Leaderboard

The official word is Gosch's Paddock tomorrow (Thursday) at 9.15am but Demonland will have correspondents there at different times of the day and at Casey Fields and Ballarat just in case.

Nathan acknowledged as in the top 30 players in the AFL, long time coming.

C Salem to sign contract extension for another 3 years. Should be announced before Friday.

Ok.

Get him to look at Hogan's foot

You are making things up while asking others for facts. You place yourself between the club and critics and then deny that you do it. You state you don't want to make things personal while making personalised comments. You state demonland is improving when people agree with you and that it is getting worse when they don't. This is the behaviour of a troll.

Well, you were right Saty in predicting that this topic would generate pages and pages of pointless bickering. Maybe you should have predicted your part in that as well.

Saty was looking a bit dishevelled, but the rest of us would have passed muster, I reckon.

He has some bloody good players ranked behind him. And, relevantly, this is as rated by the players - not some fat journo. Well done Nate - a legitimate MFC club legend.

The guy hasn't played for 12 months. He showed promise on the weekend but his timing looked out and his touch and match fitness will improve. He'll probably miss this week by the sounds of it but I'd play him in both of the remaining two Nab games if he's fit. He needs the match practice. And we need him up and about if we're a chance against the Suns. This cotton wool, alarmist mentality is disturbing.

I just don't get everyone's obsession to trade before the start of the season.....We have not played a game for points and all want to trade player out for some fanciful player from another side..... Howe has played 22 games last year for a total of 78 He has kicked 70 goals and 54 points in that time....He was also second in rebound 50 after Dunn for last year He was also 5th in kicks for the club last year....Also 2nd for marks taken and 1st for contested marks and 1st for short kicks He was also 6th in the b&f and received 2 brownlow vote. So the crap about being a one trick pony is exactly that. He also played in defence last year, a position that he has never played before and I thought played it well.

lol - campbell newman. must be something in the water up in qld producing charismatic messiahs - newman, rudd, bjelke joe (that's apolitical, one from each party)

Your idea of facts is conducting a straw poll of the person standing next to you and their 4 year old kid. You don't know how many people left in disgust. You don't know how many memberships or how much merchandise could have been sold. And it wasn't a normal Monday session, because it was a public holiday, which lends to greater accessability for supporters to attend. Just accept that you are a supporter like everyone else, and you are not privy to the inner workings of the club.

Its funny cause the players are involved in the membership telethon but the club has missed not one but two golden opportunities to get memberships through the infra club match and the open training session. Bloody stupid imo. Pick up your game MFC.

#31...poignant well done Chunk

The great 2015 gazebo heist. Club survives Norm Smith, Barassi, Mergers, Prendergast, Neeld, Tanking. Finally brought undone by gazebo expenditure.

Let's be clear about this. ASADA offered Essendon (with the cooperation of the AFL) a way out of this in 2013. It meant they took some of the blame. The result - Hird rolled his "best friend" Evans (about the only honest broker in all of this), and recruited Little to go on a binge of self justification and sociopathic self indulgence (if that is not an oxymoron!). It could have been all over in 2013, if Hird had have confessed guilt, as Essendon and Evans wanted him to, which i know for a fact was their PR and legal advice which pointed them in that direction. Instead, they went on a binge of self justification and self indulgence which has lead to this current mess. This situation is entirely in Hird's court. All other clubs would have recognized the dangers and acted upon them. I hesitate to raise this, but history is littered with charismatic leaders with too much power and no checks and balances (Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pott, Mao, Campbell Newman). All eventually fall on their sword though hubris and arrogance. Hird is the sporting equivalent. There is no other AFL club with anyone approaching a leader of such power and wealth, and blind adherence from fans and the club, as Jame Hird. Such power is a fatal combination in any organisation. Unfortunately there has been no equivalent power to keep him in check and so he has led a once great club to the point of oblivion through his self obsession, and arrogance. They deserve everything they get.

These sort of carefree approaches to Hogans delicate disposition annoy me. Why are you rushing him ? I would put him on ice until we are in the premiership window and then only give him a run two weeks before the finals so he is cherry ripe - he could be our Clark Keating..

Its a valid concern. its one indeed the AFL need to keep very much in mind lest they fall foul themselves. A great many people are viewing this as some sort of AFL only , inside the box affair. It's much more than that. This is how I see it .........

What? Hes not injured. Sheesh

Too risky then as well, wrap him up in Cotten wool till next year I say. Then give him a run in next years NAB and if he has another hot spot issue, rest him again for a year. Can't be too cautious on this guy. He could get to the end of his contract with just half a dozen NAB highlights. But at least we have managed him well.

Guys, as being a local Ballarat Dees supporter I'm just giving you the heads up if you are attending the NAB Cup game v Doggies Saturday 4.10pm start in Ballarat. If travel by train check the VLine site for times etc then a short Taxi ride from the station. By car, turn off the freeway at North Ballarat and the ground is 5 mins away. Parking? They will try to slug you $5 to park next door at the Showgrounds...cheaper to turn East at the Subway/Servo and park down a side street then it's a short walk to the ground. Show this years membership card to get in for free. Last years game here Blues v North had 7850 crowd and I would think max would be mabye 9000? You will be standing! The small grandstand will be full of players families and officials etc. If you can't stand all day you would have to take a chair and get there EARLY! If disabled I'd assume contact the AFL as would be normal practice. The only tiered viewing is the Northern end near the scoreboard behind the goals. If watching from the east (highway side) expect the setting sun to be in your eyes. The ground will have a great atmosphere and the surface is exceptional, if the weather is nice pop into town early have some lunch and make your way to the match. Alternatively arrange to have a catch up for a bbq with friends at Lake Wendouree then off to the game pumped up for a Dees win! Enjoy the day! EDIT BY DEMONLAND: The Game will be LIVE on http://melbournefc.com.au

Hopefully they have a permit for the gazebo they set up

Im just commenting to keep this thread on top.

Carey was captain of North Melbourne at 21 and All Australian captain at 22. He was a budding superstar at 20. Let's just hope Hogan has a solid injury free year.

You're not afraid of hyperbole are you.

I think all players should take up surfing, paddling around in the cold waters of Victoria can only be good for the body and muscles.

Might be an idea to get the Richmond doc to have a look.

Not if your glass is half empty.

I don't agree they will halve the penalty. I think they will serve the full two years, and i seem to remember the ASADA offer of backdated penalties was made before Hird, Little and Essendon tied up the whole process in the courts challenging ASADA's methods and its association with the AFL. This will not be viewed kindly by ASADA and WADA. I seem to remember when ASADA was asked recently about backdating penalties for Essendon they pointedly refused to answer. I believe the least penalties ASADA/WADA will accept are two year bans dated from the day the penalties are announced, and if it covers more than two players (more than likely), then Essendon may also find themselves banned for a time. Then let the writs fly.

OD the sanctions to date refer to bringing the game into disrepute. If they are found guilty of systemic PED cheating you can be sure there is more pain to come.

I emailed the club and they contacted me back today apologising, The club has offered the kids that missed out yesterday a place in a guard of honour as the team runs through the banner, they also want to arrange the kids favourite player to give them a call and also offered to send a kids fun pack. I thought that was pretty good of them.

The irony in this post smells so bad you can almost see it. You take aim at the supporters who were annoyed with the day, who are in the vast majority here, and then back up your statement based on a chat with 1 person. Give me a break Saty. The club stuffed up and you know it.

Can we get the Richmond doctor to scan it please? If he gives it the all clear, then I will start breathing again...

The AFL have to be in on it to make it work. I doubt Hird will be be in the package if that is the case.

That ol' reality bus just doesnt visit Essendon. How in the face of all evidence to the contrary they can consider themselves hard done by, the victims even is beyond me. That the media ( hacks , fanboys etc ) continue this nonsense of attempting to groom a concioussness from which paltry penalty will arise is further proof that 1) the AFL and all its cronies still think they live in a world apart and that 2) it can in any way influence the outcome utter nonsense

Oh i think they will remain in the AFL as well, everyone has too much to loose if they do not. But they must find a way around their current situation. I think it may pan out a bit like this. The 34 players are suspended for between 12-24 months. They all sue Essendon in its present form. Worksafe does its thing and flag substantial new fines both on the club and individuals. These two things represent tens of millions of additional liabilities to the current club. Their principle benefactors refuse to put additional funding in for this purpose, and the current entity goes bankrupt and the liquidators are called in. The liquidators sell the assets of the club (the brand, the license, the training facilities, the players) into a new entity without the current liabilities including Hird's contract. They can then totally start again by re-employing (or not as the case may be) everyone they want to on new contract. It would not be the first time this had been done in Australian corporate life, but it would be a difficult legal man-oeuvre probably requiring some negotiated settlement, not i am sure beyond Little's expensive legal team's capabilities.

Anyone who thinks we would have not covered $1000 on Monday through sales or that signage at the ground wouldn't create income for the club needs to take some viagra eye drops and have a good hard look at themselves.

The perception is what is killer here - that we are an amateur shambles of a club with poor communication between internal departments. Whether or not it's true that merchandise and membership should have been more involved, surely what can be recognised is that it's a compounding of errors that gives a perception of amateurism to those both inside and outside the club.

Don't like it TSFKA? Those of us that read and contribute here do so out of choice. You are free to be elsewhere, may I suggest you take that option. Edit: Fix acronym.

If they remain in the AFL (which I suspect they will, no matter how protracted the battle might become) we can only wonder how long Hird's interest will continue in coaching a team without much hope of getting him to the grand final podium.

had a phone call from Jimmy to renew my membership - which I did. The interesting thing was when I complimented him on his preseason he basically was quite negative about his form. Really nice young man but down on confidence I would think and very hard on himself. A good argument for not bringing kids in too early especially when the team is struggling. Felt like giving him a big hug.

I normally skim past your posts Saty but had to correct you on this. I understand you take this club criticism personally chap, but try not to speak on behalf of the club. You miss the point, so I'll type it slowly. The club would have made far more from the day than what it cost to get a permit and fund $1000 for a membership/merchandise tent. I would have easily covered about a quarter of that with a new kid's membership and merch sales. Judging by other parents spoken to, I was clearly not alone. My young one was disheartened, but if the desire is still there of course I'll buy a first membership. The lack of vision and poor communication within the club cost it financially and more importantly in terms of goodwill. It's ameteur, not professional, definitely not a good commercial decision and does little to esteeme the club to young supporters. New, young supporters are the future of our club, not you, not me. MFC can definitely put funds into the FD and engage with young supporters at the same time. Time to stop making excuses.

This thread is hilarious. Melbourne player CLEARED of a nothing injury and the sky is failing LOL

I recall as a teenager my local club paid a king's ransom to recruit a former AFL-listed key forward who had routinely led the league in goal kicking, to be the key piece to push us into premiership favouritism. In a marking contest at training during preseason I stepped on his foot in a rather innocuous fashion. He missed a couple of games, which turned into a handful of games, which turned into a season and he never did anything of note on a footy field ever again. The moral of the story? Make sure I don't step on your foot. He'll be fine. Or he won't.

Yes they are arrogant BUT if they are guilty then this is the biggest doping scandal in team sport in the world. Systematic doping by a club. If they are let off the hook then all sport as we know it will be a free for all and who has the most money to pay for drugs will win. It cannot be allowed to happen if we want clean sport, which we do. It doubly cannot be allowed to happen given the conduct of their club since.

On what I seen last Thursday with his work rate off the ball, Dean Kent would want to improve. It's one of Roos non-negotiables and Kent does nowhere near enough work to close down and apply forward pressure nor does he run hard with his direct opponent when we don't have the ball. He has a lot of tools in his Arsenal but having the right attitude and willingness to really bust your gut will be the final determination in whether or not he reaches his full potential and beyond. Otherwise we will be left waiting on his breakout year

All finished. Night nighty.

LT absolutely spot on. I too witnessed him going in hard and laying some strong tackles. It does make me wonder though if its possible the club start giving him spells as an on baller? In his under 18s championship year he was playing as an onballer starting in the center and thats where i saw a hard running player who was linking up beautifully around the ground and just racking up big numbers of the ball including a 36 disposal game against one of them that i cant remembered. Since we have drafted him he has played majority of his time as a half forward where i think he is wasted. I look at someone like a James Aish and Leppa isn't afraid to throw him in the center and let him work into it. i also did mentioned that Toumpas was very stiff last year to get dropped when Salem was struggling himself and not getting alot of the ball. Again i thought he struggled against Freo. I think the coaching staff need to leave toumpas in the side for about 6 weeks and just back him in and let him have a good run at it. He will get great confidence in him and i trully think he can become a great player for us.

My wedding starts half way through the 2nd quarter. Im hoping I can catch a replay during the week.