time is left at the end of quarters. It had occurred to me long before last Sunday's loss.

The debacle last Sunday proved that the archaic method of telling players how much time is left needs to be updated. It's important players know how much time is left at the day of every quarter, not just the last. For example, I find it frustrating when there's only 10 sec to go in a quarter, and our player has the ball in the clear around the centre. He looks up, sees no good option upfield, so goes back or sideways rather than bombing. The siren sounds, and an opportunity is lost. Normally players don't bomb it, since there's a danger it'll "slingshot" back. But with no time to go,there's no downside to roosting it to full forward(even if Hogan has three players on him.) Another time it's vital to know how much time is left is when a player has a mark or a free with only a few seconds left. If he wants to play on (say to reduce the angle of a shot for goal), he has to do it quickly. One way of keeping the players informed would be a "traffic light" system from the bench with, say, a bright greenLED light for 2 min left, orange for 30 sec, and a red for 10 sec..........or some variation of this. What do others think?

A couple of times yesterday, I reckon our players confused the guernseys. Our players had to accustom themselves to picking out our players in St Kda-like jumpers. Once, when Jetta ran clear , couldn't see any short options,and booted it 50m to a Saint out by himself( who had plenty of time to hit a teammate on the chest, resulting in a goal from his pass). I can't remember the exact details of the other occasion, but it was similar. So I think it's possible that it might not have happened if we'd worn less StKilda- like jumpers, and we might have won!

Just a minute!!! Leave Barassi out of this . He was dynamic and inspiring, and went in hard for the ball. He never did thuggish acts(Roger Dean definitely staged in 1963) He did often argue with the Umpire, which wasn't good, but it wasn't thuggish, either. I agree that Judd was a great player....one of the greatest. I am just reminding people that he had a vicious streak. Matthews' behind the play assaults on Giles, Smith and McMullin are well remembered by Demon fans, and if you ask supporters of other Clubs, they'll tell you of Matthews atrocities with their players. Have Demonlanders noticed the scar under Gary Lyon's chin? Am I correct in suggesting that it is a result of the time Ablett senior elbowed him up the jaw behind the play, when Gary was beating him pointless? I don't know which is worse, felling guys behind the play, or potentially blinding them by screwing your thumbs into their eyeballs. What do you think, Daisycutter?

If you are Juddy's mate, you're in a good position to ask him about his vicious attacks on opponents. I admit that I'm possibly over-influenced by an interest in eye injury( my line of work). But I'd like you to ask Chris, who undoubtedly is an intelligent and well educated bloke,whether he has any regrets about screwing his thumbs into another player's eyeballs. Not many other players do this. Has he any concept of "duty of care"? Does he remember Nick Walsh.? What was the real story about the "pressure points"? I wonder if I'm alone in my opinion that he and Matthews are the two most reprehensible thugs I've seen on a footy field.

But not as terrible as the vicious act of eye gouging, for which he has been found guilty twice.He also stomped on a Melbourne recruit's(Nick Walsh, who didn't make the firsts) stomach, and deliberately twisted his stops. These things must not be forgotten during all the panegyrics. Great player,but far from an ornament to the game.

One of the things about 1990 that galls me is that we helped Collingwood by eliminating reigning premiers,Hawthorn. Hawthorn had the "wood" over the Woods even more than we did. They were very much Hawthorn 's nemesis, and we saved them from having to beat them to win the premiership. Damn the Sumich kick in 1990 and the Milne bounce in 2010. They'd be still thinking back to the highway robbery of '58.

Looks like David Schwarz. Plays like Todd Viney ! Keep it up!! There's a touch of Josh Kennedy(Swan) there , too.Perhaps he learnt from him 2 weeks ago.

See Lumumba/Garland thread, and post match discussion thread.

At Club functions where the players are required to attend, there is often an embarrassing period at the start where the players are chatting together, and the guests are reticent to join in their conversation. The players were fairly subdued, talking together in groups, probably relishing the rare opportunity to have a club-approved stubble. Obviously they were far from jubilant, but they weren't moping around looking like there'd been a death in the family. I was talking to a few friends when "H" came over and introduced himself. He told us how happy he is at Melbourne , ( though he wished we were going better!), and how impressed he was with the atmosphere, and back up facilities at our Club. He said how he fervently hoped to be able to one day share with his new young team mates success like he enjoyed at Collingwood.He was in the leadership group for 6 years at Coll., and really loves that part of his duties at Melbourne. He told us in a sincere and respectful way how much he appreciated the support of the Melbourne fans, despite recent lack of success.I took it to mean all Demon fans, but I guess he was particularly referring to this group, at such a major fundraiser. Everything he said suggested to me that here was a fine "leader of men". There is a real aura about him. I guess he was just following orders and mixing in with the fans, but he did it brilliantly.

I met "H" at the FH Dinner last night. This is is a big statement, but I think he was the most impressive man I've ever met.

The players were all at the Foundation Heroes Dinner last night( must have been hard after such a shellacking).They were allowed to have a drink. No doubt they were allowed to go out after their duties finished at The Park. Fair enough, in my opinion. I reckon it's fair enough for them to have a glimpse of a normal social life more than a week before their next game.

I thought one of the most interesting things in the interview was Todd's anecdote about possibly going to Essendon. Soon after his arrival at Melb he was in a bus next to an un-named Melb player. Todd told him he could have joined Essendon. The player told him he made the wrong choice. In fact, as it turned out, he made the right choice, since ,as I remember it,Melb did much better than Essendon during Todds career, except for the "Baby Bombers" year...was it '93?. Though I suppose one premiership might be better than a lot of finals over 12 years. But it was interesting that morale was so low in early '87, that a player would confide that Essendon would be a better choice. It would probably be the same today, (not necessarily with Essendon, but with other strong clubs)and therein lies part of our problem.

I reckon the "nothing free" to Hogan in the square was an absolute disgrace. It was obviously a payback for the error in not paying the advantage (I think to Garlett as he ran into an open goal), seconds earlier. The Garlett goal would have been inspiring. The Hogan goal was an embarrassment. It became TWO serious errors. The initial mistake was compounded, and the umpires looked flustered, and appeared to be losing control. They continued to make error after error during the second quarter. Melbourne had much less possession, but were getting more frees than Freo. Is there a comp. in Outer Mongolia? That would be a good spot for those three pelicans next week.

i. I'd be a bit careful about that, or we could be the ones in the firing line.

Quoting Bush Demon in the O P " By the way, it's Australian Rules, not "AFL", that is an unfortunate and derogatory product name, " ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I'm pretty sure the official name of the sport we follow is "Australian Football", not "Australian Rules", which is often shortened to the derogatory moniker "Rules". In the quoted article, I think it's correct to talk about "AFL" ,since it is referring to that business specifically, as distinct from the game in general. I find it slightly annoying when people talk about themselves playing, or having played "AFL", when they mean they played Australian football. They didn't ever reach the standard of AFL, an important distinction. I like our game to be called by its correct name, Australian Football", because it distinguishes it from that scourge of all sports, Soccer(English football), and the various rugby codes, and gridiron, where foot skills are a very minor component of the sport.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------And remember round one in 2008 v. Hawthorn.? They were without about 6 stars....Hodge, Franklin, Roughead and others due to injury and suspension. It was tempting to think we had a chance on the MCG. They killed us by 140 odd points, throwing our season into disarray.

Mitch gave off a couple of very quick handballs which resulted in goals. I thought he moved well, and seemed to work well with Hawkins....they didn't fly for marks together. Nauseating. Meanwhile I enjoyed seeing Frawley concede a goal due to a judgment error, just like he did once or twice week with us. He didn't seem to do much else, though I didn't see the whole game. I think he'll struggle to get a game at Hawthorn this season, but perhaps they've got 2016 in mind, when Lake will probably be gone.He might not make the grade.

I reckon we'd have won but for the 11 from Johnsons first ball. No balls must be avoided at all cost.

I saw Lyon at the movies a couple of weeks ago. He was with his sons. They looked pretty porky...not like sportsmen at all. They're by Lyon from Brett Lovett's sister, correct? Perhaps they've inherited Brett's body shape. I hope they can play like him or the Loin chop!

Only one thing surprised me when I heard the news about Christian Petracca........it wasn't Hogan. Yet...........

Last year was the first time they didn't sing it for many years, and I was glad. We're obviously all true blue Demons if we're at the meeting, we don't need to have to try to prove it! I'm just saying that that's the way I feel....uncomfortable when the song is sung at the AGM.

I always feel embarrassed when they call for a rendition of "The Grand Old Flag". I don't think it's necessary. It's a business meeting, not a supporters' rally.

"he's taken the easy life of playing amateurs for the coin on offer." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Which"amateur" club is that? ?????O X????