Jump to content

Featured Replies

Posted
  • Popular Post

I posted this else where but thought it deserved it’s own topic 

Well boys, we knew this day was coming a long time ago and we've come to terms with it. Truth is Dec was a bit over football anyway, to be putting in all that blood, sweat and tears to not be playing regular senior footy isn't easy.

That being said, the family and I will be forever grateful to the Melbourne Football Club for giving Dec the chance to live out his life long dream, and he got that chance on a sunny afternoon at the MCG. Not only that, but they won a close game, and himself having an impact on that result (his centre clearance for those who remember) He and us will never forget it.

To everyone at Demonland, since I first started posting here 5 years ago when Dec started playing some decent footy at Casey, thank you for all your kind words. I have had a great time being able to share this experience with super passionate supporters which are sometimes hard to find. I have sincerely enjoyed the conversations and experiences I've had over the years and I'll be sure to pop back in ever now and again as I now and will always bleed Red and Blue.

Dec's career wasn't the most glamorous by any stretch but only a very small percentage of people who ever play our beloved game get to say they played in the AFL.

Cheers everyone, and have a drink on me!

 
6 minutes ago, Drunkn167 said:

I posted this else where but thought it deserved it’s own topic 

Well boys, we knew this day was coming a long time ago and we've come to terms with it. Truth is Dec was a bit over football anyway, to be putting in all that blood, sweat and tears to not be playing regular senior footy isn't easy.

That being said, the family and I will be forever grateful to the Melbourne Football Club for giving Dec the chance to live out his life long dream, and he got that chance on a sunny afternoon at the MCG. Not only that, but they won a close game, and himself having an impact on that result (his centre clearance for those who remember) He and us will never forget it.

To everyone at Demonland, since I first started posting here 5 years ago when Dec started playing some decent footy at Casey, thank you for all your kind words. I have had a great time being able to share this experience with super passionate supporters which are sometimes hard to find. I have sincerely enjoyed the conversations and experiences I've had over the years and I'll be sure to pop back in ever now and again as I now and will always bleed Red and Blue.

Dec's career wasn't the most glamorous by any stretch but only a very small percentage of people who ever play our beloved game get to say they played in the AFL.

Cheers everyone, and have a drink on me!

Great words mate.  

Good luck to Dec. 

Ah @Drunkn167 I was going to see how you were going when I saw Dec had been delisted. Thank you for all of the great insights and feedback from you and how Dec is going.

It was brilliant to see the build up to Dec getting his big day on the G! What an experience he and you and the family are so lucky to have been a part of it. 

Kudos to Dec for all of his efforts to get to the big stage and I hope he (and you guys) feels a part of the Dees forever moving forward.

 

100% win ratio. Never forget!

In hindsight, he should of played 21 more games.

Cheers mate!

Thanks Drunkn all the best to Dec he is a ripping bloke who even posed for  pic with my daughter and her dog at family day. Polite, easy to talk to and a gentleman. I wish him all the best in his football future.


Nicely put Drunkn, I feel like I have been a fly on the wall of an AFL career through your excellent input.

All the very best for the future and I hope Dec can re-kindle his love for the game at some point.

All the best drunkn to Dec and all the family.

Cheers for the insight over the years and whilst it may not have been the glamorous career he'd hoped for it was longer than ours

Good luck gents.

Thanks for being part of this roller coaster  ride we all call "The Dees"

Go well in your next journeys. 

and...thank you.

 

Thanks @Drunkn167 - you’ve been a great poster, mostly positive and a great supporter of Declan who I, and a few others, thought should have been given one final opportunity late in the season when so many of our talls were out injured.

You’re right about the fact that he did get to play at the highest level which is more that can be said of most of us mere mortals who can only dream about such an achievement.

Not only that, but it’s not necessarily over and I hope that there’s another club out there willing to take a punt on him as a delisted free agent and if not that, then there’s plenty of good football competitions around where he can find his niche and enjoy the game that he’s been very good at playing.

Cheers ?

 


He played exactly two more games than me and he got to be drenched inside the circle.

I should be green with envy but the spirit of the red and blue makes me delighted for Dec.

Best wishes.

 

Have really enjoyed your posts drunkn and the glimpses  into the human side of it all. 

Was hoping dec would make it...he gave it his all. 

All the best to both of you. Hope to see you posting here again! 

Well done to Dec. He managed to do what many only dream of. Thanks for bringing us all such a personal insight.

All the best to yourself and dec for the future

Thanks for the post Drunkn.
All the best to Dec in the future.

Any parting insider dirt?
Like WTF is really going on down there?
Do they think the game plan is crap, is there a player split etc... etc?
 

Edited by Fork 'em


Thanks Drunkn, and all the best to Dec with thanks for making his blood sweat and tears Red and Blue ones.  Appreciated the insight from the family perspective.  Go well.

Was really hoping that Declan was going to make it, but that's the way it goes I guess.  The club ended up being a pretty tough gig to get a game as a key backman.

It must be frustrating getting so close to making it at the top level, but it's still a pretty decent effort to be as competitive as he was playing senior VFL.

Good luck mate. Saw plenty of Dec down at Casey and will fondly remember him.

Drunkn... hell man be proud ..... he made it ... wow how many of us Park footballers had the dream ... and didn’t really get close... The captain in my first game of football (a grand final) was Francis Bourke and I played against Fred Way and Lance Oswald .... he’ll mYtwo sons were wonderful players.. one played with Juddy and Ted Richards and with a Salem.. the other against Goddard .. and with a Salem and Dawes.. tell he has made it to the highest level.. well done ..and to you for your conviction...


He's definitely been the most loved 2 game player this forum has ever seen, which is mostly because of the infectious enthusiasm of his brother! Thanks @Drunkn167for giving us the personal connection, it has added a human element to all of it that I think is easy to forget exists most of the time.

It's a hard gig, AFL. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for a young bloke to know that he's been *this close* for a couple of years but just couldn't quite crack it. Rest assured though, Dec played two more AFL games than most of us, which think is a very good achievement.

I hope life after AFL footy is kind.

Cheers mate.

2 hours ago, Drunkn167 said:

I posted this else where but thought it deserved it’s own topic 

Well boys, we knew this day was coming a long time ago and we've come to terms with it. Truth is Dec was a bit over football anyway, to be putting in all that blood, sweat and tears to not be playing regular senior footy isn't easy.

That being said, the family and I will be forever grateful to the Melbourne Football Club for giving Dec the chance to live out his life long dream, and he got that chance on a sunny afternoon at the MCG. Not only that, but they won a close game, and himself having an impact on that result (his centre clearance for those who remember) He and us will never forget it.

To everyone at Demonland, since I first started posting here 5 years ago when Dec started playing some decent footy at Casey, thank you for all your kind words. I have had a great time being able to share this experience with super passionate supporters which are sometimes hard to find. I have sincerely enjoyed the conversations and experiences I've had over the years and I'll be sure to pop back in ever now and again as I now and will always bleed Red and Blue.

Dec's career wasn't the most glamorous by any stretch but only a very small percentage of people who ever play our beloved game get to say they played in the AFL.

Cheers everyone, and have a drink on me!

Hope Dec continues playing and would be very happy if it is with Casey. If at some other club, then all the best to him. As you said, he has done what so few have, played AFL football. He should be proud of that achievement.

As for you, it must be hard to read posts potting a family member's ability, but I am sure you know it is not personal and what we all forget, including me occasionally, is that all these boys have families and it is not their fault if they are not Dustin Martin or Jeremy Cameron.

Keep posting and Go Dees.

Well said!         Good luck to you both. !!   wish I had been able to play football on the Gee,   played kick to kick years ago that was the closest   Cheers  Good Luck in the future

 

Good on you mate. Thanks for posting and come back soon. Besh wishes to you and your bro.

Edited by A F

Thank you Drunkn167 for great comments and opinions over the years. I wish you and your family all the best for the future.


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...

Featured Content

  • NON-MFC: Round 13

    Follow all the action from every Round 13 clash excluding the Dees as the 2025 AFL Premiership Season rolls on. With Melbourne playing in the final match of the round on King's Birthday, all eyes turn to the rest of the competition. Who are you tipping to win? And more importantly, which results best serve the Demons’ finals aspirations? Join the discussion and keep track of the matches that could shape the ladder and impact our run to September.

    • 0 replies
  • PREVIEW: Collingwood

    Having convincingly defeated last year’s premier and decisively outplayed the runner-up with 8.2 in the final quarter, nothing epitomized the Melbourne Football Club’s performance more than its 1.12 final half, particularly the eight consecutive behinds in the last term, against a struggling St Kilda team in the midst of a dismal losing streak. Just when stability and consistency were anticipated within the Demon ranks, they delivered a quintessential performance marked by instability and ill-conceived decisions, with the most striking aspect being their inaccuracy in kicking for goal, which suggested a lack of preparation (instead of sleeping in their hotel in Alice, were they having a night on the turps) rather than a well-rested team. Let’s face it - this kicking disease that makes them look like raw amateurs is becoming a millstone around the team’s neck.

    • 1 reply
  • CASEY: Sydney

    The Casey Demons were always expected to emerge victorious in their matchup against the lowly-ranked Sydney Swans at picturesque Tramway Oval, situated in the shadows of the SCG in Moore Park. They dominated the proceedings in the opening two and a half quarters of the game but had little to show for it. This was primarily due to their own sloppy errors in a low-standard game that produced a number of crowded mauls reminiscent of the rugby game popular in old Sydney Town. However, when the Swans tired, as teams often do when they turn games into ugly defensive contests, Casey lifted the standard of its own play and … it was off to the races. Not to nearby Randwick but to a different race with an objective of piling on goal after goal on the way to a mammoth victory. At the 25-minute mark of the third quarter, the Demons held a slender 14-point lead over the Swans, who are ahead on the ladder of only the previous week's opposition, the ailing Bullants. Forty minutes later, they had more than fully compensated for the sloppiness of their earlier play with a decisive 94-point victory, that culminated in a rousing finish which yielded thirteen unanswered goals. Kicks hit their targets, the ball found itself going through the middle and every player made a contribution.

    • 1 reply
  • REPORT: St. Kilda

    Hands up if you thought, like me, at half-time in yesterday’s game at TIO Traeger Park, Alice Springs that Melbourne’s disposal around the ground and, in particular, its kicking inaccuracy in front of the goals couldn’t get any worse. Well, it did. And what’s even more damning for the Melbourne Football Club is that the game against St Kilda and its resurgence from the bottomless pit of its miserable start to the season wasn’t just lost through poor conversion for goal but rather in the 15 minutes when the entire team went into a slumber and was mugged by the out-of-form Saints. Their six goals two behinds (one goal less than the Demons managed for the whole game) weaved a path of destruction from which they were unable to recover. Ross Lyon’s astute use of pressure to contain the situation once they had asserted their grip on the game, and Melbourne’s self-destructive wastefulness, assured that outcome. The old adage about the insanity of repeatedly doing something and expecting a different result, was out there. Two years ago, the score line in Melbourne’s loss to the Giants at this same ground was 5 goals 15 behinds - a ratio of one goal per four scoring shots - was perfectly replicated with yesterday’s 7 goals 21 behinds. 
    This has been going on for a while and opens up a number of questions. I’ll put forward a few that come to mind from this performance. The obvious first question is whether the club can find a suitable coach to instruct players on proper kicking techniques or is this a skill that can no longer be developed at this stage of the development of our playing group? Another concern is the team's ability to counter an opponent's dominance during a run on as exemplified by the Saints in the first quarter. Did the Demons underestimate their opponents, considering St Kilda's goals during this period were scored by relatively unknown forwards? Furthermore, given the modest attendance of 6,721 at TIO Traeger Park and the team's poor past performances at this venue, is it prudent to prioritize financial gain over potentially sacrificing valuable premiership points by relinquishing home ground advantage, notwithstanding the cultural significance of the team's connection to the Red Centre? 

    • 4 replies
  • PREGAME: Collingwood

    After a disappointing loss in Alice Springs the Demons return to the MCG to take on the Magpies in the annual King's Birthday Big Freeze for MND game. Who comes in and who goes out?

      • Haha
    • 231 replies
  • PODCAST: St. Kilda

    The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 2nd June @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we have a chat with former Demon ruckman Jeff White about his YouTube channel First Use where he dissects ruck setups and contests. We'll then discuss the Dees disappointing loss to the Saints in Alice Springs.
    Your 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.
    Listen LIVE: https://demonland.com/

      • Like
    • 47 replies