Go the Biff

Often plays as though in a trance

In : Aggression. Controlled aggression. And plenty of it. Carlton will be promising to erase their embarrassing performance of last week. They will be expecting us to lay down & get steamrollled while Carlton put on a show for their disgruntled fans We should get on the front foot. Ambush the pricks. Starting in the middle. Spencil should get that knee up & go straight through Warnock. And again at the next clearance. And again and again & again. If he needs inspiration he needs look further than the job his current ruck coach did on Darren Jolly when Jolly was a Demon. Never seen a bloke [censored] himself like that at AFL level. We should treat this like a final. Our blokes should be kamikaze at the ball in that first 15 minutes. Carlton will send in that psycho Robinson to make a statement. He needs to be put over the fence. Our blokes need to seek body contact at every opportunity when they smash in after the ball. Stand up & absorb their tackles. Never lose our feet. When they have the ball, hit hard & tackle like madmen. We should look to intimidate because Carlton will come out thinking that they can intimidate us. As will the rest of the football world. We need to send them home bruised & battered. We may not win but we as Demon fans should be able to acknowledge the effort. Out : Anyone who won't commit to this. Anyone who doesn't think they can look their team mates in the eye & say I did everything I could to hurt the opposition & win the game My only problem is that we may nit have enough numbers

Because he's a skinny kid FMD

Agreed

Tom McDonald would have considerably more success if he would stop charging, ball in hand, at the nearest group of opposition players I am at a loss to understand what goes through that boy's mind when he gets the footy

Jetta is a rookie and is as slow as a wet week. He would inject some mongrel but no pace. This is one of the things that pisses me off about the VFL. Not the Casey alignment but the whole comp. Seasons are not aligned. Byes are not aligned. It makes it so bloody difficult for clubs trying to bring injured players back. It makes it so bloody difficult for players to press their claims for selection. Blease as a case in point. I understand the calls for his reinstatement. He played well according to reports in Casey's last practice match. Put in for 4 quarters. Worked hard both ways. Gave the ball off when appropriate rather than just running. This is really encouraging. Sadly he's had no chance to further his claims. Additionally, for his development, you would like the coaching staff to be able to point to that game, congratulate him & give him feedback and then tell him that he has set his minimum requirement for the next three weeks. If he consistently plays at that level he will be selected in the seniors where he will be asked to continue what he'd been doing at Casey. But of course there have been no [censored] games for him to play in Now if he is to play this week, it won't be because he has earned it with sustained performance & meeting the criteria of his coaches. It will be because someone else is so crap they need replacing How the hell do you develop players like that !

You might have been a bit harsh. Can't see the blokes above as being anything but a "Y" While you are probably right with the question mark on these guys, you wouldn't mind having them waiting in the wings 23 Tim O'Brien ? 29 Will Langford ? 31 Angus Litherland ? 37 Jed Anderson ? 38 Mitch Hallahan ? 40 Billy Hartung ?

Yeah it would've 10 minutes to go in the first quarter. We've stopped the bleeding. We are starting to show a bit. We are controlling the footy for the first time in the game. We go inside 50 4 or 5 times in a row. To nothing. Each time it comes out & we send it back to nothing. After it's repelled for the 5th time in a row we cough it up & they score a couple of cheap goals Even one tall forward would have changed that

It matters not. They're not doing it again

To be fair, that is a Watts, Vince & a bit of Toumpas better than last year. I thought any sniff we might have had was killed off when Pedersen missed that sitter Jesus he hurt us. 2 or 3 resulted in St Kilda goals. Love the way he goes about it but he needs to apply the Clint Eastwood rule more often

I had a squiz at their website which is already displaying "Proud Sponsors of the Melbourne Football Club" A few years ago a heap of apartments were built behind it. I think the developers would have liked to level the entire corner & start again but the Heritage mob stepped in & saved the pub - or at least the shell of it It's had a fair old makeover since I last frequented it back in the 80's and '90's. There's no ash trays & not much mission brown in evidence. I wonder if they made the floors level. Might have to have a beer there this season & find out

I hope he looked after himself & got off the darts He'd be 50 by now

Does he owe you money ?

Corrected it for you

This has knocked me for a loop. So sad. I had a long chat to Bails when he rang for my daughter on one of the membership drives. After 15 minutes or so covering a range of topics including kids, schools, growing up in the eastern suburbs and eventually footy I said “shouldn’t I be letting you go ? Don’t you have to make a lot more calls ?” “Nah mate, it’s ok. I’m always happy to talk about footy”. So on we went for another 10 minutes or so. Just seemed like a ripping bloke. As WYL said, I’d have loved to have knocked over a couple of jugs with him RIP Bails

It'd be Eastern Daylight Savings WJ, same as Melbourne. I had a look at the link & it had a countdown clock on display. An hour and a half til start

Spencer according to mum. Better than Ridley she reckons. Also you can add Laurie Mithen to the list of her favourites Smithy. Apparently he was a fair looking rooster as well as a great footballer

Loves her Demons. I suspect La Fontaine was her first "schoolgirl crush". Even though he was North coach at the time, a newspaper photo of a shirtless Barassi adorned our laundry wall for many a year. Born & bred in the Benteigh / McKinnon area she was getting on the train to the footy from a young age. She used to go to most games except Geelong (distance) & Essendon (Windy Hill) but rarely attends games now - crowds & cold have become two of her pet hates (along with interstate footy teams) - but she'd have clocked up a fair few over the span. She got to see the golden era, obviously got to see a fair bit of crap as well. She still retains a membership though She's now embraced technology and gets most of her footy fix from Foxtel. She has IQ and with an arsenal of remote controls at her disposal, doesn't miss much. She also got herself an iPad & has discovered the club website on that. I might give her a yell & pose the question in the OP

It's a bit sad that I can't remember a top class rover in my time - and I ain't no spring chicken Sugar probably comes closest of those that I've seen Neither Wells nor Wilson were rovers IMO. Out and out centremen. And yes, there was a difference. It's a bit of a lost position at AFL level these days - everyone is a "midfielder" Stuey Spencer is my mum's all time favourite player. Closely followed by Robbie Flower & Allan La Fontaine

Absolutely. It's great to be able to watch the replay without my head in my hands & a knot in my stomach. It's been a masssive overhaul. That they've been able to transform their playing style so quickly is a credit to not only Roos but the players as well Looking forward to the season. Last year I dreaded footy, to say nothing of the Monday morning post mortems

I'll wait a bit longer before conversion Have never doubted his ability - he's an excellent kick, has pretty clean hands & generally makes good decisions. Reasonable pace, terrific size. He's a wonderful shot at goal on the run. The only thing missing from his skill set is strong marking above his head, which is rarely required in his current role. My criticism of him has always been one thing only. Short steps. If he goes when it's his turn to go all through this season & beyond then Nasher will be spot on - a maligned (justly IMHO) 100 gave player will become a respected 200+ game player. And the club will have a significant asset. Still, I'll wait. Leopards, spots etc

Amusing

My other concern, aside from clutter (and let's hope Michael Hoomanawanui never attempts to cross codes from the New England Patriots) is the impact on young supporters if a popular, high profile player changes clubs Let's say a kid has his jumper with Barassi proudly emblazoned above the number 31. Then Barassi moves to Carlton & what was a much loved jumper is now useless, if not hated. At least if it was only a number, the kid gets the opportunity to get some love for Ray Groom ! Can't do that with a name on the back. To modernise the example, how many Hawthorn #23 jumpers with Franklin on the back would now be despised ? Or West Coast kids with their Judd jumpers. How many parents hacked off that they have to shell out another hundred bucks ?

Agreed. There is already too much crap on jumpers

Yep. 1980. "Disco" Roach kicked a ton in the Richmond Seniors, Jacko a ton in the magoos and Peter Lane got the century in their U19's. Plus they had Brian Taylor waiting in the wings. An embarrassment of full forward riches