Whispering_Jack

Is that his punishment?

Melbourne’s next game was played on Queens Birthday which in 1964 was on 15 June. Not sure when they changed the holiday to the second Monday of the month but the next report will follow the 1964 calendar.

I believe that one of our prominent track watchers was spied at the demo on Saturday which means quarantine for two weeks and is an automatic out for training over the next fortnight.

Yes, and who would have thought that would be the case at the halfway mark of the season?

VFL season ‘looks like it’s a goer’ as clubs and AFL crunch numbers For the benefit of those who might be blocked by a paywall, the theme of the article is that despite a number of unresolved issues, clubs are becoming increasingly confident a VFL season will go ahead. The competition will involve stand-alones Coburg, Frankston, Port Melbourne, Werribee and Williamstown alongside aligned sides Casey Demons, Sandringham and Box Hill Hawks. The season could be as short as 7 weeks starting in August with players foregoing match payments. The finals would be played in October. Elsewhere, it’s been mooted that Casey might even use Shepley Oval (the old Dandenong VFA ground) to train because sharing facilities would make it difficult to adhere to Covid19 protocols.

Round 8, 1964 Fitzroy vs Melbourne Saturday 6 June Venue: Brunswick Street Attendance: 12,727 B Crompton Massey Miller HB Williams Tas Johnson Leahy C Dixon Watson Robbie HF Vagg Jacobs McLean F Lord Bourke Townsend Foll Wise Kenneally Rov Emselle 19/20 Carroll Matthews Skipper Ron Barassi made his coaching debut while Norm Smith was in Adelaide coaching the Victorian team. Barassi himself was out with injury so Bryan Kenneally led the side onto the Brunswick Street Oval for what turned out to be an easy victory. The team had a sluggish start but was well in control at the main break and held an 18 point lead which would have been more but for inaccuracy in front of goal. With veteran wingman Brian Dixon and rovers John Townsend and Ken Emselle creating havoc, the Demons kicked 10.4 to nothing before taking the foot off the accelerator in the final term to record a 67 point victory. The game provided a taste of what was to come in Barassi’s long, illustrious and fiery coaching career as the Lions accused him of him of trying to strike ruckman Max Miers in the heat of the second quarter. Fitzroy 1.2.8 2.4.16 2.4.16 7.9.51 Melbourne 3.6.24 4.10.34 14.14.98 17.16.118 Goals Townsend 4 Emselle Jacobs 3 Kenneally Lord 2 Bourke McLean Vagg Best Dixon Jacobs Emselle Robbie Tas Johnson Townsend Reserves Melbourne 14.10.94 defeated Fitzroy 9.11.65 Goals Carroll 3 Andrew Slade Vearing 2 Leitch Stone Winter Witsomki Zinko Best Foster Carroll Slade Under 19s Melbourne 13.27.105 defeated Fitzroy 8.6.54 Goals Russell 3 Pritchard Wight 2 Jones Lockwood McNab J Osborne K Osborne Schultz Best Reinholdt Bird Russell

Possibly a matter of maturity. He’s married, a father and has family responsibilities. This is possibly his last chance at making the grade and resurrecting his career.

'Early Christmas present': MCG tenant clubs get multi-million-dollar windfall “Collingwood, Melbourne, Richmond, Hawthorn, Carlton and Essendon will each receive home game payments estimated at between $150,000 and $200,000 per match for the remainder of the shortened season.” Of course, the AFL has to include a fair share of home games for the MFC at the MCG. I’ve argued that means 9 MCG home games this year would be appropriate (given we finished last year in the bottom half) and that means 8 of the last 12 games should be played there.

The first thing I noticed when watching the Alan Jakovich game from 1991 was just how much more exciting the game was back then. Unfortunately, the game has progressed, rules have changed, players are trained differently and it’s unlikely that we’ll ever go back to the old days.

Ok so no Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020. We have to wait for next year for that elusive flag. However, way back in 1919 when there was a big pandemic, we finished last. Gulp.

The idea appears to be that he won’t be quite ready for the restart but without a VFL competition, that means another week or two of training. I wonder however, if he continues to impress at training and the AFL allows two extra interchange players, whether he might be given a limited run against Carlton.

Round 7, 1964 Melbourne vs Footscray Saturday 30 May Venue: MCG Attendance: 33,129 B Crompton Tas Johnson Williams HB Anderson Roet Leahy C Dixon H Mann Adams HF Vagg Groom Kenneally F Jacobs Bourke Townsend Foll Wise Barassi Rov Emselle 19/20 Lord Robbie The determined Doggies faced an in-form Demon outfit at the MCG and the visitors gave them a scare for the first half of the game. Melbourne trailed by a point when the siren sounded but Tony Anderson’s goal put the side in front at the main break. From there, the Demons asserted their domination scoring 5.9.39 to a single goal in the third quarter before they coasted home for a comfortable immediately ended any speculation about the result by kicking five goals to one to lead by 42 point victory to securely place them in the top four. The old guard of Dixon, Adams and Barassi were dominant while full forward Barry Bourke was on fire with five goals. Melbourne 2.3.15 4.5.29 9.14.68 12.14.86 Footscray 2.3.15 3.6.24 4.6.30 6.8.44 Goals Bourke 5 Barassi 3 Emselle 2 Lord Townsend Best Dixon Groom Mann Barassi Tas Johnson Bourke Reserves Melbourne 12.9.81 defeated Footscray 8.12.60 Goals Bartlett 4 Leitch Watson 2 Carroll Lynch Matthews Wood Best Watson Leitch Davis Under 19s Melbourne 12.6.78 defeated Footscray 10.17.77 Goals McNab Russell Schultz Wight 2 Bird Jones Marr Minton-Connell Best Millard McNamee Russell

Sadly, Michael Graham was a player that Melbourne was chasing in the early 1970s but we couldn’t persuade him to cross the border to Victoria. He had a long and successful career in Adelaide but (from my perspective at least), it was a tragedy that he didn’t play at the highest level at the time. There was another player at the time who would have come in very handy and he was Glenelg ruckman Peter Carey who Melbourne was associated with at the time. Carey became a games record player with the SA Tigers playing well over 400 games. Having those two in the side at the time in the mid-70s might have made a big difference to the club.

Here you go. Archie Perkins

Also the last time, we won a game ... CARLTON B Lachie Plowman Liam Jones Caleb Marchbank HB Kade Simpson Jacob Weitering Dale Thomas C Will Setterfield Ed Curnow Lochie O'Brien HF Jack Silvagni Levi Casboult Sam Petrevski-Seton F Marc Murphy Mitch McGovern Michael Gibbons FOLL Matthew Kreuzer Zac Fisher Sam Walsh I/C Paddy Dow Matthew Kennedy Darcy Lang Nic Newman EMG Matthew Cottrell Alex Fasolo Hugh Goddard Andrew Phillips IN Darcy Lang OUT Charlie Curnow (knee) MELBOURNE B Jay Lockhart Steven May Harrison Petty HB Marty Hore Sam Frost Christian Salem C Nathan Jones James Harmes Alex Neal-Bullen HF Bayley Fritsch Sam Weideman Christian Petracca F Mitch Hannan Tom McDonald Angus Brayshaw FOLL Max Gawn Jack Viney Clayton Oliver I/C Kyle Dunkley Michael Hibberd Jayden Hunt Jordan Lewis EMG Oscar McDonald Braydon Preuss Corey Wagner Josh Wagner IN Kyle Dunkley Jordan Lewis Braydon Preuss OUT Oskar Baker (omitted) Max Gawn (ankle) Tim Smith (calf)

For a number of seasons, the rationale behind the AFL’s draw has been that the more lowly teams should have the benefit of an easier draw. This was reflected in the number of highly placed teams you played from the year before that you played twice but that’s not a consideration when you only play each team once. It stands to reason therefore that this year the lower placed sides should get 9 home games rather than 8. However, “reason” rarely applies to AFL fixturing even when the size of crowds don’t matter.

AFL Draft Central looks at the 2020 Draft’s speed kings - Preseason testing analysis: Which State is the fastest? An interesting name in that group is Kobi George from the Dandenong Stingrays who came in at fifth fastest from Victoria. He’s been on Melbourne’s books for a while as a Next Generation Academy player.

Elwood 3184 raised this point as a result of the fact that Melbourne’s 19th & 20th men, first gamer Robert Foster and rover Herbie Matthews, sat out the entire game on the bench. On top of that Foster was dropped for Round 6 which was pretty tough on a kid who sat out every minute of his debut game getting splinters on the bench. The players copped it in those days and in many ways, it was the hallmark of Norm Smith’s coaching discipline - there was no room for the softly, softly approach we often see these days but of course, the times are different.

I finally got around to watching the game and reliving some of the fantastic memories of that era - Jim Stynes, Garry Lyon, Brett Lovett, the all round strength of the team up forward, down back and on the ball. We had fantastic marking strength, knew how to set up scoring and had plenty of players who could convert, not the least of who was Jako (and remember we had the Davids (Neitz and Schwarz) and Sean Charles all waiting in the wings. The opportunities were definitely there to snaffle a flag if things went right. This particular game was probably the most exhilarating home and away game I’ve ever experienced. Pity we didn’t get 10 years of Jako in that sort of form.

Would be fantastic if a sudden heavy rainstorm caused the cardboard cutouts to melt away into goo.

Speaking of Hawthorn ... Round 6, 1964 Melbourne vs Hawthorn Saturday 23 May Venue: MCG Attendance: 53,798 B Crompton Massey Jacobs HB Anderson Roet Leahy C Dixon H Mann Adams HF Vagg Groom Kenneally F Barassi Bourke Townsend Foll Tas Johnson Wise Rov Emselle 19/20 Bartlett Matthews Melbourne avenged its defeat from the previous year’s Preliminary Final when it emerged triumphant over Hawthorn in a nail-bighting struggle at the MCG. The Hawks had the early ascendancy through the goal kicking feats of tough full forward John Peck who booted four goals from as many kicks against Bernie Massey before the defender was injured in the second quarter and replaced by Tas Johnson who kept Peck down to only one more for the day. The Demons strength in the air saw them take the lead at the main break and in a tense struggle, they held sway as both teams managed only a goal each in the final term. Hawthorn managed a goal in the last minute but their final attack for victory was repelled by a Tas Johnson mark in defence on the siren. The win gave Melbourne a record of four wins .and two defeats but with little breathing space as only percentage separated it from Collingwood and Essendon in fifth and sixth positions on the ladder. Melbourne 3.3.21 5.9.39 9.11.65 10.13.73 Hawthorn 4.6.30 5.7.37 9.8.62 10.8.68 Goals Jacobs Vagg 3 Barassi 2 Bourke Kenneally Best Townsend Roet Tas Johnson Groom Barassi Vagg Reserves Melbourne 10.16.76 defeated Hawthorn 8.5.53 Goals Lord 4 Carroll Robbie Leitch Mounter Best Lord Hill McLean Under 19s Hawthorn 13.5.83 defeated Melbourne 11.10.76 Goals Schultz 3 McNab Osborne Stone 2 Jones Pritchard Best Bird Brodie Stone

Given that drawing crowds will be a pretty much irrelevant consideration in 2020 then I’d prefer to get some momentum going. Collingwood after WCE might not be such a good idea.

In round 19, 1947, Fred Fanning kicked 18 goals, 1 point in that game against St Kilda which means he hit the scoreboard on 19 occasions as well.

That’s probably 4 or 5 times for Nathan. Let’s hope he gets the opportunity this year.

Not only did we make what turned out to be some shocking draft choices in that era, we were also in the wrong place at the wrong time. We drafted Sylvia and McLean with picks 3 & 5 in 2003. The same selections in the following season would have given us Ryan Griffen and Lance Franklin.