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I (John Northey) had the privilege of being the Coach of the MFC in Stuarts rein. One of the very best.

Spencer passed away on Tuesday. He was aged 79.

He wore No. 12 in 122 games for Melbourne and played in the 1955 and 1956 premierships. Spencer was was also a dual Best and Fairest winner in those premiership years.

Spencer was recognised early on in his career for his ‘spectacular and determined football, both at back pocket and roving’.

Originally hailing from Portland via Digby in Victoria’s Western District, Spencer left Melbourne after the 1956 triumph, and went on to become a star with Tasmanian side, Clarence.

Amongst many honours achieved through his footballing life, he played 236 games with Clarence, was named All Australian in 1961, and was captain of the first Tasmanian side to ever beat Victoria.

Upon his retirement as a player, Spencer ultimately returned to serve as Melbourne’s President from 1986 to 1991, leaving his mark indelibly when he returned the Melbourne guernsey to red and navy blue from 1987.

With honours galore to his name, Spencer is a member of Melbourne’s Team of the Century, and an inductee into three Halls of Fame - Melbourne, the AFL and the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame.

We offer our most sincere condolences to Stuart’s wife, Fay, and his daughters Shelley and Loretta and their families.

145 Winners for the year.
Words from the very excited winner

Hi John, although I faltered in the last round, I did manage to hang on and win your footy tipping comp.

Thank-you

Trevor

This article seems to be a crack at John Cossar’s appointment as well as Peter Knights. It seems clear to me that you haven’t got any idea who John is or what his background is.

John is a farmer from Charlton in country Victoria. He was born there and still lives there. He coached Charlton FC reserves for two years and the seniors for five years, winning three premierships and coached the local North Central interleague team for a three or four years in this time. Whilst he no longer is the Charlton coach, he is still on the match committee for Charlton and very involved with the club.

So really with the appointment of John Cossar, the VCFL have rewarded a country coach who has achieved a great deal with his club and league, and now promoted him to the higher level . So for your matter of principle, maybe you are right with Peter Knights, but appointing someone like John seems to be exactly what you have asked for.

As a sidenote, I think it would be extremely difficult for a person who is the current coach of a club, to coach the statewide VCFL rep team. Clearly, you would need to get around to a range of club games early in the year, not just the interleague games (even so, with all interleague games on Super Saturday you could probably on watch one). This way the coach gets a look at the players and pick the best team.

By Carnblues

Preparation for a game.

A few facts that need to be taken into consideration.

Make sure after playing a game, next day give boots a good clean
Too many times the footy bag is thrown in the car or the corner of the laundry and not opened until training or match day.
Look after your equipment.

Game Day Facts

We cannot go for the knockout in the 1st quarter                                                                   
However we can work on having a very good start
We don’t need to be the best individual game day, that will happen automatically.
We need to work on the team elements from start till finish
Work on weaknesses we know that the opposition display
Work and use our TEAM strengths
Play percentages, regarding the game situation or weather conditions, when to play on quickly, when to slow play down, playing the defensive side until appropriate to switch

Preparation of the Body and Mind

Training looks after the physical aspect and all components of the game including the game plan
The mind looks after preparation, prior to training, boots, gear, timewise and more importantly,                                  Preparation Prior to Game

Divide the game into sections, the old saying Quarter by Quarter (1st point raised) Minute by Minute (concentration) Time on period (Focus until siren sounds)

Last Quarter is about MOTIVATION Genuine fully heart felt emotion (no crap or artificial verbal rubbish) Remembering those special moments in your life.
We are here for a reason each team member has a role to play

Think what it means to the CLUB, Volunteers (Medical, Canteen ,Gate keepers, Supporters, Family and Friends and more importantly yourself. Make this a natural part of your football life.

All the very best

Swooper

A man of the strongest mental capacity  we have seen. CADEL Evans has produced the ride of his life to become the winner-elect of The Tour de France.

Evans grew wings as he ripped his way through the streets of Grenoble to rip the yellow jersey off the back of Andy Schleck to ride his way into the history books as the first Australian to win the Tour.

In an individual test of man and machine,  Evans not only ground out a fabulous win, as he not only ate into the 57 seconds Andy Schleck enjoyed at the start of the day, he absolutely slaughtered the opposition for overall champion to record a time of 55min 40sec.

In a superb ride against the clock, the 34-year-old BMC rider destroyed Andy Schleck, who finished just three seconds ahead of older brother Frank, in a time of  58mins 11sec.

Evans will lead the survivors onto the Champs Elysees today by a whopping 1min 34 sec ahead of the field.

He showed the world that he who was both mentally and physically well prepared, having got off to a super fast start that he was looking for, barely breaking from his tucked position, looking superbly comfortable, seemingly not only wanting the yellow jersey, but winning the stage to add icing on the cake.

“Aldo Sassi said to me last year, that now that I’ve won the world championship (2009) you have turned yourself into a complete rider and now you can go on and win a Grand Tour and I hope for you it is the Tour de France.

“It was he who believed in me from October, 2001 and never for one day did he doubt in my own ability, he never gave up on me.

“We went through both good and bad. I had some bad moments in the last 10 years, but this makes the good moments even better.”

“Today I just came up a few seconds short for the stage, but in time I will look back and reflect on what I’ve just done.”

In Australia, tributes have begun to flow for Evans and plans are already underway in Victoria to honour the local hero.

“Whether it be a celebration, obviously that will happen, whether it be a monument or whether it be some special naming, we’ve got a lot of ideas and we’d welcome others,” said Sports Minister Hugh Delahunty.

He said a parade through Melbourne was one option.

“All those things are being looked at … we do that for the Grand Final of the AFL, but I think this is well above that,” he said.

Evans shares his time between his home in Barwon Heads, southwest of Melbourne, and his house in Switzerland. He is not expected to return to Australia for a couple of months.

He has been on scholarship with the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) for the past 14 years.

A bleary-eyed VIS Cycling Head Coach Dave Sanders said Evans’ achievement was the equivalent of Australia winning the soccer World Cup.

“For this to happen, I’m making the statement it’s the greatest individual achievement in Australian sporting history and I challenge anybody to put up something against it,” he said.

Fellow cyclist and Coalition leader Tony Abbott said Evans’s triumph made the nation’s toughest sportsman.

“Cadel has done every Australian incredibly proud.

“The Tour de France is the toughest endurance event in the world.

“I think Cadel Evans has stamped himself as Australia’s toughest sportsman with his triumph.”

THE FOOTBALL world is mourning the passing of former St Kilda, Hawthorn and Richmond coach Allan Jeans, and paying tribute to the footy legend.
Hawthorn and North Melbourne premiership coach John Kennedy snr: “I can only say at the moment he was a great coach, a great man and a wonderful friend. I’d leave it at that for now.”

Hawthorn legend Leigh Matthews: “The first thing I think of about Allan Jeans is that he was a great man. It’s a simple statement but not one you can say about a lot of people. He was the best psychologist and man manager I have ever seen. He wasn’t trained in psychology, but he knew so much about people and how best to relate to them.

“With Allan, there was no doubt it was all about the team, but teams were full of individuals and he managed them well.
“He was a great communicator. He would bring up a subject and then shut up and allow the others in the discussion to have their say and state their view. He would listen and then open up the subject.

Former Hawthorn premiership captain and coach David Parkin: “The phone has not stopped because of the influence this man had on so many people. It is profound and we sometimes underestimate their influence well beyond their capacity to lead, direct and coach players. I think this man had as broad an influence as the great John Kennedy and that is saying something. How lucky Hawthorn was/is to have had two outstanding people influence the playing group and the club in a broader sense over four decades. That is unique in a club’s history.

He was named a legend of the St Kilda Hall of Fame and is a member of both the AFL and Hawthorn halls of fame.

FACT FILE
Born: September 21, 1933

THE PLAYER
St Kilda 1955-59: 77 matches, 27 goals.
Honours: Pre-season premiership 1958; Victorian representative (one match).

THE COACH
St Kilda 1961-76: 332 matches, 194 wins, 137 losses, one draw, 59 per cent winning percentage, one premiership (1966).
Hawthorn 1981-87, 1989-90: 221 matches, 159 wins, 61 losses, one draw,
72 per cent winning percentage, three premierships (1983, 1986, 1989), two night premierships (1985-86).
Richmond 1992: 22 games, five wins, 17 losses, 23 per cent winning percentage.
Total: 575 games, 358 wins, 215 losses, two draws, 62 per cent winning percentage, four premierships. Coach of Victoria 1972, 1984: five games, four wins, one loss.
Honours: Australian Football Hall of Fame member; coach of St Kilda’s Team of the Century; AFL Team of the Year coach 1983, 1986; Member of the Order of Australia.

Lately Jill hasn’t felt like herself. Her friends have noticed it, too.

Mia was surprised when Jill turned down her invitation to go to the mall last Saturday. There was really no reason not to go, but Lindsay just didn’t feel like it. Instead, she spent most of Saturday sleeping.

Staying in more than usual isn’t the only change in Jill. She’s always been a really good student. But over the past couple of months her grades have fallen and she has trouble concentrating. She forgot to turn in a paper that was due and is having a hard time getting motivated to study for her finals.

Jill feels tired all the time but has difficulty falling asleep. She’s gained weight too. When her mother asks her what’s wrong, Jill just feels like crying. But she doesn’t know why. Nothing particularly bad has happened. Yet Jill feels sad all the time and can’t shake it.

Jill may not realize it yet, but she is depressed.

Depression is very common and affects as many as 1 in 8 people in their teen years. Depression affects people of every color, race, economic status, or age; however, it does seem to affect more girls than guys.

Responses to Depression

Sometimes friends or family members recognize that someone is depressed. They may respond with love, kindness, or support, hoping that the sadness will soon pass. They may offer to listen if the person wants to talk. If the depressed feeling doesn’t pass with a little time, friends or loved ones may encourage the person to get help from a doctor, therapist, or counselor.

But not everyone recognizes depression when it happens to someone they know.

Some people don’t really understand about depression. For example, they may react to a depressed person’s low energy with criticism, yelling at the person for acting lazy or not trying harder. Some mistakenly believe that depression is just an attitude or a mood that someone can shake off. It’s not that easy.

Sometimes even people who are depressed don’t take their condition seriously enough. Some feel that they are weak in some way because they are depressed. This is wrong — and it can even be harmful if it causes people to hide their depression and avoid getting help.

Occasionally, when depression causes physical symptoms (things like headaches or other stress-related problems), a person may see a doctor. Once in a while, even a well-meaning doctor may not realize somebody is depressed, and just treat the physical symptoms.

Why Do People Get Depressed?

There is no single cause for depression. Many factors play a role including genetics, environment, life events, medical conditions, and the way people react to things that happen in their lives.

Genetics

Research shows that depression runs in families and that some people inherit genes that make it more likely for them to get depressed. Not everyone who has the genetic makeup for depression gets depressed, though. And many people who have no family history of depression have the condition. So although genes are one factor, they aren’t the single cause of depression.

Life Events

The death of a family member, friend, or pet can go beyond normal grief and sometimes lead to depression. Other difficult life events, such as when parents divorce, separate, or remarry, can trigger depression. Even events like moving or changing schools can be emotionally challenging enough that a person becomes depressed.

Family and Social Environment

For some teens, a negative, stressful, or unhappy family atmosphere can affect their self-esteem and lead to depression. This can also include high-stress living situations such as poverty; homelessness; and violence in the family, relationships, or community.

Substance use and abuse also can cause chemical changes in the brain that affect mood — alcohol and some drugs are known to have depressant effects. The negative social and personal consequences of substance abuse also can lead to severe unhappiness and depression.

Medical Conditions

Certain medical conditions can affect hormone balance and therefore have an effect on mood. Some conditions, such as hypothyroidism, are known to cause a depressed mood in some people. When these medical conditions are diagnosed and treated by a doctor, the depression usually disappears.

For some teens, undiagnosed learning disabilities might block school success, hormonal changes might affect mood, or physical illness might present challenges or setbacks.

Don’t be afraid to speak out and Seek Help.

Our thanks to the medical group DFYA in allowing this article to be used on swoopercoach.

In each and every contest try and have quality involvement. This will continue to keep you out of your comfort zone and you will feel immediate improvement.

Trying something different or making the slightest change, can enpower one.
Why continue to stay in the comfort zone, reach out seek new horizons. It provides fresh views and highlights new options.
It invigorates, it invigorates your team mates, with the Finals approaching make it a part of your natural football life.