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What a win does: 21 March Saints 36,906 Melbourne 35,756 29 March Saints 37,767 Melbourne 37,525 They have added 861 while we have added 1769. And that was their home game.

Carp coach or not, Bucks has integrity. People call him a figjam, but I trust his moral compass way more than Hird’s.

Had a mate speak to Macca during the week, he rates the current MFC kids better than the Geelong kids from their premiership era at the same stage of their career...

Tobacco Institute Salem Kent Craig Smoker and Peter Jackson in the box

All I can see is a longer queue at the bar.

37,525 Absolutely storming towards 40,000. Go Dee's!

Give me 10 Clayton Oliver disposals over 20 of Adam Treloar's.

I think you've left out the best trade which, as far as I know, didn't relate to players. Pick 6 and 2016 first rounder for pick 3 (ended up being 4 when Sydney took Mills) and 9. Oliver and Weed will be foundation stones for a decade. Better than the Tyson/Salem deal in hindsight and I thought that was exceptional. I think Mark Neeld bought Taylor with him. In a funny sort of way it's ironic that whilst decimating the club he provided the foundation stone of the future.

What a thought provoking and ultimately sad article. Bailey was treated horribly by our club, and no coach could have possibly succeeded in the environment in which he found himself in. I have no doubt the players loved him, and he loved them, and as a coach he would have been more successful had he been supported by higher powers. It is incredibly sad that a man who set out to do the best for our club, ended up having his own name tarnished and died several years later probably carrying that burden with him. Thank god we have moved on from those toxic days. That we actually managed to survive them is a miracle, that we are now thriving off the field (and maybe on it too), is a credit to the new administration. ...and the less said about Neeld the better. I still wake up in cold sweats thinking about that horrific period in our club's history!

I know Caro's not everyone's favourite, but her job is to report on football. And that's what she's done here. Most people complain about her work for confusing opinion and facts. This time it's clear she's just relaying statements made by Russel Howcroft. As to what Howcroft said, I say, well done for speaking your mind in a low-key, non-grandstanding way while doing so at event to raise funds for a worthwhile charity. Interesting comments made more so by his apparent lack of self-promotion in doing so.

I genuinely cannot recall a game where I have seen such poor foot skills from both teams! This is diabolical.

Hoskin Elliot is Cale Morton in a Collingwood jumper.

And so say all of us. RIP Robbie, gone too soon, but never forgotten, by those who knew him,or simply loved watching him play the game, like no other before or since. For many years he was nearly the only reason I went to see the Dees play, when winning was more a fluke than an expectation. He did things on the footy field that with his skinny frame and poor eyesight he had no right to. A great footballer and an equally great guy.

I didn't say they need not improve, in fact one of the things I loved about the game on the weekend was how much Jonesy seemed to have improved his kicking. What I was saying was there seems to be an unnatural obsession about mistakes as compared to the good things the players do. Some players in particular seem to be the target if they miss even one kick in a game. I love players who take the game on and if they make the odd mistake so be it.

Hogan and Gawn given the all clear to play against the Blues.

Dean was a very dignified man of the highest personal standards. One does wonder what impact the stress and public humiliation surrounding his dismissal had on his illness. One of the worst times for the MFC, however, so much worse for Dean and his family. The family also behaved in a dignified manner during the course of his illness and after his death. There were no public recriminations or criticism of the MFC. Says more about the family than the MFC at the time. Dean deserved much better.

Stop taking yourself so seriously Saty. You need to have a bit of lightness of being. We all have opinions and enjoy a bit of fun, This site is about Demon fanatics indulging their love of the club, voicing their opinions and having a bit of fun. We love our club as much as you do. But your sarcasm is not warranted.

You have a short memory or are delusional

aish is as scared of the hard ball as toumpas

Just said to my Dees supporting better half, that the skills on show by both teams tonight are akin to Melbourne's very worst over the last decade ........... and I don't think that's an exaggeration!

It's season over for the loser of tonight's game, it's also season over for the winner. What an absolute mess of a game. TV is off.

I'm intrigued by the absence of Bugg, Had a much better JLT than Harmes imo, and was game-day emergency last week.

Ben Kennedy is a better prospect then Harmes in my opinion. Harmes disposal in the JLT series was on par with Paul Hopgood.

Incorrect. I was wearing spandex tights with a fetching leather vest

I'm going to make a massive call - Clayton Oliver will be our best midfielder since Ron Barassi (note Flower was a wingman in a very different era, so he's not included in my deliberations). When you work through it it's actually not such a big call, it's a logical call to anyone who's seen him play and is familiar with our lack of stars over the last 50 years. He's unquestionably Jason Taylor's best pick. To be pick 4 when you fail to make your U18 state team in the year you're drafted is incredible intuition and judgement by those that recruited you. The deal done to orchestrate two picks in the top 10 and make certain of the selection was just as brilliant, as it was the first time a deal of that nature had been done. We set the standard for other clubs to follow under the new points system. I'd say Hunt was his next stroke of genius in a long line of really solid or great decisions. And while there was a time I wanted to hunt Prendergast down he's done what virtually no other recruiter before him had, he recruited Gawn, who is a star of the game and should end his career as one of this club's greats.

We did have the 450 touches. Can't tackle a bloke if you have the footy...

Very weird and sad point in our club's history. Jimmy and Co. were part of the solution and the problem. They oversaw the club's rebirth, and then subsequent near-death. We had never been closer to death as a club as we were between 2011 and 2013. Some utterly terrible decisions were made. Many a scapegoat. Erratic changes made in the hope of fixing damaging issues. Went from one extreme to another. Just a consistent stream of terrible decisions. 186 was a protest, make no mistake. That Jimmy allowed that to continue and for Schwab to remain to oversee the hiring of another coach is a major indictement on his time as club President imo. Harsh reality.

I know this will get moved to the AFLW Forum very soon but as most readers don't visit it, I thought you would like to know of our AFLW Demon success It has been a really successful season for the AFLW and the Demons came agonizingly close to the GF missing the right to play on percentage. Maybe next year. We have a very talented team as evidenced by: 4 Rising Star nominees, the highest number of any club: Lily Mithen, Jasmine Grierson, Katherine Smith, Deanna Berry Winner: Ebony Marinoff (Adelaide) Demon Placings (from 14 nominees) 3. Lily Mithen, 5. Jasmine Grierson, 8. Deanna Berry. 6 nominees in the All Australian Team of 40 players, the highest number outside the Grand Finalists: Karen Paxman, Elise O’Dea, Daisy Pearce, Melissa Hickey, Lily Mithen, Jasmine Grierson Demons in Final Squad: Karen Paxman, Daisy Pearce, Melissa Hickey, Elise O'Dea . Captain: Daisy Pearce Best Captain as judged by players: Winner: Our very own Daisy Pearce Best and Fairest: Demons in the mix: Karen Paxman, Daisy Pearce Winner: Erin Phillips (Adelaide) Demon Placings: 2. Karen Paxman (Tie) Congratulations to all and especially to the winners. We will be hearing those names a lot more in the future. Lets just hope the weird AFL rules on putting all contracts up for renewal this year doesn't cause major losses of our players. And the understatement of the year: Daisy is an amazing asset to the MFC!

They stuck with OMac last year which left egg on the face of many here when the agonising calls for his head fell on deaf ears, and I can't see the Dees hierarchy chopping him here again either. The more he plays, the better he gets. The more confident he will become. He'll need to come to terms with the errors he made - he'll brush up on those.

My understanding is that when Hankook sponsored us it was through their Australian Distributor which was Laurie Delarue (Melbourne supporter) Now Hankook is distributed by Hankook themselves, this is an entirely different entity.

Geez truck and Viney look happy with themselves which is good to c.

Should we add this to the embarrassing records thread?

Schwab, Prendergast and Neeld - a trifector of incompetence

It's more than that. And I don't want to upset the psychologically superstitious by talking out of school, but we do need to keep an eye toward our percentage this year. It's likely to be an incredibly tight season at the top - just a quick skip ahead and it's possible there could be as many as six teams on 5-1 - and we really did ease up last week in the final quarter.

I'll tell you what played a big role in the demise of Dean Bailey (and also Neeld). Between 2007 & 2010 we had some reasonably high draft picks which should have been used to rebuild the Club. Our selections in that time included Cale Morton, Addam Maric, Sam Blease, James Strauss, Rohan Bail, Jordan Gysberts & Lucas Cook.

The game plan as displayed on Saturday was original and effective. The best teams have always played the game in waves with players moving seemingly in unison to some pre ordained plan to create easy scoring opportunities. Sadly, I can still recall the 1988 GF where we were swamped by a never ending wave. The one feature of our game plan though that struck me was that we stopped kicking the ball on top of Jesse's head expecting him to mark against 2, 3 or 4 opponents. Jesse played as a mobile forward whose skill and instinctive footy smarts allowed him to present to players upfield. The two times he marked and goaled he was able to run to the contest in a less congested forward line. What a difference. Watch Jesse when he is up the ground - his ball winning and disposal is elite, not just for a big man but for any player. When added to the elite skills of Clarry and Tracca the three become a dangerous and potent group.

It's a great start to the season, and Goodwin has started well. However, its a long season and the side is going to face bigger tests than the Saints when it comes up against the powerhouse sides, Our performance against the top sides will be the measuring stick for our players, our coach, and our game plan. Lets not get ahead of ourselves.

Just to get a little more perspective on where growth will come from in Aussie Rules - on one of the fox footy shows last night - last season in the amateurs there was not one womens team - this season ? 41 teams ! The growth of females playing the game now there is a path is unprecedented. The growth in terms of teams and participants is spectacular. This can only be good for the game - Embrace the Daisy ! ( and the rest of the team !)

Uncle Bitters sounds like Chopper. Read, not Lovell.

The inaugural episode of the Demonland Podcast can be streamed or downloaded here.

Fred Fanning Most goals in a match 1947

I've always thought him to be too vanilla. Was not impressed with him in the JLT. Too many basic mistakes. He looked a class above his JLT form against the Saints. Relentless pressure, looked quick and played with intensity. Could've kicked 4 with a touch more composure. 20+, 6 tackles and 4 shots on goal, I'm a big Kent fan but I'm happy for ANB to make it hard for him to get back in.

I think if I wanted to create a list of "players who improved the most under Roos", Jetta would have to top the list. The more I think about it, the more extraordinary the change has been which reinforces my belief that the only thing worse than our drafting in the 5 years pre-Roos was our player development.

And then re-started in 2014 when Roos turned him into one of those Sydney Defender Robots that just do everything right and don't get beaten.

For mine Bugg, Tyson and Kent are the first in line from last week's game. Bugg didn't play as the holdover emergency but was pretty good in the JLT and was unlucky to miss out. Spencer did enough and could also come in if we decide to switch up to 2 rucks. It's really hard to judge the AFL players against VFL players in practice matches as they are very different stages of preseason. I noticed that the AFL listed pushing for selection played almost 90%+ gametime trying show fitness for the AFL. The game was played at a lower intensity due to the heat and heavy rotations. No one dominated but Tyson and Kent proved their fitness by domimating the last. Kent made a few errors but was very physical in putting pressure and made a couple of big tackles. Ben Kennedy played the full game and was OK, Trengrove looked good and is suddenly a good kick on his left. Also the next pure key forward in for me is Tim Smith - the Bull looks leaner and fitter and would be he happy for him to come into the afl side at some stage during the year.

I read before round one that Goody was making "rookie mistakes"; that he'd treated Watts poorly by publicly shaming him; that Spencer had to play and Weideman shouldn't (was never going to happen as Goody isn't stupid); how could Hannan be selected on the back of no JLT; how could Spencer not be selected as he played every JLT; that making Viney co-captain was a mistake (I don't like co-captains, but have an open mind as Goodwin is trying to bridge the gap to the younger players); and his "captain's call" on the captaincy was another error, There are probably more. I reckon we've got a gun young coach on our hands with a brilliant footy mind, who knows how to relate to players, knows how to remain calm, knows what wins games of footy, has his team playing "fearless" footy (another term that was disputed as being invented by a journalist - more rubbish); and, like Mark Taylor, he just might have the knack of pulling the right reign at the right moment on matchups/selections. I haven't read too many mea culpas considering the carry on by some. Not that I thought I would.

So now you know what is MFCSS ... but how does it work? Example. We could be leading at half time by 15 goals to 1. After half time ... if Carlton get the first inside 50 ... cue the comments: Here we go! Carlton by 187! Jesse Hogan is not up to AFL standard! I knew this would happen! Why does this always happen to us? I have always known Mitch Hannan was hopeless. I have been saying this since 1975. We should never again pick Nathan Jones. Never!!!!! Goodwin has no plan B. Sack him before the 3/4 time break! I blame Cameron Schwab, Gabriel Szondy, Joe Gutnick, Paul McNamee, Adrian Anderson and Dennis Jones! That's MFCSS. (Trace elements were detectable in the first quarter against St K)

Thought this would be a thread about picking Oliver. I love that they've been able to find gems late in the draft like Hunt, Hannan etc, but it's nailing those early picks that the previous bunch muffed that will project us towards the top 4. It looks so far that all of Oliver, Brayshaw, Petracca and Salem will at least be very good, with Oliver almost certainly going to be in the top echelon if not already. There's always misses in the top 20 but we seem to have gone from one extreme to the other. It's just such a relief knowing our key picks are in such good hands.