Maldonboy38

1. Heeney ... daylight ... 2. Curnow 3. Khamis 4. Tom Greene 5. Shai Bolton 6. Max King

I hate umpire abuse. Here in the BFNL 3 years ago, we had a past player and long time club member barred from the ground for 2 weeks by the club for umpire abuse and foul language. It was a great move by the club. It is a lot better than it has ever been and other people in the crowd are beginning to clamp down on the idiots. May I say, it is actually parents in the U16 and U18 competition that are the worst. Parents can be vile at times about perceived injustices to their little Johnny or Jenny. But I hate the new rule. It should be held in place for abuse and/or physical remonstrations that make the umpire feel disrespected or unsafe. But asking the umpire "what was that for?" with your arms extended is a rational, reasonable response to either a) a carp umpiring decision or b) not knowing what the free kick was paid for or who to give the ball to. I thought de Goey's response was excellent. He began to let off steam, caught himself, and swallowed it. The umpire should have actually said "well done". And the Khamis one is a howler for the simple fact a blatantly obvious free kick was missed.

You know how for some reason you love watching a certain player, even though they are at another club? For example I love both Heeney and Kennedy from the Swans, Pendlebury at the Pies, and in the past enjoyed Quinlan from Fitzroy, Dempsey, Glendinning, Peter Matera, etc... Khamis at the Bulldogs is just wonderful to watch. Star in the making. He has a magnificent leap, marks the ball at the highest point and his 2nd efforts are aggressive. Love seeing great young players emerge.

Interesting what he said about Bowey, how he has become a stoppage specialist at such a young age. The more I think about it, the more I see how accurate this is. May is the classic example of not needing a position or a title to be a leader. I love his straight talking, and bare faced honesty about himself but most of all I love the aggressive way he plays. he wants to be physically intimidating in every contest he enters. He could play in any era and be outstanding.

Can we have more interviews with TMac, please. Courteous, intelligent, articulate and actually answers the question without the mind-numbing references to 4 points and "the boys". I really enjoyed his comments about his journey to 200 games, and the ways the team still want to improve.

I would love to say Norma Smith but it was all hearsay because my Demons-mad mum never shut up about him! But as for seeing with my own eyes: 1. Goodwin. Have a look at the way we play. Brilliant. And after 57 years, he led us home. 2. Northey. The fire and momentum lit up the players, the club and the supporters. I will never forget the 87 - 91 ride. Every player on the list playing near their best, and the coach was a firebrand. 3. Daniher. A bit good year/bad year but the skill of his teams was breathtaking. And he LOVED the club. 4. Balme. I still rate the 1994 team as the best 22 we have produced, player by player. He lacked enthusiasm at times, but he got so close. 5. I have to choose between Skilton, Bailey and Roos but probably have to choose Skilton for getting us SO close in '76 with an average list.

A lot can be said about Mark Neeld - good, middling and bad. I remember he was shocked at how unfit we were, and he knew he needed to be brutal in his expectation of training standards etc... Most of us were thrilled at his tough stance when he started. Put simply, he couldn't communicate. Not his vision, plans, or expectations. Simply, he was not a senior coach. The video footage from the rooms showed players not listening, the game plan showed a complete lack of clarity and a whole heap of confusion, and his press conferences gave us nothing. Noble speaks well at press conferences, the players appear to respect him and listen to him. but I have to admit that the way the Roos are currently playing does remind me of our confusion under Neeld (with similar low scoring and low percentage).

Some holes appearing in the Swans game. Really struggling to score, and too easy for opposition to rebound out of their forward 50. They need a couple of small defensive forwards to help keep the ball down their end. I think Casboult has been outstanding for the Suns. His kicking might still not be great, but he keeps on presenting and is such a good mark.

Witts is a really good ruckman - some of his work is so good to watch. And although Buddy will do some miraculous stuff and may be even help win a game or two, a larger % of his work each week is becoming a liability.

Howe and Moore have been torn apart by Richmond. Their usual intercept marking has been taken out of the game leaving their defence all at sea. But this game has been lost in Collingwood's forward 50. They can rarely hit their targets.

When he first came to the club, his fierce competitiveness and outspoken leadership caused some waves, and he had to learn better ways to express both these attributes. He is still uncompromising, but I think Goody and Max have had a major influence on the way he leads which has made him a better leader and a better player. He is as good full back as we have ever had and I love his no-nonsense style. He is a very good mark, a very good spoiler, and and absolute gorgeous kick. If he gets injured, he is probably our most difficult defender to replace.

No, he is not North's version of Mark Neeld. With North exiting so much talent in one go, their rebuild was always going to be long and hard. Don't get me wrong, they are playing as badly as us at our worst, but I believe Noble knows what he is doing and is staying strong to it. Goodwin, Nicks, even Hardwick had the vultures circling early on as the players struggled to play under their direction. North's 18 - 23 list is actually very strong, but I reckon it might not click until Ziebel and Goldstein can hand over their reigns to some young leaders who really take ownership of Noble's vision and ideas.

Jimmy was like a freak midfielder who could ruck. His athletic ability was off the charts and he had the heart of a lion. In the ruck role, Max is streets ahead of Jimmy. I say this with the greatest respect.

There are a lot of late Victorian/federation grandstands in perfect condition all over suburban and regional Victoria which have a much richer history than the Punt Rd Jack Dyer grandstand. I definitely don't think it is the best example, and its heritage value is not strong. If Richmond want to leave it (and I am convinced they absolutely do NOT want to) I hope it becomes an open public space with its Narrm heritage celebrated as mentioned by Bush Demon above. Great idea. But no way as a Dees HQ.

I am not the hugest fan of watching AFLW, but without doubt, Daisy is one of the best things to happen to the MFC in a long time. I actually believe that she is up there with Paul Roos, Simon Goodwin and Peter Jackson as being a significantly influential, club-changing, and culture shifting person. Intelligent, dedicated, articulate, and very very hungry for a flag. As for her coaching future, if the idea of Nev Jetta in a Collingwood jumper was enough to make me puke, Daisy in Geelong colours invokes the kind of rage I usually leave only for inarticulate public speakers, and people who refuse to use their indicators before they turn.

There is more to Salem's role at half back, than merely being a great kick. He is a whole lot tougher and stronger when tackling or body-to-body than most people realise (Hunt is the same). As well as initiating breath-taking 45 degree angle kicks or delivering into the corridor, he stops a lot of plays. He goes straight back to his half back role after a 2/3 or 3/4 game at Casey first. Rivers moves out for him.

Lion's skill and pressure has broken through the Swans defensive suffocation to break the game open. They are making the Swans look 2nd rate.

Swans v Lions is like watching 36 men wrestling in a paddock. It is hardly even football. I like pressure games but this is more like Rugby League with tackle after tackle after tackle. No spectacle at all, and some of the worst field kicking you will see. So tired of handball (throw) over the head, and so tired of poor goal kicking.

Dempsey, S Madden, Moore, Cox and Gawn are the best ruckmen I have seen. I now have him overtaking Moore (that is a huge thing right there) place him equal to Dempsey, and just behind Madden. And as far as general play, he is just behind Moore and Madden. As far as workrate, he is in front of all of them. He is a star, a brilliant leader, and definitely in the top 5 current players.

VERY nice snap for goal from van Rooyen.

Over the past 3 games, Laurie, Rosman and Moniz-Wakefield have shown signs of being able to play AFL. Tomlinson looks too good for VFL but then pops up with mistakes, poor choices. Confidence must be way down.

Port v Saints is a terrible game - lots of ground ball between half back lines with no result. North taking it up to the Blues. Pleases, please, please North; beat those brown paper bag boys.

6. Max 5. Oliver 4. Petracca 3. Brayshaw 2. Viney 1. May

Watching 2 teams having a red hot go, both butchering the ball at every opportunity, both equally clumsy, sloppy and error-riddled, for the Dees to do things 5% cleaner and get the win. So glad we bat deep int our list because that was very close to a loss tonight. A lot of rusty players, and by the end of the game, tired. But we won, are still on top, and so far can take on every challenge.

Would it be wrong to say that there is now a genuine wrestle for the small forward roles, between Kozzie, Spargo and Bedford?