Whispering_Jack

Is that a backflip or bowing to the whims of his masters? I heard Adrian Anderson on radio last night suggesting that the tackle was illegal and should have been free kicked. Now Gieschen follows suit. The joke has now turned into high farce.

One suspension from all-in brawl

Such sad and tragic news. Jo was a good supporter and a fantastic trainer and runner for the boys. We even gave her a run against Talking Carlton and she aquitted herself well. I was worried she might get hurt but she definitely went in for the footy. A great smile and fantastic personality. We'll miss her.

What makes it even more golden is that the game on Wednesday night is the last game of the Carnival so what is the suspended one match sentence about? Will he be forced to miss a game for the Oakleigh Charges or Carey Grammar school if he offends again? Miss a game in next year's carnival? I only wish the AFL Tribunal or Appeals Board had as good a sense of humour as the blokes on the Under 18 tribunal. That's what I call "GOLD"!

From Emma Quayle's Twitter "Suspended one match ban for Demon-in-waiting Jack Viney (rough conduct/sling tackle). He can play for Vic Metro on Wednesday night."

I've tweeted Emma Quayle to find out if there's a result on Jack Viney's tribunal appearance (result to be posted when available). All I can say is that these Prince Alfred College boys had a big weekend. • Jack Trengove one of our best v Bulldogs but his tackle on Ward created controversy; • Luke Tapscott one of Casey's best v Werribee and KO's their captain in a clash of heads (accidental) a minute into the game. Gets up rubbing his head but goes on to play a fine game; • Jack Viney one of Vic Metro's best v SA and KO's their captain as a result of a tackle. Fronts tribunal; and • Luke Saville wins junior boys title at Wimbledon. Nobody hurt physically at all. Not bad.

I heard the radio interview with the AFL Umpires Adviser this afternoon but I didn't quite catch his name. It could have been either Jeff Gieschen or George Orwell but I don't know if there's any difference. When asked whether he believed JT should have been awarded a free kick and whether his tackle was legal, he agreed with the umpire's decision. In answer to another question about whether the tackle would be referred to the MRP, he agreed it "potentially" might be. This is getting beyond a joke.

I was at the game this afternoon. Tappy did well without being outstanding and will get another run next week. His kicking is a great asset. I also saw Matthew Warnock standing at the quarter time huddle in civvies. He was sorely missed down back. I disagree with jayceebee about Maric. I thought he did well and got a lot of the footy at ground level.

Correct. On Emma Quayle's Twitter:

While the stats don't indicate that Jack's game was anything special, he still made it into his team's best players according to aflcom.au :- Vic Metro 3.2 4.5 9.7 10.16 (76) South Australia 1.3 3.4 6.5 7.8 (50) Goals: Metro: Patton 5, Frost, Curran, Woodward, Viney, Tyson South Australia: Hender 2, Kennedy 2, McDonough, Grigg, Mayes Best: Metro: Patton, Longer, Ellis, Sumner, Kennedy, Newnes, Greene, Viney South Australia: McKay, Amato, Mayes, Neale

I agree. Anything that has to do with the words "Demetriou" and "Fair" in combination together don't belong here.

Sam Blease in for his first game. This gives the team plenty of run at Etihad - like it! Joel Macdonald (knee) the only out.

You're right about that. It was the Oracle's heading and obviously written before Sean passed away. He's happy to change it but perhaps some suggestions ...

THE NEW SYSTEM by The Oracle On Friday night, Melbourne returns to what some describe as its "hoodoo" ground - Etihad Stadium at which it has lost 10 consecutive games since 2007. Ironically, the last time the team won at the Docklands was when it beat the Bulldogs in an upset result under caretaker coach, Mark Riley. That victory ultimately impacted on the club's draft position under the then existing rules and deprived it a year later of the opportunity to draft Nick Naitanui with a priority pick at the start of the selection process in addition to Jack Watts in the 2008 AFL National Draft. Coach Dean Bailey and his men will have to break more than just a supposed ground hoodoo to win this game. The Demons seem to do well enough under their coach against clubs from outside of this State (particularly at home) but, of the other Victorian teams, wins have been restricted to only Essendon and Richmond. Rodney Eade's men have won all four games between the two clubs since Bailey took the helm as coach at Melbourne at the beginning of 2008. Certainly, the Demons owe the Doggies one! For starters, the Bulldogs coaxed Mission Foods away from the club as major sponsor a few years ago when it was struggling for a backer. Since the day the story of that event broke, I haven't so much as looked at a taco (but I do use Kaspersky products and get around on Hancook Tyres). That's only the tip of the iceberg as far as I'm concerned. Bailey's second game as coach of Melbourne was against the Scraggers at the MCG. A week earlier, they lost the opening game of the season to Hawthorn by a margin in excess of 100 points. In game two they fared slightly better losing by 95 points against a far superior combination. Current Demon midfield coach Scott West polled the three Brownlow votes for the Western Bulldogs. They met later that year at Etihad and the Doggies toyed with a dismally undermanned opponent to win by only 31 points in a lacklustre game. I rarely leave a game early but I was already at Flinders Street station at the final siren. That was in Round 15, 2008 and it was the last time the teams faced off against each other at the Docklands - exactly three years ago! In the past two seasons, the clubs have met once each year with the Western Bulldogs victorious on both occasions but only by much narrower margins. The gap between the teams is narrowing. All that said, I think the talk of hoodoos is not all that it's cracked up to be. I tend to agree with Bailey when he points to the fact that during this period his team has been in the development phase. We've seen this season that this process is proceeding apace and recently has beginning to bear some fruit - three wins in the past four weeks and a place in the top eight is testament to this. Despite the Dogs winning their last two games against lowly Adelaide and the Gold Coast Suns, they have been trending in the opposite direction. In the long run it turns out that the Dishlickers from out Footscray way don't even have the edge over Melbourne at Friday night's venue, the Demons leading 6-5 overall. And let's not forget that it was less than a month ago that Melbourne broke its Friday night "hoodoo" beating Essendon and winning a Friday night game for the first time since the 2006 Elimination Final. The time is right for the Demons to show their mettle and to lay some ghosts of the recent past to rest. THE GAME Western Bulldogs v Melbourne at Etihad Stadium – Friday 1 July 2011 at 7.40pm (AEST) HEAD TO HEAD Overall: Western Bulldogs 69 wins Melbourne 83 wins At Etihad Stadium: Western Bulldogs 5 wins Melbourne 6 wins Since 2000: Western Bulldogs 9 wins Melbourne 10 wins The Coaches: Eade 4 wins Bailey 0 wins MEDIA TV Channel 7 at 8.30pm (delayed telecast) Radio - 3AW Triple M SEN K-Rock ABC774 THE BETTING Western Bulldogs to win $2.00 Melbourne to win $1.80. LAST TIME THEY MET Western Bulldogs 10.10.70 defeated Melbourne 9.12.66 in Round , 2010 at The MCG. Fourteen months have passed since the painful late May Friday night when Melbourne did everything but win the game. It was the night of the breast cancer awareness promotion and the Demon uniform carried a pink yoke rather than a red one. Most experts acknowledge that Melbourne was the better team but the more experienced Western Bulldogs prevailed after scoring two late goals to scrape home. Tom Scully was outstanding all game but put in an exceptional final quarter. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs James Strauss James Frawley Daniel Nicholson Half backs Colin Garland Jared Rivers Nathan Jones Centreline Jack Trengove Colin Sylvia Brad Green Half forwards Tom Scully Liam Jurrah Cale Morton Forwards Ricky Petterd Jack Watts Stefan Martin Followers Mark Jamar Brent Moloney Jordie McKenzie Interchange Jamie Bennell Sam Blease Jordie Gysberts Jeremy Howe Emergencies Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Lynden Dunn In Sam Blease Out Joel Macdonald (Knee) WESTERN BULLDOGS Backs Robert Murphy Lukas Markovic Easton Wood Half backs Dale Morris Tom Williams Lindsay Gilbee Centreline Daniel Cross Matthew Boyd Liam Picken Half forwards Shaun Higgins Liam Jones Luke Dahlhaus Forwards Jarrad Grant Barry Hall Daniel Giansiracusa Followers Ben Hudson Griffen Adam Cooney Interchange Ed Barlow Andrew Hooper Sam Reid Callan Ward Emergencies William Minson Christian Howard Jayden Schofield In Jarrad Grant Andrew Hooper Lukas Markovic Sam Reid Out Christian Howard William Minson Jayden Schofield Justin Sherman Sometimes things happen for a reason. Demon fans were distraught earlier this year when, after notching up their biggest win since Dean Bailey took over as coach against Adelaide, the team seemed to fall into a black hole of injuries and suspensions. In the space of a fortnight the list went from being virtually injury free (we were waiting for Tom Scully but just about everyone else was right) to having more than a dozen players unavailable including Jack Grimes and Jake Spencer out for the year. Mark Jamar's knee was to keep him out for six weeks, Aaron Davey and Colin Garland were major losses. Youngsters in Rohan Bail and Luke Tapscott reaching the peak of their form and others who would have been handy back ups were all on the sidelines. Jack Trengove was the victim of the AFL's infamous tackling rule, Lynden Dunn gone for two after a brain fade and Austin Wonaeamirri went home on compassionate leave to grieve the loss of a father and mentor. We were starting to wonder whether the selectors would have enough numbers to pick a team. The darkness before the dawn came on a Friday night at Carlton when an under resourced team played what was allegedly "bruise-free" football. In this negatively charged atmosphere, nothing went right. As it happened, that Friday night turned out to be the darkness before the dawn for the Demons. Players stepped up, new men came into the team and the outfit that's wearing the red and the blue these days, is significantly different. With the return of key players back into the new mix, we see a team exuding confidence. The ruck/ forward combination of Mark Jamar and Stefan Martin is close to the best in the AFL. Jack Watts has stepped up as a forward, the midfield with Scully, Trengove, Jordie McKenzie and Jordan Gysberts augmenting the power of Brent Moloney and Nathan Jones is increasingly elevated in stature by the week. New faces in Jeremy Howe and Dan Nicholson continue to contribute and you get the feeling that Liam Jurrah is about to lift the roof of the stadium where he debuted a little over two years ago. The Bulldogs are coming back to some semblance of form after a horrible start to the season and Friday's game will undoubtedly be a major challenge for them. However, the Demons have the momentum and the reward of a finals position is almost within their grasp. It's time to erase the memory of that night fourteen months ago when they wore pink and were pipped at the post. Melbourne by 29 points.

THE NEW SYSTEM by The Oracle On Friday night, Melbourne returns to what some describe as its "hoodoo" ground - Etihad Stadium at which it has lost 10 consecutive games since 2007. Ironically, the last time the team won at the Docklands was when it beat the Bulldogs in an upset result under caretaker coach, Mark Riley. That victory ultimately impacted on the club's draft position under the then existing rules and deprived it a year later of the opportunity to draft Nick Naitanui with a priority pick at the start of the selection process in addition to Jack Watts in the 2008 AFL National Draft. Coach Dean Bailey and his men will have to break more than just a supposed ground hoodoo to win this game. The Demons seem to do well enough under their coach against clubs from outside of this State (particularly at home) but, of the other Victorian teams, wins have been restricted to only Essendon and Richmond. Rodney Eade's men have won all four games between the two clubs since Bailey took the helm as coach at Melbourne at the beginning of 2008. Certainly, the Demons owe the Doggies one! For starters, the Bulldogs coaxed Mission Foods away from the club as major sponsor a few years ago when it was struggling for a backer. Since the day the story of that event broke, I haven't so much as looked at a taco (but I do use Kaspersky products and get around on Hancook Tyres). That's only the tip of the iceberg as far as I'm concerned. Bailey's second game as coach of Melbourne was against the Scraggers at the MCG. A week earlier, they lost the opening game of the season to Hawthorn by a margin in excess of 100 points. In game two they fared slightly better losing by 95 points against a far superior combination. Current Demon midfield coach Scott West polled the three Brownlow votes for the Western Bulldogs. They met later that year at Etihad and the Doggies toyed with a dismally undermanned opponent to win by only 31 points in a lacklustre game. I rarely leave a game early but I was already at Flinders Street station at the final siren. That was in Round 15, 2008 and it was the last time the teams faced off against each other at the Docklands - exactly three years ago! In the past two seasons, the clubs have met once each year with the Western Bulldogs victorious on both occasions but only by much narrower margins. The gap between the teams is narrowing. All that said, I think the talk of hoodoos is not all that it's cracked up to be. I tend to agree with Bailey when he points to the fact that during this period his team has been in the development phase. We've seen this season that this process is proceeding apace and recently has beginning to bear some fruit - three wins in the past four weeks and a place in the top eight is testament to this. Despite the Dogs winning their last two games against lowly Adelaide and the Gold Coast Suns, they have been trending in the opposite direction. In the long run it turns out that the Dishlickers from out Footscray way don't even have the edge over Melbourne at Friday night's venue, the Demons leading 6-5 overall. And let's not forget that it was less than a month ago that Melbourne broke its Friday night "hoodoo" beating Essendon and winning a Friday night game for the first time since the 2006 Elimination Final. The time is right for the Demons to show their mettle and to lay some ghosts of the recent past to rest. THE GAME Western Bulldogs v Melbourne at Etihad Stadium – Friday 1 July 2011 at 7.40pm (AEST) HEAD TO HEAD Overall: Western Bulldogs 69 wins Melbourne 83 wins At Etihad Stadium: Western Bulldogs 5 wins Melbourne 6 wins Since 2000: Western Bulldogs 9 wins Melbourne 10 wins The Coaches: Eade 4 wins Bailey 0 wins MEDIA TV Channel 7 at 8.30pm (delayed telecast) Radio - 3AW Triple M SEN K-Rock ABC774 THE BETTING Western Bulldogs to win $2.00 Melbourne to win $1.80. LAST TIME THEY MET Western Bulldogs 10.10.70 defeated Melbourne 9.12.66 in Round , 2010 at The MCG. Fourteen months have passed since the painful late May Friday night when Melbourne did everything but win the game. It was the night of the breast cancer awareness promotion and the Demon uniform carried a pink yoke rather than a red one. Most experts acknowledge that Melbourne was the better team but the more experienced Western Bulldogs prevailed after scoring two late goals to scrape home. Tom Scully was outstanding all game but put in an exceptional final quarter. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs James Strauss James Frawley Daniel Nicholson Half backs Colin Garland Jared Rivers Nathan Jones Centreline Jack Trengove Colin Sylvia Brad Green Half forwards Tom Scully Liam Jurrah Cale Morton Forwards Ricky Petterd Jack Watts Stefan Martin Followers Mark Jamar Brent Moloney Jordie McKenzie Interchange Jamie Bennell Sam Blease Jordie Gysberts Jeremy Howe Emergencies Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Lynden Dunn In Sam Blease Out Joel Macdonald (Knee) WESTERN BULLDOGS Backs Robert Murphy Lukas Markovic Easton Wood Half backs Dale Morris Tom Williams Lindsay Gilbee Centreline Daniel Cross Matthew Boyd Liam Picken Half forwards Shaun Higgins Liam Jones Luke Dahlhaus Forwards Jarrad Grant Barry Hall Daniel Giansiracusa Followers Ben Hudson Griffen Adam Cooney Interchange Ed Barlow Andrew Hooper Sam Reid Callan Ward Emergencies William Minson Christian Howard Jayden Schofield In Jarrad Grant Andrew Hooper Lukas Markovic Sam Reid Out Christian Howard William Minson Jayden Schofield Justin Sherman Sometimes things happen for a reason. Demon fans were distraught earlier this year when, after notching up their biggest win since Dean Bailey took over as coach against Adelaide, the team seemed to fall into a black hole of injuries and suspensions. In the space of a fortnight the list went from being virtually injury free (we were waiting for Tom Scully but just about everyone else was right) to having more than a dozen players unavailable including Jack Grimes and Jake Spencer out for the year. Mark Jamar's knee was to keep him out for six weeks, Aaron Davey and Colin Garland were major losses. Youngsters in Rohan Bail and Luke Tapscott reaching the peak of their form and others who would have been handy back ups were all on the sidelines. Jack Trengove was the victim of the AFL's infamous tackling rule, Lynden Dunn gone for two after a brain fade and Austin Wonaeamirri went home on compassionate leave to grieve the loss of a father and mentor. We were starting to wonder whether the selectors would have enough numbers to pick a team. The darkness before the dawn came on a Friday night at Carlton when an under resourced team played what was allegedly "bruise-free" football. In this negatively charged atmosphere, nothing went right. As it happened, that Friday night turned out to be the darkness before the dawn for the Demons. Players stepped up, new men came into the team and the outfit that's wearing the red and the blue these days, is significantly different. With the return of key players back into the new mix, we see a team exuding confidence. The ruck/ forward combination of Mark Jamar and Stefan Martin is close to the best in the AFL. Jack Watts has stepped up as a forward, the midfield with Scully, Trengove, Jordie McKenzie and Jordan Gysberts augmenting the power of Brent Moloney and Nathan Jones is increasingly elevated in stature by the week. New faces in Jeremy Howe and Dan Nicholson continue to contribute and you get the feeling that Liam Jurrah is about to lift the roof of the stadium where he debuted a little over two years ago. The Bulldogs are coming back to some semblance of form after a horrible start to the season and Friday's game will undoubtedly be a major challenge for them. However, the Demons have the momentum and the reward of a finals position is almost within their grasp. It's time to erase the memory of that night fourteen months ago when they wore pink and were pipped at the post. Melbourne by 29 points.

Those 50s & the first half of the 60s were such great days. Although I don't really like making comparisons of players from different eras I think you've nailed it with Bluey Adams and Sam Blease. Two redheaded speedsters and hopefully Sam will be one day be able to look back at as accomplished a career as multiple premiership player Adams.

As with many aspects of the draft and trade rules when they're applied to the new franchises there is a massive conflict of interest here. The AFL is promoting the new franchises and is committed to them thriving in the competition. That seems to override everything else and if the Bulldogs believe they should be dealt with fairly, they're unlikely to receive what is called natural justice if a conflicted AFL is supposed to be the arbiter on such matters. Perhaps they're barking up the wrong tree!

Social scientists have been studying rumour and the psychology of rumour for well over a century. There are many theories about how rumours start and how they are used in society for various purposes including rumour as a form of propaganda and a way of controlling opinion, views and ultimately events. You only need to read a Tom Scully thread like this one to get a feel of this concept. I suspect that one day, the story of Tom Scully and his second AFL contract will provide the background for somebody's PhD thesis. At the end of that day a lot of people are going to look very foolish.

Another thing ... why is Sherman allowed to play in the VFL? Do they tolerate vilification in that competition or something?

Over the history of mankind, racial vilification has caused many wars, millions of lives and untold damage to humanity. I don't like the fact that some people used to come on here and bag Cameron Bruce but really, um ... er, I think the latter pales into insignificance by comparison at a number of levels.

We're into our third consecutive six day break so hopefully our fitness people are aware of the pitfalls of going in with the virtually the same team. One or two changes should be allowed for to cater for possible fatigue but I wouldn't be dropping Cale Morton who should at least be fresh.

Goodbye Columbo. And one more thing ... I loved that show.

Cale Morton wearing the green vest for us.

Please don't get me wrong. I want us to keep Tom Scully. I think he will be very good for us and us for him. A marquee player of the highest order and therefore worth paying over the odds to keep him at the club. Similarly, I've always believed it would be a tragedy for Tom Scully to go to GWS for a number of reasons even allowing for the fact that they will inevitably be in a position to pay him more dollars in the short term. We're looking at a player with years in front of him and certainly more than one contract in which he can maximize his ultimate worth. However, I am advocating the club adopts what has been called "Plan B". Firstly, because if GWS knows that by pursuing second year players who were picked high in the draft it might jeopardise their hold on players like Patton or Coniglio then they might think twice. Secondly, the MFC was once the competition's leading club with a profile higher than that of Collingwood. Unfortunately, it has over almost fifty years meekly conceded this position by accepting its fate over exactly such matters as the one facing it now with Tom Scully. We lost Barassi and Alves for nothing. We gave away Wells and Spalding and got little . Jeff Farmer ... the list goes on and the compensation was always inadequate and we always copped it sweet. In many ways, we've been the AFL's dishrag and the result is ... mediocrity. We've not tasted ultimate success because we've accepted that our fate has been proscribed: the umpire's made his decision. It's time to stand up and fight for our player this time.

Looking forward to a big last half from Hawthorn. You never know - if this continues, we'll be in the 8 tonight!