bush demon

This, from fullpointsfooty.net: "The Demons indeed have never remotely looked like securing flag number thirteen, although grand final appearances in 1988 and 2000 may, briefly, have got the hearts of their more optimistic fans fluttering. To football supporters of the early twenty-first century, the sight of Melbourne struggling or flattering to deceive has become so commonplace as to be taken for granted. Four decades ago, however, precisely the opposite was the case: Melbourne was, incontrovertibly, the pre-eminent football force in the land, having just won its sixth flag in ten years. Many of the club's supporters can doubtless still recall celebrating that achievement on the night of the grand final, as well as over the days and weeks that followed. Some, perhaps, are secretly celebrating it still." I think Jimmy lifted the curse. Jimmy, who was ironically recruited by returning prodigal son Ron Barassi in the early 80's. I believe a further sign on Saturday that the curse has been lifted was our 89 point win v fremantle. a win of great promise, and by a great margin. the same margin that we beat collwd by in the 2nd semi of our great '64 finals series.

When Scully's rep. Alistair Lynch says that Scully wont be 'bullied' into signing, can he be bullied into asking whether these specific claims are factual?

yawn. another thread questioning a melbourne player's courage from the safety of the internet.

i don't get angry with commentators as much as i used to. not even crackers' keenan's dismissive comments on fri morning bother me. this game has been talked up as a 'clinker' by different commentators so it's not all bad. when the demons win a few on the trot, inc. an interstate win then things will change.

It seems bizarre that demonlanders are speculating with their swap cards on this thread whilst keeping a minute by minute vigil on Tom Scully on an adjacent thread.

that won't happen. they will introduce military conscription for gws, not to mention lots of publicity shots of happy footballers firing torps across blacktown.

People might think you are starting a rumour.

This article is already quoted above.

The "whisper" is that Scully not happy with direction of club.I am wondering exactly what about the 'direction' is being referred to. Is it about the coach, is it a rumour is it baseless. At the end of the day, supporting the Dees is a victory of faith. When I see what belief Jimmy Stynes has instilled into the club combined with our great playing list I have great confidence in our direction. We have other clubs seeking to mimic our debt demolition strategy: Footscray, Port Adelaide, Richmond, but can they emulate what we achieved? When Grimes, Tapscott, Jamar, Bail and Davey are fit, whose place do they take? That is the true picture of where we are at. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/has-seaford-given-the-saints-a-sinking-feeling/story-e6frf9jf-1226079424137

Have a look at those Demon boys, some of them hardly reacting...

that footage is a good argument against the power clubs when they accuse richmond OR Melbourne of tanking. both teams clearly trying to win the game. Melbourne ahead on the siren so they clearly wanted to win, richmond celebrating after siren goal.

Didn't you know they did that? Very passionate are Richmond supporters. Mind you, their bygone era is stretching out almost as long as ours. No premiership since 1981 and few finals appearances compared with us. Nice Jack Dyer statue outside their club: circa 1945.

What did Roos say?

I have said all along that a lot of the gossip is designed to destabilise the foundation clubs and foster the impression that players are on the move. perhaps as you say, the rationale behind Tom waiting is to see who else is going north, which can't be known until offers start kicking in post-season. if it is a fizzer and if melbourne finish with a wet-sail it would be very hard for him to walk out into the unknown.

Taylor Walker?

Except that GWS will have the added advantage of topping up with unrestricted free agency. But i wouldn't rule out payback either, esp if they pinch pendlebury or a player such as Kreuzer. GWS's future is by no means assured.

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.