Bobby McKenzie

It's pathetic to see defenders meekly push the ball over the scoring line to concede a point. How many other games can you score for the opposition DELIBERATELY? Increase the behind value to say,3 points and Hawthorn would have given Geelong a bonus score of 5 goals 3. Nearly enough to give them the game. The other black spot on our game is the keeping of possession in the dying minutes even when a team is leading by over 10 goals. I know percentage is a factor in the home and away games but it is happening in the FINALS when % doesn't come into the equation. In a FINAL, team x is leading by 15 goals with 2 minutes to play. They play attacking, attractive footy,cause a turnover and the other mob reduce the deficit to 14 goals with one and a half minutes to go. Big deal!

Ha, bloody ha,ha. Put Sylvia in the 15-18 spot and you'll be closer. Bruce yourself YM. Sorry, I meant BRACE yourself! You could be in for a disappointing evening my totally BIASED and BLIND one.

Thanks mate!

In case you are having a go at me Clint I did say, 'IF one goes on stats alone.....'

No 'Chook' they have not listed contested possessions which I believe is a very important stat. Don't know why these are not recorded.

Another achievement of our Demons is finishing in the TOP FOUR for ELEVEN CONSECUTIVE SEASONS (1954-1964) including 7 minor premierships. Hard to beat that one I would reckon. Also, has any other team achieved TWO sets of hat tricks?

If we go by this year's stats alone the margin between Green and Bruce is very small indeed. Info courtesy AFL website. Cameron Bruce / Brad Green 184 Games 186 22 2008 Games 20 11.1 Kicks per Game 13.6 13.0 Handballs per Game 9.3 24.1 Disposals per Game 22.8 6.7 Marks per Game 7.0 0.6 Goals per Game 1.0 0.6 Behinds per Game 0.6 3.5 Tackles per Game 3.0 0.1 Hit Outs per Game 0.1 3.3 inside 50's per Game 3.4 0.4 Goal assists per Game 0.6 0.9 Frees per Game 0.8 0.6 Frees Against per Game 0.8 $390,800 Dream team Salary $391,300 96.7 Dream Team score per Game 97.4 $461,700 Supercoach Salary $472,700 95.9 Supercoach Score per Game 99.0 So looking at all these, it's Greeny by a whisker for this year's B&F. We'll know soon.

I voted, like most, for the amazing feat of 5 out of 6 premierships in a row. I saw the 5 premierships but for some fortunate reason I missed the loss in 1958. Had we won in '58 we would have had SIX in a row and that would have taken some beating! The 1956 side was, in my humble opinion, the greatest Melbourne team of all time. A champion TEAM full of champion INDIVUALS. That combination can never be topped.

Mitch Brown for mine. He went to my old school so he MUST be GOOD!

Absolutely nothing! Are you OK Clint? Not been drinking,smoking,sniffing or injecting too much have you?

If you haven't yet read the biography of Norm Smith the 'Red Fox', then do so now if not sooner! What a coach! Tough, with a great deal of humane qualities. I sincerely hope Dean Bailey has a copy. Sure, he had great players, but he kept them honest and reliable and stressed the TEAM before the individual.

Or the Green and Bruce who will battle out our B&F this week? So many dumb people on this forum. Can't see class when it's right in front of their eyes.

Maybe he is trying to buy the captaincy with his 10k donation? Hope not!

As promised, a report on the WAFL Grand final. Been busy this week and only just finished watching the replay. Subiaco far too good for Swan Districts. NAITANUI- Total of just 6 possessions. Looked absolutely lost out there. 5 Kicks , 1 handball, 3 tackles, 2 marks ( both uncontested),1 goal. 3 of those kicks went straight to an opponent. Wobbly, mongrel punt kicks. Dropped 2 sitter marks. Very,very raw and lacked football nouse. RICH- On bench for fair time. 4 kicks ( all effective), 4 handballs 2 tackles. Looks very polished and a ready made player. YARRAN- Very lazy, very few possessions. 1 late goal. As I have said before, I don't rate Naitanui BUT a neighbour of mine who is a talent scout in the West for Geelong FC said that the Demons should go for Naitanui as their first draft pick. This guy SPOTTED Taylor who has done well for the Cats this season. The other thing about my neighbour is that despite being a talent scout for Geelong, he is a mad keen MELBOURNE supporter. Hearing his thoughts about Naita has made me have second thoughts and now I am a little confused. However, my gut feeling is that Naita is not the player we want for our No 1 draft pick. Watts or Vickerey for me.

Is your relative Lou,Lou by any chance?

Hey swampfox! You must be much older than me. Warne Smith played his last game in 1932 and La Fontaine in 1945. Did you actually see them play? They doubtless were great players but do you think you should really rate them just on hearsay. I didn't nominate the Red Fox because I didn't actually see him play. Agree though about Hassa Mann,he was a champion.

Firstly 'High Tower' the above answer would be correct if an Essendon player called ARCHIE Thompson kicked 5 goals in a GF. The actual answer is that both Archie and Essendon kicked a TOTAL of 5 goals in ONE game.

Great reply mate but it's not the answer to my question.

You're on the right track Addam. Either the other posters know the answer or they are not prepared to have a guess.

"What do Archie Thompson (Melb Victory) and Essendon have in common?" Don't answer if you have heard this one. Feel free to have a guess.

My top 2 are Ron Barassi and Robert Flower. I didn't see Norm Smith play but after reading the excellent book, "The Red Fox', he must have been an outstanding player as well as successful coach. The words "brilliant" and "unselfish" feature prominently in the minds of people describing him as a player.

The players the locals reckon are the goods are Rich, Hill and Yarran. Can't comment much further other than all three played well in the TAC game against Vic Metro. I reckon there are a lot of good colts coming up in this year's draft.

Correct '45hotgod' I've been over here for 35 years now. Naturally, I hail from good old Vic. The general thoughts of the locals in my tennis club is that Naita is not the player people are pumping him up to be. They reckon he could make the grade, but more likely he won't. This is fairly reliable information as these guys go to WAFL games regularly. Even more regular than usual due to the indifferent performances of the Eagles and the Dockers. As I said in my "report' I'll have another look at him next Sunday. Cheers.

I watched today's WAFL Preliminary final mainly to have another look at Nick Naitanui. I know he was playing senior football, but the WAFL is light years behind the AFL. Nick was a big disappointment with very few possessions and even a low count of hit outs. He didn't seem to read the play at all and looked very, very rough in his skills. I also watched him in the Vic Metro V WA final where he was with guys of his own age and sadly I was surprised at his lack of influence on the game. To be fair though, Jack Watts did nothing to get excited about. In this game, Rich stood out as a ready made AFL player. Nick's team Swan Districts made the grand final against Subiaco next week. This will give me another opportunity to watch him play and also Daniel Rich who plays for Subiaco. I shall reserve my final thoughts until then, but at the moment I won't lose any sleep if we don't draft Naita. Thoughts anyone?

Only two years ago there were many posters on this forum claiming that a Victorian team would never win another premiership and that the Interstate teams would dominate forever. Happily they were wrong and it is the Vics turn to dominate. Does this mean that the draft is working and that we, the mighty Dees will be clawing our way up the ladder faster than some people think. Are the people who have us failing miserably again next year the ones who were bemoaning Victoria's then lack of success? if so we might have too many pessimists in our midst. I guess all will be revealed come season 2009. Or being pessimistic, season 2010.