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I have no regrets that we let the players go that we did, I think they were all pretty much disruptive influences and we are, in the long term, better off without them. It may have hurt the club in the short term to lose the experienced players but long term we have now replaced them with players who appear to have much better character and work ethic. The coach is in charge again not a handful of overinflated egos.

I once took an american visitor there (had a friend's two spare memberships - yes I have a friend who's a member of the floreat pica whatever) and took him into their members' stand. A group of kindly looking elderly women told me if I opened my mouth again I'd get a knitting needle in the eye - and so would the 'septic'. And that was during the reserves. True story.

I get sick of journalists dumping on the Dees. In Jake Niall's article Damaged Goods, he makes the point that Neil Daniher 'even managed to lift the dismal dees' into the finals in the 90's. I emailed him, pointing out that Melbourne, far from being dismal, had featured in six of the preceding ten final series, including three prelims and a grand final. Our club had quite a successful record in the AFL until the Daniher demise in the mid 2000s and Daniher was a good coach although he did fail to renew the list towards the end of his tenure.

Thanks to that fine administrator at Demonland the ORIGINAL Bobby McKenzie is back! Hope this news is not too devastating for some of you. Off with bobby mckenzie2 and on with the old! Let's go Demons!!!!

They are trying to 'milk it' ? You seem to have forgotten that our club is in danger of extinction and sends out teams every week that have to deal with a heavily underfunded footy department. Also we are getting closer and closer to the salary cap being irrelevant which means if you are a poor club you are totally cooked. We need every cent we can get our miserable hands on. If it's victories you want you better believe the importance of the role of $$$$. PS nobody is forcing you to do anything, it's just a fundraiser aimed at those who give enough of a stuff about the club to cough up some more dough, o an amount of their choosing. Fir dinkum this attitude of 'the club owes me' that some people have is downright absurd. We are supposed to be SUPPORTers.

As far as I'm concerned this is a Cam Schwab sort of scheme. No sooner do we get a whiff of hope around the club than they try to milk it. I've kicked in for memberships for long enough - I'm owed some victories, not this rubbish.

I don't buy newspapers anymore although I miss the quiet 2 hours on Saturday morning with a coffee reading the paper from front to back. I don't subscribe to any online newspapers. 3 reasons why: 1) The standard of most writing, grammar, expression and general phrasing has slipped so far it is now pitched at 16 year old girls. Most written journalism is magazine/soundbyte in style. 2) Many journos now report rumour because they can't be bothered investigating sources. 3) Many journalists prefer their own fame to being silent middle men or conduits for public information. The above three reasons scream the loudest from sports journalists, and in particular AFL people like Barrett, Wilson and co. I have to tolerate sports journalism or I get no news at all but I just read results game info and stats. The rest of it is fairy-floss sugary carp.

$20 a win x 5 wins = $100 Looks ok to me! Now If I can just work out the five games I can double up with the bookies and cover my outlay. Dees win and I end square.

Dom Barry?

Not only are there too many [censored] but far too many of them are steroid loving UFC aficionados who have gone from fringe dwelling half wit status to role models for the brainless.

The film as well, but how could it fail with lines like: "Hitler - there was a painter! He could paint an entire apartment in one afternoon. Two coats!" Would/could never be made today of course.

If there was a ladder for late 80's, 90's and up until 2005 we would've been quite good. We had our moments in the 90's where things went wrong but those were the days that if you had some talent on your list and ability to coach things could turn around pretty quickly. The last few years with the introduction of GWS and GC and the monumental increase in footy department spending at a time where a number of clubs including us still aren't financially secure has made it hard to turn things around. I know he left in pretty bad circumstances but Bailey with proper sports science, training, recruiting and coaching budgets very well could've made it as I coach I believe. If he succeeded then there would've been cause for the 'even made it at the dismal dees' line. If Roos turns this club around it will be a huge testament to his ability as a coach. But it will also likely mean Peter Jackson has done a fantastic job as CEO, Todd Viney in list management, Jason Taylor in recruiting and Dave Misson in sports science. The point about Daniher not getting another senior gig is interesting but I would've thought after nearly a decade coaching the Dees he would've been happy with the West Coast job for a time and then probably felt once he settled in to that job there wasn't much point going for another ride on the coaching bandwagon. I do think Roos should be considering Brett Ratten for the senior assistant and successor job. And Voss or Matty Knights could be worth an interview at least if they had strong interest. But Ratten was great as our midfield coach. And took a limited Carlton team from a mess to the 8 by developing young talent. Plus I think the recruiters he had working for him were pretty average besides from getting the number 1 picks somewhat right. If Ratten had a weakness it might have been his tactical knowledge but that would be improved by working under Clarkson and I think Ratten would be receptive to Roos' philosophies on defensive play, stoppages and ball control.

Fellow Demonlanders: This match is very winnable! Look at the NAB Challenge so far: Melbourne vs the Tigers - We won this by 14 points without the input of Dawes, Hogan, Watts, Viney, Clark etc. The Tigers didn't have Reiwoldt! Collingwood vs the Cats - The Cats won this by a mere 2 points. Collingwood vs the Tigers - The Tiges thrashed the Pies by 48 points. The Tigers again didn't have Reiwoldt! My interpretation of the above is that we should go into the game next Friday oozing with self-belief that we are the match of the top eight sides. Although many sides choose not to play their best 22 during these matches, they are still a good litmus test as to where the team is at. The last fortnight has shown that: we can match it with the Tigers, the Tigers are demonstateably better than Collingwood and Collingwood is on a par with the Cats. Accordingly, we have every chance of beating the Cats, especially when we welcome back Hogan, Dawes, Watts and possibly Viney. and particularly when the game is to be played on a neutral ground such as Alice Springs! The game is ours to lose!

i can attest to that. the slags are still there

You do realize the MFC helped finance the building of Victoria Park back in the day. It was built on a slag pit. Fitting i always thought.

The only remedy for this is to re-establish our success in the 1990s and early 2000's. They wrote the same stuff when Neil Balm was sacked in 1998, but we made the finals in 1999 and the grand in 2000. No-one called us the dismal Dees then, except in as much as we were uncompetive against Sheedy's "greatest Essendon side" in the Grand. Success will shut this talk up right away. I must say the publicity we have got with the arrival of Roos and our good first up showing against Richmond has been almost universally positive. I get the impression much of the football community would like to see us do well. It is almost as though many opposition supporters from Melbourne clubs have us as their "second team", replacing the Swans as it might have been ten years ago. Even Barrett and Wilson have been very quiet about our first outing against the Tiges. I think Mcguie's attitude is more insidious. He makes very positive noises about what a wonderful Club Melbourne is, but opposes vociferously behind closed doors any move by the AFL on equalization and aid to us to re-establish ourselves from the AFL post the Neeld disaster. He in my view is far more dangerous. Fortunately we have an equally "tough nut" in Peter Jackson so I have no doubt we will survive and prosper again in the medium term.

Maldon i don't think Roosy would be planning the team's future around Tappy but he'd no doubt be crossing his fingers and toes for a fit Mitch ASAP. I have no idea but my gut feel is that the hamstring problem is a pretty minor issue albeit they'd be treating with kid gloves. The metatarsus issue must be rearing its ugly head whenever they try to up the ante on the training track doing the basics. I'm not expecting to see him in full flight this side of mid season but it would be a nice bonus. Hate to see his career over this early over a cronic foot prob. Fingers crossed for a quick recovery though.

Tough? Cheap shots don't make a player tough. Dunn has shown a tendency not to go when required in the past. Cheap shots like the elbow were his forte, such acts are only considered tough by the clueless

Good work WYL. Keep hating the filth.

After the Hawks comprehensive drummings of both Brisbane and the Roos, our performance against them in the upcoming practice match will be a true litmus test as to where we are at going into the season proper.

I really like the look of Georgiou. Weirdly enough (considering his kicking action) I actually feel relaxed when he has the ball in hand. Definitely a good Garland replacement for round 1. He's a fierce competitor so far has rarely been beaten in one-on-ones. Come round one. Hogan will be fit and firing. I think he'll line up. And after watching St.Kilda's game against the Dogs.. If that's their game plan.. vs. our game plan (against richmond) .. we should win by at least 5 or 6 goals. Plus st.kilda will be without Montagna (suspended) and Gilbert (injury).

That stunt might have worked back in the two win days, but since we'll be winning 25 this year I'm not so sure.

I know and they had 51 i was shocked to see that that means we got 1 goal for every 2.9 entries vs last year's MFC average ratio of 1:4.4 and league ratio of 1:3.8 and we were missing our whole forward line! how were we so effective? its even more crazy when you realise we kicked 0.7 at the start, then 14.4 from then on exciting stuff

His innocuous war analogy perfectly summed up his position. It was apt and appropriate.

Shaun Hampson was their ruckman and he was meant to dominate Spencer. He didn't, and has copped flak because of it. And skills are a distant third desirable for a ruckman behind how one uses their body in contested situations and tap work around the ground. Getting riled up because he screws up half of his 4 kicks a game is pointless. Compete in the middle, give us some footy around the ground, follow your man and you are a competent to good ruckman.

Found on http://forums.magpies.net/hotrod:- So it's time to fess up. Who here crossed the line into Collingwood territory?

and Terlich ahead of Pedersen in the backline [particularly when he has been training with the forwards]

like dunny , always have , loose cannon sometimes but he is a goer and great kick tough and takes no [censored] , a lot of moaning on here about an elbow to a tiger phhht suck it up we need that don't we girls ?

so the guilty verdict comes through yesterday. and we wait for sentencing. Eddie everywhere goes on radio saying how much the Collingwood football club is against violence etc. then says said player who is guilty of a very violent act is fine to keep training and that they will support him. what a disgrace.

Our first hit out was reasonable but the Tigers were asleep and we just got passed them. Although the longer the match went the better we seemed to get. I think a lot of that might have been confidence and coming to terms with the fact we were winning and should keep playing well. Today Collingwood are asleep and the Tigers up and firing in terms of intensity and whilst the game got close in the 3rd quarter they kicked away. You could tell Richmond weren't giving much against us because Anthony Miles was there best player. Today Cotchin, Deledio and Martin stood up. Biggest concern for Richmond is key defense. Rance has good days and bad, Grimes is injured, Astbury i'm not convinced on and Chaplin is really a third tall. North. Let's wait and see a little while. Personally I reckon their young talent is good not great and their experienced talent is missing a bit as well. Wells, Petrie, McMahon, Harvey and even Nicky Dal, there's a front runner aspect to that. Scott is empowers young players to go out and play well and have a go. Not sure he's a great tactician though. In trying to change tactics over the preseason for more defense they might end up shooting themselves in the foot.

The Docklands ... isn't that where we best Richmond only a week ago?

Think he might prove you wrong.

He took off fairly quickly the morning his car was involved in a crash.

I wrote the above in May 2011. Things didn't change...

Round 1 predictions: 1) About 15 family and freinds coming to this game (all Demons & Saints fans) 2) Smuggle some bourbon in rather than pay $9 for midstrength 3) Dees win by 5 goals 4) Demons fans stomping the bottom level of Etihad creating a wall of sound 5) Belt out a grand old flag after the game a couple times , followed by a "Roooooooooooos" as he walks around the boundary line. 6) Scarf goes out the car 7) Grand Old Flag played most of the way home 8) Switch to Finey for some post match 9) Get home, feet up, night cap and watch the replay with the lovely. 10) Well if the moods right....

Yes I am sure he will be terrific at Casey!

Fitzy will play quite a bit this year IMO Right now he is physically sound which is more than can be said for a couple of others.

Well ... he did a few nice things, like when he sidestepped around a Casey player who was wrong footed at the time. I'm sure Roos noticed it.

Stirrer !

Effect ............................Cause!

Now biffo is all excited, he thought you said lap "dance".

When you say bolted you mean "ambled" don't you?

how does this system work, are we paying them to win? If i'd know that i would have taken out a big loan from the bank bloody years ago!

New Zealand going from 5-94 to 6-625 is pretty damned impressive - no matter the bowling!

Brendon McCullum, take a bow.

The only fault I can find in this is infinitesimal not twice

Spencer had more hitouts than any other ruck on the ground on Friday. You can add up the combination of the Richmond crew but he was basically working on his own with some help by King & Pedersen neither of whom you would call ruck men at this stage. I think Spencer has been harshly marked for that bad kick. Being at the ground I thought he did a lot of good work around the ground and held his own in the ruck.

Ask Ablett, he will tell you.

SEN interviewed reporter Tim Gossage at lunchtime yesterday and asked about how Sylvia was going with the Dockers. The answer was that he was by no means an automatic selection and would struggle if he didn't improve. I would suggest he's earned that comment at this stage.

I live in a part of Sydney that has a large islamic population, many of my kids friends are from families that practice the islamic faith and all of them are far more tolerant than Hannibal. I have never felt threatened and have received nothing but courtesy in places like Lakembah, Belmore, Campsie, Canterbury etc where there are large islamic populations. We have a number of friends who married into the islamic faith and have no issues at all. As for the islamic regard for women, well that is no different to most religions that are for the most part dominated by males and treat women as second class. All religions, in my opinion are about controlling people, so I have little time for any of them, but to claim that islam is an evil religion (as our friend H does) is an absolute joke... it all comes down to how the word is interpreted and christians are as guilty as anyone when it comes to that... fundamentalism in any religion is dangerous.