Jump to content

The way we were - 2013 preseason. Annus horribilis

Six6Six
Six6Six
in Melbourne Demons

Featured Replies

Posted

December 2012, For the first time Six and his camera decided that it would be good to head down to training at the mighty Demons. Back then we were the ultimate nomads, no home base (what's changed) we didn't even have Gosch's paddock which was the domain of the Magpies. We trained on the rugby fields assigned to the Storm and even headed down to Linton Street Moorabbin which had already been abandoned by the Saints. Eleven games into that season Neeld was sacked with one win and an average losing margin of 77 points. The demons went down to the Saints in round 3 of the Nab cup at Casey Fields 2.7.6 (66) to 2.10.13 (91). The quality of the footage is not as good as I no longer have the original shots, but it should be OK if viewed on a phone or tablet. 

The only men standing from back then appear to be Jack, T.Mac and the skipper.

Please enjoy ==> https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-h9VFff/i-SNMX97x/A

Edited by Six6Six
Amend

  • Quote
    • Like 3
    • Thanks 3
     
    8 minutes ago, Six6Six said:

    December 2012, For the first time Six and his camera decided that it would be good to head down to training at the mighty Demons. Back then we were the ultimate nomads, no home base (what's changed) we didn't even have Gosch's paddock which was the domain of the Magpies. We trained on the rugby fields assigned to the Storm and even headed down to Linton Street Moorabbin which had already been abandoned by the Saints. Eleven games into that season Neeld was sacked with one win and an average losing margin of 77 points. The demons went down to the Saints in round 3 of the Nab cup at Casey Fields 2.7.6 (66) to 2.10.13 (91). The quality of the footage is not as good as I no longer have the original shots, but it should be OK if viewed on a phone or tablet. 

    The only men standing from back then appear to be Jack, T.Mac and the skipper.

    Please enjoy ==> https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-h9VFff/i-SNMX97x/A

    The all look so small and under developed. 
    such a dark time 

  • Quote
    • Sad 1

    That season was so bad that a 25 point loss to St Kilda at Casey Fields (who were woeful themselves that year) would have been considered a meritorious victory.

    I hope we never have to deal with a season like that again.

  • Quote
    • Like 1
    • Clap 2
     

    There were a lot of good players on the list but we didn’t see the best of them for another 3-4 years.

  • Quote
    • Like 1

    That pre season was apparently amazing though and 'poles apart' from what we put up in the first few rounds according to Neil Craig.

  • Quote
    • Like 1

    In any match that year, if at quarter time the score wasn't something like 8 goals to 1 at quarter time (for the oppo, obvs), you'd say to yourself "we might have a chance to lose by less than 10 goals. We're in this!"

  • Quote
    • Haha 4
    • Sad 1

    Just looking at that slide show is depressing. Truly, that side was one of the poorest squads ever assembled in the VFL/AFL. 

  • Quote
    • Like 1
    • Haha 1
    • Sad 1
     
    24 minutes ago, BLWNBA said:

    Just looking at that slide show is depressing. Truly, that side was one of the poorest squads ever assembled in the VFL/AFL. 

    I'd say worse than Fitzroy in their death rows.  We paid up everyone and had lots of moolah where as the Lions were broke

    There was no 7 cents in the dollar payouts or anything like that.  Everyone got their money including the coach getting a $1.3Million payout (nice work if you can get it) 

    Dark times and an example of how far you can fall if not switched on

    There were very few redeeming features until PJ saved us

    10 years later and we're cooking with gas with a very healthy bottom line, good coaching and good admin and an excellent list of players

    And 70,000 members?  What a loyal bunch of supporters we have putting up with all those crud years

    And we aren't going to win every flag each time we're in contention so we need to be patient and hope that luck is with us (as it was in 2021 when we had an injury free season

  • Quote
    • Like 4

    Not sure about 'the worst list'. There were some rather talented players there:

    Viney, Gawn, Dunn, Howe, Frawley, Watts, I'm sure  I spied a very young Hogan, Davey, Jetta, Trengove, Pedersen, Clark, Sylvia, The Russian, Spencer, Dawes, Barry, Kent, Jones, Terlich,Joel and Tom McDonald, Garland, Davey, Rodan. T'would seem to me the problems might have had more to do with the Coach...

  • Quote
    • Like 2

    35 minutes ago, Monbon said:

    Not sure about 'the worst list'. There were some rather talented players there:

    Viney, Gawn, Dunn, Howe, Frawley, Watts, I'm sure  I spied a very young Hogan, Davey, Jetta, Trengove, Pedersen, Clark, Sylvia, The Russian, Spencer, Dawes, Barry, Kent, Jones, Terlich,Joel and Tom McDonald, Garland, Davey, Rodan. T'would seem to me the problems might have had more to do with the Coach...

    Yes but with much the same list we lost 18 games in 2014.  And Roos cleared out over 30 players over 3 off-seasons

    I can't argue with you about the coach but we had some deep problems throughout the club which led to the CEO going and a  board reshuffle

    Some were saying that the AFL bailed us out but the AFL intervention was required

    Looking back, we were a real mess especially when you look at the club now

  • Quote
    • Like 3
    • Thanks 1
    • Clap 1

    Metinks I might have inferred that, because, like I wrote, there were some bloody good players in that group. But, yes, you're so right about the depth of the mess we were in.

  • Quote
    • Like 2
    8 hours ago, layzie said:

    That pre season was apparently amazing though and 'poles apart' from what we put up in the first few rounds according to Neil Craig.

    The ultimate "best campaigne" builder Neil Craig.

  • Quote
    • Like 1
    6 hours ago, BLWNBA said:

    Just looking at that slide show is depressing. Truly, that side was one of the poorest squads ever assembled in the VFL/AFL. 

    Once i saw the Toump pop up on one of the pics that was enough for me!

  • Quote
    • Like 1
    • Haha 2
    3 hours ago, Monbon said:

    Metinks I might have inferred that, because, like I wrote, there were some bloody good players in that group. But, yes, you're so right about the depth of the mess we were in.

    Yeah, it's fair to say we ruined more than the odd career back then

    I remember when Neeld said that the players would take 2 or 3 years to get AFL fit and I thought he was just making an excuse in advance

    As it turned out, we were a long way behind and Neeld was almost certainly right (in that instance)

  • Quote
    • Like 1

    On 14/01/2024 at 20:30, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

    Once i saw the Toump pop up on one of the pics that was enough for me!

    I had ALMOST forgotten about him, why did you have to bring him up?😵

  • Quote
    • Haha 2
    • Author

    Good news. I managed to find all of the original full resolution shots rather than relying on the down scaled copies that I had up in the cloud. I also found some footage of an intra club out at Casey which I have added in.  This can now adequately be viewed on a desktop.

    For those of you who can manage the pain of reliving this time, it's worth having another look.

    If you dare, enjoy ==> https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-MhQnCP/i-bWkHdxp/A 

     

    Mods feel free to replace the ling in the original post.

    Edited by Six6Six
    Grammar

  • Quote
    • Like 1
    • Thanks 2

    Thanks 6six6 that is great footage nice to see some footage of young players such as Gawn, McDonals, Watts, Jones, Jetta and Davies running around we expected so much and received so little, we certainly were hampered by serious injuries and inept player management.!

  • Quote

    To be honest we were lucky to survive this period without being relegated or dissolved as would happen in other sports. 

    I am very happy to support a quality successful club now

  • Quote

    • 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...
    Go to topic listing

    Featured Content

    • REPORT: Brisbane

      “Max Gawn has been the heart and soul of the Dees for years now, but this recent recovery from a terrible start has been driven by him. He was everywhere again, and with the game in the balance, he took several key marks to keep the ball in the Dees forward half.” - The Monday Knee Jerk Reaction: Round Ten Of course, it wasn’t the efforts of one man that caused this monumental upset, but rather the work of the coach and his assistants and the other 22 players who took the ground, notably the likes of Jake Melksham, Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Kozzie Pickett but Max has been magnificent in taking ownership of his team and its welfare under the fire of a calamitous 0-5 start to the season. On Sunday, he provided the leadership that was needed to face up to the reigning premier and top of the ladder Brisbane Lions on their home turf and to prevail after a slow start, during which the hosts led by as much as 24 points in the second quarter. Titus O’Reily is normally comedic in his descriptions of the football but this time, he was being deadly serious. The Demons have come from a long way back and, although they still sit in the bottom third of the AFL pack, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel as they look to drive home the momentum inspired in the past four or five weeks by Max the Magnificent who was under such great pressure in those dark, early days of the season.

        • Thanks
      • 0 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • CASEY: Southport

      The Southport Sharks came to Casey. They saw and they conquered a team with 16 AFL-listed players who, for the most part, wasted their time on the ground and failed to earn their keep. For the first half, the Sharks were kept in the game by the Demons’ poor use of the football, it’s disposal getting worse the closer the team got to its own goal and moreover, it got worse as the game progressed. Make no mistake, Casey was far and away the better team in the first half, it was winning the ruck duels through Tom Campbell’s solid performance but it was the scoreboard that told the story.

        • Thanks
      • 3 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • PREGAME: Sydney

      Just a game and percentage outside the Top 8, the Demons return to Melbourne to face the Sydney Swans at the MCG, with a golden opportunity to build on the momentum from toppling the reigning premiers on their own turf. Who comes in, and who makes way?

        • Thanks
      • 118 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • PODCAST: Brisbane

      The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 12th May @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we analyse a famous victory by the Demons over the Lions at the Gabba.
      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/

        • Clap
        • Love
        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 25 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • POSTGAME: Brisbane

      The Demons pulled off an absolute miracle at the Gabba coming from 24 points down in the 2nd Quarter to overrun the reigning premiers the Brisbane Lions winning by 11 points and keeping their season well and truly alive.

        • Haha
        • Love
        • Like
      • 422 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • VOTES: Brisbane

      Captain Max Gawn still has a massive 48 votes lead in the Demonland Player of the Year ahead of Jake Bowey. Christian Petracca, Harvey Langford and Kade Chandler round out the Top 5. Your votes please. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

        • Thanks
      • 60 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland
    View All