discworld demon

I renewed my membership last week. Went to the shop at the MCG and I'm sure the bloke behind the counter almost fainted when I walked in! The place is so inaccessible it aint funny, I was probably the first walk in customer he'd seen in weeks. And I'm sure that if the place was easier to find we would have quite a few more signed up.

Thanks for the summary WJ. Certainly young Spencer is an exciting prospect and at 19 can only get better and better. He's an aggressive lad isn't he! The way he put down Goodes was nice to see but his kicking into the man on the mark (twice I think) was not! Who knows maybe Mr Meeson will get a long term bout of flu thus elevating the lad to the senior list. As for the forward line, well...Robo's to come back of course and maybe Bate can carry on from last week but is it worth giving Garland a go up front? Yep, I know how good he is on the backline (and yesterday he was really very good indeed) but he was a forward in Tasmania and should Rivers return and with Martin , Frawley, Grimes (gee wasn't he something else) et al going well I think it's worth a try.

[quote name='The Cold Hard Truth' date='Apr 16 2007 The Outs: P Johnson - Battled hard but one of the big men need to go

Hi John, Fond memories of you end Ted in the mid 80's playing gutsy footy for the Dees. I think you went up to Brisbane in their first intake - is that correct? Would have been interesting! Then you were recruited by K Sheedy I think. Anyway, welcome.

Gee, if he was picked to play against Geelong someone may try to kick him in the face

Also, why not contact MCC museums department. They should be able to help.

I vote yes

Went down to Geelong today. Pretty ordinary game. To be perfectly honest the Dee's were, well, underwhelming. I was however most impressed with N. Jones, the kid tried all day and I think was just about our most consistent player. Also Chris Johnson: CJ still has the figure of an anorexic fashion model but he's fast, intelligent and most importantly finds the ball and uses it to advantage. McLean needed the run. In the first half he was hardly sighted. But he came good in the third quarter, as if the rust and cobwebs had been slowly blown away and he again felt confident in his body. I must say when he ran onto the ground I wondered who he was. Baldness has (to my eyes at least) changed his appearance considerably. Personally and not having much myself on top, if I had it I'd flaunt it! Miller also played quite well. Again he took time to find his feet, but his second half was good lifting his game from a C to a B+. And he kicked a goal. Brent Moloney played quite well and was certainly not disgraced. Whelan was serviceable, as were Bell and Jamar. But Bate's game was just OK. And from time to time our skipper, unable to receive very much supply up forward was forced to run around from the half back line to the forward line looking for the pill. Robbo generally stayed at home, tried to take a couple of spekkies (one - about half a minute too early) but was finally rewarded with (I think) 3 goals. Having praised N. Jones, I must say that Travis Johnstone was for me almost his equal. Johnstone came into the game more in the second half and as ever made opposition players look foolish. His two sidedness is a gift few other players at this elite level possess. He looks stronger and fitter and (I hope) ready for a big, big year. However Geelong won the day, and in the end quite comfortably with Mooney shining after half time on the hapless Ryan Ferguson. But as I told the jeering Geelong supporters as I tried to slip away just on the full time siren - it's only a practice match, don't get too excited just yet.

I was at that match with my two very young daughters. We stood on the outer wing looking at Hawkins and Stretch battling it out all day. Other highlights included G. Lyon and his broken leg. S. Newport replacing Lyon and resurrecting his career in the process. R. Flower magnificent in the forward pocket (especially in the last part of the last quarter) and the good natured rivalry between Footscray and Melbourne supporters. The constant chants of "Come on doggies" had both of my girls somewhat perplexed: they kept asking to see the doggies, not the football . However the most intriguing aspect of the days proceedings was the drama of the Geelong/Hawthorn match down the highway. What was the scenario? If I remember correctly, Hawthorn had to win for Melbourne to make the finals. At 3/4 time Geelong was in front but, a Melbourne official raced out to our 3/4 time huddle and told our players that Hawthorn was in front thus giving them even more hope and spurring them on to a big finish. There were so many trannies tuned into that match that when Hawthorn did win (and with still a couple of minutes to go in our match) a huge roar went up from the crowd. I remember at the time a Melbourne player had the ball - possibly Newport - thought the siren must have gone, our game had ended and threw the ball up in the air in premature celebration. Luckily it was not retrieved by a Footscray player because (I think) the scores were still pretty close. So we won and a good percentage of the crowd, red and blue scarves being waved about, made it to their cars and then had to remember how to get home from the western suburbs. And my now grown up daughters still remember that match with fondness. And yes they still follow the Dees!

Before we drafted Dunn, I remember reading something about him on Big footy. Apparently he spent a lot of time as a CHB in under age comp. And (if I remember correctly) he had a reputation as a bit of a hot head, this being touted as a distinct disadvantage! However since his début he appears to have been the very model of on-field-sobriety both at Melbourne and at Sandringham. Anyway, is he worth trying as a CHB. He's tall enough, fast, attacking and appears to be putting on the muscle!

Printer probably didn't use non - fade inks. should always be specified. Many years ago Australia Post (then the PMG) issued some stamps which were inadvertently printed using ordinary ink. They had to be withdrawn from sale but the few that got out are apparently worth a lot of money (need to be kept under wraps of course).

I've mentioned this before: just how accurate are some of these statistics? If a player comes to a club at (say) 17 years of age weighing 75 kg and 186 cm tall, who's to say he will be that weight and height in 6months to a year (let alone 2 years). Yet often player statistics are not changed year in and year out. Strangely though in the case of some players (D. Neitz being a good example) their heigh seems to drift up and down in official records from year to year. Have a look at the team photo in the 2006 Melbourne FC Magazine (Jr McD on cover); In the back row Brent Moloney looks taller than Adem Yze yet he is officially 6 cm shorter. And standing next to Brent is Colin Sylvia also listed as being shorter than Yze but in the photo looks taller. Maybe Brent and Colin were cheating and standing on tippytoes! Down the road away you will notice the bloke with the silly grin on his face. Clint Bizzell, listed at 188 cm also looks shorter than Sylvia or Moloney. In the second back row the 193 cm tall Michael Newton certainly looks taller than the 192 cm tall Jared Rivers - but I reckon its the hairdoo, give him a Clint Bizzell special and he'd be 3cm shorter. It seems to me that players height and weight statistics are at best just rough guides.

Hi Rolling, yep, knew you were being facetious - however - and remembering S.Godfrey's underwhelming kicking skills - I believe that the practice of Yoga should help athletes gain that extra edge in flexibility and (just maybe) help them to kick better.

I've practised Hatha Yoga for years - great for all-round well-being and should help any footballer maintain general flexibility and health. As for kicking accuracy, not so sure. But if they practice any form of meditation with the Yoga (and I know some footballers do ) this should help concentration and thus maybe accuracy!

I'm sure such aesthetic subjects wouldn't be pondered on the Coll*#@w*#d discussion board.

Not sure of answer to your first question (David Cordner by any chance?) Trivia: tri = three, via = roads. How that came to mean an unimportant piece of information - I don't know.

Grew up there. Just a short walk down Black Street to Middle Brighton Station and a 20 minute train ride to Richmond and on to the G to see Robbie and the boys lose another one. Ah the memories

Haven't seen Rod Keogh's name among the glitterati so far mentioned. Now there was a real dissapointment. Won all the minor league medals as I recall but could not do it in the big-time (and he wore no. 31 to boot). Off sold to the saints!

Which Jacko do you mean - Alan or Mark? Alan was sort of OK, Mark was a joke!