The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 25th August @ 8:00pm. Join Binman & I as we dissect the Dees disappointing loss to the Collingwood.

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.

Thank you to every body that has contributed to the Podcast this year in the form of questions, comments and calls.

Listen LIVE: https://demonland.com/

I'll take the new ball.

What does 'forgetting how to win' even mean? These guys train from Summer untill now but it's all moot? We can talk about how the game style has started to take shape (Which I agree with) but psychologically the problems have been exactly the same all season reverting back to old habits when the pressure gets dialed up.

Perhaps change is going to be a welcome thing.

We definitely need to look at fixing our issues with mental toughness.

We are still "soft as butter" when it comes to our psychological fortitude, at least in my opinion. We basically [censored] the bed when the pressure is on in close games and it is unacceptable.

How do we address this?

As Max Gawn said post game, we need to learn how to win!

The other issue is more related to football skills. We need to improve our kicking skills still. I think Hawthorn is a good blueprint to follow regarding skills.

This is a huge problem we continue to have with our forward line connection. We need MORE players at the Melbourne Football Clubs who are excellent kicks and excellent decision makers.

Our last kick into the forward line continues to let us down and has repeatedly over recent seasons. This has caused a huge amount of frustration amongst us all as Demons members and supporters!

We fix our forward line connection and we will kick alot more goals and win alot my games in AFL seasons to come!

I still think the new Demons coaching role is Nathan Buckley's to lose, however, we shall wait and see?

Nathan Buckley, to me, epitomises the mentality of someone with a huge determination to win. He was a champion player, as we all know, but it's his burning desire to win a Premiership that appeals to me the most. He never achieved this as a player in 2002 and 2003. He also missed out as a senior coach in 2018. I think deep down in his guts he still craves a Flag. I also liked the surprising admission that he barracked for Melbourne as a kid growing up.

Lastly, I think we need more good quality football people at the Club to continue to improve our Culture into the future. I am hopeful that the new Demons CEO Paul Guerra shall lead this as I have been impressed by him so far, but it is still only early days.

Edited 18 hours ago18 hr by Supreme_Demon

More a question about our whole season than this game specifically, we went 0 and 5 in games decided by a goal or under, if we went 5 and 0 we finish on 12 wins and a positive win loss record. Are we just unlucky or is this just a result of our general lack of skills under pressure when compared to other teams and something that will persist until this can be rectified.

Hmmm, I came here to discuss the same concerns.

I feel almost like something snapped in 2022 and we went from untouchable to never-over-the-line. So many times that year we'd get 4 or 5 goals up and if we didn't then get 6 up AND the opposition was in the best 10-12 teams they'd reel us in! In 2021 we'd tie a knot round teams they couldn't get out of. But almost ever since we can't 'beat' teams - they'd always know that if they kept fighting they're a chance to make us fall apart. Conversely I don't think we have done the opposite often in that same period - there was that Brisbane game at the G where Melksham got us over the line and arguably the Brisbane game this year. But I'm sure there are teams that can steal games they shouldn't and save ones they should. Whether it's tactics, poor coaching or on-field leadership or something like unaddressed player doubts or a useless or non-existent team psychologist we're leaving so many games out there. Even on this alone if the new coaches can solve this we can shoot up the ladder. (And it might even lessen panicked shots at goal and inside 50s and preserve our energy helping us run out games.)

BTW thanks for your efforts this year, guys.

2 hours ago, Supreme_Demon said:

Nathan Buckley, to me, epitomises the mentality of someone with a huge determination to win. He was a champion player, as we all know, but it's his burning desire to win a Premiership ....

Lastly, I think we need more good quality football people at the Club to continue to improve our Culture into the future. I am hopeful that the new Demons CEO Paul Guerra shall lead this as I have been impressed by him so far, but it is still only early days.

I think there was a game where ex-Collingwood star Travis Cloke got his new Bulldogs team over the line and Collingwood fans were ropeable! Just imagine their grief if Buckley gets us a flag, especially if we mow down Collingwood to do it!

Edited 16 hours ago16 hr by Go Ds

Just a word of thanks for fronting up after another deeply disappointing loss.

Your weekly discussions have been my primary therapy this year. I am going to miss our counselling sessions.

As I noted in the post match thread, that was a game lost not by lack of fitness but by lack of composure. I can't bear to watch the replay and I was at the wrong end of the ground in the last term so please explain what was that kick of Max's that knocked over the pie stand on the second deck about?

And how did Trac miss from close in?

It's all in the heads isn't it? Trying too hard? How do they fix this?

And let's celebrate too how we turned the game in the third.

8 hours ago, Supreme_Demon said:

We definitely need to look at fixing our issues with mental toughness.

We are still "soft as butter" when it comes to our psychological fortitude, at least in my opinion. We basically [censored] the bed when the pressure is on in close games and it is unacceptable.

How do we address this?

As Max Gawn said post game, we need to learn how to win!

The other issue is more related to football skills. We need to improve our kicking skills still. I think Hawthorn is a good blueprint to follow regarding skills.

This is a huge problem we continue to have with our forward line connection. We need MORE players at the Melbourne Football Clubs who are excellent kicks and excellent decision makers.

Our last kick into the forward line continues to let us down and has repeatedly over recent seasons. This has caused a huge amount of frustration amongst us all as Demons members and supporters!

We fix our forward line connection and we will kick alot more goals and win alot my games in AFL seasons to come!

I still think the new Demons coaching role is Nathan Buckley's to lose, however, we shall wait and see?

Nathan Buckley, to me, epitomises the mentality of someone with a huge determination to win. He was a champion player, as we all know, but it's his burning desire to win a Premiership that appeals to me the most. He never achieved this as a player in 2002 and 2003. He also missed out as a senior coach in 2018. I think deep down in his guts he still craves a Flag. I also liked the surprising admission that he barracked for Melbourne as a kid growing up.

Lastly, I think we need more good quality football people at the Club to continue to improve our Culture into the future. I am hopeful that the new Demons CEO Paul Guerra shall lead this as I have been impressed by him so far, but it is still only early days.

To me it comes down to execution.

In the last 2 minutes you could count 2 inside 50 that other teams probably would score from.

Too many players either panic or take the wrong decision.

A younger list that has no scars from 2022 and 2023 should help.