Deemania since 56

Great analysis, thank you.

It will be tight, it will be high risk if we seek just one or two key players, despite some immediate successes from this type of recruiting. We should be focussing on our troops of youth that we already have and those that we more naturally acquire as youngsters in future recruitment processes - developing their games, skills, confidence and roles within the 'machine' that the Dees may well become in the shorter-term seasons that follow. Casey represents a strong footballing springboard. Once, our recruits were selected, worked and discarded and our processing of football talent lagged, producing only a few mainstays each season - not enough! A good carpet needs a quality underlay - so be it with our onfield teams of the future.

Agreed, all absolute cow tish. Hogan has a head on his shoulders and it tells him to do as he is doing. It keeps him sane and to a large extent, low-profile in comparison to some egomaniacs only just nearing his aptitudes on the football field. We see a little frustration from him at times and for realistic reasons concerning 'team' but more frequently, tremendous smiles and motivation for the Demons and himself to continue along winning pathways. He is the epitome of all things good in football, with loyalty to the Club not discounted. He will retire in years to come as a Demon with a fantastic career in evidence. As we improve as a linking, team-oriented group of players with commensurate success ever-increasing Hogan, too, will contiuously improve and receive immense reward for his efforts in this regard. He is the new breed of footballing pros: skilled, improving, team-centred, successful and importantly, winning.

At that personal level, I have four MFC supporters in my family, with my wife and two of my sons avid supporters making up three members and one who would be if he was to live in Viccy more permanently. One drives to games from Sydney, my wife and I drive from Adelaide. The two of us will be at the Interstate Members function at the Sporting Globe hotel in Richmond, this coming Saturday and will be moving along to the Doggies game at the 'G soon after to bask in the glory of another win. Just love the footy. This might be my sixth trip for the year! Other than that, it's Foxtel. So it's: 1. Daddy 2. Mummy 3.Son No. 2 4. Son No. 4. As the grandchildren proliferate and grow, there's gotta be another 6 avid members on the trot to support and join the MFC. My daughter is impartial to the rough game, but her little son, at 6 months, already has the Dees' beanie and scarf, and not much choice in the matter. Another two children of mine got the Geelong bug years ago but Son No. 3 - and his sons - seem to think their dad knows everything, including all of the Cats. Never mind.

Wish him all the best with this, it can be nothing else than fabulous for the MFC. Shame that it is taking so long to occur, as there have been a few losses lately where his input across a game might have otherwise been improved, made more reliable and certainly, assist the team to snatch a win. He is the driver from whom aggressive, successful football might otherwise be achieved. Mixed tense but it has been across a few weeks whilst waiting ... a stable position, role and readiness has not been given to him from the FD - and might well represent the reason for his lapse in form and impact.

And other teams in or near the 8 need to beat Port to drop them down several rungs, if not out of the 8. Fanciful?

We know, but moving forward in a successful culture still needs to take place and at the moment, Petracca, for example, could be moved forward in quite a few regards.

There are a couple of players in the wings of abeyance that soon may be ready to contribute to our run for the finals. As there is space on our AFL listing (perhaps at this stage, Lewis, Bernie - sob - , Smith), I am champing at the bit to see a return of Vandenberg, Dean Kent and Hunt with perhaps a 'permanent' bench-man, Pedersen. We could be using the bench more fortuitously where the likes of Petracca (down on form but potent), ANB (down on form but prodigal), Keilty (up on form but untried), Spargo (down on form but enthusiastically quick) could all come in, including momentary trials of Baker for the wings. I'd also rate Frosty as our best 'rest of season' CHBack whose running and clearing could augment that of what we have and what could come off the bench for instant 'drive' and aggression.

Absolutely! Your emphasis on 'separation' of players up forward is so terribly important not only to create targets but to provide mulitiple options from where scoring shots can be taken.

He has gone way downhill since appearing on the Footy Show with mindless Sam and Creepy Eddie. He is immature and considers himself 'a cut above' whilst producing nothing exceptional for so long - a typical case of ego-mania - when potential is not released from hard work and training, and purposeful execution on the field. A hard and severe Casey workout is required to quell his impressions of grandeur for a firm focus on fitness, core skills improvements and his role for the team. Disappointing season that so easily could be rectified - and in a very short period of time.

Good concepts and reasons. Well done.

You got that wrong, LH. Terribly wrong and moreso because it is a frequent, week-to-week outcome right across the ground. The first rule of umpiring is: ' IF IT'S A 30 (OTHER TEAM) TO 70 (MFC) OR HIGHER, (MFC) CALL, PENALISE MELBOURNE. FURTHERMORE, IF THE MFC ARE GOING TO SCORE FROM THE DECISION, IT IS MANDATORILY A PENALTY AGAINST THE MFC.' You should have checked with Razor Ray before this post, as he would have put you right. Any doubts, ring Gil for a confirmation. Now, the second rule of umpiring is: ????????? (Fill this space.....................)

Fully agree on Jayden Hunt - maybe he can develop some more skills for this role in the next few weeks/months. He does need to be able to apply his speed with a change of direction. In a straight line, he's very fast. A capacity to weave reliably, to blind turn or to combine 'eyes up' scanning to teammates with that speed would be phenomenally potent.Could be the next Stan Alves if that was the case and located on the wing with 2-way running from HBF to HFF or spots in-between. He already has Alves' kicking aptitudes and grunt speed.

It would be nice to be considered (the MFC) as the destination team of choice for players of a particular calibre.

Start a new topic? Lewis for 2IC to the Head Coach? Lewis retires, takes on a senior coaching role with Dees? Lewis oversights Dees' game day tactics?

Yeah, clever, and we'll get more wet weather if it keeps up!

Oops, it's not the spelling, it's the dreaded 'g-skip' eyesight problem again, affecting finger accuracy on this cheap Chinese-made laptop computer. I suffer from this affliction as well. That, combined with arthritis, is another insurmountable barrier to spell-check activation at times. Sorry.

It means, Skuit, that the writer of the said piece was temporarily suffering from a case of the dreaded 'sticky finger syndrome' whilst using a keyboard (an alien device not half as utilitarian as pen and paper) to inform your good self - and all others using this disseminative form of communication - a particular thought of some widespread, supported interest. The transgression did not deter from the essential meaning or clarity of the said missive and so, most would ignore the occurrence as if to sympathise with the presence of the aforementioned affliction, and simply categorise its occurrence as just another cursed exemplar of the many trajedies of this modern life. Here's one for you that I hope you will find amusing, at least: How do you use the word 'and' five times in succession? A signwriter was working on a pub, out the front. The publican came out to inspect his work - but that work was not yet fully completed. The publican read, in beautiful lettering: 'Bull and Bush Hotel'. He was not very happy with the spacing of the sign. He told the signwriter that there needed to be more space between 'Bull' and 'and' and 'and' and 'Bush'.

Cyril was a terrific footballer and was a pleasure (and education) to watch when he came into play in his many matches. However, TC, he was not anywhere near the talent of Lethal Leigh who I place in my 'best footballers, ever' at third. This will be challenged by some but 'them's the breaks' in such discussions, with so many highly offended in comparison to their estimations! Anyway, here is my ranking stated above: 1. Robert Flower 2. Malcolm Blight 3. Leigh Matthews Sheet, what have I done?

And really, TMAC ain't a forward yet, either; recognised in the game as a full back. Players are played where they're needed.

There is something interesting in that discussion on Hurley. Very interesting. Almost a left-wing conversation.

Leigh Matthews comes to mind, first. There are others ...

Time to take the defensive battle back to Defence. Two-way running midfielders can respond in space as a consequence. Forwards can respond in anticipation to space as an enormous asset to the game we play. We literally have almost acres of space in which to play the ball over varying distances - but currently prefer to play in a choked manner against a crowd of opponents. Richmond don't. We interpret 'contested ball' as all important, weaving like dodg'em cars between pillars. With this cramped style of play, we create space for our opponents to exploit our control and limitation of their avenues for positive ball movement and possession. When we run hot - less frequently under this pressure that we create for ourselves - we are left in a position where our available space is stolen from opponents and hence, we are at some liberty to work methodically for possession, ball progress and profitable scoring opportunities - and many of these opportunities, at that.

Horrible reality. Imagine Clarko in that scenario!

Thought Max was great but so was Hibberd, working his way across the entire backline and manning up against them all and out-marking opponents and winning hard-ball-gets and finding teammates with passes and running here, there and everywhere within the boundaries of the specific timeframe and then returning to his position according to the state of play 'once he had achieved yet another clearance to our advantage at any given moment because OMac was drawn out of position 523 times during the game running around wrist slapping after the fact. I think this indicates that with a team of Gawn x 2 and Hibberd x 16, we could win the flag?