Good Morning Mr.Phelps,
The Team you are looking at on the Screen is known as the Melbourne Football Club. This team went 57 years without winning the penultimate prize in the Australian Football League that being a Premiership! (Think Superbowl but a thousand times better and more breathtaking with complex plays and Superfit Athletes)
This Team has built slowly but surely over the past 5 years under a Person called Paul Roos and now Coached by a Guy that goes by the name of Simon "Goody" Goodwin ...
Your Mission Jim should you decide to accept it to find out all you can from todays Practice match and report back to I.M with reports, an international attaché by the name of Picket Fence will be your main ally and you can use every element of your specialist forces to assist in surveillance of today’s game.
As usual if any of your force are caught the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.
This tape will self destruct in 5 seconds …
Good luck Jim
MATCH REPORT P.F
“Can't Stop The Music"
Everyone you meet, the children in the street
Are swayin' to the rhythm, there's somethin' movin' in them.
There's no place to hide, so, why even try?
Can't you hear it coming your way, it's here to stay.
Music in our walk, music when we talk.
It's really something magic, to lose it would be tragic.
Can't you feel the sound movin' through the ground?
Music makes the world go around.
You can't stop the music, nobody can stop the music.
Take the cold from snow, tell the trees, don't grow,
Tell the wind don't blow, 'cause it's easier.
No, you can't stop the music, nobody can stop the music.
Take the spark from love, make the rain fall up
'cause that's easier to do.
Lovely day at Casey Fields today for what turned out to be an excellent day for Footy, Gentle breeze was blowing towards the City End but that in no way reflected the inability to kick goals at the southern end. A crowd of about 2, 000 turned out and the cacophony of the same old same old music pregame dulled the senses into something like an acquiesced state of perennial insensibility thus rendering conversations with others as Difficult. Those who were there now know what I mean about the music interludes at training. No Slitheras were seen, However, a Giant Blue Tongue lizard was seen flicking helpless flys and other crawlies into a cavernous blue abyss never to be seen again. A bit like the hapless Shinboners who came up against a Red Hot DEES outfit hellbent on inflicting more pain to this struggling outfit. Not that the effort was not there but alas too much was left to too few on the Boys in Blue and White. Anyway that''s their problem
MATCH VIEWS, PLAYERS REVIEWS AND POST MORTEM COMMENTS
Clearly from the start Norf had a plans to curtail the ruck dominance of Max and the Midfield brilliance of Clarry and Tracc. Tagging Clayton Oliver is the hardest job in footy and the negating tactics might work occasionally but when he gets the after burners on and has single minded obsession for the leather its like that Judas Priest song "Hellbent for leather" Nothing stands in his way. Norf were clearly going to have a dip and they did but skill, class, fitness and just too many options curtailed their brave efforts.
CLAYTON OLIVER Started a little rustily and was hobbling for while after an incident but then, WHOOSH became the Clarry we know so well. Exhilarating tour de force runs, precise handballs, very clean disposal and the Goal of the Day where he got contested ball in the middle, dished of ran forward, got it back and kicked a similar goal to his blistering goal in the 2021 GF. Dislocated a finger but came back bigger and better than ever. This guy is a freak!!
MAX GAWN Was not that far behind Clayton and his presence, his ground running, his ability to get to contest after contest and take mark after mark was just breathtaking. A great couple of goals, just added Icing to an already rich cake! A real Captain’s Game. Just a Champion
BBB Embarrassed Norf today Kicked 5 Goals and was a focal point in attack. He has sticky fingers and just loves clunking marks and uses his footy smarts to work up and down the ground. Could kick 80- 100 Goals this year.
JAMES HARMES Has really improved his output and is now repaying the coaching fraternity with a sett of running, ablity to create space and canny ball use. Great game today
ED LANGDON Just runs up and down the ground all day gathering possession after possession and spoon-feeds his forwards, a great ball user , no one can keep up with him and he was a great catalyst to many a launch into attack.
JOEL SMITH Our most improved player, he seems to now have the confidence and footy nous to know when to spoil and when to mark. Was dynamite out of the back half and this is the sign that maybe after a few stops and starts this could be his year.
ADAM TOMLINSON Ditto run out of defence and into attack, never seems flustered and nearly always creates opportunities with canny use of the ball and then running forward to create an overlap option. Great to see him so confident and ready to fire.
ANB Another whose improved form has coincided with his confidence and devotion to his training regime and dedication to improving his game, his run , carry, unselfish team orientations make him one of the first picked every week. played very well today.
CHRISTIAN SALEM Well I for one will be astounded if he isn't All Australian this year. He just ooozes class in all that he does whether it be gaining ground ball gets, Doubling back for intercept marks, Clever precise disposals, he has just got it all. Destroyed his opponent today
T MAC Hard to match up on now that he covers a lot of ground, is physically imposing and clunks some great marks AND clears the way for Fritta (who didn't play today) and BBB was instrumental today doing just that!
Others to do well were GENERAL MAY down back TOM SPARROW who is also brutal in his attack on the ball and the ball oppo carrier, CHANDLER kicked 2 Opportunistic goals but not much else, and I thought JAMES JORDAN was ok without being prolific. DOGGA was good in the ruck and got his hands on the ball but missed a couple of marks. CHARLIE SPARGO Kicked a lovely goal and was creative and used the ball really well. I also thought KOSSY was elusive and damaging setting up many opportunities with his lightning speed and footy smarts.
FINAL COMMENTS. The Dees easily defeated a somewhat injury depleted Norf outfit, but Norf still had plenty of experience in their team and were just Obliterated. Weeds, Toby Bedford, and I think Hunt got runs late but did not have time to establish themselves. The most telling thing from my perspective were 2 main pionts.
1 Viney, Lever, and Fritta and possibly Dunstan will come in for … ???
2 As I have iterated you train a you play and the drills I have seen are replicated in match conditions and this makes for a team that KNOWS how to play, what to play, and how each person in the team has a role to play and they play it beautifully. This is what makes successful teams even more successful and end up in creation of DYNASTIES!
A lot to like today. Your Casey Correspondent P.F