Jump to content

  • IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

    Posting unsubstantiated rumours on this website is strictly forbidden.

    Demonland has made the difficult decision to not permit this platform to be used to discuss & debate the off-field issues relating to the Melbourne Football Club including matters currently being litigated between the Club & former Board members, board elections, the issue of illicit drugs in footy, the culture at the club & the personal issues & allegations against some of our players & officials ...

    We do not take these issues & this decision lightly & of course we believe that these serious matters affecting the club we love & are so passionate about are worthy of discussion & debate & I wish we could provide a place where these matters can be discussed in a civil & respectful manner.

    However these discussions unfortunately invariably devolve into areas that may be defamatory, libelous, spread unsubstantiated rumours & can effect the mental health of those involved. Even discussion & debate of known facts or media reports can lead to finger pointing, blame & personal attacks.

    The repercussion is that these discussions can open this website, it’s owners & it’s users to legal action & may result in this website being forced to shutdown.

    Our moderating team are all volunteers & cannot moderate the forum 24/7 & as a consequence problematic content that contravenes our rules & standards may go unnoticed for some time before it can be removed.

    We reserve the right to delete posts that offend against our above policy & indeed, to ban posters who are repeat offenders or who breach our code of conduct.

    WE HAVE BUILT A FANTASTIC ONLINE COMMUNITY AT DEMONLAND OVER THE PAST 23 YEARS & WE WOULD LIKE TO CONTINUE TO BE ABLE TO DISCUSS THE CLUB WE LOVE & ARE SO PASSIONATE ABOUT.

    Thank you for your continued support & understanding. Go Dees.


Adios Brian Royal


Scipio

Recommended Posts

Nice.

Let's not be too uncharitable. It's hard to assess how much blame should be apportioned to Royal when one considers the cattle he had to work with.

He was unable to do much with the stock he had at Footscray, Richmond or St Kilda either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When Ratten was at MFC our midfield looked to be improving.

Even when Scott West was midfield coach there were signs of life and improvement.

During Royal's second stint there have been diminishing skills, lack of grunt, and being killed at stoppages. I am so glad he is gone.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agreed...I liken Royal's task in coaching our midfield to that wonderful line from the film Christine - "you cant polish a turd".

Roos was always going to bring his own people in. Does Roos know how good BR is or isnt in the two days he has been with us ? I suspect he has asked people with knowledge prior to his in the club if there are any coaches that are really worth keeping hence it looks like Rawlings is the only one who is staying.

If anyone outside the inner sanctum would like to judge our assistants coaches - every one of them including Rawling should go and Viney as well for the complete lack of development. Lets get rid of the new recruiter as well because Toumpas hasnt done as well as Wines. Misson certainly has to go. Glad Craig is goingto after our last two seasons.

I find it amusing that we stick the boots into Royal but we give respect to Craig as he comes across as a good bloke - but the main reason Craig was brought in was to mentor, council and and help mould the first time coach in Neeld - how did he do with that task ? From an outsiders perspective Craig was as epic a fail as Royal was.

I think we have little insight to these things and if Roos wants them to stay thats good and if he wants them gone thats also good - but I won't slag off any of the departing.

Actually you can. I watched it done on 'Mythbusters'.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am rejoicing though as we finally have some genuine football people running the club who know what it takes to compete at AFL level. Roos in particular. Didn't win a GF by identifying and employing 2nd or 3rd bananas in critical roles throughout the Swans' FD.

It's finally happening and if I was 20 years younger I'd be attempting cartwheels right now!!

I'm as happy as anyone that we have Roos, but we heard this when Bailey and Neeld were hired.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Royal was a very, very good midfielder in a time when he was called a rover and rested in the forward pocket. He had a distinctive kicking action, wasn't a long kick but was a very good kick. Often playing on muddy grounds he could go all day, and seemed to run across the mud easily. He was a bit yappy - we might call him a sledger .

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What was Royal like as a player back in the day?

A bloody good one. Rover.....back when such things existed

Some pretty graceless comments on here. He's tries to run a midfield with only one midfielder up to scratch & predictably got poor results. I doubt he was trying to fail and I'm sure he gave his best efforts for the MFC ! For some hero on here to describe him as a disease is a [censored] disgrace.

  • Like 13
Link to comment
Share on other sites


Shame but it had to happen. The players he has currently are pretty average but it was his responsibility to make them better than they currently are.

Good luck in the future Brian. You have had 6 years at the club so you will always be welcome back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brian Royal and Dale Weightman were unstoppable as rovers, changing in a pocket, for Victoria in the mid 80's.

Very good player. Spectacular mullet too.

Would I be overreaching suggesting similar to Marc Murphy ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brian Royal and Dale Weightman were unstoppable as rovers, changing in a pocket, for Victoria in the mid 80's.

Very good player. Spectacular mullet too.

Dale Weightman was a great rover and also a vindictive fellow - didnt matter how big you were, he would hit you ( behind play)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A bloody good one. Rover.....back when such things existed

Some pretty graceless comments on here. He's tries to run a midfield with only one midfielder up to scratch & predictably got poor results. I doubt he was trying to fail and I'm sure he gave his best efforts for the MFC ! For some hero on here to describe him as a disease is a [censored] disgrace.

Agreed. A change is what was needed, clearly, but some of the comments are well out of line.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites


When Ratten was at MFC our midfield looked to be improving.

Even when Scott West was midfield coach there were signs of life and improvement.

During Royal's second stint there have been diminishing skills, lack of grunt, and being killed at stoppages. I am so glad he is gone.

Ratten had Thompson in the midfield and good outside mids around Thommo. He also had Jeff White in AA form. It's a lot easier when you have the cattle.

Scott West was moved on as I recall and he too was blighted by the lack of class and quality in the midfield. Great player but his results are marginal at best.

And in respect to Royal the criticisms labelled at him could be labelled at the whole side. In the past 2 years there has been a definite reason why MFC went backwards...and they have left the building.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Me too RR

The guy had a miserable lot to work with.

Not sure JC could have done much more with this lot.

I don't know to what extent the failure of the MFC and the midfield is the fault of Royal. There are so many factors at play in that assessment that the average supporter is not aware of.

From where I sit at the games (like most others), I can't possibly determine whether assistant coaches are or are not doing their jobs well.

But what I am sure is that the assistant coach critics certainly can't tell either.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know to what extent the failure of the MFC and the midfield is the fault of Royal. There are so many factors at play in that assessment that the average supporter is not aware of.

From where I sit at the games (like most others), I can't possibly determine whether assistant coaches are or are not doing their jobs well.

But what I am sure is that the assistant coach critics certainly can't tell either.

Me too

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Genuine gun. One of the best rovers of his era. Regular state player for Victoria. Won a B&F. Made AA.

I agree with that assessment and I think it's fair to say that he was a better footballer than a midfield coach.

In his early days as an assistant coach, he was often in the running for a senior coach's gig but he never quite made it.

His capacity to show that he was a capable assistant coach would not have been helped by the fact that had not much cattle to work with and he was an assistant to Bailey and Neeld.

We'll forever be asking ourselves whether it was the chicken or the egg but I reckon we got scrambled in the end.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Demonland Forums  

  • Match Previews, Reports & Articles  

    LEADERS OF THE PACK by The Oracle

    I was asked to write a preview of this week’s Round 8 match between Melbourne and Geelong. The two clubs have a history that goes right back to the time when the game was starting to become an organised sport but it’s the present that makes the task of previewing this contest so interesting. Both clubs recently reached the pinnacle of the competition winning premiership flags in 2021 and 2022 respectively, but before the start of this season, many good judges felt their time had passed - n

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 4

    PODCAST: Kade Chandler Interview

    I'm interviewing Melbourne Football Club's small forward Kade Chandler tomorrow for the Demonland Podcast. I'll be asking him about his road from being overlooked in the draft to his rookie listing to his apprenticeship as a sub to VFL premiership to his breakout 2023 season to mainstay in the Forwadline and much more. If you have any further questions let me know below and I'll see if I can squeeze them in. I will release the podcast at some time tomorrow so stay tuned.

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 24

    TRAINING: Monday 29th April 2024

    Demonland Trackwatcher Kev Martin was on hand at Gosch's Paddock for Monday's training session and made the following observations. About 38 to 40  players down at training.  BBB walking laps.  Charlie Spargo still in rehab, doing short run throughs.  Christian Salem has full kit on and doing individual work with a trainer. He is is starting to get into some sprints. I cannot see Andy Moniz-Wakefield out there. Jack Viney and Kade Chandler have broken away from the

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Training Reports

    DISCO INFERNO by Whispering Jack

    Two weeks ago, when the curtain came down on Melbourne’s game against the Brisbane Lions, the team trudged off the MCG looking tired and despondent at the end of a tough run of games played in quick succession. In the days that followed, the fans wanted answers about their team’s lamentable performance that night and foremost among their concerns was whether the loss was a one off result of fatigue or was it due to other factor(s) of far greater consequence.  As it turns out, the answer to

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 16

    TIGERS PUNT CASEY by KC from Casey

    The afternoon atmosphere at the Swinburne Centre was somewhat surreal as the game between Richmond VFL and the Casey Demons unfolded on what was really a normal work day for most Melburnians. The Yarra Park precinct marched to the rhythm of city life, the trains rolled by, pedestrians walked by with their dogs and the traffic on Punt Road and Brunton Avenue swirled past while inside the arena, a football battle ensued. And what a battle it was? The Tigers came in with a record of two wins f

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Casey Articles

    PREGAME: Rd 08 vs Geelong

    After returning to the winners list the Demons have a 10 day break until they face the unbeaten Cats at the MCG on Saturday Night. Who comes in and who goes out for this crucial match?

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 526

    PODCAST: Rd 07 vs Richmond

    The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 29th April @ 8:30pm. Join George, Binman & I as we analyse the Demons victory at the MCG against the Tigers in the Round 07. You questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show. If you would like to leave us a voicemail please call 03 9016 3666 and don't worry no body answers so you don't have to talk to a human. Listen & Chat

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 44

    VOTES: Rd 07 vs Richmond

    Last week Captain Max Gawn overtook reigning champion Christian Petracca in the Demonland Player of the Year Award. Steven May, Jack Viney & Alex Neal-Bullen make up the Top 5. Your votes for the win against the Tigers. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 54

    POSTGAME: Rd 07 vs Richmond

    The Demons put their foot down after half time to notch up a clinical win by 43 points over the Tigers at the MCG on ANZAC Eve keeping touch with the Top 4.

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 387
  • Tell a friend

    Love Demonland? Tell a friend!

×
×
  • Create New...