Jumping Jack Clennett

What have the following 4 men got in common? Darren Goldspink Mark Risciutto Nathan Buckley Nathan Brown(WB) They all made their comeback against Melb, and had a big influence on the result! (Hopefully a negative influence from half-fit players!)

That's right.....I got the name wrong. It was Nick Walsh. He didn't strike me as a "cry-baby".

Remember that young Irish guy,(?Nick) Murphy we tried on our supp. list about 5or6 years ago(we sent him to St Kevins, but he didn't make AFL). I spoke to him at a club function, and asked if he'd played on the prospective boom no.1 draft pick at Caulfield Grammar(Judd) while representing StKevins. He said, yeah, the dirty b..... trod on my guts and deliberately twisted his foot around,with all his weight on it,during a scrimmage. I remember thinking,"perhaps we don't want him at Melbourne!" (Still had hopes at the time, and knew he supported the Demons). This fits in with his recent blatant gouge, when he couldn't possibly have argued he was acting for his own safety.He cotradicted the panel's statement that only his hand was on Brown's face. He said himself it was hand AND fingers(when you think about it, it would have to be.) As for the WCE official comparing his image to Hird's..what rubbish! AND,where were the fines for public statements(by Judd, Malthouse and other WCE officials) trying to influence the tribunal? I still wish he played for us, despite his mean streak!!!

I agree with you, Rampaging D's, I don't like the idea of the guy who's done what we were all taught to do.....go in and GET THE BALL, getting penalised. Usually, he is DESPERATELY trying to dispose of it. The three blokes with their knees in his back and neck are the ones who are actually holding the ball in. THEY should be penalised. They are stopping the flow of the game.

I reckon that the first player we should delist, "Lord Byron"' is Byron Pickett. But not before retrieving the $135000 (half a season's payment) he took for doing nothing in the pre-season.

Looked terrible. Was terrible. Will definitely get off.

I agree, Beelzebub. I've been boring readers to sods for years with my posts on our poor kick-ins. I've now simplified my pleas down to "TAKE THE KICK-IN QUICKLY", before the opposition have time to organise their zone. All the top sides do this. There was no more important opportunity to follow this than that last, vital,kick-in on Sunday. "Flash" got the ball, but he waited for TJ, and by that time there were no options upfield.......game, set, match. Admittedly, during the game, we'd been quicker than usual at kick-ins, perhaps because of last week's(in Perth) lamentable performance.

We must not let the opportunity to have a bloke like Voss on our side pass. He is a completely different character from Tim Watson , so I don't think Tim's failure as a coach should preclude us from taking him on without assistant experience(besides, who else has had much success with the Saints since Jeans?).Did Roos or Laidley have much of a gap between playing and coaching? How long was it with Matthews? Remember the rush of senior coaching offers Balmey received when we sacked him? It'll be interesting to see how highly sought-after Neale will be if we let him go when his contract expires.

I'd describe Judd as amazingly strong.

Remember Troy Simmonds' build after about 3 seasons at Melbourne? Protruding bones everywhere. Went to Freo, and by season's start had bulked up big-time. It wasn't that he matured. He was over 21(?22) when he left, after at least 3 pre-seasons. There's something in the water out West. Benny's strength and confidence has always amazed me. Almost supernatural.

[quote name='re draft molan' I like yours best, "Redraft", but I'd leave the skipper out of the top 10 till he presents, and holds his chest marks. How I hope he makes me look silly on Sunday, but I'm not confident!

[quote name='deanox' JJC and fan Sorry, Deanox. I didn't want to offend "Fan"(whoever he is), because I seemed to be getting under his skin, and I'm sure we both have the Demons' welfare very much at heart. I apologise if that last post seemed a little self-indulgent. Thanks for your input to this discussion.I stand as possibly corrected on the youth policy! But in answer to your suggestion about statistics on PKI's(point kick-ins)., forget it! You'll hear that this year we've scored something like 5.5 to the opposition's 6.3 from PKI's.(just a guess) But this won't reflect the number of times we've been left in highly pressurised positions after a PKI, when, after 3 kicks, the ball is still in the defensive 50m. If you just watch the game(not from ground level), you'll see that our opponents are exploiting our lack of expertise in PKI's and defence of PKI's. Stats aren't necessary. Just watch the game!!!

Surely he just claims severe provocation. That gets you off anything, even when there's no proof.

My impression is that we kicked in better this week. But I think I've found the consistent error in our defence of oppos. kick-ins. There's a repeated hole in our zone! It's at 55m, on the left side, hafway between the half-forward flank and the boundary,. The other sides have noticed this , and exploit it with the second kick, which often, after a run with bounces, lands well forward,often to a fast leading forward. I have no doubt that the statistics would not back up this impression, but I've got a strong feeling it's correct. BTW, "Fan", I've already said that my (and many others)impression on the youth policy could be wrong,though I pointed out that it may be misleading to generalise on 9 years,with 3 years' stats from 2 teams out of 16. But no, I definitely DON'T think ND is one of the more "adventurous" coaches in the AFL!(I don't think I'd want him to be). Thanks for calling me a thoughtful poster. I DO think about the game, and watch replays of all thegames(including the ones I've attended, which is`all the Vic. games)even when we lose. For what it's worth, I find your posts interesting,well-considered and often illuminating. It'd be amazing if we always agreed!

What about Ooze.......! 30m. out . Perfect angle for a left footer.Shocking, demoralising miss from a skilled, experienced player. But he's always been unreliable from set shots, I reckon. He played a big part in a similar loss at Docklands about 4or5 yrs ago, missing from dead in front. Was it the Bulldogs, or North? I think the former.

"Its just poor decisions in triplicate." Beautifully put!!! But I don't think we should give Luke another go,"Re-draft Molan"!!!!! Where is he now? Are you him!?

.Quote "Fan" ....." But why are you critical that a couple of posters want to try and present the other side of the argument that supports the clubs approach?" Far from being critical , I'm honoured that you take the time to reply to my humble suggestions. I admitted I may be wrong on the youth policy, but I gave a timely warning on the use of statistics in arguments, suggesting they can be used mischievously. I know of no statistics that prove or disprove my impression that we enter a mode of desperate defence after our point kick-ins.Yet opposition teams seem to regard a point by Melbourne as an opportunity to break into attack. It seems we are slow to kick in, where other sides seem to think it important to get the ball back into play quickly. My opinion that the footy dept underestimates the importance of point kick-ins is not just based on what I see, but what I heard from a footy dept leader at a pre-season interview. He stated that point kick-ins are not a vital aspect of footy. In any one match, there are probably less than 35 PKI's , compared to 100-odd stoppages, and that is where it is more important to concentrate one's efforts. As for your suggestion that I'm part of a "kick-fest" on this site, I think that's grossly unfair. If you read my posts, you'll find I'm desperately trying to think of positive suggestions. I don't involve myself in criticising players like Yze, Johnstone and Godfrey, as many people do, both on and off this forum. OK, I had a negative opinion of Pickett's tackle(which left me with same sickness in my gut I felt with the Long/Simmonds incident), and I did say his form was bad. But he seems above criticism on this site.I probably should have kept my thoughts to myself on Byron. Don't hold your breath waiting for my research, Fan! I'm allowed to voice an opinion based on an impression, just as you, and any other poster is, and does. Often my impression will be wrong, but just occasionally, there could be something worth heeding. Remember....."strategy without tactics".....etc......applies to point kick-ins, too!

Good on ya, TJ. I find it comforting to know that the guys who are out there representing the Club we love are feeling the pain as acutely as we supporters do. Some people accuse TJ of not trying, but they obviously don't know he's yapping more than any other Demon, and despite his casual appearance, he's giving his guts for the club.

I wish we had Bachar Houli. Apparently he has talent to burn, and brings a huge number of supporters. Not if it meant we missed out on Ricky P., though.

We're being VERY cvonservative in our approach to playing Newton and Buckley. Yet, curiously, we threw Garland to the lions.

Oxxx,the facts were correct. You disagree very vehemently with my opinion. So have all the other posters. But it'd take a gutsy poster to this Forum to admit he agrees with my opinion on this matter, after seeing the emotional uproar caused by my suggestion that a tackle that could have caused spinal injury,was unwarranted. I admit that I might be too concerned with player safety and players' "duty of care" to one another, but it's completely wrong to suggest that I want to ban physical contact from our game. It's unfair to say that my opinion is" stupid" , as several hotheaded posters have suggested.

"Does anyone else find this comment strange?" Exactly what I thought, Adsy.