2011

[Roost It 1,434]

The reason I love preseason's is because everything's good. Players love to train the house down in January. Apparently Watts was 5 kg heavier, Trengove, although looking a little slow was super buffed, Moloney and Sylvia were cracking the spray-on tan with every muscle flex and Davey was ready to resume his 2009 form.

Demonlanders were pumped. Even Rhino'e dour suggestions of realism couldn't contain the excitement. When a Demonlander suggested top 4 was possible we yelled "Yeh" and posted high fives to each other as though it was a given. So we entered the season with moods ranging from hysteria to cautious optimism. The draw was kind and we had pretty much a full list to choose from. Those reading Bhima's pre season reports may have noted that the club wasn't doing any drills to combat the forward press. No matter most of us thought, we've got paid professionals running the club, surely they know what's going on.

When James Frawley ripped his shoulder we commented how that would be great for the player taking his spot. More development, more talented kids, again we yelled "Yeh, posted high fives and moved on. The MCG members amongst us aired the tartan rugs, unpacked the thermos and dusted off the Wool knit Melbourne Jumper, not to wear, just to remind us of the glory days that were surely about to return. Others amongst us upgraded our memberships to Trident and Captains Club in anticipation of a finals birth. As the season got nearer we continued to sign up in droves pouring more hard earned into our recently inspired and professionally run club. Finally we were on the cusp of mixing it with the big boys again.

The first signs that all was not as professional as we hoped was when our new jumpers turned up pink and blue. When one Demonlander ensured us they were in fact deep red and only looked pink on TV or when the sun was shining BelzeBub 59 pointed out that surely a club trying to reinvent itself wouldn't mess up the Jumper. The same one that previous players had swapped for Collingwood players after yet another Grand Final victory. The one with which Checker Hughes had made us the Demons in. The sacred Red and Blue, that we hoped our new talent was going to wear into battle as though it was a bullet proof vest. That before long would become a symbol of what is possible, what can be achieved when a battered club finally reunites and puts itself back where Demonlanders so want it to be. Yes the very same one that Ron Barassi wore with such distinction was now Pink. This time there were no "yeh's and certainly no high fives.

Then we opened Demonland to read that Scully was off to GWS. At this stage very few believed such dribble but when the media storm reached fever pitch the Boy Wonder fronted the camera's. He did everything except look at the camera and say he was staying. The Yeh's were replaced with groans and the high fives were a distant memory. Surely this can't be happening. Surely our club had this under control? Surely the ridiculous sum of money we had poured into our China booze fest hadn't scared our best young player into the hands of the crazy old man? Were we seriously about to start our season of hope wearing pink with our star recruit using us for match practice. Turns out his suspect knee would keep him out of the side for awhile yet. Mostly we reassured ourselves by reading Rpfc's posts and skipped Range Rover's as the rantings of an infidel. Occasionally we were visited by the mysterious Hannibal who seemed convinced he would stay. As a group we developed a knot in the stomach. Was our club destined to implode again?

Finally the season began and we were satisfied with a draw against the very same team we beat by 74 points at the end of last season. It's funny what losing for so long has done to us. We've got used to it, we even laugh at it some times. At half time against Tasmania the "yeh's" and hive fives were back in a big way. We ignored the fact Hawthorn had kicked 13 behinds and should have been in front. A little over an hour later as the pink and blue began to filter out of the G it became apparent the High fives needed to be put on ice.

Over the next few weeks we beat up some Queenslanders and reassured ourselves that after the bye we were ready to take on the much improved Eagles. We'd unpacked the high Fives and were ready to use them. It was here that our lack of preparation against the forward press was exposed for all to see. Dean Bailey must have kicked himself for missing the obvious and leaving himself and his young team so vulnerable against the serious teams, all now switched on to the current method of winning big games.

Once again the club escaped higher scrutiny as it beat up on another weakling at the G. Not long in to the game against North and with Micheal 'How the fark am I on an AFL list' Newton playing inspired football we looked like breaking our Etihad hoodoo and rolling the Roos. However after the break they kicked 12 goals to our 4 and once again we left Etihad with a pathetic loss against a side we needed to be beating if were to take a much needed step toward credibility.

Next up we ran the saints back into form as our highest paid player refused to commit to a contest and then gave away a 50 in the last quarter that ended the arm wrestle. Not a high five to be seen.

It was the following week that our season defining game was to be played. When the Blues rolled us on a friday night and accused us of playing Bruise Free Football in front of a TV audience not only were the high fives away but the Melbourne jokes were out again and we were being laughed at once again, if in fact the laughter had ever stopped.

A lone high point for the season was watching Scully return and help us spank the out of sorts Essendon, a win that would hopefully get our season back on track.

All roads led to the MCG on Queen's Birthday for our annual fundraising gift from Eddie Maguire. With Swanny breathing the rarified air of Arizona and Daisy suspended surely we were a chance. Sadly with Travis Cloke kicking as many goals as our entire side we were sent packing from another televised game looking not too different from the team of 2008.

Once again we returned to the G to beat up a weakling, this time Fremantle in front of less than 20,000 bored fans. One only had to look at the lack of opposition to realise we were the giant pretenders of 2011.

A win against fellow battler Richmond before running the Dogs into some form with another 10 goal loss left us begging for the bye before heading upto Darwin to post another win against one of the few sides below us on the ladder in Port Adelaide. Round 18 saw us against the Hawks and if we were to be a finals chance we'd have to win this one. Alas they spanked us again in front of a smaller than hoped crowd, as Demonlanders headed for the snow for their annual "escape this rubbish" pilgramage.

What followed was surely the lowest week in our struggling club's history. First our captain, if you would call him that, spilled the beans on the club's civil unrest. Surely Jim Stynes dedication was enough to keep this stuff in house. By Friday Schwab was apparently 2 days from retiring. Then came the trip down the highway. Some Demonlanders recalled Robbo's heriocs when we upset the Cats. Not this time, not by a long shot! The moment will for ever be etched in my mind, similar to Waverley Park as a 9 year old when I demanded Mum take me to the footy only to watch Fitzroy beat us by 190 points. I really should have listened to her that day. Visiting friends in the country I wandered in from moving cows to turn the radio on. I missed the final score but heard the announcer read out the goal kickers. Using my brain rather than the calculator on my phone I counted 37 goals for the Cats... Sh*t... This couldn't be good.... It wasn't, only 7 for us and a loss of 186 points. Embarrassing doesn't do it justice. Nor does disaster, I tried epic fail but that didn't cut it either so I laughed. It felt good to laugh. It was a game after all.... I had a life, I would simply move on and let the rabble that was my beloved club sort their own sh*t out. So what did they do, something only Melbourne would do, sack the coach, reinstate the CEO and call in Gary Lyon to talk to his mates who had promised so much but dellivered so little. If only Jiimmy Stynes wasn't sick.

Ignoring Football isn't easy for a Melbourne lad bought up on a diet of The Demons and the MCG so I simply closed down apart of my being and waited for the end.

First Carlton, then West Coast then Richmond just to add some salt to an open and gangrenous wound. We limped home against the Suns before Port finally stomped us out of our misery. Then further humiliation when our club website pronounced "Dee's Delight" Had I missed something? had I simply dreamed the game on TV? I checked the result again, no, I was right, we had lost to a team that before meeting us had won just 2 games and had sat below The Suns for most of the last half of the season. A delight they say! Surely they jest?

However it did at least end the season for us. I couldn't help but think "Was it really the end?", "Was this season of promise over just like that?" Were we once again left to ponder the next round of young kids who might save us from ourselves. Will Tom Scully finally put us out of our misery and as a perfect post script to our bruise free year will we be forced to look on as our Boy Wonder sits between Grubby Allen and The Crazy Old Man wearing Orange. We will stay sitting as he announces he is heading to Shitsville loaded with cash from AFL HQ to play in front 12,000 bored rugby fans with free tickets all the while our club again puts it's hand out for us to pour in more hard earned to pay for it's continued mistakes.

What about a coach? The bookies seem to think Lyon will coach, I hope like hell it's the right one. What of Viney? Surely employing another mate would be beyond even our Boys Club. Malthouse, could it be possible?. If a Club ever needed a stern kick up the ginger it was now.

As I sit pondering what was, I still somehow find an ounce of sunlight. Jack Watts and his improvement. The signature of Jack Trengove. The game of Sam Blease against the Suns. The fact Liam Jurrah still wants to play in Melbourne. All these things will keep us going. Each of us will hang on to a thresd of hope, the very same thread that has sustained this club of ours for over 150 years.

We must decide that now is not the time to waiver, it is not the time to panic, it is the time to stand tall, to upgrade that membership, to send some hard earned to the 100% Melbourne campaign, to refresh the sticker on the back of the Volvo and change your phone ring to It's a Grand Old Flag. Because if we don't 2011 will keep happening, over and over again and Collingwood, Hawthorn, Carlton, Essendon and even possibly even Richmond, well probably not Richmond, will keep kicking us around and laughing at our history.

So fellow Demonlanders grab hold of that thread and get ready to help make the dream a reality.

To borrow a phrase from Demonology

Go Demons, Unleash Hell

[Guest Gareth Keenan]

Not only did you ramble a fair bit, you lost me totally when you started to carry on about the colour of the jumpers.

Woe is you...

[old dee 23,256]

What an effort!

Agree with most of your emotions.

[Demonic Ascent 0]

Its posts like this that the term TL;DR was invented for.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,000]

Not only did you ramble a fair bit, you lost me totally when you started to carry on about the colour of the jumpers.

Woe is you...

Funny, I stopped reading there as well. Got a bit bogged down in misty-eyed reminiscences of bygone teams and how mighty the jumper once was.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Demonlanders were pumped. Even Rhino'e dour suggestions of realism couldn't contain the excitement. When a Demonlander suggested top 4 was possible we yelled "Yeh" and posted high fives to each other as though it was a given.

Ah Roost it, I am not gonna say I told you so.....oh stuff it.. I told you so.

What an effort!

Agree with most of your emotions.

If you were also high fiving at the start of the year you really have dropped into a hole old dee!!

[Roost It 1,434]

Ah Roost it, I am not gonna say I told you so.....oh stuff it.. I told you so.

I'm not sure even you thought the year would be as big a train wreck as it was.

[old dee 23,256]

Ah Roost it, I am not gonna say I told you so.....oh stuff it.. I told you so.

If you were also high fiving at the start of the year you really have dropped into a hole old dee!!

A pit of dispair RR.

However it is not a new feeling I have been here a few times in the past.

I said I agreed with most not all his article.

[old dee 23,256]

Not only did you ramble a fair bit, you lost me totally when you started to carry on about the colour of the jumpers.

Woe is you...

I didn't GK that shambles says a lot about the MFC administration.

No other club with red in their jumper has managed to produce a red that looks pink on TV and at night.

If you cannot get the jumper right what hope the rest!

Edited September 6, 2011 by old dee

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

I'm not sure even you thought the year would be as big a train wreck as it was.

For the record, I thought MFC would win 8 to 9 games and finish 13th.

It was always going to tough given:

1. Younger list than previous years.

2. Need to continue to blood and develop young players

3. Injuries mounting in the pre season.

4. Green and Jamar need to back up huge 2010 and even improve on it.

5. Scully to GWS issue was mounting.

6. Bailey in his last year of his contract with the issue of the above 5 points.

7. D'land and other supporters with unrealistic expectations of final 8 and higher.

However what I did not expect:

1. The extent of injuries and to critical players.

2. The collapse of the leadership group and lack of contribution from them

3. The off field carp with Stynes inability to fulfill his functions, Schwab also, fallout from the Junior and the Scully issues.

4. The circus undertaken by the FTI Board leading up to and after the Geelong game.

5. The extent of the blowouts - This was always going to be coffin nail for DB

[baysidedave 246]

you lost me at 'The'

[Guest Gareth Keenan]

I didn't GK that shambles says a lot about the MFC administration.

No other club with red in their jumper has managed to produce a red that looks pink on TV and at night.

If you cannot get the jumper right what hope the rest!

I dare say most other clubs would not give a sh** about the incessant whinging of bored and stupid supporters over the jumper colour being a slightly different tinge to what they are accustomed, and instead focus on winning matches and running the club.

[Guest Gareth Keenan]

For the record, I thought MFC would win 8 to 9 games and finish 13th.

It was always going to tough given:

1. Younger list than previous years.

2. Need to continue to blood and develop young players

3. Injuries mounting in the pre season.

4. Green and Jamar need to back up huge 2010 and even improve on it.

5. Scully to GWS issue was mounting.

6. Bailey in his last year of his contract with the issue of the above 5 points.

7. D'land and other supporters with unrealistic expectations of final 8 and higher.

However what I did not expect:

1. The extent of injuries and to critical players.

2. The collapse of the leadership group and lack of contribution from them

3. The off field carp with Stynes inability to fulfill his functions, Schwab also, fallout from the Junior and the Scully issues.

4. The circus undertaken by the FTI Board leading up to and after the Geelong game.

5. The extent of the blowouts - This was always going to be coffin nail for DB

Fair assessment in the end.

[daisycutter 28,723]

I dare say most other clubs would not give a sh** about the incessant whinging of bored and stupid supporters over the jumper colour being a slightly different tinge to what they are accustomed, and instead focus on winning matches and running the club.

Well I seem to remember that it was the club (esp CS) who made the issue initially of returning to a 'traditional' darker blue and a deeper red.

So you can hardly blame the supporters for making a conversation piece out of it

I wasn't aware anyone was doing that and avoiding any 'focus on winning matches and running the club'.

Find something else to troll over Gareth

[old dee 23,256]

Well I seem to remember that it was the club (esp CS) who made the issue initially of returning to a 'traditional' darker blue and a deeper red.

So you can hardly blame the supporters for making a conversation piece out of it

I wasn't aware anyone was doing that and avoiding any 'focus on winning matches and running the club'.

Find something else to troll over Gareth

It is hard to soar with the eagles when you are surrounded by turkeys DC!

[Guest Thomo]

Good read Roost it.

[Demon Dynasty 16,287]

I dare say most other clubs would not give a sh** about the incessant whinging of bored and stupid supporters over the jumper colour being a slightly different tinge to what they are accustomed, and instead focus on winning matches and running the club.

You're right. How could such a simple task as getting the colour of the jumpers/scarfs right have been stuffed up?

If it were just a slightly different tinge as you claim, supporters wouldn't have noticed it and it never would have become an issue.

Professional clubs are capable of getting both the on and off field right. That's what professional clubs do.

If the colour on the scarfs that were sent out is the same as that on the player's jumper (or similar).....it's a very poor choice, harking back to the days of Fitzroy's old maroon colour when they were named such, circa 1883 - 1938. And we all know where they ended up. It may hail from a bygone era of ours, but that's best left to a heritage weekend of footy. Regardless, at least make sure it doesn't appear to have a pink tinge on tv etc. No supporter (well almost none....maybe with the exception of Gareth and CS) wants a pinkish colour in a footy guernsey.

And you'd be surprised what putting a jumper on and how it looks, makes a player feel like. If it has a fair dose of whimpyness/cringe worthiness to it..... believe me...the players will feel likewise towards it, and wont enjoy playing in it.

I dare say most other clubs would not give a sh** about the incessant whinging of bored and stupid supporters......

Hope this isn't reflective of the general attitude towards supporters within the club's administration. If so then we're truly just fodder to suck the life from and it's all just a big game to the MFC. No heart or soul in there if this is the case. I doubt that's the case. Hopefully this is just your view mate.

Edited September 7, 2011 by Rusty Nails

[Flemo56 389]

pretty good Roost....we've had some memorable,not, moments this year

[Sir Why You Little 35,320]

A very True read there Roost.....sadly!!!

[old dee 23,256]

You're right. How could such a simple task as getting the colour of the jumpers/scarfs right have been stuffed up?

If it were just a slightly different tinge as you claim, supporters wouldn't have noticed it and it never would have become an issue.

Professional clubs are capable of getting both the on and off field right. That's what professional clubs do.

If the colour on the scarfs that were sent out is the same as that on the player's jumper (or similar).....it's a very poor choice, harking back to the days of Fitzroy's old maroon colour when they were named such, circa 1883 - 1938. And we all know where they ended up. It may hail from a bygone era of ours, but that's best left to a heritage weekend of footy. Regardless, at least make sure it doesn't appear to have a pink tinge on tv etc. No supporter (well almost none....maybe with the exception of Gareth and CS) wants a pinkish colour in a footy guernsey.

And you'd be surprised what putting a jumper on and how it looks, makes a player feel like. If it has a fair dose of whimpyness/cringe worthiness to it..... believe me...the players will feel likewise towards it, and wont enjoy playing in it.

Hope this isn't reflective of the general attitude towards supporters within the club's administration. If so then we're truly just fodder to suck the life from and it's all just a big game to the MFC. No heart or soul in there if this is the case. I doubt that's the case. Hopefully this is just your view mate.

Not my view either RN!

[titan_uranus 23,142]

However what I did not expect:

1. The extent of injuries and to critical players.

2. The collapse of the leadership group and lack of contribution from them

3. The off field carp with Stynes inability to fulfill his functions, Schwab also, fallout from the Junior and the Scully issues.

4. The circus undertaken by the FTI Board leading up to and after the Geelong game.

5. The extent of the blowouts - This was always going to be coffin nail for DB

You're missing a few.

6. The skill level of the side being as poor as it was

7. Michael Newton getting another game.

[BAMF 3,852]

Who was high fiving at the start of the year? As I remember it there were one or two fools who thought we could be top 4 and the rest of us shot them down for being stupid. Most people thought we would be around 7th -10th on the ladder.

Didn't read after there as I noticed how long it was going to be.

[Roost It 1,434]

Not only did you ramble a fair bit, you lost me totally when you started to carry on about the colour of the jumpers.

Woe is you...

No woe is you Gareth for being so accustomed to mediocrity that watching your side run around in an incorrectly pink jumper doesn't bother you. The club made a huge deal of the new jumper and totally fluffed it. It pretty much mirrored our season.....soft and wrong!!

Edited September 7, 2011 by Roost It

[Wadda We Sing 10,685]

Top post RI.