Macca

If I had my way I'd have the sport played like it was pre flooding and the press. Forwards playing forward and backmen playing back. Real wingmen and without the eye-sore of regularly having an abundance of midfielders all scrambling for the ball. But hey, that can't happen unless the rotations are scaled right back. It's not ice-hockey. My forward line is a trifle top-heavy but 'elusive-qualities' abound. Apart from Neitz, the other 5 were all good on the ground. Schwartz before he did those knees could get about.

Sun 8.30am .....(HOU -3) ..... Oakland 13 @ Houston 19 Sun 12.30pm .. (SEA -7)....... Detroit 17 @ Seattle 24 Mon 5.05am .... (PIT -9.5)..... Miami 10 @ Pittsburgh 21 Mon 8.40am .... (GB -4) ....... NY Giants 16 @ Green Bay 24

I watched the first few episodes of Narcos but couldn't get into it ET ... probably because I know the story a little too well. May revisit at a later date. Ditto for 'The Exorcist' Originality is key but not always ... watched the 1931 version of 'The Maltese Falcon' (not the famous 1941 version) and quite enjoyed it. The film was made in pre-code Hollywood so was more true to the book.

Good get Tim ... it's just my opinion of course but the evidence is quite compelling. He was in the team of the century but I'm not sure that he's as highly regarded as he should be.

If I had my time over again I probably would have included Gerard Healy but I have to leave the team as it is. Tingay should be in too but again, the team has to stand. As for David Williams - he played some really good games for us against good opposition and he was a bit of a favourite of mine despite not having a long career with us. He had great hands and led well to position (when he was fit enough to play) He could kick a goal too - got bags of 9, 7, 5 (twice), 4 (4 times), and 3 (10 times) Not a bad effort for 67 games.

Well, we're all different aren't we. It took a while but I've joined your ranks ... but it's not just the MFC and it's not just footy or sport. Ok, here's a question that will test the knowledge of MFC amateur historians ... you should know the answer dc. An argument could be mounted that one particular player of ours may well have won 3 consecutive Norm Smith medals (or the equivalent of) if such an honour was awarded back in the day. The player in question played in our '39, '40 & '41 premiership teams. Now, I've done a fair bit of research - demonwiki, MFC books and other footy books that I have that confirm how well he played, papers of the day etc. Listed 'first' in the best players across a number of publications with writers of the day also highlighting how well he played in all 3 of the GF wins Who was he? (use of google or such like is strictly forbidden) I've hijacked my own thread - is that a first?

When I was in that age group (18-25) I was more interested in the here and now and couldn't identify with much of our past at all ... I doubt whether the thinking has changed these days either. And why should it? I don't necessarily disagree with your way of thinking dc - it's more so that the thread taps into what we actually saw. I reckon you have to have seen the players play with these sorts of things ... thus, the whole point of the thread.

Fair enough. On the flip side, those here aged around the 18-25 mark would struggle to come up with a decent 22

I disagree somewhat dc ... a team containing players from the premiership era combined with players who played later is something that I find quite interesting. Of course it might be more difficult for those who could pick that sort of team but that's ok - it's not meant to be an easy task. Are we going to see your team dc? 'Very old dee' was here a few years back reminiscing about the '48 premiership side (that team included Norm Smith and a number of other top players) here's that team ... Melbourne Backs Billy Deans Shane McGrath Stan Rule H/Backs Geoff Collins Denis Cordner Col McLean Centre Line Len Dockett George Bickford Max Spittle H/Forwards Noel McMahen Lance Arnold Bob McKenzie Forwards Jack Mueller Norm Smith Eddie Craddock Rucks/Rover Don Cordner(c) Adrian Dullard Alby Rodda Reserves Gordon Bowman Edward Jackson

Finally got to the end of Westworld (season 1) ... absolute first rate. 'Quarry' was very good as well. Just started out on 'Humans' (season 2) and that's another good show (although the Swedish original version 'Äkta människor' is better) If you're looking for some light comedy, 'The Last Man on Earth' is good for a laugh. Here are some of the shows that I'm looking forward to this year (dates are approximate) Homeland (Jan 15) Baskets (Jan 19) Billions (Feb 19) House of Cards (Feb 24) Orphan Black (April) Silicon Valley (April) Mr Robot (June/July) Stranger Things (July) Fargo (????) Better Call Saul (????) Black Mirror (????) Quarry (????) Westworld (????) ... might be 2018

Good thread binman ... I've tried to put mine in order based on how the how I felt at the time of viewing these players. Down the track I'd like to be able to add Hogan, Brayshaw, Petracca, Oliver and a number of other present day players. Flower Wells Hardeman Jakovich Neitz Ditterich Stynes Schwartz Farmer Lyon Other favourites include Wilson, Biffin, Alves, Johnson, Yze, O'Dwyer, Tingay, Jones, both Viney's, Wight, Grinter and a number of others. I've no doubt left more than a few out ... 'Tiger' Crosswell was another favourite.

I like the look of Renshaw ... calm at the crease and that's a great sign for someone so young. His technique is fine and you can see what the selectors have seen in him. Handscomb is getting a terrific introduction to test cricket by being able to bat at no.5 ... he can bat higher but may not have to for a few years (if all goes well) I just hope the selectors don't overreact if our batsmen don't excel in India ... we'll go in as big underdogs for the 4 test tour (Feb/March) and rightfully so. In order to hold our own over there we're going to need Warner, Lyon, Smith & Khawaja to lead the way. Ashwin, Jadeja, Kohli, Vijay, Pujara, Nair and co are going to be hard to beat .. a quality spinner like Ojha can't even get a game As for this test, Warner (and Renshaw) have given us a great start again and we need to capitalise.

Just so everyone knows, the post-season tipping comp involves picking the winners of any of the games only (1 point per winner except in the case of the Super Bowl where 3 points are on the line) Traditionally we've posted up scorelines but the scorelines have never counted.

Agreed ... Stafford & Detroit's record away from home against better than .500 teams is abysmal (is it 0 & 18?) Seattle with that home field advantage should win comfortably. New England will be facing Houston, Oakland or Miami in the 2nd week so that's effectively another bye The Packers/Giants game is the biggie ... Eli lifts a gear or 2 on the road in the playoffs but their defence is their main attribute now.

Not sure he ever lost all faith but I'm of the belief that the receivers weren't working anywhere near hard enough to get reasonable separation. Fairly basic WR play '101' but these things can happen if receivers start relying on silver-service and get lazy. They were almost certainly read the riot act (Nelson included) by the coaches and Rodgers himself. Montgomery has made a big difference too. He's more dynamic than Lacy.

And we have a winner in the tipping comp - Gorgoroth wins by 4 points to make it back-to-back triumphs. Well done mate! And well done to all the participants ... thanks for playing. See you all back here for the post-season tipping comp Final Leaderboard 12 - Gorgoroth 8 - cowboy_from_hell 7 - Clintosaurus, DeeSpencer -------------------------------- 6 - JV7 4 - Macca To the victor go the spoils ... Regular Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Runners up 3rd place 2013 cowboy_from_hell/ pantaloons/ Gorgoroth Strafford Macca ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 Dappa Dan DeeSpencer Gorgoroth ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 Gorgoroth cowboy_from_hell, Macca JV7, DeeSpencer ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 Gorgoroth cowboy_from_hell Clintosaurus/ DeeSpencer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Runners up 3rd place 2013 titan_uranus DemonDave cowboy_from_hell/ Macca ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 JV7/ pantaloons Gorgoroth/ Go the Biff Macca ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 JV7/ cowboy_from_hell, Gorgoroth/ Macca DeeSpencer ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Medal Tally Gold Silver Bronze JV7 2 1 0 Gorgoroth 2 0 4 cowboy_from_hell 1 3 1 ------------------------------------------------------------- Macca 1 1 3 Dappa Dan 1 0 0 Strafford 1 0 0 titan_uranus 1 0 0 Go the Biff 1 0 0 DeeSpencer 0 2 2 pantaloons 0 2 0 DemonDave 0 1 0 Clintosaurus 0 0 1

Rodgers made the big call and he backs it up ... big turnaround and I didn't think we could do it. The man is just an absolute gun under pressure. The Giants will be tough opposition and we all know what Eli is like when he gets into the playoffs.

I believe that before 1897 behinds were recorded but didn't count ... doesn't explain the missing behind posts in the painting though. Offside was part of our sport for a good part of the game in the 19th century too ... once again I believe all the players had to be on their defensive side of the ground at bounce downs (ball-ups?) Not sure what happened from there (during play) but the early scorelines from the 19th century were consistently quite low.

Giants winning means that the Lions & Packers are now both in the playoffs ... which means that the loser of the upcoming game would need to go to Seattle in week 1 of the playoffs. On the flip side, the winner gets to face the Giants at their home field. I'm not sure what the more difficult assignment might be - either match-up won't be easy for either of the 2 sides. Still, you always want to win the division and get a home final.

I forgot about Stretch too ... this is what happens when you've had too much cognac (the night before) I was a real fan of Strawbs O'Dwyer too ... another one with a mean streak. And tough. And what about 'Big Carl'?

I thought Jetta had a much improved year and finishing 9th in the B & F for a 10 win team is a positive. He still needs to get better otherwise he may get overtaken. It's all in Nev's hands much as it is with many of our more experienced players. He's been coached enough to know what to do and to know what is required. More to the point is that we've got a whole host of players who are still learning the game and that's why we need Goodwin to be a top coach. The sport has become rather complicated but basic fundamentals are still a prerequisite.

We've gone from F level to D/C level in the space of 3 seasons RTG ... the next step could be to get to C/B level or if it all comes together, B/A level. Or, we could stay where we are. I do not want to entertain the thought of taking a step backwards. If Goodwin is a top-line coach I expect the team to burst out of the blocks ... but that's just my take on how I view some aspects of coaching. We don't have a tough draw either - Demons Fixture As much as the sport has become about 'processes', being highly motivated and having a coach who can really motivate is still a huge factor. And as has been previously pointed out on this thread, injuries to our high impact players would be a real issue.

Don't forget your tips fellas

Finals are a distinct possibility ... but any optimism, hope or faith needs to have a degree of substance attached. Previously (like many others I suspect) I've been optimistic on the back of a lot of hope & faith. I posted the following points in another thread but the comments do pertain to this thread also ... We've got about 10 players (Viney, Hogan, Jones, Tyson, Lewis, Gawn, Vince, T-Mac, Watts & Jetta) who could be classed as being good to excellent but we're going to need much more than that if we're going to play finals and be a realistic contender. However, a few of those 10 players have a few question marks surrounding them with regards to absolute consistent form, disposal efficiency, manic desire and age. They all need to improve actually, even if only marginally. Also, if we can get at least half of the following players ... Hunt, Harmes, Oliver, Weideman, Petracca, Brayshaw, Oscar, Frost, Salem & Stretch stepping it up to a good/very good level in the next year or so, we'll be well on our way. There are others who might reach that level too. There's a lot of potential but we need to see some real substance. We also need Goodwin to be at least a very good coach. With a half decent run with injuries, I'm hopeful that we'll see some action in September.

Woewodin had a terrific year in the season that he won the Brownlow and Moore was more than serviceable in his time at the Demons ... his Brownlow year was a standout year too. The real issue is not who should be in or out of the aforementioned team but more so us not having enough decent footballers on the list at the same time. If we can get at least half of the following players ... Hunt, Harmes, Oliver, Weideman, Petracca, Brayshaw, Oscar, Frost, Salem & Stretch stepping it up to a good/very good level in the next year or so, we'll be well on our way. There are others who might reach that level too. As always, a club's best 14-15 players govern outcomes.