Deemania since 56

Should give them all the time to think about their contributions. It would also assist the team, no doubt, to review previous 'managing' decisions plus blood a new skill set within the team prior to finals. (Have a look at their respective contributions and impacts.)

One would hope...

Fairy Nuff, have noticed it only on occasion so perhaps I had forgotten this aspect of his game.

Well posited discussions. The game most certainly is degenerating; so many new rules/protocols have facilitated widespread onfield misinterpretation and manipulation within an ether that most assuredly the AFL does nothing to ameliorate. They (the AFL) will be the last to admit their error ... in the meantime, such confusion and practice is condoned.

Many of the Doggies players have now mastered the 'Selwood shoulder shove' whereby a completely legal tackle is dealt with by the following: the player feels the tackle, noticing that it is a good one the player forcefully raises his arm from under the tacker's arm in the legal, low position simultaneously with the above, the player 'ducks the head' and torso as the offending arm is raised to shoulder height or higher, to neck height, thanks to the 'duck' and their tackling arm being forced upwards the player stops all forward momentum and drops to his knees or lower where body weight forces the (talented) tackler's arm even high up across the head. At this point, some very artful dramatic queens feign horrible agonies and twisted, facial contortions for the alleged violation of a head-high tackle, yet get up once the free is awarded without a problem in the world a few wobbles of the head by the player exacerbates the now 'head high' infringement status and short-lived head pains a free kick is rapidly awarded from the umpire, which is absolute 'tull bisht'. These little tricks and deceptions are now rife and well-practised amongst the Doggies' on-ballers and feeding lateral forwards, enabling many frees and deceptions in any game, and hence a high, positive free kick tally. There's something rotten in the state of play when rules can be manipulated for artificial gain.

I like this...Smith is a forward and deserves a go.

Disagree somewhat, but that is 'opinion' for you. Futhermore, he'd be hungrier for the ball and the team contribution now that he is over his injuries.

Basically agree but I feel that Harmes has, in the main, been grossly mis-matched, time and again.

This has been a huge factor to overcome, setting up more individual plays than team plays as it is uncertain in the players' minds when the hard work, effort and decisive winning of the ball will be interrupted - even though the opposition has been unable to turn the tide their way without umpire support. Suddenly, through the whistle, the Demons are in trouble.

...and a couple of up-coming games with umpires who are accountable...

He should be ...

An hour a day, that's more than enough to increase accuracy in kicking for goal from a variety of distances and angles. Hold the ball correctly. Keep the line of the ball constant - even in the drop. Have your kicking stance, leg and follow through closely observed and then adjust these for good, should the line be wrong. For all kicks except the torp, keep you nose almost over the ball with nil head movement (and no trunk movements). Minor adjustments are thus easy to make. These will usually be about the drop and its correct distance - same as the golf address but with a close-in moving ball - a big one, too. Observe and appreciate those factors that adjust the flight of the ball from absolutely still atmospheric conditions - and then take these into account in the kick. Regular practice will allow for windy, wet and distance parameters to adopt. Know you kicking distance/s to the millimetre and do not attempt hero-style, post-high big bombs - sure to put your kick off line in most circumstances. Practise snaps, instep and outstep; maintain a preference for a straight line through the sticks by contact control with the foot and the leg action. Keep practising day after day for an hour. Seeem- pill.

Some coaches like to be seen as 'decision-makers' and with such a small arsenal of ideas, Goodwin is one of them.

With regret, Spargo and ANB were smothered physically and by foot.

Good team. Might be time to manage Pickett and to retain Jordan (to turn him over time into a loose cannon).

It really does feel like a syndicated, 'old boys' conspiratory against the Dees, that many amongst us cannot for some reason accept or acknowledge. It has pressed us, for years; it is still pressing us after we have - as a footy club - re-organised and re-structured against the odds and expectations of 'the rest of them'. We live in hope, as a consequence. Will our Board ever do something about it? Nearly all of the consequences of last night's footy match against the Doggies were in the hands of the umpires and were so delivered across the game without sanction, excepting of course those few that were too blatant to be ignored. However, the power of the whistle applied and re-applied to quell the eveness of the game that would lead to a different end result.

As I said during the week, the umpires will destroy our game chances, once again, through incorrect use of the whistle (in any way that they 'can get away with'). The attempt is made in every game the MFC plays.

Even though I am a bi-zen, I feel the same about the health workers - absolute heroes amid the ungratefuls.

Tonight will be a night to have Vanders ready to pounce, steamroll, screen, shepherd, anihilate, flatten, tag, catch, frighten, intimidate, display mongrel, incapacitate, behead and generally straighten out a few bends in a road puddled with a few atmospheric discharges and white, read and blue bodies. Harmes must play, yes. So why is Viney? Vanders would do twice the job.

That is true, most likely, and could be a very stark and sobering moment. I'd like to think that we could match the Doggies across the first half (umpires willing, of course) and then turn on a classique second half - tearing them to shreds on the romp home for another 4 points (these would add enormously to the credibility of the MFC).

As he was an ex-Demon, and a real try-hard on the footy field, we should all respect Beveridge who has proven to be an astute coach, tactician and developer of young footballers, and these criteria are far beyond his threshold playing skills in the red 'n blue during tough times within a weakened list and really awful umpiring for years on end.

You are obviously fast on the uptake, Mr Steve. Well done!

No, Mate, your Mate got it correct first time, Mate and allegedly, Mate, it is on 7 Mate so sit down with your mates to enjoy a few cans whilst watching the game, Mate, on 7Mate with all your mates, Mate. Seeya, Mate and don't forget: Carna Demons, Mate.

All heil John Northey, the footballing magician.

Yes, the game outcome is very likely, PF, to be determined by the umpires, their tendencies for 'entertaining footy' and catchups (particularly if the Dees are ahead or look like going further ahead), the selectively unobserved Doggies bending of the rules such as throws, chops, hitting key Melbourne players from behind - preferably in the head and neck - knee drops, arm chops at all costs and an assortment of further incursions as these opportunities may occur. Overcoming the 5-goal advantage across a game from the umpires, the Dees still should still prevail although the margin will be small and hard-fought. Holding one's breath for this game; several things are just bound to amplify annoyance and disbelief. Carna Dees!