Whispering_Jack

Now, how many top 8 teams have we beaten this year?

Several years ago when Hawthorn beat Geelong in the Grand Final of 2008, the critics were raving about Cyril’s game in which he had a low number of possessions. Charlie Spargo had only a dozen disposals tonight but it was one of the best games of 12 touches you could get. He kicked 2 goals and was involved in at least three goal assists of which I was aware. His “quiet” game was probably the difference between the sides. Spargo plays in WA.

Bruce Woodley, a third generation Demon and a member of The Seekers who has written songs with the legendary Paul Simon was on our train. What an omen!!!

I’m surprised that there hasn’t been any comment about the makeup of the team selected to take on Pakistan in the UAE and in particular, the non selection of Maxwell and Hanscombe. What’s happening here?

Another match report from Footy Almanac - Finals Week 1 – Melbourne v Geelong: The love for Melbourne in Melbourne

An interesting review of the draft from Peter Williams posted on bigfooty:-

Ben King, the big Sandringham key forward, confirmed his status as a top 5 draft pick with 5 goals today. TAC Cup 2018 Oakleigh Chargers 7.1.43 14.6.90 20.10.130 25.13.163 Western Jets 4.0.24 5.1.31 6.3.39 6.7.43 Goals Oakleigh Chargers Williams 6 Bosenavulagi 4 Whitehead 3 Gasper 3 Day 3 Robertson 2 Rowell Collier-Dawkins O'Neill Wraith Western Jets Watkins Andrews O'Halloran Kyriazis Manton Pantalleresco Best Oakleigh Chargers Williams Jordon Rowell Answerth Day Bosenavulagi Western Jets O'Halloran Khamis Thar Watkins Manton Radovanovic Sandringham Dragons 1.4.10 5.8.38 9.10.64 13.16.94 Murray Bushrangers 2.4.16 2.7.19 5.8.38 7.9.51 Goals Sandringham Dragons King 5 Maginness 2 Stocker Mahony Grey Chirgwin Rendell Hanrahan Murray Bushrangers Garoni 3 Hollands 2 Ash Frauenfelder Best Sandringham Dragons King Mahony Byrnes Denborough Stocker Worrell Murray Bushrangers Boyd Butts Irvine Hollands Bollinghaus Boyer

Assuming we name an unchanged line up this week, that makes it - In: Dom Tyson, Tom McDonald, Sam Weideman, Jack Viney, Mitch Hannan, Charlie Spargo, Aaron vandenBerg Out: Jake Lever, Bernie Vince, Tom Bugg, Jesse Hogan, Dean Kent, Jeff Garlett, Josh Wagner The players “in” mostly speak for themselves and I would add that Angus Brayshaw who did play against the Hawks was a trifle underdone at the time. The main “outs” would be Jesse Hogan and Jake Lever. Hogan had a good game but Lever was still finding his way. I think we have a far superior team now, one that’s playing with a lot more purpose and cohesion and is more dangerous in every aspect of the game - in attack, defence and the midfield. They seem to have most of their stars from that day intact (Stratton and Rioli who won’t be playing on Friday night were just so-so on the day from memory) but I haven’t closely scrutinized their current line up. The difference in the make up of the team’s appears to suggest that we will make a much better fist of things this time around.

The Dandenong Stingrays and Gippsland Power won yesterday - TAC Cup 2018 Dandenong Stingrays 5.6.30 11.11.77 14.14.98 19.20.134 Greater Western Victoria Rebels 0.2.2 2.2.14 2.4.16 3.6.24 Goals Dandenong Stingrays Cahill 4 McDonnell 3 Bayne 2 Hustwaite Frawley Cottrell Fletcher Williams Bedford Goonan Bowman Taylor Cumming Greater Western Victoria Rebels Jennings McEldrew Wilson Best Dandenong Stingrays Fletcher Cahill Cottrell Gahan Frampton Hustwaite Greater Western Victoria Rebels Helyar Wright Carlin Dawson Wareham Ugle-Hagan Gippsland Power 5.1.31 8.3.51 8.5.53 13.10.88 Geelong Falcons 2.3.15 4.7.31 6.9.45 7.11.53 Goals Gippsland Power Smith 2 Connolly 2 Henkel 2 Pepper Beck Gown Duursma Serong Neocleous Mosquito Geelong Falcons Idun 2 Ham 2 Sprague Walsh Schlensog Best Gippsland Power Beck Gown Motton Duursma Hourigan Baldi Geelong Falcons Brownless Schlensog Stephens Walsh Clark Bruhn

INDICATIVE DRAFT ORDER (after week one of the finals) ROUND ONE 1. Carlton 2. Gold Coast 3. St Kilda 4. Brisbane 5. Fremantle 6. Western Bulldogs 7. Adelaide 8. Essendon 9. Port Adelaide 10. North Melbourne 11. Geelong 12. Sydney 13. Greater Western Sydney 14. Adelaide (received from Melbourne) 15. Hawthorn 16. Collingwood 17: Gold Coast (received off West Coast) 18. Richmond ROUND TWO 19. Adelaide (received from Carlton) 20. West Coast (received from Gold Coast) 21. Port Adelaide (received from St Kilda) 22. Brisbane 23. Greater Western Sydney (received from Fremantle) 24. Carlton (received from Western Bulldogs) 25. Carlton (received from Adelaide) 26. Gold Coast (received from Essendon) 27. Port Adelaide 28. North Melbourne 29. Gold Coast (received from Geelong) 30. Sydney 31. Essendon (received from Greater Western Sydney) 32. Melbourne 33. Hawthorn 34. Sydney (received from Collingwood) 35. West Coast 36. Richmond ROUND THREE 37. Adelaide (received from Carlton) 38. Gold Coast 39. North Melbourne (received off St Kilda via on-trades) 40. Brisbane 41. Gold Coast (received from Fremantle) 42. Western Bulldogs 43. Melbourne (received from Adelaide) 44. Greater Western Sydney (received from Essendon) 45. Port Adelaide 46. Port Adelaide (received from North Melbourne) 47. Geelong 48. Collingwood (received from Sydney) 49. Greater Western Sydney 50. Melbourne 51. Hawthorn 52. Collingwood 53: North Melbourne (received from West Coast via on-trades) 54. Geelong (received from Richmond) ROUND FOUR 55. Geelong (received from Carlton) 56. Geelong (received from Gold Coast) 57. St Kilda 58. Brisbane 59. Western Bulldogs (received from Fremantle) 60. Western Bulldogs 61. St Kilda (received from Adelaide via on-trades) 62. Essendon 63. St Kilda (received from Port Adelaide) 64. North Melbourne 65. Carlton (received from Geelong) 66. Sydney 67. Greater Western Sydney 68. Adelaide (received from Melbourne) 69. West Coast (received from Hawthorn via on-trades) 70. Collingwood 71. West Coast 72. Richmond ROUND FIVE 73. Carlton 74. Gold Coast 75. St Kilda 76. Brisbane 77. Fremantle 78. Western Bulldogs 79. Adelaide 80. Essendon 81. Port Adelaide 82. North Melbourne 83. Geelong 84. Sydney 85. Greater Western Sydney 86. Melbourne 87. Hawthorn 88. Collingwood 89. West Coast 90. Richmond ROUND SIX 91. Carlton 92. Gold Coast 93. St Kilda 94. Brisbane 95. Fremantle 96. Western Bulldogs 97. Adelaide 98. Essendon 99. Port Adelaide 100. North Melbourne 101. Geelong 102. Sydney 103. Greater Western Sydney 104. Melbourne 105. Hawthorn 106. Collingwood 107. West Coast 108. Richmond

There were no charges laid from the Match Review of last night’s Elimination Final so we are all clear on that front. One matter was explained further. Aaron Vandenberg cleared contact JMurdoch, 2nd term. It was ruled Vandenberg made a genuine attempt to tackle and his actions were not unreasonable in the circumstances

And because Melbourne plays on Friday night, no need to hold back one or two carry over players as it did before the finals.

I knew something was missing last night and now I know. The presence of Carlton, a club that no longer appears to have any relevance in the AFL and despite the club’s long list of past indiscretions, always seems to be first in line when the AFL hands out goodies like Friday night games and draft relief.

And for the sticklers, Melbourne’s win over the Cats has seen it overtake them on percentage (yes I am aware that %age doesn’t count in finals)..

The TAC Cup finals are now well and truly upon us after the wild card round last week. AFL Draft Central has its preview of the first week here.

Three new faces. Knightmare Power Rankings - September

Could someone please remind me how many games has Melbourne won against fellow top 8 clubs?

Please watch your language folks. Sometimes little children stray into this thread and we don’t want them corrupted by malediction and profanity.

When they played the national anthem, the Melbourne players and their coach stood as one with arms interlocked while their Geelong counterparts stood as individuals. It’s all about the team and not individuals and our boys played like a team all night - the others played for themselves as exemplified by their captain’s tantramous exit onto the interchange bench in the third quarter when he robbed his team of a certain goal at a crucial time in the game.

That said, Melbourne has shown this year that interstate travel and hostile crowds hold no fear for this team.

According to an American friend who supports the Eagles and was at the game, Johnston is the second lowest paid kicker in the NFL. He still earns $US487,500.00 which is not bad coin for someone who spent a lot of his time while on Melbourne’s list playing in the Casey seconds.

I though that Geelong’s tactic of flooding in the third quarter when they just had to take the initiative and score was counterproductive. They were never going to make up the leeway and in fact played into Melbourne’s hands.

I will certainly watch it with interest because I’m surprised, after his failures as a coach at Melbourne and an assistant at Essendon and the humiliation of his exits at both clubs, that he’s agreed to be interviewed by the wily Sheahan who has the capacity to tear him apart.

I don’t see this as particularly controversial. Rather it covers the era from the viewpoint of one of those closely involved at a time when the club was struggling and in conflict. Perhaps, one day, an historian will examine the era more closely and come up with an interesting story of how the club was able to recover from the travails that beset it in the latter part of the last decade and the first half of the current one but that’s for another time. We’re back in the finals - let’s enjoy them!