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Just a little story on Harmes I just wanna share a story on how quality of a person this young kid is. 'Chomp' comes up to Yarra every summer and this year he spent new years there. Old man is a taxi driver so they got talking about footy and without harms mentioning anything about being an AFL player dad said he barracked for the Dees, when in turn James mentioned he was a rookie list player. Dad being a passionate supporter was pumped and they got talking for a while about footy etc.. When dad had to drop him off he managed to get a selfie with Chomp and he turned around and offered his support to my younger brother who is playing for under 15s Vic Country this year by giving dad his number! Chomp then offered to ring me little brother and say g'day to which he was little star struck given he is only 14 years old.. Harmes offered some handy advise and tips and wished him all the best. Dad said he was by far the best 18 year old he has dealt with being such a mature kid for his age and the way he has gone out of his way to keep in touch with my little brother. There was no arrogance or cockiness just a down to earth kid who was just as pumped to meet another demon supporter. Dad sent an email to the footy club complimenting on what a terrific young kid he was and the way he had gone out his way to do what he has done for my little brother. Dad mentioned that he wanted this email to go straight to Paul Roos and Peter Jackson. Dads already promised him free taxi rides Lol Against Sydney this year Chomp got free tickets for my family and even a chance to get them into the rooms. My family have now become good friends with James and when I rang my dad before, him and my little brother were fist pumping and shouting with excitement. So the Harmes selection is a bit closer to heart then usual. The kid is a ripper and I am absolutely stoked for Harmesy to be living his dream because I know for a fact just how hard he has had to work for it and what he has gone through. Good luck Chomp!!

I knew that record cold temperatures were on the way but I didn't know hell was freezing over

Personally I think there are far more marginal players to 'dispose of' than Garland.

I wish him a great debut in a big Demons win.

They are our bunny, at half strength, missing their captain, with a shattered psyche. We are pretty much playing a lame, brain damaged rabbit with one eye. I'll be a little upset if we lose.

I still think this game is a danger one. Lets not forget they beat us in march with half a VFL side playing while we were nearly full strength. Lets just hope they are mentally spent and it takes its toll tomorrow.

Think about this one from the Bombers side, rather than dealing with our own fear of succeeding. We are all so scared of success having never seen it in the last decade. The Bombers are following up a record loss to an equally lowly team, and have lost their Captain and best player, and decided too blood 3-4 young kids who have been in questionable form in the VFL. Sound familiar? We have lived through this for years. Did any of us seriously think after someone smashed us we'd be cherry ripe the next week cause a Grimes was injured and replaced in the side by a very young Bail, Taggert and Gillies? That's what they are dishing up. Dees by 32. Brissy game much tougher because they have a midfield. Beams, Rockliff, Hanley and Redden are to be respected.

Correct thread. Whine away, shitstain.

I am praying you are correct C and B After the last decade I have zero confidence that the MFC can win when expected.

softer end? that's a bit harsh on heppell wouldn't be surprised if he becomes this week's project for bernie boy

You wouldn't want to get in Harmes way. *ah-thank-you

Agree 100%, and im amazed at the softening of opinion on this site. Illegal performance enhancing drugs. Not once by accident or ignorance. Repeatedly, in secret, off site. Aided in the cover up by the AFL, and shifty underworld connected figures, and ignored by a toothless worksafe. WADA and its Australian cousin have only one option here. Bring out the heavy sledge hammer, and send a notice to all team sports in the world. You cheat, you pay the full penalty. 2 year bans, missing 2 full seasons. Yeah, i would be comfortably satisfied with that.

I'm still nervous....

Imagine what absolutely belting the bombers would do for the confidence of our group,time to beat up on a side

I'd offer our first rounder + Howe, and that still probably wouldn't get it done

I won't be tipping us. We should win. But this is classic Melbourne. I can't remember the last time that we won when we should have.

He's a great photographer also. A real artist.

It's very, very sad to see Geelong in a bit of trouble. I thought giving us up to 200 seats for the last clash was extremely kind hearted.

Col is clearly best 22, i hope he stays

How much of a legend is Jonesy? Love him.

I wonder if any noticed it shown on AFL360 (or possibly the telecast itself) after the Geelong win, when Roosy came into the rooms seconds after the win, Garland in his civvies with a big grin on his face, giving Roosy a big hug. I think they have a strong enough relationship & I don't think Garland will be going anywhere. We'll see.

Its all about the players. The afl in 2012 was an uneven playing field due to the fact the players were pumped full of god knows what. They are responsible for what goes into their bodies If they didnt know they should have If they did know, well, they are a disgrace. Either way they cheated. Since then they have done all they can to fight it They deserve maximum bans if found guilty.

I'm of the belief that both Garland and Howe will be shown the door by the club at the end of the year and I reckon Roos is comfortable knowing that it'll give us the ammunition we need to further compliment and improve our list. To continue to bring in blokes with a fresh state of mind and willingness to compete at all times. Whether it be specialised positions we'll be targeting or mids to complement our one-paced midfield or both. Our own supporters are scared of what the unknown looks like. Posters were scared and underwhelmed when we grabbed Bernie Vince, arguably our best mid (along with Jones). Posters were scared when we got Garlett for nothing on the back of a poor season at a club he was uninspired to play for and look at the impact he has not only on the scoreboard but in general play. I implore you to look at some of the vision of opposition players kicking out and how something as simple as kamikaze style running at that opposition player, (providing they play on) usually results in a miss-kick and a restart for us. We've been missing those kind of pressure acts from most players on our list for the best part of a decade. Do I even need to bring up Vandenberg again and the impact he has had in his first year as a bloke who had a shoulder op and did half a pre-season before he played. I can't fathom the idea that some supporters of ours want to keep underperforming players in the hope that they'll come good. Or because they've been with the club for so long that there's a sense of 'sorry' felt for them. [censored] me. First year players have shown both of these blokes up! Not only that. If you're looking at the needs of our list, it doesn't even make sense to want to keep someone like Garland! A player who's strengths we already have covered and who's weakness/weaknesses we already have enough of. Imagine if we'd kept Frawley like so many here were hoping we would!? It's astonishing. We need to continue to turn over underperforming experienced players who are NQR's. Roos knows it, the rest of the club knows it. We don't have the champion leader veterans of yesteryear like a club like St Kilda or even the Doggies have. We had to bring one of them in! Cross! When will people wake up to the fact that keeping as many 'experienced best 22 atm players who have been on our list for 6-7 + years' is simply not an option for the MFC!?! I will happily eat humble pie if we keep Garland and or Howe. But I honestly cannot see it happening for the sake of rebuilding and rebranding our entire list from top to bottom. Garland Howe Jamar. They'll all be gone by the end of the year. Save this post.

take a large umbrella, drizabone and gummies (and camera) and go and watch bbo f log himself

White is a first year rookie showing a little promise with a deadly left foot. Why get rid of him when he costs SFA and doesn't take a spot on the main list?

lol if it keeps Hogan here I don't care how good he is.

I didn't know Garlett played such a high pressure brand of footy; I always had him pegged as a downhill skier. He creates opportunities through hard work and really classy skills - reminds me a lot of the early days of Aaron Davey. I was happy with the trade at the time, but it's still exceeded my expectations in terms of output. He's been excellent and I hope it continues.

It warms the cockles of my heart to know that a young bloke who grew up supporting this club and was over the moon when drafted by them, is about to make his debut. This kid is a fair dinkum Demon. He'll give his all, plus some. Best of luck, young fella.

Pity Frost isn't playing.

So by that reasoning, lets throw out N. Jones, Viney, McDonald and every other player that was on the list when Neeld was still coach.

Garland has been part of the only area of our side that can hold its head high over the last 5-6 years: the backline. He's having a good year, apart from some injuries, and is a keeper IMO.

Garland I think will stay, if he wants to. I don't think the club will push him. He is very versatile and is in our best 22 every week, no doubt.

Fakari?

Just Hird putting in place a preemptive excuse in case of inevitable embarrassment.

acc: dank is part of the chain for drug importation, if not the actual importer gov: would like a political coup (read scapegoat) without damaging the popular (read votes) sport too much - hence dank asada/wada: here i disagree. think they want both. they want the players because that is the whole core of their approach on peds - personal responsibility, and they need to enforce that or it all falls apart afl: agree. more interested in self preservation/income than enforcing wada code

Be ridiculously disappointed. Tell myself I won't watch another Demons game this season then watch our game the following week.

Actually, I think Kali might be playing the game of "Demonland, I told you so". This scattergun approach allows Kali to say, "I told you [insert player's name here] was going to be off our list at the end of the year."

Honestly I'm not sure they'll be mentally strong enough after what's happened so far this year. I'm betting on a capitulation and a winning Dees score mitigated only by the wet. NAB cup means nothing.

Please give me some of what you are obviously on. 8 out of 9...... yeah, no problem. Lol...

I see that Harmes is good mates with Hogan, how many years would you like on your next contract, James?

Harmes in. Starting to see the benefit of solid drafting and equally solid development. JKH as sub for mine. He brings that explosion of energy that you want a sub to bring. But what the heck, happy with the changes.

Blame the weather and/or Dawes

James is good friends with my nephews, and played with them at Devon Meadows in the juniors.. He is meant to be a great kid. His old man was a tough p@#$k, not related to Wayne Harmes as far as I know. Played all his footy in the Cranbourne area, played with Lang Lang as well. Was never afraid to dish it out. I'm feeling my age when I remember playing against him!! Good luck to the kid.

If I've learnt anything from my time as a Melbourne supporter, is to expect nothing I expect us to lose all 3, because that's how I cope best

I wouldn't have dropped the Toump and kept him instead of JKH. I saw last week as a setback when he had been building on form and was hoping he'd get some benefit of the doubt. I can live with it though. The rest are logical and expected changes. Best of luck to Harmes.

I am a very infrequent poster on Demonland. One thing I would say is that I would definitely give Cross one more year. I said to him today that I would like to see him run around again. He said to me "Tell Roosy". He is keen. It worries me a lot that Vandenberg says that Cross is the most professional person at the club. It does not say a lot for anyone else there. Cross is definitely worth another contract, even if he plays 11 games at Casey and 11 with the Seniors. We still need good solid citizens and blokes who don't panic. It was his kick last year to Salem that won us the game against Essendon.

... not be comfortably satisfied? :)

Im staying out of this one.