Jumping Jack Clennett

Does anyone know if there's any TV coverage of the big FA Games this weekend? I'm hoping the Hammers will beat Stoke again!I'd like to see it.

I hardly dare reply to your topic, "Steve the Man", since I am mercilessly ridiculed on this forum for trying to initiate discussion on our kick-ins, and defence of same. I agree with your sentiments that we failed in this aspect of play last Thursday. I agree that Etihad makes it difficult for us due to lack of space, but we MUST try to devise tactics to overcome this. I'm less critical of Colin Garland's kicking. I think he can kick it a long way, so there should be leads 60m. out as an option for him. I think it's a lack of movement from our players when the kick-in is being taken , that leads to the lack of options. Players take a breather when a point is scored instead of running for space. More importantly, the ball must be kicked in as soon as possible, before the opposition has fully arranged its zone.

I'm not a "White man". I've followed his career since he made a district century and took a hat-trick as a teenager for Dandenong. I've hoped for, and expected, great things. I reckon his batting is flawed. There's no building of an innings. He either blocks it back to the bowler, or tries to whack it out of the ground. When he does try to hit the ball hard, he lifts his head. His timing is affected by this fault. His bowling is finished because he hasn't improved, or made any alterations. He lacks the confidence in himself to have a bowl at Shield level. I hate his captaincy. As a passionate follower of Victorian cricket, I'd like to see him do well, but in my opinion , he (like Hodge!!!!) , is not in our best 11 ODI players(and nowhere near it for Tests.) I'd feel so much more optimistic with M.Hussey there, instead of White.

Yes,"Big Red", I noticed a new kicking technique by Clint. It was very effective and accurate. It was a little bit risky, in that it took a long time to get the ball from hand to foot, but it worked well. I think he must have put in hours of practice over summer. It's very tough to alter one's natural kicking style.

I was watching and I couldn't help hoping Miller would do well.He didn't do a lot, but I can't help feeling he'll be a worthwhile contributor. Similarly, I couldn't help hoping the 2 Collingwood Demons(Simon Buckley and Ben Sinclair...."son of Porky") would shine. They didn't do too badly!

Actually, "High Tower", I reckon that Maric's two goals were not fancy check kicks, but he sensibly used the natural hook of the right foot kick round the corner. If he'd been Robbo or Milne, he might have tried the impossible left-foot "check-side" from that position!

Last night we missed 3 "gimme" goals where players had the goals wide open in front of them at short range, but missed. On all three occasions(Davey once, Jurrah twice), the players tried spectacular , clever ,"check-side"type kicks, which missed, when a plain old normal drop punt couldn't have missed. St Kilda suffered from the same problem in the finals the last two seasons.

Wow !!!!What a sensational win by Victoria in the Ryobi Cup v. Tas. tonight. Absolutely brilliant hitting by Glenn Maxwell! BUT.......!!!!!!! What a lesson for Australia in the World Cup. Vic needed one to win off the last ball. After Siddle edged it to point, Holland almost completed the single while the ball reached the fieldsman! The lesson? DON'T let the batsman at the bowler's end crib in these circumstances. The bowler shouldn't just run him out(as he easily could have).He should warn him, before he bowls, that he'll be watching to make sure he doesn't crib. The keeper should stand up to the stumps. So the shot straight to the short fieldsman should be a runout at either end. This scenario is not unlikely in an important game in the World Cup. I also thought Maxwell's clean hitting on the legside showed the value of the striker standing his ground(not stepping away to the legside), and whacking it with the bottom hand through mid-wicket.The ball raced so hard off his bat that it was four unless it went absolutely directly to the fieldsman on the boundary.( though he often hit over them for six!! He has unique talent.

[quote name='Rhino Richards' "Now why was that?? Hmmm." ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I outlined, in my post above, why I think judicious use of the torpedo punt would be a useful addition to our tactics. As "Dirty Dees" said....."if you can't get past them, get over them!" So, Hmmm, like you Rhino, I also wonder why DB didn't think it was worth considering. Especially seeing he doesn't ban the torpedo altogether. I can't see an argument against the torp. from 60m. from the set shot after the siren.

Good topic, "Dirty Dees"!! I must say, it's one I've mentioned a number of times on Demonland.(but not as often as my notorious bugbear....point kick-ins!!!!) No-one's mentioned the most obvious reason to become proficient at the torpedo, namely the set shot from 60 metres after the siren ends a quarter(or the match!) Very few players can make 60 m. with a drop punt(assuming no wind). But a well timed torpedo will carry the extra 10 metres.My point here is this. A player is freed as the siren goes, and the man on the mark is at 55m. Inevitably, a powerful drop punt will land in the goalsquare and be punched away. The only hope is a torpedo, and there's no downside. If it slews off the side of the boot, it's no worse than the kick that falls just short. Players(esp. forwards) )should practise torpedoes. It's fun to practise them, and with the skills,strength(and training time) modern players possess, I think they'd become even more proficient than the torp exponents of yesteryear(Blight, Wade,Daicos etc). I like the idea of the fullback roosting the odd torp down the centre, the way Wheaters did a few times, but only if he has a high success rate with his torps at practice. How inspiring it has been for Collingwood when Rocca let fly with a torp from 65m! I remember Daicos changing the course of a game against us at Vict. Park when he let go with a 60m. torp to set up a comeback from about 5 goals down in the last quarter. Remember when ex-Bomber Stephen Clarke had a shot after the final siren at Windy Hill when we were less than a goal down. He got on to it, and it very nearly carried from 65 metres! I once sat next to Dean Bailey at a sponsors' dinner, and asked him his attitude to torps. He said it wasn't banned, but didn't seem to agree with me on the importance of adding this skill to our armamentarium

LIMITED OVER CRICKET TACTICS: If I were coach of an Australian team in the one-dayers,I'd introduce a team rule statim that I'm confident would improve our results. This is particularly important leading up to the World Cup. The rule would be this:- our batsmen must NEVER step away to square leg to try to score. Why do I propose this? For 3 reasons.... 1./ It is extremely difficult to get any power into shots on the offside when moving away from the ball. 2./ If the batsman moves to the leg side,swings, and misses , it means the bowler who puts a poor ball outside leg gets away with it not being called a wide. If the batsman moves inside the ball, has a whack , and misses, he gets the extra ball. 3./ It is much more naturally powerful to slog the ball with the bottom hand dominating,to the leg side. If the ball is hit powerfully with timing, , it doesn't matter if the leg field is stacked,it has a good chance of being a boundary(certainly a better chance than the"inside out" cover-drive to a crowded off field.) Usually there are at least as many fielders on the offside as on the legside. Another point......Setting fields for spinners. All international captains set their mid on and mid-off deep for slow bowlers, allowing an easy single, even with a new batsman on strike. I contend that those fieldsmen should be close enough to cut off the single until the striker has risked a couple "over the top" . By setting these straight fielders deep, you are saying to the batsman...."play straight! Don't take any risks! Keep the ball down!" These tactics should not be employed until the batsman is dominating the attack. Last point. Trivial, but it could mean the difference between winning and losing.... On the last ball of the first innings.... RUN UNTIL YOU"RE RUN OUT!!!! I'm amazed how often players don't take a risky single(or second) on the last ball! What's the downside?(apart from their batting average).A little bit of pressure on the fieldsman often results in an error.

I reckon the Brisbane Lions Fc will see an opportunity here to divest themselves of a recalcitrant player whose salary is so high it causes dissatisfaction amongst their personnel. This incident may be enough to disqualify him from his contract with the Club.( though let's be rational... we don't know many facts yet). This may be the blessing they were seeking. Is it even possible Brisbane set it up? No ......that's being far too cynical. I loved it when he singlehandedly beat Collingwood up there last year... a couple of unbelievable goals just when they were needed! Was that Collingwood's last loss?

Gosh!!! What a disappointing day at the Test!!! They bowled well and we batted badly, then they batted well, and we bowled only fairly. I was looking forward to today for ages, hoping for a close game(won by Aust!). Not much hope of that now. Only spark of hope is that it's grey and dark tomorrow again morning at 9.30(real time), and perhaps our bowlers can extract something out of the pitch, and get some early wickets. I felt that our guys bowled too fast to move the ball off the seam,and the disappearance of the clouds when England came out to bat made conditions easier for them. But those excuses don't make up for the one-sidedness of this match so far.

Rob Sitch goes for the Dees. Neil Mitchell does too, but the way he supports us is so negative, I'd rather he barracked for Collingwood.

I enjoy reading both forums(?fora). I love the opportunity to see the opinions of so many people as obsessed with the fortunes of the Demons as I am. I've learned a lot about football and the MFC from erudite people like WJ sand G Smith. I was unaware of bitter in-fighting at Demonology. Some posters are unable to express a differing opinion without denigrating someone who has a different viewpoint. It happens at 'Land too. I just skip those posts. So "Hey All"....I say, keep your links to 'Ology!

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ That's what I think, too,Pitmaster. I'm so glad the 2022 season of Australian Football won't be disrupted. That could just be the year we overtake Carlton for the most flags!(I hope!!!!)

I can't remember a series where we appear to be so utterly outclassed. The Windies used to kill us in the 80's and early nineties, but at least we could get a few of them out. This is Shocking!!! Everything's going wrong!!!! Katich, Ponting and Harris.....3 balls between them on a batting paradise!!! The Katich run out started it all. Trott's throw from side-on was a 1 in 5 chance at best. That led to Ponting's dismissal, which put the out of form Clarke in a dreadful position. The English are getting more and more confident. They now have four batsmen in best-ever form. All they need now is Swann to take a bag....an d that's looking SO likely. This is torture. I was so looking forward to the Melb Test....but probably the Ashes will be gone by then. Perhaps we'll be hoping to stop the 5 nil whitewash. The weather's our best hope.

Can't help thinking what a huge advantage the Poms gained by winning the toss. Even though their first innings was poor, it was obvious the Aussies would need a HUGE lead to make the game safe, batting fourth against Swann . Luckily, the Poms batted slowly this afternoon. If they'd got 140 ahead tonight, as they could have if they'd shown more initiative, we'd be in a very vulnerable position to LOSE this Test. It's still not impossible. Bloody Bushrangers have won the toss the last 2 games and chosen to bowl on featherbeds, with the obvious disastrous outcomes.

I know Andrew Gaff's parents,and his Mum is from a pathologically infatuated Demons family. His Dad barracks for Richmond, but his Mum is the more passionate supporter. They'd love him to stay in Melb and play for us or Toigs, but are becoming used to the idea that he'll probably go to WCE. I'd be delighted if somehow he dropped through to no. 12, but there's no chance.

Fantastic ton in each innings by McDonald, against a test standard attack.(though Starc was injured in the second innings). He deserves to be looked at seriously by the selectors for the Ashes series. Probably a better bat, and better bowler(albeit not a spinner) , than North. He would add variety to our attack, and looks a class batsman to me. Do any other Demonlanders watch some of the live Telecast on the Cricket Australia website?

Hope it's not a "Band-Aid" solution!

The poor Old Hammers. Stayed with Arsenal till the 87th min. Dammit! They remind me of Melbourne so much!