Little Goffy

Sorry, just a general expletive there. I guess he wouldn't have much influence ye olde land o' the communist infidels, so it's probably not his fault. Though I dare say he's not a Demons fan!

Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony - Friday, August the 8th. Melbourne's ONLY Friday Night game for 2008, at home against the reigning premiers - Friday, August the 8th. How much of a problem will this be? Thankfully the Olympic ceremony will begin at around 10.00pm AEST so there isn't a complete clash, but I imagine a lot of people will stay home rather than go to the footy and come home late for the 'second half' of the ceremony. Best scenario is that our game gets broadcast as a kind of 'curtain raiser' for the Olympics. It's all on seven, yes? Even so we can expect a major drop in ground attendence. Worst case is, the game gets traded to foxtel for a different game that round, seven spends all evening talking about the great anticipation for their marquee event, people stay home to make sure they see it all, and we get totally screwed on what should have been our second biggest earnings & profile match of the season. I'm gonna puke. I don't even like opening ceremonies.

Oh good. What more can I want? Are there any 'Irish Expatriate Day' Honours he could be awarded?

I noticed that the AFL website is running a poll on which 'former champion' should be awarded Australia Day Honours. Riccuito, Hird, Archer, Koutofides, Buckley. Now, I know these are all very recent retirees, and a great selection etc.. etc.. But I haven't really heard of them putting much back into the community, except maybe Archer. So why the hell isn't Jimmy Stynes an option - Champion footballer AND more than a decade of good service raising funds and working directly within (that's the hard bit) community groups. Anyone else know more about what the others have done, or who else they think has been contributing to their community since or even during their football career?

It all makes sense- He got the jumper from us a few years back - then made a series of movies about a character with extraordinary capabilities who has forgotten his past and must strive to defeat his rich, scheming enemies while regaining his skills and rediscovering who he really is. The Mel-Bourne Identity The Mel-Bourne Supremacy The Mel-Bourne Ultimatum

I'm with you. I love PJ. Even though he really hasn;t busted through in any games yet (except for that brilliant but tragically cut short 37 minutes against Sydney... sigh. I've spruiked him before as a kind of 'heavy utility', which I like because it would mean he has his own new kind of position! Certainly he would make the transition from ruck to defender better than Nicholson - PJ is faster, taller, smarter, more skilled and better looking to boot.

He certainly runs rings around the bad guy Lord Vigo from 'Ghostbusters' in the photo there. We'll be safe from transdimensional attacks into our midfield for sure! Will be interesting to watch. I get the impression we're all agreed that he had earnt a Rookie spot but probably has a bit to prove before he gets a real crack at AFL. Another reason this year's pre-season cup will be fascinating.

Brock has built a phenomenal fitness base and has a great deal of body strength as well as initiative and quick thinking. It's only a matter of time before he becomes every taggers most feared assignment.

I've been looking at attendance figure for the last few years and thought people might like to know where we sit. It's a tight ladder in the middle, and there's a clump at the bottom. We are obivously not amongst the 'celler dweller' group. I'd ignore Geelong for this table, given their Kardinia Park arrangements. Average Home game, non-finals attendance per club, over last five years. Collingwood 48,503 Essendon 45,527 Richmond 37,553 St Kilda 35,288 Carlton 34,431 Melbourne 33,239 Hawthorn 29,354 Bulldogs 28,297 Geelong 27,694 Kangaroos 27,290 These figures fluctuate wildy for some clubs and there is a lot of movement from year to year. Others, particularly Essendon, have been relatively stable. St Kilda has barely varied since a step up from 29,000 in 03 to it's current numbers. Melbourne's attendences tell an obvious story - in 2003 and 2007 we failed to pass 30,000, but for the other three years we averaged about 36,000. This is a normal correlation, but still annoying. For anyone being harassed by Collingwood supporters about 'fairweather fans', just point out that in 2004 and 2005 the Pies average crowd numbers dropped by over 20%. Add that, if the 'official' number of Collingwood 'supporters' turned up at the same rate as Melbourne supporters, their crowd average would be about 120,000! So where are they all? Once again, I declare that Collingwood's number are made up by 'yeah, I heard of AFL, my former housemate told me to go for Collingwood once'. You'd expect that Hawthorn will climb a bit further if they continue to succeed, although their attendence for 2007 was already 5000 more than their 5-year average, so a lot of that may already have occured. Carlton are likely to climb, even if they are merely competitive in 08. Hype hype and away! The Blues recorded an even bigger attendence increase in 07 than Hawthorn. The Bulldogs and the Kangaroos really are in the stink. Each passed 30,000 only once in the five years, the Kangaroos only just. And just a final note, I didn't have the patience to track down every home game sold to small regional venues, which obviously skews the figures a bit. Hawthorn, St. Kilda, Melbourne, the Kangaroos and the Bulldogs have each sold at least one game away in this time. How much this affects the results is up for debate - Just what would the crowd be like for Kangaroos vs Port at Telstra Dome? Ps. I was going to do a comparison of finals crowds in the last five years... but there's no sample data for Richmond & Carlton!

The draft camp should at least have some drills to test disposal skills, ball handling and that sort of thing. US Marine's developed the snap shot training ground (cut-out of 'enemy' pops up from behind rock, shoot it, it drops, and so on) and massively improved firing accuracy and more interestingly confidence - people learnt to 'just do' rather than hesitating and overthinking it. Can't over-emphasise how important this drill was - it was the most successful of the new training programs which transformed the Marine Corps from hacks to elite in the space of 18 months during the Second World War. Something like that would be an intersting exercise with kicking, both as a measuring stick and as a training exercise. It's application in football would be to eliminate the second guessing that goes on, and train people to pursue the good option they see, rather than fidgeting with it waiting for something better.

Thank you CAC, I've loved your work, I think there's a list there that you could be very proud of in the next few years. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait for success as Richmond as your Demons lot will forever be a couple of years ahead of what will, I'm sure, be a great Tigers list you put together. All the best, except for a couple of games a year...

HEY! BRUCE MADE IT IN! At least one guy from Canberra got a gig this year. And Go Eastlake! (Demons)

Really? I guess that makes sense. Interesting that he came into that game as his first for the season, and the first thing he did was... Well, I'm glad I haven't overdone the wrath at Baker then. Guerra huh? All this time I thought Brent Guerra's only crime was being Brent Guerra, which is also his punishment, ironically. Dammit. He's so... average to substandard. It's like his mediocrity is a shield against my anger - I try to hate him, but I just look at him and think, who would give a %#^ about you?

It's been a clear drafting strategy, I'd say. Don't know about Newton's endurance test results but he has shown he can run around a fair bit on game day. We're looking at a scary set of marking talls roving from forward to wing, running defenders off their feet. A match-up nightmare for opposition coaches.

Uhhh... why is that? Interestingly, each of the last three years has been below expectations in progress, but at the same time progress has been made every year. Some years better than others I'll underline it - Each year the Melbourne football club is finishing in a better financial position than when it started. We can want more, we can be angry about waste, we can be frustrated by lack of action, but we can also be confident that we're not going to fall in on ourselves, either.

Hang on, is that DUNN in second place, on the right of the picture? Frickin tank! Definately not what I expected. Buckley still looks every bit as big as the training photos from a couple of weks ago suggested, too. Ahh, preseason. So far we've seen Davey, Dunn and Buckley all look like they've added a huge load of upper body strength. Any others?

Daniel Bell, will, in a surprise move, be matched up on Judd in round 5. Singleminded determination, strength and speed will limit Judd's influence (after he has a great start to the year) and the whole AFL world will have to sit up and take notice of Belly, and they'll also notice what a nice, handsome young man he is. The hype will go nuts for Bailey making the seemingly unorthodox move. And all here will smile to themsleves, having known all along that Bell would one day crack the ceiling. The next week, Jack Grimes will be brought in after a few great weeks at Sandringham, will play directly on Travis Johnstone and put so much pressure on him he overcooks his high-risk centering kicks, producing turnovers which rapidly end up in the safe arms of our forwards. And finally, against Essendon in round 18, Cameron Bruce will at last launch back into the scintillating form which we haven't seen since just before Steven 'F-knuckle' Baker deliberately crunched Bruce's shoulding in round 4 2005. Why against Essendon? Because #&%$ them, that's why!

I think we can be free from visible dependency on the AFL. It's almost a semantic issue. It is a realistic prospect that we can be financially strong enough to not need the specific 'competitive balance fund' help. And then everyone will shut up about it.

Meanwhile at AFL Headquarters... ------------------------ BWAAAA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAA! They will feel my power, all of them! They must know they cannot escape, the fools should admit when they are beaten! There will be clubs, clubs everywhere, and they will do my bidding or be doomed to delayed broadcats and the cruel torments of endless sunday twilight fixtures. I will strangle them slowly, and all the while they will be begging, BEGGING me to grant them meagre coins to keep their emaciated, malnourished players on the field. Wagga Wagga, Geraldton, Lakes Entrance, Mt Gambier! They will all be MINE, and none shall have the strength to fight the wrath of my dark minions, the all-consuming Magpies of darkness! Fly my pretties, fly! Bring me the consumers! Bring them ALL to ME! Ah HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAA. ----------------------- Methinks something is amiss amongst the heads of the AFL...

I've been procrastinating, but will be buying before the end of the year. Meanwhile any advice on how to get an old (well, not that old) Demons supporter from way back to get involved again? It's tricky because I don't see him all that often, and he's thoroughly lapsed since the good old days. He still counts himself as Melbourne loyal, without a blink - he was very pleased when he found out I was a member. Could someone get Barassi to give him a call or something?

Agreed. It's an if for sure on the fitness, but the HF line is basically where he's been put because he has been perpetually coming back from injury and underdone. He should be a mdifielder. The forward line is very crowded, but with the plus that a lot of the players up there can contribute further up the ground, especially on the wing. Neitz, Robertson, and if all goes to plan Miller - stay at home forwards. Newton, Bate, Morton, Green - running around from HF line. Yze, Davey and presumably Maric - crumbers/small forwards, with at least two of them able to rove further. Maybe Bode as well, we'll see how he's going next year. Bruce, Sylvia and Dunn are all good options for rotating forward from a wing/midfield role. Sporadic options would be Petterd and Wheatley (the supergoal specialist!) and we may see Moloney doing some forward line hunting while we continue to ease him back after the OP. After, it's gonna be after at last, I insist.

I have a bad feeling the 17th team option would only be temporary... in the worst possible way for North. They may actually feel lucky if, in a few years, they get to merge with the Southport Sharks ala Brisbane and Fitzroy. I'd like to take moment to say how disgusted I am by the AFL's amateur-hour botched every step of the way rubbish 'I am not smarter than a fifth grader' management of the whole process. Idiotic bastardry at every turn. Anyway, for some reason I like the righ of 'The Gold Coast Tigers' - has a certain 19th century colonial charm to it. Now, the question becomes, who, really, will north end up merging with? (ever the pessimist)

Y_M, I think you just resolved all our PSD debates. Meldrum, definately the forward pocket we're looking for. Just be glad St Kilda doesn't have a pick ahead of us.

IT professionals. By the spadeload. Because a country that can't cheat at online games will face a very bleak future in the 21st century which is to come whether we are ready for it or not down the track since we can't run the flag up the pole and see who salutes if we're caught with our pants down changing horses in midstream.

Bingo. It's visible on his face, the edgyness and desperation to pass off to the first player he can find, it's always been clear that he was given specific instructions to fit with a set play - the lead up forward takes the mark, handballs to a teammate running forward so that the movement into the forward line is as fast as possible. I really think there's a coached habit there, and part of why I think he should play close to goal is that it would avoid what I think is a bad habit, and maybe once he's mentally renewed he can begin working his way out again. Others have mentioned Sylvia in the same boat as Miller. It's tangible. There's a little raft floating around with Miller, Sylvia & CJ sitting in it, and they need to start paddling like crazy. Actually, there's a lot of people who will find 08 a crossroads, for varying reasons, whether injury, failure to establish a spot, persistent underperforming, or staving off retirement. Whelan, Moloney, Jamar, CJ, PJ, Warnock, Sylvia, Miller, Yze, Holland, Robertson, White and... horror of horrors to contemplate (except for occo) Neitz. This isn't about identifying players who've performed badly or anything, it's just about who's got extra pressure on them facing the 08 season.