I agree it was a great atmosphere last weekend at the MCG and fantastic that so many Richmond supporters remain after the game to soak it all in, wait for their team to leave the field and watch them on the big screen singing the team song after the game. Earlier today I published an article celebrating Dustin Martin's record breaking 2017 Brownlow Medal win, a link is provided below: https://milestonesandmisses.com/201...-and-provide-a-dont-argue-to-several-records/ @chris88 I hope you have a great day tomorrow.
It was a great day, congrats Chris. I was lucky enough to go along, and sat towards the back of the section right next to the Richmond Cheer Squad (M5, they were M4), Those guys were great, and model citizens. Can't say the same for two other Richmond supporters, both in their 60's, and who didn't know each other, and should know better. No need to be dickheads to the Adelaide supporters around us who were good sports all day. Enjoy the win, celebrate the success, but no need to resort to pathetic insults, especially when there are young kids around. As a neutral I was compelled to say something, and thankfully the people they were with agreed with me and told them both to pull their heads in. However, to the 100s of other tiger faithful around me... what a way to celebrate... I hope you all went into the wee hours of the morning!
Yeah, there's always some who do silly things - so many more people now with an awareness of "there's young kids around, don't act like an idiot" which is a positive. And I've heard nothing but good things about all the travelling Crows' fans. I felt for them a bit, and then their flights back got delayed, which must've made things even worse. Got to Punt Road yesterday which was a blast. Just to be with lots of happy Richmond fans enjoying the day .... yeah, I don't have the words. Just very happy for all the good people, genuinely nice people, who work around the club.
Agreed, went to school with Dimma (he was the year below me... played on the senior basketball team together), and a good friend is Brendon Gale's EA... couldn't be more happier for both of them, especially Nicki who had her birthday this week, and saw about 3 minutes of down time! For all the die hard fans, lap it up and enjoy the moment!
As the first round of trading comes to a close (at least, till January 1) - a list update. Many many forwards, not so many backs. Might need a defender. Still 2-3 players to be delisted or traded away - will probably listen to offers on some of the forwards. Backs: May Rance Adams Astbury Byrne-Jones Brand Vickers-Willis Mids: Coniglio Lyons Atkins Newnes Walters (F/M) Edwards (probable F/M) Caddy (M/F) Dale (probable F/M) B Hill Balic (possible M/F) Jack (probable M/F) Greenwood (F/M) Rucks: Smith Forwards: Brown Walters (probable F/M) Caddy (M/F) Edwards (F/M) McDonald-Tipungwuti Dale (F/M) Hrovat Jack (probable M/F) Greenwood (F/M) Balic (possible M/F) Parsons Kirby Draft Picks: 3, 8, 21 and some picks in the 60s I think.
It has been a busy trade period for the Blimps, with endeavours to strengthen lines and bring in both youngsters and experience (as well as draft picks). This has meant we've bid farewell to some players - Cal Sinclair, Dom Tyson and Sam Naismith will be in Lilac in 2018, while Nathan Hrovat and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti have also been traded. Andrew Mackie has hung up the boots. In their place we have bolstered our midfield, which has been long overdue. We welcome Jordan Lewis and Will Hoskin-Elliott to the Guim, and re-welcome Pretzels Goddard who served Darraweit well a couple of years back. All three add some necessary depth and talent to the midfield. We have also welcomed M/F Josh Caddy and defender Aliir Aliir to The Paddock. Our list now looks like: DEF: May, Rance, Adams, Astbury, Byrne-Jones, Brand, Vickers-Willis, Aliir MID: Coniglio, Lyons, Newnes, Goddard, Atkins, Lewis, Hoskin-Elliott, Hill, Dale MID/FWD: Walters, Caddy, Edwards, Balic, Jack, Greenwood FWD: Brown, Parsons, Kirby RUCK: Smith Our next task, apart from perhaps a couple of further late trades, is to decide on delistings before the 2018 ORFFA Pre-season Draft. With picks 3 and 21 in the draft, we hope to draft a couple of long term prospects who will be able to step up for us in coming years.
The list turn over continues at Darraweit, with Bailey Dale leaving us and Jack Gunston arriving. We also part with PSD pick 3, which, with the added midfield depth this off-season, became a tradeable commodity. Gunston provides some further talent and depth to the Blimps' forwardline, and will join with Brown, Walters, Caddy and veterans Edwards and Jack to fill the four forwardline places during 2018. One more defender may be sought out for trade during the remainder of the offseason, with Pick 21 perhaps being part of the deal. But six new players, many of whom will immediately be in contention for best 15 spots, is a strong step towards strengthening a team which, during 2017, really struggled for depth.
Darraweit has finalised its pre-PSD squad of 24 after further trading in the past couple of days. We welcome Myles Poholke and Shane Savage aboard the merry-go-round, and farewell Messers Parsons, Kirby, greenwood, Balic and Atkins. Our defence and forwardlines have been reinforced, while our midfield has some long sought-after depth. Marcus Adams DEF Aliir Aliir DEF David ASTBURY DEF Kaiden Brand DEF Darcy Byrne-Jones DEF Steven MAY DEF Alex Rance DEF Shane Savage DEF Ed Vickers-Willis DEF Stephen Coniglio MID Brendon Goddard MID Bradley Hill MID Will Hoskin-Elliott MID Jordan Lewis MID Jarryd LYONS MID Jack Newnes MID Josh CADDY F/M Shane Edwards F/M Kieren Jack F/M Myles Poholke F/M Michael Walters F/M Ben Brown FWD Jack GUNSTON FWD Zachary SMITH RUC Darraweit has four picks in the PSD, starting with pick 49 and continuing through the 60s. Coach and scouting staff have identified a number of prospective targets to recruit in the draft. The waiting game will be played and hopefully at least a couple of our prime targets will be around when our picks arrive.
An eventful trade and drafting period comes to a close, and we welcome four more new faces to The Paddock for season 2018. Charlie Ballard – M/F, Gold Coast Suns Patrick Naish – M/F, Richmond Joel Garner – DEF, Port Adelaide Wylie Buzza – R/F, Geelong These four new faces come on top of the eight new players who arrived at The Paddock during the pre-season trade period. The recruiting department is extremely happy with these four picks, especially the choices of highly credentialed juniors Naish and Garner at picks 61 and 62. Garner’s leadership and work with Indigenous students impressed Darraweit greatly. And while the club were keen on Liam Ryan, Bayley Fritsch and Ryan Bastinac for our last pick in the draft, we are also happy to draft a ruck/forward who has already had a taste of AFL football in Wylie Buzza. Buzza will back up Zac Smith, providing depth to the only line in our team without any. The club’s major concern however is whether there is enough room for his hair alongside Ben Brown’s Sideshow Bob-esque do in the Darraweit forward line. The club looks forward to the coming season after what was the busiest trade period in its history; a period which saw us add youth and experience, as well as depth to each line. Darraweit also holds three first-round picks in the mid season draft – a long time source for Darraweit to claim, or reclaim, underappreciated and burgeoning talent.
New arrivals Shane Savage, Josh Caddy and Will Hoskin-Elliott are likely to debut for Darraweit Guim in Round 1 after encouraging pre-seasons. Savage is likely to join the returning Marcus Adams as "new" faces in Darraweit's bolstered defence, while Josh Caddy may play up forward or in the midfield. Hoskin-Elliott could get a starting midfield spot, or nail down a spot on the interchange bench. Recruits Brendan Goddard and Jack Gunston are also well in contention for Round 1 spots. Our prospective best 15 looks something like: DEF: Rance, May, Savage, Adams/Astbury MID: Coniglio, Goddard, Lyons, Newnes/Hoskin-Elliott RUCK: Smith FWD: Walters, Caddy, Edwards, Brown/Gunston I/C: from Hoskin-Elliott, Gunston, Lewis, Jack, Hill
An encouraging first up win over Charlie's Opening to kick off season 2018 for the Blimps. Hindy Votes: 5 - Coniglio (please don't get injured) 4 - Gunston (a good debut after off season recruitment) 3 - Astbury (continues to be a solid D4 option) 2 - Goddard (welcome back Pretzels) 1 - Savage (ditto comments about Jack Gunston) 2 Coach Discretionary Votes to Ed Vickers Willis, who was close to selection but played superbly in the twos with 105 points.
Sorry about that Bandit. I did give them clear instructions along those lines, but they clearly didn't listen.
Round 2 and despite playing one short the Blimps record another win, this time over Mt Beauty. 1257 from 14 players brought a smile to coach Chris's face ... the absence of Zac Smith did not. Smith accidentally arranged transport to Heard Island thinking the team were playing their knockout league fixture this week. Our ruckman is now stuck halfway between Antarctica and Madagascar. He is however going to stay there and subsist on a diet of algae whilst sheltering from the wind until the rest of the team arrive. Hindy Votes for the weekend: 5 - Lyons - superb game 4 - Coniglio 3 - Walters 2 - Rance 1 - Savage 2 Coach Discretionary Votes to Ben Brown, who is likely to return to the seniors this coming week. Overall Standings: 9 - Coniglio 5 - Lyons 4 - Gunston 3 - Walters, Astbury 2 - Goddard, Rance, Savage, Vickers-Willis, Brown.
Round 3 and a lofty score of 1444 - the largest for a while at Guim-land - helped propel the Blimps to a third win to start the season. Big thanks to Iron Knob for the game, we hope the post-match hospitality in Darraweit was of high standard. Hindy Votes: 5 - Lyons 4 - Walters 3 - Coniglio 2 - Savage 1 - Rance With eight guys hitting the century mark and two others exceeding 90, votes were quite competitive. Mentions to Lewis, Hoskin-Elliott, Shed Edwards, Brown and Newnes for great games, as well as Byrne-Jones for his work as fill-in ruckman. Overall Standings: 12 - Coniglio 10 - Lyons 7 - Walters 4 - Gunston, Savage 3 - Astbury, Rance 2 - Goddard, Vickers-Willis, Brown. With Caddy, Hill and Smith in the frame for returns next week, selection might be tough before Round 4, and before the big Household Cup Knock Out comp match with @Jen and her hugely improved Purple Haze.
Round 4 and a narrow victory over Cradle Mountain despite some pretty dire scoring from players who shouldn know better. May, Newnes, Edwards and Lewis all struggled this week, despite playing good footy throughout the first three rounds. Aliir playing OOP ruck was a mistake - Will Hoskin-Elliott will return to the line-up this coming week. Ben Brown's 167 kept us in the game, while Shane Savage's late game century allowed us to squeak past the Devils by 25 points. Hindy votes: 5 - Sideshow Brown 4 - Cogs 3 - Pretzels 2 - Astbury (for a guy picked in the 90s in the 2017 PSD, he has been very good) 1 - Savage Mentions to Gunston, Hoskin-Elliott and Caddy. Overall: 16 - Coniglio 10 - Lyons 7 - Walters, Brown 5 - Astbury, Goddard, Savage 4 - Gunston 3 - Rance 2 - Vickers-Willis.
Round 5 and a close contest with Nunawading sees Darraweit record a narrow win in what became a game riddled by injuries. A score of nearly 1200 from the equivalent of about 13.5 players isn't bad. Hopefully a fully fit team can take the field this week. Hindy Votes: 5 - Pretzels 4- Cogs 3 - Sideshow 2 - Son-son 1 - Rance, Shed Overall: 20 - Coniglio 10 - Lyons, Goddard, Brown 9 - Walters 5 - Astbury, Savage 4 - Gunston, Rance 2 - Vickers-Willis. 1 - Shane Edwards