Go the Biff

Your comments on the other three have some varying degrees of merit but this is just fantasyland stuff. Exciting prospect ! Awesome ! Ferg has at no stage been awesome. In fact in all the time he's been here there are only two games that have caused me to wonder whether he had a future. His first appearance in a pre-season cup game when he did an excellent negating job on Richo and the Broadbridge game against Essendon when the footy just kept on finding him. Ferg is courageous but his skills are moderate, his strength in contests inadequate and he loses his feet far too often. He is an excellent footballer at his level and that level is not the AFL.

The leopard prints must be in a sorry state now YM

You'd have to find him first. Apparently he's buggered off up the coast & they're not expecting him back anytime soon.

A good point I'm surprised hasn't been made before Dappa (not that I've read anyway). If you read enough on here you'll find cases mounted for all of Ward, Brown, Yze, Ferguson, Holland, Godfrey, Bizzell, Warnock, Neville, Wheatley, Pickett, Miller etc to be given the arse come season's end (contractual status notwithstanding). The problem with that is that numerically, you have to replace what you delete. The deepest analysis on doing that is "draft kids". Your early dispatches & Jaded's suggestion that this is not a deep draft are key points. Some who are on shaky ground on our list may well find their careers extended by a year based on our recruiting staff's assessment of not only this draft, but of the the next couple as well. They may decide that this is not the draft you want to use six or seven picks in and be stuck with youngsters picked on spec tied to the club on mandatory two year contracts. Someone posted in a thread yesterday (cbf checking back) and used chess as an analogy. In some cases, the appropriate strategy is to hang on to some of your pawns in order to use them to greater effect later in the game.

Good topic. I'm a fair bit older than you YM but I'll try to restrict my selections to the era that you'd be familiar with B Wight Hughes A. Johnson HB B. Lovett Neitz Grinter C Tingay Wilson Flower HF Lyon Schwarz Robertson F Farmer Jakovich G. Healy R Stynes Viney Johnstone Int White Spalding Yze Greg Healy A few unlucky but I picked the interchange on the basis that firstly, you need a second ruck. Agree with the poster who said White was better than O'Dwyer. Strawbs could mark & ruck but his kicking skills would make Wardy look like Darren Jarman. Yze & Spalding get the nod as they could play both ends & in Yze's case, go into the midfield. Sugar (& Trapper's) selection highlight the fact that we haven't had a rover since Henry Coles. Would have liked a better full back but Hughes would get a fair bit of support from Wight. Thought Ingo was terrific for Melbourne but Danny shaded him. I also moved Neitz to CHB which allowed the traitorous Healy into a forward pocket where he kicked over 70 goals in successive seasons. Were you around to see him play for Melbourne ? Sounds like you've been comparatively lucky. You missed the 70's & early 80's. By those standards, 2007 would be a good year !

We went to the States. Same time as the Irish experiment that gave us Earley, Stynes, Wight. We brought back a 16 - 17yo kid (Glen Ryan I think his name was) who was supposed to be a gun across a number of U.S. sports. Saw him interviewed on World of Sport & that was the last I ever heard or saw of him.

Possibly because he's not an ex-AFL player. Harvey, Ratten etc had distinguished playing records which had already placed them squarely in the public eye. Riley by comparison has long flown under the radar - low enough to get gravel rash. Similarly, how many journo's were pumping up Neil Craig for the same jobs before he claimed the gig at the Crows ?

Seen enough of Ferg. Rather invest the game time in your other options Warnock (contracted next year) or Garland (development). Miller should definitely play. If he's not on Brown then he should be the one to drop into the hole, blocking Brown's leads. You can knock his skill set but Miller does not lack courage. No point bringing Clogs back this week Brown would just get on his bike & play up the ground where Clogs is less (than) effective.

Not as much fun as being there when he & Danny Hughes would regularly try to throw each other over the fence into the crowd. Certainly put on a show those two but there were times when I genuinely feared for the safety of those sitting in the front row ! Bloody good full forward Taylor was - played most of his career on a bung kee as well.

Agreed - but worse was Carroll's half-arsed attempt to shepherd for him. Had Nathan put on a half decent block rather than throwing out a token elbow, we'd have had a 2 on 1 and a good chance to clear the ball

Wouldn't let him in the front door. His colours are red & white.

Think you're reading way too much into that - possibly seeing what you want to see. There have not been too many times when the best player in the caper has been available over Daniher's tenure (not that Judd's necessarily going to be available - this is media / message board fuelled conjecture). If the best player in the caper is available, your usual rules go out the window. Hence Gardner's "Probably" response. That's my take anyway.

The mohawk guy is Angelo. Hails from down the peninsula if I recall correctly. Mad Demon fan - he was "the face of Demonology" last year. He agreed to having a pic of him with the red & blue mohawk on the home page there. Doesn't post much but when he first got on last year his username "The Mohawk" sort of gave up his ID straight away. Love it when he gets shown on TV - he is the opposite of the stereotype that we're depicted by. I'd like to see someone tell him that he's a Range Roving snow bunny !

Good girl Jaded. Don't ban yourself for swearing Don't modify your post Don't delete the thread Sticky it !

Do some homework chief - the move to the Olympic Park precinct does not include us training on a soccer pitch.

After all the criticism Godfrey has copped I find it strange that people are planning a breeding program to produce another one ! I have been a critic, in fact I remain one as he has a number of weaknesses outside his kicking. Last week I went through our list with the red pen, working out who I'd give the flick to if I had my way. I retired quite a few ! Got to Godfrey & thought no - on this season to date, you deserve to keep your spot on the list, ahead of a numbeer of more celebrated & decorated team-mates.. Godders has been ineffectual as a tagger for a few years now.........until the last two weeks. While he could run with a player all day, he would get killed by his target's speed off the mark, particularly at stoppages. His work in the last fortnight has been outstanding - he had Goodes blanketed well before Goodes got hurt. Not sure what he's doing differently - will have to look at the tapes. Perhaps he's setting up to block his target coming out with a clearance rather than standing shoulder to shoulder & getting burnt off. Whatever it is, it is working & let's hope he keeps it up. His 100th game should be celebrated - I suspect the milestone will mean more to Simon than it has to many others.

Looks like Yze_Magic is doing some of his best work on Wikis as well as match predictions on Demonland. Tipping he did it in the latter half of a week !

I still get shitty every time I see Bartel get the footy. Lying little [censored].

True, true & true again. Our footy club may have made some blues but it annoys the hell out of me when posters use their version of this trade to whack the club over the head. Thanks Rhino, it amazes me how the circumstances of Jolly's departure are revised by those using 20/20 hindsight when assessing his value. Particularly that fella on the other forum. Jolly also gave me a couple of my most cringe-worthy moments as a Demon fan. After coming off second best in a contest with Richmond's Greg Stafford he dead-set piked the next two centre bounce duels against ol' Elbows. Sh@t himself. It was embarrassing to watch. He may have a flag but Jason Ball got it for him. Jolly remains what he has always been - a very good # 2 ruckman. Those who think otherwise & point to hitout statistics need only review Darren's finals campaigns. That's not to say he can't improve - he has had plenty of good teachers along the way & in Everitt he has another. But why was Everitt recruited (rhetorical question folks) ?

Have a look at his second quarter. I like Wardy but he killed us, missing targets & getting caught out on the rebound. Momentum-snuffing stuff that. I'd have hoped one of the younger brigade had consigned Wardy to a future at Sandy by now. His run is great & he can get plenty of it but couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo. Although he did give us a false dawn in the first quarter with a nice pass resulting in a goal. Quickly rediscovered his level though. On the votes - I'd probably echo Lord Travis. Tough to find 6 on a disappointing night.

The game in the midfield is becoming more & more like ice-hockey where you put a group on for a set amount of time & they go flat out while they're on. Off they come & their replacements go out & do the same thing until the next rotation. Sydney tonight being a good example. The old days where you could stand & watch the action upfield with your hands on your hips & sucking in air are gone. Perpetual motion now.

Not so much the heat Dappa as the drought & associated water restrictions. Councils, towns, municipalities etc can't water their grounds. These are the days where the threat of litigation & public liability insurance premiums have a massive bearing on how you run your sporting facilities. You can't afford to allow participants on facilities that could be deemed to be unsafe. Most clubs in my area (east of Melbourne) aren't allowed to train on their grounds. I believe the Diamond Valley League have already deferred their season opening to May. The situation in much of country Victoria must be dire.

Trevor Spencer always gave the impression he had talent ...... but that was about it as far as results went. He just looked like he could take a game by the throat but never did. Andy Goodwin is still going around - captain-coach of Mooroolbark where he is much loved but equally despised by most other clubs in his division of the EFL. Andy still has the occasional visit to the tribunal but I think his reputation is worse than his record. I believe he recently played in a Richmond corporate game where ex-players play alongside some of the club's sponsors. It's supposed to be a light-hearted exercise but apparently Goodwin's competitive instincts were still well-honed. You have to admire Goodwin - never the most talented of players but gave everything he had whenever he went out to represent his club albeit occasionally going over the edge. If I recall correctly, he suffers from the additional handicap of being a Pom. While we're playing this game mickey17seddon, do you remember Big Darryl Cox ? Another "couldabeen" we picked up from Fitzroy.

The first quarter of the "merger match" under lights - outstanding vision & hands. Can you believe how quickly those years have passed. Now, if you were not of the Demon persuasion, that miss the other night where Neiter got sconned must have been absolutely hysterical. Would love to see M. Lloyd replicate that

Jokes don't kick 80 plus goals a season, not to mention the bags that G. Healy skived in the pocket alongside him. Jackson had his limitations but don't ever kid yourself into thinking he couldn't play. Other disappointments - Spud Dullard. Bobby Skilton once said that Spud could have been the best CHF in the league if he'd actually applied himself on the training track. Stephen Bickford - just looked a footballer. Had balance, time, poise - everything but the footy Paul O'Brien - through no fault of his own. Was blossoming as a footballer & looked like being anything until his knee went. Effectively ended his career Glenn McLean - for pissing off to Collingwood