Melbourne commencement dinner

[dees189227 12,388]

I wondered when our season launch is on. But just read on twitter its on tonight. The club just tweeted Don just made his speech.

Also Life members recipients are: Laurie Mithen, Brian Wilson, Andrew Leoncelli, Mark Jamar, Jackie Emmerton and Bernie Dunn.

Anyway any feedback on people who were there would be interesting.

[old dee 23,787]

Any blazers in view?

[dees189227 12,388]

Any blazers in view?

Sadly I think yes. This was a tweet from Rodan earlier. David Rodan ‏@DROD_15

4h

Getting my club suit on for @melbournefc Commencement Dinner tonight #blazerpresentation #cantwait… http://instagr.am/p/XG-cw1iZFr/

[demoniac 1,333]

Love the blazers. A nod to our rich heritage and will be greatly valued by players particularly in retirement. Who cares that other Clubs don't do it.

[old dee 23,787]

Love the blazers. A nod to our rich heritage and will be greatly valued by players particularly in retirement. Who cares that other Clubs don't do it.

I care that they look like a whole bunch of 19th century school boys.

[demoniac 1,333]

I care that they look like a whole bunch of 19th century school boys.

they look like Melbourne Demons footballers to me....

[old dee 23,787]

they look like Melbourne Demons footballers to me....

Fortunately beauty is in the eye of the beholder

[Pates 9,660]

I care that they look like a whole bunch of 19th century school boys.

Couldn't give a stuff about the blazers, they may be a bit campy and old fashioned but it is a throw back to our heritage. It also reminds me of the blazers the cricketers wear. For one night they have to wear them, it's not the end of the world.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

I was in attendance tonight and it was enjoyable. The new players got their Blazers like them or not there were a few inducted in to the Hall of Fame including Alan Johnson who was there with his som Chris, it seems he is back in touch with the club after the spat.

Sat with Jeremy Howe and he's keen to get in to it, said the Darwin camp was unbelievably hard, even when you stop it as still sapping because of the heat and conditions. I asked him about the delisted players and he said it was just about attitude to training and that some players get to a certain point then they just stop, he said its all about the last 15 minutes of training and you had to get through that as it was the most important. Gys and a few others just didn't have it in them to keep going he thinks it was because of how it was done in the past. The new kids coming in have only seen the way it's done now so they are buying in no problem.

Loves Toumpass reckons he's the happiest person he's ever met and very strong, should play first round. Thinks Jesse Hogan will be a star he's just huge and a great awareness of the game excited about the future.

Got cleaned up at training by Mitch he said he got crunched reckons Mitch is looking great and should be ready for round one. Trenners is a little way off he's lost a bit of weight they feel he had put on too much upper body muscle. Mentioned Tappers said he and Sylvia aren't allowed too much Gym time because they just get too big, that's been part of Tappers problem.

The players up the field love Jack in the back line their eyes light up when he got the ball because he's such a great distributor I think he'll stay their for a while he's put on weight and his strength has increased significantly. Just has to get rid of the beard there are some shockers.

The coach is excited with the playing group and said success may come a lot quicker that we think, said don't worry about the negative headlines just focus on the club, he's very positive.

Getting late if I can think of anything else worth adding I will tomorrow.

[McQueen 17,864]

Thanks, Robbie. Some great inside detail there.

[rjay 24,917]

Thanks for the insight 'Robbie', a breath of fresh air after the neg stuff we've been getting hammered with.

[Whispering_Jack 30,025]

The commencent dinner's a great concept. You rub shoulders with the greats of the club and the game as well as with dedicated Demon fans and the players. Towards the end of the night I chatted briefly with Ron Barassi and showed him a picture of my grandson wearing 31 when he was a team mascot a couple of weeks ago at the Casey Fields NAB Cup game. It got a big smile out of him.

I sat on Max Gawn's table and he's raring to go. He won't be playing for Casey this week but should start his comeback the following week in Casey's final practice game v Box Hill Hawks. He has a fantastic attitude and I reckon will go far, not just as a player but in all facets of the game. Not that it's exactly the pinnacle of the sport but if he can become a regular and start playing good footy on a weekly basis, I can see him as a regular panellist on the Footy Show and in the media. Of course, there's a lot of hard work to be done before he gets there.

Speaking to the players there's a quiet air of confidence that we're going to be better than most of the critics are suggesting and I got the same feeling when Mark Neeld spoke later in the evening. On that score, I reckon the coach seems far more composed and comfortable in the role now than, at the start of last season when the team performed so limply and he was personally subjected to attacks in the media and to that fabricated racism slur.

The evening was compered by Sandy Roberts who was in good form and showed that he was more than just a sports newsreader. Don McLardy was good, briefly opening with the tanking investigation, thanking those board members who worked on our defence and promising that the club was no longer going to be silent in the face of some of the unwarranted attacks on the club we see in the media. About time.

The life member, hall of fame inductions and our fifth legend presentations were all well received and the blazers are growing on me. I don't think the players have a problem with them at all.

As for what's happening in the immediate future, I think Mitch Clark, Chris Dawes and James Frawley are all good chances for Sunday week but Tom McDonald is in doubt. Jack Trengove and Sam Blease, because of the positions they play, might be a week or two behind that. It comes as no surprise for me to suggest a large number of new players will represent the club for the first time next week and in that respect, we will need to break new ground because history says those sorts of teams take a while to gel together and produce winning form. However, the consensus among the players seems to be that those who have departed were in the main, not the hardest of workers on the track, and things are very much different now. If that's true, the Neeld/Craig/Misson combo is starting to turn around our (for want of a better word) culture.

And, because a discussion on the current team can't take place without mention of him, I just want to say that Jack Watts looks to have matured physically and will be a far more influential player than many people think.

[Satyriconhome 10,867]

Great reports......couldn't make it because of commitments.........just a note Jack Watts' beard is fine

[daisycutter 29,613]

I care that they look like a whole bunch of 19th century school boys.

pretty popular in the 20th century too od and many private schools today

[Guest Spirit of 39]

It was a fabulous night. A fair bit more subdued than the Bluey, but as Robbie said, it's a great opportunity to rub shoulders with the players and coaching staff.

I sponsor Nicho and sat on his table. I asked him about the beards. He said there was a competition between four of the boys. Watts, Gawn, Gillies and one other. They are not allowed to trim or touch their beards in any way. Last man standing is the winner. He said the Geelong boys used to call Gillies 'Homicide' because he looks like a criminal!!!

[old dee 23,787]

pretty popular in the 20th century too od and many private schools today

I will never like them dc

They suggest to me that we are buried in the past.

[old dee 23,787]

Thanks RobbieF and WJ for your reports.

[Satyriconhome 10,867]

I will never like them dc

They suggest to me that we are buried in the past.

Gee Old Dee...thought you loved the past, the blazers are cool I asked some of the players previously and they like them, some posters want us to have an unique identity/brand and then not like the unique blazer.....

[Pates 9,660]

Great reports guys, thanks. Sounds like a good night to get along to.

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

I was in attendance tonight and it was enjoyable. The new players got their Blazers like them or not there were a few inducted in to the Hall of Fame including Alan Johnson who was there with his som Chris, it seems he is back in touch with the club after the spat.

Sat with Jeremy Howe and he's keen to get in to it, said the Darwin camp was unbelievably hard, even when you stop it as still sapping because of the heat and conditions. I asked him about the delisted players and he said it was just about attitude to training and that some players get to a certain point then they just stop, he said its all about the last 15 minutes of training and you had to get through that as it was the most important. Gys and a few others just didn't have it in them to keep going he thinks it was because of how it was done in the past. The new kids coming in have only seen the way it's done now so they are buying in no problem.

Loves Toumpass reckons he's the happiest person he's ever met and very strong, should play first round. Thinks Jesse Hogan will be a star he's just huge and a great awareness of the game excited about the future.

Got cleaned up at training by Mitch he said he got crunched reckons Mitch is looking great and should be ready for round one. Trenners is a little way off he's lost a bit of weight they feel he had put on too much upper body muscle. Mentioned Tappers said he and Sylvia aren't allowed too much Gym time because they just get too big, that's been part of Tappers problem.

The players up the field love Jack in the back line their eyes light up when he got the ball because he's such a great distributor I think he'll stay their for a while he's put on weight and his strength has increased significantly. Just has to get rid of the beard there are some shockers.

The coach is excited with the playing group and said success may come a lot quicker that we think, said don't worry about the negative headlines just focus on the club, he's very positive.

Getting late if I can think of anything else worth adding I will tomorrow.

Top post Robbie!

[rpfc 28,384]

I will never like them dc

They suggest to me that we are buried in the past.

At some point, a nod to the past is just that, and not some grand reveal of a distracted club reaching back to past glories at the expense of the future of the club.

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

The encouraging thing I take out of Robbie's post is this:

"The coach is excited with the playing group and said success may come a lot quicker that we think, said don't worry about the negative headlines just focus on the club, he's very positive."

That's a far cry from about 16 months ago when he came into the club, and expressed utter bewilderment at the professionalism, culture, fitness level etc of the list.

As everyone knows, Neeld calls a spade a spade. He also commands confidence and respect, and strikes me as being very competent/capable.

So, if he's positive, I'm positive.

[Maldonboy38 6,400]

I can't believe the rubbish written about the blazers. Pointing to the past, some say?

Who wears a tie? They have been around in some form for thousands of years, and in the modern form for at least 100 years.

Who wears jeans? Invented on the Californian gold fields in the 1840's.

The blazers are not about how they look but what they represent.

Our heritage.

Our unity

A symbol of success

Club colours.

Would you rather missing teeth, moccasins, flannelette shirts and K-Mart jeans like the filth?

[Satyriconhome 10,867]

The encouraging thing I take out of Robbie's post is this:

"The coach is excited with the playing group and said success may come a lot quicker that we think, said don't worry about the negative headlines just focus on the club, he's very positive."

That's a far cry from about 16 months ago when he came into the club, and expressed utter bewilderment at the professionalism, culture, fitness level etc of the list.

As everyone knows, Neeld calls a spade a spade. He also commands confidence and respect, and strikes me as being very competent/capable.

So, if he's positive, I'm positive.

Ron, that's why he took the job he could see something, and I agree, no spin from Neeld, nice to see the good vibe coming from last night

[Good Times Grimes 2,396]

I can't believe the rubbish written about the blazers. Pointing to the past, some say?

Who wears a tie? They have been around in some form for thousands of years, and in the modern form for at least 100 years.

Who wears jeans? Invented on the Californian gold fields in the 1840's.

The blazers are not about how they look but what they represent.

Our heritage.

Our unity

A symbol of success

Club colours.

Would you rather missing teeth, moccasins, flannelette shirts and K-Mart jeans like the filth?

Moccasins can look great if you pair them with a nice pair of overalls.