Tarax Club

Stanley Laurel Harmes and Oliver Hardy show is not amusing. Clear message at half time... Dump the Hollywood nonsense now!

Time for some old school footy at the "G", give this mob of recalcitrant schoolboys a spanking. There's Darcy Parish, first/18 material we're told, who after a lengthy and indeterminate traineeship, is showing signs he about ready to matriculate. Trouble is there's a fly in the ointment. Clayton Oliver whose blue collar on the coal face approach, is guaranteed to heat up the contested ball contests at centre and boundary clearances. Too hot we fear for donish dilettantes. Keeping with the school analogy we fail to see any enforcer or school yard bully. But Jake Stringer best keep his Angus Young costume in the wardrobe and stay well clear of the school gate. With school hols starting its free passes to Luna Park. Demons 'home' deliver six of the best and send these pretenders packing.

The Age may have shrunk from a broadsheet to a tabloid but fortunately the bean counters overlooked Realfooty. Where quality niche journalism still resides. Oscar may be back on the farm but Tom clearly has unfinished business in the big smoke.

Its dinner time up here Rab! After lockdown #4 and now the bye, admittedly missing your pre-match Game Day culinary and hostelry bloggings.

Any egg and bacon rolls sighted?

Rinse Spin and Repeat Nathan Buckley revisits the crossroads Mark 2. Sells his soul to the devil, miraculously his team arises from the dreary depths of the AFL ladder and the demons comply. Presto! Bucks' reputation remains intact and the mythology persists. Last time El Diablo (Eddy) rewards Bucks with a new coaching contract. This time who knows but 'success' does have its own intrinsic rewards...

6 Luke Jackson 5 Max Gawn 4 Christian Petracca 3 Christian Salem 2 James Jordan 1 Jayden Hunt Honourable mentions; Ed Langdon Steven May Jake Lever Clayton Oliver Overall performance; Beaten by better team on the day. Mid-Season break an opportunity to rest and reset.

Under utilised in OO too. Meanwhile the ‘Ugly Step Sisters’ get all the DL column space. Post ‘her’ brief but spectacular appearance at the Hawthorn Ball, Cinderella (MB) patiently awaits for Prince Charming (Goody) to get the second tall forward position ?properly fitted. Hopefully the horse and carriage doesn’t’ turn into a ?.

Great to see Neale still 'playing on'. One of our favourite human beings. An inspirational man to many others, both in and out of footy. Despite being slightly overshadowed this year by other events, may BiG Freeze at 'G' remain a Melbourne sporting institution on Queen's Birthday Monday for years to come. And some sunshine be bought to bear on MND, it's treatment and the hope of a future cure.

So who plays the abhorrent Beria, Eddie McGuire? Marginalized but still attempting to pull strings as the wannabe puppet master. Eddie not unlike Peter Sellars reprising Dr Strangelove, is capable of multiple roles in this black and white comedy, so will also play Stalin the newly deceased dictator). Mark Korda is typecast as Malenkev the heir apparent. Bridie O'Donnell courtesy of central committee casting will be Sventlana. Tony Shaw hideous choice, (there was no one else available) plays Vasily purely for his comic slapstick. That leaves Jeff Browne as a cunning Machiavellian figure, manipulating his ascent to power as Nikita Khrushchev. Throw in Peter Moore as Molotov and Nathan Buckley can enjoy his Figjam on crumpet.

1 Christian Petracca 2 Clayton Oliver 3 Tom McDonald 4 Kysaiah Pickett 5 Alex Neale- Bullen 6 Trent Rivers Honourable mentions; Max Gawn Charlie Spargo Steven May Angus Brayshaw Tom Sparrow Overall performance; Full blooded team response after subdued first half.

All those fair weather sailors go and have a full time look in the mirror. This is not a good team in the making but a great one.

A true visionary ... One problem couldn’t coach jack

Wishing Mitch Robinson and his fellow Brisbane B ?‘s a bruising encounter at Giant colosseum this evening. Thumbs down ?? Demons no mercy.

McGovern surely should be nominated for the inaugural Hayden Ballantyne Medal. Must be one of the most unsociable footballers going around. Any comeuppance coming this flat track bully’s way is welcome. That winning goal Tommy McDonald kicked on the road late 2018 with McGovern trying to tackle him down in the goal square over there was poetry in motion. Obviously has admirers on this thread and elsewhere All Australian? But nearly gagged when his physique is described as ‘chesty’. Would give Nik Nat a run at Weight Watchers. He is just a Big Mac feeding frenzy away from a Michelin rating. Perhaps the young Clarry comparison is more apt for young Dan. A transformation from country boy carrying some ? love to an athletic footballer awaits?

Upgrade that from plain white to a sourdough wholemeal Brown rye without the pickled gherkin. Thanks!

Sparrow a sound selection preferable to the lite-soy latte alternative being ‘floated’ by some DL pundits. We prefer our our ‘coffee’ ? and committed. No froth.

Only if he wasn’t circumcised!

To be fair both BBB and the Weid are behind the ? due to injury and significantly disrupted pre- seasons, compared to other blokes running around. According to whatever DL fan club posters subscribe to, the alternative guy appears to be on a hiding to nothing. Both have shown some positive signs and made contributions to the overall team success. Weid’s late third quarter mini-purple patch appeared to take some of the air out of the doggie’s tyres. Ch 7’s Brayshaw rightly called it as being significant in the context of the game. BBB’s performance V the swans at the G was promising and productive, with 3 goals kicked in a low scoring tight game. Both these blokes can improve. BBB’s mobility and Weed’s marking with both needing some more mongrel. Not necessarily suggesting BBB go a rare T-bone ? but Tom McDonald is a great example of changing his approach. In an interview earlier in the season he said marking improves as a season progresses as it would over a successful career. With competition for tall forward positions heating up, both players need to keep preparing and performing at their best to seize the opportunity when it arises. That’s surely a healthy situation for a team on the rise.

Looks like he’s feasted too much on Mum’s traditional Dalo, Rou Rou, Miti with coconut lolo all cooked in a Lovo oven with banana leaves.

YB overall a well reasoned and constructive post. Listened to the ABC Grandstand call of the game last night, not enough bandwidth to go around here to watch the game live on Kayo. Viewed replay early AM. ABC actually delivered on its charter, providing an independent, impartial call. Compared to Jamo and the team of hillbillies in Adelaide the previous week. Cameron Ling and Mick Malthouse on special comments. With Kelly Underwood one of the callers. To give credit where credit is due, a real return to old school radio ? days. Ling on Ch 7 comes across as stating the bleeding obvious and definitely has a head for radio. But was actually much more articulate and engaging unseen. Mick Malthouse not universally loved here on DL, provided a most insightful and interesting analysis of the contest. Surprisingly very fulsome in his praise for Melbourne’s performance. He was talking about the Demon forward set up as the game wound down. As having ‘multiple channels’ and described the ability of our talls to lead at slightly different angles. He said that was very difficult to defend given the quality of delivery by foot into the 50 metre arc. He could not see a place in our current forward set up for Ben Brown. As he required more space to lead into and played more as a single focal point full forward. Tom McDonald’s re-emergence in the big show, has happily given the selection committee quite a conundrum. Ben Brown is very much Sideshow Bob.

Yes our capitulation in the last round 2017 (in)famously helped with the extension to his contract. At least Lynden Dunn was pleased. Jeremy Howe still fantasises of being a high profile gun forward. A change of prez and coach may help...

Traeger Park under a humidifier dome, replete with Covid sanitising mists? Can cop that, but after Brisvegas were gifted almost perpetual homeground advantage in 2020. On the way to a series of finals appearances. A BIG NO! We have done our stint of AFL enforced steamy slippery purgatory in Cairns. Surely? Neutral ground Gil and co or go to hell! Sauce for the wing gig? Not meat pie and 3 veg enough. Can a soufflé rise twice? If so add a vanilla soufflé sauce. At half time the Weid seemed to be on the weed. Fortunately he was able to snap out of it and step back from the abyss... just. Rant over with more than a nod to PK to PF!

6 James Harmes 5 Clayton Oliver 4 Jake Lever 3 Steven May 2 Tom McDonald 1 Max Gawn Honourable mentions; Christian Petracca Angus Bradshaw Alex Neal-Bullen Trent Rivers Charlie Spargo Bayley Fritsch Harrison Petty Overall; Defence, Midfield, Attack all ‘singing’ from the same score. A whole team performance.