Jumping Jack Clennett

(in response to Hogan's Heroes' photo in post 140.....pressing "quote" didn't seem to work) Perhaps the thyroid problem Salem had was hyperthyroidism, which can make the victim thin and weak(in severe cases). With that fixed, perhaps he has been able to develop his body rapidly.(naturally and legally) Heaven knows, we've seen the effects of dodgy hormone therapy at West Coast and Essendon(? Geelong).

I reckon Ablett jun.is a dead ringer for Uncle Fester!

Like you, City Dee, I re watched the game last night,to closely observe Watts and all the lazy gutless play that posters have been whinging about on this thread. I didn't notice it when I was at the MCG on Sunday : I just thought he couldn't get into the game.Watching the replay, I saw none of the laziness or lack of courage. I saw at least half a dozen clever, constructive acts.Obviously one would hope for more. What I noticed is how unhurried he appears. I think this is why he's able to pinpoint passes so accurately. I think many fans mistake the way he doesn't rush, but tries to seek the best option ,as laziness or lack of effort. I'd love to see him take a few contested marks, and I hope that'll come more and more in the future. I agree with the poster above who likens him to TJ,who often had the advantage of being"corralled" by his team mates in order to give him more time to find the best option. I think Jack has more strings to his bow than Travis, and will end up a better all round player. People sitting near me on Sunday would blame him every time he was involved in the play, but didn't win the ball. I hope like Hell he's playing next Sat night.

How was Dunny's towering torp to the centre in the last quarter! I know coaches don't like that tactic because it probably results in a 50:50, with the chance of a quick return to the opposition's attack. BUT, it's probably a worse option to do our standard method( the long wide kick to a tall who is in a one on three situation.) If there was a secret signal to the team from the kicker-in to flood the centre circle, then let her rip, wouldn't that be better than a 50:50 situation. Plus the fact that it's so inspiring to enter 50 so rapidly. As JV7 points out, we always fiddle round before kicking in so all good options are closed off. Other sides seem to gain an advantage so effortlessly with kick ins( not just the good sides, as BB has suggested) We are often forced to do the short kick to the pocket. That player can rarely play on, so his options are limited, or nil. Generally I've noticed our players don't play on enough when gaining possession in the open. I think it's partly a confidence thing, and partly, as JV says, a lack of running.

Did anyone else get the same pleasure out of last night's game? It put me out of a "Pick one winner each week " comp, but I couldn't be happier! Did anyone see Thompson 's post match interview? Every excuse under the sun, and no credit to St Kilda. At least we didn't have to see that smug, gummy grin.

Did anyone else hear the suggestion on SEN this morning that Dawesy is "under a cloud"? (despite being named in the final line-up)

Spot on, Devoted. Roger Dean staged when Barassi tackled him. The Ump fell for it, and Barass missed the finals. There went the '63 Premiership. I know I should move on, but I've never forgiven Dean (or Richmond) for that disgrace.

I am very sorry for jack. He's committed himself to us, and done his best in very tough circumstances. He was a victim of a very poor decision to appoint him co-captain, but tried his heart out. I wonder if this injury has taken a long time to declare itself, or be diagnosed. So many people have potted him for his running ability, and it's possible that this injury has slowed him down over the last year or two. Perhaps it's related to the foot injury that required Danks's controversial cream. Meanwhile it must have been distracting having the possibility of an ASADA interrogation hanging over his head for so long.....though I think he's been exonerated officially. I wish him all the best for a complete recovery. He's a very impressive young man.

Yes.Several times players on both sides dished off a quick hand pass to the wrong guernsey(especially us!)

He took longer than most of our recruits to suffer serious injury....three weeks! Which recruit for Melb HASN'T been badly injured early in his career in recent decades?

With tragic irony, the last time a side went winless was in our Premiership year, 1964.(Fitzroy, I think)I was hoping( a few years ago), that 2014 would be our next Premiership, 50 years on. It looks quite possible that we'll be seeing an abysmal result at the end of 2014.

When he played for us, I always thought he was a good mark for his size, and was reliable with his disposal. More knowledgeable judges gave him away to Hawthorn.

I think I remember an AFL Stat that stated that two thirds of all goals in the AFL result from turnovers.

I particularly hate seeing the courageous player who gets in and under first get penalised for not disposing properly,when his arms are pinned, and the tackler, in fact , is the player who's holding the ball in. The umpire makes the dubious judgment that there was "prior opportunity", and pays the free. The decision usually favours the tackler in this situation if the player with the ball realises he has no chance of disposing since he's completely wrapped up, so he makes no( completely useless) attempt to handball. If the player with the ball makes some useless, but conspicuous movement, like convulsive body pumps, or rapid head-nodding, the umpire usually doesn't penalise. So what I'm saying is, if you're pinned in a tackle, even if there's no hope of disposal, make futile attempts. Also, if one hand is free, but the ball pinned, follow through with the attempted ball-punch into the head of the tackler.(especially if it's someone like Ballantyne, King or Scully!)

Watching the NAB Cup games on TV and the Melb/Haw game live at Casey, I noticed how short the boundary throw ins have become. At first I thought it was at interstate venues in non-football states , where trained boundary umps might be hard to find. But it was the same at Casey in the NAB and again on Sat night at Docklands. One radio commentator during the NAB games suggested it was due to the ruck men waiting back further, but on close observation, there is a large proportion of short throw ins. Could we somehow take advantage of this? eg by anticipating a short throw in, and taking front position by running in early? Or perhaps an on baller could stand in front of the opposing ruck and block his run in? Has anyone else noticed this minor point?

And The Tassie/Waverley Hawks in 2012.

Thanks Old Dee and Crawf32. I feel better now!

I'll own up to being the pessimist who predicted 0-2 wins. I'm very worried about the Saints game. If we don't win that......who will we beat? Perhaps the Doggies or Richmond.Perhaps Essendon will fall apart. I'm pessimistic about our chances v. GWS and GC. It's difficult not to be pessimistic after all the catastrophes that have befallen us over the last 6 years. Can someone please buck me up with some logic suggesting things are better than I think!

,Apparently Dermie leapt headlong from the foot end of the bed on to his little friend, but didn't quite clear the horizontal bar at the end of the bed with his undercarriage. I'm told it's not a unique accident for show pony cassanovas!

Yet you don't think my suggestion that we've had far more than our share of injuries is worthy of comment,or even consideration. I think it has played a part in the disappointing rate of improvement in our young recruits.

Don't forget all the injuries!!!!! It's much harder to try to name recruits who haven't been cruelled by injury in their first 2 seasons than ones who have. Broken legs to Strauss and Blease, a bad back for Watts, diabetes etc for Fitz, ACL for Spencer, Trengoves foot(?ankle), Grimes, Tappy, Tynan, Taggart,...the list goes on. And now it's Hogans back after his PCL,what's wrong with Viney? Do all clubs suffer like this? It's hard for players to develop when they miss pre-seasons. A high injury rate MUST be contributing to our young players' slow, or lack of, improvement.

It's just a broken back! What are we worrying about???!!! By the way, am I paranoid, or do Demon recruits always seem to get serious injuries .? I'm not talking about just this season, but way back to Dean, Prympke , Charles and Jakovich. Carlton, Coll and Essendon seem to get 300 games out of their stars. Not us!(only Neita) Perhaps I think we're unlucky because I only know the injuries at Melbourne. Do any other Demonlanders agree we've been stiff with injuries over recent decades?

I had no work on Thurs am so I stayed up. When I went to bed at 3.15, I couldn't get to sleep because my heart was still pounding!There was huge irony when Phillander was given not out caught at short leg, because his hand was adjudged by the third ump to not be in contact with the bat when the ball hit his thumb. We lost the (?2005 or 2009)Ashes because Kasprowicz was given out caught behind when his hand wasn't on the bat, and we only needed about 2 to win! It looked like we were going to not win this series ,due to the DRS preventing this error from being repeated. However it wasn't clear enough from multiple replays, to overturn the umpire's decision , in my opinion. With 4 overs to go, and two wickets to get, it was hard to be optimistic. The bowlers looked so tired. I was cursing the time wasted the previous day when Doolan couldn't hit it off the square. Also the time lost due to rain early in the Test, which wasn't entirely made up for by the early starts . I also felt Clarke under -bowled Smith.What did it matter if he served up some tripe and got belted? We had so many runs to spare.

After last Friday's game, I can see why "Knightmare" compared Dom to Simon Black. How would it be if he turned out half as good as him!!!