Whispering_Jack

All that said, you have to admire what Mick Malthouse and his team achieved this year under adversity. Their injuries and losses through suspension affected them greatly towards the end of the year but they still managed to win a final interstate and gave their supporters a lot of heart. And the guard of honour for Robert Harvey indicated a bit of class that you certainly wouldn't get from the gunifs at Carton. PS: still enjoyed St. Kilda beating the living suitcases out of them last night though!

Right, we should move on and attack other targets (although it ain't over till it's over). The reports associated with Warnock's departure from Freo indicate that David Mundy is also interested in returning home. Now there's a bloke who I think is a fair dinkum footballer with good disposal and decision making ability and I'd be going after him big time. He comes from the Goulburn Valley area where some of our big guns hail from - Lyon, Connolly and O'Donnell so surely this trio could be called upon to show their mettle as far as recruiting is concerned. And one advantage of getting him is that we could then possibly start working on using Colin Garland as a versatile forward option.

Collingw&%$ 2008 = too many passengers [sorry - couldn't resist!]

The Warnock saga has an interesting chronology. Yesterday, we read that "Carlton football operations manager Steven Icke will hold an urgent meeting with Warnock's manager Colin Young in Perth this weekend." Today (and I had to check my calendar to make sure that it wasn't the weekend yet), we read that Warnock's manager "Colin Young, yesterday informed Carlton general manager of football operations Steven Icke that his client had chosen the Blues." - Blues win race for Fremantle ruckman. The point is they didn't need to talk at the weekend at all because money talks. Carlton CEO Greg Swann says - "I believe his decision to want to join us was not about the money, but more about getting a better opportunity to play on a regular basis and having more game time." And if you're in the vicinity of Vi$y Park today, watch out for the giant pig levitating over where the centre circle should be.

I would have thought that we might have learned by now that there's no room for sentiment in this professional sport of ours. It's all in the words to this rap song I just wrote:- Forget the bro', Forget the game time Just think of the dough! Just think of the dough!

JCZEBRA AND THE PIG - A BELATED TRIBUTE by Whispering Jack The Victorian Football Association was formed in 1877 and was the major controlling body for football in its formative years. Twenty years later, the stronger sides in the competition withdrew to form the Victorian Football League which ultimately became the nation's premier football competition, now known as the Australian Football League. However, the VFA continued as a strong, viable and at times thriving competition until late in the 20th century when a number of clubs fell on hard times as a result of the increasing commercialisation of sport in this country. The VFA came under the control of the AFL and in 1996 its name was changed to the Victorian Football League. Four years later, the VFL was merged with AFL reserves competition and a number of AFL clubs made alliances with existing clubs in the VFL. The most successful of these was the union between Melbourne and Sandringham, which began in 2000 and ended last week. It was through the union that I was fortunate enough to meet a couple of real gentlemen who lived, ate and breathed the Sandringham Football Club. John Carroll and Brian McKenna introduced themselves to me via an invitation made on the Demonland website to visit them at the Sandringham Social Club for drinks in appreciation for some articles that had been written about the Zebras. My son and I were expecting an official delegation from the club but John and Brian were not exactly what we expected. They were two down to earth blokes who loved Sandy and both had a rather loose affiliation with the club which seemed to start and end with the pulling of the odd ale in the social club. I'll never forget the way they both raised their eyebrows in unison when we ordered our diet cokes while they imbibed in the slightly stronger beverages of their choice. John dismissively described the "stuff" we were drinking as "lolly water." The pair always watched their team from the same spot in the forward pocket at Trevor Barker Beach Oval and we were invited to join them there "whenever there was a game on." And so we soon became friends and companions at the matches. John had such a strong passion for history and was working on writing a history of the Zebras. He posted regularly on the site under the name of "jczebra", Brian as "The Pig" and both of them also looked after the Sandringham website. They loved talking about the beauty and the glory of the VFA in "the old days" when the ground would be "packed to the rafters" and they were such strong supporters of the Zebras that they wouldn't hear any criticism of their players. jczebra once boldly predicted that one day Chris Bryan would "make it in the AFL". Bryan was a struggling young ruckman with the Sandy reserves at the time. I learned in a short space of time how much this unlikely pair epitomised the VFL with its suburban grounds that were open to the elements and where you could lean forward and almost touch the players you were supporting. jczebra introduced us to the famous burraburger at Port Melbourne and the best I could do was to help him out with his historical writing and some advice on how to carry out some of the research for his history. John was also a bit of a trickster and he would often lean over the fence and give his advice to opposition forwards lining up for goal. "Left post, sunshine," he would offer and when the ball would inevitably drift the wrong way for a point, he would wink at us mischievously and add, "Ya shoulda' listened to me, sunshine." The alliance tasted instant success with Melbourne rising from near the bottom of the ladder to play off against Essendon in the 2000 AFL Grand Final while Sandringham's seniors and reserves both won premiership flags a week earlier. For the rest of the journey, the Zebras tasted more premiership glory in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and only missed out on making the finals in 2001 and 2008. The Demons made the finals in 2002 and 2004-2006. The clubs also used each other as sources of playing talent during this time. Matthew Warnock, Stefan Martin and Shane Valenti are current Demons who started with Sandy while Guy Rigoni and Chris Lamb moved on to the Zebras when their AFL careers ended. Both played in premiership teams with the Zebras. Of course, a number of different Melbourne players participated in the four Sandringham premierships during the time of the alliance and both clubs also grieved together when Troy Broadbridge was lost in the tsunami. The two clubs are taking different paths in the future but the nine seasons when they were bound together in their union will not be forgotten and the memories will not always be of what happened on the playing fields. Unfortunately, jczebra and the pig missed out on the club's golden era under the alliance because neither of them enjoyed good health. Pig went first and I'll never forget the message jczebra sent me to advise that his good mate had collapsed and been taken off life support. John lasted another year and suffered the same fate passing away a sad and lonely man at the start of 2004. How they would have savoured every single glorious moment of each of those three successive grand final victories? And how will they feel early next autumn when they look down on their patch of grass in the pocket beneath the social club at TBBO and find that their friends have left for (what for them are greener pastures) Casey Fields?

JC ZEBRA AND THE PIG - A BELATED TRIBUTE by Whispering Jack The Victorian Football Association was formed in 1877 and was the major controlling body for football in its formative years. Twenty years later, the stronger sides in the competition withdrew to form the Victorian Football League which ultimately became the nation's premier football competition, now known as the Australian Football League. However, the VFA continued as a strong, viable and at times thriving competition until late in the 20th century when a number of clubs fell on hard times as a result of the increasing commercialisation of sport in this country. The VFA came under the control of the AFL and in 1996 its name was changed to the Victorian Football League. Four years later, the VFL was merged with AFL reserves competition and a number of AFL clubs made alliances with existing clubs in the VFL. The most successful of these was the union between Melbourne and Sandringham, which began in 2000 and ended last week. It was through the union that I was fortunate enough to meet a couple of real gentlemen who lived, ate and breathed the Sandringham Football Club. John Carroll and Brian McKenna introduced themselves to me via an invitation made on the Demonland website to visit them at the Sandringham Social Club for drinks in appreciation for some articles that had been written about the Zebras. My son and I were expecting an official delegation from the club but John and Brian were not exactly what we expected. They were two down to earth blokes who loved Sandy and both had a rather loose affiliation with the club which seemed to start and end with the pulling of the odd ale in the social club. I'll never forget the way they both raised their eyebrows in unison when we ordered our diet cokes while they imbibed in the slightly stronger beverages of their choice. John dismissively described the "stuff" we were drinking as "lolly water." The pair always watched their team from the same spot in the forward pocket at Trevor Barker Beach Oval and we were invited to join them there "whenever there was a game on." And so we soon became friends and companions at the matches. John had such a strong passion for history and was working on writing a history of the Zebras. He posted regularly on the site under the name of "jczebra", Brian as "The Pig" and both of them also looked after the Sandringham website. They loved talking about the beauty and the glory of the VFA in "the old days" when the ground would be "packed to the rafters" and they were such strong supporters of the Zebras that they wouldn't hear any criticism of their players. jczebra once boldly predicted that one day Chris Bryan would "make it in the AFL". Bryan was a struggling young ruckman with the Sandy reserves at the time. I learned in a short space of time how much this unlikely pair epitomised the VFL with its suburban grounds that were open to the elements and where you could lean forward and almost touch the players you were supporting. jczebra introduced us to the famous burraburger at Port Melbourne and the best I could do was to help him out with his historical writing and some advice on how to carry out some of the research for his history. John was also a bit of a trickster and he would often lean over the fence and give his advice to opposition forwards lining up for goal. "Left post, sunshine," he would offer and when the ball would inevitably drift the wrong way for a point, he would wink at us mischievously and add, "Ya shoulda' listened to me, sunshine." The alliance tasted instant success with Melbourne rising from near the bottom of the ladder to play off against Essendon in the 2000 AFL Grand Final while Sandringham's seniors and reserves both won premiership flags a week earlier. For the rest of the journey, the Zebras tasted more premiership glory in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and only missed out on making the finals in 2001 and 2008. The Demons made the finals in 2002 and 2004-2006. The clubs also used each other as sources of playing talent during this time. Matthew Warnock, Stefan Martin and Shane Valenti are current Demons who started with Sandy while Guy Rigoni and Chris Lamb moved on to the Zebras when their AFL careers ended. Both played in premiership teams with the Zebras. Of course, a number of different Melbourne players participated in the four Sandringham premierships during the time of the alliance and both clubs also grieved together when Troy Broadbridge was lost in the tsunami. The two clubs are taking different paths in the future but the nine seasons when they were bound together in their union will not be forgotten and the memories will not always be of what happened on the playing fields. Unfortunately, jczebra and the pig missed out on the club's golden era under the alliance because neither of them enjoyed good health. Pig went first and I'll never forget the message jczebra sent me to advise that his good mate had collapsed and been taken off life support. John lasted another year and suffered the same fate passing away a sad and lonely man at the start of 2004. How they would have savoured every single glorious moment of each of those three successive grand final victories? And how will they feel early next autumn when they look down on their patch of grass in the pocket beneath the social club at TBBO and find that their friends have left for (what for them are greener pastures) Casey Fields? And here's a treat for you boys (if you're looking down on us):- 2000 VFL GRAND FINAL- FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS 2000 VFL GRAND FINAL- SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

It's very difficult to assess a player in the first year immediately after a long lay off with a knee injury such as that suffered by Clint Bartram. I think we need to see how he goes next year before we start writing him off. After all, he's still only a 20 year old!

One of the criteria necessary when permitting residential development is the proximity to infrasturcture such as transport. Since there's already what appears to be a disused rail line that runs next to Casey Fields, it makes sense for a station to be opened there to service the residential development and the sports facilities there.

# 40.

Seems that Watts kicked three goals and both he and Brown were named in the best players. 2008 TAC Cup Sandringham Dragons 2.2 7.3 8.9 10.11 (71) Geelong Falcons 5.2 8.2 11.5 12.10 (82) GOALS: Sandringham Dragons: Watts 3 Vickery 2 Mitchem Muller Robertson Martin Gilchrist Geelong Falcons: Bucovaz 4 Cunnington 2 Hunt 2 Thompson 2 Hollmer Denton BEST: Sandringham Dragons: Nash Elkman Campbell Brown Watts Martin Geelong Falcons: Delaney Hunt Cunnington Fisher Bucovaz Christensen

Thanks for the comprehensive report Haydo. I'm interested in your opinion about how Mitchell Brown went for the Dragons (named on a HFF)? PS: I'm moving this over to the drafts and trading board.

This week's Sandringham reserves squad has just come in and (probably for reasons related to insurance issues) Melbourne has not given permission to its eligible players Cheney, Weetra and Zomer to play. I guess that means that the dynasty is now officially over. The squad is:- Calder, Anthony Cannon, Jack Cleeve, Stuart Curcio, Michael Dean, Thomas Eaton, Andrew Fleming, Andrew Gilchrist, Rennie Gilder, Brad Gileno, Adrian Gravina, Stephen Gribbin, Daniel Hardiman, Maddison Hine, Matthew Johnson, Will Johnston, Marc Lckwood, Scott Liddell, Brett Lyall, Nicholas McConnell, Andrew Monaghan, Sam Sargent, Daniel Shakaib, Hiwad Summons, Justin Torcasio, Christopher Williams, Jake Barry from Beach Road hopes to cover the game and I'll be writing an article shortly on the alliance and on the characters of Sandy who helped enrich the 9 year experience and on the future direction most likely to Casey ...

If it's going to take 2 to 3 years for Niknat to be ready to play, then how long will it take J. Watts?

Greece, Germany and now Holland. My advice to Nathan is that, in the future, he should stay away from anything to do with Europe !

It's official http://www.fremantlefc.com.au/tabid/7009/D...px?newsid=66899

From (a very sad) Barry: Sandy lost another close one to end its 2008 campaign with a 10 point defeat at the hands of North Ballarat. Sandringham 2.2.14 4.5.29 5.6.36 7.13.55 North Ballarat 5.4.34 7.6.48 8.13.61 8.17.65 Goals Sandringham Newton Tregear 2 Bate Gallagher Gilchrist North Ballarat Grima Smith 2 Chester Greig Roach Wundke Best Sandringham C Liddell Gallagher Tregear Bate Gilchrist B Liddell North Ballarat Swallow Sharkey Moloney Searl Greig Chester The Zebra Reserves advanced to next week's first semi final against Box Hill with a good win over Frankston. Sandringham 3.2.20 4.3.27 9.6.60 15.9.99 Frankston 3.4.22 6.5.41 7.8.50 11.10.76 Goals Sandringham Gileno 5 Eaton 3 Cleeve Gilder Hardiman Lyall Monaghan Summons Weetra Frankston Barker 3 Lloyd Murray 2 McCall Potts White Willis Best Sandringham Gilder Gileno Johnson M Johnston Williams Summons Frankston Willis Dunne Stone Gill Lloyd Drake Report Frankston Karl Lombardozzi for using abusive language towards an umpire Chris Oliver for tripping Jake Williams by foot

This is all very silly IMO. Didn't Richmond just beat Hawthorn a fortnight ago?

and not much better at half three quarter time Geelong 6.3.39 9.4.58 Frankston 12.5.77 19.8.122 which suggests that the Zebra dynasty is well and truly over and (apart from the possibility of the ressies going on for another week or two) the MFC alignment will be done and dusted as well as soon as the final siren sounds tomorrow afternoon.

Surely, we'll collect another $94,319 in the next 48 hours?

I don't like either of them but I voted for "A" although I'd like to see the Demon with sharp fangs and blood dripping from them.

Agreed. Never presume anything is a done deal in the football world until the deal's been done.

Great work Gary and all of the Adelaide Demon fans who made this happen!

Jim Stynes has copped a fair bit of criticism from some quarters but I'm impressed by his persistence in getting a quality candidate for CEO across the line. When Cameron Schwab indicated that he wasn't in the race for CEO, it was reported that he chased Stuart Fox of Geelong and even rang him five or six times in one day to persuade him that he was a wanted man. Although that didn't work, he then continued to show that persistence and finally got his man in Schwab. You have to admire this because, over a very long time, that does not appear to have been a feature at the MFC. I hope he continues to go hard like a dog at a bone when it comes to securing other assets needed by the club.

Just spoke to Finks' Senior who went to the luncheon and he described it as an overwhelming success attracting about 380 people. He thinks the figure thrown around was $2.67m before today's results but he's not sure. All he seemed interested in was getting his souvenir footy autographed by Ronald Dale Barassi.