The Panglossian

Is this MFC SS? I dreamed that Footscray made a big recovery in Q4 from 30 points down, and scored a brilliant , after the siren, angle goal from a dubious deliberate o.o.b. free to win by a point.

We must be doing OK in the Dr McLelland trophy, with the firsts near the eight, and the reserves undefeated!!!

A golden rule for all AFL PLayers. NEVER play on from a mark in the goal-square. Think...Riewoldt and Shaw in the Grand Final. Changed the game, much like Holman tonight.

18 frees to 8 in Mudpies’ favour. Similar disposal numbers. That small crowd managed to influence them. There were some inexcusable errors by the umpires, none of whom should get a final. ( but Margetts will, in Perth, and help his boys over the line.)

I would like to personally congratulate Adrian on the podcasts. Andy...Is there anyway I could PM him?

Surprisingly negative commentary

If we beat the druggies , Footscray have to win both. Also, the Mudpies could lose both.

I don't think we blasted away into the forward line against Freo. We kept trying slick handballs with the slippery ball, and losing possession. Surely we should have roosted it whenever possible in those conditions.

Though we did beat them three times the next year, including in the finals. We were rank underdogs in all three finals in '87, won the first two by 200 points total , then , again as rank underdogs,would have beaten Hawthorn with a bit more luck. Northey really knew how to get te best of his players. The Club doctor told me at the B andF dinner in 87, that the only player that would have missed the GF was Wilson. He was confident they would have been able to patch Flower up.

Posters often say we bomb it long too often. I reckon we handball too often. Surely in those conditions you should gain as much yardage as possible with long kicks, which will probably go over the back. I think it’s rarely the correct decision to kick short to a 50:50, but in wet windy conditions it’s a sin.

I feel dirty. I’ve barracked for Collingwood and WCE in the last 3 days. Glad about the results though!

It was so like watching Melbourne last night. Hawthorn missed at least 5 sitters in the first half. Should have been unassailable at halftime. Essendon kept just in it by accurate kicking. Early goal in the third to Essendon, so they lift, and Hawthorn panic. The sides I’m barracking for always kick crookedly, and their opponents can’t miss! At one stage ESS were 14:3, with the three behinds all rushed!

Did anyone else notice Hooker squibbing it when a high one came in,and he didn’t realise he was by himself, ducked his head and missed an easy mark? He was so lucky, because he chased it and a contrary bounce came back to him, and he was able to pass off to in front of goal.

Torture to watch. Druggies coming back.

If Hawks had kicked straight, Ess would be 10 goals down at half time.

The only trouble was that by by eliminating Hawthorn, we opened it up for Collingwood. Coll. had a rotten record against Hawthorn at that time. I hate them both, but would marginally prefer a Hawthorn flag ahead of Collingwood.

Thanks George, you’re right, except he wasn’t told to come back. I just put myself through the agony of watching the 50 m incident again( on high volume). I was completely wrong about Melksham manning the mark for a team mate. He alone was on the mark. You were right that he was more than 5 m over the mark. The umpire yelled “hold”when he was already over the mark,. Williams looked as if he would play on to the left,so Melksham moved laterally and forward slightly as he yelled” hold” again. I think the umpire should have called “ back”, and then he would have known he was over the mark and quickly stepped back. The umpires seem to get a kick out of yelling “hold”, and it is not clear exactly what it means. Hold what? I hope Melksham has learned to be sure not to go forward at all when on the mark, when told to “ hold”.H e can go sideways, but not forward.

What exactly does "hold!" mean when the umpire yells it out? Does it mean " stop running in the direction you're going?" Does it mean "stop dead in your tracks"? Does it mean "turn and run at right angles away from the protected area?" What was Melksham meant to do when the umpire yelled "hold"? He was trying to do the team orientated act of manning the mark so the defender who was on the mark could move downfield. He appeared to be running wide of Williams. Was it already too late because he'd entered the protected area?. He appeared to be more than 5 metres from Williams at the time. An anomaly I've noted is when the umpire yells"play on" when a player takes too long to take his kick. He's immediately grabbed from behind and it's "holding the ball". Wasn't the player behind him inside the protected area?

Past.... Flower, Schwarz, Icke Current Oliver

Also there was that game v.Bullies at the MCG years ago, when Darcy got a free in front against Jimmy for the winning goal. The ump. that perpetrated that was on his first game back after recovering from a serious accident the previous year(he had to learn to walk and talk again). It was his last AFL match. It didn't help us....we lost because of it.

We’ve been on the very bad side of the ledger every game against the Bulldogs for years. ( remember last year when they got a very dubious ruck free against Max,for a match-clinching late goal, and Max responded to the umpire’s explanation with....”that’s ruck-craft, big boy!”) It’ll be interesting to see how we go on a Saturday after our surprisingly good go against the Mudpies.

That wasn’t the point of my O.P.

Sometimes.....but usually not.

I reckon the penalty of reversing a free kick for an indiscretion is too severe. It's really like 2 free kicks in one. The side loses the distance they were going to achieve PLUS the other side gets the benefit of a kick. It's often given for very minor offences, and can change a game ,...e.g. Carlton's lucky win against Freo. A more logical penalty would be to just ball it up. That would be equivalent to the normal penalty for a rule infraction...i.e. one free kick( in this case , loss of a free kick). What do other Demonlanders think?

That was the game where Footscray got that very significant late goal from a mysterious free against Max. Max came out with the gem...”that’s ruck craft, big boy!” We had all the momentum and looked like winning at that stage.