Whispering_Jack

Well, it was a bit like this ... Unlike the scene at Punt Road today where they had 2,000 rabid Tiger fans watching training, there were about 20 Demon supporters at CF on Monday. This made it east for CC to find us there and for us to find him. It helped that he knew Redleg and one or two others in our small group and he just volunteered to take us around on the tour. He's a terrific bloke and doing a fantastic job for the club. I doubt we would have received the same treatment if we'd lobbed up at Punt Road this morning!

Not working for me and I took the photos but then again, it was the first time I ever used the camera, I thought it focussed automatically and I wasn't figuring on it being a dark, gloomy morning with thick cloud cover and poor lighting. Anyway, I come from the impressionist school of photography. Van Gogh and Matisse for me. That's why everything's so blurry (although I did get Redleg's balding head pretty much spot on). Apologies for missing out on Brent Moloney. I think he might have trimmed down a bit since last year. If you want clear photos, George (whose camera was four times the size of the one I was using and looked pretty much state of the art) has done a good job over at Demonology and he's also put together a nice report (see here). We both got more or less the same guided tour.

Quote by Barry Prengergast in today's papers indicates he's 191 cm tall.

Jurrah set for life-changing AFL draft day

Not if it's detrimental to his well being in the long run. None of us know how his recovery from the problems he's experienced over recent years is going. My professional experience in dealing with people with drug addiction is limited but I know it's something that is very rarely overcome in the short space of a year. Richmond's the only club that's prepared to take a punt on him and I think they've handled this poorly. The linking of the Cousins drafting with the Polak issue was a mistake in my opinion. If they weren't going to take him come what may, they should never have taken the path that they did. Their supporters were sold the dream of a champion 30/31 year old Brownlow Medallist midfielder coming to their club and making the difference between being also rans and strong finals contenders. It was the same dream that was sold previously to St. Kilda fans and shattered, ditto with Collingwood before that. I somehow don't think the reality was ever going to match the dream but it sure would be interesting to find out (but only if he is over his addiction). And if he was 100% how could you not want to see him or any other great athlete perform at the highest level (except when they play against us)?

The problem is that Richmond probably needed Polak out of the way and on the rookie list in order to free up room in their salary cap to pay Cousins. It would be best if they can work out a way to get him under the existing rules and without recriminations against the AFL which ruled correctly on this issue. It's simply not fair to the competition to change the ground rules in the 11th hour of a draft period.

They probably have but we'll have to wait until tonight to see what develops. The above pic was taken from my iphone so it was almost the first ever live photo of training in the history of the world! Miller's head and that of Trent Zomer definitely resembled that of Nathan Jones.

Whatever we might think about Eddie and all the advantages Collingwood gets, I think he's right on the issue of Richmond's application to move Polak to the rookie list. It's opportunism at its best and really smacks of draft tampering when you try to change the rules at this stage of proceedings. That said, I'm not sure that we're going to be inconvenienced all that much and I'm not sure that the Tigers will get as much mileage out of Ben Cousins as they think they will. By the way, we own a few pokie venue leaseholds too, don't we? I wonder how they're travelling?

Fair go... he only weighs 110kg. You Tube

What else do you do on a rainy December morning but prognosticate on Tuesday's PSD? Yesterday I revisited some tapes of the U18 champs & the TAC Cup to see if they could throw some more light on the situation. Here's what I think of the main prospects on the eve of the PSD - Matt Deboer - AA midfielder who can play inside and outside, good athletically but apparently not drafted because of a question mark over his disposal. Played a poor game v Vic Metro, didn't have too many kicks (at least one of them was a high floater) and showed a preference for handball which sometimes suggests a lack of confidence in his kicking. To be fair though, at least three of his handballs directly resulted in goals. Verdict: No (kicking not up to standard) Tom Rockliff - as I've written elsewhere, this bloke has grown on me after not originally impressing (I thought he was a one trick forward pocket pony). Then I saw him in the Nat Champs at TD (ok), the U18 Preliminary Final at Vi$y Park (BOG) & the Grand Final a week later at TD. He convinced me in that last game when he kicked 4 goals, unselfishly gave away a couple more with handpasses to players in the goal square and passed a few to Sidebottom. On top of that, he did well in stints in the midfield and down back. Finished with 30 disposals - 2 less than Sidey who kicked 10 and got MOM. The knock on the Rock is that he's not an "athlete" (btw neither is Sidey & he was picked at #11) but I'm not recommending him for a track & field meeting either. [i digress here to confess that in about 1996 there was this bloke at the Dragons called Adam Quinn who was built like a brick shithouse and kicked 5 goals in a dominant national champs decider and I really believed that he would be picked up in the top 3 in that year's ND. In the end, he wasn't even rookied! I was told later that this was because athletically he was a dud. He played a few games with Sandy in the VFL but was gone by the time the alignment started.] Verdict: He's training with us & despite the fact that he's not Carl Lewis, I'd take the punt. He's been compared a couple of times with Jason Porplyzia and I ask what's wrong with that? IMO Adelaide was going to finish top 4 when Porps was on song & before he got injured. Incidentally, Porps was also picked up in the 2006 PSD. Casey Sibosado - only saw vision on You Tube & we know that can be as misleading as a movie promo that can condense a 2 hour film's only highlights into 3 minutes. I don’t know much about him but it's been suggested that he’s lazy and undisciplined. Verdict: As much as I'd love to point Casey at Casey, I give him the thumbs down because of the question marks about his character (see Emma Quayle in today's Sunday Age). We've spent the last 2 or 3 seasons ridding ourselves of lazy footballers. Kade Klemke - training with the Tigers and I suspect his is the identity of the young player they are purportedly willing to take ahead of Cuz if the AFL won't give them the green light over Polak. If he doesn't get taken in the PSD I think the Swans can take him as an automatic NSW rookie selection and that's one of the things Richmond might be concerned about (along with freeing up TPP room for Cuz). He's a goer but no thanks. Verdict: As far as I'm concerned the Toigs can have Cousins and all the baggage attached to him plus Klemke. Good luck to them if it works. I remain a sceptic. Luke Stanton - no. Disposal a problem. Jamie Sheahan - short at 178cm but there's just something I like about him that suggests he might be worth taking as a rookie. Verdict: Yes as a rookie. Clancee Pearce - I liked his game at TD but couldn't remember him at all from the U18 game at CF. Looks a bit of a dasher & kicks long. Verdict: I'd take him as a rookie. Riley Milne - impressed as a key defender in the TAC cup granny and we do need to pick up some players with good height. Do we need another key defender though? Rhetorical question. Verdict: rookie, yes. Matt Martin - 196cm, 100kg key defender from SA u18's. Do we need another key defender named Martin? Verdict: Actually, the kid isn't slow and was originally a KP forward and in that regards, he could fill a need so, yes I'd take him. Others: I still like my two late suggestions from the ND in Jordan Dodman (207cm ruck with a b'ball background) and Alex Silvagni (keep Alex at Casey & stick it up Caarton when he becomes an AA full back - but do we need any more KP defenders?) Then there's Michael Gugliotta of NT who is 195cm and apparently can play just a little bit and Stevie Gaertner whose family I know, who's a good kid, very athletic for 199cm and plays best at CHB (I'm not even going to ask the question!) Beyond that we have the rest of those blokes training at CF who I will probably get to see tomorrow (and in most cases it will probably be the last time they train there with an AFL club).

I just finished reading today's Herald Sun sports lift out. In the middle of the first month of summer, the Collingwod Football club got more coverage and was mentioned in more articles than our test cricketers, tennis players and track and field athletes combined. If anyone bends over for Collingwood it's that newspaper!

Did the fat lady get to sing at the end?

In effect that's probably right as long as Richmond are forced to use their first pick in the rookie draft to formally take Polak. Otherwise, they would effectively have the huge advantage of picking up a senior player like Cousins for the last pick in the rookie draft i.e. about 130-135 overall. The problem is that it also creates a new precedent which yet again waters down the spirit and the meaning of the draft. Already, the AFL has made enough changes to the rules which ,along with changes in the marketplace have rendered the PSD virtually redundant and the first pick in that draft is almost worthless.

Dear Harveys Disciples, Firstly, thanks for the game on Sunday. Unfortunately, you didn't have your strongest side on the ground and it wasn't a great contest after quarter time. Secondly, the comments made by demonsam are against the spirit of sportsmanship which was displayed by most of the players on the ground this time and on the previous occasions when we've played forum games. It's regrettable that they were made and I trust that the person was not a member of our team. Thirdly, it's been brought to my attention since the game that one of our ruckmen might have caused some injury to your ruckman through clashing with him in ruck contests with his sharp stops. These sorts of things were not condoned by the coaching panel and hopefully, next time will be brought to our attention and that of the umpire during the game so they can be dealt with appropriately. We all do our best in these games to highlight sportsmanship and the enjoyment of the game and you have our assurance that this will continue to be our objective every time we meet on the field.

I don't know what all the fuss is about. Richmond already has a PSD pick so it has the capacity to draft Cousins if it wishes. It also has the capacity to put Polak on the long term injury list in accordance with the AFL rules and to promote a rookie if it wishes. The issue is therefore not about Cousins and not about Polak but rather about Richmond wanting to get a windfall advantage in priority in the upcoming PSD/rookie drafts.

Agreed there's nothing wrong with that but this seems to be somewhat opportunistic on the part of Richmond. Why are they raising it now when the time under AFL rules for making room on every team's list has passed? They've known about Polak's situation for ages and besides, there's a long term injury list already available for such cases. Also, if they want Cousins they can draft him with their existing PSD pick. This proposal would give them the opportunity to draft a young untried player as well as someone like Cousins or Nathan Carroll or to redraft Gourdis giving them an extra advantage. To me it's a bit like the situation when we got special permission to draft a player (it ended up being Shannon Motlop) after Troy Broadbridge died. Of course, Polak is alive (thankfully) but in that situation we were limited because the PSD and rookie draft had already taken place. The decision to allow us an extra player didn't provide us with the advantage of drafting a young player onto our list as well, which is what will happen here. I can't see this happening because Demetriou doesn't like handing out extra advantages to clubs. He wouldn't give Melbourne a compensatory pick at PSD time a few years ago when the Dockers were found to be over the salary cap when they took Jeff Farmer although a precedent had been set earlier over Jeff White.

Please remember one thing about the PSD and Rookie Drafts. Historically, they might throw up the odd champion player like a Cox, Rutten or a Davey but the majority of players taken in these drafts are short termers and never make much of a mark on the game. I'd be delighted if we could do as well as we did last year with Stefan Martin (PSD) and Aussie and Shane Valenti as rookies with Spencer and possibly Zomer still good prospects. However, a check of past drafts shows how poor these drafts have been in the past and this year's crop doesn't inspire me much.

I'm just teaching myself the technology involved in loading photos onto the board. This is my first effort so I hope it works.

If anyone knows how to load the photos from Facebook onto this thread (and it's equivalent on Demonology) it would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully, we'll work it our soon ourselves and get them up if nobody does so in the meantime. Now a few words about our best player trophy. It's named after the great Martin Heppell whose AFL career spanned both the Melbourne and St. Kilda Football Clubs. Heppell was a flanker from Carey Grammar whose career started in 1993 at Linton Street and it spanned three games before he found a new home at Melbourne in 1995. Alas, Heppell just missed out on emulating that feat with the Demons in that he played just two games before prematurely departing the AFL scene, alas forever. Little is know of what happened to Heppell after he left the Dees. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

DEMONLAND/DEMONOLOGY v SAINTSATIONAL – Forum Game - Sunday, 6 December, 2008 by Rollinson 65 The Demons triumphed again and retained the coveted Carl Ditterich Cup to make it a clean sweep of internet supporter site games for 2008 – three in all - with an overwhelming 118 points win over the Saints at Gosch’s Paddock on Sunday. The victory meant that the Demonland/Demonology boys emulated their AFL counterparts with three victories for the year. Unfortunately, the Saints went in with a very undermanned side with some of their better players including Casey Scorpions reserves player Ilsey sitting it out this time. As a result I am departing from the usual match summary, because the game was so uneven that it was something of a procession and a training drill. Saintsational had about 10 quality players missing, and it showed. The Sainters had a couple of young kids who ran all day in the mid-field, and a couple of stalwarts in defence. Their full-back got at least 18 kicks that we know of! HD was his usual stubborn and running self, but that was the end of the story. They had one speedster who showed a lot of pace early which enabled them to score two early goals and lead by six points halfway through the quarter but some positional moves and the order to check him closely did the trick. Thanks Wise Monkey. For the Demons, it was a very even and unselfish team performance and it was very difficult to pick the best player on ground for the Martin Heppell award. There were 10-15 blokes who could have been named without raising eyebrows. . Mclean4brownlow, who played his first game a couple of years ago as Scotty’s “little brother”, is now a veteran of these forum games and put in another memorable performance, on the wing and up forward. Cactus, another veteran forward, set up a number of goals and dominated wherever he was positioned. Another regular, Pringle, ran all day, always seemed to have space and time (an indication of a thinking player), and read the play brilliantly, always in the right spot at the right time. With the injury to Rivvo (from Demonology!), Doggo (another veteran) has now become Mr. Fixit in the team. No CHF, send Doggo. No CHB, send Doggo. On Sunday, it was no ruckman (Cribbes is still overseas), well then send Doggo. He did a great job in the ruck, alternating with Sean, to send us forward with monotonous regularity. This put him behind the play, so we were not treated to seeing his freakish marks on Sunday. Wise Monkey captained again, running and crunching his way through the middle, getting first hands on the ball when it fell from the ruckmen, becoming (and relishing being) first player tackled and last player standing. Another veteran who played in our very first game alongside Doggo and Freak, Wise played yet another superlative captain’s game, facilitating talking on the field and leading by example with unselfish play. We are going to miss this bloke when he finally hangs up the boots. Hopefully, that may be when we need a new coach, so the transition can be as smooth as possible! Funky41 played an impressive first game, combining footy skills with a thinking football brain and team orientation. Just as importantly, he and Wolfmother brought a number of Demon supporters to play their first games for us, and we were impressed. If these guys collectively front again, we will face TankingCarlton in February with confidence it will be an even and fierce contest. Thanks, guys, for breathing new life into our list. Charlesy (Funky’s mate and another first-gamer) won a share of the Martin Heppell award for best Dees player with a faultless performance mainly off half-back. One of those blessed players that the ball seems to go to like a magnet, seem to receive the ball easily (no awkward bounces for these blokes), and have plenty of time and space to deliver the ball perfectly each time. Deceptive pace for a well-built bloke, too. Nobody seemed to want to tackle him for some reason. Heater (Funky’s mate and another first-gamer) played full-forward, booted 3 and was denied 5-6 by the Sainters’ serviceable full-back and yours truly (as goal umpy). Apparently, Rollo's eyesight has not improved since game 1! Unselfish focal point, good lead, good mark and accurate kick. Did not succeed in starting any fights, but not for want of trying! Wolfmother was also a first-gamer on Sunday but another accomplished player. Ran hard out of defence, left his man kick less and showed how team players play the game. Could watch his kicking and hand-ball skills all day (and did!). Scotty is a veteran who has kicked twice as many goals for us as any other player, except perhaps Cactus. Another 4 this match tells only half of the story. At least four assists, many contested possessions, and flawless delivery. Like Freak, Scotty has put in so many consistent performances for us, you have to wonder why he has not yet had a Heppell – he can’t be too far away IMO. Fantastic mark for his height. Yet another great game. Nick has now played two for us, and bagged two majors this time. Good contested mark, and deceptively good when the ball is on the ground, One percenters are admirable. Ucanchoose brought his own cheer squad and they cheered the veteran through another game. One day he will get his wish for a posting down forward. Wherever he plays, a welcome and valuable member of a team which is gaining a reputation for invincibility. Deanox wasted a number of posts on the board telling us he could not play if his life depended on it and hadn’t played footy since under 9’s. When he turned up, and Whispering Jack discovered this fact, he wondered we could hide him. He was eventually consigned to a forward pocket with a request to stay out of Heater’s way and he responded with two goals and two assists as well as laying out a few Sainters with some strong rugby tackles. He took every mark that came his way. Way to go, Deanox! Toot182 may have won his share of the Heppell because he looked a bit like Luke, but I don’t think so. Fitter than most, he ran and ran, and created opportunity after opportunity for the team. Another first-gamer, we hope will become a regular. Thanks, mate, we need you to front up against TankingCarlton next game. BL2381 is another of Pringle’s brothers (and a nephew of Whispering Jack). He showed us he can play, with 2 goals from limited time up forward. Not the fittest player on the park having not played for a few years, but footy-savvy and a most welcome addition to the team. Fuzz gained veteran status with Sunday’s game. Tallish and a real team player, impresses with his commitment to forum footy games. Sean (Scotty’s mate) played ruck, alternating with Doggo. Very impressive first game for us. Complete player who deserves his chance to play in a position that will enable him to better showcase his ability. Good fitness and fierce at the man and the ball. Hope to see him again. Freak hung over and tired is still a force to be reckoned with. Good roving skills, and won the contested ball again and again. Consistently in our best players. Jackson (Mclean4brownlow’s mate) played on the wing and gave much run through the middle. Well played, mate. Luke, Scotty’s mate, looked a bit like Toot182, booted 3 valuable goals and was among our best. Another I hope to see again. A good third of our players were first gamers, but the team produced a group effort which won the approval of coaches Redleg and Whispering Jack. Special thanks to Bails and Jinksy (mates of funky) who volunteered to play for the Sainters in the first quarter, and played so well for them. Sent away for the second quarter, and then asked for by the Sainters again for the third quarter, these guys didn't know if they were coming or going. I was sad to see you guys staying away from the singing of the song at the end of the match. You had the hardest job all day, and deserved your place in the circle... Special thanks also to Amanda, the physio, who attended to the players' needs for strapping and binding before the match, and who also took the only quality photos of the action. I am here to tell the thought police on site that there was no sexual element to the strapping or binding... I walked away from the TankingCarlton game in November with many memories of a close and entertaining contest that could have gone either way. This time around, it was only close for the first quarter with the Dees’ bad kicking keeping the opposition in the game. The second term was a 10 goals 3 behinds to nil massacre and it was well and truly over at the final break when the coaches switched the forwards and backs around. I walked away a bit sad, and hoping that the Sainters can regroup and realistically challenge for the trophy next year. I, for one, hope they can get back some of the quality players they have fielded in the past because nobody likes to see such an uneven contest... A first for this game, we got 5 people to the pub after the game. About time, people! If anybody would like to add corrections or additional comments, they will be most welcome. Goal umpiring, and so many first-gamers on board, does not make for accurate reporting. Demonland/Demonology 2.7.19 12.10.82 19.15.129 22.18.150 Saintsational 2.1.13 2.1.13 4.2.26 6.2.38 Goals Scotty 4 Heater Luke 3 BL3281 Deanox Freak Nick 2 Charlesy Pringle Toot Wise Monkey Wolfmother Martin Heppell award (Dees player) shared by Charlesy and Toot but this was a real team effort Pictorial evidence of the game will be posted as soon as we can work out the technology. Thanks to Eddie McGuire for providing the ground. It was the least you Collingw&%$ people could do given that we at Melbourne allow your mob to play their home games at our ground – the MELBOURNE Cricket Ground.

Because St. Kilda gave him the chop chop.

Chris Connolly has a fantastic sense of humour. Brightened up my morning immensely.

Tom Rockliff in the PSD.

HAPPY DAYS by Whispering Jack It took a brief discussion on Melbourne radio station SEN on Friday afternoon between Francis Leach and former Demon champion forward David Schwarz to bring out the nostalgia. Leach asked the Ox who was the most talented footballer he played with during his career and, after a break for half a dozen commercials and station identification, the reply came that it had to be Allen Jakovich, the enigmatic Demon who had a meteoric rise and fall as a prolific AFL full forward in an all too short career that spanned in total less than four seasons from 1991 to 1994, netted 47 games and yielded 201 goals for Melbourne. He also played 7 games and kicked 7 goals for Footscray in 1996. Jako was born on 21 March 1969 and spent his earlier career as a journeyman having two stints at South Fremantle separated by spells at Port Hedland, Kalgoorlie and Darwin where he booted 104 goals for Southern Districts in the 1988/1989 season. He then moved to Adelaide where he played for SANFL club Woodville kicking 101 goals in 1990. During 1990 Schwarz, who came from Sunbury then part of the Demons' country residential zone, was playing for the Under 19's. Jakovich joined him at Melbourne when the club surprised by calling out the 187cm 98 kg forward's name at the AFL's 1990 National Draft at number four. Back in those days there was no internet, phantom drafts were unheard of and a small group of people turned up at the draft meeting, the results being relayed by fax to the media and most people discovered who their club had drafted days, weeks or even months later when the practice matches started. There was no draft camp, no sprint and beep testing, no psychological and aptitude profiling or cross examination of players' schoolteachers and maiden aunts to ascertain whether they were suited to play professional football. If they were good footballers, they usually got the gig. This was fortuitous for Jakovich because, despite his competitive urges, I somehow doubt whether he would have come out of the testing very well, if at all. Schwarz explained on radio that Jako unfortunately never got the most out of himself because of his casual attitude towards most things, particularly training. He was rarely seen at the club during pre season except when it came to the annual country v city cricket game and then his bad back somehow evaporated and he would do everything - bat, bowl, field and keep wickets. Jakovich spent almost the whole of the first half of 1991 with the Melbourne reserves and had passed 50 goals in that competition before making his breakthrough at senior level. He continued to produce big goal hauls including a sensational game against North Melbourne at the MCG when he kicked 11 goals including a miraculous scissor kick out of mid-air from twenty metres out and banana kick goal after the three quarter time siren from an impossible angle. He had eight other shots at goal that day with one of them going out on the full. That performance made him the fastest player to score his first fifty goals, taking only nine games to do so and he finished his debut season with 71 goals; becoming one of a few VFL/AFL players to boot 50 goals in both the seniors and reserves in the same season. The following year, he snagged seven majors in round one and reached a career total of 100 goals in just his 21st game – a VFL/AFL record that is unlikely to ever be beaten (it took Hawthorn's Jason Dunstall 36 games to reach 100 career goals while Lance Franklin achieved the feat in his 49th game). To my mind, Allen Jakovich was the Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli of his day. He was unpredictable, mercurial and defied convention. He was the leader of an alternative pack who did the unusual. He would often high five fans in the front rows after kicking goals but when Jako/Fonz slotted one through from well outside fifty metres to put Melbourne in front of West Coast one afternoon, he created a sensation by planting a kiss on the cheek of his brother, Eagle Glen Jakovich. He always lifted against Collingwood and his antics would drive their supporters to distraction. He destroyed Essendon one day at Waverley Park when he kicked a lazy seven goals in the last half in an elimination final after being virtually unsighted in the first two quarters of the game. Jakovich appeared in a band on a channel nine grand final special at the end of 1993. That programme emerged as the Footy Show and it was there that he made one of his few subsequent public appearances a few years after his retirement. Call it karma or whatever but Jako's condition gave out after a brilliant performance against Hawthorn at Princess Park in mid 1994 in which he booted eight goals. The Demons had a brilliant finals series even without him that year with Garry Lyon and David Schwarz shining up forward. Who knows what might have been had the club had a fit Jako prowling around the forward line? As it happened, the injury saw off his career at Melbourne at a time when injuries struck so many others in the red and blue – Schwarz, Lyon, Paul Prymke, Glen Lovett, Steven Tingay all missed large slabs of the following seasons. Another promising individual Martin Pyke was cleared to Fitzroy for disciplinary reasons and Jakovich, plagued by back related hamstring problems, crossed to the Bulldogs. The happy days were over and Jako disappeared from the scene. There was mystery about his whereabouts for a long time. According to his brother Glen, he was involved in a fishing charter company on Australia's east coast. Perhaps, he's in Coffs Harbour where there have been sightings but football has never seen another of his like and probably never will. I'm not so sure whether clubs are even interested in another Jako/Fonz character because these days, they all seem to be more akin to Richie Cunningham – the good boys who test well athletically, read out of the same hymn book and certainly have not the slightest question mark or blemish to their characters. There will never be another Allen Jakovich but I bring up the name of a youngster from the Murray Bushrangers who perhaps might get to wear Jako's number 13 (especially now that another former Bushie in Adem Yze has retired) if only someone at Melbourne decides he's worth drafting. His name is Tom Rockliff, an 18 year old medium forward, the leading goal kicker in the TAC Cup with 59 goals, winner of his team's best and fairest, a state representative with Victoria Country and a member of the TAC Cup Team of the Year. His coach Phil Bunn describes the Benalla lad as "not big, not quick, not athletic, he hasn't got super endurance, he's just an absolute natural footballer who tends to see things half a second before others see them. In other words, he'll take himself to the right spot just a bit quicker than what others do and that's a gift. It's a natural thing you can't coach". I saw Rockliff collect 30 disposals for four goals and an equal number of goal assists in a scintillating TAC Cup grand final display. His efforts were totally overshadowed by the 10 goal performance of Collingwood draftee Steele Sidebottom but I reckon Rockliff was not that far behind. Until that grand final match, I thought of Rockliff as a bit of a one trick pony as a smallish forward but he also went into the midfield and played down back in the game as well. He has had two stellar years at Under 18 level but Bunn explains that he "hasn't really been able to do a full preseason ... He's as footy smart a boy as I've ever coached." Which reminds me of another forward from happier days.

HAPPY DAYS by Whispering Jack It took a brief discussion on Melbourne radio station SEN on Friday afternoon between Francis Leach and former Demon champion forward David Schwarz to bring out the nostalgia. Leach asked the Ox who was the most talented footballer he played with during his career and, after a break for half a dozen commercials and station identification, the reply came that it had to be Allen Jakovich, the enigmatic Demon who had a meteoric rise and fall as a prolific AFL full forward in an all too short career that spanned in total less than four seasons from 1991 to 1994, netted 47 games and yielded 201 goals for Melbourne. He also played 7 games and kicked 7 goals for Footscray in 1996. Jako was born on 21 March 1969 and spent his earlier career as a journeyman having two stints at South Fremantle separated by spells at Port Hedland, Kalgoorlie and Darwin where he booted 104 goals for Southern Districts in the 1988/1989 season. He then moved to Adelaide where he played for SANFL club Woodville kicking 101 goals in 1990. During 1990 Schwarz, who came from Sunbury then part of the Demons' country residential zone, was playing for the Under 19's. Jakovich joined him at Melbourne when the club surprised by calling out the 187cm 98 kg forward's name at the AFL's 1990 National Draft at number four. Back in those days there was no internet, phantom drafts were unheard of and a small group of people turned up at the draft meeting, the results being relayed by fax to the media and most people discovered who their club had drafted days, weeks or even months later when the practice matches started. There was no draft camp, no sprint and beep testing, no psychological and aptitude profiling or cross examination of players' schoolteachers and maiden aunts to ascertain whether they were suited to play professional football. If they were good footballers, they usually got the gig. This was fortuitous for Jakovich because, despite his competitive urges, I somehow doubt whether he would have come out of the testing very well, if at all. Schwarz explained on radio that Jako unfortunately never got the most out of himself because of his casual attitude towards most things, particularly training. He was rarely seen at the club during pre season except when it came to the annual country v city cricket game and then his bad back somehow evaporated and he would do everything - bat, bowl, field and keep wickets. Jakovich spent almost the whole of the first half of 1991 with the Melbourne reserves and had passed 50 goals in that competition before making his breakthrough at senior level. He continued to produce big goal hauls including a sensational game against North Melbourne at the MCG when he kicked 11 goals including a miraculous scissor kick out of mid-air from twenty metres out and banana kick goal after the three quarter time siren from an impossible angle. He had eight other shots at goal that day with one of them going out on the full. That performance made him the fastest player to score his first fifty goals, taking only nine games to do so and he finished his debut season with 71 goals; becoming one of a few VFL/AFL players to boot 50 goals in both the seniors and reserves in the same season. The following year, he snagged seven majors in round one and reached a career total of 100 goals in just his 21st game – a VFL/AFL record that is unlikely to ever be beaten (it took Hawthorn's Jason Dunstall 36 games to reach 100 career goals while Lance Franklin achieved the feat in his 49th game). To my mind, Allen Jakovich was the Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli of his day. He was unpredictable, mercurial and defied convention. He was the leader of an alternative pack who did the unusual. He would often high five fans in the front rows after kicking goals but when Jako/Fonz slotted one through from well outside fifty metres to put Melbourne in front of West Coast one afternoon, he created a sensation by planting a kiss on the cheek of his brother, Eagle Glen Jakovich. He always lifted against Collingwood and his antics would drive their supporters to distraction. He destroyed Essendon one day at Waverley Park when he kicked a lazy seven goals in the last half in an elimination final after being virtually unsighted in the first two quarters of the game. Jakovich appeared in a band on a channel nine grand final special at the end of 1993. That programme emerged as the Footy Show and it was there that he made one of his few subsequent public appearances a few years after his retirement. Call it karma or whatever but Jako's condition gave out after a brilliant performance against Hawthorn at Princess Park in mid 1994 in which he booted eight goals. The Demons had a brilliant finals series even without him that year with Garry Lyon and David Schwarz shining up forward. Who knows what might have been had the club had a fit Jako prowling around the forward line? As it happened, the injury saw off his career at Melbourne at a time when injuries struck so many others in the red and blue – Schwarz, Lyon, Paul Prymke, Glen Lovett, Steven Tingay all missed large slabs of the following seasons. Another promising individual Martin Pyke was cleared to Fitzroy for disciplinary reasons and Jakovich, plagued by back related hamstring problems, crossed to the Bulldogs. The happy days were over and Jako disappeared from the scene. There was mystery about his whereabouts for a long time. According to his brother Glen, he was involved in a fishing charter company on Australia's east coast. Perhaps, he's in Coffs Harbour where there have been sightings but football has never seen another of his like and probably never will. I'm not so sure whether clubs are even interested in another Jako/Fonz character because these days, they all seem to be more akin to Richie Cunningham – the good boys who test well athletically, read out of the same hymn book and certainly have not the slightest question mark or blemish to their characters. There will never be another Allen Jakovich but I bring up the name of a youngster from the Murray Bushrangers who perhaps might get to wear Jako's number 13 (especially now that another former Bushie in Adem Yze has retired) if only someone at Melbourne decides he's worth drafting. His name is Tom Rockliff, an 18 year old medium forward, the leading goal kicker in the TAC Cup with 59 goals, winner of his team's best and fairest, a state representative with Victoria Country and a member of the TAC Cup Team of the Year. His coach Phil Bunn describes the Benalla lad as "not big, not quick, not athletic, he hasn't got super endurance, he's just an absolute natural footballer who tends to see things half a second before others see them. In other words, he'll take himself to the right spot just a bit quicker than what others do and that's a gift. It's a natural thing you can't coach". I saw Rockliff collect 30 disposals for four goals and an equal number of goal assists in a scintillating TAC Cup grand final display. His efforts were totally overshadowed by the 10 goal performance of Collingwood draftee Steele Sidebottom but I reckon Rockliff was not that far behind. Until that grand final match, I thought of Rockliff as a bit of a one trick pony as a smallish forward but he also went into the midfield and played down back in the game as well. He has had two stellar years at Under 18 level but Bunn explains that he "hasn't really been able to do a full preseason ... He's as footy smart a boy as I've ever coached." Which reminds me of another forward from happier days.