Little Goffy

That Bulldogs game with Jeff White winning it for us in the dying minutes produced my first ever football-related injury. I'd been getting steadily louder and crazier for that whole last quarter, and for the final passage of play after that goal (remember a goal the other way would still have costs us the game) I was standing on the seat waving the scarf over my head and screaming for the bloody siren to go. Couple of security 'attendants' were hovering in the area ever-so-subtly. Gotta love a bit of official interest in my enjoyment of a fine game... Even a few of my usually pretty placid friends were having a shout about that game. Anyway, the injury - turns out I actually did scream my guts out, I had to be kind of 'helped' out of the stadium leaning on friends because I'd managed to wrench something, so we're winding our way down the exit ramps with me doubled over, still can't stop grinning and shouting, and spurting out the occassional 'arh F%#' as my gut spasms. Great stuff.

Yeah, you've got to remember that Daniher has been given a pretty good run - very few people would have been cheering for him after 2003 but he still got the nod to continue. I don't think there would be much bitterness in the departure, which always helps a transition. Hell, maybe Danners could just take a load off and coach Sandringham for a while, finally get himself a premiership! Honestly, I'd be much more concerned about replacements. Like it or not Daniher has been a good coach and who'd blame the players for being annoyed if he was ditched just for the sake of it, without a good succession in place. Like I've said before and will keep saying for ever, we need stable, long-term assistant coaches who can be groomed to step up to the main role in future. Ideally, these would be 'favourite sons' committed to the club. My tip is Viney to shift over from the Hawks.

The story is that my grandad played reserve level for Melbourne around when Julius Caesar was asassinated. Seriously, the best detail I ever got was 'between the wars'. He's passed away now so I'll never be able to say for sure, I guess. There is a terrible possibility that he might have actually played for South Melbourne, that would be embarrassing. Particularly since I'd still stick with the Demons without a blink. Anyway, my brother was introduced to AFL when visiting some friends in Melbourne. He kind of brought it back with him, the problem being that these friends were Carlton supporters, and he's been a Blue ever since. It was only when he started yacking endlessly about the Blues that mum mentioned grandad's playing history. Damned if I was going to support my brother's team, so Melbourne it was. And that happened... wait for it... early in 2000. So the support was set firmly in my mind, and I have serious issues with anyone who talks about trading Green or Bruce! A side note - having grown up in Rugby League land, with the bloody Canberra raiders winning everthing and the neighbours going berserk, I built up a good understanding of both games. AFL really is, without a second thought, a much, much better game with a much, much better culture. I laugh at Rugby League anytime I see it - watch for ten minutes, have a chuckle at how drab it is, then flick it off.

Godfrey was technically in the 2000 pre-season draft, you're right. But I lump a 'drafting session' together - so I refer to the draft period between 1999 season and start of 2000 season as '1999'. He debuted in 2000, so I'm assuming the 'pre-season' draft was before the season.

Whelan in the forward line! Freaking genius, that is! He'd add a lot of pressure against the defenders, work hard to keep it in there, could negate rebounders like Mcleod, lay some killer tackles to get frees inside 50m, and be a tough player read to extract crumbs from messy packs. It's very easy to picture him creating that extra half second it takes to get a shot away. The risk would be limited - I think we could count on Whelan to find a way to contribute even if he just couldn't get a win up forward. He wouldn't be one of those 'no goals = no point' forwards, that's for sure. I'd want to see how well he hits a short lead or snaps at goal, but damn, there's a really possibility there.

Expanding on the idea of divisions, and maybe relegation, in the state of origin, how about the winning state of origin team earns the right to tour Ireland for the international rules series. It would add an extra incentive for sure. You'd have to balance it, though. When the Irish come to Australia they could play the each state team in a tour match series. This would go some way to balancing the ledger in the 'professionals vs amateurs' issue, as well. Just throwing a thought out there.

No, no it's really not. Seriously, no. Young midfielders / rotation runners from HB/HF = Mclean, Sylvia, Bate, Bartram, Bell, Moloney, CJ, Petterd, Jones, Davey (10 already) and the untried but possible Buckley. Add Wheatley, Dunn and likely even Frawley for some tall mobile options in a pinch. Then you've got the established midfield of Bruce, Green, Johnstone, Whelan and Godders (4) and the older runners of McDonald, Ward, Brown, and even Yze and Pickett (5). How 'bout that, we could have a starting 18 entirely of players capable of rotating through the midfield, plus a bench of mobile talls. Barring a total failure of recruiting for three years in a row, I can't see us getting caught out in the midfield. I'd suggest focusing on mobile ruckmen and key position players for a while, given that they typically take longer to develop than small-medium sized runners. White and Neitz seem to be the two players most difficult to replace of everyone we have even remotely close to retirement age. I'd really hate to end up in a situation where a credible player gets shown up again and again because they were handed too much of a burden before they were fully matured (Zac Dawson should bloody well sue). Of course, Newton may be about to kick 10 in a quarter for Sandy, which would at least reassure me on one count. Remember that we still have just about the longest injury list of any club at the moment. Five weeks from now we'll be shocked by who can't get a game in our running brigade.

Except maybe to Captain/Coach the ACT State of Origin Team for the next thirty years.

I must admit I kinda thought it would be Ward who'd be dropped, even though he got twice the possessions of Brown. Brown did a job on Mcleod, and did it well. Ward has just been too loose, and his, uhhh... overexcitement... in the last quarter was one of the reasons Adelaide was let back in the game. I love em both, I really do, but I like Ward better as a BOG player at Sandy.

Like hell they do! There's a country town near Canberra called Queanbeyan, just over the border in NSW. That place's long-standing reputation as the number one home of derros, bogans and junkies has really helped Canberrans insist they're not anything like NSW. Canberra is a split personality city. You'll see a lot of Tuggeranong (Aaron Hamill) people go to Sydney as soon as they finish school, and a lot of Northside (James Hird) people end up in Brunswick, Carlton and Fitroy. And seriously, people in Canberra get 'imported' from all over the country to work for the Federal goverment. Having a good 'spread' in your staff profile is considered the pinnacle of HR success. The number of Adelaide supports is scary, a whole bunch of families were moved from Adelaide to Canberra in the early nineties for reasons which remain a mystery. Happened right in that gap after Adelaide starting up and before Port Adelaide came to AFL. Strange city, this one.

Yep, same principle, slightly higher estimate. I think the slightly silly finals talk by Greeny during the week (was just on that thread) might actually sucker a few of the 'soft' supporters to come along! 73,500. And I'd like to take this moment to thank all the filth ferals for coming along to make their annual donation to the Melbourne Football Club watch the Pies get their annual spanking. Will "annual spanking" be moderated out? Sounds dodgy, and painful if you're on the wrong end of it.

Finals or not, I guess the underlying thing is - we want to climb the ladder. Good sign that no-one here is getting excited about number 2 and 18 draft picks. From here you'd have to say snarling and clawing our way out of the bottom four would be something to take a shred of pride from. I want to see a series of wins that we can point to and say "We got got back up and produced good football, and gave our young players some development time". Even if all it means is we look back and say 'If we'd played like that all year, we really would've been top 4". Though we seem to end up being able to say that every year. At least my growing confidence in our defense gives me a glimmer of hope that we can shake these ^#%#%ing awful losing streaks soon, and for the long term.

I suppose Gary Lyon was soft, too? He definately cried at least once - he was such a sook they had to pick him up and carry him home to mummy on a stretcher. Sorry, but a moment's emotional outburst when you're in serious pain and just realised you'll be out for most or all of the season really doesn't outweigh the dozens of incredibly couragous marks Riewolt has produced. Riewolt and Rivers in the same team... Can't you just see them competing for 'most courageous mark' honours? Right, I was undecided before, but with that thought I'm sold on trying to pick up Riewolt.

Hmm... if we traded Miller (which, honestly, looks like it would be best for Miller) then Riewolt would be a very handy addition without causing much intereference in the team structure. The Demons have managed to keep a steady ship as far as club politics goes, despite a poor start to the season. I think it might be a good selling point to Riewolt that we have shown a few years now of no silly buggers tolerated in the club leadership and list management. Could this be the first tangible on-field benefit of Paul Gardiner's steady presidency? Certainly it's a point of difference between the Demons and Brisbane. In a funny twist, Brisbane might take Miller if they can't get Riewolt, which could be the missing piece for us to get Riewolt. Or it could be a direct trade Miller +2nd rnd pick for Riewolt. (bargain? how about Miller and Jamar for Riewolt?) Urrrr... even the thought of trade week makes both my head and my heart ache. Other question - Grant Thomas gets along well enough with Daniher doesn't he? Because you'd think Riewolt would stay in touch with him, wouldn't you? Last thing we'd want is a star player with a 'ghost coach' unsympathetic to the new club!

I'm quietly hoping that the 2003 draft will turn out as good as our incredible 1999 draft. Sylvia, Mclean, C. Johnson and Davey(rookie) vs Green, Wheatley, Bruce, Whelan and Godfrey(pre-season) Note that with Wheatley having just played his 100th and Godfrey just three games shy of also clocking 100, that would mean that all five draftees from 1999 will have passed the 100, which is a fair mark of whether they 'made it' at AFL level. There is no denying that 1999 set the shape of our team since (for better or worse), but I actually feel even better about '03 because that draft has been backed up by some good solid drafting in the years after, whereas the '99 draft preceded a drafting slump where we only did OK for a few years. Anyway, Sylvinator, you basic call looks right to me, though I would be quite so quick to tip '200 games' for everyone. Even Whelan might not make 200, and that's just been through bad luck, obviously not a shortage of ability or effort. I like the '100' line because it gets the player's name on a locker. Craig Cameron

"white colour(sic) criminal" they say. "I can not wait for these(sic) day!" "we are the loyalist(sic) football supporters, THE WORLD HAS EVER HAD!" Damn, I couldn't finish the first post. I love some of the suggestions they came up with for their revenge banner - especially "Season Dee-railed". Somebody please make a point of asking to borrow it when we're eight goals up halfway through the final term. I also liked the way they've fixed on 'what goes around comes around' as the motivation for the revenge banner, without noticing that they'd been s&^%ing everyone off with their 'Game over' banner for months before we dished it back to them. Seriously though, that 'Season Over' banner was a masterpiece, cruel perhaps, but a perfect whack at the filth and their insane arrogance. "we need a witty one liner to remind them what a shite club they really are...." they say. They need a lot more than that.

Now why didn't we think of that? Obviously anyone's brownlow odds will lengthen the week after they have Godfrey tagging them! Should've waited til after the game. Meanwhile, how freaky is it that I'm starting to have real confidence in Godfrey doing a good job week in week out?

And there is where the problem with thinking about finals is - we've all done it on here wioth our post on this subject. As soon as you start thinking about finals you start thinking about 'well, we can beat them, and we can beat them, but that will be a loss... and so on". Frankly I think it's where the Demons have fallen down a lot, like dropping two games to Carlton last year - 'we can beat them', 'we are the better team'. And then out they come with a second rate effort. I guess the big question is, would Green go back home or to training thinking 'I want to make finals, so I have to give everything to win this game, now'. That I'd be ok with. 'Demons determined to never lose again' doesn't sound too bad

I think it would be shameful of West Coast to even consider letting him go as a cheap trade. They let his mess pile up, they were his club when he got into trouble they should be his club as he gets out of it. Cousins has to take responsibility for his actions as an individual and claw his way back to respect, but West Coast have to stand by him. That's the deal between player and club, and it would be many years before I'd respect West Coast again if they don't stick by him now. Besides, with Judd leaving to the Demons they'll be needing a star midfielder.

I just thought I'd share the message I sent to Mike Sheahan, in reply to his article. How's my 'formal writing'? It's easier than writing a whole new venting for here! Dear Mr. Sheahan, In your recent article for the Herald Sun you made a number of what appeared to me to be pretty shallow digs at the Melbourne Football Club. I'd like a chance to reply to a couple of the comments you made, particularly - "As has been the case for too long, the Demons don't have a real home. Their administration is at the MCG, the football department is at the Junction Oval, and there is a distinct lack of charisma (and marketing value) in the player group." I'm assuming you're aware that the MFC has made combining their facilities their top off-field priority and have been pursuing it aggressively for some time, with the target being to have a unified facility in time for the 150th anniversary season. That's next year, so hardly a stagnant project. So why did you make the comment? More to the point, why did you present the facilities situation as a part of a sustained malaise requiring action, when it is in fact a point being addressed? As for the comment about 'lack of charisma' and marketing value in the playing group, while I'm sure Lindsay Lohan would make an excellent centre-half-forward, are you seriously encouraging clubs to recruit based on, what? Sex appeal? Brilliant rhetorical flourish? Snappy one-liners? If you'd suggested the club should be doing more to raise the profile of players, I'd back you on it, but the 'distinct lack of charisma' comment is wholly pointless. A few other comments seemed a little odd - you seemed to imply that the lack of open speculation about Neale Daniher's position means nobody really cares. I could've sworn I'd heard, only a few times a season for every season since coaches became regular features of football, that it was unhelpful and disruptive for board members, players, or high-profile supporters to publicly speculate about coaching positions midway through a season. I've been taking the apparent calm as a positive sign that the Demon's aren't turning upon themselves during hard times. You also suggested that Melbourne's anointing of Brock Mclean as next captain implied such a lack of leadership that Neitz might have to stay in the position "til he's 40". Taking over the reins in 08 or 09 would place Mclean in the same age range at captaincy as Ball, Riewolt, or of course Judd, who became captain almost literally by accident. Though exceptional, it's hardly unprecedented, and the Demons used high draft picks in 2003 specifically to recruit likely leaders. To suggest that Melbourne is in trouble because Brock Mclean is considered an impending leader has probably raised many Demon fan's eyebrows and lost you some of their respect. If you really feel a need to write negative articles please try to reach for some depth, and maybe make some constructive criticisms. But shallow-researched sniping doesn't do the Demon's, your readers or your own reputation any good. Regards...

If Whelan is properly fit, in he goes for Brown, that's pretty straightforward. Yze in for Ward, to do the same job just better. But I think Bizzell out would be harsh. I see your argument but I reckon if Rocca starts to beat Bizzell then Carroll can move to him and we can work another option in for Buckley. Or we can show Rocca a mirror and make him cry. A good 3rd-man-up (Bizzell in absence of Rivers) would really screw the poos, since Rocca and Buckley are both pretty slow these days. Salivating at the prospect of Bell on Didak. A great opportunity to help the Channel Ten commentary team remember his name.

I was lucky enough to only be able to catch last weeks game on the radio, so Frawley for me is only what he showed us against Adelaide. I like. I like very much. I saw a comparison with the kind of effort and initiative we see from Paul Johnson. Good attitudes from these guys, enough indivuals like that and a whole team culture hits an upward spiral. Exciting thought that soon the Demon's defense could be their strong suit. Will take time to happen, which is just as well because it'll take a while for anyone to believe their eyes! Touch wood and all that. I reckon he'll play nine games this year - so he's still eligible for Rising star next year!

It's actually Queen Victoria's birthday. Cos she, like, suppressed the irish, massacred some arabs and africans, civilized/annexed a few 'backward peoples', and kept the Jews out of England, and that's the sort of stuff that gets you commemorated. Lizzie's a nice old bat, but aside from getting her house bombed by the Germans (she's just like the rest of us, ay) and wearing a few funny hats, she hasn't done enough to get her own 'day'. So, for next week's game, be sure to sing 'God save the Queen' for Vicky, not Lizzie.

Yeah, I'm sick of that rubbish too. I'm living in Canberra (so I deserve a break to start with) and somehow I managed to get to three of our first five games this season - that's two trips to Melbourne and a side trip up for the Sydney game. I've managed to use up all the games on my long distance membership every year since I joined (which is a while now) plus getting to our Sydney games each year. I do everything I can to catch games anyway I can, I can name our list, describe our injuries, remember who used to play for us, whose gone to other clubs, hell, I've even been to Sandingham games. But what am I saying. All this is basically normal for everyone on this site. So why the $^#% does this club have to put up with being labelled pissweak? We're a small club. We don't attract the 'blow-ins' who only skim the surface of AFL and only hear about the big clubs. With all these fringe supporters swelling clubs like Collingwood, it makes calling Melbourne supporters [censored]-weak seriously ironic, as well as just plain annoying. Up next, day grand finals will be getting called [censored]-weak because the TV ratings are lower than night grand finals. I'm proud to be a Demon, even while we're getting the rough end of the stick as AFL goes more and more commercial and cash-driven.

Walls' article is painfully shallow. Whats he saying 'hey, Melbourne have some valuable players which would be great for anyone but Melbourne'. Basically it sounds like his advice is to hit the PANIC button. Stuff him. These players are Melbourne. And the Hawks got the jackpot by trading overvalued second-raters, not first raters. And Everitt, which is a 'special' case. I notice Crawford still plays for Hawthorn. Surely they should've picked up a first round pick for him?