Whispering_Jack

Sounds like an inspired move to me. Buckley is 190cm and Bradshaw 192cm so there's little difference in height. Buckley is strong and fast and those are attributes that are needed to counter Bradshaw.

I did see him at training but can't say for sure whether he did the full session.

I might be up on the Coast on business that weekend but I'd only be an outside chance of making it to Brisbane. I was just curious about a hotel having the name "Pineapple". Then again, I thought every town in Queensland might have a Pineapple Hotel just as every town here has a Railway Hotel or a Station Hotel . I'll pm my email address for the membership form and good luck with your function!

Was the public face of the CFC on the TV news last night and aquitted himself well. I don't mind him but I think he had no future at the club and made the right career move. Can we move on now please?

Good work Deb but where is the Pineapple Hotel? Also, how much does it cost to be a member of the Queensland Demons and where do we send our money?

Close Bananabender but according to the wife who should know, the word is "piwo" (pronounced pivo). Your first choice description pretty well sums up the garbage that constitutes the media reports of the game but it also demonstrates how much respect we as a club have lost over the past two seasons. We need a few more performances like last night in proper matches and against good opposition to win back that respect.

Well done faultydet and junior. Great effort by both and by the Demons. I know this was just a practice matcj but let's hope we can double our opposition's score on more than a few occasions during the regular season!

It's probably an opportune time to reflect on the reports about the coaches box being happy with the forward pressure being exerted by the attack - something I felt lacking in the earlier games. Juice would be happy to have three goals up before three quarter time in these conditions. This time last year he was on his way in an ambulance after being KO'd in a NAB Challenge game v Richmond in what heralded a poor season for him. Hopefully, tonight will be his turning point. Also good to know that PJ's back on the ground.

Meanwhile, just to keep things moving Phil Hughes has just hit two sixes in a row to get his maiden test century. Aussies 0/169.

I think it's bigfooty.com but don't overload yourself. We need you to concentrate on junior's messages. Besides, someone's cutting and pasting your posts over there anyway!

Actually, only a couple of weeks ago when we played the reigning premiers in Launceston. Meanwhile, faultydet and junior will be pleased to know that over on the Brisbane board on bigfooty they're hanging on your every word. The game's being played in their state but they need to log on to a Melbourne board for the scores. If we keep going the way we are, pease don't forget to stick it right up them if you can.

Just me. Giving full scores and the like (was going to pm you at half time).

Yes, keep up the good work faulty & pass on our thanks to junior.

Thanks for your offer faultydet. I remember last year when we played the Tigers up at Cairns both sites crashed at times during the course of the game. Hopefully, people will stick to the one site and we'll get regular scores and updates without interruption to the system.

At an MFC function launching the President's Club tonight Jimmy Stynes said he wants to make 4 announcements before the start of the season: (i) the deal with Casey Council; (ii) an agreement with the Melbourne Cricket Club re the future; (iii) the club's major sponsor (up to the last week there were about 3 options including dual sponsors, now a couple more have emerged); and (iv) the #1 ticket holder. Should be an interesting 2 to 3 weeks ahead.

I should add that there was nothing sinister meant by that at all. It's good to see young blokes enjoying training.

After the way he was treated last time around I wouldn't blame him for not digging too deep. Apparently, he has made a big financial comeback but whether he's prepared to kick in the $'s is another thing. It's great to have him back and hopefully he will put in the balance of the pledged amount that he was supposed to put in at the time when he was deposed (nearly $300k) but I wouldn't go holding my breath while waiting.

I was down at Casey Fields this afternoon and watched some of the training. This was a special session as most training is conducted first thing in the morning. I missed a fair bit of the session so it's not fair to mention players I didn't notice but FWIW here are some snippets: Addam Maric was doing training with the forward line group. However, as he's missed a fair bit of pre season training so far, he's not considered ready to play a NAB Challenge game. It looks like he'll be used as a crumbing forward when he's fully fit and not in the midfield because he hasn't got a big enough engine. Some players were taking it lightly and these are the players who will be rested this week. Brad Green is one who will be rotated off this week. There will be others as the club wants to control the players' workload and get a chance to look at those who haven't had much of a run so far. Jake Spencer was in his civvies (no noticeable injury - possibly also being rested) as was Aussie who's recuperating from his first hamstring injury ever so he will be nursed through a 4 week recovery instead of the more usual 3 weeks. Jack Watts was out there with the forwards looking as if he was enjoying training with the boys. He looks to be getting on well with Colin Sylvia. Mark Jamar has a stress fracture of his toe. Will be a couple of weeks yet. Robbo did his bit and then came off earlier than the rest of the group but this is normal for the type of work needed when recovering from an Achilles operation. He looks a little way off yet and will probably have to start at Casey. Liam Jurrah looks spindly but impressive. I think he's on a modified programme and is regared as a project player. I don't know if that rules him out of any practice games at this stage of proceedings. Jared Rivers was doing light training away from the main group of defenders but I believe he will play half a game in Cairns on Friday night. Paul Wheatley was out there with a bandage on his calf and generally taking it easy. Finally, the players were all wearing their full Demon gear i.e the authentic MFC jumped. No sign of a major sponsor's logo anywhere!

But is it more than what Footscray's actually getting from Mission Foods?

Probably the worst kept secret in the annals of AFL history has been let out of the bag by the Herald Sun - Secrets of Chris Judd's pay packet revealed "Cash payments from Visy to Judd - believed to total several hundred thousand dollars a year - come on top of his $1 million-a-season Carlton pay packet. AFL chiefs have approved the arrangement." The AFL's level playing field was pronounced dead when the AFL tinkered with the draw so that it favours clubs like Collingwood with its high drawing power. Now the salary cap which was supposed to help even out the competition is also dead. What next? The premiers get first selection in the national draft as a reward? And what a farce this makes of Chri$ Judd's so-called selection and interview process. The insiders appear to have been right on the button with their claims that Judd had made his decision well before he went through that farcical process in late 2007 during which supporters of Collingwood, Essendon and Melbourne were led to believe that he might go to their club. Oh, and the Visy ecology message has about as much credibility as its leading spokespeson - zilch!

Well done. Next time we update our links we will link to the blog. Cheers

I have my doubts about whether the 18 team competition will happen within the time line envisaged by the AFL. I don't mind the idea of a two conference set up if we ever get to 20 teams. However, I don't think it should be organised along the lines of Victorians in one conference against the others.

You're being unkind to Rivers Fan. In his last full game, a half fit Rivers was a major factor in our 51 point turnaround victory against Freo in round 7 last year. With our improving backline, the return of a fit Rivers to the team, could be pivotal to our prospects because it might well open up a situation where one of the defenders - even Rivers himself - could go forward. I have full confidence that, wherever he plays, Rivers will "put up".

We would rather not have to use our moderating powers at all and rather, have our boards open to comment by all. We don't mind the occasional piece of good natured kidding around if done in good humour but what was done by Occo stepped over the boundary. What made it worse was the lack of remorse shown, a factor which served to make the penalty far more severe than that which would have otherwise applied.

Long goal to Swans seals the game - 8 pts.