spirit of norm smith

You don’t bite the hand that feeds you ! It’s all political.

That’s the crew of the titanic (perhaps harsh on Joe G)

Jesse Hogan was our messiah and unfortunately he had injury and personal issues. It’s the curse around our team. We need a strong key forward. Tmcd is good but not in the class of the real key forwards. Weid is still a boy who has the talent but not the intensity or aggression needed. He’s a really nice kid who needs 2000 volts to make him “want it “.

He is a Legend. Great bloke too.

2003. What a shocker of a year. In fact it mirrors the disappointment of 2019. We failed with only 5 wins. Perhaps this game showed the vulnerability early. After a finals campaign of 2002, we were expected to challenge. The losses of the Wiz and Woey hit the supporter base hard. This win wasn’t a great memory. We were 6 goals up only to see them kick 6 goals into the breeze. We almost through the game away!!!

It’s faster now and more handballing than ever. But the foot skills are not any better and the goalkicking skills today is actually declining. It’s actually amazing given today’s footballers are Professional Full Time and have countless high performance specialist coaches.

Hutchy is spot on. Gawns hair is a key issue and may impact our season. Another great piece of journalism from Hutchy. NOT !!!!!!!!! Hutchy is a f&)(#n tool !!!!

I remember a game in the EPL of Etihad v Emirates. Cannot actually remember the teams. !

Maybe add sponsors on socks and have them focussed on when the players are lining up for goal. It’s a material world ... unfortunately

Another shocker. Stick to RED and NAVY blue. Ok with the MFC LOGO

We hung on ... just. It was a worry that we let them get close and they may consider their trajectory is now ahead of us !!

Spargo and Brown are outs. Salem and Jones are ins. But need the Weid back in as a key forward. So for team balance , I have Bedford as the unlucky out. Blues are missing tall forwards in Curnow and McKay so perhaps Hore could replace Omcd for balance Jetta may omcd (Hore) salem Lever Hibberd Tomlinson Viney Langdon Petracca Tmcd Melksham Fritsch Weid kozzzy Gawn Brayshaw oliver Lockhart jones Harmes Anb emerg - Bedford Hore Hunt

So they steal Scully, Ward, Davis etc then complain when it comes back to other clubs looking at GWS Talent. Sheedy = A grade tool And GWS gets a recruiting zone. So it’s already imbalance towards them

No.24 1991 Round 20 v North Melbourne at MCG This match ultimately saw the Phoenix of Allen Jakovich rise. It was an amazing day that saw the Dees have a player with such charisma arrive once the football scene. The background to the match is worth noting. We had been stung by a 20-game loss to the Kangas in 1990 yet recover the make finals and almost go all the way. Then we played them and got revenge through a 10-goal win in round 5 1991. So we were confident but were battling it out with North to make the finals (Dees in 7th place on 10 wins 8 losses and Kangas in 4th place in 11 wins 5 losses). North had just beaten the top of the table Eagles and had young gun forwards in Carey and Longmire. A loss here would probably make it very tough to make the final 6. The Dees opened on fire but inaccurate kicking for goal was proving costly. Jakovich has kicked all our goals (6) but we were behind 8.4 to 6.12. North’s full back Mick Martyn was unable to stop Jako who 6.4 up to half time. Longmire also was proving hard to match as Dees defender Paul Bryce struggled for pace. The third quarter was the story of the day. The Dees finally got on top with a 10-goal quarter. It was highlighted by Jakovich’s soccer style goal over his head from 15 metres out. We were in shock. We knew he was a talent. But that was ridiculous. By 3/4 time, Jakovich had 10 goals. Goal number 10 coming with a tight angle banana kick on the boundary line after the season. North were in disarray as Sholl and Brayshaw were tried on him. The Dees had marched to a 38 point lead. Through the amazing work of Stynes both in the ruck and around the ground, the midfield of Obst, Dyson, Stretch and Steven Clark has now got on top and were giving our forwards good supply. The last quarter saw us calling for more Jako goals. But instead he nearly exploded. A very very soft free kick was awarded against him and he let the ump know. Unfortunately despite a warning his temper and his mouth (and the Dees runner trying to stop him) led to a report for abusive language. Jako missed a few chances but finally got goal 11 and our 20th goal. We won by 52 points and our season was alive. Stynes and Jakovich were clearly our best, but Peter Rohde’s job to shutdown Carey also was very crucial to the victory. We enjoyed the win but couldn’t stop talking about the soccer scissor goal. Surely goal of the year was the common talking point. Jako had the spotlight and we had a new star in the team. Melbourne 20.20.140 defeated North Melbourne 13.10.88

Fair enough

1990. 16 wins 6 losses. Finished 4th on percentage but could and should have finished second. We had our best chances in the “even years”. 1988, 1990, 94,98. 2000, 04, 06, 18.

Interested in getting some opinions. I didn’t have the 2008 come from behind win versus Freo as a top 50. I was overseas in 2008 and 2009. I heard mixed opinions from mates about the game. The Captains Club crew. Was it a fabulous moment to celebrate being 8-9 goals behind to win it ? With some Wona magic?? or a moment where one of the worst Dees teams in the last 50 years simply clicked for a half against an equally pathetic dockers team that kicked themselves out of the game.

No.25 2016 Round 12 v Collingwood at MCG Queens Birthday. It’s unfortunate that’s it become our “Grand Final”. But the rivalry is the magic that connects us. The Dees had been starved of Queens Birthday celebrations since our previous win in 2007. So we were very keen to turn it around. We had beaten the Pies in a 2015 late season round (after 8 years of losing) so we were confident we could finally win a QB game. 60,000 fans created a great atmosphere. The late afternoon start meant a few relaxing drinks and an enjoyable “Big Freeze” event pre game but we were on edge. The Demons started on fire as we got a goal within a minute. But the Pies got on top and were two goals up. Enter big Max Gawn. Against Brodie Grundy, Gawn got our midfield into the game and we drove the ball forward. Ben Kennedy (recruited from the Pies) was electric, creating havoc on the ball or forward. Some Petracca magic got us excited, and a Gawny goal put us in front. The Dees fans were going crazy. We piled on 7 goals to 1 for the quarter to take a 26 point lead into halftime. What a turnaround. The 3rd quarter saw a tight arm wrestle but we kept a 5-goal buffer. We were nervous but needn’t have. Goals were added by the Dees before Watts got two goals to seal the game (as the Pies crowd headed for the exits) before Gawn fittingly got the last goal. It ended with the Dees getting a 46 point victory. Maxy was our BOG with strong performances from Viney, Kennedy and Bernie Vince. It was great to see Paul Roos celebrate the win as he had grown the team and this win confirmed our positive direction. After many years of despair, we were able to celebrate at a Queens Birthday game. Melbourne 16.8.104 defeated Collingwood 8.10.58

Now it’s the top 25. Some are based on my memory of the excitement of the day or the occasion. There’s some good memories that will bring back a few smiles.

Yes apparently Cats want to exclusively play out of Geelong. On that logic same to apply with home tenants at Mcg and marvel - who’s the cats going to play? Interstate visitors ???

No.26 1990 Round 20 v West Coast Eagles at Subiaco WA i I The Dees had had a very good year and at 13 wins 6 losses, we were set for another finals appearance. The Eagles were in 2nd position, and had won their past 15 home games. The Eagles and their fans were arrogant. But we had won the prior 4 games, we’d won the past 4 games against rivals the Eagles including beating them at Subi in 1989 thanks to a late Tommy Kavanagh matchwinner (so it was a possibility we could repeat the dose). From the opening bounce to the end, this match was physical and tough footy. There were 3-4 fights and altercations even before the opening bounce. Watching it on TV still gave a sense this one was a grudge match status. There were to be no easy kicks. The Dees had a tough team under Northey and we stood up. We opened strongly with 4 goals to 1 goal by quarter time. The midfield of Obst, Wilson, Tingay and Eishold (perhaps his best game) were getting on top. But Greg Healy had copped a head knock and ruled out early in the game and other players wore a few heavy knocks. This team had come together with most players around the 22-25 yo mark and were past the 50 game experience mark. They were ready. By half time we’d kept a 3 goal buffer. As in the prior game between the teams earlier in 1990, the Eagles struggled to hold Bennett. The Dees took advantage in the 3rd and stretched the advantage to 5 goals. Danny Hughes was moved forward early in the 3rd quarter and responded with strong marks and provided a handy 2 goals. At the start of the last quarter we went out to a 8 goal advantage by the 15 minutes mark and it was game over. This was an impressive four quarter effort. Final margin was 36 points. Bennett finished with 6 goals to again prove the Eagles main tormentor. Stynes was a warrior in the ruck with an occasional spell with the “Duke”Earl Spalding. The backline of Lyon, Grinter, Brett Lovett and Steve Febey were exceptional. But the excitement hadn’t ended. In fact the thing about this game that sticks in my memory is the players coming off the ground and Brian Wilson and Rod Grinter giving it to the crowd and celebrating the win with the same toughness they’d displayed on the field. The Dees had shown they had grown up and could withstand the physical pressure and had the talent to match. We weren’t afraid of anyone. Melbourne 21.13.139 defeated West Coast Eagles 15.13.103

Salem needs some serious PR.

Gysberts Mclean Longmuir Gilbert its a short list and makes me question whether you actually get ahead by trading players out.

If we have a 5-12 or 4-13 season and finish say 15th or below, I’d be asking a question. Though I think given the c19 circumstances, it’s going to be hard to judge 2020 in any format.

Chaplin retained? Wow. I’d prefer Cross