bush demon

Yes, I agree it's a balance. In - I think - the Barassi biography Ron recounted walking into a club function at the end of the season, must have been at the tipping point and he got a negative reaction from some team-mates. After this session he got back in contact with the Carlton people and made up his mind. These days players would probably be totally unfussed - ie Jack Trengove - cause they are career-focussed whereas supporters are team-obsessed. That was made clear by the warm reaction Gary Ablett got from his former team-mates.

That's well said, Nasher. PS my comments about Scully's kicking were not meant as a criticism of the guy, it was more about how players are trained to work on their weaknesses. I remember Stuart Loewe of StKilda improved markedly over his career once he put serious work into that aspect of his game. Nick Riewoldt continues to take flack over his kicking even though the rest of his game is excellent.

Look, I presume you are targetting comments such as Red n Blue Flame which I agree shouldn't be put up without foundation. Come on, a comment on a player's kicking!!! you must be joking, on what basis did you allow years of dribble about Cameron Bruce. all I am saying is be consistent. I prob. go back longer than you and not only remember the Barassi defection but the way supporters were ambushed with the sudden announcement he was going to Carlton. It was presented to the public as a fait accompli, and this secrecy was a key ingredient in getting Barassi over the line. who knows if the internet had existed in the second half of '64 the supporter base may have persuaded Ron to stay and history may have been different.

hAA. My first censored post in prob. ten years on this site. Meanwhile you allow posters to throw any rubbish at a number of Melbourne players (Morton, Bate, Dunn for example) and hit the dump button when this pointed out to you.

gOOD and while you're at it I hope you stop posts which are character attacks on Matthew Bate, Lynden Dunn and Cale Morton who constantly cop far worse on this site and demonology than Tom ever has. There is a double standard here. A comment suggesting a player is looking for the $$$ is an attack on their integrity, whilst attacks questioning the courage and personal traits of "LESSER PLAYERS" goes on unabated here and on demonology.

Maclure does dish it up to the Dees but he has been better this year, and so has Alves. I wouldn't exactly say Maclure was a C Grader I have memories of him as a brilliant high marking centre half forward, esp. in matches against melbourne. i think he was also an excellent big game player, these are just memories.

I was reading about the phenomenon of 'car polishing', where you work obsessively on things you are already very good at, to cover for the areas you should be working on. Tom Scully has the same issue as Cameron Bruce, very early release of the ball with his guiding hand which leaves a much larger room for error. Compare Scully's style with the classic kicking action of newbie, Jeremy Howe. I just don't think Scully will ever kick like that. The question then is, does it matter, if his other skills ie handballing to a target in traffic are super elite.

This may be a side issue but is still relevant to the 'potential superstar' tag. On the one hand, Scully is said to be an obsessive trainer and has made sacrifices to get where he is today. Yet his field kicking has a junior, under 16's look to it. So why hasn't he worked on this already, or has he worked on it and there has been no improvement. Or doesn't he care, he'll make a decision on his kicking over summer. Because it doesn't matter how many in-close back and forward stats you rack up, if Scully's passes are landing in an opponent's lap (as they did on Saturday multiple occasions) he will never reach the elite level that most pundits are assuming.

These are the guys who the Players Association are fighting for, I hope he gets his due compensation. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/hard-knock-life-20110530-1fcsa.html

Yes but this is like the tail wAGGing the dog. I don't follow scully football club. the club must always come first others it will come last. it is not unreasonable for supporters and the club to want to be proactive to ward off poachers. the emotional connection of many supporters to their clubs runs much deeper than the shop and swap mentality which modern football parades as a virtue.

If it only affects Mike then what's the problem?

Big picture of Davey, but no comment. Moloney is true red and blue, Sylvia's contract due to be renegotiated end of this season, which would put him out of the window. This may be the sequel to the current soap opera. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/preparing-for-free-agency-20110618-1g91w.html

This reported reference to a "decision" sounds like a shift in rhetoric. eeni meeni mini mo.

I think Red and Blue flame must have left the building with Tom!

If those facts were true surely it would have tweeted across the universe by now and been picked up by a media outlet?

Stephen Phillips has a media company i think he used to work for channel 7. his company puts out videos ie the 'red and blue' video which revived the crompton footage.

Watts, B.O.G (break-out-game) and, B.O.G (ABC Radio).

I had to recite this poem for Mr. Blaze in Form Three English. Little did I know it would come back to haunt me.

H Sun comment (Sheahan?) that Demons mad to offer $2.6m to scully at this stage: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/jack-trengove-or-tom-scully-whos-worth-more/story-e6frf9jf-1226077875103

Yes but there will always be a reason why MFC miss out. once gws and gcfc wash through the system there will be limited free agency which will no doubt have more players under pressure to delay contracts.

This season has been an unexpected train wreck and the elephant under the mcg grass all along has been scully's non-commitment. our formline actually dropped off towards the end of last season, from the Hawthorn game on. we are a much better team than what we have shown and the scullduggery has undermined what all hoped would be a breakout year a la '87 and '98. we need to clear the decks and put a reasonable contract to scully. if he won't deal then play him in a less key role and bring other players up who have a long term commitment. otherwise we are just letting scully's management wipe us at the end of the year which would be yet another humiliating experience for the club. Be proactive.

MELBOURNE CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE SCULLY BUT CAN IT AFFORD TO KEEP HIM? This Sheahan article makes clear what GWS' real strategy is in attacks on Melbourne's list. The end-play is most likely going to be not whether we sign Scully but whether we make it impossible to sign other players by offering Scully the big dollars necessary to keep him.

Jeff Farmer and Scott Thompson were two beauties. Saying 'apart from Scott Thompson' is like saying 'apart from ron Barassi', in Thompsons' case, lost in the prime of his career. although he had the go home factor there is no saying he couldn't have been gaffa taped to one of the goalposts at the mcg.

60's Ron Barassi Hassa Mann (to W.A) Bob Johnson 70's Stan Alves Greg Wells Peter Keenan Gary Hardeman (to Sturt) 80's Gerard Healey Michael Byrne 90's Earl of Spaulding (thanks LT) 00's Jeff Farmer Scott Thompson Darren Jolly (thanks JR)

lost in the hype of gold coast spun and greater western seems-easy is the collapsing state of brisbane as an aussie rules entity. it's easy to bribe a handful of players to start up new teams but who will want to watch them or play for them once the current lot eat all the chaff. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/fitzroy-death-still-cuts-deep/story-e6frf9jf-1226077214505