Tim

Reminds me of the Neeld appointment at Melbourne, with the same Elder Statesman and a rag-tag of inexperienced apprentices. Hope there's a similar result as what we endured.

Also on that day, the phenomenon of the MFC "Next Big Thing" was born, with Ken Jungwirth kicking 5 for the Demons in their win over Collingwood in the U19s. At the end of the day it was a matter of "all this plus a top full forward coming through". The future was secure. Umpteen false Messiahs later...

Excellent summary, Bob.

First win in September since 8 September 2006.

Fair summary. And well done Crossy. The number of times I've seen him throw himself in front of a pack descending on him, to take an intercept mark, with the possibility of a career-ending bunch of broken ribs or worse resulting. Terrific example.

Yes to this - inexorable logic, unless they have another ruckman in mind for trade time. As for the OP question, we've only had 3 AAs in 10 seasons (make that 11 seasons shortly) - Russian, Junior (whom we treated disgracefully), and the bloke running around in the back line for the Caromas. If his cards are marked, give him a go.

Yes x 2!

Alright, T - because you asked so nicely... Agree! Fwiw.

"Interesting" in a good way?

Carlton will Kreuzer cruise comfortably to defeat. Bigger ramifications at Princes Park than at MFC if we lose.

Nice get from the archives, Jack. We can now mark the stats on the team sheet 40 odd years on, in terms of goals scored for the respective clubs off the field. I'm talking father/sons - there were 3 for each side out of this game who had sons who played. Melbourne: Chris Sullivan (27 games), Darren Bourke (St Kilda, 0 games for us), Michael Clark (1 game). Geelong: David Clarke, Tom Hawkins, Matthew Scarlett. Also Tim Clarke played for Hawthorn. Clear win for the Cats there in GeneLotto. Edit: Garry Davidson's injury-ravaged son Tom played a game for Collingwood.

Ditto.

Agree, but probably not in the bailiwicks of AFL and MFC. Go hard on Foxtel, but…..

Harmes - had an impact

"Of course Queen's Birthday is Melbourne's Grand Final, the poor dears". Sick of hearing that. Well, looks like it was Collingwood's Grand Final, as they've only one 1 out of 7 since - obviously a big letdown after building themselves up against the D's.

I'd even settle for Alan Richardson atm….

Casey website says game is at 1pm - is midday an updated start?

Good call, Bray. Everything is crap these days, except nostalgia, it would seem. I too like hard contested footy, where players have to execute their skills under constant extreme pressure. Anyway, it's what made our species great - the punters are never happy with anything. Just imagine how ecstatic the cave man must have been - no golden past to compare the present with. It's been all downhill since the invention of the wheel.

Harmes - showed a bit.

Not arguing with your choice, BD, but the second bit's a little harsh on the fabulous Don Williams.

This.

M. Lloyd has surprised me on the upside since he's gone into the media. In general not afraid of asking hard questions and making strong calls (and generally well considered ones). An asterisk for anything about Essendon, but he's in an unusually difficult position wrt that, and has not handled it too badly all things considered. I liked the way that he put his hand up early on about his diving form as a player. Like the work of C. Wilson and P. Smith. Caro in particular does her homework, and tries to bring some accountability to the liniment-sniffers in clubland. Taylor is dreadful - has a very low estimate of the intelligence of the viewer, and burbles on accordingly. I'm not sure he actually likes the game, apart from it being the means for him to be paid big bucks and fly at the front end of the plane (and talk about same). Mute Buttons R Us. "Richo"? Eddie Haskell without the smarts.

In this regard, particular kudos to the Fantasy Island post (#13), with the "leadership" triumvirate of G. Lyon as coach, and Brent Moloney (capt) and Sylvia (vc). Now that's a combo.

Nice work Bob! Sounds like a win/win all ends up, Pipe….