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Good line, Sadly showing my age that I get this

The best way to get him back here is for the club to come out and produce the brand of football that will show him that the club is going to be a force in years to come so that when he is in his prime he's going to be associated with a successful football club. If we want to get him, we should follow the lead of Carlton who got in early with Judd and had people in his ear before he knew he wanted to leave WA. Of course, showering him with money and offering the Eagles both our compensatory picks, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tom Scully's jock strap might be needed to seal the deal. You know the footy's here when people are already discussing trades for next October. I love this!!!

IMVHO, Beamer needs to perform against top sides before he berates juniors on their lack of skill or performance. Sure he has done well, against those few sides below us, but first things first.

I really liked Troy Davis. His speed for a tall back is truly exceptional. Needs to work on his disposal, but I reckon he will be a player.

Why, oh, why are people still trying to stifle our enjoyment. If you object to Tom Scully threads, there are many places you can go to on this site without being confronted with discussion about the little [censored] and his dysfunctional family. This doesn't happen to be one of them. Now, is anyone looking forward to tonight's game?

I just vant to be alone, dahlink! vy don't dey understand dat dere is more to life than money

I came across this today and thought I would share it here. There are some good reasons why Sydneysiders should get behind the GWS. Little reasons add up for Giants supporters by Richard Hinds February 18, 2012 Illustration: Rocco Fazzari THE GWS Giants start their competitive life in the NAB Cup tonight. So why should your forsake the Swans - or even the Panthers - in favour of the new franchise? Well … ❏ Behind the sheep and fleece exhibition, pig judging, showgirl competition and woodchop, the Giants will be one of the major attractions at the Sydney Showground this year. ❏ There is no need to worry about accessorising your Giants guernsey. Orange clashes with charcoal ❏ Scully is a top-line recruit who will prove the critics who predicted his deal would place too much pressure on the Giants' salary cap wrong. And so is his son Tom. ❏ You don't only get to cheer when Israel Folau takes a high ball. Even some of his knock-ons could prove useful if they end up in the right hands. ❏ Other than during derbies, you won't have to endure someone screeching: ''Go Swanneees!'' in your ears. ❏ The club's leadership group is so large that, with a premium membership, you get to lead out the team, toss the coin and fire up the boys before the bounce twice per season. ❏ Kevin Sheedy is expected to come with subtitles by the end of the season - handy for both players and members who have never heard of ''Daisy'' Williams, Kevin Walsh and the other Essendon greats he uses to illustrate his entertaining stories. ❏ The Giants No.1 draft pick Jon Patton was last seen entering a Swedish hospital on crutches. A slap in the face to critics who predicted it would be a heavy playing schedule that caused long-term injury problems for the team's young stars. ❏ If you sit behind the opposition goals, there should be at least 50 chances per game to catch a ''fly ball''. ❏ The Giants held their leadership group announcement at a city hotel and their first intra-club match in Moore Park. Proving you do not have to travel as far from the AFL's eastern suburban/lower north shore heartland to see the ''team of the greater west'' as you imagined. ❏ Without having played a single game, the club is already setting new landmarks. Greater Western Sydney Giants is, by a whopping three letters, the longest name in the AFL. Cop that North Melbourne Kangaroos! ❏ After watching the Giants train at Blacktown, you are only minutes away from the Rooty Hill RSL (March attractions: Shannon Noll, 10cc, The Sweet, Jasmine Rae, El Circo Rouge, The Delltones, Carl Barron.) After Swans training, all you've got is Paddington, Kings Cross or the eastern beaches. ❏ The Giants will be the only team that can simultaneously lose to a team by 20 goals, but still frighten the hell out of them by waving a cheque book at their star forward. ❏ The Giants have no known Buddhists, sparing fans the traditional ''AFL star meets Dalai Lama'' photo opportunity. ❏ They didn't recruit Brendan Fevola. ❏ No matter how the Giants rationalise defeats or cover up injuries, during the three home games in the ACT they will not be the biggest liars in Canberra. ❏ You figure AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou does not pay the bills without making sure that, in the not too distant future, his multimillion dollar western Sydney baby takes some pretty big steps. ❏ You will get to shake your head in smug disdain as AFL neophytes cheer points and good kicks into ''touch''. Just like you did at the SCG during the Swans' early years. ❏ You will get to put on your club issue lederhosen and belt out the club's rollicking, knee-slapping, beer hall theme song. Although the players might not be making a ''big sound from the west of the town'' for a year or two. ❏ If the profiles on the club website are anything to go by, the club is bristling with media talent: Take Gerald Ugle: ''Before a game I always make myself spaghetti and eggs on toast. When I'm in the gym, I like to get pumped up listening to my Ministry of Sound playlist.'' Hopefully, just the first instalment of a 22-part series. ❏ The Giants are one of the ''greenest'' clubs in the AFL. They have already recycled James McDonald, Luke Power, Chad Cornes and Dean Brogan who were left out on hard rubbish day by their former clubs. ❏ Most clubs sack a senior figure after losing a few games. Greater Western Sydney sacked their chief executive before even playing one. So you can't say they don't have a ruthless streak. ❏ If the Giants win one game and the Waratahs win six, they are certain to have better crowds by the end of the season. Go Giants! [email protected] Twitter @rdhinds

Harsh on Beamer. Just putting positive pressure on junior players imo. Moloney is the first to go in to bat for his team mates in the real deal. True team man imo.

THE WINDS OF CHANGE by Whispering Jack When Mark Neeld was appointed coach of the Melbourne Football Club last September, we were promised something different and if any proof was required that the winds of change are now sweeping through the club then yesterday afternoon's intra-club match at Casey Fields certainly did not disappoint. Sitting in the stands high above the action were club luminaries Jim Stynes and Garry Lyon who have overseen the changes in the club's football department over the off season. Alongside them are some of the club's injured and rehab group and together with those being rested, they make up a third of the club's playing list. Now, I'm not particularly well versed on the make up of Melbourne's football department staffing situation but you don't have to be Einstein to figure out that if you total up the all the coaches and assistants now at the club, you will get close to a one on one coaching set up for the players in this unique hybrid of a practice match/training run/lecture session in eight parts of seven minutes each with classes in the breaks in between. This is 2012 and the times are a'changin at last at Melbourne. With all due respect to those who came before, this is serious stuff clearly based on a form of sports science that we've never seen before at the Melbourne Football Club. The first thing I notice when the two teams run out on the ground is the change in body shape of several of the players. Some have trimmed down and others are bulked up but the changes are subtle and nuanced rather than dramatic. Midfielders like Brent Moloney and Nathan Jones look positively sleek (compared with their former selves), Matty Bate a little more so but his move to the middle is a reinvention. Cale Morton might have added a few grams to his frame but, as the session progresses from one eighth to another, you can see that he has added significant tonnes of confidence to his repertoire. It's hard to judge exactly what is going on out there as the tricky winds blow around the ground in a way that has seemingly come from nowhere. How much of this is experimentation? Are they simulating discrete strategies for use in particular situations for later in the year or is this part of a new game plan where, much in the same vein as at the coach's former club Collingwood, you hug the wings and flanks, then zero in on the goal and score? So what would I know - there's no scoreboard, no player numbers and the result of the game (if this is a game) is irrelevant. The only thing that remains unchanged is the fact that the umpires, attired in red, wear their own numbers but even they remain fairly anonymous and the desire to jeer them just isn't there. The highlight is the size and the physical presence of Brisbane recruit Mitch Clark who provides the strong marking forward target missing during most of Dean Bailey's tenure after David Neitz broke down and retired a handful of games into 2008. Coming out of the middle, the players kick long to find the likes of Clark, a rejuvenated Mark Jamar and other dangerous targets like Jack Watts and Ricky Petterd. When Liam Jurrah returns after recovering from surgery on his wrist there is going to be some excitement every time the ball moves into the attacking zone. Of course, with that sort of set up, you need the crumbers to take advantage of the opportunities that will open up at ground level. Aaron Davey is being tried there but the Flash, with knee bandaged and still not 100% after last year's frustrations with injury, is used sparingly and, dare I say it, only shows flashes of his former self. He needs more time and it's only February. On the other hand, there's Sam Blease, the red-headed speedster who looks stronger, fitter and faster than he has ever been since coming to the club in the Jack Watts draft. He looks set to become a regular up forward after impressing as a defensive flanker on debut late last year. I sense that the change in him is more than just physical; he seems to have matured emotionally and is far more focussed as if ready to announce his arrival on the football stage. I met Sam at a club function last year when he appeared under the spell of his close mate Tom Scully. I noticed he seemed in awe of his now former team mate and followed him around like a puppy. Today, like the rest of the club, he's moved out of that shadow and stands to be the major beneficiary of that much publicised departure from the club. Blease is now his own man and he underlines this with an impressive two goal performance playing up forward. Among the others who stand out as improvers are Rohan Bail, rookie Dan Nicholson, Tom McDonald and jumping Jeremy Howe looking the part as an onballer who drifts forward on occasion. Troy Davis also looks good at times. In the days of yore, intraclub practice games were good for identifying possible new talent but under the new system, we know all there is to know from the Internet the moment they're traded or have their names called out in the draft. Clark is already a given and James Sellar crashes through a bit in a key defensive position alongside regulars like James Frawley and Colin Garland. Tom Couch shows a bit in the middle but the newbie youngster who really stands out in defence is Josh Tynan. Tynan looks to have the necessary confidence and poise to step quietly into the game at the highest level. I must confess that initially, I didn't know who this player was and had to go back later to vision on the 'net before I was able to make a positive ID but if the youngster from Gippsland keeps up the intensity, that sort of thing won't be necessary in the future. There's also been a lot said about leadership at the club in recent times. The old leaders like Brad Green and Brent Moloney demonstrate that even without the titles, they will still be providing on-field leadership and, although Jack Trengove didn't play, it's pleasing to see that Jack Grimes has lost none of his courage and poise and that he is set to fit comfortably into his new role. Indeed, the way things look with the continuing on field contributions of the old guard together with the emergence of the new, young leaders, that initiative might well be a stroke of genius on the part of the new coach. I suppose we'll get some further indication next week on the Gold Coast when we move from eights to half games with supergoals and the razzmatazz of the NAB Cup. Like most of you, I just can't wait.

Sorry, couldn't make it.

Jetta could be good . Given a run .

Don't think they looked too bad for 1st game of the NAB Cup. They were both competitive and made some mistakes that are to be expected.

Haha, glad I'm not the only one getting annoyed by that!

Relegation assumes that the RF league is somehow worse than ours, I don't think that is correct really, it's not like we are better. And the more I think about it the more I think we should take a leaf out of the R Flower league and name our league after a great of our club. And really when it comes to a game that decides the greatest coach amongst us there is only one name to consider. Would it be too much HT to rename the league (forum) to 'Ultimate Footy - Norm Smith League'?

Yep a Big loss to they're forwardline balance. I thought he was due for another Big one.

Yes, a trade is the only garaunteed way to get proper value out of those picks. Would I trade both for a 20 midfielder with a very bright future? Yes, because that's what we lost when we got those picks...

If the boy supported Melbourne, and he's what we need, and we can shove it up the other Melb clubs in getting him. Then all guns blazing I say. Gaff and Viney added to our midfield should mean a seriously exciting 2013.

Many here think we were ripped off with Scully compensation. Gaff has shown his worth as a legitimate pick 4 with some years of development. If you won't pay both picks for Gaff, there's inconsistency.

what's this got to do with being 'christian' ?

Or Rohan & Martin !!! Might 'ave been Fun!

It's quite obvious the MFC considers it a very important aspect for the team and on-field leadership. Given it was the kids who were putting in when it mattered after looking to their leaders to do so (which arguably didn't eventuate) in 2011, I have no hesitation in the club - in fact I applaud them - giving them the responsibility to young leaders in their own right, for the LG. And because they lead by example they can stand in front of blokes who have been there 5-10 years. Including Bartram and Clark for that matter who put their body on the line. Particularly Bartram, even when the side is being flogged.

Off topic I know, but I'm sick to death the amount of smart arse comments made by a select few Demonland posters, but on a more and more regular basis. It happens in every thread, and it's terribly sad that some posters feel the need to over-power another posters opinion by making personal comments. Lutz - so what if Old Dee "doesn't understand". Actually, what is it that he doesn't understand? Your opinion? Maybe you don't understand his either, but I don't see him question you about "understanding". There's always things I don't agree with, and more to the point, a lot of my opinions people don't agree with, but when you continually here things like "whether you understand it or not" or "it's quite simple, but for billy2803, maybe not", etc, etc, where do you posters get off? Unless it's a misinterpretation of a rule, most other things we discuss are all based on our own opinions, and just because you don't agree doesn't mean you're wrong, but it also doesn't mean you're right. But whichever way it is, personal attacks or smart arse comments are totally unacceptable.. I apologise for being "melodramatic" (according to one poster it's something I suffer from), and "those" posters would most likely advise me to read a different site. Well, I, like most of you, live and breath MFC, and when you're an interstater (in the non-AFL-dominant area of South East Queensland), this is the best way I can get my daily Demon fix. I enjoy the posts of most, especially the likes of Old Dee, and I would hate to see him crack the sh!ts and not contribute due to someone else going on their little power trip. We are passionate, we want the best for the Club, we want a premiership and lots of them. Don't be scum supporters like Collingwood and Richmond, we are all Melbourne fans and should respect each others views in a constructive way, not degrading, disrespectful and immature. End rant.

'Mattingly!!!' Get rid of those sideburns!!!'