Deemania since 56

No flash in the pan - just an honest, modest and 'bestest' type of young footballer doing all the correct things, consistently, and these attributes have clearly shown his talent, longer-term potentials and matching performances with some of our experienced best. Hearty congratulations young man, not a step wrong so far with an enormous upside to come.

Bedford could be a future AFL play-maker, alongside Woey's son. The Weed still looks disinterested, unmotivated, hesitant, seconds behind his role for the team.

Brown is on the money, reading the incomings very well and towering over the packs. A couple of 'gettable' misses that may well have been converted if he took a longer run-up. Dunstan looks capable but is lacking in explosive pace for a senior role (at the present moment). Woewodin is good value but the 'cramping' of the game, packs and loose ball receives are doing him no favours. We are well ahead at half-time, but need to lift the pace considerably in the second half. There are signs of some good young talent for the Dees - some of these young guys need to experiment with being play-makers in advance of the ball - just like the work of Tracca, Fritta and Clarrie.

He played another great game, tonight. It was made more impressive in the oppressive humidity..

Neil Diamond wrote quite a few of the Monkees' songs. Others were syndicated through the writers of the TV networks producing the MKees series and recordings. In this regard, they were totally controlled. Shame, because they actually had talent!

Funny that. I have turned off for two televised games this weekend - just not interested in other matches, now that '... we can beat anyone...' The only pre-game interest is: who is in the team, predicting how much ahead on the scoreboard at the end of the game, how badly will the umpires' displays be?

Awww, c'mon, Bbo, nothing better on the beach than a cray, some fresh oysters, a blonde and some reisling. Surely?

Should put us on the top rung of the Ladder, as well. Kick straight, boys!

The GC team is full of young blokes who are mobile. Skills fail them often, they run so much. Hunt is needed to catch them up forward to then rebound the ball for our opportunities. Bowey should handle Salem's role quite well and should be a great 'assist' in the close backline clearances. Hunt, Bowey and Smith - equally mobile and really good interceptors/defenders against this mob, I'd reckon. Dees by 50 points.

To see Alves, Hassa, Wells, Barassi et al - altogether legendary.

....lest it interfere with administrative and governance wishes and intentions.... Fully agreed with your position. Umpiring has become (progressively) randomised crap. It cannot be rationalised under current processes.

Would eight earn respect, as well?

The umpires are blind to many things, repetitively, for many teams and of consequence, invalidate their functions onfield - leaving players, coaches, fans and umpires/referees of many other sports in the limbo of uncertainties and preferences. The AFL must fix this - fairer playing fields must be more widely guaranteed and assured. There is no excitement or entertainment in the uncertainties of what has become 'pot luck' umpiring. We, as supporters of Australian Rules, appear to be the only code where such continuous umpiring errors exist without review.

It is not funny, it is repetitive and frustrates the hell out of me (and no doubt, many others). How many times do we see - season in, season out - Gawn and Clarrie get head-high bashings, on-ground stomps / falling body-weighted knee drops to the whole body but particularly to the ribs and knees, including an assortment of other violations (known as '...we can get away with these...') with absolutely no penalties from the umpires? Footiscrag are prime movers in this regard, coached to elicit their own free kicks with mere theatricals and to seek opportunities for infringements that are known to slip the umpires' attentions/support their intentions.

Still agree with you on this one, picket - very strongly. He is not the type to interfere with teammates but instead, to lead and play lateral forward opportunities. Maybe one day....a real potential contributor to the effective work of Fritta on the other side.

I'd like to see JSmith up forward to support BBB.

Tomlinson is a bit stiff, I feel. My preference would be to have him on the wing for his space-making and that could release Gus to many possible roles (wherever there is trouble, basically). Hunt did a reasonable shutdown on Weightman and is still capable of those clearance runs we have come to love ... however, hiccups in his disposals still seem to prevail. Salem - we bloody well miss him and what he brings no matter what the stress he may be under. Just hope that Hibbo and Lever come up hungry for the big game contribution. TMac should be looked at for a start from the bench, leaving forward and backline options where necessary. Bedford needs minutes and made a fair contribution - his next will be better, and he has pace and mobility.

Watching Grinter onfield is still a particular treat of being a Demon fan; it is difficult to imagine these days how to explain his sacrifices and 'extra efforts' for the sake of a club that was stressed to the eyeballs and struggling to win a game. He was a tough nut, he was more than merely heroic in games, he was largely unstoppable, he had the best passing foot across all distances that you might ever see in a lifetime; he was also a sacrificial lamb.He, like so many ex-players in his company under his marshalling, alongside so many of his fans and onfield observers stayed loyal to the Club and his guiding brilliance.

Attempting to save face, was the Bont. Well beaten, himself and across his team, there ain't much point in remonstrating with the game's stars once the final siren ends your agonies. Sorry Bont, not impressed. As for Trac and Clarry, hope they got a few well-selected words into the opposition captain, as there is a great deal that could be useful to him sometime in the future, albeit modestly and sensitively delivered. 'Carna Dees!

All signs of an eroding footy club, into a descent of misery.

The pre-game ceremony was the best, ever. To see such a handful of my lifelong footy heroes carrying the flag was almost a tearful observation. Barassi, Stan Alves, Hassa, Greg Wells ... plus the notables of the more modern era ... just knew the game to follow was already won.

Added values to his game from the North Melb days and these appear across the board, characterised by good signs of forward and ground pressure; interestingly, our midfield 'feeders' are starting to better position the ball for BBB so that he runs into to flight and can use his extraordinary reach to mark - clear of the opponents. He was merely 'stiff' to miss a couple of goals last night, otherwise his tally might have been absolutely frightening for the Doggies' players. Our midfielders seem to have learned how to deliver without always bombing it onto the forward's head. Now, let's have an impressive JSmith up there, as well, just as soon as Salem can return to the backline and the entourage of other GF backs get onto the field.

We certainly missed Salem's congested clearances and his well-timed , more thoughtful clearances and play-making. But the menagerie backline actually held up well - enough to confuse the Doggies, that is.

Not even warmed up for the season.

All seems fair, on reflection. However, I'd still like to see Smith play some minutes in our forward line, the closer to goal, the better.