Deemania since 56

For decades, the Bombers treated us with contempt on the field, carving gaps and scoring opportunities through our often-makeshift defences and rather poor team skills. There were, of course, exceptions to this trend but these were short-lived and across a timeframe, very difficult to repeat. The Dees became the lambs of the competition as far as the Dons were concerned. Essendon played with mongrel by the bucket load. Tonight is our night to return the compliment - we are the new mongrel team ready to pounce.

All the makings of an intense Demon euphoria!

Agreed. Would still like to see him rotate forward on occasion. Balance in application, largely.

Dees by 25 points. Clarry and Tracca dominate. Petty surprises, once again.

Lest We Forget - AvB is our best 'unfortunate accident' son.

Difficult question to answer, fully, Smokey. Perhaps in some aspects of the MFC and onfield outcomes, a balance scale may tip slightly that way; perhaps, we are still in a position of improvement and one hopes like hell it is continuous - so the balance scale reading improves our spirits far above where it peaked in all of those years of minimal success. As for the Weid, we can be a little apologetic about his performances as if we accept that he is still the best option we have at the moment. If that is the case, this is not going to be a Premiership season for the Dees. We are prepared to wait for a Premiership whilst we wait for Sam to improve.

This thread is also getting very apologetic. Are we heading for another longer-term stint at failure being tolerable?

Wonderful reply.

Ripper attitude, held by many of us - let's hope our theme of the week is 'mongrel' and we anhilate across four quarters.

I pulled up at the lights in Swanston St / Flinders St corner one day, back in the old days when that was the way to cross from one end of the city to StKilda Rd. Blow me down, the car in the right lane parallel to mine was driven by Jack Dyer, happily munching on a meat pie and simultaneously eating a doughnut and also, combing his hair. He was obviously a man with much on his mind and perhaps, that is one of the reasons why he messed up a few lines. The funniest thing was that amid this hyperactivity, he also had time to glance left, see me watching him and then, offer a couple of waves in a friendly salutation. The lights changed, we moved forward and my last image of him was sloshing down a soft drink as he drove across Princes Bridge. Obviously on his way to Channel 7 in Dorcas St.

'Oh, if ya don't mind, Lou!' (When Lou Richards was telling the TV audience about how to warm fish balls in the cooking segment). I think the best ever was from Tim Lane (ABC) when he was describing on air (in Tassy) a particular long torpedo bomb from one of the players: 'He launches an up country punt kick' - that he apologised for, coz he got it all wrong!

Sounds like BB was working on a whisper in his ear for the game against Essendrug. Daw is getting interesting, matching it with Maxi and taking a few. Declase (?) could be a smokey for us with a few weeks of tougher stuff under his belt.

Not sure how meaningful such a small game actually was, but there are some really interesting observations provided to think about and consider. Thanks, 'Rigid.

Convincing and thought provoking - I like the idea of '...building fitness and form...' within the team. He's smart - it comes out in his best games so far - it also is a sign of adaptability and with his footballing experience, such adaptation to the 'new' Dees cannot take long. We just need him fit and in position to turn the tap on, not at a dribble, either.

Jack is the epitome of a contagion to play with mongrel across the team. Bring him in - fast!

These are key issues with Weed. A 2nd-rounder on offer might (and should) produce a 2nd or 3rd tall forward who is adaptable, very willing and trainable for the role. All parties would be better off if such outcomes would be the case.

The forwards will succeed - with movement and confident pace. This will give the midfielders some relief - not having to land the ball in the teeth of the goals for every forward despatch of the ball. Successful clubs are multi-pronged at high and mid-forward delivery and receipt. Multiple targets - from movement - will make a big difference. If forwards are not prepared to move, replace them with those who will. This is one of the reasons that I would like to see not only BB and Daw playing alongside TMac (who is mobile with Fritta), but also a 'recovered' Joel Smith and even one of the two brand new recruits on the circular waltz.

We cannot turn the Weed into a highly contributory player. We really do not have the right to keep him in abeyance within his football career. He has attractiveness within other clubs and surely, it is in his interests (particularly to blossom into what many see as a footballing potential) and the apparent de-stablilisation of our full footy team to allow him to seek his future - elsewhere, if so required. He has tried hard with the Dees; maybe someone else could elicit his full talents better than we have done.

That is a close description of the AFL's responsibility, yet is being manipulated on a 'suits us...' basis. In effect, it is a dereliction of duty unevenly administered by transparent error, time and again.

Effectively one player down - makes no consistent impression on the game - cannot lead to the incoming ball and thus, cannot interest midfielding disposals to be directed to him, in space - drops marks or bustled out of the contest - ideal candidate for the Filth. Critical position occupied on the field, a nice place to work on your suntan, apparently.

Major problem is that Selwood has got away with it for years - almost every match he has ever played - so it is now a 'normality' associated with his footballing and - because he plays for Geelong - the umpires never notice it. The umpires thus exhibit and seemingly encourage (at some AFL executive's pleasure) selective inattention to violations of the rules for certain clubs. Stinks, doesn't it? The AFL's piety is sickening...

Nailed it! Wear him out with a game-based half marathon.

Was hoping for a Bulldog win for that very reason. Sadly, it did not eventuate. At home, with the crowd and umpires ready for some crowd-pleasing decision-making, plus a heap of last quarter luck, Geelong got up. We will have to go super-hard against all vying teams at the top of the current ladder in the rest of this year's fixture. We can do it to ideal effect but we must sort the forward line and midfield ordinairiness.

Probably correct, DD. I still think that poor decisions have no balance in the wash-up - and the umpires' efforts to create that balance, to create an even, entertaining, crowd-pleasing event has no place in our great game when administered by them, not by the players themselves in playing at their best (for all that 'their best' might incorporate). The spectacle panned out as intended and the exposure to supportive advertising from a million sources was achieved - that is all that the AFL is interested in when 'staging' a game, offering advertising spaces, selling broadcast rights, fleecing supporters at the turnstiles, affecting the where, when and why aspects of umpire attention, oversights and decision-making of the game and then, re-selling the whole process once more in replay and media without thinking of the consequent/subsequent anomolies. I feel like having a beer in recollection of it all.

LAZY and over-regarded. Couldn't pull the skin off a custard.