pitmaster

And not one commentator remarked on it. A clear free to the Saints that resulted in a crucial Geelong goal. Just dreadful umpiring.

In 1901 you can add in bubonic plague which first appeared in (I know you guessed it) the suburb of Collingwood.

Don't know if this warrants a new thread but McAdam has had a set back and won't be sighted this week or for quite a few more. Better news for Petty. https://www.afl.com.au/news/1085531/hamstring-issue-to-further-delay-melbourne-demons-shane-mcadam-season-start

And a football action.

The good: Lions lost at the Gabba. The bad: Carlton won.

Most closely I'll be watching to see if the Blues suffer the same sort of fade out as our blokes tonight. The Gabba this time of year could be ugly.

You're right but look at contested ball stats from midway through the third and that's where it started. Heeney said they trained in the humidity all summer. He seemed to acknowledge it worked in their favour. I'm backing us to bounce back hard. The small ground also allows for difficult entires unless you win the centre bounce contest cleanly.

Another AFL genius balls up. Send us up to play in sub-tropical conditions in the height of summer heat. This is no time to panic. The fixture set us up. We were spent from midway through the third quarter. Let's see next round. If we mishandle the ball the same way then I'll panic.

Exactly. But heaven forbid anything be put in the way of a Collingwood flag.

Very sad news but he has much to be proud of. Having seen the reasoning - microscopic changes to the brain post-Maynard's hit - he has of course made the right decision. He will be greatly missed as he was coming into his prime. All the best for the future, Gus!

This bloke amazes me. For a Hawthorn supporter his knowledge of our mob is extraordinary. Anyways, no great insights here but I thought demonlanders would be interested in some of his observations from the match sim. Kynan Brown – Well, what do we have here? Kicked a couple of goals, was busy around the packs and had a couple of really good front-and-centre gathers to keep the footy moving. The Dees have Pickett, but when he moves into the guts, that second smaller forward role is one that has let them down. They’ve had Charlie Spargo, or Kade Chandler… but they really haven’t done it for me. Thumbs up. Brown kind of did it for me in this game. Caleb Windsor – A mixed bag from him. Has an elite tank, and was still running the wings deep into the fourth quarter, which was great, but some of his disposals were… well, they were ****ty. I think that’ll be ironed out as he becomes more accustomed to the speed of the game, but he threw his body in, won the ball, and just let himself down with disposal, at times. It can be fixed, but you cannot teach someone to win the footy the way he was winning it. Thumbs up from me. And on Kozzie - Geez, he looked dangerous in this one. Kysaiah… not Marlion, although Marlion had a few good moments, as well. Whether forward or in the middle, Kysaiah looked dangerous every time he was near the footy. Whether it was his tackling pressure early in the game, his efforts to win back-to-back-to-back clearances in the third quarter, or leaping into the stratosphere to almost drag in the preseason mark of the year, Pickett gave the 3-4K at Casey Fields plenty to ooh and ahh about. Did the Dees get the mix right with him running through the midfield? It felt about right. He was effective while in there and pushed forward hard without hitting the scoreboard. I reckon a 50/50 split is the ideal for him. He adds so much irrespective of where he plays… I reckon Simon Goodwin wishes he had a couple of him. And JvR - Really liked the early attack on the footy from Jacob Van Rooyen. He was hard at it and both presented on the lead and crashed packs several times in the first half. Looked like he ran out of puff a little in the second half, but seems to be the best marking target the Dees have inside fifty at the moment, and attacks the ball like he knows it. May V Balta - And I touched on the work of Noah Balta above, but I need to give credit to Steven May for the way he worked back into the game after the main break. His tussle with Balta was a brilliant watch, with both guys matching up very well throughout the contest. May took the third quarter points after Balta got the first two. Balta hit the bench to start the fourth and didn’t return – a well earned rest. And finally... As for the Dees, there is enough to work with that Simon Goodwin won’t be pressing the panic button just yet. He’s got Clayton Oliver to come back in, and he started the fifth period by grabbing two touches, including a clearance in the first 40 seconds. They’ll be fine. My two bob's worth is that the match sim was disappointing because the old forward issues were still evident, but I did enjoy Brown's game and Verrall's leap was something to behold. He may offer us something special in a year or two. Viney was brilliant, Kozzie dynamic and Max has lost nothing, but our pressure was not there and it looked like it was just a hit out from our perspective. With a few on this site tearing their hair out over a game for which no points were on offer I thought mongrel punt's closing three word sentence might offer some comfort.

is on the far right of the image

As Tears Go By...perfect selection for the Neeld era.

No expert here but some several decades younger tell me she is a prolific and evocative song writer whose lyrics speak to her generation. Can't ask more than that. But the show from what I have seen looks like ridiculous overkill. But hey, I was delirious to see The Boss at the Palais when it was just him and an acoustic guitar.

Too right, but I reckon they only had maybe two seasons in the same side before Stan went off to win his flag with the Kangas who did very well out of rule changes around that time. It's funny how well served we were for wingers but not so much in key positions.

Hugely under-rated is Stan. He probably is under recognised by Demon fans because of the bitter manner of his departure but he was absolutely outstanding. The sight of his dashes along the northern wing was all that kept me going to the G during the early 70s.

I still hold to the opinion I expressed earlier but KT is a very good prospect to replicate the achievements of JMcV. And if he doesn't, that's no knock on him either.

They don't come around every year necessarily. That's what makes Judd McVee Judd McVee.

Thanks for the correction. Clearly I don't know Brighton as well as I thought.

It was hard NOT to know in 2021. All through the finals series - and way beyond - the joint was decked out in red and blue. One of Christian's brothers also has a cafe in Church Street Brighton towards the Nepean Highway end. The premiership cup turned up there one time. The family resemblance is unmistakeable.

Sorry, but you're mistaken. Yes "there's" is a contraction but as there are "questions" the verb form must be plural. Not as in "there has been questions'" but as in "there have been questions". Ditto for "chops and changes". Plural once again since the reference is to changes, so the contraction should be "there've been chops and changes". Now don't go defending bomber supporters again.

Not does grammar. "There's been questions..."/"There's been a few chops and changes.." Once, it's an innocent mistake. Twice, as a writer she does not know her stuff. Agree, missing Koz makes two deadly sins in one preview. BTW at the cricket yesterday I saw the Hun had a big Dees article but as I don't read the trash rag (and couldn't pilfer it from its owner) can someone post it here please?

Every Melbourne player was highly aware when they returned to pre-season training that deafening “noise” – a term AFL clubs prefer to controversy – had dominated and defined the Demons’ off-season. A litany of incidents, ranging from Steven May’s post-season claim at the club’s best and fairest that they were “a better team” than premiers Collingwood and they “should have smoked them”, to lawsuits involving the board, to Joel Smith’s positive drug test, to confusion about what the Demons were trying to achieve with star Clayton Oliver during the trade period, had fans and the public asking, “What is happening at Melbourne?” “We addressed it. We wanted to make sure that we are united as a club,” Melbourne midfielder Tom Sparrow told The Age this week. “Then it was, how do we focus on ourselves now to make sure that, you know, it doesn’t happen again.” For Sparrow, 23, a premiership player who has played 67 of the past 73 games to become a key, if understated part of Melbourne’s engine room, “it” encompasses everything on and off the field, the places where reputations are won and lost. “It’s not just saying it,” Sparrow said. “[It’s] how we act on and off the field as people, how we respect the game, the opposition and the discipline stuff. That’s how we act … that will give us a true measure of how we’re going based on being accountable to what we say we’re going to do.” Seeing that in action is part of the reason that selected media were invited into Melbourne’s inner sanctum on the final day of their pre-season camp in Lorne, sitting in a team meeting, listening to what was said on the track, and having lunch with the group, minus Oliver, who had returned home, and Smith, who is provisionally suspended, at the Mantra Lorne, where they were staying. Confident in their culture, they understand their reputation has taken a hit. With the dust having cleared after the trade period, and a bit of space from the club’s shattering straight-sets exit from the finals, the Demons now concede that amid the complexities that made some issues harder to handle than others, there have been many instances where they did not hit the mark in 2023. And it wasn’t just their entries inside 50 during those fateful finals losses to Collingwood and Carlton that missed the target. Clayton Oliver has been forced to leave Melbourne's pre-season camp early due to a fresh health scare Sparrow puts his hand up as one of the players who lost discipline during the tense finals when everything was on the line, and they could hardly hear themselves think as successive crowds exceeding 90,000 people roared in the MCG cauldron. He can still recall the moment he gave away an unnecessary free kick to Carlton’s Sam Walsh with Melbourne holding a three-point lead in the semi-final, with less than five minutes remaining. There were pressure-relieving 50-metre penalties conceded, too, at inopportune times. “That’s probably not how we want to be as a club in terms of our character. We want to be disciplined and play the right way, so there’s definitely elements in that game where we could have been better,” Sparrow said. “We’ve already started working on that this pre-season. It’s about controlling the controllables, making sure you stay disciplined under pressure, under fatigue, when you can’t hear anything out of the ground.” Coach Simon Goodwin also understands how post-match comments he made at times were interpreted as not respecting the opposition. He did not intend that to be the case, with his intent always about protecting his players, but he also accepts perception is reality in his caper. Sparrow admits the leadership group have become more frustrated than younger players such as himself at the talk surrounding the club’s culture because they feel it reflects on them, but he says they also understand that complaining won’t achieve much. His faith in the direction that skipper Max Gawn, former captain Jack Viney, Alex Neal-Bullen, Christian Petracca and Jake Lever, among others, drive the emerging group is total. The club’s faith in Sparrow was also evident when he was awarded the James McDonald Trophy at year’s end for best living the club’s values on and off the field. “Deep down for me, it’s like, I know how we operate,” Sparrow said. He says the club has been open with the players about the situations Smith and Oliver are managing, and their increased awareness helps guide their responses. “It means the playing group is across it, and it’s now ‘OK, we know it’s going on, let’s just get around him.’ We love him as a teammate,” Sparrow said. “Not only are they your teammates, but they are your friends away from the club as well. We have such great support. We wrap our arms around each other. “Obviously, you have to address things that might not be going the way everyone wants them to go, but it’s about ‘How we do help them? How do we move forward? What’s the best way to go about it?’” Sparrow trusts the leadership but knows every player plays a part in supporting their teammates regardless of what is happening. “What else can we do other than say, ‘We are here for you mate, and we will get you through and be better’,” Sparrow said. Being better is all Sparrow wants to do in 2024. He hopes to have greater impact on games, aware his team-focused approach is beneficial, but that he has more to give. “[I want to be] a bit of a pain for the opposition as well, right. Instead of just being a good teammate, a bit of both,” Sparrow said. It’s not dissimilar to the team who believe their defensive foundations are rock solid, but their method of attack needs to shift slightly as they attempt to build a premiership forward line. The young talent keeps arriving with Blake Howes and Bailey Laurie chasing a place in the seniors after a few years of VFL, talented youngsters Caleb Windsor and Koltyn Tholstrup pushing for first-round selection and veterans Ben Brown – who is running well – and Adam Tomlinson adding depth. Shane McAdam will also provide forward smarts and Harrison Petty did not attract a huge offer from Adelaide without merit. The question Sparrow posed is, how do we maintain the strong foundations but also add a couple of elements? And the question the club has asked itself is how do we restore the reputation that has taken a hammering since the siren sounded on their 2023 campaign with a two-point loss to Carlton on September 15? “It’s got to be addressed. It is all people are talking about,” Sparrow said. “For us now it’s about 2024, and how do we perform? There is a lot of pressure on us as a club. We know that, and I mean, what an opportunity. I am so excited. Steven May described the Dees’ list as ‘unbelievable’. But is it? “We’re doing it right. Let’s just go out there and show them how hard we work.” The unrelenting clangour surrounding the club this spring, and the desolation experienced when the semi-final siren sounded has not diminished Sparrow’s love for the sport and anticipation for what lies ahead. “Playing footy, it is the best thing ever. Far out, we have the best job. I feel super lucky to be in this position,” Sparrow said.

Nice work, Andy. The Kolt sounds like a great kid. Good to hear how the other WA boys embraced him too.

Perhaps a double of what Steve Silvagni copped many years ago (ruptured [censored]) would serve your purpose.