Whispering_Jack

There are not many things that get me fired up these days but as far as I'm concerned the contempt the AFL is showing for our football club is really pissing me off. We are the oldest football club in the world, this is our 150th year and what do they do to us? They steal the 150th year idea and then they shunt us off to play pre season games anywhere but MELBOURNE. No matter what happens on Friday night I expect our Board to have something to say if our fans can see their team at least once in the pre season in their own home town where the game was born and where this special anniversary can be properly promoted. [For and on behalf of the Melbourne Action Faction]

My suggested nickname, which might be popular with some of the older ladies is "Rudolph" Valenti.

Bode is too one sided for mine. He'll struggle at AFL level if he can't do anything about this part of his game.

And congratulations Billy on winning the coveted Martin Heppell Award for best on ground. The umpires decision to send you off in the first quarter was probably the turning point of the game because it allowed us to keep you fresh while the opposition players were wilting in the sun. Thanks boys for a great team effort - it's what everybody involved in coaching would want from a team. Hopefully, news of our win and vision of the singing of the song will filter through to Dean Bailey and inspire the Dees to better things at AFL level. Has anyone checked up on the condition of Ilsey who appeared to have fallen asleep around half forward in the last quarter? We were nearly going to send out our medical team to revive him. Well done all. The Saintsational team beat the Collingwood websiters by 30 goals a few weeks ago so I'll leave it to Rollo to come up with our next challenge.

While there is a worry that a number of our A List players who were missing on Saturday might not be ready by Rd 1 or will be severely underdone at the start of the season, there's still five weeks to go – three AFL practice matches (and one VFL game the week before the start if necessary) in which they can be phased into some football without the interchange restrictions that apply in the Nab Cup. Hopefully we're going to see some of the missing filtering back come Friday night in Cairns. As for the implementation of a game plan under conditions like last Saturday where you had such a wide divergence of experience and talent it was always going to get some cohesive play going. The Geelong players knew each other well – we had 9 who'd never played together in a Melbourne jumper including a schoolkid who hadn't played a practice match with his teammates. It's a big ask to expect an instant cohesive game plan to emerge from a group like that - we need more of the experienced players to get a good system going. That's not to denigrate the inexperienced young blokes playing or even getting "smashed" by premiership players. A prime example would be Tom McNamara who was on Steve Johnson at times. Here's a kid whose CV at junior level is that he’s really beaten one on one and he comes up against the reigning Norm Smith Medallist. Despite being beaten, he's had an experience worth bottling and it probably has progressed his career more than a dozen training runs in top AFL company. Even if Maric is unlikely to play in Rd 1 or at all in 2008 I’ll bet he'll remember this experience and that he's gained some confidence from the few touches he got out on the ground. Same goes for all the youngsters and the rookies. If you want to learn how to play good chess you look to play against the best – you take on a Bobby Fischer or a Boris Spassky (if they were alive) and not the local hack player. I agree that we need to get our best 22 together as soon as possible but I will only start being concerned if our team for the last Nab Challenge match in a few weeks time, looks like the one that played at Geelong.

Great effort fellers. After witnessing our 71 point loss yesterday, it was a pleasure to see you win by 104 points today. After all, it's not often you have a 175 point turnaround in the space of 24 hours! Thanks Rollo for the organisation and hopefully you all took heed of my advice about what to do in the event of any calls of nature during the game. It's Collingwood's training ground and if half of their senior team come down with bubonic plague in a couple of month's time, it'll be an absolute bonus.

I've been checking up on the train timetables today at VLine. I'm curious to know why the journey on the 2.40pm train from Southern Cross to South Geelong and has no stops on the way takes an hour and one minute while the 3pm train journey that has three stops on the way takes 49 minutes. Life seems to always throw up these little conundrums but if anyone has a clue on this matter it would be appreciated and would help me make my decision as to which train to catch.

Replay at 7am on Fox Sports 2 [Foxtel online TV Guide] Now, why on earth would you need to tape the same game live and then on replay? Are you expecting the result to change the second time around?

The result might well be meaningless but I still wouldn't miss it for quids (although I might regret saying that in 72 hours time ). Seriously, what is important is how the team plays the game even in the absence of many of our better players. I want to see some system and purpose in the way they play, something different from the team to show that the new coach has them on the right track. That's not a lot to ask, is it?

by Whispering Jack If it be your will If there is a choice Let the rivers fill Let the hills rejoice Let your mercy spill On all these burning hearts in hell If it be your will To make us well Leonard Cohen – If it Be Your Will First there was pain and a long journey and then the remnants of what had been a family, my family, made their way to this country. They were the survivors who found a new home and it was safe and they were made well. One evening when I was about ten years old, my parents visited an uncle's milk bar in Fitzroy. That night, I came face to face with a large dark faced woman. She rushed into the store reeking of alcohol and fear. Blood was dripping down the front of her dress and her plea for an ambulance was whistled through missing teeth. "Me hubby's been stabbed," she shrieked and all of us stood frozen. All but my mother, who went with her, calmed her and nursed 'hubby' till help came and the man survived just as my mother had done before I was born. Someone righteous saved her too. Today, we said sorry to those who had wrong done to them and it was a moving occasion but it was far too late for many. Those who came here before us systematically terrorised, murdered, raped and abused them. They were exposed to our ailments and to alcohol and their minds were tormented, their children stolen. We share this land now with only their remnants – the survivors. Thankfully, among them are some of the finest people you can find. They don't seek vengeance and it would be wonderful if they could be adequately compensated for their suffering. In this country we love our sport and we love our truly native game. I'm proud to have in the team that I support some of the survivors. Matthew Whelan, Aaron Davey, Isaac Weetra and Austin Wonaeamirri are and will continue to be an inspiration to all of us. People like them in all walks of life all over the land can now band together with us to build a better nation, one built on respect for all. And it will be safe and we will all be made well.

To be fair though, since the problem was exposed he's never been fully fit to play enough football to show that he was capable of adapting his game. My bet is that this is something Dean Bailey would have identified well before he even made his presentation to those involved in selecting him as coach. I'm willing to bet also that you won't see that one-dimensionality (is that word in a dictionary?) once he's up and running. On another note, the conflict between the first article indicating that Moloney now "enjoys full health" and the second suggesting that he's out with a groin is yet another example of poor communication at the club (both were MFC articles) as was the one that said "Jarryd" (their spelling not mine) Rivers was rested for the Canberra practice game last Friday but this week we're told he's out with a ... you guessed it (groin). If this is a ploy to confuse the opposition or our supporters then it's working. I hope it doesn't have the same effect on our players.

... and I think it's a great innovation. <_<

Jamar - a man forgotten

If he's a McChins supporter the reporter could have asked him if Alan Didak and friends had ever parked their vehicles in his precious car park.

I'm not worried about arguments and debates - they're probably a good thing for the club. What I hope is that what I'm saying is not considered as a criticism of the past but that it spurs some positive action in the future, particularly with regard to the selection of our next CEO and the way he goes about his tasks of heading the club's business activities. I'm fairly confident about our on field prospects in the short/medium term but when you read of our staff problems, our failure to attract sponsors andto meet budgets it worries me. As Patrick Smith wrote in the Australian - "Melbourne might be 150 years old but it remains just one more mistake away from misery."

by Whispering Jack Ten years ago last October I visited relatives and friends in the United States and was brought face to face with American culture. I'd travelled to the States before but that was to do the Disneyland thing when the kids were younger. This time I spent some of the trip in a private home where my hosts were sports mad and eager to show off their own native games with which I was relatively unfamiliar. I came to appreciate how much you can learn from these quirky Yanks and their sports even if most of their political leaders aren't such endearing characters. The Baseball World Series is played at that time of the year and, in late October of 1997, the Florida Marlins were the underdogs. They sparred against the Cleveland Indians in an intriguing set of matches that took them from one weather extreme to another. It was fantastic television viewing to see the teams slugging it out one day in sunny Miami and then, on the next, they were freezing their you know whats in snowbound Cleveland. The "Fish" were financed and run by H. Wayne Huizenga, a wealthy entrepreneur type who spent heavily to put together a team that ultimately won the title but the franchise was losing money so he sold out very quickly after savouring the victory. Literally. Huizenga dismantled the team by trading off most of the club's best players. The next year, the Marlins struggled at the bottom of the table. We took a night off to see a National Hockey League game. Our hosts took us across the New Jersey state line into Pennsylvania where we saw the local team, the Philadelphia Flyers, take to the ice against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Those were the days when the only meaning of ice was frozen water. It was a real eye opener but not so much for what was happening in play - more so it was about the eating habits of my fellow spectators which was a demonstration of consumerism at its most gross. The sight of obese parents putting away bucket loads of hot dogs, pretzels and ice creams in between swigs of full premium beer in gargantuan plastic cups was matched only by the copious amounts of fast foods fed at alarming rates into the mouths of their equally obese offspring. Some fights broke out on the arena but there was also lots of mayhem among the boofheads in the bleachers as well. Luckily, I was a safe distance away from all that and in the company of my host's business partner – a former pro boxer from Mexico. When we were finally able to focus our attention on the game itself, one of the Flyers stood out head and shoulders above the rest. I didn't have to ask to find out that Eric Lindros was a star of the sport. In fact, it turned out that he was just about THE star of the sport, the premier power forward in the NHL. With his imposing physical strength and playmaking ability, he exuded presence with a capital P. "The Big E" was clearly in control on the arena, the difference between the teams and, at 6'4", he reminded me of … um … well … Wayne Carey in the way he dominated proceedings. I was reminded of that visit this week when I watched in awe as another underdog, the New York Giants pulled off a last gasp victory in Glendale, Arizona over the previously undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Throughout the season, the Pats had performed at a different level to all of the other teams in the NFL, their legendary quarterback Tom Brady had been breaking records and they stretched their record to 18-0 a fortnight before the Super Bowl. Most Americans believed they only had to show up to claim claimed the Vince Lombardi Trophy. There were some warning signs however, when Brady was seen limping in his hotel foyer only days before the big dance but the bookies, the fans and the pundits still had them as raging favourites. When the day came, the Giants were ready. Their coaches were well prepared and had an innovative and flexible game plan for the offensive team and one for the defensive team. Their harassing tactics and strategies were applied relentlessly without let up; the players applied themselves with persistence, passion and hard work. Like all of the better teams in this competition, they had a blending of youth and experience but they also had a number of players in their line up who had improved beyond expectations. All of that seemed to be insufficient as the favourites took a 14-10 lead with less than three minutes to go but it was then that the reality set in - the Giants wanted the ball more than their cocky opponents. We saw a series of inspirational plays driven by their own quarterback Eli Manning who looks more like a mere mortal than a no neck American footballer. His perfectly executed long throw to David Tyree was caught perfectly under pressure and set up the ultimate winning touchdown. Dennis Cometti would have labeled the throw as "centimeter perfect" and perfect it had to be because the result virtually depended on the outcome of that play. Some of the pundits are calling it the "Immaculate Reception" but it was man made and certainly not divinely inspired. On return from my Stateside visit those many years ago, my own football club was being presided over by an orthodox rabbi who had made a fortune on paper from mining exploration in outback Australia and it had a newly appointed coach who hailed from N.S.W, had once studied Divinity and came to be called the "Reverend". Our hopes were high but they all came to nothing in the end. I hope therefore, that I don't cause offence when I reveal my suspicions that the club might have wasted the ensuing years looking for some sort of divine inspiration rather than getting down to the basics and finding the right formula to put the Lessons from Gotham into practice. After all, we still are the Demons, aren't we?

Whatever you might want to say about Patrick Smith, he appears on the button when he says that Steve Harris' replacement will have a Demon of a job. As hard as it might be to take, we have to face up to the fact that we remain at a crucial stage in our history in this our 150th year. "In this birthday year, Melbourne must decide whether it is 150 years old or 150 years young. The new CEO must be innovative, for the traditional money streams have been locked away by other clubs. China is a risk but it may pay off some time deep into the future. More immediate money must be raised. Melbourne must squeeze more out of its games at the MCG. Everything fundamental has to be done correctly. The football department must be run at full capacity. The salary cap paid to the full, every player improve, every coach contribute. It must toughen its culture, must demand respect. A new direction for the club must be charted, boldly but safely. Melbourne might be 150 years old but it remains just one more mistake away from misery."

Spot on bub. Melbourne ditches another underperformer and we're supposed to be in turmoil. What a laugh! Yet another example of hypocrisy from the Age which has become the master of agenda reporting.

What a brilliant piece of platic surgery!

More speculation on the airwaves today about our next CEO being a female and coming from the ranks of current MFC board members. That means it's either Bev O'Connor, Sue Nattrass or Karen Hayes although the latter two would seem to be more professionally qualified than Bev whose forte is in broadcasting.

I think there's a hell of a lot of misinformation being spread around by lots of people who have a bone to pick with the way Judd seemingly treated their clubs with contempt during his apparently phoney selection process. I call it "wishful thinking". The surgeon who did the job is reputable and has a good record of success. Unfortunately, the odds now are that Chris Judd will pull on a Carlton guernsey before Cam Bruce dons the red and blue. Let's worry about our own club instead of wishing bad karma on others (even though in Judd's case, I'll take it ).

Waldron won a premiership with Melbourne last year (the Storm). It would be interesting if he could make it back to back. Having said that, Steve Harris is still the boss, isn't he?

Not a problem. While many of us supported Joe in the early days of Demonland and still appreciate his contribution to the club, while he would be welcome back as a fan of the club, I personally couldn't see him in the role of CEO at the club. Time's passed on.

Good question and I'll ask if I get the opportunity. At the moment I'm watching the replay of the Reverend's last game as coach. The Demons looked terrible in the first quarter but the responded beautifully after that and late in the third quarter looked winners. I wouldn't recommend that he turns on the TV right at this moment though.

I'm up here on the Gold Coast and arrived on the same flight as Neale Daniher who is off to the National Coaching Conference. Former Western Bulldog Rohan Smith was also on the flight but I don't think he was here to do the coaching gig. I'm here for a week's break but am happy to catch up with any Demonlanders on the Coast and given my ties with the Demonland/Demonology team I might try to gatecrash a National Coaching Conference event to see if I can pick up some titbits of coaching wisdom from the country's coaching greats for use in the big game against Saintsational in a couple of week's time. All of the talk up here is about the Wayne Carey disaster (rumour here is that there's going to be a last minute rewrite of Underbelly to include the Carey character in one of the later episodes and that his role is to be played by Danny De Vito) and the fact that the 17th team which will be based on the coast is going to start a year later. It could be a case of too late because the Gold Coast Titans (?) rugby league team seems to have caught on strongly here after only one year. The AFL has rostered the premiers Geelong to come up here next week for the community clinics etc. and I will watch out for them and immediately send out some intelligence to Dean Bailey if I learn anything about them. The Cats have a few injuries, Nathan Ablett's "retirement" and Steve Johnson's antics to contend with while we only have Nathan Carroll so I'm quietly confident about causing the upset of the season on 16 Feb at Skilled Stadium and then doubling up the day after against the Saints at whatever venue they allow us to play. Anyhow, if I see the Reverend again, does anyone have any questions for him?