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Enjoy. P==> https://www.smugmug.com/frame/slideshow?key=LMxKzJ&autoStart=1&captions=0&navigation=0&playButton=0&randomize=0&speed=3&transition=fade&transitionSpeed=1&clickable=1

Enjoyed the chat on Friday, and yes, the last month has been good for the soul. Quietly confident about DJ. Frost has some amazing athletic attributes, but he still can be a liability with ball in hand. Tyson looks primed. I reckon he'll have his best year yet. Brayshaw also looks very fit. Petracca has incredible scope for improvement and hopefully starts showing more of his marking prowess. Hogan will start dominating games and the competition. I could go on and on. We're in for some exciting times. And goodbye to my Jacky boy avatar, as my six months is up, and hello to my favourite all-time stunner

The 2017 VFL fixture was announced last week and I also dealt with in the AGM thread. We will now be the Casey Demons and to conform with the new identity, I will be appropriately changing the title of this thread to "Casey Demons 2017 News". "Jackson said the club had been in discussions with VFL affiliate the Casey Scorpions about playing as the Casey Demons in 2017. Casey is expected to wear Melbourne colours in the VFL next season. 'We've been in discussions with the Casey Scorpions to amend out alignment agreement with them, which was a 10-year agreement that runs until the end of 2018,' Jackson said. 'We expect in 2017 that we'll change the name of the VFL team to the Casey Demons and play in the Melbourne jumper.' Demons CEO Jackson earns contract extension And in other news, former small man Mitch Gent looks like returning to the fold in 2017.

The difference in list quality in 3 years is simply staggering.

Two observations from Friday: 1. It was much less physical than the previous session I saw. 2. Don't worry about Oliver, he was a standout and has the best hands at the club. Lovely to see Trac helping and encouraging him in the repeat 100m runs. You'd just want to play with Trac. 3. Dion can really kick it. Watched him having shots at goal. Long and straight. Waiting...... PS: Welcome back Pro, I missed a week too. Quite therapeutic really.

Some observations delayed after watching a fascinating last hour or so of the cricket last night - I had promised the grandkids a special end-of-school year treat and what better than a late December visit to Gosch's Paddock for the Demons' last training session of 2016? The club laid it on for the large crowd - a sensational BBQ with the smell of snags and grilled onions wafting all the way to the bridge over the Yarra on our arrival, to the flies, to a Satyriconhome-like built Santa, to the flies, to Checker the big mascot and to the flies. Most of the players were there too, with the exception of our now regular absentee Heritier, ANB (patella tendon according to the real Saty) and I didn't see Dean Kent. I worked out that the rehab group (and there were quite a few but none looked seriously injured from my layman's viewpoint) were the ones not wearing numbers on their backs. I saw Cam Pedersen riding a bike on the sidelines and Jake Melksham running the boundary looking like an Olympic middle distance runner and some of the newbies like Flipper and Mitch Hannan getting acclimatised in the foreground. Josh Wagner and JKH were also doing some running and light work at the side. My 14 year old granddaughter who was once a fan of Jeremy Howe came expecting to see Jack Watts' platinum locks but was disappointed at the hair colour which didn't appear as extreme white as advertised in previous photo galleries released by the club. Her two younger brothers didn't last long. After picking out their favourites in Max Gawn and Jesse Hogan (not hard to do as they really stand out) it was off to the hot dog stand, followed by a kick to kick session which soon ended in the obligatory fisticuffs. I broke up the fight by pointing to the players on the nearby ground and telling the boys that they should follow the lead of their team who train like professionals and don't get involved in any argy bargy. It dawned on me then that this is the fundamental difference between the club now and what it has been in the past, for more or less fifty years. A club that intermittently seemed always divided about something with the rifts constantly leaving us unable to reach the professional standards we are last witnessing both on and off the field. The argy bargy is thankfully a thing of the past - the club's nameless, faceless men are now sad and irrelevant fossils. Peter Jackson, Paul Roos, Brendan McCartney and now Simon Goodwin (far more hands on at training than Roosy) have seen to that and a new spirit permeates the club now. You can sense it when watching training even though you can't see everything and you don't know what every individual drill is about. It feels good - I call it "the vibe" but it's much more than the vibe from The Castle. I guess the exception to the rule might be "the Heritier situation" but I think the club has that well covered. One of the work experience AFL Academy players wore #8 on his back in what appeared to be a message that like Heritier's namesake, Lumumba is gone. In all likelihood, he will soon be replaced by the son of Shaun Smith. Jesse Hogan looks and trains like a man ready to grab centre stage on the AFL scene. I heard that big Maxy is about to get a gig in Foxtel's superhero of the month series and I know that I'm prone to making big statements but look out next year because I reckon Jesse will be on that programme in a big way after his next season. He is moving beautifully, runs hard, looks solid and even cracked it for a smile at one stage. The story about extending his contract for a couple of years must be true because he looks like a man unburdened by the contract speculation, one who is now on a mission. Clayton Oliver also impressed me - he just has that something special about him, especially in close pouncing cat-like on the ball and dishing out handballs to players in space. He's one of a number of members of the young brigade ready to move on to a higher plane. Billy Stretch is no longer a skinny kid, Jayden Hunt looks solid and there's something about Sam Frost that suggests he will be one of those who will step up another notch. As the session went on, I couldn't help but think of poor Colin Sylvia recovering in hospital from a broken neck and other injuries sustained after falling from a balcony. If only the place was like this a dozen years ago when he arrived fresh from Merbein, he might truly have become one of the champions of our game. The team moves on to a break of a couple of weeks before it gets really serious. To my eye it looks as if there is great room for improvement and a move up the ladder, especially with the infusion of some seriously experienced talent in Jordan Lewis, Michael Hibberd and Jake Melksham. The question is whether, when the battles begin, our improvement can outmatch that of the others.

Peter Jackson on board as CEO until end of 2018.

Punt Road Oval falls within the boundaries of City of Melbourne and is controlled by the Council. It shares a 3002 postcode with the MCG so technically it is our turf that they are occupying. I would fully support the Richmond Tigers moving to Kevin Bartlett Reserve, which is named after one of their favourite sons and shares postcode 3121 with Richmond.

Following on from what WJ has put, I have been going to training since they moved to Goschs, I was dubious three of four years ago when Misso came on board and said they would have to start from scratch and rebuild the whole fitness/medical/rehab area, there wasn't instantaneous results, but over time the whole standard has lifted and those at the club now are benefiting from the new regime/organisation that was put in place Everybody players/coaches/kit guys/trainers/medicos/media/analysts, me knows exactly what is going to occur during a session and each player knows exactly what he is required to do in that session. The coaches all have earpieces (except Macca) and two way radios so they can talk to each other during the session, to watch Macca prowl around the field, coaching the players, coaching the coaches, a little word here, a gesture there is a treat for the watchers A player has to report the slightest twinge/niggle immediately, it is assessed and a call made on whether they stay out on the field We have the new draftees and rookies training with the main group before Xmas and nearly doing the whole session The guys in rehab are given targets weekly to ensure that if and when they get out of the rehab group they can go straight into everything The morale of the players is the best I have seen,

Amazing Messi 42 Right Foot Goals

This is a subject that I've thought about a lot over the years and my answer might surprise a few but I think the renaming might be the best thing to happen for the Casey Scorpions Demons. The club originated in Springvale which underwent significant population changes from the 1980s and as such would have struggled to survive at this level had the decision to relocate not been made a decade ago. However, the move to Casey Fields was also problematic because Casey had little identity at the time. The Casey municipality was created in the 1990s as part of Jeff Kennett's overhaul of local councils. It essentially merged two councils - Cranbourne and Berwick and the club found itself located just outside Cranbourne which already had its own strong local club with an identity of its own and some natural resistance to embracing the relocated club. What we've seen in my view at Casey is a club with declining support from the old Springvale following and not enough local support although that should change because the closer residential environment around Casey Fields is growing at a substantial rate. It's good to see that with the new name there will still be recognition and respect for the Springvale tradition while the club moves forward into the future and will continue to foster the game for both men and now women in the area. There will be some old Springvale supporters who are not happy but you have to be realistic and embrace the future. Casey Scorpions set to drop name and jumper and tighten links with Melbourne Demons Ironically, yesterday's announcement came on the same day on which the 2017 fixture was announced with the club shown on it as "Casey" rather than "Casey Scorpions". Perhaps somebody knew?

My oh my, why don't people care about the facts!!!!! I'm Victorian born and bred. Only moved to Queensland so I could mine coal. Yeah, I know I'm bad.....

Interesting that Casey have so many night games. Astounding really. It's a poor viewing ground already and the lights make it even harder. Perhaps the wind doesn't blow as hard at night. Hope those with younger and sharper eyes can let us know what's happening. Peter Jackson and Josh Mahoney just seem to keep ticking boxes. All power to Peter recognizing Josh's ability. Josh has been with us from day one of the Bailey era. To survive and thrive is quite something.

The players don't even know.

The best thing about our Women's Team is that it is currently a restricted women's competition with only four Melbourne-based teams, meaning we effectively get the jump on the Hawks, Bombers, Saints, Roos and Tigers! It is an advantage that we will only have for a short window so we must exploit this and leverage off it to the maximum in promoting MFC to a entirely new market of potential members. If we don't, the Blues, Pies and Doggies will! With Daisy Pearce as the face of our Women's Team, we have a very good competitive advantage over the other three Melbourne-based teams as she is by far and away the most high profile and articulate ambassador for women's football in the AFL. It is imperative that we take the initiative and get the jump on them all. Go Dees!

Six6six posted these up on a separate thread but they're so good we wouldn't want anyone to miss out.

Hope you enjoyed them

Very well stated. I hope that CS recovers well but he had his chance. However the club wasn't run as it is now and Col is part of the unfortunate past. I've been a part of this since '64. About every 20 years or so we rise... but this is different. Everything from the board, admin, player welfare, coaches & assistants, support staff (oh abtw the current talented playing group) is on the same page. And yes the smokie will appear

That may well be so but my reasoning is that he needed to be set straight at the very beginning of his career which I'm sure would happen with his equivalent today given the personnel (think Brendan McCartney) we have at the club now.

The MFC could never have a Social Club on Richmond's turf...That is just not on

The only substantial downside is letting Collingwood have so much presence near the "G", our spiritual home for a century and a half (Melbourne Cricket Club Football Club). Not sold on Port Melbourne but would be wrapped if we could have ended sharing with the Tigers, we let them play "home games" on our ground, and they let our Demon Reserves and Women's Team play (and establish a social club) at the Punt Road Oval (so we could have combined training sessions)!

Have any of you considered how long the queue for a beer will become if we crack 45 - 50 K members?

A quick report card on my observations so far Hogan, content, elite fitness, standout most training sessions Watts, content, elite fitness, standout most training sessions Jones and Viney - what it says on the tin, Jones was driving the standards yesterday in front of the big crowd, joked with Viney about the fence incident from midweek "just thought I would try and get through it" Lewis, kicking is just a joy to watch, his constant talking on the training track a standout, took Clarry aside yesterday for a quick chat Hibberd, solid unit, left foot weapon Stretch, Hunt, Salem, now have men's bodies to go with the skills Harmes, gone up another level with his skills, has obviously worked his arse off on them, starting to look at ease on both feet Tyson, spoke to him yesterday, feeling fitter and stronger than last year, joked the right foot is getting there Garland, Trengove, both looking like they did from a few years ago, both have completed every session and are already feeling the benefit, adding to the competition for spots Brayshaw little hiccup in the last week or so, but looking primed for a big year, just looks more everything Petracca, loves the fact I call him lean and mean on Instagram, primed for a big year, close to marrying the fitness with the talent

Mentioned celebrating diverity through a round and making that a key event for the club. Mentioned there was a footy cost to playing games in China and current strategy was focused on attracting new diverse support here in Australia

That was never in doubt.

Hard to believe that it is only 3.5 years since he came on board - he has achieved so much already. Can't wait to see where he takes us over the next few years. From a big picture club view that is as good as extending Hogan's contract.

PJ - Casey Scorpions to become Casey Demons in 2017 and wear the Melbourne jumper.

fixed

Firstly, get yourself a thesaurus, and learn the meaning of "literally" That is an appalling misuse of the word. Facist propaganda - Yep, there we have it, proof positive of leftiness. Hey Hey Ho Ho, something westerns got to go! On our knees. Yes, most western governments have been on their knees taking it up the kyber from lefty minorities. Keep an eye on Pauline, she is about to shake up the system in Victoria in a big way. Exciting times. Ah, the joys of being a middle aged white man.

I'm planning on painting him in Brown from the penthouse. Jackson Pollock style.

Bring back the boats earl?

Mate, for a start, it's the entire left wing agenda that gets my back up, not just one instance. Case in point is the greenie Australia Day thing in Freo. Secondly, the male/female thing? Another leftie jump up about nothing. The teachers name could have been male or female, and they were simply guessing at his/her title, so they didn't need to say he/she throughout the entire story. The age is only worth reading, if I want something to shake my head at in exasperation.

We'll never know and tbh i dont really care. Nasty fall hope he mends, other than that hes just a blot on the mfc landscape. What we have now is a professional club, not a basketcase and a list wants to succeed not just turn up...if that. Is going to be a hard fought battle for a quite a few positions. As it should be. Think theres more than one smokie lurking

There's nothing tragic about being a lazy glamour boy. Sylvia proved to everyone he couldn't handle an elite environment when he failed at Fremantle. To think that he may have succeeded in the current development system is just wrong in my opinion.

I know he had a great first year but I get the feeling the coming season will be Hogan's break out year, the year he puts to rest the debate about who the best young forward in the game is. He looks fit, happy, content and ready to go...

That's a bit of a harsh assessment of Hunt after two fluffed kicks DS, overall through all the sessions I thought his kicking had actually improved Same with Garlett, last year we had games where he had managed to shake off his opponent and get free out the back, we either turned it over or slowed down to such an extent that he was marked again and the ball went sideways, how is he expected to apply defensive pressure in those situations? It appears that he has drifted out of the game when in fact he is working his arse off to create space. Two moments yesterday, one, where he picked up the ball at full flight in the middle of the field, three bounces and a lovely low flat kick to a leading forward, secondly during the tackling drill, he tackled Jack Watts and pinned his arm beautifully, comment from Macca, "take note boys, that is how you tackle", that is the real Jeff Garlett, how a bloke who averages just under 2 goals and 3 tackles a game can also be called lazy (not your comment) is beyond me

He may have been at " The Inner Earth" bookshop.

I think itll end up somewhere between our guesstimates !!

remember. bub, romsey wasn't built in a day (despite appearances)

It makes me really angry when the lefties/do-gooders/western haters force their views onto the mainstream. There is outrage every year on this issue, because the majority are sick to death of being told not to celebrate something, because minorities might be offended. I am atheist. Always have been. My kids were brought up to follow christian traditions, as have every generation of Australians to this point. Modern Australia was founded by a christian country, and many of our laws are based on christian beliefs. Lefties need to pull their heads in, and stop forcing the mainstream to adopt minority policies. I am with Dutton. Long may he serve in parliament.

John Clare - trainer inducted as a life member.

Colin Garland - made life member.

Board remains unchanged in 2017.

PJ - net assets over liabilities = $4.8m (based on land and buildings at cost).

Had a chat to Sandringham club mate last night about Lachlan. Said has worked really hard this year as he spent his 17th year injured. Filled out much more and they feel he has growth left in him. Very coachable and a very good kid.