Jump to content

  • IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

    The Demonland Terms of Service, which you have all recently agreed to, strictly prohibit discussions of ongoing legal matters, whether criminal or civil. Please ensure that all discussions on this forum remain focused solely on on-field & football related topics.


Recommended Posts

Posted

Listened to Titus O'Reily on latest episode of the Junktime AFL podcast. While it may be common knowledge to some, I was shocked when he spoke of rumors of just how bad the culture really was during Bailey/Neeld era. Talks of senior players constantly eating McDonald's, one player getting so drunk in China the night before exhibition game that he couldn't even play the next day. Had to make it 17 v 17.

Also said when Roos got to MFC, he couldn't believe the team were actually AFL players - they were that unfit!!

I knew it was bad, but I just thought that the FD and/or players were just really below par, but those stories of the example setting senior players being slobs just blew my mind.

Anyone else got any other messed up behind the scenes tales of what went on?

Posted

so, he "spoke of rumours"

you do realise he is a satirist

but we all knew things weren't the best, rumours, comedians or not. no need to "be shocked". these things have been discussed and derided on demonland many times before

Posted

Also said when Roos got to MFC, he couldn't believe the team were actually AFL players - they were that unfit!!

For a start I don't know why people want to keep living our dreadful past, but when Roos came on board the players had two years under Dave Misson, if he's so good I doubt they would have been all that unfit.

  • Like 5
Posted

For a start I don't know why people want to keep living our dreadful past, but when Roos came on board the players had two years under Dave Misson, if he's so good I doubt they would have been all that unfit.

Agreed and im pretty sure i heard Roos say before the start of 2014 season that he was surprised how good our training habits were but it ment nothing if we couldn't translate it onto gamedays

Posted

As much as people loathed Neeld as a coach, he did recognized those player traits when he took over. He can be blamed for a lot of things but he can't be accused for continuing that culture. He tried to change it and change it quick by moving on Maloney, Morton and co. You can imagine the bitching and sniping that would have gone on during his time. Would have been a horrible place to be in.

  • Like 12
Posted

As much as people loathed Neeld as a coach, he did recognized those player traits when he took over. He can be blamed for a lot of things but he can't be accused for continuing that culture. He tried to change it and change it quick by moving on Maloney, Morton and co. You can imagine the bitching and sniping that would have gone on during his time. Would have been a horrible place to be in.

Agreed...but didnt he manage that badly. Plus the game plan he so doggedly stuck with didn't suit the players we had and was already outdated by the time he was implementing! Dont take me back there!! Its like PTSD. Worst coach and people manager in AFL history.

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

Titus O'Reily has done some hosting on the 3RRR breakfast shift of late. Very funny guy. I liked his headline that the Blues are confident of being player free by 2018!

Would you have a link to that AFL podcast Dee Gee?

Edited by Moonshadow
  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

so, he "spoke of rumours"

you do realise he is a satirist

but we all knew things weren't the best, rumours, comedians or not. no need to "be shocked". these things have been discussed and derided on demonland many times before

Wasn't satire.

Missed a lot of these stories coz I'm new, only a "Rookie Demon". Senior DLer's like yourself should be filling me in and not doing the digital equivalent of eating McDonald's/getting drunk before game day.

Edited by Dee Gee
  • Like 4
Posted

Titus O'Reily has done some hosting on the 3RRR breakfast shift of late. Very funny guy. I liked his headline that the Blues are confident of being player free by 2018!

Would you have a link to that AFL podcast Dee Gee?

Sure, http://junktimeafl.libsyn.com/

  • Like 1
Posted

Agreed...but didnt he manage that badly. Plus the game plan he so doggedly stuck with didn't suit the players we had and was already outdated by the time he was implementing! Dont take me back there!! Its like PTSD. Worst coach and people manager in AFL history.

Agree. Although his intentions were good re culture, he put players / Admin offside and did not know how to convey the message.

Posted (edited)

I agree Clint. These threads tend to turn out like the 2 minutes hate from '1984'. We all get together and rant about 'traitors' to the regime. I think this is related to the 'negativity' Roos has talked about. We can't see ourselves as anything but pathetic losers so we choose to live in a past that reconfirms our preconceptions about ourselves.

No point in any more self flagellation. We'll leave that up to Uncle Bitter!

Edited by Colin B. Flaubert
Posted

Agreed and im pretty sure i heard Roos say before the start of 2014 season that he was surprised how good our training habits were but it ment nothing if we couldn't translate it onto gamedays

I heard that too, that's why this was so interesting to hear. The two hosts are comedians and joke all the way through, but there's clear gags made, it's not satire like Titus' writings. They were asking his perspective as a Dees supporter and they got talking about 'the past'.

  • Like 1
Posted

Agreed...but didnt he manage that badly. Plus the game plan he so doggedly stuck with didn't suit the players we had and was already outdated by the time he was implementing! Dont take me back there!! Its like PTSD. Worst coach and people manager in AFL history.

Sorry to take you back there but... I don't know what game plan would have suited those players?

  • Like 1
Posted

Sorry to take you back there but... I don't know what game plan would have suited those players?

Ok Im going back there but Im shaking and seeing foggy images .....and Im having memories of trying to enjoy the trip to the ground knowing that the game itself was likely to be the least enjoyable part . Painfully ....We STILL havent won as many games as Bailey did in his last year. So maybe a game plan that incorporated the best of Baileys fast footy but added a way more physical edge. I dont know..ANYTHING really that didnt involve monotonously kicking up the line to easily read contests and watching us lose by 100 +. Ok thats it...Im off to the shrink

Posted

Titus O'Reilly is about as funny as leprosy.

Just a wannabe Leaping Larry.

You have a sick sense of humor.

Posted

Titus O'Reilly is about as funny as leprosy.

Just a wannabe Leaping Larry.

Wholeheartedly disagree. Haven't heard his programme but some of his written work is hilarious. Definitely one of the sharper wits in footy.

  • Like 17
Posted (edited)

so, he "spoke of rumours"

you do realise he is a satirist

but we all knew things weren't the best, rumours, comedians or not. no need to "be shocked". these things have been discussed and derided on demonland many times before

The essence of good satire is that it deals with the substantive truth.

Whatever that truth is, there can be no doubt, that the culture at the MFC during Neeld's and to a much lesser extent, DB's time, was pretty poor. The common denominators, in my view, during both tenures can be sheeted home to a senior executive and a footy department head, who seemed to believe that obtaining top 10 draft picks was all we needed to be successful.

Edited by iv'a worn smith
  • Like 3

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  

    TRAINING: Monday 17th February 2025

    Demonland Trackwatchers were on hand at Monday morning's preseason training at Gosch's Paddock to bring you their brief observations of the session. HARVEY WALLBANGER'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Gentle flush session at Gosch's this morning. Absent: May, Pickett (All Stars) McVee, McAdam. Rehabbing: Great to see Kentfield back (much slimmer), walking with Tholstrup, TMac (suspect just a management thing), Viney (still being cautious with that rib cartilage?), Melksham (

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Training Reports

    MATCH SIM: Friday 14th February 2025

    A couple of Demonland Trackwatchers made their way out to Casey Field's for the Melbourne Football Club's Family Series day to bring you their observations on the Match Simulation. HARVEY WALLBANGER'S MATCH SIMULATION OBSERVATIONS Absent: May, Pickett (All Stars), McVee, Windor, Kentfield, Mentha Present but not playing: Petracca, Viney, Spargo, Tholstrup, Melksham Starting Blue 18 (+ just 2 interchange): B: Petty, TMac, Lever, Howes, Bowey Salem M: Gawn, Oliver, La

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Training Reports

    TRAINING: Wednesday 12th February 2025

    Demonland Trackwatchers braved the scorching morning heat to bring you the following observations of Wednesday's preseason training session from Gosch's Paddock. HARVEY WALLBANGER'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Absent: Salem, Windsor (word is a foot rash going around), Viney, Bowey and Kentfield Train ons: Roy George, no Culley today. Firstly the bad news - McVee went down late, which does look like a bad hammy - towards the end of match sim, as he kicked the ball. Had to

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Training Reports

    MATCH SIM: Friday 7th February 2025

    Demonland Trackwatcher Gator ventured down the freeway to bring you his observations from Friday morning's Match Simulation out at Casey Fields. Rehab: Jake Lever and Charlie Spargo running laps.  Lever was running short distances at a fast click as well as having kick to kick with a trainer. He seems unimpeded. Christian Petracca, Kade Chandler, Shane McAdam and Tom Fullarton doing non-contact kicking and handball drills on the adjacent oval.  All moving freely at pace.  I didn’

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Training Reports 2

    TRAINING: Wednesday 5th February 2025

    Demonland Trackwatchers were out in force as the Demons returned to Gosch's Paddock for preseason training on Wednesday morning. GHOSTWRITER'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Kozzie a no show. Tommy Sparrow was here last week in civvies and wearing sunnies. He didn’t train. Today he’s training but he’s wearing goggles so he’s likely got an eye injury. There’s a drill where Selwyn literally lies on top of Tracc, a trainer dribbles the ball towards them and Tracc has to g

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Training Reports

    THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS: 2024

    Whichever way you look at it, the Melbourne Football Club’s 2024 season can only be characterized as the year of its fall from grace. Whispering Jack looks back at the season from hell that was. After its 2021 benchmark premiership triumph, the men’s team still managed top four finishes in the next two seasons but straight sets finals losses consigned them to sixth place in both years. The big fall came in 2024 with a collapse into the bottom six and a 14th placing. At Casey, the 2022 VFL p

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Special Features

    MATCH SIM: Friday 31st January 2025

    Veteran Demonland Trackwatcher Picket Fence ventured down to Casey Fields to bring you his observations from Friday's Match Simulation. Greetings Demonlanders, beautiful Day at training and the boys were hard at it, here is my report. NO SHOWS: Luker Kentfield (recovering from pneumonia in WA), also not sure I noticed Melky (Hamstring) or Will Verrall?? MODIFIED DUTIES (No Contact): Sparrow, McVee (foot), Tracc (ribs), Chandler, (AC Joint), Fullarton Noticeable events (I’ll s

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Training Reports 2

    TRAINING: Wednesday 29th January 2025

    A number of Demonland Trackwatchers swooped on Gosch's Paddock to bring you their observations from this morning's Preseason Training Session. DEMON JACK'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Beautiful morning at Gosch's Paddock. Very healthy crowd so far.  REHAB: Fullerton, Spargo, Tholstrup, McVee Viney running laps. EDIT: JV looks to be back with the main group. Trac, Sparrow, Chandler and Verrell also training away from the main group. Currently kicking to each other ins

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Training Reports 1

    TRAINING: Wednesday 22nd January 2025

    Demonland Trackwatchers were out in force for training at Gosch's Paddock on Wednesday morning for the MFC's School Holidays Open Training Session. DEMONLAND'S PRESEASON TRAINING OBSERVATIONS REHAB: TMac, Chandler, McVee, Tholstrup, Brown, Spargo Brown might have passed his fitness test as he’s back out with the main group.  Sparrow not present. Kozzy not present either.  Mini Rehab group has broken off from the match sim (contact) group: Max, Trac, Lever, Fullarton

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Training Reports
  • Tell a friend

    Love Demonland? Tell a friend!

×
×
  • Create New...