Demonstone

I think that @Mister Ed may have just been horsing around.

Today's 'Age' has a rundown of each clubs' pre-season injuries. We're in great shape at this stage. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/state-of-play-your-club-s-pre-season-injuries-20230126-p5cfo5.html

You'll be pleased to learn that we will be playing all teams on the sward.

A sneak preview of Ben after the shave.

Yes, the titles have changed a lot over the years. When I was a kid growing up in the 60s, these were the positions on the field: B: Former rover who has lost a yard Loneliest man in the world Rock of Gibraltar H/B: Enforcer Key Defender Jack-of-all-trades C: Real goer Pivot Racehorse H/F: Avenue to goal The hardest position Will-o'-the-wisp F: Resting ruckman Spearhead Goalsneak R: One kick behind the play Prime mover Borer into the bottom of packs. 19th: Utility 20th: Big-hearted trier. A host of exciting young prospects, natural left-footers, honest battlers, bean-poles, big occasion players, nippy small men and club stalwarts who have all been knocking on the door have just missed selection and will be running around in the early game. ============================================================================ Things started to change back in the 1980s and a new terminology came into being. Teams now looked like this: B: Tagger Stopper Sweeper H/B: Rebounder Negator Springboard C: Breakaway Instigator Linkman H/F: Runner Tall option Receiver F: Crumber Converter Finisher R: Tall On-baller Small I/C: Overlapper Tag breaker =========================================================================== As of 2023, we now have three backs, three forwards, twelve rotating mids and five on the bench.

Unfortunately, neither Jamie nor his brother Bill were in the same class as the other brother, former Collingwood racehorse Ricky Barham who had the ignominy of playing in five Grand Finals without tasting success. I met Ricky at a boozy BBQ in late 1978 in Warrnambool where he was hanging out with Geelong champ (and fellow winger) Michael Turner. Both were recruited from the area. They spent the afternoon botting smokes off me.

I don't think it was a retro round, @Grapeviney. Did they even have such gimmicks back then? Several of the Tiger players of that era wore the canvas lace-up jumper by choice (it apparently made it harder for opponents to tackle) and the VFL banned such jumpers after Robbie's injury. edit: Just did some research and Robbie was injured when he tackled Michael Turner of Geelong in 1986, so it wasn't just Richmond players who wore the lace-up. They were banned at the end that year.

You leave me and my warped mind alone!

I would much preferred to have done a 'John Landy'.

Would our wonderful theme song (particularly the second verse) provide some appropriate think music?

Welcome back Luci. Good to see your smiling avatar again! Once you get a couple of the answers, all the others will fall into place.

Ronald Ryan was executed in February 1967. His remains are buried in my home town of Portland.

Not sure if you're serious David, but check the post above yours.

Time to put you all out of your misery. The team has been selected on the basis that the jumper numbers of the first two players on each line add up to the jumper number of the third player. eg Frawley (8) plus May (1) equals Johnson (9). I have made numerous allusions to this throughout the thread, with hints such as ADDITIONAL, PLUS, SUMMER, (dim) SUM, NUMBER, PUT TWO AND TWO TOGETHER, ADD UP and CALCULATED. The photo clue is BlackADDER. Simmonds and Baker were both nicknamed "Snake". A type of snake is the ADDER. Well done to all those who were able to FIGURE it out.

@Timothy Reddan-A'Blew has added a plus to his ledger by submitting the correct answer. @reynolds46 has also calculated correctly.

Dom Tyson likes this post.

Not if you posted it on an old PM, Tim. I delete those as a matter of course. PS: @Dee Zephyr has cracked the code, as I suspect @Timothy Reddan-A'Blew has also done.

If you look for a connection other than the players' names, it will all add up.

Now that's a cryptic comment, David! He wouldn't want to be next to May, perhaps? We can add @Allus Monk to the list of those who have worked it out. Below is the final clue. My cunning plan is for the solution to be revealed later this morning.

"Demons' Putting Better Than Background Music".

Well done to @tilly18 and @youami and @Jumping Jack Clennett for identifying the answer. I'll leave it open for a while longer in case others are looking for a way to kill some time on this Public Holiday. If you read the OP carefully, you'll find a couple of hints seeded therein. Also note that I didn't claim that these players all have something in common, unlike most of my previous teasers. Who else can put two and two together and solve the puzzle?

I'm surprised that there have only been two correct replies so far. This teaser appears to have made people feel even number than usual. See you all in the morning.

@Mazer Rackham can be added to the list of solvers. That makes two of them!

It's a talented team that would also love to eat out together, I'm sure. However, they'd avoid places like Entrecote. You'd be more likely to find them enjoying some delicious dim sum at a local yum cha. That now makes a total of FIVE hints! Not all have been flagged as such, however.