Whispering_Jack

Not at all void because the others presumably are being rested but in PJ's case, he's been selected to play for the Zebras tomorrow. Firstly, you can't really rest someone if he wasn't in the team to start with and secondly, he needs the run at Sandy anyway and, with a break next week, he doesn't need a rest IMO. Hope that clarifies it for you.

PJ wasn't in the selected side. Yze apparently has yzeast infection .

Thanks for the feedback Occo. Personally, I thought that saying something like "yes - he has an ordinary kicking style but it's effective" summed up the situation pretty well but next time I report on Garland I'll look very closely at how he skips, sits down, jumps and walks.

About two Judd contracts ago I remember being addressed at a Demonland/Demonology meeting by Danny Corcoran and he told the story of how Chris Judd (who originally came from East Sandringham) had wandered across to watch Melbourne training at the TBO during his vacation period. The feeling was that he might end up back in Melbourne some time and might favour the Demons who he supported as a kid. Ahh, to dream. Anyhow, I'm sure that between now and the day when he signs his next contract, there are going to be countless threads and posts on this story and most of them are going to be a waste of time and space.

I think I answered some of those questions in my edited post above (source: a frustrated Saint fan)

So the wife came back from an enjoyable evening at the Bentleigh Club. She really doesn't know much about the footy but says she was enthralled by Mary Schwarz' stories about her son David in which she highlighted his gambling problems and how he overcame them. I'm not sure if this really sunk in on her because she came home boasting about winning 30 bucks on the pokies when the function finished. The message was also lost on the three Demons in attendance who had to leave before Mary began her speech (curfew?) and so they as well as the missus missed out on some very sage words of wisdom. I tried to find out a bit more about what the players CJ, Isaac Weetra and Ricky Petterd had to say but the exercise was a waste of time. Alas, the wife's more interested in going to see Swan Lake than the Demons.

Never underestimate the wounded Saint. Having said that, here is the latest word on St. Kilda's injury woes:- Aaron Hammill - definitely not there in Round 1 and perhaps not ever again. Nick Riewodlt - has nagging hamstring problems and is not ready to return just yet. Havily in doubt for round 1. Justin Koschitzke - has a back injury and in doubt for Round 1. Whatever happens, if he starts against us on Friday fortnight, he'll be very much underdone. Max Hudghton - struggling with his injury and in doubt for the first 2 or 3 rounds. A couple of others like Maguire and Hayes are just coming back from long term injury. And then there are the Clarke brothers who are alwys iffy.

My wife's in attendance at this function as we speak (almost a first for her too!). Went with Mrs. Redleg. Anyway, we just got an SMS from them to say that a cute young bloke called Chris Johnson was being interviewed by Bev O'Connor along with an intelligent looking young fellow called Isaac. There's a recruit there from Broadbeach as well. Sounds as if it's a great night! Will report more tomorrow if there is any more. Does anyone know what time of evening they close down the pokies at the Bentleigh Club?

The power forward in many teams is now playing a mixed CHF-FF role, getting out of the goalsqaure and moving his defender around. Barry Hall does it brilliantly. I'm told that Matthew Bate went to CHF in the last quarter last week and I'm wondering if he might end up there as a run and carry type CHF who can bob up and kick a goal and roam down to the wings to create space for the other forwards when required. Bate is about the same height as Matthew Pavlich in some footy guides (although not yet as heavy).

Agree. You only have to look at how the team was travelling last year from round 4 onwards when the Byronator hit his straps and how it went backwards after he injured his hamstring in round 17. It was even a revelation watching him play for the Zebras on Sunday. He appeared a fair way from 100% fitness and certainly more than 200 grams away, but boy did some of those Bombers' VFL boys develop a tendency of looking over their shoulders whenever they sensed Byron was in their half of the ground. We need him back and firing in his mid 2006 form.

I heard at the weekend that the Western Bulldogs already had 23,000 members signed up by the weekend and they expect to finish on 32,000. It was only a few years ago that the MFC had thousands more members than the Bullies. I can't understand why we're lagging behind them. It's not as if they'be been more successful than us in recent times. Surely, it's not just the Akermanis factor?

Just to correct the record, that "very learned follower" actually made his prediction after watching the first ten minutes of the first quarter when the scores in the club's first fair dinkum practice match of the year were 0.1.1 to 2.1.13. The comment was in line with the depression of some posters at Melbourne's poor results against Hawthorn and Adelaide and was somewhat tongue in cheek. The exact words used at the time were "Sandy's season is over!". And just for balance, the same "learned follower" made the comment ten minutes before half time that Bendigo had run themselves into the ground in the first half and would fade out in the second half.

I'm pretty sure that Petterd, in fact, played senior football back in Queensland and that he injured his hammy playing in a final up there. I still get your drift about him. I like the fact that he looked very balanced when going for the ball and he went straight at the ball too. I think we really have a footballer here but he might struggle to get an AFL gig in the short term.

At three quarter time it's Sandringham 12.10.82 to Bendigo Bombers 9.9.63 with Poyas on 5 goals (all kicked after the 15 minute mark of the second quarter.

I've spent an enjoyable half of football in good company down at TBO but, because I'm building myself up for a big season (and also have a wedding to go to later today) I thought half a game would be enough for me. Sandringham lead Bendigo at half time 8.6.54 to 7.6.48 The Bombers have been far more impressive - they have very few players from their Essendon list and yet seemed to be playing a more cohesive style of football, often leaving their Sandy opponents flat footed. However, they faded late in the second quarter which might indicate they're running out of juice. Goalkickers to half time were Crowe 3, Poyas 2, Biddlecombe, Garland and anonymous 1 each (sorry I missed a goal - I'm lacking match practice). Byron Pickett was fairly menacing and looked very hungry about getting a chance to force his way into the team for next week's practice match v Geelong. He terrified some of the Bombers and, at last count, had picked up 4 holding the ball decisions in his favour with ferocious tackles and he forced one or two Bombers to make other errors when near the ball. Heath Neville - was just going. He was pick 62 in 2005 and had a lot of injury problems in 2006 so we can't expect too much at this stage I guess. Ben Holland - loped around and did a few good things in the first half but nothing spectacular. Ricky Petterd - showed a bit of class but will need time at Sandy. Michael Newton - played on a wing and showed some nice foot skills. Apparently, he hasn't done much in the pre-season up till now but he showed out with some nice passages of play. Paul Johnson - the # 1 ruck was having a good tussle with Lauchlan McKinnon of the Bombers. Johnson was good around the ground and took some nice overhead marks including one in a pack. Simon Godfrey - hard as nails but disposal very ordinary. Shane Neaves - not much ground time in the first half. Paul Wheatley - apparently his first game for the year - looked a bit rusty but was getting into the game late in the second quarter. Colin Garland - very impressive up forward, led and marked well and yes - he has an ordinary kicking style but it's effective. The regular Sandy boys were also having troubles with the cobwebs and most were very much hot and cold. All except full forward Nick Sautner who was just very cold - he dropped about three easy chest marks and by half time hadn't been able to milk a single free kick for in the back. There's something wrong with the rules IMO. Shane Valenti was the best Zebra by a mile and, although he's small in stature, I reckon it's an absolute shame that nobody took a punt and rookie listed him at the end of 2006. Tomi Johnston tried hard in the packs but he's small - smaller and lighter than Valenti and will need to eat his Wheat Bix if he wants to play at a high level.

Happy to go there. It's a narrow ground and will be a good test of how the players are adapting to the new style.

Beg your pardon. If he was following the game here, the report would have been much better.

Until next week

Take it easy. That information comes from afl.com.au. They might well have played ordinary games.

Thanks mainly to Scoop Junior who will no doubt expand on this when he returns home from MC Hard Labour Park. We went well for most of the first half but then the Tigers came back just before half time. After the break, the game became very scrappy. The coach had a tough job rotating 26 players and that also made it difficult for players to star in such a game. The play was a bit disjointed and although we were moving the ball well out of defence, we weren't always making the smoothest transition when going forward. Both sides were getting men behind the ball and it was difficult penetrating the packed forward lines. Generally, much better than the Nab Cup game v Hawthorn. Theree was still a fair bit of handball but nowhere near as much as in that game! Our better players were Nathan Jones, Chris Johnson and Daniel Bell. Bell put Nathan Brown (theirs) out of the game – a pretty handy effort. He's hard at the ball and strong and getting better all the time. Cam Bruce flashed in and out and generally looked quite good! Neita saw very little action after the break after booting three in the first half. When he went off, Jeff White went forward and kicked three himself. They weren't from big marks either – two were scored at ground level and the other came from an uncontested mark. Brad Miller showed improvement and took some good marks while Bate and Buckley just went. Yze was well … Yze. He dropped an easy mark at one stage and got a bit of a raz from the crowd. He has to pick up his game to be certain of a game in round 1. Biz did OK out of defence and looked composed for much of the time he was on the ground although at one stage he was matched up on Pettifer and it was a bit of a mis-match. TJ might have been a bit rusty on his return from a broken toe but, as always, his disposal was a delight. Late in the game Junior started playing well. Our midfield will get a major boost when these blokes are 100% fit and ready and we get Brock into it as well! Finally, for Chip Off the Old Spud, Frawley's ground time was limited but he was really impressive when he came on in the last quarter – he picked up a number of possessions running off half back. He backed his judgement and looked good although his kicking was a bit funny. Goalkickers: Neitz, White 3, Davey, Jones 2, Bruce, Green, C Johnson Johnstone, Whelan. Melbourne 3.3.21 8.7.55 11.10.76 15.13.103 Richmond 03.3 6.7.43 7.12.54 10.15.75

Thanks for that OMR. It's all over and we won by a comfortable 28 points 15.13.103 to 10.15.75. More details soon hopefully. In the meantime, the word is that Brock will be back next week but Col is now lurking in 426 territory if you get my drift.

Now leading 14.11.95 to 9.15.69 Were we running and carrying today?

Melbourne struggling to score but Tiges kicking off target - 11.10.76 to 8.15.63. Polak and Schulz injured.

First goal of the final term to Richmond 11.10.76 to 8.14.62. Time to bring back Neitz IMO!

Now 9.10.64 to 7.12.54 Latest 11.10.76 to 7.12.54 (finally got it right)! And that's the 3/4 time score. My reports say we have the game under control but there's still a fair bit of rotation going on so the game is still ebbing and flowing a bit. Neitz resting, White up forward and kicked 2 while Davey kicked a ripper from the boundary! Jones a stand out! Still lucky that Richmond was off target early in the third quarter. And oh and yes. It's only a practice game and the result means nothing!