wisedog

The celebrations were probably a bit over the top, but it didn't seem like it at the time. For me, it was by far the most satisfying and enjoyable victory we've had in some time. Loved every minute of it.

We could easily snatch it. But Collingwood by about 16 I think.

I was always a bit resentful of that Thompson/pick 13/Moloney trade, but after 6 years, he's become the better player. I love the passion he has for the club.

I can't help but agree with the OP. It took me a while to get past the 2009 season, and it still doesn't really sit well with me. We took tanking beyond 'clever list management' and it was embaressing. Having said that, I don't blame the football department for a moment - it was a golden opportunity that no club could resist, it was just a terrible position to be in. If we do lose Scully cheaply at the end of the year, will it all have been for nothing? In 2009, Richmond would have finished last and we would have picked up Trengove or Martin.

- To lose by 20 to St Kilda with an in-form Riewoldt and Goddard wasn't a bad result. Keep in mind, this was a side missing Jamar, Grimes, Tapscott, Scully, Trengove and Garland from its best 22. - Bulldogs have just lost to West Coast by 123 points. Gives a nice bit of context to our 44 point loss (with very inaccurate kicking) earlier in the year.

Brent Harvey Campbell Brown Alan Didak

After last Thursday, I'm expecting a big drop in crowd numbers, but I'll be there, and I think we'll win. As diabolical as Thursday was, we're a better side than we showed and we always seem to handle the Crows pretty well at the MCG. Remember the way Hawthorn destroyed us in round 1 last year? Similar response in the media - our odds against Collingwood blew out to about $14 and we came out and took them all the way. If we drop another winnable game like this - the heat will REALLY be on Bailey and I'd say we'd be headed for the bottom 4 again. Prediction: Dees by 29.

lol... this is the biggest Demonland meltdown I can remember. Even the usual voices of restraint have cracked it.

You'll come around mate. If you're hurting about the loss, that means you still love the club. When you no longer give a [censored] if we win or lose, then you can pack up your signed jumpers, membership scarfs etc.

Yeah I had Richardson starting as well. Unfortunately I had Matera and his 127 points sitting on the bench!

I thought it would, but I'm liking the challenege of managing your players for the bye. I've got a lot of good, young players and multi-positional players on the bench, so I've been scoring pretty well.

I was exactly the same, I only really started tipping against us during that 2008-2009 period. When Melbourne yo-yoed in and out of the finals under Daniher, I would get the jump on the rest of the competition in the even years and fall away in the odd years.

It was just under 25k wasn't it? I didn't expect too many more on a rainy Sunday afternoon against an interstate side. I was listening to the commentators stick the boot in before the game saying there would be 10-15k max, so I was glad we beat their estimate by another 10k.

I've removed my Oztips comp. Re-join with Demonland's details above. (Apologies to Deetorn and Aronbrandon)

I've set up the Oztips comp if anyone's interested. EDIT: Comp now removed.

I was just about to start this thread. I think we usually have the comp at oztips.com - if most people still have their accounts, we may as well do it there.

As others have posted, I don't want Fev impeding the development of young forwards, but that's just the reality of the affiliate system. On a side note, I don't think the door is completely, 100% shut on Fev's AFL career. If he put his head down, played a ripper of a season in the VFL and maybe did a bit of community service on the side, he'd have slight chance of getting another year or two in the AFL.

And here I was thinking we'd timed out rebuild to perfection... I wouldn't call it karma, but for what it's worth, I think it would go a long way to reducing the smear of 'tanking'. Whether Scully stays or goes, I still think we'll be a very successful side in the future.

As stirring as the Perth win was, it was obviously wallpaper over the cracks. If we kept relying on Watson and Hussey, eventually we would be exposed - and we were. I supported their selection to begin with, but the inclusion of two youngsters in Hughes and Smith into our top six was a mistake, and made our batting lineup far weaker than it had been in Brisbane. With a faltering top order, we needed cool heads and players in form with the bat. With a Shield average of just 16.8, Hughes really shouldn't have been played (especially not against a side which knew how to target his weaknesses). As for Smith, at this stage he's just not strong enough with the bat or ball, as Titan had warned. In hindsight, I think two of D.Hussey, White, Marsh or Khawaja should have come in and Haurtiz should have kept his place at the expense of Hilfenhaus.

Well whatever the change, I do think Smith should come into calculations. Smith in for Doherty probably makes more sense – The argument that Doherty could at least play a containing role seems to have been dashed after the Adelaide test, so I don’t think we’d be losing anything, plus Smith can bat. I’m not entirely convinced by David Hussey. He’s in good form but he seems to have difficulty performing at the national level. He’s also 33 years old.

It's strange that our spin stocks are so low... You would think that the generation coming through would be full of Warne Wannabes. Hughes in for Katich Smith in for North Big question marks over Bollinger and Doherty.

Yeah I had the freezing trouble as well. The colours are terrific, but I'm not entirely sold on the collar - again I'll wait to see how it looks in a few months. I like the addition of the stars and the monogram on the socks. The clash strip looks brilliant too. After so many years of going through the motions, I’m so glad we're actually taking the initiative to bring the club in line with our great history instead of deferring to advertising agencies with no idea.

The greatest difference Ive noticed in the Australia cricket team since the McGrath/Warne era is our inability to finish off the tail. There have been too many occasions over the past 2 years where weve been in strong winning positions only to throw away the game in the last 2 days. Remember South Africas tour in 2008/2009, when South Africa effortlessly chased down 414 in the 2nd innings at Perth? Then came Duminy and Steyns record partnership in Melbourne! In last years Cardiff test, we couldnt break a last wicket stand between Anderson and Panesar which ultimately cost us the series. Even in the first test agaist India we couldnt break the tail and allowed India ground out a win after Ishant Shrama survived 100 + balls. Weve just lost that killer instinct.

Good to know, cheers.

Looking good. Out of curiosity, what was the effect you used on Frawley in the original version? It was like a slight glow...