Jumping Jack Clennett

I agree that Essendon's had a lot of stagers,esp. Lloyd and Wanganeen(wasn't it great to see him diving against the Bombers when he went to Port! Essendon supporters soon learnt why other teams' supporters didn't like it) BUT!!! I still reckon Greenie made a bad mistake. All players will try to fall forward when stationery and attacked from behind. The tackler must pin at least one arm , and pull him to one side. I reckon most umps would have HAD to pay Monfries that free. Brad was all over him.

When Brad Green had the drop on Monfries at CHF, and climbed all over his back, converting what should have been a "gimme" free for holding the ball(and a shot from 40m. straight in front) to an obvious free against for "in the back", I nearly spewed. Yes, I know players deliberately fall forward when tackled from behind, but Greenie(one of my favourite players), made no attempt to pin his arms and fall to one side. A goal to us athat stage might have changed the game. This clanger must be avoided at all costs.

[quote name='twist' "I sat in the 3rd level of the Southern Stand near the 50 metre mark. I swear it was 95% Essendon." This is one of the many problems of the Melbourne Football Club. Having such a low following, our supporters are drowned out , even on our home ground(even when it's our home game!). Not only do our players have less inspiration from the spectators,but the umpires are influenced by the one-sided crowd. Hence it's harder to win games. Hence it's harder to attract a following. The downward spiral is self-perpetuating. The MCG was nearly as inhospitable to us as AAMI stadium on Saturday. But it's truly iniquitous that the umpires should play a part in this as they did on Saturday. Those ignorant morons should be sent to Bandywallop north next week.

(another go, hopefully with less typos) I can see there's no interest in this topic from most Demonlanders. Fair enough, I've noticed that before . The trouble is, I don't think the footy Dept change it,or take it seriously , either, since we never seem to improve, in what I regard as a vital keystone of Australian football strategy. If a side can't get this strategy right, what hope have they got in more complicated tactics in general play?

see next post

Did anyone read about the Hawthorn 15 man cluster in the "Age"? Apparently they force sides to play down the boundary lines, and have a team strategy to quickly clog up the other flank if the opposition try to "switch". A tactic that I suggested 2 years ago on this forum is being used, I noticed, by Footscray and North. (I'm not for a minute suggesting that I was the source, but at the time, I was hoping Riley might read it, since I know he read "Demonland".) This is the pre-planned "one-two" kick off and return to the close pocket. i.e. when there's few options upfield, the kicker-in does a quick short one to the pocket, expecting it back straight away, by when options may have opened up down-field(e.g. the"cluster" becomes unsure of which side to clutter up.) If there's no option.....do it again! Another advantage is that the time allowed "starts again". So a second(or third) opportunity to find a gap in the "zone" opens up. Needless to say, the kick to the pocket must be to a totally unguarded player(often this option is conceded by the opposition). The over-riding rule..."NEVER KICK SHORT TO A 50:50", must of course, be observed. I presume that's an over-riding rule, but often I feel our players are less inclined to kick LONG to a 50:50, than to kick short to it. What is the down-side to this kicking-in maxim?........."when no good option exists, KICK LONG AND WIDE." Do Demonlanders think this is an obvious rule? Do we use it?

Spot on, Hannabal! I'm glad to note several other posters agree with us. Note: I was referring to his appearance, not the standard of his play. But I do think he's surprised a few people who wrote off his Sandy good form, suggesting he'd never make it at AFL level. Someone else likened his play to the fledgling Sam Mitchell, and I can see that too. It'd be great if he turned out that good.(though classes below Wellsy). By the way, I think there's a recurring theme of small players who play well in the VFL who are written off as AFL possibles by regular VFL watchers for being too small or too slow. I think it's harder for smaller players to stand out in the VFL, but once promoted , they're surrounded by 190cm-plus guys, and their pace and agility makes them harder to catch, despite the faster ball movement.

None of you have got it right yet(I'm sure you're joking with Jacko!). Try further back!

Just watched the replay of the North game, and I couldn't help but notice a striking physical resemblance between Shane Valenti and a former Demon champ as a youngster. I just hope he turns out half as good. To whom am I referring?

[quote name='Whispering_Jack' Typical eloquent, thoughtful, and knowledgeable response, Jack. I'd love you to add it to the responses on "Crikey".

Weren't they shocking yesterday? I was sitting near the coach's box, and trying to signal to them to watch what North did (both in kicking in and zoning to defend ours), AND TO COPY IT! I knew it was a futile exercise on my part, but it's what I'd like them to do. Whatever tactic DB thinks we're using for kick-ins, it ISN'T WORKING!!! North have it down pat . They'd be a good side to copy. If we'd done it half as well as they did, we'd have nearly beaten them. Do other Demonlanders think I'm foolishly obsessed by this part of our tactics? Do they think we do it satisfactorily? Perhaps they think it doesn't matter.

Crowie barracks for the Demons,too.

Wow! What a towering kick it was! Great to watch! Yes, it landed in a 50:50 situation, and eventually bounced to a Footscray guy, but at least he was in the centre(circle, not square!). It could just have easily been in our hands, and set up an attack from the centre. I agree with Chook's comment, that , at least occasionally, the big torp to the centre pack with the crumbers prepared, could be a useful strategy. If he was kicking with any sort of wind, it'd go PAST the centre(of the'G!). Collingwood use Rocca's torps from outside 50 to inspire them. We have a guy with a fantastic talent to ROOST the footy.....we should use it. From his point of view, he should show it off more often....the grid-iron scouts could be interested, and he could put his ambitions to be a policeman after football on hold!

The lack of interest from Demonlanders in this thread fills me with pessimism for the success of the fund-raising. To me it's the make or break. Our leaders have decided that the situation has become so desperate , it's time to pull on the purse-strings of the faithful who'ver been as generous as possible for years and years. If this doesn't work.....what's next?

[quote name='Cards13' "Don't be fooled by Foxtel", Cards, the reason a sponsor contributes financially is to make its brand name more familiar. So we're not being"fooled" if that's their motive for dubbing in. I say..."Keep it up!!"

Is it on TV?

I find the plan to beg supporters to reach into their pockets( again) a trifle worrying. On the surface , it does seem a simplistic approach, with the downside being that there's probably only ONE opportunity to utilise this "Save-our-Skins"tactic. i.e., even if we get the 5m. in a month,we're headed for doom with no way out if we can't raise our sponsorship revenue. Look at it in perspective....it costs 25 to 30 million a year to run an Afl Club . Saving $500,000 a year interest helps, but within a year or two we could be looking down the barrel again if we're not clever, and this time we WON'T be able to have a desperate, last-chance call on benefactors. So the question is.....Is the situation now so desperate that we have to "play our last Ace"? But it looks like the current admin. have decided now's the time. So I guess we all have to go at it "full-bore". On the upside , Jimmy does seem to have raised the interest levels of dormant supporters.The team's poor performances can be tolerated more with the prospect of good draft picks in a good year for recruiting , and a new coach who's beginning to show he knows how to develop young players....i.e. there appears to be some solid grounds for optimism on-field. Perhaps this means it's a good time to capitalise on the momentum of optimism, and go for it.

[quote name='Jack7' Who did you bet on in round 22, 2007? I should have bet on us, since I thought we'd be too naive to out-tank the chronic, recidivist CHEATS.

[quote name='ChaserJ' "Collingwood v Melbourne clash from rd 20 in 1992. Schwarz in his headband days" I think Collingwood made a huge financial offer for Shwarta soon after this, but he stayed with us. (His sister told me.)

I forgot Morton, Bell and Petterd. All could become top 50 players. I deliberately overlooked Newton , Robbo and Junior .(hope I'm wrong).

I reckon he'd be leading the B and F at present.

[quote name='High Tower' "That's old hat......this has been said and said again and again and again.......................don't live in the past. live for the future. Jack Watts." Just a minute....! I was quoting YOU! When you brought it up again, I was pointing out that some of us had foreseen the necessity of losing round 22 at least three months before it came to pass. Don't pay out on me for living in the past. You took me back there. I'm confident for the future with the nucleus we've got.

Halfway through the Freo game, when it seemed all was lost, in desperation,I remember thinking....OK, we're going really badly, but there is a couple of positives....Colin Garland and Austin Wonaeamirri. Since then,Warnock,Buckley,Bate,Sylvia,Valenti ,Chris and Paul Johnson and Martin have all raised my hopes. Meanwhile Green, Miller and Wheatley have all looked like top-class AFL players, and Whelan, Bruce and Davey all showed the class we know they're capable of.Dunn and Bartram continue to improve. McLean looks like he could be a top ten player,and if he could make top 5... WOW! Rivers is a class defender at normal fitness. Moloney realises he has to perform to make the team when fit. Jamar did pretty well against Charman, who's certainly not considered a weakness for Bris. Don't write off Meesen(young and 200cm.). Zomer could be a key forward in 2 years. I'd like us to have the first draft pick(Naita, Rich or Watts),but I reckon we can be back to an onfield force with, basically, what we've got. To me ,the big question is, what's more important, coming last and optimising draft picks, or improving team confidence by getting used to being competitve....winning games!? What do Demonlanders think? Am I too optimistic? Are draft choices our only hope?

It's not listed on my on-screen Foxtel guide(not on Fox Sports 1, 2 or 3.) Is it on some other Fox channel?