bush demon

On the bench as back-up we could have john Clennet, John Gallus, Ted Lees, Graham Wise, Gary Baker, Strawbs and Maxy Walker if things get rough.

Now just got to get the MRP heroes to protect the ball-carrier, it's a no-brainer.

The Geelong player who was knocked senseless by an MRP verdict last week might disagree.

Also have observed mission creep by these types for quite a while. Sometimes you have to speak up.

Have been going to the G sunce about 1970 so i have earnt a vent on this.

Yes that was the clear attitude of the cheer squad and you could really feel the snger behind the goals. Supporters have been entitled to express an opinion at the football since Tom Wills drew up the rules. It's not the role of these guys to try and intimidate.

My letter to the club this morning: Hello, Our family attended the Fremantle game on Saturday, and I am writing about the role of private security post-match. My daughter begged me to sit down near the fence both times we have been to the football this year so we sat three rows back right near the cheer squad. This gave us a real insight into what the AFL calls 'game day experience'. One one hand it was great to sit near the cheer squad and for my daughter to hear the real passion for the game inspired by the chanting and barracking. Not so the role of private security, who after the drama and disappointment of the last goal decided that they would swarm this area post match and move in on patrons because they had allegedly heard some 'abuse' from the crowd. From our vantage point the cheer squad was in excellent spirits all day and the intrusion of a private 'flying squad' of bouncers was totally unwarranted. The club is often criticised in the media for lack of passion at games, I wonder what security would do if it was a Richmond, Essendon, or Hawthorn cheer squad member had allegedly berated the goal umpire. There was no indication of racial or sexist abuse. If the AFL, or the club, or its sub-contracted security want us to simply turn up and jog on the spot for some inane 'run like a demon' at quarter time, and act on any other of the various queues of the ground announcer, and allow members and patrons to be pushed around by glorified bouncers then I can't really see the point in bringing my family up from Gippsland - a 250k round trip, we could just watch the game from home. I hope that the club liaises in this instance with the cheer squad and find out what, if any provocation there was that required a squad of private security to intimidate paying patrons in this way. If the alleged misbehaviour was trivial and no more than disappointed barracking at the goal umpire, I sincerely hope that the club makes its feelings known to the ground managers at the MCG and ensures that sub-contracted crowd controllers can not act in such an unrestrained fashion in the future.

We have definitely improved ... so have other teams. We need our best team in to impose otherwise the forward line becomes congested and teams rebound on us.

After Freo kicked the last goal security mived in quickly and one guy near the fence said into his mike that someone had made an abusive comment. Then about five of these private militia thinking the game was about them honed in on the alleged orator in the cheersquad presumably to eject him from the ground or knock his teeth out i don't know which. Anyway, the sooner of these goons are ejected from the football the better. One of the cheer squad can probably give more insight into what was said. Presumably the boys in yellow don't police every ground and game in this fashion.

Careful about sledging Hunt and Kent in the same sentence. I thought both played well and Hunt was fantastic.

Couldn't believe the behaviour of security at Punt Rd end after last goal. Of course supporters are going to be emotional. There was no crowd trouble and absolutely no need for Mr. Microphone to bring down his flying squadron of body-builder mates to intimidate the unfortunate patron.

We were scared of the goal sticks and in awe of Geelong. Haven't choked so much since '87 prelim.

Have followed the dashing dees since '63 but cannot renember another Tim in the red and blue, can anyone else?

And there was Peter Smith wh0 was going to bolster up our forward line in the 1966 season.

Seconded. The whole argument about training is a furphy. It's not necessary to breach the innuendo code on here to accept that other issues are involved. As Jack Ruby once said, "If i could only get to Washington..."

Mahoney spreading innuendo.

If I have heard it, then others have heard it. Whether off-field issues have substance or not, this thread should be locked when or before tabloid media jumps on board. The team is tracking well and that should be no. 1 priority. Everything else is a side-show. Whatever is going on it is a pity coming off a great season by Watts last year.

Not football related.

Diamond Joe, Diamond Jim, diamonds are for neddies....

Barassi played some BOGs in grand finals, '59 was one of them where Barassi single handedly turned the game with two speccies and two goals in minutes: "This was one of the best second quarters ever seen at a Grand Final ... it was was the human dynamo, Barassi - the hero of many a final game who snatched the lead for the demons. No praise can be too high for this great team player. He pulled down a beauty out of the sky to kick the Demons' seventh goal and then kicked another goal on the run to give them a nine point lead."(p151, Barassi by Peter Lalor). Flower may have been a more highly skilled footballer but Barassi was peerless as a game turner and team motivator. He transformed matches by instigating breakaway plays, setting up the loose man and chain handballing. My two MFC heroes, nonetheless.

* Our horror years, or the - decadus horribilis pre Roosus - was a much less competitive era than the one Robbie Flower played in.

He's coached two AFL teams to premierships so hats off to him.

Brent Crosswell, dubbed, "Tiger" because he called everyone by that name because he couldn't remember their names. Someone correct me if I'm wrong!

Anyone know what day (and time) is Melbourne's last training session for the year?

America's abominable behaviour towards central and south american states does not justify one-party states and elimination of political enemies. Gabriel Garcia Marquez in One Hundred Years of Solitude illustrates the nastiness and brutishness of leaders such as Battista and Castro.