Its Time for Another

I'm not. It will be a relief to finally see them not stuffing around and stuffing up with the short stuff and we now have multiple tall targets and good crumbers such as Davey to warrant long kicks into the Forward line. If that doesn't work then there are multiple targets at half forward to have a Plan B to pass it in.

Over the years I hadn't really thought about what impact the loss of Wilson, Jackson, Robbie and there was someone else, would have had on their performance in the last quarter. Given the tight finish it probably would have made the difference. But that's footy.

No, it was Tony Campbell who ran in from half forward and sprayed it when he could have handpassed to Robbie sitting all alone in the goal square. Eishold had the shot on goal on an acute angle but on the edge of the goal square and slipped as he kicked and skewered it for a point.

From memory Ricky Jackson was injured in the Prelim as well. I tend to forget that a lot of players went down in the course of the Prelim and were missing in that last quarter, including Wilson and Jackson which were major losses in the midfield and Robbie was only out there because we ran out of reserves. He wrote in one of his books that it was pandomonium out there. He was being called off, only to find no one left to go on so he was sent back even though he had one useless arm. Apparently communication between the coaches box and the reserves on the bench was breaking down all day.

Getting Mitch Clark had nothing to do with Scully leaving. We still have the compo picks we got for him and would still have had the money for both of them.

Robbie himself recently said he didn't think he was going to get up if they'd made it to the GF. I'd rely on his account more than anyone else's

Dont you just love this sport. That round 22 win was my favorite moment of all time, 3 weeks later, that Prelim loss was the lowest moment of all time. What a ride that season was there hasn't been anything like it since and probably won't be except for the elation of the next Premiership but its not likely to be on the end of such a rollercoaster. Lets hope not anyway. We waited 23 years for that win to put us back into the finals, surely that's never to be repeated.

It was worse than that. The siren had actually blown full time but the umpire didn't hear it and awarded the free against Grinter after the game was over. I don't think Buckenara had any chance of kicking it. The wind was all over the place at that end and would have made it virtually impossible from the full distance. But as people say, we'll never know. I'll never forget Campbell blazing away and missing while Robbie was on the goal line screaming for the ball with no opponents anywhere to be seen. I can remember feeling a sick feeling of inevitability as the ball was kicked out from full back and headed towards that fateful free kick. Then watching Tuck and Flower with their arms around each other watching Buckenara's kick. I guess Tuck realising that kick could be the end of Robbie's career. In fact it wouldn't have been as recently Robbie admitted he would not have got up the next week because his shoulder was shot.

I'll never forget being in the Members at the G one game watching the Reserves standing near the old coaches box and hearing some madman screaming abuse, swearing at the top of his voice in this high pitched rough as guts voice and thinking they should chuck that bloke out. I turned around and saw it was Jordan coaching. He was tough as nails on the players but got incredible results. They all used to love him when they spoke about him. Results spoke more than tough love.

Is it just me or have others noticed that there seems to have been more media coverage of MFC over the summer than I can ever remember before. Possibly more than any other Club. Wonder if this is the MFC seeking out more coverage and being more successful at getting it, perhaps more coverage to help sponsorships and memberships or is it just that for some reason the media think there is something special about to happen at the club and so they are deciding it deserves more coverage. Either way it is pretty surprising, especially considering last season and the hype surrounding the club before the start of the season and the disappointing result.

It hurts me to have to say that season is still the highlight of my Dees following which dates back to the early '60's, not that I remember that period, I was a bit young but started going every week from the early '70's . I went to the run of 6 wins leading up to the finals including a great win at Vic Park which I'd been invited to by a Member there. They all were laughing about how our run was going to come to an end. Then they all got ugly after the game saying we wouldn't go anywhere that year. The Doggies win is still my greatest memory and feeling like 3/4's of the crowds at the G each week were cheering for the D's during those first two finals. Swooper was great, no doubt, but Barrassi never gets any credit for setting up that era. It was his clean out and 5 yr plan including bringing in Slug Jordan who trained all those boys through the U19's that set the foundations of that playing group. It ended up not happening under him but it is very reminiscent of the current group who are all coming through together. I coach under age footy and I was teaching some boys the other day how to do a torpand was thinking about Warren Dean and how he used to drop the ball onto his foot to kick the most consistent beautiful torps I had seen for a long time and not since.

Who's taking it as a given. I'm not and I'm certainly not taking it from you. CS's track record is phenomenal. He completely transformed Freo from a basket case financially and on field to having one of the strongest supporter bases and is financially secure going forward. Where do you get that cr$p from. He has presided over the Club getting its first every major asset, the Bentleigh Club, against all the odds. The Club's balance sheet has gone from -$5mill to plus $6mill and the business spend has gone from $25mill to $40mill. They got Neeld, Misson, Craig & Clark in a very competitive market. People are starting to want to come to MFC. Obviously he didn't do it all on his own but he had to be up to his eye balls in it. Doesn't sound like someone not walking the walk, to me.

Stan Alves was sacked. I went to a coaches clinic a few years ago and he explained that he didn't leave but was sacked because they were starting on a youth policy and he was told by the newly appointed coach, I think it was Skilton, that he didn't fit into the strategy. He wasn't happy and thought his career was over but got a call out of the blue from North and went on to play in a Premiership the next season.

Unless we use those high picks to trade for a couple of established players who want to come home to Vic. Eg Dangerfield or some other players that might pop up in the course of next year. Those picks are going to be very sort after in a super draft.

I know just the player, oh, woops, he's just gone.

Their's was much more of a big bodied contested football era unlike now when it is more keepings off. So not sure of your point. Tuck was strong as an ox even though he had a slight type body. No reason Cale can't be the same. Issue will be whether he is prepared to put his body on the line and develop the Mongrel that has been missing so far.

His recruiting looks like it gives us a bit of a hint of Neeld's game plan and his philosophy of being the hardest team to play against. This kid looks to fit the part, a big bodied tackling machine. I'm guessing skills are secondary to tackling and hard running for this pick up. My guess is that they are going to come out hitting hard and aiming not to be easily knocked off the ball. Two attributes sorely missing in the past few years.

I spoke to him at the B & F for a while and was surprised that up close he is bigger in the arms and upper body than you would think, seeing him from a distance. Reminds me a bit of Michael Tuck and he lasted for a few games with a similiar sized body.

We have to let the AFL know by the week before the start of the season if we are going to activate a comp pick. I am guessing we will activate one for next year's draft and keep the other one, either to use ourselves in the future or trade it the draft for an established player. I guess the choice with these picks will be do they continue to bring in young kids or is the list at a point now where it needs to get some players with a few years experience in the system which would be a closer match to losing the few years development that went into Scully. I hear Dangerfield has told the Crows he wants to go home to Vic next year. I don't know that much about him, from memory started strongly and suffered a bit with injuries this year. What do people think about him. Who else is out there that hasn't been mentioned.

1973. I started following the D's in about '64 after watching Barass's footy clinic every Saturday morning on the Happy Hammond show. But I grew up in the Dandenongs and didn't move down to the big smoke until '73. I started going to every game in May '73. Don't remember the first one but do have strong memories of going by train to a lot of the suburban grounds back then when it was intimidating to enter enemy territory. Particularly going to Vic Park where everything from the station to the ground was covered in black and white. Even more heavy going out to Windy Hill in those days where the local gangs used to prowl the streets looking for fights with visiting opposition supporters. Remember hearing about Robbie Flower coming and saw his first game but it wouldn't have been my first game but pretty close. Hardly missed a game through the '70's. A very lean beginning. Remember driving up Punt Rd when the Tigers still played at their home ground. You could see the crowds watching games from Punt Rd. That was before I started going.

I was at a game at the Western Oval when he kicked it from the centre of the ground and it went through for a score. A point, unfortunately, but still the biggest kick I've ever seen live.

2000 GF, any one of Steven Febey's kick outs. Especially the 8 or so in the first quarter ever one of which was rebounded by the Dons. Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!

Malthouse would be a mistake. Wrong personality for a very young developing group. Angry, small man, who denegrates people who don't see eye to eye with him. I think he's overrated. West Coast were the WA State team when he went their versus everyone else who were just Club teams. All he managed was two flags, it should have been 4 or 5. It's taken him 10yrs with the best facilities and limitless amounts of money to throw at the Football Dept and he's got one Premiership.

I can assure you this rumour is absolute BS. The rules set by the AFL that GWS are bound by in relation to players they can approach who are out of contract specifically prevent them from signing up a player while they are still under contract. Scully is under contract until 1 Oct. Any Heads of Agreement that is binding on a player legally forcing them to enter into a contract will definitely breach this requirement. It is a simple fact that any such H of A would be unenforceable, so to say he is going to try to get out of it, or apparently Blight saying he will find it very hard to get out of it, is crap and proves the lack of merit to the whole rumour. Besides all of that, why question Scully's integrity. He took it upon himself to organise a press conference in which he categorically stated neither he, anyone in his family or anyone associated with him has spoken to GWS. That is an absolute categorical statement. No if's or but's. He didn't have to say any of that and by saying that he would be setting himself up as the biggest lier in AFL history when he doesn't need to. Why on earth question the guys integrity when he has made such a clear statement and didn't need to if it wasn't true. Give the kid and yourselves a break. Who knows what he's going to do but this rumour has to be BS.

Here's food for thought. The footy gods have a way of making wheels turn in mysterious ways. Scully had a knee injury in his final junior year and couldn't start training when he first came to the Dees. What if this latest knee injury is the next in a permanent line of knee problems. If we can't stop him from going to GWS, we will get a major bonus pick in the first round of the draft. I could see a strong argument for a first pick to replace him. We might end up with a gun player and he could end up at GWS and be a crock. Who knows. But like others I'm getting a bit over this topic. Good luck to anyone who wants to play with them after watching GC this year, who are going to be much better set up with better established players and juniors.