Yoda

As I recall Northey gave Stynes a frightful bake in the change rooms after the game, which he subsequently apologized for some days or weeks later. I may be corrected on that but pretty sure that's what happened.

Love the 'broccoli' bit. Your name is Matthew Febey?

1987 - Round 18 v Brisbane Bears at the MCG Went along with the old man and his close friend for the first time, watching the Demons roll a sheizen Bears outfit by 54 points in front of a paltry home crowd at the G. We were sitting well out of the top 5 at the time and Dad's mate earned a rebuke for telling me in jest that 'this was the start of our march to the finals'. Little did we know .... I'll never forget that fairy tale run. Some of the best, most exciting weeks of my life. Anyone who witnessed that run will always believe that until you're mathematically out of it, you're never out of it.

'88 Elimination Final ... Melbourne v West Coast 'Williams throws it out to Lyon. He shoots, he goals ... Melbourne in front!!'

Eishold '87 Prelim ... no contest.

That's right ... I type all my musings with one hand tied behind my back!

The issue is that the artist formerly known as Range Rover can lay claim to the greatest victory in the history of Demonland. This has been brought up a number of times but it is worth mentioning again.

Why is it 'highly unlikely' that a fabrication - whoeverso generated it - of that sort might've occurred? I guess it's as 'highly unlikely' as the original assertions by the TS is staying crowd that the boy wonder would never depart. The gall to call out those few of us who were on to it from day dot as 'barking mad' is hilarious.

Ahhh it's off season reminiscing time ... B. Lovett was a beauty. Loved it heavy under foot and you're right, one of the all-time great exponents of standing up in a tackle before giving off to advantage.

Brett Lovett !! * Damn you pipped me Franky.

Usually it means the area in the forward 50 with the greater space (and generally less congestion) for the forward to lead into.

"The Phil Scully side"

I agree. But decisions made in anger ... and I think there was more than a hint of vengeance in the way Sheedy engineered this ... can have a nasty way of going pear-shaped. Let's hope so in this instance.

That's a tad rich coming from someone who missed, or refused to acknowledge, almost every less-than-subtle clue as to what was going on throughout the season. And Joss Whedon can bite my crank

Blahh ... whatever helps you get through the day Btw you didn't always maintain he could go. In the beginning you were totally adamant that anyone who doubted him was off their rocker. With each passing week you took a step down your ladder.

I fail to understand how you can be so forthright with your views on this subject when you got the result so completely wrong.

That conference can be found with a quick Google search and does make for interesting viewing the second time around. I think it was AmericadeCali who first picked up on it but you do get the distinct vibe that he was 'coached' to give specific answers. He did it very well but there are certainly a few giveaways in his body language that become apparent with a second, post-facto viewing. Regarding researching top draft talent, I do wonder sometimes what lengths they go to to talk to the parents of these kids prior to selecting them. One wonders if a few surreptitious conversations with Fill Scully over some beers mightn't have raised a few early red flags.

Not to want to harp on this subject but I'm obviously well acquainted with Range Rover. I'm quite confident that he was on the money most of the year but I think it's wrong to say the MFC weren't on to it as well fairly early on. I think they were and then did what they had to do - play it with a straight bat and make the best of a bad situation ... a season-long 'black cloud' as Schwab put it. But I think it's wrong to suggest that there was anything at all we could have done to avert what happened. You could've sent the entire Purana Taskforce in to interrogate the kid before the 2009 draft and he wouldn't have blinked. He's just got that type of personality. It was just bad luck, or karma, whichever way you want to look at it. Some have even ventured to say losing him will be a blessing in disguise. I think this is a stretch but it remains to be seen. Btw ... Range Rover sends a belated apology for his post-victory histrionics. But can you blame the guy? He was sent to the sin-bin no less than three times for standing up to the Man!

If it was 7+8 it would be palatable but from my understanding its more likely to be 12+18 or something like that. Can anyone enlighten?

If there was a league that encompassed the best players of the past twenty years not quite good enough for AFL footy, yet too good for the VFL ... Brad Miller would be the Wayne Carey of it.

Too small, not good enough.

Great read Ron. Mackie's views on us are very interesting and noteworthy coming from such a quality player. Probably slips under the guard with all of the other stars at Geelong but he sits comfortably as a champion alongside all of them. GW$' culture of smugness and fib-telling will eventually come back to bite them on the bum.

Hurley had a marginally better season than Watts but in patches Watts played at a level beyond what Hurley is capable of. Watts will end up the better player.

Lest we forget ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQeaGFXqvTQ

"You can influence the players by how you walk, how you talk, your body language when you walk into meetings and out of meetings." I think that last line about sums why Dean wasn't the man for the job. Good bloke. Knowledgeable. Tidy CV. But absolutely no presence.