Jumping Jack Clennett

I couldn't believe how poorly Casey played on Saturday. Windy, slippery conditions, and all they wanted to do was handball and short pass. Twice they passed backwards from the wing to fullback, mucked up the pass, and gifted goals to Willy.In a low scoring game, these errors are not only costly score-wise, but demoralize the whole team. Over and over again, players with the opportunity to kick the ball well downfield would handball to players in packs until eventually possession was lost. Did Lovett try to stop the short passing game? Did the players ignore instructions? Which ever, the Casey tactics were disgraceful. What was sickening was that it was so similar to the Senior team's playing style. I have never coached a footy team, and haven't played for 40 years. I know the game is virtually unrecognisable from the old days. I have no pretentions of knowledge of modern football tactics.BUT , surely, in wet, windy conditions, there's value in gaining yardage by roosting the bloody thing every now and then!!!! Willy did.

Strawbs tried to hit Da Rui ,who had just pole-axed one of our guys. Unfortunately he only landed a glancing blow.Strawbs was so wiry that rucking against him was described as like hitting a string bag full of set-squares!

What a great Demon supporter he was. What a lot of our great Club History he saw. Fortunately he's been pretty unaware of our recent demise. He really did deserve to be in the team of the century painting as our no. 1 supporter. He was in with the inner sanctum but never "bignoted" at all. He couldn't be drawn to comment on controversial issues within the Club. I remember asking him what he thought about the merger debate during that terrible time. He was non- committal, but I'm sure he wanted to stick by his mate Ridley, though at the same time he wanted our club to continue as it was. A real case of divided loyalty . He'll always be remembered fondly by long term Demon fans.

Dr Turf on SEN suggested he'd heard a rumour Melb has offered Monfries a four year contract. I reckon he's a bit if a show pony who goes missing when the pressure is on. Thoughts?

Thanks TD. I saw your post. But I didn't really feel that a quarter up forward in a thrashing was a real try-out. But it sounds like he went OK in that short trial. I would have thought it might have prompted A more thorough assessment. It would have been appropriate for Melbourne, but not Casey, perhaps.

_________________________________________________________________________________________ I thought he was pretty impressive against Carlton in round 23 .....I saw that. So the four times I saw him he was pretty instrumental in his side's victory. How old is he? I thought he was about 25, but he's certainly not worth considering if he's older than that.

Does anyone at Demonland know Wilkes' contract status? He killed us at Sandy and twice in the AFL this season. He's the same size as David Neitz, a strongmark and an accurate kick. The Saints have quite a few key forwards, so he lacks opportunities. Is their any way we can chase him?(eg offer them Jamar in return?)

-________________________________________________________\______________________________ I'm surprised you haven't at least watched the Scorpions on the rare occasions the ABC has deigned to show their match on a Saturday afternoon, Nasher. Wilkes beat him at Sandy, but he is a bona fide AFL player in my opinion. Davis has impressed me. Keeps his eye on the ball in the packs. Typical of the problems of not having a stand alone reserves team.What a pity he hasn't been tried forward. I see more upside in Davis than Leigh Williams, though I think he's worth persevering with ,too.

The Freo crowd were instrumental in the biased decisions on Saturday. They even had the temerity to boo the umps on the rare occasions we got a free. Posters will say...of course they got the frees.....we didn't have the ball! True, but look at Footscray /Brisbane. Bris double their score but less frees. Look at Adel/ Gold Coast.Similar. We should protest to the authorities about the skewed free kick count we received at Subiaco this year. Neither we, nor any other team could win there with such unbalanced adjudication

I'd barrack whole-heatedly for Adelaide, WCE ,Sydney or Freo against Collingwood in a GF or any game! It was 1958 that did it to me. I know I should move on but I won't!

Interesting point, Clint. I think the lack of "attack on the ball" is a lack of confidence in our players. With all the off field dramas,new coach, injuries and lack of form, any semblance of self- belief was quickly dispelled from our players. Instead of approaching each contest with an aggressive intent, our players tried to negate the opposition, leading to hesitancy and indecision. This makes players look "soft". I think Australian football requires aggressive offence for success. If teams concentrate on negating the opposition, it leaves them vulnerable to opposition enterprise....they can try anything, knowing that if it doesn't come off, a stoppage will result, rather than a costly turnover. So to me the important question is.....how do we instil this confidence? Though it often doesn't appear our players have the basic skills, I'm sure they do. I think it's the attack on the ball we can, and will improve, especially if we take a more attacking approach in our general tactics.

Now this dreadful season is over for us,there's one strong point of interest for me. I really hope the Mudpies go out in straight sets! I can't stand Hawthorn, and hate the fact that they'll overtake us in Flags(have they already?) if they win, but I'd prefer them to Collingwood. The thing that allays my fear slightly is that I think any team in the eight can beat Collingwood. Especially Haw, Adelaide, Freo and WCE. But I fear that they might strike form and do better than people expect. You can be sure they'll get the better of the umpiring decisions due to the hysterical screaming from their fans(refer back to the St K and Ess wins to see the effect of the fans on the umps) I hope they put Dawes back in, since I consider they're playing one short with him. Wouldn't it be awful if Pendles did a hammy! How come he never gets injured.....he looks pretty skinny! I know someone will post that they hope to see them lose by a point in the GF, but I want them OUT as soon as possible!

I reckon Frawley is a a half back flanker(not rhyming slang!) . He's not big enough to hold most key position forwards(except J Reiwoldt, who is flanker size.)

Oh Dear, Macca. Not a good weekend for Demon and Hammer supporters. Lucky we're used to it! I think we might have been getting ahead of ourselves! A bit like Ratten complaining about winning 13 and not making the Finals!!

Thanks Macca. But I am really worried about how we'll go against the South Africans.Hope you're right! Didn't remember you're a Hammers man! But Chelsea have already won two...and they're ahead of us in the alphabet,so won't they be above us?

"Re-signed." Bloody important hyphen!

Tended to miss from 30 m. Out directly in front.

This is great! He's improved so much this year! Just think where he'd be if he hadn't broken his leg!

Great to see the Poms losing the series, and no. 1 status overnight. But really, they didn't do badly. That South African side must rank with the best ever teams. What a bowler is Steyn!! Yet Philander is overshadowing him by far! Morkel is good, and Kallis has 280 test wickets. Meanwhile, "Tahir Jack" is an excellent leggie, with great control and a good wrong'un. Their batting is top class with Kallis an all time great. The Poms did well to get so close. We'll struggle against both of them! I'm amazed we're no.3 in the world.....and only a point behind England!

Collingwood v. North North.....nearly 70 more possessions. Frees.....Coll 20, North 14. The Coll. crowd screeched hysterically, but successfully ,every time a North player was tackled.The umps have to wilt under the constant pressure every now and then.

I was very impreessed with Geelong's young players last night. Duncan,Walker and especially Murdoch, all looked terrific..And they have Menzel and Christiansen waiting in the wings. Where do they find this talent? If it was Adelaide or WCE, I'd suspect they'd kept them "under wraps". I guess it really helps having role models like Bartel and Selwood. Hawkins is still young, too, and really looks formidable, now. I remember thinking he'd never make it! Geelong's future looks assured, especially if you take into account their enormous advantage of opposition-supporter-free home games at the uniquely shaped Kardinia Park.

I hope it IS on ABC, but the programme guide says they're doing the Port Melb game.

Aren't we "locked in" with Casey for 30 years?

The votes have to be in by Monday, so now is the time for Demon supporting MCC members to vote for Wood and Yencken, who, we are told, have Demon sympathies. I think this is very important. Just think if the MCC Committee was Collingwood or Essendon dominated! Heaven forbid!

I was shocked at the umpiring in the St Kilda/Coll. game last Saturday night. The toothless hordes screeched for frees every time Coll. players tackled or went for marks, or the ball went OOB. The pressure mounted on the umpires, who would weaken repeatedly, and pay the 50:50 (sometimes 20:80) free to the Mudpies. The crescendo built in the last moments , and O' Brien was the recipient of a free resulting from a disgracefully poor adjudication from a nearby umpire. What a dramatic effect that error made, putting Coll. temporarily equal top, and severely damaging St Kilda' s finals hopes. Interesting to compare O'Brien's match saving free to the non- free to Petterd at the end of the '09 game . Identical incidents, neither worth the free. It would be lovely if St Kilda receive the same treatment next Saturday(14 frees to 25, despite getting more possessions). Unfortunately, the crowd influence will be the opposite way!