DemonRevival

Eleven out of the squad of 46 are on the injury list - that's nearly 25% of our squad. At the moment we haven't got enough suitable players at Casey to replace all the out-of-form players in the Firsts.

Last week we were so short of players at Casey, Kyle Mathews had to ring his brother to see if he wants a game along with another ring in to make up the numbers in the 2nds...

the best thing about today was being upstairs for a free lunch & grog...

The match was really a scramble fest consisting of poor skills & decision making...

My thoughts on the Melbourne players who played today (remember this is against Frankston);

Blease, really has poor delivery, this kid should be able to hit targets easily but seems to panic & should work on improving his skills on his left to help him. He got a rocket up him at 3/4 time. He will probably be promoted, but really I don't think he derserves it on todays effort.

Davis; was very solid in the back line & even took the game on at times which was great to see. If he keeps that form up he will get promoted fairly soon.

Fitzpatrick; Jack played really well today, he provided a target as a deep forward & even stated to clunk a few marks. When he was on the ball he covered lots of ground, winning a lot of clear hit outs & nice palm downs to the midfielders. He is on;y a week or 2 away from getting a call up & I wouldn't be surprised if it was this week.

Morton; Cale had a stack of the ball across half back but as usual his disposal was extremely poor. Quite a few times instead of looking acroos the ground for options (while he had loads of time), he chose to bomb it long to where there were only Frankston defenders, so therefor it came straight back out. He still seems to panic & can't or won't use his left side. Cale is another who will probably get a call up, does he derserve it, No.

Tapscott, Played ok, but not dominant, played mainly across half forward.

I think he played better previous weeks, but who knows whether or not he will get promoted.

Tynan, I'm sure he didn't play today, I think the guy eskimo was talking about with his leg all bandaged up was no10???

Couch; he was very good again today, hard at it & covered heaps of ground. Is he too similar to Magner???, probably, but I reckon that is great. I reckon this week he will debut.

Lawrence; Started off the game really well but drifted out of it just as quick. He did continue to apply lots of tackles & hard chases, but is it good enough just doing that without getting possessions & goals???, my answer is No.

He is way off getting promoted.

Sheahan; I like this kid, he can get beaten in a contest at times, but rarely is he beaten twice in a row. He was very solid down back & was a central figure in lots of play switching, his skills are ok also. Probably won't see any action in the 1sts for a while, but I reckon he is well worth the punt.

Williams; I was really looking forward to seeing how he went today & I left realising my expectations should not have been so high seeing as it was his first game for ages & first game at this level. He looked very rusty but did a few good things during the game including kicking a goal. I will monitor his progress closely, as I feel he could make the grade.

Davey was a no show, I don't know if he was ever going to play at Casey today or not, but he should have in my opinion. Tle MFC players got back to Melb at 1.00am this morning, so he was probably catching up on sleep like the rest of them.

Very few MFC players or officials there today, which I found disappointing.

Casey player, Number 11; I don't know his name or how old he is, but this kid can really play. I have seen him a few times now & he is impressive. He just seems to float through the midfield & move forward at times winning possessions & he can take a really strong contested mark. Keep an eye out for him if you get to any Casey games this year.

Membership tent will be near gate 3... Best to allow an extra 20 - 30 mins for the queue...

Re: Casey vs. Williamstown, Sat 6pm

Pretty good crowd out there tonight considering Casey were complete underdogs going in to the game. I must say I was glad I went out there, as it was a very good game to watch (apart from being distracted having to type in to a stupid phone).

Players;

McDonald

He tried hard all night but it didn't seem to happen for him tonight, he spent most of the night down back, but had no influence on the game.

Strauss

He went ok tonight but didn't seem to have as much clear, clean possession as in the pre season games. Played all 4 quarters but with limited time in each. Still a few weeks away from a call up.

Fitzpatrick

This guy has a [censored] load of potential, the way he moves around the ground when he is on the ball is very impressive. He has ability in ruck work & is very athletic & his kicking & decision making is improving quickly. The problems occur when he is moved forward, but I reckon it would be hard for any key forward to have an influence with the way the ball is delivered in to the forward line.

Tynan

This kid is a gun, he is gutsy, can take a contested mark, can play forward, back or midfield, makes good decisions, delivers the ball well & can kick a goal... He will play quite a few games this year in the 1sts... I can't wait until he gets a couple of pre seasons under his belt.

Sheehan

Started a bit slow tonight but he got the feel for the pace of the game & was extremely solid. I beleive he was moved on to Skinner ( who was a danger against us) & he beat him. I think, once again that there would be another big tick put against his name.

Couch

He is one tough nut. I'm not sure he will get a call up yet but he sure will pile the pressure on to the other midfielders to not drop their guard. he won a lot of ball both inside & outside.

Morton

I have been a supporter of this kid for awhile but he just doesn't seem to get it !!!!!! He should dominate at this level, but he just seems to drift along, doing things every now & then, looking good doing it & in between all of that he has quite a few clangers... Not good enough

Bail

One tough nut, I would have him in my team as one of the 1st picked...

I mentioned earlier tonight that I reckon he should be our small forward option. Very good tonight.

Grimes. He should be better than his opposition tonight & he was. Very clever & controlled the backline. he didn't have a heap of possessions but I don't think that was an issue.

Gysberts

Tough, strong, clever & good ball user. he did another great job tonight & will get a call up next week.

Tapscott

He probably got a bit tired towards the end, but it was bloody great to see him take strong contested marks, crunch blokes in tackles, kick long goals & forgive him for giving 50 metre penalties for hurting players with solid hits. I would love to say he will play next week but it ain't going to happen...

Watts

He started on the wing (1st qtr), played deep forward (2nd qtr), a bit of everything in the 3rd & deep forward in the last. This kid showed enough today to impress the coaching panel & demand a spot in the team...

It appeared to be a full contingent of the hierarchy there tonight, so they will get a clear idea of who did what (probably totally opposite to my opinion). It was also really nice to see that a FULL minutes slience was given, in respect of Jim by ALL at the ground.

I hope all you guys enjoyed kicking back at home tonight, but you missed a really good game tonight, especially you Stretch...

PS, I had a really good chat to Jack Fitzpatrick's mum & dad tonight & got another really good insight to the vibe down there at the moment. It re-instilled my belief in what is happening at MFC... Bring on next week.

Yes definitely Hoppy Pink and green shirts - not sure

Spike Harris - Team Manager

Rollo, I'm a late scratching due to work commitments, bring the long stops guys...

Definitely in for the day but god forbid we get a full contingent of confirmed players will be happy to join the ranks of helpers to cut down on the amount of rotation required.

Extremely honourable gesture Super, but that would spoil the day for those of us who enjoy a good laugh at your expense...

I appreciate that sentiment Rollo, especially since the 'Big Footy Guys' are an official sponsor of Ricky P... There may be many more starters this time... Is Wolfie going to be doing his world famous bbq again???

From the 'Dark Side', The Big Footy Site, A new recruit for this year is ' Syrus', Capt Concussion ( prev award winner ) has been a bit quiet but we will get him playing for sure. Our big guy, Wise Guy Sam must be in heavy training for this event, big game expected from him... Another bloke who we are working on is Biff, as long as he can wear his beanie whilst playing, we are a chance...

'Big' Nev Jetta is back in WA, so he won't be able to play, but Kelvin Lawrence's dad might pull the boots on, I will let you know Rollo....

I don't believe she was a member of our forum, but was pretty much at every forum match we had to always give us a hand. Very fit, very active, taken away so quickly.

I think she told me her forum name was 'joeyjimjams' or something similar...

She seemed like a great scout (in the limited time I had talking to her), loved playing & umpiring footy, it is very sad to see someone taken so early...

SCENES FROM THE ROOMS by Whispering Jack

A long time ago I used to get into the Melbourne Clubrooms at the G with a few mates and we were lucky enough to be permitted to nestle under the rubdown tables while the great Norm Smith would deliver his address, mostly in loud, harsh tones that would sometimes reach the hot gospeller's crescendo at the moment just before they would run out to do battle.

Fast forward several decades and the old cramped quarters are gone, the rooms are now spacious and there are rooms off rooms where the players are massaged, where brief messages are delivered and tactics are discussed using whiteboards. There are all manner of persons scurrying around the place, some with GPS machines and the like. Science has taken over. About the only two things that have remained static, as if suspended in time  are the ever present smell of linament and the menacing looking doormen who closely inspect you those who enter the door (us little blokes used to sneak in under their radar).

We were there to catch the jumper presentation for Max Gawn as his sponsors but were a trifle late thanks to the 5.19 train arriving at Malvern Station at 5.24. 

By the time we made it to the rooms deep under the Ponsford Stand, underwent stringent security checks and uttered the oath of allegiance to all things red and blue, the presentations of #37 to Max and #38 to Jeremy Howe were over. The players were out of sight in the spacious main room of the change area. We met Max's family. They looked anxious and we wished them well before going back upstairs to grab a bite to eat.

There, we watched the game that was being shown on the screens at the ground -  the 2004 Elimination Final, which Melbourne lost by 5 points to Essendon after producing a six or seven goal to nil third term to grab the lead at the last break. There was no use for insipid alternate jumpers in those times, just as there is no place for them these days.

I was wondering if I would ever see the Demons produce such a magical quarter like that on the G again and I didn't have to wait long. Then I realised in a poignant moment that this was Troy Broadbridge's last game of football ever, the realisation made a little sadder still with the understanding that he was on his way to being a very good footballer.

We were due to make our way back to the rooms for the warm up at 6.30 and this time, we weren't going to miss out on anything.

 6.31 Sam Blease is having kicks with Jordan Gysberts. Tom Scully sits quietly deep in thought on the dressing room floor. I had drawn Gysberts as first goalkicker in a Cheer Squad raffle and I was tempted to ask Jordie to push forward as much as possible in the early stages but then I thought I had better not.

6.33 Nathan Jones is wearing boxing gloves in the colours of the indigenous flag. Another bald bloke comes in and they start sparring. Then they go full on ... bang, bang ... no bruise free stuff here. Please mister, don't knock him out. We have enough out injured as it is!

6.40 Jack Watts and Jack Trengove are having a kick to kick. Beamer's now boxing with the bald bloke and they're going at it hammer and tong. Jonesy is handballing and kicking with Scotty West.

6.42 Max Gawn saunters in and he really is big. I notice there's some strapping on his knee. This proved to be a godsend later in the evening when I was sitting in the gods on Level 4. The strapping came in handy as a point of differentiation of players who all appear like ants when you view the game in the rarified atmosphere above the ground. It's very difficult to distinguish between the numbers 31 and 37 on the backs of player's jumpers from up there!

6.45 Most of the team are in the room. The invited guests are sitting at the back of the room behind bars. I feel like Nelson Mandela on Robin Island.

6.47 They're warming up and the smell of linament pervades the air. Dean Bailey's quietly standing in the background. 

6.49 Dan Nicholson is wearing the green vest (again). At this stage you realise that most of the team are fresh faced kids. This is a very, very young team and I'm beginning to regret my very public  decision to select the Demons to win over Essendon by a comfortable  21 points. How can a team so youthful be expected to win over a top four contender?

6.51 Liam Jurrah looks graceful even in the warm up.  They're swinging their legs. Now moving in circles in a sideways motion. 

6.53 It's quiet, a last flourish and the players leave.

6.58 Chris Connolly joins us, gives recognition to former player Michael O'Sullivan who wore # 6 in the 80s and played on a wing. Robbie Flower had the other wing.

7.00  We are taken on a short tour through passageways, past an area where there are rubdown tables and where the smell of linament prevails. 

7.04 We are in what I would call "the situation room". There's a large whiteboard on the wall containing the players' names in colour coded groups. They are tonight's match ups. Connolly has already warned us to turn off our mobile phones. No photos and no communication with the outside world. It feels as if we're about to pull off something really earth shattering like capturing and killing Osama bin Laden. No, tonight's task is to beat Essendon. A far more difficult and important assignment.

7.05 Two injured players, Rohan Bail and Luke Tapscott are also with us. They answer questions about how they felt playing in their debut games. 

Tappy's first was the drawn game against the Swans, an unreal experience. A Queenslander, Bail made his AFL debut in Round 19 of the 2009 AFL season at  Etihad but injured a  quadriceps muscle in the warm up. He had one kick and was off after the first minute so his second game early in the following season was really another debut. 

The players were asked when they were due to return from injury but I am reminded that we are sworn to secrecy on pain of death about revealing top secret information. If you want to know when Bail and Tapscott are due back then check out the club's injury list on Tuesday or, better still, wait till you see them in action on the ground and you'll know for sure.

7.18 We return to the main change room waiting for the team to do their final thing before running out onto the hallowed turf.

7.21 Now they come in again and there's much more noise. I have a feeling that the lads are "on" tonight. 

There's a feeling of purpose about the group and Brad Green, Brent Moloney and Jared Rivers are in there geeing them up. They are among the few playing tonight who are in the zone that you can call "mature footballers". How different things are at other clubs like Geelong and Collingwood!

7.27 We make our way back to the Southern Stand where our seats are waiting above the ozone layer. As we leave the rooms, we notice the forlorn sight of Jack Grimes in moonboots. "All the best mate." He smiles.

The next part of the evening remains a blur but it turned out to be an enjoyable one. Maxy did well. He had a share of the hit outs, got some of the football and began the process of acclimatising to the sport in the best possible way by doing his job as backup ruckman in a winning team.

10.18 They're in the rooms singing "It's a Grand Old Flag" with gusto. The place is wall to wall with people. I'll double up on my winning bet from tonight's game by wagering that there was nowhere near this number here at this same time last week.

10.23 In among the throng, I bump into Neville Jetta Snr. I say he must be proud of his young bloke today. He remembers me from the Demonland/Demonology game in February and says he still feels the soreness of the experience.

10.45 Maxy Gawn's white club away  jumper has been drenched with red Powerade. It actually now looks like a half decent away strip. But it's time to go and I never get the chance to congratulate him although I do pass on my best to the folks.

10.55 On the concourse on the way out of the G, I recall the days of old when Smithy used to reign over his champion team in cramped dingy rooms a world away from the facilities at the disposal of today's AFL coaches. In those days, legend has it that they used to turn off the hot water to the showers in the visiting teams' rooms. Maybe next week, we can manufacture a sewer leak in the Collingwood rooms like last year?

10.23 It was nice seeing you there WJ...

I'm overseas till 23 March but if you PM me after that I can supply lots of old photographs for you including from MFC annual reports.

WJ, Sounds like the perfect time for me to check out those old Inside Footy editions aswell...

Well done Rollo, it's a pity others don't share your passion for these events...

My guests had a ball & are looking forward to our next conquest. Maybe getting the bf guys in the fold will increase the numbers, seeing as Ology guys don't seem interested...

Good effort Wolfie, impressive spread you & you better half laid out, gas bottles are my downfall to, pity you couldn't do a Macca's run..

Hammy has 6 months to recover ( i wish my house didn't have stairs throughout), it's not curtains just yet on the comeback, hopefully another couple of silly old fools give it a go to...

no age limit, DR, but this will be a game where the players are mostly young, fit and know how to play...

will enjoy a beer with you on sunday...

and, by the way, HAVE I MENTIONED TO PEOPLE THAT THE JOB OF UMPIRES' ASSISTANT IS STILL OPEN ??

Well that's a lie, Last time I saw Super play he might need help ticking those three boxes... Get the Paramedics ready, I'm in...

sorry to hear that, mate...

hope it comes good soon...

this will be what, the first game you've missed in 4-5 years ??

Rollo, is there a age limit on playing??? If there is I will see you there for a drink...

So where do they have their closed sessions???

I'm up for the challenge and you just might want to man me up considering how much damage I have caused to you in previous forum games. Lucky for your 76 assistant coaches I might get a good match up, however I don't think I should be the target of much physical stuff from your club, as I have been fairly reserved on this forum telling you what I think about your woeful club.

Being the "old bloke" holding the white board last Sunday & hoping to do the same early next year, Please be sure to come up to me next time and introduce yourself (if you are game)so I can try to educate you in a couple of areas...

Keepin' it fun! Don't lose the enjoyment, by getting too serious. The opposition don't look up to it to have a coach against them as well. Keep it fun.

I don't think you understand, it was a fun day & it was only that we were more organised than them by numbers turning up but it was still disorganised chaos at times for us & that in itself was FUN... Don't be sucked in to thinking that this day was ruined by our guys...

I was in no way suggesting or telling you what to do. Just we want the game played fairly and we do not have the luxury of 73 assistant coaches and helpers like you guys.

I must have had more beers during the afternoon than I thought, 2 guys on the boundary line was all I can recall, but you know your stuff so it would seem to be easy for you to get a few of your fellow nuff nuffs involved to help your team out on the day... I find it interesting that on the day, all I heard from the Saints guys was thanks * appreciation for the guys who chipped in to help them out & yet you are the only one from that camp crapping on, disrespectful to those guys I reckon...

You r never too old to play, it is forum footy and we encourage you take to field. Just we do not need nor want coaching assistants taking over the day. The game is meant to be played in a fun environment and I even remember some girls taking to the field (namely your entire side). How would they feel with all this over the top coaching and so on, they would be scared away.

How is an old guy standing on the sidelines affecting the fun environment in a bad way??? If anything it was enhancing the day for the guys playing, as it assisted in making sure EVERYONE WHO TURNED UP, was ensured of getting a decent run... By the way injuries (& wife) are good reason to not play but still get involved, it will happen to you one day so don't tell me what to do Sunshine...

A white board containing game plans, tagging notes and positional information is taking it too far. I am happy for a timekeeper but neither side should employ a coach unless they have previous AFL experience, thats the only exception.

Your imagination is very good, I don't recall, Game Plans & Tagging notes, if they were supposed be on the white board I accidentally rubbed them off... I did have a Plan B for the white board though & that was in case any twerp came up and gave me crap about enjoying a day out & being involved with a game of footy in a supporting role due to being too old to play, that plan was to smash the white board over his head and smile politely back at him...

i am happy for rollo to take part in arranging the day in contact with us. I'm not so happy that he will be coaching or have a white board on the side lines it taking things a litle too far.

How is having a white board with player names on it taking things too far??? It is something maybe you guys should consider doing instead of doing rock, paper, scissors as to if you are even going to turn up...

Since you guys have so long to prepare each year never making finals, I am sending a challenge out for a rematch to battle for our cup!

The conditions of the game are as follows:

* All players may be posters on the forum

* No VFL listed players

* No coaching staff to enter playing arena at anytime

* No fitness staff

* 1 umpire from both teams appointed

* Game to be played at Glenferrie Oval

* Cap of number of players

Since you stole our cup you have pretty much cheated the entire time since. A forum game should not include match ups, coaching staff, nail technicians and fitness staff. Clearly your group has no idea on the concept of a fair game calling on ring ins to beat us on each occasion. We will beat you either way with a full side, give us the chance to arrange a date and you will be given a footballing lesson. Saintsaional will retain the cup, and prove to you why your club will always be rubbish. The challenge has been issued!

I would have thought you would have encouraged us to have extra staff on our bench, after seeing our coach stroll on to the field late in the Bombers game (without a top on), a laser hair removal technician might be recruited...

Ungrateful bugger, you were crying out to have help to beat the Pies, Now you go on with this junk... Where was the guy who was organising the Aints team???, home sitting on the couch...

Rollo, Capt Concussion can't get out of working, so he is a scratching... May bring along a De La Salle grand final player who wants to have a kick...

Rollo, Captain Concussion, is likely to play again, will confirm soon... Last time he played HBF & had a run on the ball...