Jumping Jack Clennett

Probably, but he used the drop occasionally in the fifties and very early sixties. He wasn't a great kick, but an effective one.

AlphaDee,I don't remember Terry Waters being a great exponent of the drop kick on the run, but he did do it, as did nearly all players.(as evidenced in footage of the '64GF). Brian Dixon was a short kick, but a prolific kick-winner. He did drops in good conditions. So did Ron Barassi. If you didn't kick drops, you weren't regarded as a good kick! John Ronaldson of Richmond won the '67 GF with two long drop kick goals from the Members boundary line.Paul Vinar of Geelong could kick a drop 70yds from full-back, but did the odd "grubber". Polly Farmer did drops in general play, as well as from marks and frees. Clyde Laidlaw and Stewie Spencer did beautiful drop kicks. Garry Hardeman could kick 65metre torps with either foot.....unique skills. Bobby Skilton could kick drops with his right foot as well as his preferred left foot. As Rhino pointed out, Peter Hudson was amazingly accurate with the flat, non-swinging , punt.The best kick for goal I've seen, including Peter McKenna. Tony Ongarello had the yips so much kicking for goal, he resorted to a place-kick from 15yds. out in the early 60's. Barrie Vagg slotted long angle goals with torps, as did Daicos........if only he'd been around in the drop and stab days! It was rare for players to be unable to use their non-preferred foot in those days, though wrong-hand handballing was a poorly developed skill.

Come on older Demonlanders.....jog my memory of the great kicking exponents of yesteryear! Do you agree with the conventional wisdom that the only kicks worth practising and using are drop-punts and "check-sides"?

I was full of admiration for the foot skills displayed by Paul Wheatley in the VFL GF. In exceptionally windy conditions he kicked long and accurately throughout the game. The AFL side missed his point kick-in skills this year. There are few better kicks in the AFL. BUT, most Demonlanders are too young to remember back to the 50's and 60's. Barry Davis, Hugh Mitchell, Tassie Johnson,Dennis Marshall, Billy Goggin, Barry Price, Fred Swift, Jack Clarke, Wayne Richardson, John Lord, Geoff Southby, Colin Tully.......and many , many others, were absolutely BRILLIANT kicks. There was more emphasis on kicking long, or stab passing it fast than nowadays. I was immensely proud, as an Australian football fan, of the incredible foot skills of our players. I watched the rugby players, and soccer goalies with disdain! Now THEY do drop kicks, and our guys don't. I can't help but feel, with the talent pool we've got now, plus the time they've got to practise,ourAust. footy players would be able to do amazing things, if drop-kicks, stabs and torps were still part of the game. I know that the conventional wisdom is that these kicks are not effective "percentage"play. But who's to know? Our guys are forbidden to do torps, but look how Collingwood lifts when Rocca gets on to one! Perhaps stab kicks are a potential answer to the zone on point kick-ins. They cover ground much faster than drop punts, so that "zoning" to within 5metres may not be close enough. Perhaps our great big talented muscly players of today could kick a drop 75metres....a good drop always went further than a punt. That's why full-backs used them. A75m. drop would put the "flood" into a frenzy! It 'd get there quicker, too. Can older Demonlanders prompt my memory of some other great kicks. Apparently Fred Fanning had shots for goal from the centre line with torps!

Weren't they shocking on Saturday!!. I felt sick when Johnno had to walk back and concede the (ultimately)winning point, because their zones left us with no options. Admittedly the long thin ground makes it hard, but Geelong seemed to have no trouble pinpointing a target at 50m-plus and launching attacks.(especially after Jamar's disallowed mark). We'd have killed them if our kick-in tactics(in attack and defence) had been half as good as theirs. We should study other sides' tactics and attempt to emulate them, since it's a glaring deficiency of our game.I'd prefer us to be innovative, and be trend-setters in this vital part of the game, but I've been harping on this for years and it falls on deaf ears.

Quote "Old Man Rivers" "We had an aboriginal kid in the 70's that promised the world - Colin somebody or that may have been his surname." Colin Graham was a very talented aboriginal left-footer. I saw him in Adelaide in the rooms before the game v. the Crows in 2004,wishing "Flash" all the best. Presumably he still has an interest in the Demons, but lives over there.He'd been in a "good paddock"! He played 35 games for the Demons from '75 to '78 after beig recruited from Kyabram(originally from Penola).

Hayden Robbins and Luke Norman.....two players I sponsored! I'm with "Flash" now!!

Robbie Walters.....9 goals in a game........to prison? Yep, Rhino, that was Nick Carter out there against Sandy on Sat. Didn't go too badly, either. And "Dirty" Dave Williams....if only we'd played him in the '87 prelim...yes, he captain-coached Rochester(where we got him from) to a premiership. What a handpass to Gazza at VFL Park for the winning goal in the(?)88 final v.WCE.

It's rare to see a player hit in the forehead like he was on Fri. I've suspected for years his eyesight's deteriorating. He often drops chest marks, too. Also, his leading is not what it should be, and that might be because he lacks clear perception of depth and distance when the ball's 70m-odd away. The onset of myopia can be so gradual and insidious that the victim is unaware of the disability. It's only when the vision is corrected(contact lenses or, more radically, laser surgery),that the sufferer realises how poor his eyesight was before the correction.