Whispering_Jack
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Everything posted by Whispering_Jack
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In 1987, Melbourne had a 6 - 10 record after 16 matches and were considered as having no hope of making the finals. We then won the next six matches to fall into the final five by half a game ahead of Geelong and Footscray. That was the year that we beat the Bulldogs at the Whitten Oval and the Hawks beat the Cats in Round 22 which enabled us to compete in the finals for the first time since 1964. Our run continued into the finals with a 118-point win over North Melbourne in the Elimination Final (hoping for an encore today) and a 76 point win over Sydney in the Semi Final. It took Gary Buckenara’s goal after the siren (courtesy of that controversial 15m penalty against Jimmy) to end our run in the Preliminary Final. I think our form swing in 1987 was equivalent to Carlton’s this year.
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No - it won’t be as easy as last time. The mindset and makeup of both teams has changed over the past few months but we do know that the team can get the job done by applying itself in the same way it has done over the past month. A good win could well see us in second place on the ladder, with a top four place all but guaranteed, some challenging games to keep us focused ahead of the finals and some handy players to return to the side. What more could you want at this time of the year?
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Can’t take the run home for granted now. As we saw today, even the most lowly of clubs is capable of causing an upset and they all would love to take a big scalp.
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Robbie was the best thing to ever come out of Murrumbeena where I spent some of the early days of my working life … Robbie (r) with his last coach John Northey
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It looks like the Suns are about to fall out of contention. So far, the round hasn’t been kind to the replacement coaches. Ratten out altogether, McQualter almost out after last night and Steven King looking like one of the sad and tired victims in one of his namesake’s novels.
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On the subject of the VFL, based on the fact two of the North Melbourne emergencies Powell and Young are playing today which means that Cunnington and Lazzaro are the two emergencies who traveled to Hobart. Clarkson ruled the former out yesterday, so Lazzaro is the likely sub tomorrow.
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The Essendon VFL game is over - an 8 point win to Southport. Reid had another 9 touches to finish with 23 for the match, third most in the team. Second in terms of DT. A handy performance.
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Harley Reid is having a run with the Essendon VFL side up on the Gold Coast against Southport. The Bombers have not been enjoying much of a season but lead last year’s runners up by 8 points at half time. Young Harley leads his team in Dream Team Points and is equal first for them in possessions with 14. That’s not bad but let’s see if he can stay at that level for the full game.
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Is there any vision available of him playing?
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Unfortunate for the Tigers with that five day break and the need to manage two of their veterans as well as the last minute loss of another veteran in Grimes. The result gave the appearance of a team waving the white flag - they looked out of it both physically and mentally from the outset. This could also make or break McQualter’s coaching ambitions so it’s going to be interesting to see if he can get them to reset in the final three rounds.
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Today’s media is enraptured with Carlton forward Charlie Curnow and rightly so after his recent goal kicking feats. He was highly touted as a potential high draft pick during his draft year (2015) but a story came out just before the draft about an alleged (I stress “alleged”) indiscretion involving driving and alcohol which caused him to slide down the ranks. He was eventually picked at 12 by Carlton where his brother Ed was already a senior list player. He was the Blues’ third pick in that draft behind Jacob Weitering (#1) and Harry McKay (#10). Curnow was considered a bit of a “slider” as many pundits had him well inside their top ten. Melbourne had two top ten picks in that year and struck it rich with their pick four in Clayton Oliver who was a bit of a “bolter” having been well outside the early top ten boards. The Demons chose Sam Weideman at #9 so our recruiters considered him better than two ultimate Coleman Medalists. We weren’t the only club that would be ruing the fact that they allowed Curnow to slide in his draft year - the Lions selected current Demon Josh Schache at pick 2 in the same draft. So, when we mull over the pros and cons of trading up our multiple high draft picks, it might be worthwhile considering that not all that glitters is gold and that there can be bargains gained in looking at draft sliders and understanding why they might have fallen out of favour. These are Rookie Me Central’s top 5 draft sliders for 2023 and they include a player who impressed when he trained with the club as one of two AFL Academy work experience trainees in the pre season. Bargain Hunting: The 2023 AFL Draft sliders
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Back in 1990 Melbourne won and the votes went to the Bears -
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Now that he’s retired, this has been renamed “The Lance 'Buddy' Franklin Non Thread”.
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Cardinal rule in football is take things one week at a time. We’re playing North Melbourne this week - let’s concentrate on that game. 😀
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Could it be announced as early as tomorrow?
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The Rookie Me Central July Power Rankings are out and it’s no surprise that Harley Reid is still #1.
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People are referring to the fact that the results in the games played so far in this round have been upset games but Richmond are on a bit of a run having won 6 out of their last 7 games which is a better run that we’ve had in that time. So in reality, it’s us who have our backs against the wall and on that basis, I believe we’ll follow the trend of the round by upsetting the Tigers.
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Kelli Underwood late in the game at Carrara - "This is a significant 4 minutes coming up in the history of the Gold Coast Lions"
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Now Casey’s fate is in its own hands with Gold Coast’s big comeback over the Lions. All the Demons have to do is win their three remaining games and percentage won’t even come into it. A win tomorrow would put Casey half a game behind them with a home game against them in the final round. Box Hill won today and will probably win their remaining games to finish third.
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Meanwhile, Casey’s hopes of making the top four are evaporating. They depend on one of the teams above them losing one or two games and of course, winning all of their remaining games. I was hoping the Brisbane Lions might lose to top side Gold Coast at Carrara but late in the first quarter they were 40 points up on the Suns.
