Hot as Hell

I suspect we look better on TV than in real life. The spirit of the club is lost. Sadly.

Back in 2007 when there was a car park sitting opposite Gosch's Paddock, and Paul Garner was the Pres, the bubble stadium (now AAMI Park) was going to be our new home. The brochure we were sent raved on about social facitilies, training, admin etc etc. Myself and 149 other true believers contributed the seed capital to make our dream a reality at AAMI. 15 years later, we have a flag, that none of us will ever forget. But we still don't have a home and in hindsight a rectangular pitch was never, ever going to be a solution for an AFL home.

There is no question which team has dealt with the conditions better and the best team overall. The scoreboard absolutely reflects that. Umpiring not good but not the difference. We will see what our players are made of after half time.

It is fairly obvious our defensive pressure came off half way through that 2nd quarter. It put pressure on the defence with fast running forward from the Hawks. That has disrupted our defensive lines and exposed us. This can be fixed by lifting tackling intensity from our forward line. It really needs to happen in Q3. A 20 point win would be a disappointment but not a surprise. A loss would be a surprise and a disappointment. We need to crush weaker teams. The competition for spots 1 and 2 is very hot and Cats and Dogs know what needs to be done.

This is a good lesson to every player. No game is ever in the bag. Time to think, then rethink, about what teams need to do to reach a flag.

I agree with this summation insofar the the task required at MFC is concerned. This is a meritorious appointment, without doubt, although it was not presented as such.. Kate seems perfectly positioned to assist the club with her skills, experience and local government network to advance our pressing needs for a home base. The fact that gender needed to be introduced into the discussion of Kate's appointment at all, probably says more about the objectives for some, both here and in the public forum, to claim the higher moral ground and abuse any opinion that differs from their own. Virtue signalling is precisely what that is and it is the lowest form of of ideological argument. My mother matriculated as dux of her school in 1946 and was denied entry into the Engineering Faculty of Monash University, because she was a woman. I don't appreciate "johnny-come-lateleys" talking about inequality as if they are victims or have any understanding of its true context. I, like many older Australians, was brought up under the wing of strong willed woman (now sadly gone), who became a nurse caring for returned Korean battle infantry in the 1950's. A woman whose life's successful ambition was to create opportunities for the women that followed her, not by virtue of quotas but by merit. I really hope Kate can find us a home and bring our club to new highs, not because of her gender, but because of her talents. End of fact, beginning of new MFC Presidency. Good luck to Kate and to us all.

I guess the PC point was asked and answered. This is allegedlyb as much about advancing the role of women , as it is about Melbourne Football Club. We all live in the 21st century. l am more than supportive of choosing the best person for the job. The article or agenda did not need saying that it is about women. I think Kate earned this gig on her merit. That is how it should have been described. Gender should have had nothing to do with it, however, for the Board, they too can now tick that Social Justice box. If we can find a home and win a flag, l would applaud anyone in the leadership of the club to get that done. For now, l simply say good luck to Kate Roffey on her appointment and good luck to MFC. This is about achieving success.

I struggle with the constant current need to identify people or events as the "greatest ever." It is a label known as the GOAT, as my daughter informs me. As we can only judge what we have seen either in life or on old film footage, any "greatest" claim is already compromised. Older people have seen more than younger, but can be prone to wearing rose coloured glasses. Younger people are simply incapable if understanding that each generation of athletes or people is a product if their time, their opportunity and their capacity to fulfil their potential. In the matter of Max Gawn, l find him to be a very good AFL footballer in the modern iteration of the game Is the the best Melbourne footballer ever, that us not for me to say, but l suspect the answer is a resounding NO. I have seen Barrassi, l have seen Flower and all the players since. Is the measure of the player skill? Effectiveness? Team value? Grit and determination? Or something else? In my view, each of the above criteria would probably single out a different player. I only hope like hell Max can stay fit and healthy, because we are a lesser team without him. The same could be said of many players, past and present.

RIP Mark. The psychological battle is taken to a new level when when younger children are involved. To have both parents suffer and be taken is an enormous burden for for the entire family especially for those left behind with the trauma. So gut wrenching and so tragic. I am certain there are many here at Demonland who, like myself, have been somehow fortunate enough to survive this illness, or at least be able to manage it. Thank you Hell Bent for your post Your friendship and support to Mark and his family would have been most valuable and certainly cherished. Demon fans to the end, this story and the many others like it, should provide us with some measure of perspective and an equal measure of the hope that our sport and our club provides. l sincerely hope you get to savour that scotch and toast Mark, in the not too distant future.

Great post Biffen, captured the comedic adventures of our club to a tee. Our devoted coach has the personality of Hymie, with the subtlety of Siegfried. What we need is the planning of Thaddeus and pray if we make a GF we don't ever say "missed it by that much".

In our family he has been known as Sideshow Bob since day 1. Not my thing, but grandkids and their parents watched too much of the Simpsons when left unattended. Mea culpa. Having said that, he looks exactly like Sideshow Bob so for us, it's a done deal.

I see. So you are in the "do nothing" camp and our deficiencies will sort themselves out with some tweaks. You should apply for a job at MFC. Goody just loves yes men. Those posters who quoted me completely missed the point. I did not compare our side with the Bulldogs. I compared the response of the coach to team deficiencies. Thank you for reminding me why l rarely post. Elevated passion, emotion and myopia are rarely the planks of forward looking successful people, businesses or clubs. Our team direction has failed so far, in part, as a result of the blind belief that the coach has in his own strategy, even after 6,6,6 was introduced. Never-mind the capacity of the players to execute. I saw our last flag as a teenager. I see nothing in the current off field leadership that looks even close to leading men into battle with a plan that suits their skills. This has little to do with Ben Brown as he would have little to do with us being a successful team.

I am not savvy enough to post a link from today's Hun, but Bevo's response to last night's 3 point loss to the Saints is to announce big changes to their side before Round 1 2020. Now that is how you attempt to fix a problem. Contrast that response with Goodwin post 2018 Prelim Final. We are still in denial, defending an outdated game plan hoping like hell it can succeed again. I agree with Ungarieboy. We need a fresh approach to a long stsnding problem. That is what a coach is paid to do. Identify and attempt to fix shortfalls in order to advance team success.

Gawny appears to be protecting his knee. He has no spring and is avoiding contact with man mountain Natanui. I don't blame Max. One game is not worth getting injured for, but the ease of WC clearances from the centre has killed us just as much as our witches hat game plan. Disappointing. I was hoping to watch this game fir the next 10 weeks. Can't even watch it for the next 10 minutes. The players can now see where they are at compared to a Top 6 team. Miles off the skills required.

Really? Such a first world problem the AFL (or AFLW) considers it needs to spend time and resources on? If the AFL must expend time, money or effort how about seriously funding regional football or junior football. Not just for the elite, but for the betterment of the sport and its grass roots.

I saw RDB play a fair bit of footy first with us then with Carlton who were very often televised in the mid to late 60s, then at Port Melbourne. He was my favorite player as a kid and because I really didn't understand the reasons he left MFC until much later, it hurt to see him play at other clubs. Much as I wanted to have his endeavour and spirit and attitude (and a little did rub off), as a footballer he was not quite in the talent class of Darly Bulldock, Kevin Murray or Ted Whitten his peers of the day. RDB was guts and determination and he pushed himself to his limits. As a player who was able to read the play to find the ball, miraculously create time where no time for decision making existed and then to CONSISTENTLY execute the required skill, by hand or foot, in my view Robert Flower was without peer. His slim physique should have been an impairment to his durability as a player, but it wasn't. Rob could carry injury and fans were often not aware of it, such was his graceful ability and timing to get the ball and avoid being tackled by the opposition. There are plenty of other players who had a bigger impact for us, but they played in a different time or could not last the journey of a full career. Rob played when we were rubbish. He was the only reason I went to the G for a decade to see us get flogged. In his interview with Mike Sheahan he said he always felt we had a chance, that was hard for me to understand as a spectator but easy for me to understand as an observer of a player who lived and breathed red & blue. He could see nothing else but the spirit that was the club at that time, knocking back money and finals to be true to himself and his club mates. May he rest in peace and from a good place, soon see his club finally secure his football life's dream.

I note that the Chinese were able to build major field hospital facilities from scratch to deal with their current very unfortunate crisis in just 10 days. A simple, traffic efficient and obstruction free pathway from a train station to our nation's premier sporting facility seems to have been too hard for all relevant administrators to execute for the last 50 years. It is a reflection of self interest and a genuine lack of vision that the ground is as poorly serviced as it is to open the door for Eddie to spout his egocentric views. As for the MCG parking fiasco, that takes bureaucracy to a new level of incompetence. jnrmac, this is not a whinge, but rather an observation of the cost of the lack of co-operative vision between successive MCC Trustees and governments. Recognising planning improvement possibilities available in the future, is simply an acknowledge of planning deficiencies of the past. Many at fault here over a long period of time. It would be wrong to excuse their past inaction, but fruitful to invite future change. I just wish the discussion was led by someone other than self serving Eddie McG. I have walked the Morrell St Bridge for 50 years. It is (was) the epitome of critical infrastructure neglect, held together by a series of band aid repairs using a range of different building materials along the way. Eyes are speaking here, not voices complaining.

Hunt should have a role down back. With Frost gone our back line could become very slow. Even our small backs Salo/Nev /Jones(?) lack pace. Most successful clubs have a line breaker, admittedly with polish, to open up the play. Jayden needs to work on his disposal skills or we need to build a set up when he has the ball, in order to take advantage of his main attribute.

These clips genuinely bring a tear to my eyes today, just as they did when No2 flanked the MCG wings most Saturday afternoons. Robbie was one of the few shining lights in the very dim decades of the 1970s and 1980s for the MFC. Brilliant from the start of his career, loyal until the end of it. He has few peers in VFL/AFL history. Thanks for the clips WJ. Timeless and priceless.

It is always disturbing to hear of the personal struggles many AFL listed players have, from all walks of life. I am reminded, for different reasons, that at Melbourne, my hero of a decade or so ago, Liam Jurrah, fought his own battles off field that led to a potentially brilliant and spectacular career being cut short. I really hope Harley can get back on track, if at Melbourne great, or anywhere for that matter. No one wants to see natural brilliance or flair go unrecognised or unfulfilled. Great piece WJ. Only 100 and something days to go to Round 1 2020. Can't wait. I need to exorcise my demons resulting from this year's on field performances. I am still haunted by so much expectation being drained from our bodies so quickly and easily. Time for a reset.

Richo is the humble one, Goody is the all knowing one. Richo to Goody is right. Goody would then think about the question and wonder whether actually worked out the Saints, who beat us many more times than we beat them, under the 2 coaches.

Brings me back to my school days at CBC St Kilda, Tarax. Belted by a few brothers (totally deservedly) back in the day for not knowing my verbs. Re Jay, et ibimus in excelsis in my view. He is a player.

Had Oscar not been the previously annointed one, would be interesting to see what value (if any) he would have carried in the trade period. His contract alone would have been in excess of any player value. In a backline bedevilled by injury, Oscar was not even worth picking for a game. I believe that speaks volumes about his worth. We still carry way too many VFL players on our list.

Absolute BS. I personally spoke to Sam in May this year. He was 100% invested in the club and its success. He was well aware of the players recruited around him and those that were challenging him for his spot. He was aware he had to "really earn" his spot to get a gig every week despite the team performance. He worked hard to meet that benchmark. When the club then spits in his face about whether he was valuable, who here wouldn't crack it? As for the 2019 Bluey, those that suggest he just made the top 10 should remember the ones casting v the votes, were the ones that cast him out. He was never going to be given votes, no matter what he did on the field. I am confident Clarko will harness Frosty's strengths to enhance the Hawks backline, and offer support for his weaknesses. Our brains trust wouldn't know where to start except, "go in, go hard". After all, isn't that our "brand". I imagine Paul Roos just took one more step away from the club that he and PJ tried to build. Love the selection of Ed Langdon to fill an obvious need. But that trade was totally unrelated to Frost. All that said, we will all move on, and we all want success, irrespective of how it is stitched together.

Hawks have the brain power to know how to use speed to advantage and cover poor disposal skills. Frosty will do well for them, flanked by runners able to receive a short kick or handball and move the ball forward with precision. Regrettably, our backline and forward line lack any "connection" so the line breaker was required to fulfil other roles as well. For Frosty, that was asking too much of him, and too little of others. He is no star, but a very useful soldier, now gone. Meanwhile we have back line list with cloggers to spare, who offer not a lot. One whom particular, who can now breathe a tremendous sigh of relief. I wonder who? It's the Melbourne way Having met Sam at many functions, he wanted to stay and was deemed not good enough. I wish Sam the best and expect him to perform one role, his role, much better in a more cohesive structure. What's done is done, so l will move on, just hoping that over summer new coaching staff can bring in fresh ideas to use the talent we have and build a plan around it. Not the other way around.