Jump to content


Recommended Posts

Posted


The last time that Melbourne had a "winning season" (i.e one in which it won more games than it lost) was 2006. The club has undergone numerous changes in its quest to improve and in the main the outcome has been abject failure although its current trajectory is a welcome move forward and upward. Forward and upward enough perhaps to suggest that one day soon the Demons might even enjoy the experience of those clubs left today in the finals race around the stars.

If there is one thing that the club has lacked in the past decade and even in the years before it has been star quality. It has only one player on its list with All Australian credentials and those were achieved at another club and half a decade ago. With the recent departure of Mark Jamar, we don't have a single home grown All Australian - a sad indictment on the club's recruitment and player development over this period.

Of course, there are changes taking place and since the advent of Paul Roos as coach only two years ago, they have brought new faces onto the scene, a new attitude and new-found hope. We can't but feel excited about the likes of Jack Viney who narrowly missed out on becoming club champion this year, Jesse Hogan the NAB Rising Star, Angus Brayshaw, Dom Tyson and last year's second pick in the draft, Christian Petracca, who is yet to play a game due to a knee injury.

"Bluey" medallist Bernie Vince has also made an impact in his short time at the club and while Heritier Lumumba didn't set the world alight, he had an impact on the playing group and brings a premiership attitude with him. Sam Frost broke his toe early in the season so we didn't see enough of him and there is a bevy of other names such as Stretch, Neal-Bullen, Harmes, Oscar McDonald and White who have now experienced AFL football at the highest level and have valuable games in their legs.

As the 2015 season wore on - and at times it remained a painful thing to experience - it became clear that the coaching panel's emphasis was on ringing in the changes and bringing the youth to the fore, even if at the expense of winning (and I'm not telling a joke when I say that!). Without a doubt, these are the stepping stones to the stars.

The club's playing list for 2015 was:-

PRIMARY LIST:

Rohan Bail Angus Brayshaw Daniel Cross Chris Dawes Lynden Dunn Jack Fitzpatrick Sam Frost Max Gawn Jeff Garlett Jack Grimes Jesse Hogan Jeremy Howe Jayden Hunt Mark Jamar Neville Jetta Matt Jones Nathan Jones Jay Kennedy-Harris Dean Kent Heritier Lumumba Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Jordie McKenzie Viv Michie Alex Neal-Bullen Ben Newton Christian Petracca Aidan Riley Christian Salem Jake Spencer Billy Stretch Dean Terlich Jimmy Toumpas Jack Trengove Dom Tyson Bernie Vince Jack Viney Jack Watts

ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A

James Harmes Max King Aaron vandenBerg Mitch White

ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B

Nil

That list was good enough to lift its on field result from four wins to seven in 2015, to raise its percentage by almost 9% and to improve its ladder position from 17th to 13th. That's still a position in the bottom third of the competition but it's clear that the changes in playing personnel (more than 20 list positions turned over in two trade/draft periods) are slowly and inexorably having their effect.

And as for the future, the club has already signaled that there will be no let up to the policy of turning over the numbers to improve the playing list. Even before the curtain fell on the season, Daniel Cross and Mark Jamar's careers came to an end when the club announced it would not renew their contracts.

Yesterday, it announced the delisting of Rohan Bail, Jack Fitzpatrick, Jordie McKenzie and Aidan Riley, all good servants who are the victims of inevitable change and will therefore not be taking part in the club's race to the stars. With the trade and draft period looming, we know that they are not the only ones but we salute them all for their efforts and contributions to the red and the blue.
  • Like 1

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Demonland Forums  

  • Match Previews, Reports & Articles  

    2024 Player Reviews: #15 Ed Langdon

    The Demon running machine came back with a vengeance after a leaner than usual year in 2023.  Date of Birth: 1 February 1996 Height: 182cm Games MFC 2024: 22 Career Total: 179 Goals MFC 2024: 9 Career Total: 76 Brownlow Medal Votes: 5 Melbourne Football Club: 5th Best & Fairest: 352 votes

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 6

    2024 Player Reviews: #24 Trent Rivers

    The premiership defender had his best year yet as he was given the opportunity to move into the midfield and made a good fist of it. Date of Birth: 30 July 2001 Games MFC 2024: 23 Career Total: 100 Goals MFC 2024: 2 Career Total:  9 Brownlow Medal Votes: 7 Melbourne Football Club: 6th Best & Fairest: 350 votes

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 2

    TRAINING: Monday 11th November 2024

    Veteran Demonland Trackwatchers Kev Martin, Slartibartfast & Demon Wheels were on hand at Gosch's Paddock to kick off the official first training session for the 1st to 4th year players with a few elder statesmen in attendance as well. KEV MARTIN'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Beautiful morning. Joy all round, they look like they want to be there.  21 in the squad. Looks like the leadership group is TMac, Viney Chandler and Petty. They look like they have sli

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Training Reports 2

    2024 Player Reviews: #1 Steven May

    The years are rolling by but May continued to be rock solid in a key defensive position despite some injury concerns. He showed great resilience in coming back from a nasty rib injury and is expected to continue in that role for another couple of seasons. Date of Birth: 10 January 1992 Height: 193cm Games MFC 2024: 19 Career Total: 235 Goals MFC 2024: 1 Career Total: 24 Melbourne Football Club: 9th Best & Fairest: 316 votes

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons

    2024 Player Reviews: #4 Judd McVee

    It was another strong season from McVee who spent most of his time mainly at half back but he also looked at home on a few occasions when he was moved into the midfield. There could be more of that in 2025. Date of Birth: 7 August 2003 Height: 185cm Games MFC 2024: 23 Career Total: 48 Goals MFC 2024: 1 Career Total: 1 Brownlow Medal Votes: 1 Melbourne Football Club: 7th Best & Fairest: 347 votes

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 5

    2024 Player Reviews: #31 Bayley Fritsch

    Once again the club’s top goal scorer but he had a few uncharacteristic flat spots during the season and the club will be looking for much better from him in 2025. Date of Birth: 6 December 1996 Height: 188cm Games MFC 2024: 23 Career Total: 149 Goals MFC 2024: 41 Career Total: 252 Brownlow Medal Votes: 4

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 9

    2024 Player Reviews: #18 Jake Melksham

    After sustaining a torn ACL in the final match of the 2023 season Jake added a bit to the attack late in the 2024 season upon his return. He has re-signed on to the Demons for 1 more season in 2025. Date of Birth: 12 August 1991 Height: 186cm Games MFC 2024: 8 Career Total: 229 Goals MFC 2024: 8 Career Total: 188

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 7

    2024 Player Reviews: #3 Christian Salem

    The luckless Salem suffered a hamstring injury against the Lions early in the season and, after missing a number of games, he was never at his best. He was also inconvenienced by minor niggles later in the season. This was a blow for the club that sorely needed him to fill gaps in the midfield at times as well as to do his best work in defence. Date of Birth: 15 July 1995 Height: 184cm Games MFC 2024: 17 Career Total: 176 Goals MFC 2024: 1 Career Total: 26 Brownlow Meda

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 8

    2024 Player Reviews: #39 Koltyn Tholstrop

    The first round draft pick at #13 from twelve months ago the strongly built medium forward has had an impressive introduction to AFL football and is expected to spend more midfield moments as his career progresses. Date of Birth: 25 July 2005 Height: 186cm Games MFC 2024: 10 Career Total: 10 Goals MFC 2024: 5 Career Total: 5 Games CDFC 2024: 7 Goals CDFC 2024: 4

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 9
  • Tell a friend

    Love Demonland? Tell a friend!
×
×
  • Create New...