PRESEASON TRAINING: Friday 14th February 2025

[DemonWheels 1,116]

7 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

I know his folks well from junior days.

Bump into them all the time up here especially his old man through work every now and then.

After the trade period the club had a meeting with his family and manager just to reassure them especially after the whole trade saga thing went down where his family were understandably quite disappointed with the club when news broke out.

One of the things the footy club did acknowledge was their mismanagement of Oliver in terms of rushing him back into AFL level. If they had their time again they would have put him through a 4-5 week intense training block to build his fitness up which in their opinion, would have set him up far better for the year then what actually transpired. 

This has nothing to being isolated or left out. He was well supported by everyone at the club including the coaches.

The club got it wrong in this instance and they've acknowledged it.

@dazzledavey36 Hey Dazzle, might be hard for you to answer but is there a good understanding from the family’s perspective that it’s a two-way street? Clarry is who he is and the club has clearly done a lot right up until a certain point but is everyone laying blame at the feet of the club for how the last 2 years turned out or is there a balanced and realistic perspective?

This sort of stuff can fester and multiply if the family don’t have the right story and then I have to spend hours and hours on Demonland worrying about his Mum being a bad influence on his future career (Ref: Luke Jackson).

[demon3165 2,833]

8 hours ago, Harvey Wallbanger said:

“As part of the review recommendations, Melbourne players are spending less time at the club, and are given more flexibility to complete their recovery in their own time this year.”

The above was from the Goody/Clark interview - might explain a Friday afternoon rather than a weekend?

God help us that players want to spend less time at their job while us normal people spend 8 hours + day at work for for less money than they are on for six months a year and have 8 weeks + a year off come off it give me a break.

[KozzyCan 796]

8 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

I know his folks well from junior days.

Bump into them all the time up here especially his old man through work every now and then.

After the trade period the club had a meeting with his family and manager just to reassure them especially after the whole trade saga thing went down where his family were understandably quite disappointed with the club when news broke out.

One of the things the footy club did acknowledge was their mismanagement of Oliver in terms of rushing him back into AFL level. If they had their time again they would have put him through a 4-5 week intense training block to build his fitness up which in their opinion, would have set him up far better for the year then what actually transpired. 

This has nothing to being isolated or left out. He was well supported by everyone at the club including the coaches.

The club got it wrong in this instance and they've acknowledged it.

The thing that bothers me about this is the club has made this mistake so many times before. Will they actually absorb the lesson this time? Who knows?

[dazzledavey36 55,916]

12 minutes ago, DemonWheels said:

@dazzledavey36 Hey Dazzle, might be hard for you to answer but is there a good understanding from the family’s perspective that it’s a two-way street? Clarry is who he is and the club has clearly done a lot right up until a certain point but is everyone laying blame at the feet of the club for how the last 2 years turned out or is there a balanced and realistic perspective?

This sort of stuff can fester and multiply if the family don’t have the right story and then I have to spend hours and hours on Demonland worrying about his Mum being a bad influence on his future career (Ref: Luke Jackson).

I can only speak from my perspective and taking into account i also know the parents and siblings of Charlie Spargo and Daniel Turner very well and have for many years.

Being a country regional area you either bump into them at the local footy, work dealings, night life, or one way or another you're connected to a heap of mates that also know them well.

So as much as I live away from the footy heartland of Melbourne I still get to hear some very interesting stuff that goes on behind the scenes at the footy club with most info i would not dare to share on here.

From a family player family perspective, they have nothing but admiration for the club in the way they are able to support their boys whilst being away from home. 

The club have not only treated the boys incredibly well but also the extended families whenever they get a chance to head down the highway on a weekend to watch their sons.

From Oliver's perspective, when [censored] hit the fan at the back end of 2023 the Oliver family did not once put any blame or finger pointed the club. A number of off field activities/matters were just a number of combinations why his life unravelled.

They were incredibly grateful for the club support as they themselves were travelling down to Melbourne most weekends just to be with Oliver. It was a pretty scary time for the family/footy club to be honest.

What was reported to the media at the time was nothing compared to what was actually happening behind the scenes and that's as far as I go.

Last year's trade call shock was more just the family feeling blindsided. Family are fine now and Oliver is in a good head space as you are all aware. Though, he's not the finished product yet, he's certainly making up good ground.

[dazzledavey36 55,916]

12 minutes ago, KozzyCan said:

The thing that bothers me about this is the club has made this mistake so many times before. Will they actually absorb the lesson this time? Who knows?

I think you'll find that was something certainly brought up in the club end of year review.

Whether we see changes or not is entirely up to the footy club.

[DemonWheels 1,116]

1 hour ago, dazzledavey36 said:

I can only speak from my perspective and taking into account i also know the parents and siblings of Charlie Spargo and Daniel Turner very well and have for many years.

Being a country regional area you either bump into them at the local footy, work dealings, night life, or one way or another you're connected to a heap of mates that also know them well.

So as much as I live away from the footy heartland of Melbourne I still get to hear some very interesting stuff that goes on behind the scenes at the footy club with most info i would not dare to share on here.

From a family player family perspective, they have nothing but admiration for the club in the way they are able to support their boys whilst being away from home. 

The club have not only treated the boys incredibly well but also the extended families whenever they get a chance to head down the highway on a weekend to watch their sons.

From Oliver's perspective, when [censored] hit the fan at the back end of 2023 the Oliver family did not once put any blame or finger pointed the club. A number of off field activities/matters were just a number of combinations why his life unravelled.

They were incredibly grateful for the club support as they themselves were travelling down to Melbourne most weekends just to be with Oliver. It was a pretty scary time for the family/footy club to be honest.

What was reported to the media at the time was nothing compared to what was actually happening behind the scenes and that's as far as I go.

Last year's trade call shock was more just the family feeling blindsided. Family are fine now and Oliver is in a good head space as you are all aware. Though, he's not the finished product yet, he's certainly making up good ground.

Thanks Dazzle, appreciate hearing that.

[58er 6,828]

9 hours ago, KozzyCan said:

The thing that bothers me about this is the club has made this mistake so many times before. Will they actually absorb the lesson this time? Who knows?

After saying so many times before please quote these and inform us of your opinion. Dont generalise back up with facts.

Awaiting your response. 

[Dannyz 3,012]

On 14/02/2025 at 21:09, Roost it far said:

If he’s done his Achilles his season is over. There’s our LTI. I thought George was next in line but some are saying Culley. Personally I can’t see how a WCE reject jumps ahead but time will tell. 

While Culley was playing AFL for West Coast, Roy was lining up for Tytynder. Bit of perspective required.

 

[seventyfour 1,220]

18 minutes ago, Dannyz said:

While Culley was playing AFL for West Coast, Roy was lining up for Tytynder. Bit of perspective required.

Turner was playing country footy when we drafted him. Billings played 150 AFL games before he came to the club. Which would you prefer if we had to make a choice?

Sometimes you need to take a chance on potential. Culley just seems like a depth player to me.

The reports from West Coast fans on Culley are that he's too slow for AFL. Has a quick burst for stoppages but offers nothing else around the ground. 

[Cranky Franky 2,230]

15 hours ago, Hellfire Dub said:

As much as we might have been disappointed with Shane McAdam, I'd say he was more disappointed with himself at underperforming.  

It looked like he took that as inspiration to work hard and get better, so much so he was playing in the probables and could have had a really good season. 

The poor lad might be facing the end of his career or at the very least a long hard road back.  

 

A lot of posters here have been kidding themselves about McAdam. The fact that he tried hard & is a lovely bloke are beside the point.

There is a reason he has never completed a full season at AFL level.

Certainly talented but struggled with fitness & very injury prone.  

He was always a high risk pick & now it's looking like a bust.

[Ollie fan 3,641]

11 hours ago, demon3165 said:

God help us that players want to spend less time at their job while us normal people spend 8 hours + day at work for for less money than they are on for six months a year and have 8 weeks + a year off come off it give me a break.

We see this sort of comment quite often on DLand. 
 

Some players are very well paid - although out of the starting figure comes managers' and agents' fees etc..   The majority are not so well paid. in return, they take a life which has a very limited span - generally a maximum of 10-12 years; for players below the top echelon, less than that. Every aspect of their day Is focused around diet, exercise, and proper preparation. They live in an intrusive media spotlight and get harassed by members of the public, either well-meaning or not, on a regular basis. They generally don't have the time to get qualifications like a degree or an apprenticeship so at the end of their careers they have to start from scratch. When working, they face physical challenges that almost anyone would avoid, but the slightest flinch is scrutinised and criticised. [I for one would be terrified on an AFL footy field!] At any time they might get serious injury - eg poor McAdam - which often can persist for life (e.g. post-concussion issues, or lifelong arthritic knees, etc).  In return, they provide all of us with something to fill our daily lives.

 

I don't begrudge them their pay or conditions one bit.

[Ollie fan 3,641]

50 minutes ago, Cranky Franky said:

A lot of posters here have been kidding themselves about McAdam. The fact that he tried hard & is a lovely bloke are beside the point.

There is a reason he has never completed a full season at AFL level.

Certainly talented but struggled with fitness & very injury prone.  

He was always a high risk pick & now it's looking like a bust.

Your point?

[Cranky Franky 2,230]

2 hours ago, Ollie fan said:

Your point?

My point is that Demonland is full of positive, idealistic well meaning supporters who have no grasp of reality.

[sue 9,197]

1 minute ago, Cranky Franky said:

My point is that Demonland is full of positive, idealistic well meaning supporters who have no grasp of reality.

I'd rather them than those who always look for the darkside.  It's not as if those "positive, idealistic well meaning supporters" posting here have any effect on what the team does. 

[Roost it far 9,689]

Just now, sue said:

I'd rather them than those who always look for the darkside.  It's not as if those "positive, idealistic well meaning supporters" posting here have any effect on what the team does. 

[Ollie fan 3,641]

1 hour ago, Cranky Franky said:

My point is that Demonland is full of positive, idealistic well meaning supporters who have no grasp of reality.

Which bit of reality didn't we grasp? Everyone knew McAdam had an iffy body but if he could get it right, the upside was tremendous. So again, your point (other than being obnoxious for its own sake)?

Edited Sunday at 03:51 by Ollie fan

[Cranky Franky 2,230]

8 minutes ago, Ollie fan said:

Which bit of reality didn't we grasp? Everyone knew McAdam had an iffy body but if he could get it right, the upside was tremendous. So again, your point (other than being obnoxious for its own sake)?

Am I obnoxious because I pointed out that a lot of posters are well meaning but clueless ?

[Ollie fan 3,641]

19 minutes ago, Cranky Franky said:

Am I obnoxious because I pointed out that a lot of posters are well meaning but clueless ?

No you didn't. You just said that McAdam was not working out as well as we hoped, which I think we all know- but you said it FAR differently to that in your choice of words. In fact, there was no point to your original post at all, other than obnoxiousness, which is at least consistent on your part.

[picket fence 17,994]

6 hours ago, seventyfour said:

Turner was playing country footy when we drafted him. Billings played 150 AFL games before he came to the club. Which would you prefer if we had to make a choice?

Sometimes you need to take a chance on potential. Culley just seems like a depth player to me.

The reports from West Coast fans on Culley are that he's too slow for AFL. Has a quick burst for stoppages but offers nothing else around the ground. 

How can he have a quick burst at stoppages, but be too slow??🤪

[demon3165 2,833]

5 hours ago, Ollie fan said:

We see this sort of comment quite often on DLand. 
 

Some players are very well paid - although out of the starting figure comes managers' and agents' fees etc..   The majority are not so well paid. in return, they take a life which has a very limited span - generally a maximum of 10-12 years; for players below the top echelon, less than that. Every aspect of their day Is focused around diet, exercise, and pronreparation. They live in an intrusive media spotlight and get harassed by members of the public, either well-meaning or not, on a regular basis. They generally don't have the time to get qualifications like a degree or an apprenticeship so at the end of their caree, s they have to start from scra, ch. When working, they face physical challenges that almost anyone would avoid, but the slightest flinch is scrutinised and criticised. [I for one would be terrified on an AFL footy field!] At any time they might get serious injury - eg poor McAdam - which often can persist for life (e.g. post-concussion issues, or l,ifelong arthritic knees, etc).  In return, they provide all of us with something to fill our daily lives.

 

I don't begrudge them their pay or conditions one bit.

I don't begrudge them for what they get paid, but they choose to follow a path that they know can be very short in longevity, just like anyone else in the workforce. Again, it's their choice, knowing what could happen at any time. But if you ask anyone if they had the opportunity to play the game, I guess most would say, 'You bet I would.'

 

Edited Sunday at 04:53 by demon3165

[Cranky Franky 2,230]

58 minutes ago, Ollie fan said:

No you didn't. You just said that McAdam was not working out as well as we hoped, which I think we all know- but you said it FAR differently to that in your choice of words. In fact, there was no point to your original post at all, other than obnoxiousness, which is at least consistent on your part.

Actually I pointed out his age, record of never playing a full season & being regularly injured or not fully fit & suggested that this season was unlikely to be any different.

Sorry to hurt your feelings with facts.

[Gator 17,991]

7 hours ago, seventyfour said:

The reports from West Coast fans on Culley are that he's too slow for AFL. Has a quick burst for stoppages but offers nothing else around the ground. 

[Sir Why You Little 37,323]

1 hour ago, Ollie fan said:

No you didn't. You just said that McAdam was not working out as well as we hoped, which I think we all know- but you said it FAR differently to that in your choice of words. In fact, there was no point to your original post at all, other than obnoxiousness, which is at least consistent on your part.

It was a very poor decision by the MFC to give up Pick 28 for McAdam. 
if we had used Pick 70 i wouldn’t have minded one bit, he has loads of talent, but he was always injured at The Croms  

Trading Senior Players has let us down very badly in the last 2-3 years 

[DistrACTION Jackson 10,281]

24 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

It was a very poor decision by the MFC to give up Pick 28 for McAdam. 
if we had used Pick 70 i wouldn’t have minded one bit, he has loads of talent, but he was always injured at The Croms  

Trading Senior Players has let us down very badly in the last 2-3 years 

This discussion has been done to death though SWYL. I think the majority of us agree that it was a strange one for the club to give up that pick, but the discussion recently was around people supporting him and hoping for the best, only for him to get another devastating injury. This wasn’t an injury related to his history either and is one that just pops up randomly. 

[WERRIDEE 5,589]

On 15/02/2025 at 04:02, 58er said:

That’s a novel approach WDee 

No Rucks Ma x. No Mids Clarry 

Viney and ???? 

 

Yeah I forgot the followers again. Do it all the time.

B: Lever, May, Bowey

HB: Salem, Petty, Windsor
C: Sharp, Rivers, Langdon

HF: Petracca, Turner, Langford

F: Fritsch, van Rooyen, Chandler

FOLL: Gawn, Oliver, Viney

IC: Howes, Sparrow, Lindsay, Billings

SUB: Laurie