Little Goffy

I liked that Moloney is now definately laying tackles instead of his habit (back in the pre-injury era) of just laying bumps and letting people get away as a consequence. I think he's doing alright coming back from such a long-term disruption. Green, once again, was among our best players. I don't think he's been our BOG yet this year, maybe against Carlton, but he is creeping towards a Best & Fairest because he is up there contributing every game. Mclean is starting to consistently have a huge impact, great to see. Melbourne recent history has an odd pattern of one relatively short term captain followed by a long term one (Flower 7, Healy 3, Lyon 7, Viney 2, Neitz 9). I think Green/Mclean might just be the next chapter in that.

It's pretty exciting that a couple of players with less than ten games experience (my theme for the week is these 'under tens') both played strong games as tall defenders at an individual level, and worked together well. Garland and Warnock were both on a lot of people's lists of 'spaces opening up at the end of the year'. Both have shown a lot in the last few weeks.

The worst is behind us - on two levels. We've just finished what must surely be just about the toughest run of nine games to start a season ever - 1st - Hawthorn 1st - Hawthorn (again!) 2nd - Geelong (at skilled) 3rd - Bulldogs 4th - Adelaide (at AAMI) 6th - North Melbourne 8th - Brisbane (at Gabba) And just Carlton and Freo from out of the 8. And the other level. On Sunday, the Melbourne fielded a team with MORE PLAYERS WHO HAD LESS THAN TEN GAMES, THAN PLAYERS WHO HAD MORE THAN A HUNDRED. And we pushed the top-placed, undefeated side right to the end. The worst is behind us, a slow dawn approaches.

Nice to see C. Johnson amongst the best again. In fact, everyone in the emergencies from this round played well for the Zebras. Good to see Sylvia getting a run in. Couple of goals to feel good about should help him along. And it's lots of fun to smack the Bullants, what with Carlton having the greatest ever all time superhero up-and-coming young squad just waiting to burst onto the AFL...

Well, that was a bit better. Looking forward to next week. Let's see who comes back from injury. Meanwhile, I understand from the radio that it was mostly Garland who played Franklin, and did alright. Warnock also solid. There's some form turnarounds for us. It's funny, I don't want to take about possible changes for next week - they will be because top players are available, and I'm just happy to let them happen. And good on ya Benny Holland!

Heh heh, fair point Heartbeatstrue. But in a final twist - thanks to Geelong caving in on friday night, it's now even first versus last today. Yes. Here I am at home on my computer - listening to the radio via internet because not only can't you get the game live on TV in Canberra (not free to air, not foxtel) but you also can't even get it live on radio up here. But that's a whole different fixture issue, isn't it.

Hmm... One natural progression would seem to be if we picked up Hurley in the draft - ignoring Naitanuia and Rich, the hype about them means that Freo and West Coast will grab them with picks 1 and 2 : ) Hurley has played very well at CHB and is now being played as a forward option. From what I can gather his build, style and potential stardom all fit well with Neita's number 9. I think it's worth saying to a player who obviously would be under no doubts that they are good - here's a champions number, wear it, be it. Might also help Cale Morton deal with the pressures like this week being announced by various pundits as a '250 game multiple best and fairest winner'. Kudos to us on Demonland for keeping a lid on it and just saying 'great game'.

GOLD!

I still hate Matthew Lloyd for that ridiculous double-goal dive in the elimination final, was it 2004. Even now it gives me a little seething bit of anger. Of all the ways to turn a game... I don't like it, but on the other hand, umpires don't wait for a player to get up and say "excuse me, sir, but I do believe that man there had his finger two knuckles deep in my arse, don't you think that's a little against the spirit of the game". It's kind of like some of the pushing and shoving - it's another level of communication, when you have been scragged in some way. But it can be a fine line between 'communicating' and well, lying. Not so fine in Matthew Lloyd's case. Now that Hird's left, thanks to Lloyd the Bombers are one team I can comfortably have absolutely no respect for or interest in. Well, except of course Carlton. So two. Collingwood are a whole other thing...

After next week's game against Hawthorn, the Demons will have played seven of their nine games against the top eight, including five games against the top 4. I dunno what to make of that. If Carlton (vs Freo) slip into the eight this week at the expense of Collingwood (vs Geelong) then we'll actually have won every game we've played against other bottom 8 teams. I haven't seen much of the other weaker teams this year, I mean, obviously we haven't played them. But how do we stack up compared to WC, Freo, Essendon or Richmond? Are they in more or less strife than us in the long run - this season and the future?

This is pissweak. There are rules designed to prevent the contact sport from collapsing into a pathetic brawl. There is an honour code to the same effect. Yes, they turn up in legit play in a contest, and yes it's great to see people going in hard. But a bump intended to do nothing but take out the opponent is a dog act. Some people in this thread are celebrating exactly those dog acts. I have a problem with that, and if anyone thinks that's being unfair then they need to pause and take a good hard look at themselves.

I keep feeling, more than seeing, that there's a resemblence to Daniel Ward. Lots of initiative, but makes mistakes with it. Will be interesting to watch.

If Yze works himself into really good form, then of course he gets a run. But for sentiment? Maybe a round 22 game, if we're well clear of the spoon and have nothing further to gain. But really even that feels wrong just to write it. He's getting a lot of money playing for Sandringham, and will never have to worry about the costs of looking after his kids or anything, as well as having a decade of often excellent football to look back on. I don't think he'd be bitter over something as ultimately minor as a last game.

No. New stadium is too small and only rectangular. I don't think they'd be willing to cut corners (guffaw) And the MCG won't be too big for us when we make our glorious resurgence.

In Canberra there's used to be a semi-regular group that watched games at Eastlake FC (the Eastlake Demons, duh) but that's a bit far away so I head down to the Ainslie Football Club, home club of James Hird and our very own flying forward SHAUN SMITH! (Yaaaay - crowd erupts) Ainslie is also where the Demons based their pre-season camp up here. A couple of their under-18's guys very subtly started having a kick on the field when the Demon's players went in to the rooms, and all the trainers etc. were still around. One of them did look clean, even to my unpracticed eye, it was really noticable how good he was kicking off both feet, at least - you couldn't bloody tell!

Fingers crossed that Rivers is alright, or at the least that it's not a serious problem. At least we can be moderately sure it's not his OP/groin problems, given that they've just come from a week off surely the training wouldn't have been overdone enough to cause a flare up? Surely? Carroll might come back in as the reserve 'Rivers'. I think he'd enjoy the different responsibilities. He does allright at reading the play at least.

OH! OH!! Just a 13 goal final quarter to round things off after an eight goal third quarter. Damn, that is quite a scoreline. I imagine that will be a confidence booster for a few players, can't wait for the details if anyone got down there to watch, and the official match report should be a pleasant read.

Garland has had confidence issues sometimes with his attack on the ball, but looks a decent player generally. I'm a little sad for Carroll, honestly. He's definately not a dud and he worked his way into the team the hard way. Garland(20), Warnock(24), Frawley(19), Bell(23), Bartram(20), Rivers(23). Definately the youngest defense in the AFL right now. Frankly it's probably the youngest defence I've ever seen. It's odd that Warnock is oldest when he's got just six games to his name. Rivers is still only 23. Every once in a while that really blows me away.

At this stage I'd think Carroll was on thinner ice than Jamar. Garland has been named at full back, with Carroll on the bench, and as mentioned we have a lot of talls in our defence. I still think the three ruckmen set up can work, with White and PJ both operating almost as utilities. Moloney named at HFF is also interesting, as far as you can take these positionings seriously. I think it's got some credibility as an experiment, at the very least Moloney will quickly learn not to just bomb it long to nowehere because there won't be enough space ahead of him. Could also add an interesting dimesnion to forward pressure, Byron Pickett style.

Valenti named on the extended bench, according to the official members email I just got. But I'll take further discussion of the team across to the Adelaide Rd 8 Ins and Outs thread.

Hmmm... I think Bartram is genuinely struggling to get back in the rythm. Remember that he has basically never player at Sandy - just been injured or in the 22. Some time to readjust, understand where he is at and start to build again would seem like a good idea. There are a lot of tall defenders in the side at the moment, however none stands out as being the one to drop. I think there is an argument for keeping the lot, given that most of them are quite mobile as well as tall. If Wheately is injured it makes more sense. There's a case for making sure we can really hammer in with fresh bodies in the ruck contest, given Adelaide's total of about 15 games experience in the ruck. This is a game for White to play with maximum mobility around the ground, to wear out and confuse his ruckman opponent. Given PJ's versatility as well, I think there's a shot at overwhelming the Adelaide ruck without sacrificing too much of the mobile contribution. Brace yourselves for the next comment - I think Jamar should be our primary ruckman at the ball-ups. so, tentatively, I've got Bartram and Wheatley (inj) out. PJ in. Whelan, Buckley and Sylvia are the next options to come in, where available.

Ok, the setup is making more sense to me now. Casey Fields - we are coming on board as a 'major user' of the field, ensuring the viability of the new development which Casey area needs. For our part, we get a soft deal on the land involved (since our use of it boosts the AFL investment and gives it a steady primary tenent) and a reasonable quality, and stable, training facility. This field is ultimately to be used as a summer training camp, away from our main facilities to be built at Olympic Park. This will particularly suit the locals, who get one, big stable tenant but also get good access to the field/facilities during their own footy season. That sounds pretty win-win to me, we'll see how the details pan out. Olympic Park - Big-arse, state of the art facilities in the heart of Melbourne, right near the 'G. Yes please. A rectangular field and stadium is being built for use by Soccer & Rugby League Co-tenants. Facilities such as weight rooms, plunge pools, offices and meeting space will all be on site together, dedicated to our use. An existing oval wll be upgraded to be used as our practice field. The athletics facilities are getting shunted to a new location outside the precinct to make space for all this. Collingwood will still have it's existing facilities in the precinct, but will not have ownership/control of the practice field. They will in fact be physically further away from the field than our setup and have to walk past our offices to get there! If Collingwood don't like it they can [censored] right off because plenty of other clubs (eg Richmond, St. Kilda) would be delighted to take a share of the precinct to replace the filth. In all, this sounds a lot like it's Paul Gardner's 'legacy project', and if it goes to plan then it will indeed be a huge achievement. My tip is that he'll stand down from the presidency as soon as the ink dries on all the leases and commitments.

Well, I know that your 'Gluteous Maximus' is your main butt muscle... because I know someone who referred to it as often as possible. Compared to last year, where we averaged seven of our notional best 22 missing per round, that's a ridiculous injury list. We've had a few guys start the year late to ensure a proper return, but this is great, all things considered. At the end of last year I counted up the games played by the half dozen retired/delisted players, to get a picture of how many opportunities had opened up. If our injury rate is half that of last year, then there's about the same number of games free for kids to come in. As it is, there have been FEWER opportunities for new players this year than last. Bizarre.

Hi all. Can people help me get a clearer picture of the details about the recycled players we have recruited or traded for over the "Daniher Era" I'm just curious about - Who. When. What we gave up (pick used or traded etc..) Value in your opinion. The below list is being edited as info comes to hand, thanks everyone. Let me know of any corrections needed. Ben Holland. Brent Moloney. Clint Bizzell. Shannon Motlop. Compensatory selection. Paul Johnson. Traded from West Coast for pick 29 (Matt Rosa), 2004. Byron Pickett. Phil Read. Pre-season draft selection, 2004. Chris Heffernen. John Meesen. Traded from Adelaide for pick 37 (Scott Thompson - not the other one, the 2007 draftee) Peter Vardy. Traded from Adelaide for pick 56? (Robert Shirley?) in 2001? Gary Moorcroft. National Draft 2002, pick 39. Craig Ellis. Edit: I'd like to make clear I'm not passing judgement here, I'm just looking to get all the information.

Yeah, I was taking the [censored] a little there. Anyway, I don't rate O'hAilpin at all. I gave him my best rose-coloured glasses for some reason, but that wore off and now I just don't see a future for him.