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Had a chat with our CEO and got the feeling he is happy to settle in for the next few years.

We owe Mitch Robinson plenty.....

Never been big on singing the song at functions like that. Reserve it for winning games and, in the case of AGMs, after winning premierships.

I thought PJ was good, forthright and clear as he went through the financial reports. It's clear from what he said that we do have an advantage over some of the other "smaller" clubs in that we still have a healthy balance sheet in the black by $3.3m underpinned by land and buildings at historic values and some decently valued gaming licences. We are capable of servicing our debt and debt of itself should not prevent us from at least breaking even. The overriding factor is that the team needs to perform on the field for us to become healthy in these areas. Paul Roos was, as always, impressive. He was laid back and conducted his brief session in much the same way as if he was sitting on the couch. He interviewed three of our midfield "imports" in Daniel Cross, Bernie Vince and Dom Tyson. There's no doubt that if he can't instill confidence into the playing group, then nobody else can. If at all possible (and I know the cost might be prohibitive for some) you must try to get to the 2014 Pre Season Launch if today's cameo is anything to go by. Demons on right path but bumpy road awaits, says Paul Roos Two highlights of the night for me:- 1. Dom Tyson, when responding to a question from Paul Roos about moving from Sydney where AFL isn't such a big deal to Melbourne where everybody's football mad, said, "but you came from the good part of Sydney"! He won me over for what he said because it showed that he not only has a good sense of humour but he recognises the value of having a good coach and being able to ply his trade in football's heartland. All three of Roos' interviewees showed great character and will under doubtlessly add to the depth of leadership and good values at the club. 2. As I left the G (and what a wonderful stadium it is), I walked past the statues of two of the great footballers of my lifetime - Ron Barassi and Leigh Matthews. As I wandered past the former Hawthorn great, a bird crapped on his head but left RDB untouched: a great omen for the future.

I think we are coming off 8.5 wins in 2011. With our draw 9 wins is achievable.

I'm sure mentally it would be great for us to rest our "stars" and get belted by 80 points plus in all our warm up games. Just what a team with no confidence needs. Play the best team available, taking into account rest and rotation policy and those drafees and rookies whose training over the summer has warranted selection.

Agree CBD definitely less. This is my take - I was way more impressed than the two previous years - Our new Chairman seems fairly quiet and I think he seems happy for PJ to be the up front guy - Peter Jackson is the guts of our current Administration, leaves every other CEO at the MFC that I can remember in his dust. It is vital this guy stays beyond the end of 2014. - If Roos cannot gets us back to respectability then no one can, IMO he was confident and seem to know exactly what he needs to do. At the mention of another good sponsor this month my mind flew back a few years to the " Chinese who were a few days away" But that was just me. Overall I was impressed. PS I forgot to mention for all those who complain about the Darwin Games, this year we will make $1.3 million from the deal. Playing both at the MCG would be close to a loss. PJ said get over it, there is no big effect on the players.

For me the measure of this year has nothing to do with wins. It will consist of a good year of we have a crack every game and manage to have the self belief that we can win every week. When the opposition gets a 3 goal jump but we claw back instead of letting them turn it into an 8 goal jump. When we can go passages of 2-4 goals in a row and build confidence and momentum, even if we don't win the game. When it clicks it will click quickly I think. That might take 1 month or 18 months. BUT the foundation for the click will be how quickly we can re-establish or confidence in our abilities. And street the last 7 years, and last year in particular, that may take time. The first 10 minutes against st kilda in round one is so important to this club. The next 20 is just as important and the next 60 is pretty important to. Even if we lose, competing in the first game could set us up for a great year, getting smashed could be disaster #2. Note: I want to make it clear that the above is not acceptable goals for the club or playing group. However, as an outsider, they are the indicators we will see that we are on the track we want to be on. Expect an up and down year.

Shaking my head at anyone who says 4 wins is an acceptable year and a sign of progress Unbelievable 4 wins will be a disaster

You are on some Top Grade Meds BD. No offence mate but you are ranking us right up their at the pointy end of the ladder. We have to climb up out of the dark first. Get used to being in the daylight. We have come from that far back. It will be baby steps. What i expect and will not accept excuses for, is that those baby steps MUST be always going forward.

I thought Cross spoke really well on the night mentioned that football was as much about the wellness of the mind as it was the body, and in his mind he was still as hungry as ever. Also mentioned that the first day of training, the enthusiasm and energy about training belied the fact we were 2-20 last year. He mentioned that having characters around the place, motioning to Vince standing next to him, made it an enjoyable place to be.

What do you do when you're in Newcastle on business? Well, you pass through Melbourne on Friday before returning to Perth for umm... more business. Pretty happy that it's an intraclub also.

Tautology

seriously, ""ASADA's investigative process has been ongoing for nearly a year and is of unprecedented complexity," Dutton said yesterday. "In light of this, it is appropriate that a suitably qualified person be engaged to assist ASADA as the investigations approach conclusion" does not in any way equal A RETIRED Federal Court judge has been called in to investigate ASADA's glacial probe into drugs in sport - a year since it was dubbed "the darkest day". Justice Garry Downes will conduct a thorough review of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority's probe having said that, i do like the usage of the word glacial. glaciers might go slowly but they stop for no one and totally change the landscape!

Thanks for the update.

Adelaide supporting mate of mine, who has a good footy brain, is dirty on us for snagging him. He reckons Riley tackles better than most rugby players, and legally hurts those he does by just hitting the sweet spot time and time again. Now I haven't seen much of him, and tbh didn't even know who he was until he appeared on our list, but if he can do that and break even in other departments then we've done very, very well. Those players win you finals. When the intensity is through the roof and you have a bloke that knocks your fillings out every time you pick up the ball something has to give. You hesitate a fraction of a second to see if he's around; you take a short step because the last couple of long ones hurt like hell; you dish off quicker than you normally would; and the players around him get that sniff of blood and go a little harder too. Tough teams win grand finals, and it's often only a couple of players that make them tough. Recruiting a fella known as 'pigdog' can only be a good thing.

You know, at some point the bloodshed has to end. At some point, people have to get over Gardner's perceived failures, Szondy's perceived ineptitude, Gutnick's perceived conspiratorial nature, Ridley's perceived treacherousness, and anything else people have issues with pre 1996... I liked the fact that three of Gardner's board hung around when Stynes took over, and I have no problem with keeping a few of the old Board around if they, and their compeers, believe they can contribute. Changes have been made, personnel has improved, relationships have been restored, and faith renewed - do we not agree? If we do, then any more desires of people to leave based on the guilt of presence or association, is a tad petty.

Appreciate that he is rehabbing his leg and been out of sight, out of mind, but I have seen this guy play for Sturt over the past two years and he is the real deal, such a tough competitor. Ferocious at ball and player, I reckon he will be the equal of at least Cross and Michie in terms of value over the journey. Tyson is class and will be elite, so i wont quite go quite as far as rating Riley with him. He is my big prediction of 2014 cause i have seen him bully too many Port and Adel players in the SANFL to think he wont make it. Will start at Casey, but by years end, Viney will have a "bash brother" to play with. Best wishes Aidan, you deserve your opportunity!

Enjoyed the Roos and Jackson speeches Hard to see these guys not sticking around for the long haul with the amount of work they've already put in I get the sense that both of their hearts are right in the MFC, which is what we all hoped for. I hope they become part of the fabric of the club for a long time and stick around to reap the rewards with the players.,

Casual dismissal of opinion and fact (see 'not comfortable with change', 'clutching at straws', 'it's a stupid argument', 'sounds like a limp gimmick') does nothing to build the case for - which is usually a pre-requisit for (good) change.

I was being facetious. I'd think it'd be Mr. Bean for an underdone Garland.

Theres one guy in this threads that's had more aliases than hot dinners.

Yes there were od, but most of them were running around chasing their own ass, hopefully this year someone will be chasing it for them, like an opponent.

And that's how you keep the post count ticking over. Garbage like that.

If we win 9 games that would likely put us ahead of about 5 other teams. I'd like to know which other teams our list is stronger than because besides GWS (who will also improve from last year) and St Kilda I think every team still has an edge on us. As a starting point I'd argue every team in the comp besides GWS has at least 1 midfielder better than Nathan Jones OR at least 2 or 3 players at the same level as him. Plus GWS have Callan Ward who is equal to Jones. Until Hogan, Viney, Toumpas, Salem get 50 games and a few others step up a notch we really haven't added too much immediate impact. Vince replaces Sylvia, Cross is much more consistent than Rodan and then we've added Michie and Tyson with combined experience of about half a season. Those changes might result in 1 extra win but the improvement of the group in total can still improve by 30 percentage points and get 3 more wins (a significant improvement) and we are looking at 6 wins not 9. I think talent wise we are on track for a percentage of about 85% with the likelihood over the next few years of developing much more in the midfield and actually being better than the average and making the 8. But the first step for this year will be getting in to games and building confidence. Mainly I'd ask why would you be annoyed if something doesn't happen when Roos has just come out and said don't expect things to change over night.

"Roos just fills me with confidence as do the comments from Vince and Cross that the side is not the basket case they observed on the paddock last year and the talent is there as is the desire commitment and fitness"......I asked Daniel Cross about this when I spoke to him, he repeated what he said on stage, a lot is in the head, he regards part of his role to be a steadying factor on the field, to keep banging into the players that they are good enough

Knowing those two flogs the will say something like "they had to get one right eventually"

Two options: 1. CCA says OK, we'll upgrade it and keep it running. Then no dramas, all is well. 2. CCA closure because it's uneconomic and they refuse to put money into it. Will the community support required, tree pulling, restructuring, unemployment, loss of tax and downstream effect on other businesses (retailing etc.) cost more than $25 million? Or are we just going to stick slavishly to dry economic 'principle'? CCA is not a benevolent institution that is obliged to keep poorly-performing divisions going. How big they are and what profit they make is immaterial to one loss-making division. The difficulty here is that it's an already-depressed rural community, a whole town of 20,000, and thousands of upstream producers who are in the firing line. Maybe the best option under option 2. is for an SPC buy-out and turning it back into a co-operative run by all the local fruit producers, with some government support (interest-free loans) to upscale and modernise. It's a bit disingenuous to compare a dying, uncompetitive industry like photographic film to a food product with a good future market. If we are to be the 'food bowl of Asia' as is often proclaimed, then we need to be better than close down processing. I'm all for 'personal responsibility', as long as it also cuts out generous middle-class welfare, obscene parental leave schemes, tax breaks for school costs and negative gearing, diesel fuel rebates and drought assistance.

no doubt they will just criticise asada and say how the bombers are challenging and that hirdy should have been Australian of the year.

Roos and Jackson were most impressive and informative. Bartlett rather low key leaving the evening in most part to the other two. Paul Roos came across as someone with maturity and a sense of humour. It's easy to see why the players apparently respect him so much. The coaching team he has assembled is certainly far more mature and experienced than what we have been used to of recent times, and they were introduced by Roos with details of there backgrounds. Many of them have worked with Roos in the past and know what they are expected to do, so, as Roos said, he doesn't have to start by coaching the coaches. Brad Miller is of course one of the new boys and when introduced was given a hearty "welcome back" round of applause by the congregation. And the crowd wasn't as large as previous years but still very decent. I had the feeling that Jackson and Roos were quite surprised. Also good to see some current and former MCC committee members in attendance, as they should be!

Not particular about your friends RB! Only joking I have a number of mad Richmond supporters.

Best news ever. PJ is more important to this club than Clark, Hogan and Jones combined.

I am not one bit concerned about not singing the song, I want my team to sing it most weekends of the footy season.

This is one of the great things about the Demonland "community" - the same event, but everyone who posts has a different take on it. Long may it be so. Thanks for all the reports people.

And if he's a Jordie Mac that can't kick, then he's Jordie Mac.

I recently attended a fascinating lecture on the Titanic and the presenter went through the history of the "unsinkable" ship, setting out the cause and effect and the chain of events that led to the ship's sinking and the attendant loss of lives. The narrative had its villains and heroes (starting with the designers) who played a role in the disaster including some, like one of the major shareholders in the White Star line who was the subject of a vilification campaign by the head of Hearst Press and was hounded by that organisation for the rest of his life. Many of the accusations were false. Nothing's black or white in this and I don't believe in adopting a scorched earth policy. It was appropriate for Don McLardy and many of the other leading members of the board to resign over what happened but it was equally important in the transition to retain people who had experience and believed they had a contribution to make to the club. Like the Titanic, not all on the board were responsible for the "disaster", just as when a government falls, you don't expect the members of the losing party to resign en masse. In any event, if their staying spared us from having a Kennett or a Stockdale on the board, then all I can say is "praise The Lord". Yes, I was being tongue in cheek about the players but my example stands. We got rid of some who might have once been good servants of the club but a number were part of the problem. That is, if you describe the main problem as being a dysfunctional, poorly performing football club, the primary responsibility for which was the incumbent board but which was also the result of a build up of poor decision making and incompetence for a long period of time. Some might be happy with our current board and I'm comfortable for the time being but I also believe that at some time we will need to declare our independence from the AFL and that's probably one of the main challenges facing Glenn Bartlett in the future.

Adelaide - Disinterested except for our games, and occasionally watching for specific players. Brisbane - No interest. Brisbane bores me to the point of not even looking at their players for fantasy football. Carlton - Whole bunch of friends/relatives follow them, so I know the team and club news well. Secretly find the club irritatingly self-important. Collingwood - None of their achievements seem important because so much is stacked their way. Their failures are also shallow for the same reason. A liability on the game. Essendon - A mix of my Collingwood and Carlton attitudes. Feel a lingering rivalery on account of mid-2000s games. Fremantle - Interesting watching club evolve. Personal football experiences have included some great Demons-Dockers games. Geelong - Have had a lot of respect for them in recent years, of course. Mostly because of their mostly excellent job sitting on Hawthorn. Gold Coast - Fun to watch. I still hate the AFLs approach to expansion for the most part, but this club seems intent on building with flair and professionalism. Scary. GWS - I find them boring and irritating. How can a club with nothing on the board and total dependence on excessive subsidies also have hubris? Hawthorn - Some individual players at Hawthorn are interesting and seem like strong characters. But mostly they reek of FIGJAM. North Melbourne - Are a football club. Sometimes we play games against them. Sometimes Caroline Wilson plays games against them. Port Adelaide - Like Freo, Port seem to experience continuous culture change, for better and worse. I'm intrigued by the extent of the home ground advantage/disadvantage between Port and Demons. Richmond - Now they they aren't a tragicomic foil to real football news, I'm worried I won't find them as entertaining. All their top players are just so cliche. St Kilda - It's ok to laugh at St Kilda because they are a bunch of [censored] Sydney - Fine upstanding citizen. Nice to have around, though lately starting to seem like noisy neighbors who are just never quite irritating enough to actually complain about. West Coast - Ho hum. Soft-serve ice-cream with sprinkles to amuse the kids. Western Bulldogs - I miss their good old days. Like them, but haven't been much excited about them lately.

Proud to be one of those people! Wish I had a chance to thank the man face to face, but he's always in the thick of it teaching the players something new.

Roos' comment about not knowing how quickly they can rebuild the confidence of the playing group are interesting. I don't think it's a particular shot at Neeld, I think it's more a reality that no matter why they were at 2 wins and 54% that it's a long road to build confidence to believe you can win games or even compete in games against top sides. The counter is that each week we should have plenty of new guys - Cross, Vince, Michie, Tyson, Hogan, plenty of guys who weren't subjected to a prolonged period of failure - Viney, Toumpas, Terlich, Matt Jones, Kent and a couple of others who are practically recruits in Dawes and Clark. Add in the guys who could perform like Jones and Garland and you are starting to get the balance shift in the positive. Where hope comes in is that we need the strong performances to come before a fresh group get inflicted with negativity.

I mentioned this on last Monday's training thread. "Interesting, just turned on replay of last years Qualifying Final between Sydney and Hawks. Pre Game interview with John Longmire with him saying to win they have to do what they try to do every week which is play hard contested two way football." I suspect the short version of Roos playing mantra will be the same thing. I remember hearing him say somewhere that footy is now all about running up and down the ground. So no surprise they have been doing plenty of exercises doing that all pre season. We are all also lucky that he is inheriting a team that is just about to complete it's third pre season under Misson and by Misson's calculations was always going to take until this season to be physically competitive. Flash told me at the B&F after Bailey was sacked that he was trying to get them to execute a game plan they couldn't execute. I assumed that to be outrunning the opposition on the transitions out of defence and into attack. Well, no more excuses. I am really encouraged to hear people saying the skill level has picked up because nothing has frustrated me more the last couple of years than watching the team getting killed by turn overs.

Worst. Super. Bowl. Ever!

Really enjoyed Paul Gardner being there last time Lost more weight and ready to go

The Richmond game may be the most winnable preseason game. Not site of that will have any bearing on team selected. I think the "team needs to gel" approach is the best one. The practice matches getting the mids working together. Hot round 1 running. I don't care of we fade away in rounds 16-22, our mindset will be made in the first 6 weeks.

Have the betting agencies got wind of something??? http://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/australian-rules/afl Essendon now at $15 for least amount of wins. Only us, saints and GWS attracting better odds. Brisbane equal. Am told the odds were 100-1 just three months ago.

I understand the logic but my greatest concern is that one of our best players and a guy who can be elite at his position is waiting for the club to turn around. Why is there not belief already that things have changed? Where is his confidence that through on field deeds and leadership he can change things? Now part of that is also as a full back his main job is to limit the oppositions best forward and he's not the ball winning midfielder who can get 10 clearances and 30 plus touches and really break open a contest. And the other concern is that we've been through this all before when Neeld replaced Bailey. But compare it to Travis Boak who in Port's darkest hour had faith in his team mates and faith in the club. If Frawley truly isn't sure that things will change then doesn't that say a lot about the psyche of the players. If a gun like Frawley isn't sure how things are going to go how are lesser players meant to be confident to perform?

Who cares about the Super Bowl if I want to watch pumped up steroid freaks I will watch this years Anzac Day Clash.

Perish the thought. On second thoughts I might just change this site to dem0nland.com

That would be the guilt by association... Holding a body of individuals to account does not mean they all must make way. We have found that moving on a head coach, two line coaches, two assistant line coaches, a CEO, and 3 Board members is enough for a renewal of some substance. Why must we damn Rawlings, Nichol, Mahoney, Taylor, O'Donnell, Viney, Lamb, Howcroft, Trotter, and Spargo for having the temerity to want to, and be allowed to, stick around to help their club?

lol No it isn't. Unless by 'PR Disaster!' you mean about 20 Landers will complain on here...

The drive to Casey Fields is always interesting. If you haven't been there for a few months, you're immediately struck by the amount of new residential building happening which is of course, one of the main reasons the Melbourne Football Club is out there in the first place. This is one of the fastest growing residential regions in the country and over time, it's hoped that the club will benefit from that growth and develop a much healthier supporter base than it has at present. But all that is of no effect unless the club prospers and grows on the field and that's what I was looking for as I made the trip down the freeway to Cranbourne. I wasn't expecting too much with the temperatures edging towards the low forties and the flies congregating around the small but hardy group of supporters who braved the oppressive conditions. This was compounded by the non appearance of the bulk of the club's talls who are suffering various ailments, none of which are said to be long term in nature. Missing were Mark Jamar, Max Gawn, Mitch Clark, Chris Dawes, Jack Fitzpatrick and Jesse Hogan. That left us to concentrate on a pre season training session in the heat involving many of the club's midfielders which is the area that has caused us so much distress in recent years. Even then we didn't see Bernie Vince or Aidan Riley and Jack Viney turned up but I didn't see him on the track. Even the coach is far away in Africa and we're less than a month away from the start of what used to be the NAB Cup. However, there was enough on display to suggest that the emphasis in off season recruiting on the midfield will pay off. That is not to say that from hereon in the Demons will be elite in that division but rather, that they will be competitive and will perform like the bulk of the midfields in the competition and not resemble a bunch of fugitives from Madame Tussaud's waxworks. This is what I took from training and from what I have seen of the influx of players into the club through trades and the draft. Dom Tyson looks all class, Viv Michie looms as a surprise packet, Daniel Cross has class and experience and we know what (the admittedly absent) Bernie Vince can do. Jack Watts is a classy mover and disposes of the ball well. Jimmy Toumpas looks as if he's going to step up in a big way and we have high hopes for Jack Viney, Sam Blease and a resurgent Jack Trengove minus the burden of the captaincy. Then there's one who impressed me this morning - Michael Evans who deserves a break from injury looks fit and solid and could be a bit of a surprise packet. This will all add quality to our 2013 midfield of one, namely Nathan Jones. The way they trained and ran in the heat was impressive. There were a couple of little blokes who could also surprise by adding pace and skill to the set up in Dom Barry and Jay Kennedy-Harris. And if these changes made by the new coach bring result in a more solid, efficient and reliable engine room, imagine how much this is going to be appreciated by the overworked defence of the past and how the forward line (currently all in rehab apart from Jeremy Howe) will benefit in terms of greater opportunities for scoring. Of course, all this is written in mid January, a traditional time for rose coloured glasses and things could well change dramatically over the coming months but I think we're on the up and up. I remember sitting high up in the gods in our round three match against Richmond two years ago and, realising that our static midfield was bereft of any run and spread, knew we were in a spot of bother. Now, I know that we will no longer be wax figures in the most important part of the ground and that is where I see our improvement in the months ahead.