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Lots of topics covered in this article. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/resurgent-demons-ready-to-reap-1million-windfall/news-story/4a719b44c0f14d07e32d2677749ff2a9 Our (off field) success In a nutshell: a healthy $1 million profit within reach this year. (Prior to Peter Jackson we had made a $1.7m loss) record membership figure of 41,500 average home attendances at the MCG are up by 23 per cent. NT deal worth almost $1m per annum. should also qualify for more Friday night action next year ANZAC Eve now a 'blockbuster' and will be our home game next year. Melbourne appear certain to not be disadvantaged again as they were recently by being dealt a harsh draw with four games in 18 days. Not a 'power' club yet but a far cry from the pre PJ era of a rabble, irrelevant club. I particularly like the predictions for next year's fixture; it bodes well. And with the NT deal expiring at the end of next year we may be financially strong enough to give it up. (But I doubt we will - Essendon tried to pinch it off us last year and part of NT is in our multicultural zone). On field, in 2013 we ended the year 17th with a percent of 54.1. Now we are pushing for finals with a percent over 100. An incredible turnaround in the 4 years of PJ's reign. Its hard to believe he arrived a mere 4 years ago. Lots of people have had a hand in the turnaround but it was PJ who laid out a plan for the Board and implemented it. It was PJ who hired the right people to hire the right people and empowered them do their job. As others have said before: we are in very good hands and thank God for PJ. And, when the likes of scathing Demon critics: Greg Denham, Damian Barrett and David King hop on the Demon wagon it is a sure sign we are relevant again!

I've had a bit of time lately and have watched a lot of our games again - admittedly the one's we've won - and I've marvelled at the skill and effectiveness of this kid. And yet not many are talking about him, here or in the media. His hands are elite in tight, rarely does he fumble, his vision and decision making are elite - so often making not only good decisions but the best decisions. His skills by foot and hand are terrific, he rarely make a mistake. And his contested ball work is excellent as evidenced by 18 contested possessions on Sunday. In the latest MFC website article Rawlings talks about McDonald, Wagner and Oliver but there is no mention of Trac and yet he's been equally impressive. When he was recruited I was expecting "freak" like moments but we haven't had many. What we've had is a player who does all the ordinary things very well and then just teases us with some really good things - long goals, contested marks and slick handballs. Everyone, including me, loves Clarry but in my mind Trac is level pegging and vitally important to us. He just doesn't seem to get as much recognition, hence this thread.

Good stuff. I'm not sure the 4 weeks of pain has to do with us being "disadvantaged" purposefully, just the nature of the draw and our QB match falling right in the middle. Just bad scheduling that the AFL has probably learnt a lesson from. Unfortunately we were the guinea pigs. I remember seeing a presentation by Brendan Gale at Richmond, where he revealed his plan for success. There was an image shown, a circle that showed how tough the league is, and what it takes to be "successful" in all facets: to make money you need to attract fans and sponsors; to attract fans and sponsors you need to win games; to win games you need to make money, and so on and so on. It's a chicken-egg scenario that highlights the challenges of modern football administrations. That PJ and co. have dragged a club on the brink to one of the league's most appealing and popular brands shows just how important his vision has been for the club. Compare this to 2008-2011. We had an administration that applied evolutionary change to the system: quick turnover of players, new brand only a few years after the previous rebranding, and no real plan b. When erratic change works, it works really well, but if it fails, you crash so, so hard. I've worked in m&a and I've seen corporations try to move past mergers and changes really quickly, and what happens 99% of the time is that they end up in a worse place than they were before the merger. People simply don't think fast enough to be able to adjust to such erratic change, and the whole system breaks down. You need to give people the opportunity to adjust, and realistic expectation is a key element: people need to know where they are, where they were, and where they're going. With PJ and also Roos, it has been a (very) slow grind: come in, test the waters, see what works, see what doesn't. Fail quickly, but change slowly: if you're not on a constant rise from your lowest point, you end up in a nasty spiral. You may rise temporarily but once one piece is removed, it all crashes down. We saw this in 2011. I think James McDonald's sacking (let's be honest, that's what it was) is a symbol of the club's broader dysfunction. It's very difficult to get people to "buy in" to a vision. It's about more than being a "people person". Toxicity and "cancers" can drag a vision down. We are still on the way "up". We may be on the verge of something special but it's important that people have "realistic expectations": we're not entitled to success as fans, and the club isn't entitled to success. Some of it is luck, some of it is hard work, but a lot of it is actually being able to learn from your mistakes and knowing when and how to apply change. We see this in team selection as well. It's trivial in the broader scheme of club management, but we see players given opportunities over multiple weeks. The club is still trying to find a groove, it's close, but once it settles we could be one of the all-time great teams. It's such a tough league now but I do truly believe our down years have made us a stronger club. As the old cliche goes, you need to fail before you succeed. We've had bad periods, but it wasn't until the start of the decade that we were given an ultimatum about what it takes to be a *professional* football club. We've struggled more than any other club in the transition from amateur to professional team imo. It's taken a very long time. We absolutely can't forget about where we've come from. Remembering how crap it felt to get belted and pushed around every week will make victories that little bit sweeter. Now, if we could finally beat North, that'd be great.

Just heard on the news that James Hird has been invited by the AFL to hand over Norms medal at this years grand final. What a disgrace

Goodwin also confirmed that both Watts and Tyson WILL play vs. Port next weekend.

Just signed a new contract. I'm sure it's not his last chance.

I hear that the Saints fans rate him extremely highly..................

I've never been a huge fan of JKH, always thought he was too slow for a dynamic forward and too soft for a mid. Then he was aweful earlier this year, I mean aweful. But, he then popped up with 2-3 of the best VFL games ever, huge possessions, tackles, clearances and goals. So I went to Port Melbourne a few weeks back and watched him close. We got smashed that day, but only ever looked likely when JKH went and got it. I was really impressed by his speed, lateral movement and hard ball gets. If he can be half as good he will do more than Stretch has in the last few weeks. like Nibbler last year, perhaps he needed really good VFL form to get some confidence, and confidence can take you a long way. A likely out when Viney and co are back, so for now, good luck young fella.

I Hope so. If we come out flat next week V's Port and lose badly, then that's the final straw for me. Let's take a look at the results the week after all our Darwin trips: 2010 - Carlton 41 points loss 2011 - Hawthorn 54 point loss 2012 - North 54 point loss 2013 - North 122 point loss (LOL!) 2014 - Geelong 66 point loss 2015 - Essendon 9 point loss (after Essendon copped a 110 point loss the week before amidst the Hird crisis) 2016 - St Kilda 36 point loss (completely ran out of gas in the last qtr)

Sends a great message to kids that an unrepentant, lying drug cheat can so easily be accepted back into the role of AFL hero. Whatever the pathetic micro-tradition of previous winners handing it out, this is simply not acceptable.

JKH was terrible in his earlier games this year, there's no doubt. But geez, he's gone back and absolutely earned another shot at it. And it's not like Billy has been setting the world on fire.

If I didn't love the Dees so much I wouldn't follow the game. The AFL are trying to keep ESS fans involved until they can get them playing finals again, they are fkd.

Words fail me.

I use to rate JKH. The last games he was in he was super poor. To his credit, he went back to Casey and improved his game. I'm happy for him to get another chance, he needs to make a good fist of it.

A big congrats to Bernie on his 208th career game. Hope the club sees fit to relax the drinking restrictions so the boys can have a small celebration.

Will he be able to cope with 90,000 people booing him?

Wow. Can't wait. A packed stadium of dyed-in-the-wool footy fans many of whom will have been on the turps all day. Do you reckon they will boo him?

He does everything so consistently clean in a split second that it doesn't stand out. Until you wonder when was the last time you saw him fumble, or miss a target, or go to ground. Then you realise he is already elite just waiting for his tank to catch up.

Jetta doesn't miss.

That sounds like a broken bloody record. Ffs just pic him.

I completely agree with the OP and Petracca ranks 2nd in the AFL since round 12 for improvement in his player rating (behind only Dustin Martin). TMac is 6th and Oliver 20 for the same criteria.

Channel 7 comentry team: Omitted - Brian Taylor; This goose has called us the past two weeks now and has given me the complete shiiits both times. Craps on incessantly. BT, it's time to go.

Playing Hogan in the goal square and bombing the ball onto his head is unfair to him and a waste of his talent. He needs to be playing CHF and roaming about the ground. He has bloody good endurance and his field kicking is also strong. We get more value from him upfield than as a deep forward.

Dean Kent travelling to offer hugs after goals perhaps? A simple side step & he's left looking like Forest Gump.

Afl are a bunch of [censored] morons, I have heard Ben cousins to hand over the premiership cup and lance Armstrong to toss the coin

They had Wayne Carey present Majak Daw with an award minutes after acknowledging Jimmy Bartel's work with domestic violence on Brownlow night. So this comes as no surprise to me. But equally as stomach churning.

What a bloody disgrace - Gil, you have really lost the plot. What in the world does Hird know about you that would have you brown-nosing him like that? Like goofy, I thought that he was being asked to return his one. Is today April 1st somewhere in the world?

Given the kid seems to display a healthy level of self-confidence, I wouldn't be surprised if the club is very deliberately trying to keep his ego in check and avoid pumping up his tyres unnecessarily. VP summed up his enticing mix of attributes beautifully. I love that he possesses a team-first attitude and that his team mates seem to love him. And I love his swagger. He and Clarry embody everything we've lacked over the past decade. I love him in the middle and can't wait to see him with 2 - 3 more pre-seasons under his belt.

I listened to the Goodwin press conference and his statement about Trengove makes me really annoyed "Jack is getting close and just needs to keep doing what he's doing in the VFL" This doesn't make sense i) Casey have a bye this weekend ii) in a couple of weeks Tyson, Viney and Jones will be back. Clearly the time to test him out at AFL level is now - when there are spots available and the team needs an experienced midfielder. Finally you have to ask why does Trengove have to keep performing well over repeated weeks at VFL level to be considered - when this didn't apply to Mitch White, Joel Smith and others?

It sure looks like the club is hedging its bets here. As much as winning each and every game would be a thing of beauty, I'd rather drop this game now and come home with a wet sail (fit 22). If we pull it off then it's a massive bonus Against Port we regain Watts, Tyson and potentially Viney. We win against those bogans and then get Salem back in against North in Hobart and clean up those bogans as well. Rd 20 we should get Jones back against GWS and the team should be at full strength. With the Lions and Pies left to deal with before a weeks spell prior to finals, we hopefully should be in very good shape for September. Super exciting time.

Hosier Lane!!!! We'll rename it Demon Alley.

Without wanting to open old wounds: The AFL gave us the money to pay out the contract extension given to Schwab by McLardy shortly before the finding of bringing the game into disrepute. I think they also gave us enough money to pay out Connolly and Neeld. If you recall we were running deficits despite the generosity of the Foundation Heroes. The AFL decided to punish us by way of fine rather than draft picks (which have been applied to most other clubs who have done wrong - Adelaide and Essendon of recent times. Oh, and if you think we didn't tank I admire your loyalty. Two years of draft pick penalty and we'd still be bottom 4. They gave us PJ who I think in reality has done much more for us than they thought possible. He's been magnificent. He would never have taken the job if the AFL hadn't backed us financially because without the money and draft picks which would normally have been taken away from us we had no chance of recovery. The AFL gave us the benefit of the doubt on the FA compensation for Frawley. It could easily have been an end of first rounder. Look, the AFL gave us a pretty ordinary draw this year. We've been on the wrong end of MRP decisions (although Viney might have been lucky given the decision in Zeibell's case). But until this year we haven't earned Friday night slots. But we do get two marquee games - ANZAC eve and Queen's Birthday. None of the "lesser" clubs get 2. And frankly when it comes to Friday nights when we were terrible I didn't want them. PJ has made us into a good club and we will now get a more favourable commercial draw. I know it's not politically correct to like the AFL here (or most other places for that matter) but they deserve recognition for keeping us afloat when it would have been easy to let us go under and making a large number of macro decisions which have helped us greatly.

I thought about PJ being an AFL appointment (but not sure how much money they actually put in) and whether to credit them in my op. But. The AFL helped us but only after they crushed what little 'brand' we had with the 'guilty of not tanking' verdict. That verdict was the last straw that dropped us into the abyss. The least the AFL could do was give us a step ladder to get out. PJ and a few $ were that step ladder. Sure, I appreciate what they did but on balance the AFL have given us peanuts when compared to the favourable FTA time slots and big Vic teams opp at Home MCG games that Rich, Ess, Carl and Coll get. They have achieved nothing for years but still get fixture favouritism that brings millions into their clubs each year. And, lets not mention the favoured franchise clubs. The AFL put up some coin but its PJ et al that have dug us out of the abyss and now we are standing on our own two feet. I find it hard to give too much credit to the AFL.

The upside of having Viney, Jones, Tyson, Watts and Salem out is that Trac, Nibbler, Stretch, Kent etc are having to step up and learn new roles in the middle. Like when Hogan and Maxy were out, if these boys grab the opportunity with both hands, we'll only be a better team for it.

There's a video on the AFL website today called the grill, where coaches get asked various questions. One of the questions posed to Goodwin was, " Favourite quote or mantra?" Goodwin, " Failure can not compete with perseverance." I like it!

We have the 4th biggest attendance numbers in the league. Ahead of Carlton, Hawthorn and both SA clubs!

It's one thing that Weidemann has all over him. A natural defensive instinct. Hogan is lazy a.f as soon as the opposition has the ball. One of the worst ive seen recently. Trade him, nah.

Lots of sound and fury in the media atm. Clarry, Bugg, Clarry again, ANB/Lewis/30 seconds, Cripps and his poor old leg, thuggery, unsociable, all kinds of stuff. Much most of it unfair or uninformed or just ignorant. That guys and gals is the sound of RELEVANCE. No one bothers to dish out this stuff to teams that win 2 games a year. They do it to teams that have [censored] them off by beating their team. Other sides put up with this sh!t all the time. We have waited years for this. Did we go through the last decade so we could keep being everyone's "second team"? No one fears or respects sad sacks or "second teams". This is the payoff, What the wait was for. We don't need their approval, their sympathy, their anything. Let them rage and fume. Fuggem. Meanwhile we will keep winning, and then win some more. And then win some more just to rub it in. GO DEMONS!

#freetrengove

The trouble with all that VP is that some of the help may have not been necessary if they hadn't sunk the boot into us over tanking when they seem to have misplaced their footwear where other tanking clubs were concerned. Inconsistent umpiring is painful but forgivable given the difficulty of the job. The other inconsistencies that the AFL engages in are not forgivable (though sadly explainable in terms of the pursuit of $). Though perhaps the MRP is totally inexplicable.

I watched Casey last weekend, and Trenners was clearly a class above the rest. So clean in his movement, a great kick and mark, and hard at the ball. He is no Jaden Hunt, but neither are Jones, Petracca, Tyson and even Viney. I think he still has huge potential. I would love to see him back.

Anthony Ingerson still the MFC's best Crows import - Bernie not too far behind now, although for different reasons. Ingo was more a missing puzzle piece, Bernie more the first edge piece of an otherwise blank puzzle. I'm very appreciative of Bernie's efforts during the Roos rebuild, and really hope he can make it to 100 MFC games and the associated life membership.

To me that is our best strategy with TMac (as a defender) the best person to do it - a bit like the defensive forward but a tall version thereof. It is a strategy that has been very effective against Rance in recent weeks and Goodwin used it brilliantly with Petracca and Hurley in the 2nd half of the Ess game. Will be interesting to watch what Goodwin does. I'm sure they will dream up something quite innovative. One thing I'm sure of they won't let Lever roam free.

How about move the ball into the foward line properly, find targets and not bomb it? For a few weeks there our delivery into the forward line was first class. That said, I don't think we will have the cattle to suffiently dominate the play through the mid feild to pull that off this week.

BT = big turd

We have had many selections this year of players with modest / brief form for Casey - JKH, Wagner, T Smith, White, Kent, Stretch, J Smith We got beaten in the clearances on the weekend and need some more midfield grunt even if Tyson returns There is a 25 year old midfielder who is in the best at Casey every week and racked up 30+ possessions again on the weekend. He also happens to be an exemplar of a resilient culture which appears to be a priority at the moment. Let's find out once and for all if he can contribute at AFL level. It's time. Let's find out. Give Trengove a go.