Cranky Franky

Yo there QD! Jamie Duursma - a 1980's blast from the past. Was regarded as the Oscar McD of his era, clumsy & unco - and yet in one of those years surprised us & played some terrific footy - recall he kept Kernahan quiet in one game. And I fondly recall Gaunt - just a good ordinary player at Richmond played some super footy for us. As for the foreign legion - its a bit mixed you can pick out plenty of successes & failures - not sure how you would objectively measure it.

For a couple of years now we have been patting ourselves on the back on the basis that our midfield - Oliver, Viney, Petracca & Brayshaw with service from Gawn is as good if not the best of any in the comp. The last few games have been a rude wake up call. A few weeks ago Bont & McRae pantsed them, last week Steele & Zac Jones were well on top & yesterday 2 slow veterans on Kennedy & Parker gave them a bath. Something drastic needs to be done.

Ah sweet memories. First time we I went with mates to the footy was at Moorabin. I was 15 or 16 & we got someone to buy us beer. I recall Max Walker in the ruck & Graham Osborne playing well.

Nah Cairns is not nearly as oppressive as Darwin ATM. Darwin would be 31 deg & 90% humid. We are actually lucky. Imagine if we had drawn to play really tough opposition in Cairns.

Hardly "did the dirty". Woewy's management screwed us into an exorbitant deal for him. This happened because Farmer had just left for Freo so we couldn't be seen to lose 2 marquee players at once & so paid way over the odds for him. He was a good solid player who had an outstanding year. Its a bit like the current Polec situation. If his management had been reasonable he would have played out his career at the Dees.

Pretty sure that Cook (pick 12) was the only player in the first 30 picks that year to be delisted without playing a senior game. Well done recruiters.

Spot on here mate. He just cannot play down back as he is a liability. He effectively cost us 3 goals in the 1st half. Play him as a pressure forward & give him another year.

That is incorrect & re writing history. Travis Johnstone & Jack Watts were pretty much unanimously regarded as the top picks in their year. Scully & Trengove were unanimous for 1 & 2 in their year & Sylvia & McLean in the top 3 in their year (which was a thin year). Toumpas & Morton are the only picks who were not generally regarded as certainties for number they were picked at.

I call BS on this. Koschitzke retired at the end of 2013 and Nick Riewoldt was getting on so St Kilda was keen to get a key forward & McCartin was the obvious choice as he was the only key fwd among the top draft picks (McCartin, Petracca, Brayshaw).

There's always a comedian about isn't there. Obviously for games being played on or before Thursday they should be named 24hrs before the ball up but for all other games the teams could & should be announced Thursday - like I said Richardson let slip that the team had been selected last night.

True except that when we lose it brings on several days of football depression.

Exactly. Life is one long groundhog day. At least I could look forward to 6.30pm Thursday. Now even that has been taken from us.

I am really annoyed that a number of teams are now announced on Friday. Thursday team selections go back to forever. Who can forget Lou Richards, Jack Dyer & Bob Davis on Thursday nights. Its annoying & makes tipping difficult. Alan Richardson mentioned that the team had been selected yesterday afternoon so there are no excuses for the delay.

If he was born white & had a dysfunctional childhood, with a violent father and had mental health issues as well he might well have had a similar outcome. There was less welfare support from Clubs & the AFL back then & less support for mental ilness.

Lets hope he gets the help he needs & is acknowledged for what he achieved. He got hit with a triple whammy. Disfunctional upbringing with a violent father, racism during his footy career and mental health issues.

The Muir story has no comparisons with what happened to Sean Charles. After the first few years Sean started getting a lot of injuries. He also stated he was struggling for motivation & wanted to spend more time with his family & was eventually delisted. He made comebacks with Carlton & St Kilda but more injuries & lack of motivation meant both were very short lived.

Interesting article. He was a very good footballer but geez he had a hair trigger temper & white line fever. I found the article a bit one sided as everything that happens is always someone else's fault. He clearly had a tough life but it would have been nice if he had admitted to some mistakes he made but clearly he didn't get the help & support he needed at the time. Anyhow hope he gets the $ for his operation & gets more recognition for his talents & career.

I've never seen any evidence of physicality in Wagner's game. To me he is a " beige" player & a long way down the pecking order.

Crows are desperate so I reckon they will make Jack Viney a big, big offer at the end of the year.

There is always some mystical player at another Club that Demonlanders get obsessed with who will solve all our problems. ATM that player is Zac Williams. A pass from me. He is injury prone. Get games into Rivers instead.

He's half right. Goody was bloody stubborn early this year insisting on playing a midget fwd line despite constant criticism from the media & Demonlanders.

Dunno why some people have difficulty in admitting to mistakes in our list management strategy. Trading Howe & Martin & retiring James McDonald are prime examples. Losing Dunn & keeping Oscar was a shocker of a decision.

I reckon this is an ideal opportunity for Tom. He won't win many taps but can win touches around the ground. He has great stamina & can run off Goldie. I thought he was improving when he got the poke in the eye and lets face it he was no worse than lots of others against Port. Early on this year he was scratchy but he was having to play as the lone key fwd without Jackson or Weid so I am cutting him some slack but he really needs to perform today.

Yes Oscar was very poor tonight.

Of course he has a poor footy IQ. He came to the game late, had lots of injuries & has only played abt 12 games. It was unfair to put him in a defence along with Rivers & Lockhart in a side not playing well. The fact that there is no regular VFL also makes it hard for him to develop. We are better off trying him up forward where he would be hard to match up. He has decent kicking skills, marks & runs ok. He has more upside than Tomlinson.