... and on our 2008 campaign if you ask me.
A hysterical reaction to an otherwise meaningless game in rural and regional Victoria? Perhaps, but to appreciate the full horror of our second half performance tonight you just had to be there. Maybe it was the strain of already having been to Geelong, attempting in vain to get any decent reports from the Cairns game, driving two hours to Bendigo and the prospect of a game in Cranbourne next Saturday that sent me a bit over the edge.
Anyway, this is how it all progressed;
We welcomed back a host of stars who hadn't been seen yet this season. Amongst them Neitz, Brock and Nathan Carroll who I half expected to make his entrance to "I Fought The Law" by The Clash and jump on the bonnet of the police car doing a pre-match lap of the oval before punching a German tourist in the face. Instead he opted to express himself through another ludicrous haircut. Which is, I suppose, the sensible thing to do. Speaking of haircuts I didn't even recognise Jamar at first. I thought he was ZOMGer or somebody else. Pre-season and I'm already losing the plot.
From the first bounce the opening minutes were an arm-wrestle. The Dogs had better chances, but they kept botching them. Key offender was Will Mince-on who had a couple of abysmal shots early on and then opted for a sideways pass when 50m out on a decent angle. This will not happen every week. Lloyd would have had 4 in the first five minutes tonight. Quentin Lynch would have had 1.8. Either way it's not good to play teams with decent forward lines, but get used to it kids.
Then, all of a sudden and against all odds, the Sexy Football Machine went into overdrive and we started slaughtering the dogs all over the ground. Nathan Jones was running riot in the centre, doing what he liked, and no matter what combination of ruckmen we tried (yes! even Mark "50 games and less than 5 average possessions" Jamar!" it worked a treat. Goals from Robbo, Neitz, Bate and Davey had us rocking. Weetra was showing a bit in the centre and between them Miller and Carroll were turning back anything that went inside the Footscray attacking 50. Bate added his second and we were 34-9 up and cruising.
Then the Dogs remembered what they were paid to be doing and decided to put some pressure on. Sexy football machine OFF, slop machine ON. There was one last bit of beauty with Jones finishing off a move started to by Davey to extend the margin to over thirty points but that was pretty much it. Suddenly balls started coming inside the defensive 50 again, and we started giving away free kicks and ludicrous 50m penalties to get the Dogs back into the game. Bode was particuarly stupid to give one away, and it did his game no favours because he was pretty bad in all aspects on the day.
After Jamar cleaned some peanut up the resulting free-kick down the ground put another goal on the board and before you knew it they were winning. Suddenly it was our side who were shitting themselves. Even Jones, who had been so dominant at first, was throwing handballs around to nobody. We were getting rorted in the centre of the ground by the umpires, but the ones that caused us to concede goals were generally there.
Pretty much the last highlight we had was Davey taking a handball with his back to goal and turning around 45m out and slotting it at the sleazy motel end of the ground. Neitz got one from a free inside 50 but the horse had already bolted. We lacked an absolute superstar to stand up in the middle and just grab the game by the throat. On the other hand the Dogs had Akermanis going nuts.
Paul Johnson did very little, but he did manage the most impressive dummy that I've ever seen a big man achieve. Running down the wing right in front of us he ran at his opponent, quickly switched the ball from one hand to another and back again and ran straight past. Awesome. Robbo goaled from a tricky kick but it was pretty much wasted. By this point Neitz had gone off - apparently rested not injured - and our forward line was left looking bereft of any inspiration. After the first quarter both Bate and Sylvia moved away from the forward line, and none of Jamar, White or Meesen could make a serious impact up front. Too much left to Davey.
Come the 4th quarter we turned the Slop-O-Meter up to eleven. Not only did we fail to do anything of any note with the ball but Robbo got himself reported for charging. Now, I'm not tribunal expert but I'd say he'll get away with a high points reprimand. This probably means he will get a life sentence on Devil's Island.
Then, as the fourth quarter wound to an end and the only interest was just how many goals the Dogs would pile on the lights went fizz and we were thrust into darkness. Did a shadowy Asian betting syndicate have money on Melbourne +40? Or didn't they put enough coins in the meter to cover four entire (albeit shortened) quarters? Whatever it was we were sadly denied scenes to rival the great Waverley Park fiasco when the lights went out and everyone burnt the goalposts down. I was hanging for it.
Incidentally this makes the second time that I've seen a match played for the Tynan Eyre Cup, and the second time that it has been abandoned. Is this a record? At least this time there was no old man in the announcers booth telling people to go home and think about what they'd done. Just an old man presenting the best on ground award to Jason Akermanis.
Then, err, I went home. What do you want me to do? Go out and enjoy the thriving nightlife? Catch the nightrider Bendigo tram to a throbbing gin palace and drinking myself into a coma? Bollocks to that. 154km of hot two-lane blacktop action was all that stood between me and civilisation. I was out of there ASAP. Goodbye Bendigo, see you next year.
Now, the reason I'm so depressed about this whole thing is not just because we lost and our last three quarters pre-blackout were utter trash. It's not because our paper-thin backline only looked because they were against an equally paper-thin forward line. It's not because I'm convinced we'll be the lowest scoring team in the competition. It's because when everything was going backwards barely anyone put their hand up to try and stem the tide. Davey was the only one who ran himself into the ground trying to get something going. Miller did well down back more out of necessity than inspiration, and the likes of Valenti, Jamar, Bate tried hard but there wasn't anyone there to do the job. Akermanis and Eagleton did for Footscray exactly what we needed somebody to do, and when their youngsters (especially the #20 who was gifted but nervous) started believing in themselves they cut us right up.
I don't rate the Dogs at all this year - especially in a season where there are only about four contenders for the spoon - and they're as much of one as we are. But on the strength of tonight's performance they're better than us. Maybe 15th instead of 16th, but that's a fair difference in the grand scheme of things. Apparently the #1 prospect for the draft next year is a gun. I don't care. I want some pride in my football club.
Morton was ok for us. He was getting it even if he wasn't using it particuarly well. He went hard, that's all you can ask for.
Goals
Bate 2, Robertson 2, Neitz 2, Davey 2, Jones
Notes from a scandal
* Footscray were listed on the scoreboard as "Western Bulldogs". We were "t Melbourne" because they'd just covered up the "Por" and used the card for the Borough instead. Why does the Queen Elizabeth Oval have a Western Bulldogs card and not a Melbourne one? Is that how far we've fallen? May as well shut the bloody club down now.
* Speaking of Queen Elizabeth how do we know which one it's named after. I know the country is generally a few years behind, but are they actually celebrating the reign of Queen Elizabeth I from 1558 to 1603? Let's hope so, football is in desperate need of some culture.
* The ground was neatly spit-roasted between a sleazy motel (not surprisingly entitled "The Oval") and a corker of a waterslide. It was not an unpleasant place to watch a game, even if the elevation anywhere other than the 20 seat grandstand was a maximum of about five feet meaning that you had no idea what was going on across the other side of the ground.
* Fans of the D-Generation's Late Show, and in particular the Commercial Crimestoppers segment, will be pleased to know that All Tools (who's ad it was decided featured 'all tools') is not only kicking on but also advertising at the ground. Sadly there was no time to go searching for the holy grail of all Commercial Crimestoppers stores, Sandhurst Machinery.
Crowd Watch
* I wasn't intending to stray into any tired cliches about country people wearing wifebeater singlets and/or flannel. Then I showed up and 2500 people were wearing either wifebeaters or flannel. I will say no more. Terrifyingly, from some angles Cale Morton appeared to be sporting a rats tail which one can only assume was some sort of twisted tribute to local fashion.
* For some reason there were a bunch of kids dressed in yellow who spent all pre-match cheering for "yellow" and then sat there in silence for four quarters when the game started. Idiots.
* Speaking of kids I don't think there was a child under the age of 18 in Bendigo tonight who wasn't there. 95% of them unsupervised and running around making idiots of themselves. Justice was served when one of them fell off his skateboard and on his arse. Skateboards at footy games. Just fuck right off now. I tell you what there were a lot of parents who shipped the kids off to the footy so they could stay in and have a dirty night. For one night only QEO rivalled The Neverland Ranch for unsupervised child behaviour.
* The contrast between the "wet" and "dry" areas was remarkable. The pissheads may have been lovely people, but they looked like the Bradley John Murdoch Apprecation Society. During the fourth quarter a fight started behind the goals we were (not very well) defending. This led to a massive charge by the aforementioned children, as well as the fattest security guard ever employed. He not so much charged as ambled in ten minutes later once the rest of the ground had beaten him to the action.
Paul Prymke Plate for Pre Season Performance Votes
The best thing is that because most of the newspapers will never actually write a legitimate report I can pretty much put anything in here and you'll believe it. Let's just say I struggled after the first three.
5 - Davey
4 - Miller
3 - Jones
2 - Valenti
1 - Bate (struggling...)
Leaderboard
11 - Jones
8 - Davey
5 - Buckley
5 - Newton
5 - Valenti
4 - Miller
3 - Sylvia
2 - Garland
1 - Johnson
1 - Bate
Next Week
North Melbourne in Cranbourne on Saturday. I might have a scotch beforehand. This season is depressing me already. Let's compare and contrast the performance of the backline with tonight when Thompson and Edwards are thrown into the mix. In my humble opinion a decent season by the backline is all that stands between us finishing 10th or bottom. We are going to struggle to kick goals, and by the looks of it our 'superstar' midfield is going the same way as our 'much vaunted' forward line of the 90's which looked good on paper but rarely ever did any freaking thing.
Saturday, 1 March 2008
Saturday, 23 February 2008
Twat's Entertainment
So, we lost again last night. Not that you'd know from the shithouse reportage of the event. For the record Richmond beat us by 35 points in Cairns, but you'd hardly know it had even taken place. One pissy story clearly written by an agency writer who probably wasn't even at the game has been reproduced on every single website without any insights whatsoever. Who kicked the goals? Who played well? Actually, who played full stop?
Yes, in a week where the AFL have decided that they're going to add new teams and make a shitload of money they can't even be bothered to give you proper updated scores (even quarter by quarter) or a decent report on a game. So what if it's a practice game, if you're going to give it some gimmick name like the NAB Regional Challenge then at least treat it with some respect. It's bad enough that we get such shithouse coverage that we don't even get to watch drafts, but this is complete balls. They're probably making millions out of their website every year and they can't even get one of their officials on a junket in Cairns to phone through some scores for the website every once in a while.
When you're reduced to reading forums where people are posting information that they're getting from somebody at the ground who is sending them text messages, then you've got to start wondering what sort of competition you're actually following. Can you imagine that kind of a scenario in the NFL or Premier League? Sure, if the practice match is Melbourne vs the Diamond Valley D4 amateurs then fair enough leave it alone, but when you pit two legitimate AFL sides against each other (though having seen both Melbourne and Richmond last year there might be some argument against legitimacy) at least put some effort into it you peanuts.
Where does this leave us? Well, I'd like to be able to tell you - I really would. Talk to me next week.
All I know is that Juice Newton necked himself and went off in a brace. We wish the great man all the best.
Paul Prymke Plate for Pre-Season Performance Votes
Who the fuck knows? 5 for Phil Gilbert, 4 for Trent Ormond-Allen and spill the rest between Andrew Lamprill, Vin Cattogio and Fatoui freaking Atata for all I know
Next Week
I think it's Footscray in Bendigo on Friday night. I'm not taking any more chances, I'll be there. Hook me up with a wireless modem by then and I'll liveblog it. Otherwise I'll just sit there (possibly in a car, honking the horn whenever there's a goal) and self-harm for four quarters.
Of course, given the farcical nature of scheduling in this competition we may very well turn out to play the Nashville Kangaroos in Bangkok.
[b]UPDATE[/b]
The Sunday Age presents us with a best players list. I have every suspicion that it's a complete fiction, especially because it lists our best player as a "C. Newton", but given that they're a newspaper and Demonblog is - err - not I'll take their word for it. Votes and leaderboard are therefore as follows,
5 - Newton
4 - Jones
3 - Davey
2 - Sylvia
1 - Johnson
Leaderboard
8 - Jones
5 - Buckley
5 - Newton
3 - Valenti
3 - Davey
3 - Sylvia
2 - Garland
1 - Johnson
Yes, in a week where the AFL have decided that they're going to add new teams and make a shitload of money they can't even be bothered to give you proper updated scores (even quarter by quarter) or a decent report on a game. So what if it's a practice game, if you're going to give it some gimmick name like the NAB Regional Challenge then at least treat it with some respect. It's bad enough that we get such shithouse coverage that we don't even get to watch drafts, but this is complete balls. They're probably making millions out of their website every year and they can't even get one of their officials on a junket in Cairns to phone through some scores for the website every once in a while.
When you're reduced to reading forums where people are posting information that they're getting from somebody at the ground who is sending them text messages, then you've got to start wondering what sort of competition you're actually following. Can you imagine that kind of a scenario in the NFL or Premier League? Sure, if the practice match is Melbourne vs the Diamond Valley D4 amateurs then fair enough leave it alone, but when you pit two legitimate AFL sides against each other (though having seen both Melbourne and Richmond last year there might be some argument against legitimacy) at least put some effort into it you peanuts.
Where does this leave us? Well, I'd like to be able to tell you - I really would. Talk to me next week.
All I know is that Juice Newton necked himself and went off in a brace. We wish the great man all the best.
Paul Prymke Plate for Pre-Season Performance Votes
Who the fuck knows? 5 for Phil Gilbert, 4 for Trent Ormond-Allen and spill the rest between Andrew Lamprill, Vin Cattogio and Fatoui freaking Atata for all I know
Next Week
I think it's Footscray in Bendigo on Friday night. I'm not taking any more chances, I'll be there. Hook me up with a wireless modem by then and I'll liveblog it. Otherwise I'll just sit there (possibly in a car, honking the horn whenever there's a goal) and self-harm for four quarters.
Of course, given the farcical nature of scheduling in this competition we may very well turn out to play the Nashville Kangaroos in Bangkok.
[b]UPDATE[/b]
The Sunday Age presents us with a best players list. I have every suspicion that it's a complete fiction, especially because it lists our best player as a "C. Newton", but given that they're a newspaper and Demonblog is - err - not I'll take their word for it. Votes and leaderboard are therefore as follows,
5 - Newton
4 - Jones
3 - Davey
2 - Sylvia
1 - Johnson
Leaderboard
8 - Jones
5 - Buckley
5 - Newton
3 - Valenti
3 - Davey
3 - Sylvia
2 - Garland
1 - Johnson
Pre-Season Fever
Ever since I fell into this damned sporting escapade, after being blissfully ignorant of sports for the first seven years of my life, nothing has summed up what off-season feels like better than Apocalypse Now,
Saigon... shit; I'm still only in Saigon... Every time I think I'm gonna wake up back in the jungle. When I was home after my first tour, it was worse. I'd wake up and there'd be nothing. I hardly said a word to my wife, until I said "yes" to a divorce. When I was here, I wanted to be there; when I was there, all I could think of was getting back into the jungle. I'm here a week now... waiting for a mission... getting softer; every minute I stay in this room, I get weaker, and every minute Charlie squats in the bush, he gets stronger. Each time I looked around, the walls moved in a little tighter.
Sad isn't it? Even coming off the back of our own Vietnam-esque disaster of campaign last season, there was nothing that I wanted more - even ten minutes after the final siren of that Round 22 abortion against Carlton - than the bounce of Round 1, 2008.
The TSP Verdict
Best Case Scenario: 6th
Worst Case Scenario: 15th
Most Likely Scenario: 10th
Over to the good Colonel for some final words on the upcoming season,
The horror... the horror...
Saigon... shit; I'm still only in Saigon... Every time I think I'm gonna wake up back in the jungle. When I was home after my first tour, it was worse. I'd wake up and there'd be nothing. I hardly said a word to my wife, until I said "yes" to a divorce. When I was here, I wanted to be there; when I was there, all I could think of was getting back into the jungle. I'm here a week now... waiting for a mission... getting softer; every minute I stay in this room, I get weaker, and every minute Charlie squats in the bush, he gets stronger. Each time I looked around, the walls moved in a little tighter.
Sad isn't it? Even coming off the back of our own Vietnam-esque disaster of campaign last season, there was nothing that I wanted more - even ten minutes after the final siren of that Round 22 abortion against Carlton - than the bounce of Round 1, 2008.
The TSP Verdict
Best Case Scenario: 6th
Worst Case Scenario: 15th
Most Likely Scenario: 10th
Over to the good Colonel for some final words on the upcoming season,
The horror... the horror...
Sunday, 17 February 2008
(Geelong) Road To Nowhere
So, welcome to season 2008. Are you depressed yet? Well, the good news is that I'm here to tell that we might have been well and truly touched up by Geelong at Kardinia Park yesterday but we were almost 50 points better against them than Port Adelaide managed in the Grand Final. Therefore we are the second best team in the competition. Yes!
Complete horseshit I know, but the story of yesterday's game is clearly more one of an absolutely sensational team, with a huge spread of senior players available toying with an already inferior squad lacking most of it's leadership group and half a dozen crucial players. Scoreline aside we weren't entirely embarassing today, and once you throw (deep breath please)..
Neitz, McLean, Rivers, Davey, Bruce, Wheatley, Carroll, Miller (I suppose..) etc.. etc.. back into the mix we already look like a better side. Maybe not top 8, but definately not the bottom of the harbour style performance that the score might have indicated.
A game review? Must I? I spent more time with my head in the record trying to work out who the hell half of our players were.
Paul Prymke Plate for Pre-Season Playing Performance (!?) Votes
5. Buckley
4. Jones
3. Valenti
2. Garland
1. Sylvia
Votes for other pre-season games will be as awarded by the newspapers, unless I'm actually there and then I'll make the decision. God forbid we play an intra-club anytime soon I'll hand out some votes there as well and make this well and truly confusing.
ZOMGer Watch
Well, now that both the Philthy and Byron Watch's are redundant we need somebody else to focus on. Unfortunately Zomer is unlikely to feature in more than a handful of matches this year so it's going to be a bit of a waste.
Crowd Watch
Early in the week the AFL, those bastions of truth and fairness in reporting, told us that the game was rapidly selling out and that we'd better buy tickets in advance to avoid disappointment. Sounded like a massive scam to me, and indeed it was. 10,000 people "packed" the ground to watch their returning heroes in their first post-Grand Final run out. Let's assume there were a thousand MFC fans, a thousand Cats fans from elsewhere, and 500 neutrals. That means that 7500 of 160,000 locals got down to the game. Wonderful stuff. Support the game. Harked back to the glory days of the late 90's when they were going down the tubes at a million miles an hour and were all set to join Pyramid and the Geelong Supercats in the list of local icons that had gone tits up financially.
Some twat behind us kept yelling "wooden spoon! wooden spoon!" every time we cocked something up. Amazing how after forty years of mediocrity people start to get cocky after they win once. I want to win once so I can be a complete bastard as well.
Next Week: Cairns for the NAB Regional Challenge. Did you know that there are "Regional Challenge" games being played at Princes Park? Who knew that Carlton's rubbish form over the last few years had turned so many people off that we have to go on a mission to reintroduce the game to the people of Parkville. Meanwhile given that we're the club who are pioneering an international student membership, and so many of them live in the area why can't we play there?
Maybe they're planning to add another few teams on top of the Gold Coast Goast and West Sydney Wankfest in a few years? The Cairns Crunts might be in the mix along with the Port Moresby Pedos. I can't wait.
Next season: We could be a contender! This season, however, we are going to be flotsam. Get used to it.
Complete horseshit I know, but the story of yesterday's game is clearly more one of an absolutely sensational team, with a huge spread of senior players available toying with an already inferior squad lacking most of it's leadership group and half a dozen crucial players. Scoreline aside we weren't entirely embarassing today, and once you throw (deep breath please)..
Neitz, McLean, Rivers, Davey, Bruce, Wheatley, Carroll, Miller (I suppose..) etc.. etc.. back into the mix we already look like a better side. Maybe not top 8, but definately not the bottom of the harbour style performance that the score might have indicated.
A game review? Must I? I spent more time with my head in the record trying to work out who the hell half of our players were.
Paul Prymke Plate for Pre-Season Playing Performance (!?) Votes
5. Buckley
4. Jones
3. Valenti
2. Garland
1. Sylvia
Votes for other pre-season games will be as awarded by the newspapers, unless I'm actually there and then I'll make the decision. God forbid we play an intra-club anytime soon I'll hand out some votes there as well and make this well and truly confusing.
ZOMGer Watch
Well, now that both the Philthy and Byron Watch's are redundant we need somebody else to focus on. Unfortunately Zomer is unlikely to feature in more than a handful of matches this year so it's going to be a bit of a waste.
Crowd Watch
Early in the week the AFL, those bastions of truth and fairness in reporting, told us that the game was rapidly selling out and that we'd better buy tickets in advance to avoid disappointment. Sounded like a massive scam to me, and indeed it was. 10,000 people "packed" the ground to watch their returning heroes in their first post-Grand Final run out. Let's assume there were a thousand MFC fans, a thousand Cats fans from elsewhere, and 500 neutrals. That means that 7500 of 160,000 locals got down to the game. Wonderful stuff. Support the game. Harked back to the glory days of the late 90's when they were going down the tubes at a million miles an hour and were all set to join Pyramid and the Geelong Supercats in the list of local icons that had gone tits up financially.
Some twat behind us kept yelling "wooden spoon! wooden spoon!" every time we cocked something up. Amazing how after forty years of mediocrity people start to get cocky after they win once. I want to win once so I can be a complete bastard as well.
Next Week: Cairns for the NAB Regional Challenge. Did you know that there are "Regional Challenge" games being played at Princes Park? Who knew that Carlton's rubbish form over the last few years had turned so many people off that we have to go on a mission to reintroduce the game to the people of Parkville. Meanwhile given that we're the club who are pioneering an international student membership, and so many of them live in the area why can't we play there?
Maybe they're planning to add another few teams on top of the Gold Coast Goast and West Sydney Wankfest in a few years? The Cairns Crunts might be in the mix along with the Port Moresby Pedos. I can't wait.
Next season: We could be a contender! This season, however, we are going to be flotsam. Get used to it.
Wednesday, 30 January 2008
While You Were Sleeping
So, what happened since the last real post? Just a few delistings, a national draft, a cowardly explanation for ditching your boyhood club by a money hungry crunt, a new coach and the emergence of the Brock McLean/Nathan Carroll tag team which rampaged it's way across Europe.
So, I promised that this off-season I wouldn't let Demonblog die in the arse. Then I did. So what, "Don't Trust Anyone", that's what I always say. It's not as if anyone is actually reading anyway.
So, to fill in my thoughts on everything that's happened.
Bailey
I like him. Anyone who can knock over the likes of Kevin Sheedy after applying via a newspaper must have some sort of X Factor. Of course he's dealing with the most tragic, wrist slashingly awful club this side of St. Kilda so that might count for bugger all. I'm optimistic, even if this season still promises to be depressingly naff.
Delistings
Nothing out of the ordinary there. Personally I'm still getting over Philthy's 2007 exit. Actually that's a complete lie, I'm actually still not over Allen Jakovich going.
Trade Week
Goodbye Travis Johnstone? Well I think everyone knows that I wasn't the biggest TJ fan around so I'm not exactly shattered to see him go. You can't wait forever for somebody to fulfill potential, no matter how limitless it seems to be. More surprising to me is the fact that Sydney were gagging to trade for Brad Miller and we refused them. Then he goes and ends up in the leadership group. That guy must have the biggest set of compromising photos since Luke Williams. It will be VERY interesting to see what happens with him this year.
John Meesen? Well we gave up all of pick 37 for him - so it doesn't really matter if he's a bust does it?
Draft
Very happy with this one. All of Morton, Grimes and Maric sound good and Cheney doesn't look too bad either. Then in the rookie draft we've got the new Aaron Davey in Wonaeamirri, and somebody who is called ZOMGer so there should be plenty of novelty value there.
Discipline
Did anyone else find it ironic that after fighting around the world a'la Russell Crowe alongside him that Brock McLean was part of the leadership group who suspended Nathan Carroll for misbehaving? Sucked in Chopper! Wait, what do you mean we have fark all other tall defenders because Rivers will get hurt five minutes into the season again? Shit.
Prospects for 2008
10th. Not bad enough to get embarassed. Not good enough to do more than put in token contention for the 8. If Neitz goes down up front we're in more trouble than the early settlers (pending a Juice Newton led recovery), and the backline is still as shaky as buggery. Midfield should be good though.
Allen Jakovich Medal Predictions
In no particular order I'd expect that Jones, McLean and McDonald would run top three with Green challenging. Given that this site is the only one who ever gives votes to defenders I'd expect Rivers (red hot favourite for the Seecamp Medal for defenders) to challenge for bigger honors this year if he stays fit.
Anything else to declare?
Err, see you at Kardinia Park next Saturday? Apparently Geelong are going to play with 1 person on the bench or something so we might even sneak into the second week of the competition.
So, I promised that this off-season I wouldn't let Demonblog die in the arse. Then I did. So what, "Don't Trust Anyone", that's what I always say. It's not as if anyone is actually reading anyway.
So, to fill in my thoughts on everything that's happened.
Bailey
I like him. Anyone who can knock over the likes of Kevin Sheedy after applying via a newspaper must have some sort of X Factor. Of course he's dealing with the most tragic, wrist slashingly awful club this side of St. Kilda so that might count for bugger all. I'm optimistic, even if this season still promises to be depressingly naff.
Delistings
Nothing out of the ordinary there. Personally I'm still getting over Philthy's 2007 exit. Actually that's a complete lie, I'm actually still not over Allen Jakovich going.
Trade Week
Goodbye Travis Johnstone? Well I think everyone knows that I wasn't the biggest TJ fan around so I'm not exactly shattered to see him go. You can't wait forever for somebody to fulfill potential, no matter how limitless it seems to be. More surprising to me is the fact that Sydney were gagging to trade for Brad Miller and we refused them. Then he goes and ends up in the leadership group. That guy must have the biggest set of compromising photos since Luke Williams. It will be VERY interesting to see what happens with him this year.
John Meesen? Well we gave up all of pick 37 for him - so it doesn't really matter if he's a bust does it?
Draft
Very happy with this one. All of Morton, Grimes and Maric sound good and Cheney doesn't look too bad either. Then in the rookie draft we've got the new Aaron Davey in Wonaeamirri, and somebody who is called ZOMGer so there should be plenty of novelty value there.
Discipline
Did anyone else find it ironic that after fighting around the world a'la Russell Crowe alongside him that Brock McLean was part of the leadership group who suspended Nathan Carroll for misbehaving? Sucked in Chopper! Wait, what do you mean we have fark all other tall defenders because Rivers will get hurt five minutes into the season again? Shit.
Prospects for 2008
10th. Not bad enough to get embarassed. Not good enough to do more than put in token contention for the 8. If Neitz goes down up front we're in more trouble than the early settlers (pending a Juice Newton led recovery), and the backline is still as shaky as buggery. Midfield should be good though.
Allen Jakovich Medal Predictions
In no particular order I'd expect that Jones, McLean and McDonald would run top three with Green challenging. Given that this site is the only one who ever gives votes to defenders I'd expect Rivers (red hot favourite for the Seecamp Medal for defenders) to challenge for bigger honors this year if he stays fit.
Anything else to declare?
Err, see you at Kardinia Park next Saturday? Apparently Geelong are going to play with 1 person on the bench or something so we might even sneak into the second week of the competition.
Sunday, 20 January 2008
Friday, 23 November 2007
Why AFL Jerseys Need Names
So that somebody can set up a local version of this site.
The only problem is that nobody here (with the possible exception of, err, me) wears a disturbingly random number on their jumper.
I'm sure as hell there's somebody out there in either a 1996, #7 Robbie Ah Mat Collingwood jumper or an original Fremantle Dockers spew green #31 Leigh Wardell-Johnson. And god damn it I want to see it.
(P.S - A recap of my all-time jumper number shenanigans,
#54 - Brent Heaver
#31 - Rod Keogh
#13 - Allen Jakovich
#1 - Jamie Shanahan
#28 - Phil Read)
The only problem is that nobody here (with the possible exception of, err, me) wears a disturbingly random number on their jumper.
I'm sure as hell there's somebody out there in either a 1996, #7 Robbie Ah Mat Collingwood jumper or an original Fremantle Dockers spew green #31 Leigh Wardell-Johnson. And god damn it I want to see it.
(P.S - A recap of my all-time jumper number shenanigans,
#54 - Brent Heaver
#31 - Rod Keogh
#13 - Allen Jakovich
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