Pinball Wizard

I reckon the teacher might be joeboy judging from his voluminous praise of the school team.

Give it a break . Pickett was rested for most of the second half because he was cactus for the day, not to keep him fresh for a game two days later. If Pickett were to play tomorrow he wouldn't last five minutes.

Well, well. according to Chris Fagan in the Age, the Byronator could play on Monday despite having so little preparation for the season. Family First for Pickett. The reason he missed out this weekend was that he went back to WA to visit his sick mother. Demons' football boss Chris Fagan is reported as saying, "He came back on Saturday with the intention of playing for Sandringham but unfortunately, the long flight left him with some tightness in his back and hamstring soreness. We're definitely planning to play him on Easter Monday (against Hawthorn)." Best wishes to Mrs. Pickett on a speedy recovery and good luck Byron! The Herald Sun quotes Fagan again but there's a different spin on the injury altogether in Dees dealt double blow where it's reported that "...given Pickett's recent inactivity, he would need one, maybe two, matches at Sandringham before being considered for senior selection." Huh!?

Last week Ezra went off at half time with an injury. Here is the full list of players allowed to take part:- From the Football Victoria website: Northern Bullants/Carlton - Jordan Bannister, Clinton Benjamin, Adam Hartlett, Dylan McLaren, Simon Wiggins. Williamstown/Collingwood -Alan Didak, Tyson Goldsack, Brodie Holland, Paul Medhurst. North Ballarat/Tasmania/Kangaroos - Todd Goldstein, Blake Grima, David Hale, Ed Lower, Scott McMahon, Brady Rawlings, Ben Ross, Jesse. W Smith, Callum Urch, Ben Warren. Sandringham/Melbourne - Clint Bartram, Ben Holland, Brock McLean, Byron Pickett, Col Sylvia, Matthew Warnock, Isaac Weetra, Paul Wheatley. Coburg Tigers/Richmond - Travis Casserly, Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, Will Thursfield. Casey Scorpions/St Kilda - Leigh Fisher Sam Gilbert, Lenny Hayes, Max Hudghton, Justin Koschitzke, Matthew Maquire, Andrew Thompson, Brett Voss. Werribee/Western Bulldogs - Luke Darcy, Ryan Griffen, Brian Harris, Robert Murphy, Paul O’Shea, Brennan Stack, Peter Street, Stephen Tiller, Tim Walsh, Tom Williams. * Rookie players do not require permission to play.

http://www.footygoss.com/modules.php?op=mo...r=0&thold=0 1. WEST COAST 2. ST KILDA 3. FREMANTLE 4. MELBOURNE 5. GEELONG 6. SYDNEY 7. PORT ADELAIDE 8. ADELAIDE _______________ 9. W.BULLDOGS 10.ESSENDON 11.HAWTHORN 12.COLLINGWOOD 13.CARLTON 14.RICHMOND 15.BRISBANE 16.KANGAROOS They could possibly review this in the next few days if a few more Eagles bite the dust amid the threatened new revelations over the drugs issue.

Doesn't suggest that they are on their website.

Here's a test. Rate the Melbourne team in comparison to the rest of the AFL. Split the sections of the ground up (Putting in your best 7 defenders - 6 Midfielders - 7 Forwards - 2 Ruckman) Then rank it out of 16. 1 being the best and 16 the worst. Backline: ?/16 Midfield: ?/16 Forward: ?/16 Ruckmen: ?/16

You're right, we shouldn't count our chickens before they're hatched because according to the papers, a few of those blokes will be available for round 1 - including Riewoldt and Koschitzke. Irrespective, we have to beat whoever they put out there and we have a habit of fluffing the ones where the opportunity appears to be the greatest. AS Pringle pointed out - we lost to Carlton twice last year.

I've updated the pre-season ladder that appeared in yesterday's Herald Sun to include yesterday's results and discovered that Melbourne faces a must win scenario against Geelong if it's to avoid getting the pre-season wooden spoon today. Means nothing but ... TEAM...... W L D FOR AGST % PTS BRISBANE 3 0 0 239 188 127.1 12 FREMANTLE 3 1 0 370 296 125.0 12 PORT ADELAIDE 3 1 0 383 321 119.3 12 CARLTON 3 0 0 258 232 111.2 12 GEELONG 2 1 0 272 238 114.3 8 SYDNEY 2 2 0 370 327 113.1 8 KANGAROOS 2 2 0 364 330 110.3 8 W. BULLDOGS 2 1 0 269 263 102.3 8 ESSENDON 1 2 0 270 227 118.9 4 ADELAIDE 1 3 0 321 300 107.0 4 HAWTHORN 1 2 0 241 245 98.4 4 RICHMOND 1 3 0 307 374 82.1 4 COLLINGWOOD 1 3 0 298 364 81.9 4 MELBOURNE 1 2 0 215 283 76.0 4 ST. KILDA 1 3 0 253 354 71.5 4 WEST COAST 1 2 0 201 289 69.6 4

It never was started as a fully serious thread; in fact it was done as a bit of a parody on those who you say are "on the warpath". Nevertheless, you need a bit of balance as well and it is appropriate to question tactics and strategies used - even in practice matches.

NAB Challenge: Demons roll Tigers MELBOURNE 3.3 8.7 11.10 15.13 (103) RICHMOND 0.3 6.7 7.12 10.15 (75) Goals: Melbourne: D Neitz 3 J White 3 N Jones 2 A Davey 2 T Johnstone C Johnson B Green C Bruce M Whelan. Richmond: G Polak 2 K Pettifer 2 D Meyer 2 J Schulz 2 S Tuck B Hartigan. Best: Melbourne: C Bruce T Johnstone C Bizzell N Jones. Richmond: S Tuck K Pettifer N Foley. Umpires: C Donlon T Dey T Keating C Hendry

There was a fair amount of tongue in cheek there but I don't think I was being harsh at all. I appreciate that the disappointing outcomes of Melbourne's recent Nab Cup and practice match performances could be rationalised due to the makeup of the teams, experiments in style of play and the lack of importance of the games played. These things have been well documented around here over the past week. However, there are no excuses now for not performing in tomorrow's practice match. We are going in with a relatively stronger squad than the Toigs, we've had a couple of weeks to tinker with the run and carry stuff and it's time to start thinking about getting serious. Besides I don't think we should ever whinge about not having a strong squad as was the case last week against the Crows. What we showed was that our depth in talent remains highly questionable. Last year in round 20 the Doggies had only 25 players available and a huge injury list, yet they still beat the Crows. Could we be assured of doing something similar this year if injury struck hard?

The MFC selectors have reacted savagely to the team's disappointing defeat at the hands of Adelaide in Mout Gambier last week. They have swung the axe and made seven changes including bringing back skipper David Neitz for this week's Richmond clash. Travis Johnstone, Russell Robertson, Byron Pickett, Nathan Carroll, Daniel Ward, Nathan Brown and David Neitz have been included in the provisional squad. Matthew Warnock is out injured (ankle) while Simon Godfrey, Paul Johnson, Daniel Hughes, Heath Neville, Ricky Petterd and Colin Garland have been left out and will most likely line up for Sandringham in a practice match on Sunday against the Bendigo Bombers (Trevor Barker Oval 2 pm). Squad for Richmond match: Simon Buckley, Nathan Jones, Clint Bizzell, Ben Holland, Matthew Bate, Brad Miller, James Frawley, David Neitz, Daniel Ward, Adem Yze, Lynden Dunn, Travis Johnstone, Chris Johnson, Brad Green, Daniel Bell, Brent Moloney, James McDonald, Russell Robertson, Nathan Brown, Jared Rivers, Cameron Bruce, Byron Pickett, Jeff White, Ryan Ferguson, Aaron Davey, Mark Jamar, Nathan Carroll and Matthew Whelan The match starts at MC Labour Park (Princes Park) at 2pm.

In other words, you'll do what we tell you to do.

I agree with a great deal of your sermon Dappa Dan. I get to watch a fair bit of suburban football as well as the AFL brand and I think it's frightening how the gulf between the truly professional game at elite level and the amateur game in the 'burbs has widened over the years. I often wonder whether some AFL footballers really enjoy the game in the same way as you can when you're playing in a team with your mates and you're playing for the love of the game. But now things are reaching a head with the drought because the professional game will continue but suburban and bush football (especially juniors) will be in trouble if they can't even get the grounds to play on.

That could well be one of the reasons why the AFL doesn't allow its players to bet on its games but that's still a far cry from match fixing which has connotations of corruption. I don't believe that Goodwin and Ward will get any more than a small to medium level fine which the other two will probably be placed on bonds. Heaven help the next person who hets caught though!

As we all know, the push in the back rule has always been there but over the years it's been interpreted differently. This year hands on the back in a marking contest is an automatic free kick. I think this will probably benefit someone like Neita who manages to hold front position well but in the past has been infringed in the back by opponents. On the other hand, we may never see Robbo taking those speccies again because technically, he often infringes against the new interpretation of the rule. Whatever the case, I can see a lot of frustrated football supporters in the next few months as the umpires make a lot of gray area decisions.

This freak thing. What's that about?

Sorry to be answering my own question but it seems that Fox Sports 1 will cover the Nab Cup although it's ironic that ABC2 will kick off the season tomorrow night with the Aboriginal All Stars game against Essendon. Unfortunately, it's only available if you have digital. Not a problem for me and I can't wait to see Flash and the Byronator in action tomorrow night!

It's been reported that Collingwood is almost certain to give Mick Malthouse a one-year contract extension, keeping him with the Magpies until the end of 2008. Both parties are expected to agree to the new deal within the next few weeks. I assume that means that Collingwood don't think Nathan Buckley will be ready next year and they'll give him one year under Malthouse's wings to get him ready for the gig. I can't see any other reason why they would want to reappoint a coach who's been around a long time without getting success and I would think that Melbourne should hold their fire with regard to any coaching renewal with the Reverend. I say this even though the Bombers are likely to look closely at Neale for their coaching job if Sheedy retires or is boned at the end of 2007. There comes a time when you have to consider whether a bloke's been in a coaching job for too long and a different approach might be needed. I think that would apply if we're not at least top 4 in 2007 and therefore I'd suggest that Neale takes his own advice and buckles up for what could be a very interesting year.

I don't understand all of this. Will Foxtel be getting the Nab Cup games in February or is it too late for that?

Gee I had a soft spot for that bloke when he played for us. You never knew what he was going to do next or where he was going to kick or handball but he was exciting at times. He ended his career unfortunately playing mostly for the Zebras. Anyhow, there's a poll on www.dockerland.com to decide who is/was Fremantle's best Aboriginal footballer. I'm the first to vote for Scott but if everyone here follows suit we could help cause an upset in the voting. Warning: The Wizard is also in the poll but I like Scott who was good in the Dockers' early years.

Neale Daniher has advised Demon supporters to BUCKLE UP and enjoy the ride in 2007. Speaking at the Wangaratta community camp, Daniher warned the football world to "Beware the Demons". "After making the finals in 2005 but failing to win a game in September and winning one final last season, Daniher says his side is set to make a serious assault on the top four." All very positive. Now let's hope we can live up to that and produce throught the season!

Thanks for elaborating.

Could you possibly elaborate on that comment YM? After all, the kid's just been training with the club for two months and hasn't even played in a practice game yet. What is it that you see in him that sets him apart as a "superstar"?