I'va Worn Smith

We raised this on our flagstaff at our bowls club last Saturday. It makes it all the more real for me and I love it.

Exactly what I thought. Then, maybe I was deeluded. A great get in my view.

How many tears of joy can one person have? I keep watching and keep crying. Never thought I would see a flag in my lifetime. ...Then to add to the emotion, I watched Nev Jetta's retirement announcement. Love this club.

And this one in Kew. Artwork is pretty special.

A mate of mine passed away the night before the quake. I reckon it was him saying Go Dees as he left this mortal coil. The earthquake can be nothing but a good omen for us. It is emblematic of the seismic shift in our team, our skill, our selflessness and we are hell bent on getting the big one. When you raise hell, you have to make a lot of noise and shake things up a bit.

At the risk of sounding harsh, Caroline Wilson's father is Ian "Octa' Wilson, former president of Richmond. This was back in the days when stories were deliberately leaked to the likes of Alf Brown, Tom Prior, Peter Simunovich, Scott Palmer and the like. Essentially a boys club and a star chamber. I, not for one second, am saying that Caro is not a good journo, but one has to wonder where she would have been, if not for her father's connections. She has a podcast called "Don't Shoot the Messenger". Well Caro, in the good old days, journos used to investigate the leaks they received, cross reference them and dissect them, before reporting them. Journos were not simply the deliverers of 'messages'. In other words, it is not just about the so-called 'message'. Right now, for me, it seems the MFC, its coaches, staff and players are as tight as a proverbial and this so called curfew will not diminish our fervour in achieving the ulimate goal. How about looking into that Caro?

if we win the holy grail and not being a patron of talk back radio, the first thing I'm going to do is ring Kane Cornes and remind him of his previous comments on air, re this great insight and - dare I say it - marketing tool. If only............ . I keep hearing the melody to the Dire Straits song; "Brothers in Arms". This is the connection that I hope exists within the playing group, which will get us the ultimate prize.

I'm not usually prone to spontaneous emotion, but seeing these champion veterans doing their bit so passionately means I can't help it. If we win this bloody thing, I will freely cry tears of joy. If I have any left. Go you Demons

Saw this in Frankston And my mate's house in Canterbury

Will Hawkins ever pay the price for pushing people in the back?

Also reported on SEN that Henderson has a hammy.

I know it was discussed earlier in this thread, but are Geelong 'protected' by the AFL as, other than the Gold Coast, they are the only regional side in competition? Hawkins and Selwood are repeat offenders, yet time and time again, the MRO finds they have no case to answer. Are they simply clumsy or clever at disguising their clearly 'illegal' challenges on opponents? Will it take a serious injury to a player, before these guys are sanctioned (see Maysie)? If so, then it would be negligent. The AFL should be on notice. If these guys believe they can continually get away with dangerous actions with impunity, they will continue.

Kozzie's goal it the best by far in my view. He wins the ball, he evades several tackles, spins on a sixpence and goals. Totally an individual effort. The others, despite the incredibly tight angles, were fed the ball in the first place.

To me it was intentional and with some force. Not a good look. A few Swans players were into him for this and another act Mumford did. I wonder if the MRO will cite him also?

Has anybody seen Mumford's knee into an opposition player, while he was on the ground?

Garry Lyon was Chris Juddd's hero. When he was at Caulfield Grammer, he wore number 3 on his back. Scott Pendelbury and his family were Dees supporters. Going back a fair way, Bobby Skilton and his family were ardent Dees supporters.

If we win and at the age of 65, I'm going to do it. Will I need a general anaesthestic? I have a very low pain threshold

I'm nervous for that very reason, but I hope there now becomes a brothers in arms mentality. There remains a lot of work to be done and I hope the boys are talking about that for the rest of the week, until the first bounce on Saturday.

FM. Ross Dillon. Number 24. He used to live up the road from me. Do you remember the night games at the Lakeside Oval? I have fond memories of Phil Roden's powerful drop kicks, kicking out from fullback.

I was 8. We lived in the northern suburbs back then. It was Collingwood heartland, with a sprinkling of Essendon and Carlton supporters. My 4 older brothers all barracked for Collingwood, but I followed my dad, who was born in Sydney, but when he moved to Melbourne he chose the Dees after the name of his adopted city. In his day, living in Fitzroy, he was pressured by his peers to choose either Collingwood, Carlton or Fitzroy. But no, my old man was a stubborn bugger. I don't know he did it, but he got tickets to the '64 granny. In those days, beer was consumed out of cans; steel cans. As a kid, I was more interested in collecting the empty cans, than watching the game, so I could stand on them. My most vivid memories are of the 2 famous moments that occurred in the last quarter. I wouldn't say dad was a wowser, but he would not tolerate bad language anywhere. While I was foraging on the ground for cans, I heard my dad say Geezus F@#$ing Christ. I looked up in horror and even as a child, I detected his embarrassment knowing his young son had heard him utter such words. Of course, that was as a result of Gabelich's clumsy run along the members side flank to finally kick a goal, which put Collingwood in front. A few minutes later, I found myself flat on my back. My dad jumped in the air and as he came down, he knocked me over. That was after Neil Froggy Crompton followed his man from the back pocket into the forward line and kicked the winning goal. The irony was, that Froggy broke one of Norm Smith's cardinal rules in doing so. The only other memory I have is seeing Barass on the dais, holding the premiership cup aloft and from that moment I was a rusted on Dees supporter. I live in hope that I may get to see big Maxy doing the same.

Also won the Lou Richard's medal on Channel 9's Sunday Footy Show. You're a genuine star Clarry.

You've just gotta love this.

Trac expressed what being part of Melbourne means to me and I suspect all of us right now. His emotion was clearly genuine. For years we have copped the jibes, the stereotypes and the piercing jokes. Now it's our turn to give it back. For those who can remember, Norm Smith's mantra was all about team. I feel we have got this back in spades. I just hope we can get there and I think if we can harness that sense of team, we will make it. Right now, lets be proud to be part of the red and blue and despite any differences we may have on, here let's stick fat Together, we are strong.

No you are not. You are appeasing him by engaging in such a fruitless discussion, which is off topic. Stay out or take it off line. Like I said previously, the "debate" between you and Macca has become tedious and is less than edifying.

Correct, I am not. But the essence of indigenous villification cannot be compared to verbally abusing umpires. The perpetuation or tolerance of racism through the agency of the likes of Trump is relevant to this topic. I do not have the power to shut you down. i am just asking that if you and Macca want to debate the relativity of umpire abuse to racism - as is the title of this topic - then have your own debate through personal messaging. It devalues the essence of the importance of racism that you continue to equate the 2 issues.