Jumping Jack Clennett

I can see your point, Eastie......BUT...... Perhaps he could get hammie twinge for a few weeks.. We're playing one short.

Thanks, Coxy.

(note: these posts were in Early '06, and I had made a similar suggestion the year before). That absolute sitter chest-mark he dropped between CHF and the centre ,when we only 11 points down and fighting back well,was an absolutely catastrophic blunder by the Captain. Captains' goals inspire. Captains' blunders dishearten. The ball was swept up forward for a Geelong goal. It made me furious. I don't know what it did to his team-mates. Also the dreadful fumble after his admirable chase, when his opponent over-ran the ball, leaving him alone, with time to pick out an option near goal. I can't blame his eyesight for that one! Perhaps a run with Sandy would help him regain confidence.

We're very kind to David on this forum.

"There comes a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood leads on to fame and fortune!" Attack, Demons! Knock over all the pretty ones in one fell swoop !

I'll be sitting by myself in the South Terrace, wearing lots of Demons gear. I expect us to lose, but have faint hopes of a turn-around. If you don't go to games like this, you'll NEVER see the great heroic victories. Those of us who followed the Demons around from 1965 to 1987 are quite accustomed to frustration and disappointment! But the bad times make the good times more memorable! I was overseas with work when we lost to Fitzroy by(the still record margin) of 190 points(was it '78 or '79?) One of my mates I go to the footy with each week was there , and still rubbishes me for "abandoning the team when they were down". I wish I could say I saw that game. I won't miss this one! I reckon it's a "no lose situation " for Demon supporters on Sunday. If we do lose by 100 points, no-one will be surprised. If we lose by 50, it'll be regarded as a good effort. If we win!!!!! The best train trip ever!!! The whole season turns around!!! Those canny bookmakers are only quoting us at 15 to one! 15 to one shots do get up every now and then. If there was really no hope at all, we'd be 50 or 100 to one.

I know that very few Demonland posters are the slightest bit interested in tactical discussion(the lack of response to this post from early this week emphasises that). Tonight I watched the Bulldogs play StK on TV. I was surprised to see the Dogs play their star, Robert Murphy, down back(on Milne of all people) in the first quarter. Alarm bells went off with me! Are they trying to shut them down? Soon it was 5 goals to 1 in the Saints' favour. In desparation the Dogs moved Murphy forward. All of a sudden, the Saints had a problem down back and the game changed completely. By the way....could we have got Hudson?

Another 16 goal loss would be shocking for us, so I think the temptation for the footy dept. is to try to tag all the Geel. players, and flood as much as possible, in the hope we'll limit the amount of goals they'll score. Neita full-back, Flash tagging Jimmy! Neil Balme did this in 1996 against Port at AAMI, and lost his job a fortnight later. I firmly believe that in Australian football, the worst thing you can do to stop an opposition run-on is to stop attacking! Once the opposition know you're not trying to score, they know they've got nothing to lose by playing aggressive, adventurous football! Even if they stuff it up, and cause a turnover,they know that there's no-one in position to take advantage of the error. The defensive team compounds its underdog situation. I reckon we should try the opposite! Don't tag ANYONE! Play on at all costs! Try the ambitious! Be aggressive!!! I bet we try to cut our losses, and go defensive+++++. I don't blame DB for this.

[quote '4dees' That's right, 4Dees!!! I(and my family) will be proud to once again sit through a bad season as a staunch supporter,as in "65 to '87, with little or no joy. I'll watch the reigning premiers every year revel in ephemeral "bandwagon jumpers" patting them on the back. I'll know that when our day of glory arrives(should have been '87 or '90), we true supporters will really deserve the euphoria that a premiership would bring.(unlike the West Coast, Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide "new-chums", who have no idea what loyally following a Club through years, no, decades ,of thick and thin is all about.) In the mean-time, we'll have to go back to mid-nineties mode , and concentrate on the survival of our club as we know it. Every year we survive in our own right is a year of triumph. If you join up now, after this rotten start, you're showing the sort of loyalty we want!(though you should have joined earlier, now it is a real feather in your cap to make the commitment.)

Again, AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!! May I suggest we forget whatever tactics we're trying to persist with in our kick-ins, and defence of the opposition's kick-ins. Let's take a tape of what the opposition do.....ANY opposition, and try to imitate that.

I refer back to this post from Aug 07,which is so relevant to the "round 22,2007 "post.

Did anyone else notice the "wardrobe malfunction" on the MCG last Sunday? Those baggy white shorts on the Demon players looked like drum majorettes' mini-skirts. That's how they played, too!

AAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think it was against Geelong at the MCG in about 2000, midseason We scored our first goal just before halftime.They had 15. That day was even worse. The next week we were absolutely killed by the Saints. We ended up having a good season.(perhaps it was '98?) Remember what happened to Geelong in round one last year against the Bulldogs. The worst thing we can do is lose heart.....including the supporters.

[quote name='vanlo' "cale's kick to green in the last quarter was a gem, shows he knows how to use the ball..." What about the incident about a min. before that pass, when Cale was caught in a shocking position running back into the pack, and showed he was prepared to take the crash. With THAT body, it took real guts. Weetra stood his ground under immense pressure once, too. Brock came into form in Q 4. Johnson did a hell of a lot better than White. Garland strove hard. Jones tried his guts out.

Good suggestion, Owen.

Good Friday would be a better Friday if there was some footy to watch. It's going to happen before long! Sydney's had Rugby League for years on this holiest of holy days. The AFL can't let them take advantage of our city's religious piety any longer. Here's an opening for Paul McN! Set up an annual Melb/Haw, or Melb/Rich(Melb/anyone) game on the MCG every Good Friday evening. I reckon we'd be guaranteed 55000 attendance. There's no other entertainment on this most boring of Public Holidays. Let's take the initiative!

I just went back to the TV to see the final minutes of St K /Sydney, and what happens? Hall lurks behind Schneider who takes too long,(about 6 sec.) looking upfield after a free. Hall tackles him from behind when the Ump calls play on. Turn-over, pass to Davis at 50m. He misses. The result of the game could have changed as a result of this new interpretation, and rejection of(or ignorance of the law about) the 5m. radius of protection afforded to the player with the free kick. Demonlanders(and the MFC footy dept) are notoriously uninterested in these niceties.

I noticed on Thursday, and especially today in the Mudpies match, the umps are being strict on not allowing players much time to take their kick after a free or mark. After about 5 sec. they yell "play on!" , and woe betide the guy with the ball if an opponent is a yard behind him. He gets grabbed and pinged for "holding it". This is an error of understanding the game from the umps. In fact, if a player has a mark or free ,the rules state that he must have 5 m. leeway. The ump. should not call "play-on" if someone's less than 5m. from the guy with the ball. In fact, by absolutely exact interpretation of the laws, it should be 50m. for not being 5m. away. Tomorrow we should pick up on this, and make sure that a defender "sneaks up" from behind on a player with a mark or free who's having trouble finding a clear option upfield. As soon as the ump yells "play on", pin him , and cause the vital turn-over. Conversely,if it's our free , we should be ready for this error from the umps, and realise we're "fair game" from a defender less than 5m. away when we have free. Have any other Demonlanders noticed this new interpretation?

Hey, Bushy, it's the "Knuckle-dragger" here. Where were you on May 7th last year when I posted about "Pickett's vicious tackle" on Cornes? I guess that's too far back. You probably were barracking for Collingwood then!