Neil Crompton

Buzz kill

As a youngster in '64, my younger brother and I barracked for the Dees. Just down the road we had close friends (brothers the same age as us) who also supported Melbourne. Thinking back, I cannot remember why we all supported the D's. It was strange because their father had played full forward for St Kilda, and our father had played wing for the Swans. My friends mother had grand final tickets and asked if we wanted to go with them. Of course we did. On the way to the 'G driving down High Street Prahran, not long before Punt Road, we developed a flat tyre. We stopped in what seemed like the middle of the road (guess we were soon to turn right at Punt Road) in very heavy traffic, which were probably all heading to the G as well. As we sat there not knowing what to do - but sadly thinking we were going to miss the GF - the traffic, which included a tram, piled up behind us, and none of them appeared sympathetic with our plight, nor in a happy frame of mind. In fact I think the only thing we all had in common was that we thought we were all going to miss the Granny. Ultimately a kind policeman came along and put us all out of our misery by changing the tyre for us. I've never seen so many happy faces in my life as our car was on the move again - that is, until about 3 hours later. Again it's funny that I can remember details about a flat tyre, but can remember so little about the game itself - the Gabelich run and goal, and the winning Crompton goal are about all I can still see - and of course the sea of joy among the red and blue at the conclusion.

Never come across so many woodies on the morning after. Must have been some night

Ha, you were super critical of everyone picket! Particularly Max. Hope you are feeling better about our team this morning.

I’ve only ever seen one better win by Melbourne than this win tonight. That was the last game in ‘64.

What do you think of Maxy now picket fence?

no question, but that is still not 2 or 3 goals a game as was being requested by dees189227. There are not too many forwards averaging 2-3 goals a game, let alone mids.

Sorry, but what other mids kick 2 or 3 goals a game?

I wonder how much the success of a player like Luke Jackson has inspired the apparent interest in Mac Andrew?

After Saturdays game, I am not going to think about anything else but the first qualifier. I am not going to read any threads about what might be, or what we might do, or what odds we are winning that last match. The GF word is no longer in my vocab (till we are there). I've spent too many years dreaming of an outcome that hasn't happened. Been disappointed too many times. So I'm only going to focus on that 1st qualifier, and no further (till we are there). I know there is an overused term for this, and I'm sure the players focus is solely on the next game, but for once in the last 57 years I am not going to dare to dream of what might be. (I will however back-read everything I missed out on in Demonland when we win the GF)

BT would think a high school is for stoners (great work Jake, may you have a long, injury free career with us)

For someone who has played so little football in the last 2 years, I thought Joel did a pretty good job. Whether, with more game time, he can step up and become one of our key 7 selected defenders, only time will tell. But on yesterdays performance, I'd have him in the team next week in front of Hibbert, who has lost his mojo, and yesterday allowed his direct opponent 29 disposals, and 8 score assists. Whatever happens, I'm glad he has received another contract, and hope its an injury free year for him, and that he is able to reach his full potential. (And FYI, Ben Brown didn't have a disposal in the last 2 quarters either, and Melksham also had 2 quarters of zero disposals - just saying).

If it’s true, good luck to Joel. I hope he goes well

Don't like you boasting Picket, but your judgement call on Jake early on was spot on. Personally I didn't think he was ready - how wrong was I? Congrats on the call.

Haha Let’s hope not! You have waaaaaay too much time on your hands D. Either that or the confirmation of a top 4 position has messed with your brain. (Sorry D, ignore me, I’m in my 30th month of lockdown (obviously an exaggeration) and I’ve lost my sense of humour).

I’m calling you out Colin! In the bio under your avatar you list “apathy” as your main interest. Anyone who can write such an impassioned post as yours is certainly not apathetic!

You mean learn from it like he’s learnt from his HTB episodes? I don’t think Jack learns anything very quickly. But let’s hope he does.

I think you'll find that if the Club thought there was any chance an appeal would be successful, we'd go for it. The fact that we are not, speaks volumes to me.

Having had some experience with FIFA's strict requirements and standards for World Cup stadiums and training facilities, whatever is handed over to us at the end of the women's World Cup will definitely be state of the art facilities. In addition, one key element of any World Cup bid is a demonstration of the legacy of what happens to the facilities once the Cup is over. While I have no idea what our Cup bid looked like, a legacy of providing key facilities for the worlds oldest football Club would certainly not have hurt our bid. "Legacy", from my experience, generally implies the item is given away. If this is the case, then we could end up with a state of the art home base in our preferred location for basically no cost. This would be a stunning outcome for the Club if true.

Majak to be interviewed on The Project tonight

Viney has lost me.

Just seen why Jetta and Jones are no longer AFL standard - sad.

And to emphasize your point Binman, just have a look at the Disposal Efficiency of the 4 top ranked players for both sides for the match: WB Disposals Disposal Efficiency % Macrae 38 71% Daniel 34 76% B. Smith 26 65% Bontempelli 31 61% Demons Petracca 31 35% Oliver 38 57% Gawn 18 38% ANB 25 45% WB's 4 top ranked platers had 129 disposals between them, of which 89 (69%) hit a target Demons 4 top ranked players had 112 disposals between them, of which 43 (38%) hit a target. Is it any wonder our forward line does not function, and we don't kick goals.

A team that beats the bottom feeders but loses against the top sides has a lot of things to learn. I think that a team that can account for the top sides but struggles against the lowest sides simply lacks maturity - and this will only come with time. Not sure how our team will go this year in the finals, but I believe we will be a more consistent (mature) side next year.

Anyone who wants a change of pace from reading about our dismal performance last night, may like to have a go at this (if you are not also "puzzled" out): Here is a team of past Melbourne players. This team is a little old fashioned as it only has 2 interchange players, and there are some names from very long ago. I spent (wasted) a whole afternoon trying to put this together, so i will be dejected if someone gets this "discombobulation" too quickly. B. Billy Deans Tassie Johnson John Beckwith HB. Frank Davis Joe Pearce Tony Sullivan C. Robert Flower George Bickford Stan Alves HF. Andrew Obst Earl Spalding Scott Thompson F. John Lord Fred Fanning Bob Johnson R. Jim Stynes Paul Wheatley Hassa Mann INT. Arthur Sowden Bill Allen Not one but two things link this team – one football related and one not. What are these 2 links?