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On the same logic, does Bate not get a game because he's got red hair ?

aka The Osilik Board...

SICK OF PEOPLE INSINUATING WE ARE CONTROLLING THIS WE ARE A BAD TEAM

Fired the guy then hired him back then he left then a whole lot of nothing for 23 years then two embarrassing excursions into Relevance Town with a massive crisis in between and then false starts throughout the noughties, then another massive crisis then rebuilds. And you're up to date. You can't just fire a guy like Norm Smith in the manner we did without the cosmos giving you a giant chilli powered enema for a while. For Boston it was trading Babe Ruth for The Stupidest Reason in Sports Management History ©, and for us it was an internal political issue that those at the time had no idea what affect it would have on the club. Note: Google the reason why they traded Ruth to the Yankees if you don't know.

Apostrophe crime!!!! O'MG!

Thank you for that clarification GV. So if I say "All lawyers are mendastic ,evil ,parasites who deseverve a slow and painful death for their manipulation of societies problems " then I will be OK . But if I said for example "John Smith of Scumstein ,Lieberg and Bullshyte is a fraudulent pedarist and so are his partners" then I may be in trouble .

What a side. I reckon we've fielded better teams at Casey. Interesting no Beamer, no Morton but Magner comes right back in. I'd be nervous if I was those 2. Really nervous.

Chappy may look past it at the cats, but he is quality and would be in the top 5-10 players at our club easy, regadless of if he was a better player 2 years ago I'd love to see him in our team

Maybe a comma, or two, wouldn't go astray either JM.

Anyone that saw him play on Saturday had to be impressed, it was really his first game in 18 months he was good, he has something most our midfielders don't the ability to carry the football, he attacks. Evans and Jetta are two players that take the game on, run with the footy, play on and attack the game, I hope both see out 2012 and remain on our list for the next couple of years.

Cannot accept players with mis-spelt first names like this .

I agree , Can we get him or is he contracted?

I think we really need to change this losing culture. Get the players wanting to win at all costs, what has losing gain us? After so many years down the bottom we're still contemplating draft picks.

THE CURSE by Whispering Jack Exactly twelve months have passed since Melbourne travelled to the Top End where it took on Port Adelaide and delivered Dean Bailey his last win as an AFL senior coach. The team laboured hard in Darwin's heat and humidity and was always going to finish in front of the Power whose season had been horrible to that point and was only going to get worse. For Melbourne, the four premiership points for the win gave it 9th position on the ladder and a definite chance to participate in the AFL finals series for the first time since 2006. The Demons were facing a tough month but there were three relatively easy games waiting at the end of the run home and a game in hand over its rivals for a finals berth who all had equally difficult tasks ahead of them. We all know the outcome of the story of how a club imploded; the way in which it fell to pieces, the on and off field convulsions, the crisis of confidence of the players, the thrashings, the injuries, the falling away of form and the fact that in the interim, the coach left in harsh circumstances, the club's young number 1 draft hopeful walked out chasing the almighty dollar, the demise of a major sponsorship, the president sadly passed away and the team managed only three wins over the past twelve months, two of them to the new franchises. The trip north for a game at Darwin's picturesque TIO Stadium is meant to serve a number of purposes, the main one being to bolster the club's finances. It is also designed to create a link between the Melbourne Football Club and the community of the Northern Territory and in particular the indigenous community which has produced so many excellent players in recent years. In light of the aftermath of that trip north, one might be forgiven for believing that somehow and for some unknown reason on that steamy night, a curse was visited on the Demons and their indigenous heroes. Melbourne returned home to a game against Hawthorn and, with Liam Jurrah and Tom Scully missing through illness and injury, a tired team was easily overpowered and beaten. Six days on and the team was decimated by Geelong as it suffered the second largest defeat in the game's history. Another day later and the coach was gone. The club's indigenous players have all fared badly over the past twelve months. Austin Wonaeamirri was still mourning the untimely deaths of his father Matthew and his close relative Maurice Rioli and missed the Darwin game. He returned to the club and suffered a bad injury to his ankle on comeback at Casey. It effectively ended his career and he was delisted at the end of the year. Jurrah was injured late in the season, breaking a wrist in a fall after taking a trademark hanger in the team's win over Gold Coast. The surgery to repair the wrist was unsuccessful, it required more work and while in rehabilitation, he travelled home to Yuendumu. The result of that visit has been well documented and will play itself out in the NT court system. Jurrah finally returned from injury but in his comeback game against Sydney, a game lost by in excess of 100 points, he injured an ankle and has not played a game since. Aaron Davey was also recuperating from a knee injury when the team went to Darwin last year. He returned to the side some weeks later but was out of form and frustrated. He was reported for an uncharacteristic infraction against Richmond, missed the final two games and has had a torrid time with injury and form ever since. He was at the centre of the Jason Mifsud racism controversy earlier this year and many felt that the incident had touched his soul badly. Less than a fortnight ago, his season ended with the discovery of stress fractures in a foot. Neville Jetta was on the comeback trail from shoulder surgery a year ago but it was discovered that the operation had failed and the result was more surgery and a major interruption to his pre season. Then, in a practice game at Casey, he twisted an ankle badly and he has only recently started playing again in the VFL. On Saturday night, he returns to the Melbourne side for his first game since late last season. Jetta's mate Jaimie Bennell has just gone through an indifferent season drifting between Melbourne and Casey before he too succumbed to one of the game's toughest injuries last weekend and he underwent knee surgery on an ACL yesterday. Rookie Kelvin Lawrence who has struggled at Casey and last played in the Scorpions' reserves is also out at the moment with a calf injury as he fights for his future on the club's lists. I should point out that it's not only the club's indigenous players who make up Melbourne's large injury list and, of course, there's no scientific basis for believing in curses. This week, veteran broadcaster Tony Charlton joked with compere Mike Sheahan on his programme about another alleged curse which some believe afflicts the club - the Norm Smith curse. Charlton believes that talk of such curses is nothing more than sheer nonsense. There probably is a logical reason for everything bad that's happened to the Melbourne Football Club over the years since it last tasted premiership glory. The same can be said of the events of the past twelve months. The likelihood is that they are related to a number of complex matters such as those which the club and its coaches are impressing on supporters at those briefings that are happening at the moment. So there probably is no Top End curse and all of those bad things are coincidental. But just in case, I'll be scouring the television screen on Saturday night before the game hoping to catch a glimpse of somebody in the crowd making all of the appropriate gestures necessary to lift the cursed spell - because enough is enough! THE GAME Melbourne v Port Adelaide Saturday 21 July, 2012 at the TIO Stadium, Darwin, 7:40pm AEST HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 11 wins Port Adelaide 13 wins At TIO Stadium Melbourne 2 wins Port Adelaide 0 wins Since 2000 Melbourne 8 wins Port Adelaide 11 wins The Coaches Neeld 0 wins Primus 0 wins MEDIA TV – Fox Footy Channel (Live) at 7:30pm Radio – SEN ABC774 THE BETTING Melbourne to win $2.30 Port Adelaide to win $1.60 THE LAST TIME THEY MET Port Adelaide 17.10.112 defeated Melbourne 15.14.104 at Adelaide Oval, Round 24, 2011. This was the first ever game at the beautiful Adelaide Oval which is being redeveloped for more football and, in the AFL's endless drive for dollars, it will no doubt soon become a concrete amphitheatre rivalling Metricon and Skoda Stadiums for sheer ugliness. If you wanted proof of the curse then this game was it. Even if it was depleted by injury, Melbourne should have won the game easily but some mysterious umpiring decisions kept Port in the game all day and mysteriously in front by eight points at the end of the game. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Daniel Nicholson James Frawley Colin Garland Half backs Joel Macdonald Tom McDonald Jack Grimes Centreline Rohan Bail Colin Sylvia Sam Blease Half forwards Ricky Petterd Stefan Martin Jeremy Howe Forwards James Magner Jared Rivers Brad Green Followers Jake Spencer Jack Trengove Nathan Jones Interchange Thomas Couch Lynden Dunn Neville Jetta James Strauss Emergencies Matthew Bate Jordan Gysberts James Sellar In Lynden Dunn Neville Jetta James Magner Jake Spencer Out Matthew Bate (omitted) Jamie Bennell (knee) Jordie McKenzie (groin) Mark Jamar (calf) PORT ADELAIDE Backs Jackson Trengove Alipate Carlile Paul Stewart Half backs Tom Logan Troy Chaplin Domenic Cassisi Centreline Matthew Broadbent Travis Boak Kane Cornes Half forwards Andrew Moore Justin Westhoff Danyle Pearce Forwards John McCarthy Daniel Stewart Brett Ebert Followers Matthew Lobbe Bradley Ebert Matt Thomas Interchange Thomas Jonas Jasper Pittard Chad Wingard Aaron Young Emergencies Darren Pfeiffer Brent Renouf David Rodan In Domenic Cassisi Jasper Pittard Out Darren Pfeiffer Jarrad Redden BEATING THE CURSE I've been reading an article about how Melbourne's performance since its shock win in round 10 against the Bombers has progressively gotten worse in several key areas - Falling down. The writer in question notes that since the Demons beat Greater Western Sydney in round 13, the defence has collapsed, with Melbourne now the third easiest side to score against in the competition (surprisingly, it's also currently third last), while its average disposal differential and uncontested possession differential have both slipped drastically in the same period. To gain an understanding of the reason for the sharp decline in these statistics, Demon legend Garry Lyon was consulted. He was at a loss to come up with an explanation but opined:- ''They are having 30 minutes of footy when they don't appear to be in the contest at all. Why is that? There is no excuse for it. It's certainly something they need to sort out. ''Their skill execution has been something that has been really disappointing. The fundamental footy has been disappointing, but it hasn't been for want of trying. They were pretty competitive against Collingwood, after Collingwood kicked the first eight goals. Against Freo, they were 20 points up with five minutes to go in [the] third quarter. ''They have been competitive for periods of the game, but when they are uncompetitive they are getting monstered.'' Lyon did admit in the end that the fall away against the Dockers could have something to do with the fact that ruckman Mark Jamar hobbled from the field with an injured calf and Jamie Bennell ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament but it all remained a mystery. I suppose injury played its part. With your All Australian ruckman out of the game after five minutes and your ability to rotate in a tight game seriously impaired, it might explain why a team full of young players, a few coming back from long term injury might tire badly. That the writer also failed to examine the rest of the club's injury list and the extensive number of players from its best 22 also out missing was probably an oversight. He also carried out no analysis of the changes in those KPI statistics over a longer period, say the past twelve months. Specifically, since the Demons last made the trip up to the tropics and Darwin. This brings me to Saturday night's Top End clash against Port Adelaide which would, in a round billed as one of closely matched and exciting contests, stand out like a sore thumb if it weren't for the fact that the Dockers await the Giants in Perth for what will most likely be a right royal execution. I'm actually surprised that a journalist wasn't dispatched during the week to check out Port Adelaide's statistics for heroic acts in football of late. After all, it was well in the game against Essendon at half time last week and lost by 50 points. The week before it was crushed by Adelaide in the latest version of the Showdown. No signs of any alarm there? Right, then I might have to tip them to beat Melbourne. If there was any logic in this football caper I think I would be safe in relying on the teams' respective performances against Essendon who Melbourne beat by 5 points - a much better result than Port's capitulation. The Demons might have undergone a sharp decline in recent KPI's but I would prefer to deal in cold, hard facts and I know for a fact that the team that was selected to travel north this week is dedicated to removing the Top End curse placed on it exactly twelve months ago when they last travelled to the Territory. Ending the curse will depend primarily on who controls the midfield and in this respect, I think the Demons will surprise despite the fact that they decided to leave out Brent Moloney who polled maximum Brownlow votes on both occasions when these teams met in 2011. I look at Melbourne's rucks in Jake Spencer and Stef Martin and I am automatically filled with confidence about their capacity to overcome Matthew Lobbe and whoever else the Power are going to use in the ruck in this game (you can tell I don't know much about the opposition). Spencer killed them last week in the VFL while Martin stepped into the breach quite nicely when Jamar had to pull up stumps early against the Dockers. There's been a lot spoken and written about Travis Boak recently but quite frankly, I think he's under pressure and too distracted to perform against Nathan Jones who is one of the most improved midfield performers in the competition this year. He would surely have far more recognition if not for Melbourne's plight this year and the fact that the journos and commentators persist in going on wild goose chases searching for reasons why a young club, with a large injury list isn't travelling so well at the moment. In any event, I'm backing Jones, Colin Sylvia, Jack Trengove, Rohan Bail and first year hard nuts James Magner and Tom Couch to more than match Port Adelaide's on ball division to give their team the winning edge in this game. I'm also delighted that Neville Jetta is finally back and playing after an horrific run with injuries over the past twelve months. Although, one can't expect too much given that he had a truncated pre season and several months on the sidelines, he has shown previously that he loves this ground and can carry the responsibility that goes with being the only one of Melbourne's wonderful indigenous players left standing at the moment. I have this vision of Nev swooping on the ball, running into goal and kicking the matchwinner to put the Top End curse to rest for once and for all. I'm therefore tipping Melbourne to win by a point.

You must, you have posted it on two threads.

Thanks DC- It's a burden guys like us must shoulder in between important things like surfing the net ,footy and the distractions in life .BTW ,did you notice that Toady from Neighbours is now the President of Syria?

I like the idea of a Lingerie League before the match . As long as the chicks are all hotties. We dont want it to turn into some unsightly spectacle .

‘Pickles’ Evans relishes return Good on ya Pickles! Whilst we all agree living the life of a AFL player especially a demons player would be great it can't be that great great when you have only played a handful of games and have had nearly as much surgeries as games. He has busted his butt and put up with surgery,pain and therapy session after therapy session to try and get back and play. Anyone on here who has had any type of injury/surgery knows how much of a pain in the ass it is and for him to come back and play for the dee's is something I look forward to.

No. He showed glimpses of form at Casey, but it wasn't sustained and his fitness isn't up to par yet. This is premature in my opinion.

What?! Jeez... I reckon I'd be hurt to lose Gysberts. I really like the kid.

Ummmmmmm, isn't Jetta from WA?

I'm catching a flight to Darwin in about an hourand a half. It would really p..s me off to go up there and see a loss. However, and all you lads can drool, I've have, through a friend of a friend a corporate pass to the game and entry to the friday night cocktail party. Suffer in your jocks!

Mikey who is CIP'S [censored].

Methinks we might have seen the last of Bate,unless redheads are being rested due to the NT sun...the lobster effect if you will. Not many play 100 AFL games

I reckon referring to members as "ologists" or "landers" is forumist. Can't we all just be "Melbourne supporters"?

this one ??? lol

Did you ever post on Ology Joe? Your posting style would have got you in to a lot of arguments there and I think that would have suited you. I hope it is resurrected it is a good site and whilst I'll never post there again I do have the occasional look through to see what's happening. I'd even throw in a couple of bucks to get it going if it will keep Bluey and IRW away from here.

Jetta has half a season of form, Darling has done very little so far, is a good player but isnt a world beater or anything. Kennedy was a reasonable nobody when Carlton traded him, know he is a top KPP in the league 3-4 years alter

but I still don't understand why Jack Watts is responsible for the "Curse of the Red Fox"

If we're going to blame our situation on a curse, we need a name like the 'Curse of the Bambino' which was used to describe the Boston Red Sox's failure to win the World Series since they traded out Babe Ruth. The 'Norm Smith curse' just doesn't cut it as a name...but maybe 'The Curse of the Red Fox' does. Let's hope we don't have to wait as long as the Boston Red Sox, though. What was it...80-odd years? (someone out there will know).

I see benefits both ways, but really 2013 has to be the focus, whilst also giving some on the edge a run for 7 weeks may have benefits in them not being fearful of going straight out and may show Neeld something when he looks towards trade and end of year cull. The most recent scenario we have is Meth Coast from 2010, they put the cue in the rack and got their players fit and had long steady pre seasons to work on their game plan and build elite fitness. Whilst I am fully aware we don't have the Cox's, Kerr's, Glass's & Lecras, there is nothing to say we wont pick up and equivalant to Gaff in the draft and one of our 4th year players doesn't step up like Shuey. Whilst I don't think our list is capable of doing what the Eagles did in 2011 as we don't currently have their A graders, a good pre season has to be the priority, our best 22 and limited injuries for 2013 will see dramatic improvement

Nathan Carroll would be a walk up start in this side - probably even now.

Great local band - if you're in the mood for a dance, check out Embezzler. Northeast Party House - they know how to throw a party.

I joined 'land and didn't read the rules. Pretty soon I felt like I had been violated and shamed when I had a deletion for going a bit overboard on Morton or Bailey or some such champ. I glanced over to 'ology after feeling deep resentment at the deletions ,warnings and heavy handed personal messages from guys who had been moderating for a long time. When suspended for 3 months I looked and joined the ologists for a while but the numbers were so low it felt like reading a sh!teful blog. Sometimes when you go out with some mates you feel like going to an intimate,quiet bar and sometime you want a crowded ,insane jungle. FWIW (an acronym I learned here) I like the idea that there is a choice between a huge powerhouse like Demonland and a little nuthouse like ology . We need plurality in this life. The thing is-I love every one of you sick units whether you be an anal accountant from Vermont or a drug addled Aura-reader from Bangkok. But I still want the right to talk absolute sh!te to all of you and for you to understand that it is only talk. For that reason I will give some money to try to resurrect the the rusty Valiant in the yard that is "ology. The reason for my love of all of you losers is that we have suffered much because of that which unites us And one day all this too shall pass.. What a day that will be.

This is very short term attitude, our players haven't been able to execute the coaches game plan, the only way they will get better at this is through pre-season, what is killing us is the fact that prior to Christmas last year we had more players in rehab than training with the main group. If you want to see improvement in 2013 we need 90% of our list ready to go first day of pre-season. I don't want to go to training to see LJ walking laps or that unfit he has to run by himself, I don't want Jamar missing weeks due to an ongoing calf injury. I don't see any reason why you would want to bring players back for the last 2-3 weeks of the year. Be smart we need to manage our entire playing group to ensure the required players will be ready for Late Oct early Nov, no need to take risks on injured players.

For the first time in most of your 860-odd posts, I'm going to agree with you here! Joel Mac wears his heart on his sleeve, when it's his time to go he does it 100% of the time, and can really provide that level of maturity and offer leadership that is required from someone of his experience. But then he goes for 5 minutes where he can't take a trick, and it kills us! Do we keep him? The question should be who do we replace him with? Could it be Taggert? If so, I think Joel should be there for 12 months until Tags puts pressure on him.

If financial donations are required to help revive Demonology, I am happy to contribute. If details can be given, that would be great.

Am i the only one who thinks Joel Mc should be retained? His filled a gap in the backline most of the year and busts his balls and always creates a contest. I hope we keep him

Prison is the great leveler, and blokes like these don't get held in the highest regard there. They'll be sorted out eventually, if not this time, next time.

I hope this Karma guy is a Russian Psychopath .

So let's list some positives out of the year. 1. Jack Watts has blossomed 2. Nathan Jones has stepped up another level 3. Garland has shown his versatility by playing well forward and back 4. Mitch Clark 5. Jeremy Howe is more than just a Robbo clone - he doesn't just stay in the forward pocket taking marks (Note: no criticism of Robbo intended) 6. Compensation picks for Tom Scully might be more valuable than the player they replaced 7. Presumably our finances are OK because I see no media speculation about the club's 'financial predicament' 8. I can actually discern a development strategy which appeared non-existent for the previous decade 9. After a slow start, James Sellar is providing a big bodied defender which had otherwise been lacking 10. Tom McDonald has shown enough to suggest he'll be our CHB for many years 11. Sam Blease and Daniel Nicholson have added pace to an otherwise slow side. They now have to improve their fitness and disposal respectively. 12. Jordie McKenzie has shown he's not just a stopper and he can actually kick the ball 13. James Strauss has made it back to the seniors after an horrific injury

My bad it's just hard to keep up with all the sack Neeld,Mission,Schwabb,Connolly,Mclardy and Trade Trengove,Jamar,Beamer and everyone else on the list threads.

Taken from dreamteamtalk.com Sums it up nicely. The Clown (any Chris Judd fan should look away now) There can only really be one clown this week and he played on Friday night. Chris Judd (147) could have scored 200 points for all I care, but that one dog like act was all that I saw and confirmed what many have suspected about him…. He’s not a very nice type of guy. While all Bruce, Dennis and the rest of the Channel 7 circle jerk could do was sing Judd’s praises the rest of the football community was dumbfounded at how they couldn’t be mentioning the elephant in the room… Bruce… CHRIS JUDD JUST CHICKEN WINGED PATCH ADAMS AND DISLOCATED HIS SHOULDER!!! Not to mention the fact that Carlton were being smashed… didn’t matter to Bruce, it was champion Judd this, Legend Judd that. In fact I counted more camera shots on Twigley and co in the crowd than I counted replays of the incident. So while Perfect Twigley goes home with perfect Judd to their perfect home lets analyse Mr Perfect a little bit. He shot through on his parent club and sold himself off mercenary style to the highest bidder… who turned out to be the biggest crook in Australian business history…The new full walleted Visy ambassador then went on to show his true colours, His first job as captain was to oversee his new 18 year old rookies being chained to a chair and force fed alcohol til they passed out… welcome to Carlton! Then in no particular order he has been found eye gouging, using pressure point tactics and now chicken winging… with a repertoire like that he should be going for a job at Crown Casino security! What next Juddy? Hair pulling? Squirrel gripping? Anus poking? The AFL has a decision to make… their golden boy has priors and needs to be made an example off, if he gets any less than Wellingham this week it’s a farce, At least Wellingham sought out Simpson after the match and apologised! It’s your move AFL…this guy needs to be remembered for his dastardly dog like acts, not his champion like football skills. End rant.

I would prefer our culture not be so corrosive to talent. Sewell, Enright, Chapman - yes they are a sort term solution but we need help to fix a culture of ease and laziness and they will help. More kids isn't the answer, the answer is setting standards and meeting them and getting games upon meeting them.

winning is all that matters.

Win everything...That is the way to gain respect in the AFL... This club has been on the side of losing my entire life...i want to see the other side.. Aim upwards...whatever picks we get, use wisely. That means much better than the last time.

For God's sake we need to win as many games as we can to recover some respect. I am sick of people at work saying they feel sorry for Melbourne. Enough is enough I want us to be hated like Collingwood & Carlton.

And we still have moron pro-tankers on board. Go 'support' another team, will you?

Win at all costs. Success breeds success.

In recent time we seem to have had more luck with higher draft picks than lower, that's what tanking has got us. Win. Every game we can.