Earl Hood

That reminds me Panama Disease has been detected in Tully Qld, potentially threatening 90% of Australia’s crop! It was reported two days ago in The Guardian which I know none of you would read. Thus the heads up. Better stock now.

Hey this is a bit off to the side but around the 3rd quarter just as a time out was called I swear the music in the stadium was Church’s Under a Milky Way? Unfortunately Channel 7 cut to an advert break as soon as. Anybody else hear that?

I think it was a bex and a good lie down in the 60’s?

Great training report. As a track watcher through most of last season I think the biggest challenge will be for the team to play how they train. Last year my opinion was that we consistently failed to play in a style that did not resemble how we trained. At training we moved the ball quickly but judiciously to a free target, switched across the ground to change the angle of attack, hand balled to advantage just like we all did at training in our suburban careers. However all I saw in most of our games was see ball, get ball and kick long to a contest and just keep bombing it long etc. we all saw it but as I said repeatedly last year that is not how we were training. Maybe that was all about lack of personnel, lack of faith in a constantly changing line up due to injury and form? May this season be totally different and we play how we train and bring some subtle finesse added to a physical and brutal game plan.

At Casey I think today.

Great example and if the momentum of that tackle took them both players forward as seems likely, the maggots would pay in the back! That is why I believe tackles should be judged for legality on where they start, not where they finish.

Good to see AVB in the thick of it and looking fit, also Joel Smith looking good early with the main group drills then was sent to the rehab group to do sprints when the match sims started. Joel looks super fit to me. One guy who caught my eye was Tom Sparrow he looks like a footballer now, Built up his body, is moving beautifully and has clean hands, disposal needs some work of course. He played a few games last year but then got injured. Any thoughts from others where he might fit in?

For heaven’s sake Uncle you know only too well that I have been in the Old Dart these past two weeks, not suffering the vapours but busy providing what little help and advice I can to our glorious Majesty. Oh what a tawdry affair I find at the Palace with that American upstart but the Prince is besotted so my counsel is futile, despite the fact as you know, Harry has always sought my advice in worldly affairs. Really you expect me to be involved with your petty interests and concerns at the Manor or at that lowly Demonland site when I am busy providing solace to our very own Prince Phillip. God bless his soul. How much more [censored] can he absorb from this new generation of Royal ingrates.

Baker was in the rehab group on Friday. Struggled in the sprints and stood out of the agility drills. Can’t accelerate, can’t change direction? Saw him pointing to his groin muscles in discussion with one of the physio’s. I would venture a touch of osteopubis? Not a good sign on the first day back.

It is interesting that the sprinklers go on before Melbourne Victory train, so the ground is soft and the grass wet. I have only been to a few soccer matches and they have had the sprinklers on before the game each time. Not sure what that is about.

It looks good to me. I noticed the Punt Rd side just outside the fence is very damp so there has been plenty of water spread about recently.

What from mowing the lawn? The guy can’t take a trick.

Got down there today early for a short time. Everything has been covered by others but I can add that watching Baker in the timed sprints he was just going registering 5s plus while Jones was a consistent 4, as was Tomlinson and then Hannan 3.8 etc. Then the rehab group did some agility work moving quickly between cones, but not Baker who just sat to the side. At the end he was in discussion with a physio and looking at his groin muscles. May have a touch of OP?

JAG!!! No way I am driving a jag, apologies to Youngwilliam but I am talking about a real car that needs an MFC sticker.

I didn’t get any stickers this year. Can’t understand why as these are advertising for the club and I have a new sticker less car as well.

Can’t say I am a beer man, craft or non craft. More partial to a vintage wine myself but I was just thinking there are about 6 pubs inside or very close to inside 1070 m from the Warehouse, the Rose, The Marquis of Lorne, the Robert Burns and the Gasometer, the Town Hall and the Rochester. Robby Burns used to be my public house of preference when they had the Spanish kitchen going.

Yes that was the artist who pocketed the money and then ate the banana! The world gets more looney by the day.

My hatred is for the dorks myself, Lethal, Dipper, Brereton....87 final loss, 88 GF and on and on.

Bruce was working out at my gym during the week on Tuesday, he did look sad now that I come to think of it. Maybe he knew then. Must say he goes at it much harder than me and is as lean as a whippet.

Yes it’s on the AFL site as well. A big surprise.

Maybe it Goes back much further to 1966 when he trained with Melbourne as he was in our zone. Now according to Tom Hafey who gave us a corporate pep talk some years ago about resilience and overcoming adversity, a young Sheedy who had been rejected by Melbourne for being too short and too slow for a centreman came across to Richmond and was a revelation. Hafey said he was invaluable as a leader and setting training standards and for, in Hafey’s words, dealing physically with any young smart arses and assorted shirkers from Hafey’s training regime. It seems that Norm Smith and Co at the time overlooked a born leader; our loss, the Tigers gain but according to Hafey, his rejection by MFC was a big deal for Sheedy at the time.

Yes a teacher at the old tech and when they merged with Richmond High School in about 1986, old Paddy went off on stress leave to his farm, never to return so he did well to last this long. May he Rest In Peace. My wife was a teacher at Richmond High in that period, for the record.

Was always going to struggle with our current game plan of congested forward lines and long bombs to the 20m area in front of goal, where there often wasn’t a tall marking option to at least bring the ball to ground, at least this season. Jeff was still very good if he could get a one on one in an open forward line, just didn’t happen much for us.

Uncle I used to use a textor to draw a circle on my golf ball as an aid when putting. Set the line on the ball vertical so you could check you were putting the ball cleanly and consistently toward the hole. Same idea with these footies I guess. Oh by the way I haven’t played golf for almost 10 years now. I gave up in the end, I couldn’t putt!

Shakespeare?? I thought that was pure Eric Cantona!