Lucifers Hero

People can dream but he is going to Geelong. All the noise to the contrary is just that: noise! From the horses mouth: "I think both the Geelong Football Club and the Adelaide Football Club can come to some sort of arrangement. "I'm not sure what that is but I'm sure it will be fair and equitable for all." http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-09-27/dangerfield-confident-on-crowscats-trade-deal?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=RSS+feed%3A+AFL+Latest+News The guy has so much integrity. He plays his heart out for the whole season not worrying about preserving energy or avoiding injury. Knows he is leaving but wins the B & F. Who can judge him harshly when he explains it like this: "Football is a huge part of my life but it isn't my life, it isn't the number one thing that drives me – that of course is family,"..."Over the journey [club personnel] become far more than just work colleagues and acquaintances, they really become part of your family..."So to turn my back on that is incredibly difficult, it certainly brings up a huge range of emotions. "Standing here in front of everyone, it's very difficult because I understand it's a decision not too many people were too pleased about but I'd hope that they understand it's [made] in the right manner. "I've made it in the best interests of myself and Mardi and the family we would like to start and head back to. "There's a certain amount of selfishness you have to have when you're making a decision such as this." He is a great role model for young guys in and out of football. The rapturous applause he received at the B&F was very fitting.

Hopefully, the Hawke will feel the effects of 3 trips to Perth in 6 weeks and a fairly tough match last night. Also, Hodge will be sore and as will Birchell after going into the fence. This will give WCE a huge advantage next week. Very mean spirited of me but I would like the Hawks to really hurt, emotionally that is, and would be very happy if WCE thrash them! If by some miracle North get to GF I will find something else to do next Saturday. A Hawks Roos playoff will be just too painful to bear.

Some significant names still OOC: Garland 26 (RFA), Hunt19, Michie 23, Howe 24, Toumpas21, Harmes® 19 The longer they are OOC the less likely they will be at the Dees. However, Harmes is a 'must re-sign'...we need to keep Jesse's buddies at the Club!! Jokes aside, he had some terrific games this year and he has bucket loads of what Jesse calls 'competitive edge! So he has earnt a contract and promotion to the senior list. Probably waiting to see how the list and # of places pan out before finalizing it. Fully expect him to be in the Red and Blue next year! While its always sad to see Dees players go I am slowly accepting departures are necessary to significantly improve.

'I'va Worn Smith' has foreshadowed this in another thread. He rated his source a 7/10. So it is worth getting a little excited! He tells us we will know more after the GF but then this could mean at the end of Trade Week Hoping it is sooner rather than later. It could be that Barrett has been reading i'va's posts here on DL...it pleases me a great deal that the likes of Purple cannot find out what is going on at the Dees... The thing that is also good about the 'silence' is that the relevant player manager is also keeping 'mum'...it is often these guys that leak rather than the clubs or players.

Thanks iv'a...does that mean he is be playing this weekend ...rhetorical question! Whoever it is we are doing a damn good job of keeping it quiet! BTW I did hesitate posing that rhetorical question for fear it will set all the DL's player wishes off the scale. Then I thought 'what the heck' it gives people a new line of speculation for the next few weeks!

i'va, you mentioned earlier the 'big fish' player responsible for Roos' 'cheshire cat' type smile will be revealed when the time is right. Can you tell us roughly when that will be...the anticipation is killing me!

Pedersen signs on for 2016 Just a one year contract but am absolutely delighted to see Cam available to help Jesse for one more year! Go Dees!

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2015-09-24/im-rapt-the-supporters-want-me-hogan Extracts: The Western Australian-born Hogan, who is contracted until at least the end of 2017, says he is rapt that the Melbourne faithful have taken to him and want to see him in red and blue colours for the rest of his playing days. ...Looking ahead to 2016, Hogan said he was excited about gaining some teammates back from injury to create a revamped forward line, including Sam Frost and Dean Kent...“I can’t wait to develop myself to another level and not get complacent and just really strive to be part of the collective.” Yep, a forward line of Frost, Kent, Hogan and Garlett sounds pretty good. He doesn't give anything away re a contract but he sounds very happy with life over here, his footy and his teammates. Have to love his honesty in saying how hard it has been to settle on the other side of the country. I hope his enthusiasm infects some of his more laid back teammates that have been around a while if they survive the trade season.

It is with good reason the AFL wrote to all clubs a few weeks ago cautioning them about 'sweetheart deals' outside the salary cap. At the time there was media noise about Eddie offering Treloar's girlfriend a job with his media company, something Eddie strongly denied. I have no idea about Geelong, Collingwood or any other club but for the AFL to officially write to clubs suggests they heard whispers here and there. 'Where there is smoke there is fire', perhaps!

The question maybe is what he did for Victorian football. From the article: "Seen as the father of Indigenous footballers, courageous wingman Nicholls played 54 VFL games for Fitzroy between 1932 and 1937 along with a more decorated VFA career as a player and coach for Northcote....Famously subjected to racial discrimination and taunts during an early trial game with Carlton, Nicholls was initially ostracised by his Fitzroy teammates but became a popular and admired footballer, as well as a talented sprinter and boxer. He represented "The Big V" four times." The Wikipedia link gives a fair bit of info about his life in Victoria.

Not sure where to put this story but this seems a good place Caro is reporting that the 'Indigenous Round' will be renamed after Sir Douglas Nicholls. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-indigenous-round-set-to-be-renamed-after-sir-doug-nicholls-20150923-gjtafn.html It is quite amazing that he achieved so much given the norms of the day. Or maybe it is amazing that he achieved any of these given the norms of the day! Here is an extract from his Wikipedia page: 1957 – appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). 1962 – chosen by the Father's Day Council of Australia as Victoria's Father of the Year for "outstanding leadership in youth and welfare work and for the inspired example he set the community in his unfailing efforts to further the cause of the Australian Aborigine". 1968 – promoted to Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). 1968 – met Pope Paul VI at the Ecumenical Conference held in Melbourne. 1970 – among Victorians invited guests to greet Queen Elizabeth II on her visit to Australia. 1972 – became the first Aboriginal person to be knighted (Knight Bachelor[18]) and he and his wife Gladys travelled to London to receive that honour. 1973 – appointed King of Moomba.[19] 1976 - appointed the 28th Governor of South Australia, the first Aboriginal person appointed to vice-regal office. 1977 – appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO)[20] 1991 – the Canberra suburb of Nicholls was named after him the new chapel of Northern Community Church of Christ in Preston is named after him. 2006 – to commemorate the centenary of his birth, a statue of Nicholls, one-and-a-half times life size, was approved for the Parliament Gardens, beside the Parliament of Victoria;[21] it was officially opened in December 2007[22] and was the first statue of an Aboriginal erected in Victoria. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Nicholls He didn't get the honour of Australian of the Year but that would only be because it hadn't been invented. This is a good step in the right direction for the AFL.

Family reasons to move to Geelong might be: -His highschool girlfriend who is about to become his wife, wants to move back. -She is the daughter of an ex Geelong Mayor -His mother and aunt work for Frank Costa Geelong has been limited in the salary offer of a reported $800k by what they pay Selwood. But with the above list of connections who knows if any verbal undertakings have been made for him/his family's life post football...of course they can't be written as they would come into the salary cap.

Jennings seems eminently qualified and its a bonus that he has worked with McCartney and Goodwin before. Good to see our player development and education programs' activity lifted and that players reacted really well to it: Quote: “Throughout the year we started to introduce a number of changes to the way the coaches delivered information to the players, which had positive feedback from the players and tangible outcomes on game day. “We will be making some further changes next season to continue creating the best learning environment for our players and ensuring their development.” I see this as another example of Roos stepping into the background and allowing Goodwin to set up his own support team and structure. By this time 2017 Goodwin will have his own team in place. Love that Roos is giving him the space and authority to quietly build this outside the glare of media spotlights.

Not sure why it bothers you 'rpfc'. While it is comes from Shakespeare it is still a relatively common word(s). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/methinks: Alternative forms :me thinks, mythinks, my thinks methinks (past tense: methought) (archaic or humorous) It seems to me. Similar description in my hardcopy 'Oxford'  

A bit of a feel-good story from the Club but I love reading about Jesse: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2015-09-23/hogans-rising-star-a-reward-for-club Incredible maturity and of generous spirit: "...young key forward Jesse Hogan says his 2015 NAB AFL Rising Star victory was a reflection of where the club is heading – rather than his individual performance...“It’s an individual award and you don’t look too much into that. I think it’s more of a reflection of the team and where we’re at with two players in the top five,” Hogan told Dee TV. ..“It shows that we’ve got that youth and that we’re developing the right way..." It was interesting to hear him talk highly of our elite strength and fitness department. Misson and co can take a bow. Me thinks we will see his petulance disappear next year as he matures further.

Maybe but those doen't seem Roos style...he is the type who wants to look someone in the eye. Anyway, Nev has his own game to worry about rather than 'babysitting' a wayward child.

Given that Bennell has been in WA for the last 3 weeks, I call BS on the meeting with Nev and Roos.

A very unusual story where the Bulldogs have asked the AFL to investigate a leak of their game plan for the Elim Final to the Crows: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/western-bulldogs-bring-in-afl-to-investigate-leak-to-adelaide-crows-20150922-gjsmi7.html "It is understood defender Michael Talia, whose brother Daniel is the Adelaide full-back, is at the centre of the investigation. Talia, who is out of contract and likely be traded, did not play in the last three games of the season, including the final in question. Fairfax Media understands that the club had been concerned that information - specific to the elimination final - had been passed from younger to older brother." Probably very innocent brotherly chat over a drink or the family dinner table. Still, pretty dumb especially as they were playing the next weekend in such an important game.

Bernie also named in the Coaches AA team: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2015-09-22/vince-named-in-aflca-allaustralian-team "AFL COACHES have taken a different approach to naming an All-Australian team, ditching traditional positions in favour of modern tactics." Its great to have a player that is an AA. Great achievement for Bernie at this stage of his career. I reckon he got a lot of his Coaches votes because in so many games he was able to lock down an opposing star while having a great offensive game himself! Really delighted for him.

Well done Bernie. Just shows that journos know zip! I would back the Coaches view every day of the week!

Caro said the same last night. She added that Danger was determined to get to Geelong without them giving anything up. Ostensibly, because he wants them to be successful when he gets there so he doesn't want them to trade and give up their 1st round pick(s)/player. She said that he might do a 'Luke Ball' (same Manager) and go into the PSD. But Garry (God bless him) piped up and said he would never get past the teams below Geelong...paraphrasing here: Demons would throw the cheque book at him and work out later how to get him to love playing for the club. That would put the 'cat' among the pigeons for the AFL...of course it won't get to that. We may need more popcorn!

Great idea 'binman'...with the '1812' or the 'William Tell' playing loudly across the ground so that any idiots that decide to boo will be drowned out!

There are mixed reports on whether Adam Goodes will join the retiring players motorcade on GF day. Everyone, especially the image conscious AFL, is afraid that he will be booed which would be a sad blight on the game and on many Australians at the game. So they may not try to hard to get him there. Carro game up with a great suggestion last night on how to avoid the risk of booing: Put Chris Judd in the car in front of Adam. (She mentioned someone esle equally famous for the car behind but I didn't catch it). Altho if WC fans are there en mass they would probably boo anyway. He is a proud Australian from a persecuted minority who has reached the pinnacle our sport and our country can give. In a motorcade there would be only one reason to boo him and it isn't pretty. At the end of the day, it is Adam's call. He deserves to leave football with a final appearance at the mighty MCG with cheers ringing in his ears. Edit: I think Carro's suggestion for the car behind Adam was Dustin Fletcher...not sure

I read the trade rumour threads and that player 'x' is a 'ball getter' or 'hard at it' or 'a clearance machine' or 'is competitive' etc. But I am not reading about any players that are fast, skillful or blessed with footy IQ I hope that if we trade away Watts and Toumpas and Howe we find some players that give us some skill, IQ and outside run in their place..

The two sides of why Goodes gets booed has been covered ad nauseam in previous threads. This thread has run its course so as its opener, may I suggest it is closed.