John Crow Batty

A colossus of the game. I am surprised he was still alive. Looked old when he won his first flag and seems to have been around forever. I thought he was much older than 91, more like 120.

TMac to me looks like the type of player that takes a while to get to form after an injury setback. We have seen it before. I’ll be patient with him.

His beef is with Collingwood and nothing to do with us so I hope he continues to give them grief. BTW I used to be also nicknamed “chimp” but not for racial reason but because I could climb anything and do fancy acrobatics. If I were dark skinned however I would find the term very offensive.

The season has been bastardised, manipulated and truncated so much that it could never be considered a legitimate premiership in the eyes of most fans at least until it’s forgotten in a few decades. Will be known as the COVID Cup. Won’t be worth much bragging rights unless backed up with a real premiership when things get back to normal.

McKenna is to be investigated by the AFL according to The Age to see whether he breached COVID protocols. He is suspected of having breached them. If so Essendon should default the game. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/essendon-s-mckenna-tests-positive-for-covid-19-20200620-p554jg.html

Just checked the AFL app and our game has been postponed to the 1st of January 1970. That’s at least another 50 years without a flag....Damn!

I guess there is a risk McKenna might bite one of our players.

We effectively played with 17 men in the last quarters and most half’s with Jones playing since the beginning of the 2019 season. His last quarter statistics are terrible. Last week he had zero possessions. Read today that Heppel is out for Essendon . Broken ankle at training yesterday.

Was happy with the four points in these hard times but never the less confidence sapping. The same ugly scenarios that ruined last season were evident. Blowing away strong starts and then fading badly accounted for a large percentage of our losses. The few wins we had were also eked out in a similar fashion with a lot of luck involved. This will not be a typical season and anything can happen but my expectations have fallen considerably after two rounds. I only see some promising new faces but no tangible team improvement so far. Jones with nil possessions in the last quarter was also like last season where he faded badly in most last quarters. Should not be playing.

In these dark days, members that ask for a refund of already paid dues are equivalent to fair weather supporters and rats leaving a sinking ship. As I said before the money won’t got far and relief will be fleeting and minuscule. From buying a few rolls of toilet paper to a small fraction of ones monthly house mortgage then it will all be gone. The clubs futures are at stake and extinction looms on the horizon. Once gone they may never come back.

Whilst it understandable that fans might forgo memberships due to imminent financial hardship it is pointless asking for a refund from clubs that likely have no money left and can’t pay the bills for starters. The money is gone and best forget it.

Everyone loses something in this pandemic. There is no escape for the economic consequences. In the big picture cost of membership is no big deal. A refund won’t go very far. I’ll still pay mine, games or no games. I see it as an investment for the future return of the game.

Brian Cook. 4 games in 1977. Whatever happened to him I wonder?

Back in the 90’s I had a Scottish friend boarding at my house for about 5 years. He used to mail import numerous Rab VHS tapes and hosted raucous Rab TV nights for his Scottish friends which I also enjoyed immensely. One of the funniest TV shows I have ever watched. Comparable to Alf Garnett in Death do us Part.

Bob Gormly, The Tossel brothers, Glen Walley, Nick Pesch, Marty Hore, Graham Hunnibel, Ross Funcke, Peter Dilnot. 15 minutes of fame between them.

Graeme Watson, 18 games(15 wins) for Melbourne 1964/65. No finals. Despite playing 15 games in 1964 he was unlucky to be named as the emergency for the finals games. Known more for cricket than football. Dashing right hand batsman alrounder. Played 5 tests for Australia. First player to play Sheffield Shield cricket for 3 different states. Also played World Series Cricket in later 1970’s. Was nearly killed by a Tony Greig beamer to the face during the Rest of the World Series in 1972. One of the worst injuries ever suffered in Test Cricket and spent a month in hospital.

Might fire up the secessionist movement again. Usually raises its head when the economy is booming and they want to keep all the money for themselves then go quiet during a bust. When things go really bad they like to blame the rest of the country and feel they can do better on their own.

Basically he’s saying to the rest of Australia [censored] off, we don’t know you and don’t want you. He’s an idiot. He could have said it a 100 different ways that sounds more compassionate.

Maintaining fitness NOW equals performing at optimum levels in the aborted games. It’s all back into the minds and personal commitment of players now with no one to guide and push them.

It is reasonable to assume that clubs with the strongest sense of character, leadership, work ethic and professionalism will have an advantage over the rest when coming back. None of which are strong points for us.

Are you suggesting one can take the pharmacist out of the ........... but not the pharmacy out of the ...........?

May be a renaissance of old school power forwards coming through next season.

A League, Newcastle Jets.

Battle of defences ATM. No one can score.