Coach Dean Bailey

[passion 0]

The current problems are due to poor list management!

The bulk of the players played in the 04,05,06 seasons and contunued to fail with mental toughness issues, players like White, Yze, Green, Bruce, Wheatly, Miller, Robertson etc

Daniher & co didnt make tough calls cause it was very clear that these players went missing during important games and we could have got some currencyand gained good draft picks

How many players are still around since 2000 GF loss. Sure they were young but they always went missing in those odd years of not making finals

How many backmen did the Daniher era produce??

How many forwards to replace Neitz did he produce??

Bailey will do a next cleanout this year and we need to follow the lead of Hawthorn

Lets not forget Geelong took 8 yrs in the making with Mark Thompson and they developed a list. So we will have to be patient!

[astrodee 0]

Fair dinkum, how on earth can anyone condemn the talents of a coach 4 months and two games into a season.

Especially one who was left a bunch of lazy senior players, and a number of inexperienced but talented kids. And another major disadvantage - if you remember, prior to season 2007 ND had the players losing weight so as to implement his run and carry delusion. This led to a number of injuries and still skinny kids. Look at how Dunn and others have bulked up in this pre-season.

ND cost us a year of muscle mass building as well - so our kids are lighter as a result.

Devopment of kids was non existent. So the skills were practiced, but not taught. We now have two development officers teaching players who have been in the system for 1-3 years from scratch. Do you actually ponder why our skills are so bad?

That's right, Bailey should have undone 3 years of mismanagement in 4 months. Teach the group a game plan based on what? Their ability to dispose badly, make poor decisions, and a senior group (-2), devoid of passion or pride?

Imagine someone with Godders' heart who had been taught skills and decision making from day 1.

Collingwood have been teaching every kid in the club for over 2 years starting as soon as they arrive. Do you think their good kids became that overnight. No, they had, and have, a strong leadership group of older players (Buckley, Burns, Lockyer, Wakelin, etc) and two development coaches. And a wiley old coach who reinvents his game plan as needed.

DB will pick his team on basics - courage, character, and selflessness on the field. He's old school - he understands that while the game changes, the fundamentals don't. And then, enhancing the skills they have.

This is not an overnight fix, nor a one year fix. But it may well set us up for a sustained period of success.

Support the man. Turn up to every possible game and enjoy the experience of properly managed team development. Put up with the early pain, the lessons that every player must learn, and then - when the team finally becomes what we all hope for -you will have earnt the rewards that supporting a top team gives.

I still remember leaving the MCG in 1957 having seen my 1st premiership, and 1964 having seen my last. It still sends shivers down my spine.

I hope to have that feeling again. I believe that in DB we have the man who will set us up.

Patience - found rarely in a woman and (almost) never in a man - is called for.

Passionate supporting is needed.

Do you wear your various club member scarves all winter, or only to the football? Are you PROUD to be a DEMON?

If you are, show the world.

[Hannabal 4]

Fair dinkum, how on earth can anyone condemn the talents of a coach 4 months and two games into a season.

Well said, although I'm tipping no one could have improved Godfrey's pace or skills

Funnily enough, I feel far more relaxed about this season and our future than I did last year. I accept that we have to take our medicine, I'll enjoy watching Morton, Maric, Grimes, Petterd, et al, continue to develop, and I look forward to Bailey moulding the list and gameplan he wants. So, in a sense I'm still very excited.

The only downer for me is the constant carping in the media because they need to fill the airwaves and columns, and we're the most negative story currently doing the rounds. And I'm not saying that there aren't vey relevant issues, but I hope, suspect, that they're being addresed.

I still get white line fever at the footy and suspect that will never change.

[The Emblem 1]

ND had the players losing weight so as to implement his run and carry delusion. This led to a number of injuries and still skinny kids. Look at how Dunn and others have bulked up in this pre-season.

ND cost us a year of muscle mass building as well - so our kids are lighter as a result.

Damn right...saw Chook running laps last night on the TV...where did his biceps go? He looked like a friggin Aids victim!

No wonder the opposition are breaking our tackles [whereas in 2006 we were so good in this area].

I think we have lost a lot explosive power & pace...and I am not seeing much by the way of increased endurance in return.

The decision to makes us "demons-lite" was a disasterous change in policy...give DB time to fix it.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Damn right...saw Chook running laps last night on the TV...where did his biceps go? He looked like a friggin Aids victim!

No wonder the opposition are breaking our tackles [whereas in 2006 we were so good in this area].

I think we have lost a lot explosive power & pace...and I am not seeing much by the way of increased endurance in return.

The decision to makes us "demons-lite" was a disasterous change in policy...give DB time to fix it.

How much weight was lost across the group?

The one player that did lose weight was Nathan Jones aka Chunk. In 2006 he had trouble running out a game. In 2007 with the training he was one of the few bright spot.

Breaking and holding tackles is not so much about muscles but commitment , accountability and desire. Thats what missing. There are a number of smaller players in the AFL that make tackles hold.

Lynden Dunn now has lots of muscles but cant make a tackle stick.

We did not lose pace. We dont have it and the modern is punishing the team for it. As far as endurance goes its hard to develop maintain and sustain fitness when we had the level of injuries coupled with an interrupted pre season.

There are issues with the side but that was not one of them.

And I agree fully with Hannibal. DB is on the right path and some of our "stars" are being shown up. Its a pity too many supports want to believe all the media hype without wanting to find out just whats actually going on.

[Rogue 585]

Breaking and holding tackles is not so much about muscles but commitment , accountability and desire. Thats what missing. There are a number of smaller players in the AFL that make tackles hold.

...and don't forget technique.

[demoniac 1,337]

ND's record over 10 years is looking pretty good

Have any players coached by Matthews, Malthouse or Roos had to drop themselves like Yze did because the coach was just too soft to do it himself?

I don't think so.

Emblematic of his coaching reign.

If Bailey is putting the hard words on our players then all i can say is that its about bloody time.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Have any players coached by Matthews, Malthouse or Roos had to drop themselves like Yze did because the coach was just too soft to do it himself?

I don't think so.

Emblematic of his coaching reign.

If Bailey is putting the hard words on our players then all i can say is that its about bloody time.

The only evidence of Yze dropping himself came from a pre match interview where Robbo made that comment. It has as much integrity as a Robbo 2nd effort for a ball. And for Robbo to make such damaging statements at the time the Club was struggling last year was disingenius and undermining of the coaching group and if Robbo did believe that then he aint gonna like it under DB.

He should be working hard on that TV show.