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I know there are things that our club should be doing to drive new support, revenue, members etc. (i.e the recent comparison between our intra-club match setup and Collingwoods), but let's also look at the good things WE ARE doing. Was just speaking to a Chinese born colleague of mine who knows that I am a diehard Demon. Said that our presence at the Chinese New Year celebrations on the weekend was amazing. Said when he got off the train, and walked to where it was all being held, there were a lot of MFC dressed people handing out promotional things, whilst SPEAKING MANDARIN (which i thought was amazing), encouraging them to get along to our games by offering free tickets, prizes etc. and getting them to have a go at kicking the footy and hand-balling, which his kids LOVED! Said he was very impressed by our presence, especially the fact that we got mandarin speaking representatives to talk to them about the game and our club in their first language (mandarin). Now he is even attending a game in March with his entire family (as they received tickets), and intends to get a membership! He said he wasn't alone, and from his word, a lot of people that were there shared his sentiment, or are at least now rocking a MFC hat or scarf (even if they don't know what it quite is). So well done to the MFC. We have a long way to go to turning around and building our brand, but i feel we are starting to "get"/understand what we need to do to become a powerful football club again, both on AND off the field.

He's guilty of stupidity but let's see how it pans out before we start making a noose and selecting a tree.

gday all first time poster here just wanted to say hello to all and that I recorded the whole scrub match and am in the process of making a highlights video mainly the goals of the game and other big plays that stuck out so hang tight ill put on as soon as its done also a shout out to devil inside who I had the pleasure to meet on the day

Where's Liam Pickering in all this? Agents/Managers are well paid. This is the kind of stuff they get paid for, particularly when a player is dealing with an issue whilst transitioning from one club to the next.

I'm in town for a few weeks from London so popped down today at about 10.15 for 45 minutes. So keep in mind that my observations are pretty limited and it was really hard to figure out who is who. The players seem to change jerseys every 5 minutes too. There's the red/blue, yellow, orange, white etc Perhaps it's because my expectations were high, but I was a little disappointed by today, except for moments of brilliance. Most of the session was broken up into groups with mids/forwards/backs etc but at one point they did a full ground drill with 'teams' rotating on and switching the play. The drill would start with a long kick into the backline which was marked by a free backman, who would then attempt to move the ball all the way down into the forward line. I noticed that the backline found it difficult to kick to free targets on the HBF/wing, mostly because players up the ground weren't really timing their run very well or moving to the right places. This could partly be due to excellent defence/manning up, which is a good thing for the team, but maybe not so great offensively. There were a few good moments though. Lumumba took a great grab and linked up well by handballing to the running Garlett. The last kick into the forward line was a bit hit and miss too. This was mostly because the players were well manned and the play was against the strong wind. Also, Watts marked the ball at about 60m from goal and spent a good 30 seconds trying to find a target and he wasn't really sure whether to have a ping at goal. He ended up kicking straight to a defender about 10m out from goal. But Watts had a brilliant play earlier at the other end where he picked up a ball on the run and kicked a left foot snap at goal through the middle with ease. Tyson looked good and made some low, pinpoint passes. JKH and Kent also showed some nice skills and Vandenberg did a few noticeable things. Hogan ragdolled Dawes at one point, which is not an easy thing to do. Hogan had to get some physio work on his glutes/hamstring mid-way through the session, but he joined in to the full drills later. It's good that he seems to speak with the physio at the sign of any tightness. I guess I was a bit disappointed that I was expecting end to end movement with no mistakes but obviously that's not going to happen. I also though the intensity was reasonably good during most of the drills but that plenty of time was spent strolling around between drills. Based on what people had reported on previously I was expecting more movement throughout the whole session. But again maybe I was expecting too much. One final thing. ANB was running laps at a serious pace. He's a beast. Bring on the games and 2015!! I'll be watching from London

Oh ffs, non issue as far as I am concerned. Yeah he is stupid blah blah, it's not a misbehaviour that occurred while at our club, for god sake don't suspend him from games as that is detrimental to the team and fans.

Might wanna change the thread title to: 'Christian Petracca Comeback Thread', because our boy is in good spirits and ON THE MEND!!:

#standbygarlett

It seems to me our board have moved on from the 40,000 membership number........ we now want to be the first with 1 million members

这是一个古老的大标志

Stupid is as stupid does

The dog ate his summons.

Wait, so his second chance was before his first chance? Yeh he stuffed up, last year while at Carlton. He hasn't put a foot wrong since being at melbourne. The story says he didn't tell melbourne because he didn't know he had to go to court. Move on, the club will deal with it, the courts will deal with it. I'd still want him lining up for us round 1 regardless

This. Surely we knew what we were getting here, anyway. Hands up who thought, "model, responsible citizen" when we took Garlett?

since when has hypocrisy never been part of human nature?

Oh no, not another CHANGE THE SONG thread

If it was us the coach would have been sacked, the board would have stepped down and we would be under administration of the AFL. And this all would have happened 2 years ago.

Yosef, the lawyer said to the wealthy art collector tycoon: "Abe I have some good news, and I have some bad news.” Abe replies: "Yosef, i've had an awful day, give me the good news first.” Yosef says: “Your wife invested $5,000 in two pictures today that she figures are worth a minimum of $15 million.” Abe replies enthusiastically: “Well done, very good news indeed! You've just made my day; now what’s the bad news” Yosef answers: “The pictures are of you in bed with your secretary.”

Yep, I think of Magner (not comparing him as a player) as a ball winning mid being asked to play a defensive forward role that just wasn't his go. Probably hastened his exit from AFL footy.

First time poster, long time reader... I feel I really need to jump to the defence of the cheer squad here as I think this is an unfair assessment of the current group. I truly hope that this experience was before it revamped in 2013, particularly if I'm one of "bunch of nasty older women" you refer to. (Geez man, I'm only 40 - I thought I was hiding it well!) Since it was rebranded as The Demon Army we've worked bloody hard to improve just about everything. And let's be honest, it was previously a fairly lack-lustre group, struggling in what was an awful period for the MFC. The group now operates as a professional business, we're pushing 500 members, have a huge following on social media and are getting a totally different demographic (more kids down the front, more beers up the back). We never turn anyone away if they're a Melbourne supporter. And most importantly, we cheer even when we're losing miserably. We'll be freakin' awesome if we ever start winning! Both Collingwood and the Bulldogs have modelled their revamped cheer squads on ours. I'm so sorry you were turned away in the past. Please try again some time. I promise you'll find some of us "nuffies" are quite socially acceptable. Or unacceptable, if the situation calls for it.

The best things the VFL/AFL did was bring in the salary cap and draft as this helps create an even competition which means more clubs and more players. I don't think the AFLPA understand this.

I came home early last night and walked in on my best friend Moshe making love to my wife. I looked at Moshe with distain and said to him " Moshe - I'm married to her - I have to do it...but you ????"

I find it impossible to understand how your contact, if he is indeed a legal one, could say it is still 50/50 whether ESSENDON will get off, when he says there is no dispute about whether they took "bad" thymosin and that Hirds reputation has been totally trashed including incriminating emails. I must say this information is in line with mine from people inside the case. The difference is that mine, principally from inside WADA, see Essendon and Hird as being doomed. For them, it is a question of what the sentence will be, rather than if they will be convicted.

Maybe its time to remind some of the what we're talking about here regards what constitutes a "naughty" Banned VFL player Wade Lees warns ASADA will look to hit Essendon for sixHere we have a guy who suggests he only attempted to get a supplement and wasnt actually aware of any banned ingredients. Maybe he did, maybe he didnt but he never actually took ANYTHING.....and still got 18 months thankyou very much !! Essendon have admitted a program of supplements , just want us to believe in the easter Bunny and such about what it was. It wasnt a once off. Id was systemic. It wasnt a player, or two, it was the better part of the whole list. it wasnt approved by its own medical dept it was clandestine ( that ought to raise a flag on its own ) They didnt come willingly or cleanly to the table they fought tooth and nail to get off on a technicality ( and still do ) They admit no guilt, show no remorse and seemingly couldnt really give a rats about anything let alone the health of its guinea pigs and have obvious contempt for the League So lets keep this in mind: Scale of the offense, repeated nature of the offense as well as the culpability of it all. You dont obfuscate and hide amongst the shadows if youve done nothing untoward. If they had done nothing wrong it ought to be the easiest thing to show such. quack quack QUACK !!

Better (seven years) late than never.

The ALFPA is asking for earlier qualification, 6 years service, not connected to any club. Just years of service. And they want an end to compensation as this is slowing down trading or encouraging clubs like MFC to not counter bid for the likes of Frawley. This apparently will even up things they say. The evidence so far is the elite are moving from good sides to good sides or from lower sides to better sides. The ALFPA claims to represent some 800 players yet FA benefits in any year, potentially the best 20 or so players in the comp. When Buddy gets million a year, that comes off the salary of a rookie and some other strugglers at the club. There is a limit called the salary cap. The AFLPA as I see it is a disgrace at least on this issue.

I don't think he should be disciplined. He did do the wrong thing, but isolating a guy like Garlett won't end well. Club needs to support and embrace him, ask him why he didn't go to court - and help him in his future court appearances. Let's not forget that a large number of Australian men also lose their license and don't attend court, let's not treat Garlett like he is a criminal. He needs support, if there is one thing MFC did well with Liam Jurrah it was support him, some would say even enabled him - but our intentions were in the right place.

Maybe we should play an exhibition game there..what could possibly go wrong? Oh wait....

Oh please!

Lol, WADA would not allow a three game ban. Hird must never be allowed near a sporting club, the players must miss six months min and the doc and administrators need to resign or be fired. Then, then this can be buried. I think that would be the minimum. And less and WADA will appeal.

At least it's an old offence.. But ridiculously the club didn't know about it. That's very poor from Carlton, Melbourne and most of all Garlett. I'm willing to forgive all the sins of the past if he behaves from when he got to the club. That's what second chances are about. But not telling the club is a major error of judgement. I imagine Paul Roos would be fuming right now.

I have a firm no DH's policy unless they can crumb. Maybe Jeffy wanted to get all his court dates on the same day?

we'd need to change the demon to a dragon. chinese are very superstitious about demons

Depends on which translator you use, similar to the perception of Jordie McKenzie's playing ability

I shake my head every time I hear him or read about him doing something. There are so many politicians who I don't like but at least I think I understand them. Rudd had an unfortunate narcissistic streak and let his ego get ahead of himself but he wasn't a stupid man. Gillard - I think became a different person once she got the top job - a very intelligent person. I think Hockey has done poorly as treasurer and being in the spotlight obviously doesn't suit him because I respected his intelligence and cool demeanor prior to his elevation. Shorten is no dummy but is bland and vanilla and that does not these days when leaders have to have some TV presence. Turnbull is a good performer in my eyes - I do believe he has overcompromised himself in towing the company line and was I expecting his resignation much earlier in the piece. I freely admit I just don't understand Abbott or maybe I just don't want to accept the simple truth that he is a dingbat.

I think it did....

http://demonland.com/forums/index.php?/topic/22762-if-nathan-jones-goes/page-5

Ignorance is bliss ManDee

Giving up on Toumpas after 2 years... Jeez.

Abbott to me is not fluff - the extent of his lack of understanding of situations and ability to read the mood of public and his own party knows no bounds - the sacking of Ruddock again highlights this. His comments linking aid to the executions of the two in Indonesia - why oh why ? Shorten ? - yup - fluff.....

Sounds painful. Do they know each other that well?

hahahah All that work by bitter losers like Martin Hardie to ask Workcover to investigate all clubs not just Essendon, and all clubs except Essendon given the all clear Brilliant

To be fair, so far we haven't seen any evidence full stop. We have no idea what ASADA presented, nor the players for that matter.

NO. http://www.asada.gov.au/rules_and_violations/8_rule_violations.html Read rule 2: 2. Use or attempted use by an athlete of a prohibited substance or prohibited method. Read and understand what is said. Use or attempted use .... Read rule 7: 7. Trafficking or attempted trafficking in any prohibited substance or prohibited method Read and understand what is said. Trafficking or attempted trafficking... Read rule 8: 8. Administration or attempted administration to any athlete in-competition of any prohibited method or prohibited substance, or administration or attempted administration to any athlete out-of-competition of any prohibited method or any prohibited substance that is prohibited out-of-competition, or assisting, encouraging, aiding, abetting, covering up or any other type of complicity involving an Anti-Doping Rule Violation or any attempted Anti-Doping Rule Violation. Read and understand what is said. Administration or attempted administration...... Go to the ADADA site and read it. Essendon are guilty.

Daniel Cross will only be rested to preserve him for this year and next year. Bonus for the club, bonus for the youngsters, hard as a cat's head and an absolute exemplar of professionalism. I'd love to see him managed well so that he plays next year as well.

from Titus O'Reily Colin Sylvia and Ross Lyon have a little chat Ross Lyon: Come in Colin, have a seat. Colin Sylvia: You want a chicken nugget boss? Lyon: It’s 11.00. Sylvia: I know, breakfast menu was over. Lyon: Colin, I’m sending you down to the Peel Thunder. Sylvia: Is that a night club? Lyon: No, it’s in the WAFL. Your lack of professionalism is something I simply can’t accept here at Freo. Sylvia (chicken nugget spraying from his mouth): What are you talking about? Name one time I haven’t been professional, not counting last year. Lyon: Yesterday you didn’t finish the time trial. I found you drinking a thick shake under a tree. Sylvia: In fairness boss, I was pretty hung over yesterday. Lyon: That doesn’t exactly help your cause Colin. Sylvia: I’d argue with you but it seems like a lot of effort and I’m pretty tired. Lyon: Well enjoy the Peel Thunder. Some players have used a situation like this to come back reenergised. Sylvia: Yeah, I’m not doing that. Lyon: I know Colin, I know

Oh, duffer me!!!

WADA won't allow that to happen. This is a huge case for them. It may even be the first team sport the amended code to be done. If so that would make it even a bigger reason for them to go hard. What gives me a level of comfort is that it isn't ultimately in the AFLs hands. They can't sweep it under the carpet with a sweetheart deal.

The only best 22 definites (if eligible) at present for me are as follows: FB: Jetta Dunn ***** HB: Salem Tommy HL C: Vince Jones Viney HF: Watts Dawes Howe FF: Jeffy Hoges ***** R: Jamar Tyson Cross Not sure where Watts and Howe will line up but they are definitely in for my liking. Frost, Garland, Grimes, Toump, Gawn, Pedo, Kent, Bail, Newton, JKH, Matt Jones, Viv and Brayshaw can all fight to the death for the last couple spots and for the pine.