Red and Bluebeard

I like it, especially with Chunk as vice-captain. The idiot in me also likes the idea of numbers 31, 9, and 2 being the top three in the club ...

Great stuff, WJ. Well done! IMHO there are not enough stories about footy like this. There are plenty of player memoirs, but apart from 'The Club' and 'And The Big Men Fly', the cupboard is pretty bare. Will definitely get a copy of the book when it is done.

Best wishes to all Demonlanders and all fellow demons, and especially to those who run the site. Great job! I propose we launch a tradition of adding a verse to the club song for each premiership from now on (and here's hoping that soon our song will take ages to sing ) I like the sound of the following: Oh, the team were keen back in 2013, We had winners on all of our lines, And we held up the premiership cup, Dedicated to Jimmy Stynes, Every heart beats true for the red and the blue, As we sing this song to you (whadda we sing?) Should auld acquaintance be forgot, Keep your eye on the red and the blue.

Two memories stand out for me. One was watching Robbie rip down the southern wing to the city end after a centre bounce, and kick a monster goal on his left foot from about 60 metres. He did that sort of thing so often that you only really noticed when he occasionally missed. The other was our only win in 1981, Barassi's first year as coach. We had high hopes that year, with the prodigal son returning at last, and the first thing he did was to make Robbie captain. We were rubbish for most of year, with our only win coming against the Dogs, with Robbie kicking the winning goal after a pack mark in the goal square. Robbie had no right to get anywhere near the ball, especially given this was a time when immobile hulks like Mark Jackson played at full forward. He was built like Cale Morton's shadow, but had Nathan Jones's work ethic, Jordie McKenzie's guts, and better skills than anyone in the league. How he didn't win three Brownlows and six Blueys is beyond me ...

It's obvious, isn't it --- 'Flash! (boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom) ah -aahh ... he'll save everyone of us!'

I am partial to 'Indiana' for Nathan Jones. He can dig the ball put of anywhere ... :-)

And here's me thinking this was a thread about either an irish band or an obscure single malt ...

From Kennett's latest froth about Adelaide: "It staggers belief". Sure does ...

I agree -- as an expression, 'bounce down' is a balls up ..

Flower, for mine. And if I could do a second clone, I would clone him again. And for a third, a toss-up between Barassi and the Ox of 1994. One of the most remarkable things about Flower was the little things he did, and his consistency in doing them. I remember an old photo of Flower shepherding for someone, and Robbie looked like a stick holding back a beach ball. Nowadays he would be a lot better protected, but in the 70's and 80's he was often injured because of his light build. Yet he never whinged, and kept coming back and doing the team things over and over again. How Peter Moore finished ahead of him in the 1984 Brownlow will remain forever one of life's great mysteries (and injustices, IMHO).

What has she done now? Overspent on clothes again? :-)

I reckon it is 'Chunk' for the Charlie in 2014, and when he wins it, we will have to rename him 'Indiana', or perhaps 'Acky'...

I've just calculated North's percentage after their win over GWS as 112.49. That puts them marginally ahead of Freo's which is 112.36. I think that means that as long as Freo win, the margin won't matter.

I bet he does --- Eddie will kill him! http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/mcguire-fears-for-micks-health-20120830-252np.html

The window would want to be WIDE open ... :-)

To pick nits, Lincoln was doing the 19th century equivalent of 'retweeting' Jesus ... More on the topic, another good Churchill quote, not irrevelant to this thread: "Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense" and another: "Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm"

How about Trengove to kick the winning goal after the siren on the Queen's Birthday? After all, the only thing better than beating Collingwood by 2 points is beating them by 1 point ...

RIP Big Jimmy, one of life's gentlemen. My thoughts and prayers are with Sam & the family and friends, for what will be a tough time until the funeral, and afterwards, for that matter. "Should auld acquaintance be forgot? Keep your eye on the red and the blue!"

Thanks, Cam. Always good to hear from those in the know.

Blindsided is right --- fair dinkum, you couldn't make this stuff up if you tried! One coach, being chased by MFC but not interested, presides over a final in which his side loses, and the coach admits being unprepared for the game (did he tank? :-). This coach then picks the Freo coach's pocket, gets Mark Harvey sacked and has himself appointed within hours, for what I think is a record wage. To top it all off, he does this all himself, behind his own management's back, who crack it and dump him. All that is needed now is a scandal involving a couple of Freo players, some tensions during pre-season training and a few early-season losses for the Dockers, and it becomes a full-blown opera ... :-)

I like a line I heard from Stephen Fry not long ago, along the lines that when writers want to tell the truth, they write fiction; when they want to tell a story, they write non-fiction.

Interesting point, actually --- why aren't there many movies about footy? The only ones I can think of are `The Club' and `And the Big Men Fly', both considerably dated.

Thanks. That is the basic appeal of footy in many ways, dreaming of what might be ...

I did say it was a dream ...

I like your idea (particularly Jurrah kicking ten), but I also liked the symmetry of reversing the order of the past three weeks, and (perhaps showing my age) finishing up with a win over the Magpies. I have also had the dream about 2012, and 2013, leading onto the Dees being the first team to win five in a row .... Compared to that, the actual footy can sometimes be a bore!