Whispering_Jack

The thing that I liked was that unlike many games in the past when we dominated the stats and lost, we won this one despite the Saints winning the inside 50s 46-30, clearances 29-23, tackles 47-36, free kicks 11-9, hitouts 31-30 and scoring shots 14-12.

One problem back in those times was that we had such strong teams across all lines and it was so hard for players to break into the team. The drive and incentive to recruit wasn’t there and we weren’t prepared for the inevitable when a number of players retired or left the club. There was no proper succession plan in place and by the time we woke up, other clubs overtook us in terms of professionalism in every aspect of running a football club.

First Semi Final Day 1964 Geelong dominated the second half of the first semi final in front of a crowd of 92,231 at the MCG winning with a score of 12.12.84 to 10.5.65. Otherwise, Saturday 29 August, 1964 was a quiet day for Demon fans.

1 PORT ADELAIDE Played 13, 40 pts, 126.6% TO COME: Sydney Bye North Melbourne Essendon Collingwood 2 BRISBANE LIONS Played 13, 40 pts, 117.4% TO COME Bye Collingwood Gold Coast Sydney Carlton 3 GEELONG Played 13, 36 pts, 140.6% TO COME Western Bulldogs Bye Essendon Richmond Sydney 4 WEST COAST Played 12, 36 pts, 121.3% TO COME Richmond Essendon Western Bulldogs St Kilda North Melbourne 5 RICHMOND Played 13, 34 pts, 119.0% TO COME West Coast Fremantle Bye Geelong Adelaide 6 ST KILDA Played 13, 32 pts, 114.5% TO COME Melbourne Bye Hawthorn West Coast GWS Giants 7 COLLINGWOOD Played 13, 30 pts, 109.1% TO COME Carlton Brisbane Lions Bye Gold Coast Port Adelaide 8 W. BULLDOGS Played 13, 28 points, 101.4% TO COME Geelong Bye Hawthorn West Coast Fremantle 9 MELBOURNE Played 12, 24 points, 112.1% TO COME St Kilda Sydney Fremantle GWS Giants Essendon 10 CARLTON Played 12, 24 points, 100.0% TO COME Collingwood GWS Giants Sydney Adelaide Brisbane Lions 11 GWS GIANTS Played 12, 24 pts, 96.8% TO COME Carlton Adelaide Fremantle Melbourne St Kilda 12 ESSENDON Played 12, 22 points, 85.9% TO COME Hawthorn Geelong West Coast Port Adelaide Melbourne 13 FREMANTLE Played 12, 20 points, 93.5% TO COME GWS Giants Richmond Melbourne North Melbourne Western Bulldogs 14 GOLD COAST Played 13, 18 points, 96.4% TO COME Fremantle Brisbane Lions North Melbourne Bye Collingwood Hawthorn 15 SYDNEY Played 12, 16 points, 81.7% TO COME Port Adelaide Melbourne Carlton Brisbane Lions Geelong 16 HAWTHORN Played 12, 16 points, 82.5% TO COME Essendon Adelaide St Kilda Western Bulldogs Gold Coast 17 NORTH MELBOURNE Played 13, 12 points, 83.1% TO COME Gold Coast Bye Port Adelaide Fremantle West Coast 18 ADELAIDE Played 13, 0 points, 54.9% TO COME Bye Hawthorn GWS Giants Carlton Richmond

Melbourne’s team this week won’t look anything like this one from when they last met. ST KILDA B Nick Coffield Nathan Brown Shane Savage HB Callum Wilkie Jake Carlisle Hunter Clark C Jack Billings Sebastian Ross Jack Newnes HF Jack Sinclair Josh Bruce Ben Long F Jack Lonie Tim Membrey Doulton Langlands FOLL Rowan Marshall Blake Acres Jade Gresham I/C Luke Dunstan Nick Hind Ben Paton Jack Steele EMG Josh Battle Darragh Joyce Matthew Parker Bailey Rice IN Ben Long OUT Matthew Parker (omitted) MELBOURNE B Michael Hibberd Jake Lever Neville Jetta HB Jordan Lewis Sam Frost Christian Salem C Nathan Jones Clayton Oliver Oskar Baker HF James Harmes Harrison Petty Jayden Hunt F Christian Petracca Tim Smith Bayley Fritsch FOLL Max Gawn Jack Viney Angus Brayshaw I/C Oscar McDonald Alex Neal-Bullen Corey Wagner Josh Wagner EMG Kyle Dunkley Marty Hore Braydon Preuss Sam Weideman IN Oskar Baker Oscar McDonald Tim Smith OUT Jay Lockhart (omitted) Steven May (hamstring) Braydon Preuss (omitted)

No, not one in particular - just everything that’s happened with him. I’m not confident, if he fails with Fremantle, that returning to the environment he wanted to leave in the first place will be to his benefit.

I don’t believe that it’s possible for Jesse Hogan to return to being the 17 year old who walked into the club all those years ago or the 20 year old who won the NAB Rising Star or the 21 year old who was the club’s leading goal kicker for the second year in a row. There have been too many episodes in his career in the intervening years both at Melbourne then at Fremantle for him to come back. There’s a chance he could possibly come good somewhere else like at the Eagles or the Swans but he did his dash at Melbourne two years ago.

This latest news might alter the balance back in favour of a Perth or even Adelaide Grand Final. Queensland tightens restrictions after nine new positive cases

It was a dark day for the Dees in the final home and away round of 1964 but the team still finished on top of the ladder. Round 18 1964 Footscray vs Melbourne Saturday 22 August Venue: Western Oval Attendance: 20,553 B Crompton Massey Tas Johnson HB McLean Williams Davis C Dixon H Mann Adams HF Vagg Foster Kenneally F Jacobs Bourke Emselle Foll Wise Barassi Rov Townsend 19/20 Leitch Watson The Demons came into the final round with the double chance assured but they were hit by injuries and were forced to field a weakened side for the final home and away game against the eighth placed Bulldogs at the Western Oval. Footscray held sway early by dint of its accuracy in front of goal that helped it to a 19 point half time lead despite having one less shot on goal. After the break the Demons narrowed the gap, mainly through the persistence of their experienced wingmen Dixon and Adams who kept pushing the ball into attack but the forwards were off target. The result was a six point deficit at three-quarter time despite controlling the play for most of the term. Skipper Ron Barassi was having a bad day while his nemesis Ted Whitten was on fire and with the Bulldogs cruising to a runaway 40 point victory, he was able to claim the title of “Mr Football”. To make matters worse, it was the club’s lowest score since early in 1960 and the third time in the last four rounds that the team had failed to score 60 points. Footscray 3.0.18 6.1.37 7.1.43 12.6.78 Melbourne 1.4.10 2.6.18 4.13.37 4.14.38 Goals Townsend 2 Foster Jacobs Best Dixon Jacobs Townsend Adams H Mann P McLean Melbourne held onto top spot by virtue of sixth placed upsetting Geelong, a result which pushed the Cats into fourth position and allowed Collingwood to steal the double chance going into the finals. Reserves Melbourne 10.13.73 defeated Footscray 7.6.48 Goals Robbie 3 Bartlett Wood 2 Unknown 3 Best L Mann Robbie Miller Under 19s Melbourne 14.15.99 defeated Footscray 10.3.63

There’s been a lot of discussion in recent days about who are the most improved players in the competition but when it comes to the title of the most improved team in the AFL, Melbourne must be shortening as favourite. Last year’s Demons won only 5 games out of 22 but this year, it’s 6 out of 11 and that’s massive! In terms of percentage, the improvement is also tremendous. Last year, they finished with just 78.6%. This year, it stands at 118.2%. Need I say more? Yes — there’s still today, a day upon which a win is absolutely essential in shaping the course of the remainder of 2020.

It looks like the 4 day break is a real killer.

... kicked after the siren from a dodgy free kick.

The excellent Road to the Draft series returns ~ LISTEN: How draft night should change, latest bolters, and what happens to the Vics? And some prospects from Vic Metro & Vic Country - NAB League guns we won't see: Vic Metro's hottest prospects NAB League guns we won't see: Vic Country's brightest prospects

Spoiler alert: I’m preparing for this week’s post covering Melbourne’s game against Footscray played on Saturday 22 August, 1964. If you’re superstitious about coincidences, please stay away from this thread.

Hurts more to see he’s still on 4 - 6 weeks which is starting to suggest that he’s done for 2020.

Looks like we’re not going to make the eight in that contest this year.

OK. Diamond Jim can contact the club tomorrow morning to arrange collection of the award. Please don’t say I sent you.?

Call the club tomorrow morning to arrange collection of your award.

Clubs in the dark over changes to NGA as bumper crop looms Change is overdue as far as the MFC is concerned. We recruited only one player and, in one fell swoop, the AFL took our NT academy zone away from us and never replaced it. Oh well ...

The Age has weighed into this discussion - How each club will fare in final rounds - and who could make the eight As far as I’m concerned, I will follow a one week at a time principle. Hope we can beat the Bulldogs on Saturday.

Angus Brayshaw speaking on SEN about Max Gawn's status: It's hard to pin the big fella down. He's a bit non-committal. It's a hard injury for him to get through. If he plays this week will it help or hinder him in the long run? I've tried to get it out of him but he hasn't given me anything yet.

Ever since he came to the club there’s been something about Aaron vandenBerg that’s intrigued me and I wonder if you could ask - “What’s it been like going through life with a capital letter in the middle of your surname instead of at the start?”

This is what lies ahead - 1 PORT ADELAIDE Played 12, 36 pts, 127.5% TO COME: Hawthorn Sydney Bye North Melbourne Essendon Collingwood 2 BRISBANE LIONS Played 12, 36 pts, 118.3% TO COME St Kilda Bye Collingwood Gold Coast Sydney Carlton 3 GEELONG Played 12, 32 pts, 138.5% TO COME Adelaide Western Bulldogs Bye Essendon Richmond Sydney 4 WEST COAST Played 11, 32 pts, 121.1% TO COME GWS Giants Richmond Essendon Western Bulldogs St Kilda North Melbourne 5 ST KILDA Played 12, 32 pts, 115.8% TO COME Brisbane Lions Melbourne Bye Hawthorn West Coast GWS Giants 6 RICHMOND Played 12, 30 pts, 119.0% TO COME Essendon West Coast Fremantle Bye Geelong Adelaide 7 COLLINGWOOD Played 12, 26 pts, 104.9% TO COME North Melbourne Carlton Brisbane Lions Bye Gold Coast Port Adelaide 8 MELBOURNE Played 11, 24 points, 118.2% TO COME Western Bulldogs St Kilda Sydney Fremantle GWS Giants Essendon 9 GWS GIANTS Played 11, 24 pts, 98.2% TO COME West Coast Carlton Adelaide Fremantle Melbourne St Kilda 10 W. BULLDOGS Played 12, 24 points, 97.9% TO COME Melbourne Geelong Bye Hawthorn West Coast Fremantle 11 ESSENDON Played 11, 22 points, 86.1% TO COME Richmond Hawthorn Geelong West Coast Port Adelaide Melbourne 12 CARLTON Played 11, 20 points, 95.5% TO COME Gold Coast Collingwood GWS Giants Sydney Adelaide Brisbane Lions 13 GOLD COAST Played 12, 18 points, 98.0% TO COME Carlton Brisbane Lions North Melbourne Bye Collingwood Hawthorn 14 FREMANTLE Played 11, 16 points, 88.3% TO COME Sydney GWS Giants Richmond Melbourne North Melbourne Western Bulldogs 15 SYDNEY Played 11, 16 points, 84.8% TO COME Fremantle Port Adelaide Melbourne Carlton Brisbane Lions Geelong 16 HAWTHORN Played 11, 16 points, 82.5% TO COME Port Adelaide Essendon Adelaide St Kilda Western Bulldogs Gold Coast 17 NORTH MELBOURNE Played 12, 12 points, 83.1% TO COME Collingwood Gold Coast Bye Port Adelaide Fremantle West Coast 18 ADELAIDE Played 12, 0 points, 54.7% TO COME Geelong Bye Hawthorn GWS Giants Carlton Richmond I think it’s safe to say that it’s highly unlikely that Melbourne will figure in the top 4

I was wondering what happened to this thread but then again, it is about a bloke who isn’t getting a regular game at AFL level but rather, running around in leftover 12 v 12 hub games played on reclaimed mangrove swamps infested by alligators.

As unlikely as it may be that we can make top four, it’s important that the issue remains part of the conversation for as long as possible. The team is more likely to perform as an elite combination if it has belief in itself. We saw that with the Bulldogs in the lead up to and then through the 2016 finals and earlier, with other teams. The notable comparison where Melbourne was concerned was back in 1987 when it rose from a win/loss ratio of 6/10 winning the last six in a row to finish 12/10 and then went on to win 2 finals before falling just short to Hawthorn in the Preliminary Final. What was really remarkable was the improvement week by week as the team gained momentum with every win.