Einstein

Likewise. A few years ago I thought he was set to rip the league apart. But it just hasnt happened for him. Will be interesting to see where he ends up and what he gets Port in trade value.

Had a talk with a couple of my cousins this afternoon and we think that we should all be avilable in the mid-to-late rounds of the draft if any club is looking for one or two armchair heroes in their mid-30s with indifferent dietry habits and a checkered off-field history. Burp. If the clubs are looking for something other than this, here's a list of potential indigenous 2009 draftees. Feel free to add any Ive missed. There's some famous and familiar names amongst the group. Farren Priest. Vic. Allan Christensen. Vic. Daniel Scott-Colling S.A. http://www.sanfl.com.au/news/sanfl_news/705/ Byron Sumner. S.A. Derek Wanganeen. S.A. http://www.portmagpies.com.au/player_profile.php?pid=4453 Nathan Ah Mat-Watkins N.T. http://www.westadelaidefc.com.au/files/Nat...l%20Journey.pdf Shannon Rioli N.T Roland Ah Chee. N.T. http://www.norwoodfc.com.au/THE_TEAM/PLAYE...landAhChee.aspx Deon Gordon. N.T. http://www.territoryfc.com.au/index.php?id=79 Troy Taylor. N.T http://www.territoryfc.com.au/index.php?id=55 Anthony Long. N.T. Patrick Heenan. N.T. http://www.territoryfc.com.au/index.php?id=94 James Puautjimi. N.T. http://www.territoryfc.com.au/index.php?id=65 Mitch Taylor. N.T. Charlie McAdam. N.T http://www.territoryfc.com.au/index.php?id=54 Cameron Kickett. W.A. http://wafl.pro-stats.com.au/colts/web/pla...ile?pid=1017724 Aaron Turvey. W.A. http://wafl.pro-stats.com.au/colts/web/pla...rofile?pid=9057 Gerald Ugle. W.A. Harley Bennell. W.A. http://wafl.pro-stats.com.au/colts/web/pla...rofile?pid=9096 Clinton Garlett. W.A. Joel Houghton. W.A. http://wafl.pro-stats.com.au/colts/web/pla...ofile?pid=24846 Nicholas Winmar. W.A. http://wafl.pro-stats.com.au/colts/web/pla...file?pid=102614 Anthony Kyanga. W.A. Lewis Jetta. W.A. http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21...5005401,00.html http://www.sportingpulse.com/nf/team_info....0-80962-4320168 Gerrick Weedon. W.A. http://wafl.pro-stats.com.au/colts/web/pla...file?pid=637486

This is about right I think. I'd be shocked if Peake was on our list next season. Why would we bother? The idea just defies everything we're about right now. And what does our 'showing interest' amount to anyway? A reporter calls around each club, asks someone on the recruiting staff if we'd be interested in Peake. We offer an ambigious throw away line like 'We'd have a look' and then its reported as 'showing interest.' Means nothing. Or as suggested, its just a manager spinning rubbish. Seriously, over the last few weeks, I dont think Ive read one article regarding the draft or trade period that hasnt been mere trivial speculation or just stating the obvious. Its just one fluff piece after another.

I had a very enjoyable evening at a Carlton mates house watching the game. About 5 minutes into the final quarter, he was all 'woohoo, look at us Blues.' The remainder of the quarter however consisted of him screaming the word 'NO!!' with varying degrees of disbelief and desperation. Top night out. On the topic of premature celebrations, my Granddad used to tell the story of being at the 1984 Grand Final and seeing Hawthorn supporters popping champagne corks at 3quarter time. We all know how that ended.

Hawks have come off all this looking pretty ordinary. But like I say, its been entertaining. Clarkson was a [censored] stirrer as a player, to say the least, which was good value when he played for us. But as an oppostion player, he was a pain in the arse, with an inclination for the cheap shot. He definately seems to have anger management issues. There was the incident where he let rip at Hutchie on the set of Footy Classified, and then the incident at the Coaches Association meeting where he let rip I think at Adrian Anderson, much to the dismay of many of the rival coaches in attendance. He seems to have a liking for the C word. That much we can gather. The fine should not have been suspended.

For some reason I thought that from the thread heading that this would be something about Mad Monday. Anyway, I think youre pretty safe. I think we'll finish higher than the Tiges next season. I think we'll do it comfortably.

Looking forward to the finals, especially the Sat and Sunday arvo games. Going for the Dogs. And I wouldnt mind the Saints winning it and have a soft spot for the Lions. Other than that, anybody who is playing Collingwood. Simple rule.

Yeah, but its been a laugh.

Agree 45h. Both trips Ive made to the Gabba over the years were great fun. Really enjoyed the Melbourne mob up there. We got well beaten both times, but the mood amongst the crowd was great for a laugh. Had a great time. Nah, doesnt include pre-season. Ive missed a few pre-season games along the way, but try to get to as many of them as I can. I actually work most weekends, but am fortunate enough to be able to shift my work around to suite myself. Plus the higher-ups at work are Melbourne supporters which helps when I have had to call-in 'sick' to line up for finals tickets.

Every Melbourne game played in Victoria, however many that was. Havent missed a Melbourne game played in Victoria since 1997. Got to admit, that some of the games toward the end of the season this year were hard work. But I kept the streak alive.

Great clip. I'll be saving the file to CD so I can look back on it in 10 years time for sure. I cant say how thrilled I am that Liam is a Demon. He just makes me smile. Cannot wait to see what this guy will be doing when he reaches the prime of his career.

Will be interesting to see where this kid lands. What I have seen of him, which isnt much, he looks to have tremendous potential. He isnt alone. I used to regularly travel past the Flemington housing blocks and every day I would see African kids playing kick to kick. Some serious athletes amongst them. In ten years time, who knows how many of these kids will be playing in the AFL. Very exciting. Would love to see him in a Melbourne jumper. Just depends on the price.

Fair enough. Im not often inclined to echo the obvious but I guess I just did. :D But if I responded to every bit of cliched fluff I read on this site that makes me nauseous, Id be posting often.

Yeah, thats better put than I did. Developing a winning culture and a playing group that can begin to win games is paramount. Plenty of development to come. No doubt there will be times next year that excite us as much as there will be games that leave us scratching our heads. MFC Flight 13 boarding now.

Newton is a player who is completely off my radar right now. If he is under contract he will stay on. But I no longer expect anything. If he turns into an AFL viable forward target, then fine. But I dont see it happening and I no longer give his future prospects much thought. Good luck to him. And thats about it.

You make some valid points about the amount of work that is still required to develop this list to one that is premiership calibre. We cant get too far ahead of ourselves. But next year, and every year from now on, is about winning. The best 22 should and will be selected each and every week. Players need to earn their spots. I want players who are hungry to win and I expect the coaching staff to do everything in their power to give the players the best opportunity to do so. I dont have the patience or the tolerance to put up with another season of [censored] farting around too much with our list. Yeah, there will be some form of 'list management' as we continue to find out who can and cant play when and where. But it's time to win. Herm Edwards agrees with me.

Nah, not quite. He kicked 7 two weeks in a row, followed by 5 the next week and that was all. Other than that he kicked mostly 1's and 2's. On topic, I couldnt care less what number Liam wears. So long as it's a Melbourne jumper, he can do what he likes. Make the 48 his own I say.

I stopped reading at 'Mark Robinson has tipped...' I thought Grimey would have gotten a vote or two. But oh well, no big deal. Cant argue with the unanimous decision of Rich.

Where did you hear this titan? The Hawks would have been long odds to miss the 8 at the start of the season, but 1000-1 is ridiculous. Which bookmaker gave those odds? Crazy.

Centrebet have reassessed their odds for 2010. No more love for the MFC. Oh well. COLLINGWOOD 4.50 (in from 5.25) GEELONG 4.50 ST KILDA 4.50 (out from 2.85) ADELAIDE 10.00 (in from 17.00) WESTERN BULLDOGS 10.00 CARLTON 15.00 (out from 10.00) HAWTHORN 15.00 (in from 17.00) ESSENDON 17.00 (in from 51.00) BRISBANE 26.00 (out from 21.00) PORT ADELAIDE 41.00 (in from 67.00) SYDNEY 51.00 WEST COAST 51.00 (out from 41.00) FREMANTLE 67.00 (in from 101.00) RICHMOND 81.00 MELBOURNE 101.00 (out from 67.00) NORTH MELBOURNE 101.00

Amen. Love ya Wheels. Youre going to be missed Bruz.

My memory of the game is only 'sharp' because Ive seen the last quarter a couple of times since. Last time I saw it, must have been 10 years ago, maybe less. I thought I was over it. I wasnt. The look on Stretch and Hughes and Spalding made my heart sink all over again.

Playing full tilt we would have beaten both Richmond and Sydney. So that would make us a 6-16 team which is about right. Next year, anything less than 7 wins requires some serious scrutiny. 8 wins should be the target.

Easily the most gutting experience I have had as a supporter. No contest. It didnt seem real. The 88 and 2000 Grand Finals, while very disappointing, werent totally unexpected results. I dont think we expected to win the 87 Prelim, but when it was there to be won, to lose it that way, was just god awful. Nothing in my 30 years of following the Dees has come close to wrecking me like that. I was 13 and remember doing my best not to cry after the guy. I dont really remember alot after the game. I was in a daze. I dont really remember leaving the ground and going home. I remember going around to a mates house that night and watching the ABC replay with him and his dad. They were both Carlton supporters. I remember Tim Lane's voice was totally shot when he was introducing the game. We watched the replay and at the end my mates dad said something like "I dont even barrack for your mob and watching that broke my heart." As for the goals that were missed in the final quarter, I think Yeaters shot was the one we should have kicked. Easiest of the three. 30 metres out, on the run, little physical pressure. Should have kicked it. Campbell did well to shrug off Brereton and probably should have probably kicked his too. As for Eishold, he shouldnt have been on that angle in the first place. But it was a perfect case of a player getting jelly legs. Its just painful to consider that following Campbells miss, there were only about 9 seconds left on the game clock. Tuck kicks long from fullback, Schwab marks, plays on immediatley to Langford who kicks long to Buckenara who gets a free kick. The key play was Schwab's mark and ability to play on immediately. If that doesnt happen, we win. One thing Ive never heard mentioned, but I was sitting behind the goals down the main scoreboard end. During the 3rd quarter, a shot at goal from a Hawthorn player at the very best went over the goal post. It was a point. The goal umpire gave it a goal. So some guy sitting a few rows in front of me stands up and lobs a half full can of beer towards the goal umpire. It missed him, but the cops rocked up and dragged the guy out of the ground. To this day I swear it was a behind. It was a tragic day. But the greater tragedy is that such a young team never lived up to its potential and went on to win a premiership. The average age of the team that day was a little over 23. Even younger if you take out a 32 year old Robbie Flower. Even guys we considered somewhat the experienced players of tha group were still young, Brian Wilson was only 25 and Danny Hughes was only 23. That team should have done better than it did in the years following 1987. In the end its just another experience that will only make the next premiership all the sweeter. And just a side note, ten years later, the 1997 Preliminary Final was strangely similar. Like us, the Bulldogs lead the Crows by 22 at 3quarter time. And just like the Hawks did in the 87 Final, the Crows kicked 4.6 in the last quarter while just like the Dees, the Dogs kicked 0.6. Final margin 22 points. Ive heard horror stories of Bulldog fans leaving the G at 3quarter time in that game to go and line up for Grand Final tickets, and stood in line listening to the radio as that final quarter unfolded. That is a horror story.

While I believe our back 6 is looking very good for the future, this isnt a stat that speaks too higly of our defence. Plus a teams ability to restrict the oppositions scoring is nowdays far more than the quality of your back 6 you put out on the field. Its the full 18 now. If StKilda scores our season average against this week, we will end with 2274 against for the year. Heres' how that stacks up since 1970. 1970 -12th/12 1971 - 10th/12 1972 - 10th/12 1973 - 10th/12 1974 - 10th/12 1975 - 11th/12 1976 - 9th/12 1977 - 8th/12 1978 - 6th/12 1979 - 7th/12 1980 - 8th/12 1981 - 9th/12 1982 - 5th/12 1983 - 8th/12 1984 - 8th/12 1985 - 7th/12 1986 - 8th/12 1987 - 6th/14 1988 - 11th/14 1989 - 12th/14 1990 - 9th/14 1991 - 10th/15 1992 - 8th/15 1993 - 11th/15* (ave. over 20 games) 1994 - 13th/15 1995 - 14th/16 1996 - 14th/16 1997 - 16th/16 1998 - 15th/16 1999 -13th/16 2000 - 9th/16 2001 - 11th/16 2002 - 16th/16 2003 - 14th/16 2004 - 14th/16 2005 - 12th/16 2006 - 15th/16 2007 - 12th/16 2008 - 12th/16 2009 - 14th/16* It stacks up well against teams in the late 70s, through the 80s into the early 90s because the game was far more attacking then. Teams simply kicked bigger scores. It compares ok with teams in the last decade, but it is still towards the poorer end of the ladder. We're on our way, but we still have much work to do.