bush demon

Deevoted, this is a cracker of a post, and I will respond in kind. We lived in Gippsland in the 60's, and my father, a Yorkshireman hated Australian Rules so access to TV replays as a child was limited. My earliest memory of Melbourne was a segment on World Of Sport which replayed Ron Barassi allegedly hitting Roger Dean of Richmond late in the '63 season. It was claimed that Dean took a dive and Barassi was duly suspended for four matches, missing the '63 finals and possibly costing us a premiership. Early 1964, and my parents appear out of nowhere at my primary school with a brand new pair of Ron Barassi football boots. I think they had a printed signature on the ankle bone pads. I put them on straight away and wear them at school, complete with giant stops. The next memory is the '64 second semi final; bizzarely I also remember a replayed moment on World Of Sport showing a Melbourne player handballing over the top of a collingwood player to John Lord in the square who put it through. The next memory is the Channel Two sportsupdate rolling screen which detailed the dying topsy-turvy moments of the '64 flag. Late in '64 must have been December our family was in melbourne and I swear I saw ron barassi crossing the street in a suit. 1965 we are travelling around the UK for several months and I still proudly wear my Melbourne jumper around. Back to Australia Jan '66 and I am shattered to discover that Melbourne have dropped down the ladder. Round 1, 1966 big build up for match of the Day, Melbourne v StKilda and we are absolutely smashed. This is the first game I listen to on radio. Rest of '66; fill out my Ampol Footy Album results each week with Melbourne barely able to kick goals in the first half of the season. After that, a sense of recovery with new recruits including Dillon, Parke, George Lake and others... Scroll forward forty five years and I am lamenting Collingwood's easy goals in the last quarter last Saturday.

This was an emotional occasion, as would be a Demon flag:

Apparently it failed because too many players would have had to run around in the poos. Effectively a takeover of Hawthorn by Melbourne. That's why MFC vote tended to support it and the Hawthorn membership didn't.

First time i have left the G after playing a Collwd/ Hawthorn type opponent not feeling utterly depressed. Not so, early in the third quarter when i left my brother and his son to sit in the paddock bar whereupon we suddenly pumped on three goals. "I wish I had gone to the football today" I said to a couple of Demon supporters sitting next to me. PS Brad Green's confidence is utterly shot, the poor guy needs to rest in a nice paddock at Casey; or as Slim once said, "Leave Him in the Longyard".

Be thankful you are not at somewhere like Metrocom where Dr. Evil plays high volume rock-n-roll constantly.

Very, disappointing; maintain the rage, don 't you remember the 2000 Grand Final and the Essendon 'enforcers' garrotting Brad Green and The Snake? Personally, I hope Essendon are at the beginning of the mid-season fade out and prove yet again that they have gotten ahead of themselves. PS I don't like Carlton either.

I notice that Bard Green gets a game again for the Dees: "For sure I got a knee in the guts, it surely beats a kick in the nuts".

1st Round: Loser mentality 2nd Round: Handout mindset 3rd Round: Player who wants to play for Melbourne entire career and 'anticipates this will be the case'.

Ha Ha. Melbourne have their finest win since beating South in 2010 and the pundits discussing whether to replace the CEO over their lattes...

What about South in 2010?

Scott Thompson, Tom Scully plus Gerard Healey and Jeff Farmer on UTube.

They would only have to flip open Red Fox on just about any page. Smith was ruthless and could be cruel, especially to star players. He didn't even forgive Crompton for leaving his position to kick the winning goal in '64.

Hey, Satyricon, couldn't help but notice your Everton reference. I started following the Dees about 1963. At the beginning of 1965 Everton came to Oz and played Australia at Olympic Park, my father being an Englishman took me to this game. Everton won 8-2! Still have kept an eye on Everton over the years as my favourite English team.

Is anyone watching how he has gone? I rarely see any write-ups on his game performance, saw he was getting a few good stats recently but not really getting in best. Would be interested to hear from anyone who has watched the Greater Western Boys...

Well, for your info. I thought, it was 'Rugoni' but in the spirit of my lyrics you miss the point anyway. Frankly.

Good on the guy for setting himself up for life and I don't begrudge him any success with the GWS but we certainly benefited from his departure in terms of $$$ and recruiting options.HIs loner mentality probably explains why he never fixed up his kicking

ok (edit) back to the drawing board: "You say Schwarta, and I say Schworta, you say Maloney, I say Moloney, Maloney, Moloney, Rigoni "Ragoni" Let's call the whole thing off Let's call the whole thing off" Apologies, George Gershwin and Norm Smith's curse PS The Ox is patient.

PPS I would just like to add that I hadn't noticed you spelt Schwarta in that fashion, and it wouldn't have bothered me anyway. I for one think that spelling is very important and don't know why it gets such bad press on these boards.

PS ... should be 'elitist'.

Barry Bourke on steroids. Parke was a bigger unit who used his body strength to take contested pack marks. Bourke used his agility and spring to play above his height.

The playing list is no better or worse than half the clubs in the competition. The problem is THERE IS NO BUY-IN. Players are playing life AFL-conscripts, check-in, sign-on, train hard get fit, work hard in the pre-season, just go round during the home and aways, don't forget to have a chat and back-slap with the opposition after the game. There is no buy-in, the players don't give more than what is required to be paid. they don't believe they are at a premiership club and play accordingly. HOw many would stay if there was total free-agency, and how much better would half of them play if they were at Sydney, Hawthorn, Carlton, Essendon, Geelong, Collingwood or West Coast? The sad thing is that the end of season hoopla about new systems new fitness new everything was just top-dressing to appease the paying membership. bailey's system probably no better/ worse than neeld's. neild's system probably no better/ worse than Daniher's/ Daniher's probably no better worse than Neil Balme. I saw Balmey's team in the early 90' s clobber a team by over 100 points.

We are of the competition, not in the competition. Since Froggy we have been ghosting in the competition, Simon Eishold scarcely believing he could kick us into a grand final kicking the ball sideways, dropping bundles of consecutive games in our 'good years' ie 19887-1991, champion players leaving or not joining our club (darren jarman, scott thompson, Gerard Healey, Ronald Dale, Jeff Farmer) and now falling away into some ghostland where we have an AFL merchandising sticker attached to our jumpers to prove we are in the 18, but in reality the competition has only six or so members, the others are just drawing direct debits out of followers and leading us along a merry path of bottoming out, tanking, 'renewing' and still getting smashed interstate. This is the ultimate truth of the VFL/AFL competition, it just can't stand 18 competitors so many of them are in name only with secondary fixtures and secondary TV access. This is a path to oblivion, Froggy you should have taken more time with that snap, it was over so fast and the tv stations destroyed the match footage anyway.

You'll never know what Len Smith could have done with at Melbourne, he worked with far inferior lists at Fitzroy than Norm at Melbourne. Oops, yes Norm was the better footballer!

it will be a preliminary hearing; the trial before the trial. kind of like the 48 years after crompton's quick snap.

That was the Ridley firebrand year, remember it very well. Glorious stats first half-season in the Sunday Observer, until the day we rain into Len Thompson and Collingwood on the 'G.