Whispering_Jack

FWIW Official Injuries

Bartram - (almost) kept Jetta kickless

Agree with you that if rattling tin cans is all there is to it then we're in trouble. However, I've had discussions with Jimmy and one other director and they assure me that the debt demolition plan is only the first phase or the first quarter. An outline of the plan has been placed on the club's website and further details will be made public in due course. It's up to the club's members and supporters to support the board's efforts and to also keep the board on its toes if they're not doing their job.

I think you might find that's illegal dazzledavey36. I do agree however, that it's time for the AFL to adopt uniform laws for the game i.e. they should apply to both teams.

He keeps improving every week and on today's performance, must be one of the contenders for a nomination ... surely?

Come on Demon fans. The site says on $11,276.00 collected to date. When you take into account the ten grand put in by the Richmond supporter, that's almost nothing from the true faithful! As the man says -

The day his voice broke!

GC17 enters the AFL the year after his contract expires. If he kicks on as many of us think he will, Petterd will be a prime target for the new club. Let's hope we look after him and he appreciates us for it all.

The composition of the Bullants team which includes 18 Blues players, clearly demonstrates one of the main reasons why Carlton is travelling so well at the moment. They have 40 out of 44 senior and rookie list players available and, of the players missing, only two would be considered selection chances for the AFL side - Richard Hadley and Setanta O’hAilpin - and they would be on the fringes of selection at best. And that's been more or less the situation with Carlton all year. If you gave them an injury plagued season or two like those experienced by Melbourne recently, they'd be back on the tankwagon very quickly.

This really sounds like paper talk to me. Designed to strengthen the AFL's hand in its negotiations on behalf of the clubs for a better deal from the stadium managers. Still, it wouldn't be a bad idea for the AFL to kick some additional funding into Casey Fields to ensure the ground has sufficient capacity to hold a crowd of 15 - 20k for home games for clubs like Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne and hawthorn against the lesser interstate draws like Fremantle, Port Adelaide, GC17 and WS18.

So does Ben Johnson (by at least the three or four days needed to get the drugs out of his system).

I don't see why the need for the white in the jumper at all. I agree with the others who are saying that an all red number with the navy blue monogram would be sufficient to cover any possible clash with existing clubs.

Probably. A few gold medals in the swimming, equestrian maybe and we'd have to be a chance in the men's pole vault.

Include me in for the time being.

Just announced that the Round 19 Geelong vs Melbourne game on Friday August 8 has had a change of time. Thought everybody would be eager to know about this world shattering piece of news from the AFL. Apparently has something to do with some other sporting event going on in another part of the world on the same day.

Oh, and just as a matter of interest to Charlie Happell, Chris Connolly played his last game for Melbourne in 1989 i.e. 5 years before Irving arrived at Melbourne. In 1994, Connolly was into his third year as coach of the Eastern Ranges TAC Cup Under 18 team. Ironically, four years later Barry Prendergast, our recruiting guru, was coach of the Ranges. Another mate? More bad news for Chuck is the fact that Greg Healy retired at the end of 1993 and, from what I understand, he spent more of his time in 1994 surfing around Bells Beach. Whatever the case, I somehow doubt that Happell's so-called villains and members of this dastardly cabal, Connolly and Healy were snubbing Dean Irving at any team meetings during the 1994. Most of Dean's team meetings would have been reserves team meetings and I don't think Chris or Greg would have spent much time there anyway even when they were at the club. Anyone want to second my nomination of this story for a Pulitzer Prize in the science fiction section?

I think you're dreamin man and I don't give a rat's tossbag about what Happell's been in a former life although it's interesting that he may have been close to a former CEO of this club who was terminated not that long ago. The article is a sloppy piece of journalism. It takes a scattergun approach attacking everything about the Melbourne Football Club, past and present without substantiating claims made with anything that remotely resembles evidence. It's a really bitter attack and to colour the article by spending 50% of the space allocated to him on the Dean Irving beat up is proof that the whole thing is a waste of that space. We have a board that has taken on the enormous task of rebuilding our club. Clearly, they have to achieve that in an arena where there is no shortage of snipers willing to attack them on the flimsiest of grounds. If you check out the club's website, you'll find a list of the current board members and their cv's. Have a look at their names, what they have achieved and what they do in their business lives and tell me how many of them are really "yes men" who would allow themselves to be subservient to this so-called Hollywood Boulevard that may or may not have existed some dozen years ago in totally different circumstances to those of today.

True but people like Happell were no doubt booing loudly when Stynes dismissed Paul McNamee after such a short period at the helm, yet he has no compunction about sticking the boots into Jimmy's administration after just over a month. Even if you accept this notion of a Hollywood cabal existing in the mid 1990's, isn't it possible that the people involved have matured with age and that they accept the very serious responsibility they've undertaken in precisely that vein?

Laughed my head off reading this article which I thought at first was a satirical piece aimed at Comedy Channel audiences. Happell must think that the football public and the majority of Melbourne supporters all have memories like a sieve and are prepared to swallow any drivel that's served up to them. Happell is so off the mark that it's not funny but if he's up to it, I'll debate the merits of the alleged factual parts of his article any day of the week at any venue provided all proceeds go to the Melbourne Football Club Debt Demolition. Just for starters Charlie boy, Dean Irving would be the first to admit that when he came to Melbourne in 1994 he was no champion - just a good ordinary footballer who (with all due respect to him) wouldn't be fit to polish Brownlow Medallist Jimmy's boots if we're talking in terms of quality AFL ruckmen. The adage in those days was that West Coast never gave good players away and that applied in Irving's case (he appeared once for the Eagles in 1993 before they let him go). Contrary to what Happell says, the club was not "the most shambolic excuse for an AFL club imaginable". If he would bothered to check his facts (which is what one expects from any journalist worth his salt), he would have discovered that Melbourne was travelling quite well in 1994 - in fact, the Demons made the preliminary final that year (which they lost aginst the ultimate premiers in Perth) and their finals victories over Carlton and Footscray were magnificent and very far from shambolic. Can I suggest that Happell picks up a videotape of the games in question and studies them carefully because the team played exquisitely in those games? Jimmy polled 7 votes in the Brownlow that year; how did big Dean go? So let's look at the respective records of the players concerned during the time in which Happell infers that Jimmy got a free ride as far as being selected over the hapless Irving whose main claim to fame at the club was that he was hospitalised in 1997 after he was bitten by a spider. Irving played 8 games in 1994, 6 again in 1995 and had a big year in 1996 with 9 games in a year when the club was badly hit by injury. In 1997, he had two games before he was given the flick. With a record like that most AFL footballers would be expecting the bullet and Irving got it - as Happell mentioned, he was replaced on the senior list by a rookie in Russell Robertson. Anyone familiar with Robbo's record after that would have to agree that the decision to do so was more than vindicated. Meanwhile, Jimmy Stynes won the Bluey Truscott Medal in 1995, 1996 and 1997 (to go with the one he won in 1990. Yet Happell's twisted scenario suggests that an injury striken Jimmy Stynes wasn't carrying his weight and some mysterious cabal (not to mention the spider) was working to keep Irving out of the team. Absolute baloney! The article is an insult to one of the club's greatest - a man who will be remembered at the Melbourne Football Club long after names like Irving and Happell will be forgotten. It's also an insult to a respected football person in Neil Balme who coached the side during this time as well as the other well respected club icons whose reputations this lowly hack who has no credibility on the subject tries to besmirch. Interestingly, Connolly was at the club long before Jimmy became President and it was the old admin of "non-mates" that enquired about the availability of Schwab when Schwab got the chop. His article isn't worth a pinch of drek.

This is an article about Collingwood - Magpies need leadership and midfield firepower - but it also discusses an issue that many clubs face in their quest for success. Jake Niall asks what path will Collingwood take in its trading and drafting strategy. "The Magpies can continue down the patient long road they've undertaken since 2004, or they can aggressively pursue Daniel Kerr, Jonathan Brown or whoever might plug either of the club's vast voids — leadership and the midfield. And filling one hole is likely to be at the expense of the other." If it's a risk for the Pies to seek out Jonathan Brown, then what diabolical path might Paul McNamee have led us down with an offer of $1m a year for five years to get the Brisbane star? It's clear to me that the better alternative for the Demons is to pursue a youth policy rather than expend resources on chasing high priced players from other clubs - especially those who are getting on in terms of their age.

Well, at least he got that part right. McIntyre is a politician who is appealing to the heartstrings here. Those nobs from the Melbourne FC are, in his view, stealing, the municipality's land. That's rubbish. The Demons are being asked to be a partner in the development of a community asset, to put money, resources and people into it, to enhance its value and the value of the amenities available to the people of the Casey municipality. This development will also help put Casey on the map and bring substantial future revenue to the people as well as give them a much needed first class sporting facility in the heart of a rapidly growing region. There are definitely deep seated problems in local government when you have people like those in Maribyrnong almost scuttling the Bulldog's development and McIntyre attempting the same with Casey Fields.

Sorry 'bout that ... but I did say (apparently)! What was that the bloke over there says about Strawberry Fields and nothing being real? B)

On the Couch - Fox Sports 1 at 8.30pm. The President will be on ... (apparently)

We haven't played a night game this year so what's he doing sticking his nose into our business?

by JVM In between football seasons, one of the bigger news items doing the rounds was the story of how the North Melbourne Football Club reinvigorated itself under James Brayshaw to a point where it managed to stave off a substantial push from the AFL for it to relocate to the Gold Coast and then rebuilt its membership to record numbers. The Kangaroos are not out of the woods yet but, with solid on field performances to match their off field repositioning, they have gained the respect and admiration of many in the football world and have assumed a stable condition. The new patient in the AFL's intensive care ward is the Melbourne Football Club whose condition is approaching critical. Off the field, the Demons have performed woefully despite also recording record membership numbers thanks to a late surge when Jimmy Stynes took over the club's chairmanship mantle. However, the books show that it is trending to a loss of somewhere in the region of $2 million and a debt of around $5 million. The situation has been described as "perilous" and the instability around the club has been characterised by the movement of key personnel through the club's revolving front door. The on field story is not much better - some might say it's worse. There have been a few improved displays of late but even the best of days have been marred by patches of mediocrity. Last week, the team started like a house on fire against the Dockers at Subiaco but the flame was almost extinguished by half time. An 80 point turnaround between quarter and full time left us all with as pathetic an impression of a struggling football team as you can get. The only redeeming feature of the 46-point thumping at the hands of 14th placed Freo was that the team Melbourne put on the ground had accumulated less than half the number of games and the playing list was nearly 2½ years younger per player than its rival on the day. With players of the calibre of Brad Green, Brock McLean, Jared Rivers, James McDonald, Brent Moloney and Russell Robertson missing through injury and some handy older players on the outer, the reasons for the club's critical on field condition has been obvious for all to see. Things are unlikely to get better this week as the AFL's two major hospital cases Melbourne and North Melbourne shape up against each other for the second time this year. The Kangaroos will be hoping to consolidate a place in the top eight while the best that the Demons can expect is to climb a single rung of the ladder if they can somehow win the game. They could also do so if they lose but only if they do so by a lesser margin than their nearest rivals, the West Coast Eagles. Melbourne might well be hoping for victory to divert attention away from the off-field controversies that have raged during the week but it also needs to prove that it's not quite on the deathbed yet. To achieve that, it needs to put up a better showing than it did the last time these teams met. THE GAME Melbourne v North Melbourne at MCG – Sunday 27 July 2008 at 2:10pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 83 wins North Melbourne 62 wins 1 draw At the MCG Melbourne 54 wins North Melbourne 30 wins Since 2000 Melbourne 7 wins North Melbourne 6 wins The Coaches Bailey 0 wins Laidley 1 win MEDIA TV Channel 7 - delayed telecast 3:00pm RADIO 3AW MMM 774ABC KRock THE BETTING Melbourne to win $4.75 North Melbourne to win $1.16 LAST TIME THEY MET North Melbourne 18.19.127 d Melbourne 11.13.79, Round 4, 2008, at MCG Melbourne had opened the season with two awful defeats at the hands of Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs and then showed promise of hope with a much-improved performance at Geelong. Against North Melbourne however, they looked like rank amateurs. The Kangaroos dominated from the first bounce and only their atrocious kicking for goal prevented the game from becoming a complete massacre. Once North started finding its targets up forward it was virtually all one-way traffic with Thompson booting five and Edwards and Thomas three each. Fortunately for the Dees, only Thomas will be on hand to do damage this weekend but there are plenty of other Shinbones capable of getting the goals when the team is on song. The bad news is that Melbourne's better players on that day were Brad Green and James McDonald. The former will miss again with a hamstring injury and the latter has been missing for a few weeks with a groin problem and is by no means guaranteed a game this week. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Matthew Whelan Colin Garland Matthew Warnock Half backs Chris Johnson Daniel Bell Lynden Dunn Centreline Cale Morton Cameron Bruce Simon Buckley Half forwards Colin Sylvia Matthew Bate Aaron Davey Forwards Michael Newton Brad Miller James McDonald Followers Mark Jamar Clint Bartram Nathan Jones Interchange Paul Johnson Addam Maric Stefan Martin Shane Valenti Emergencies Nathan Carroll Jeff White In James McDonald Addam Maric Out Paul Wheatley (calf) Austin Wonaeamirri (soreness) NORTH MELBOURNE Backs Shannon Watt Michael Firrito Daniel Pratt Half backs Gavin Urquhart Josh Gibson Leigh Harding Centreline Matt Campbell Daniel Harris Brent Harvey Half forwards Lachlan Hansen David Hale Corey Jones Forwards Scott McMahon Drew Petrie Lindsay Thomas Followers Todd Goldstein Adam Simpson Daniel Wells Interchange Shannon Grant Blake Grima Sam Power Brady Rawlings Emergencies Leigh Brown Matt Riggio Jess Sinclair In Blake Grima Out Ben Ross (ankle) Field umpires McLaren Fila Hendrie If you go purely on form then selecting the winner of this game is a no brainer. The Kangaroos have collected some impressive scalps this season including top four teams Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs. They were unlucky to only share two premiership points with Sydney in that extra man on the ground fiasco earlier in the year. The Roos are on the march with wins in three of their last four games and their only defeat in that time came at the hands of in form St. Kilda who they led for most of the game. The Demons were given a flogging by Fremantle after quarter time last week after an excellent start and prior to that their form could best be described as "indifferent". However, the Dees are back home at the G where their form since the Roos comprehensively beat them earlier in the season has been more than competitive. Further, their chances of winning would significantly increase if they could hold North Melbourne’s small running players led by Brent "Boomer" Harvey but also including the dynamic duo Lindsay Thomas and Matt Campbell and an old stager in Shannon Grant. The likes of Matthew Whelan, Clint Bartram and possibly even Colin Garland will need to be on their toes if they are to shut down these players who are all dangerous in front of goal. The big question is who will tag "Boomer"? Some of Melbourne’s younger brigade are showing signs of tiring after a tough season and it’s interesting to see Jeff White, James McDonald and Nathan Carroll named in the initial squad, suggesting that Dean Bailey has recognised the arduous nature of a long season on novices at this level. At selection, the Demons have again lost one of their most consistent performers through injury - this time Paul Wheatley who will sorely be missed. I think this game will be a lot closer than some people might think and I've selected North Melbourne to win by the narrowest of margins to make it three in a row for them for the first time this year. They will win the game because they will be more desperate given that a finals position is on the line. They also have the benefit of coming off a nine-day break against a team that has had two days less to prepare and is a young side coming back from a trip to Perth. North Melbourne by 8 points.