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Enjoy==>https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-4TgXDk?mobile=true

I posted this the other week on the Demonland Facebook page and I neglected to post it here. These highlights have sat in VHS form for years on a dusty shelf and I thought it was time to convert it to digital form lest the quality degrade even more. Apologies for the quality that it is in as our almost 30 year old VHS copy was already a copy of a copy of a copy. At least now that it has been converted to digital it will now last as long as YouTube lasts. Enjoy.

Now that our List is complete I've started a new thread for 2018 Contracts etc: I've merged the 'A' Rookies with the Seniors list as 'A' Rookies can now play at AFL level from round one without the need for promotion or upgrade or relying on a Long Term Injury. If you see any changes required please let me know. If you want to know full details on any player go to: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/Team/players/senior Interesting that of 21 players that are OOC in 2018 the high priority ones for me are Petracca and Jetta. Then the McD brothers and Brayshaw. I can't see Jetta and Brayshaw going anywhere. I wouldn't like to see the McD's go but we have good coverage for them at both ends of the ground. And, I recall reading that discussions are happening with Petracca on a new contract so wouldn't be surprised if there is an announcement before too long - maybe a little Christmas present for us .

Day 4 should be a treat

He installed a gym at home and is feeling the benefit of the IRS series

"Only one stat matter, games won" Tell that to Adelaide. And I mean that in more than just the 'ha ha they lost the final' sense. Their premiership years of 97/98 each featured just 13 wins in the home and away season. They've equaled or passed that mark ten times since then, including two minor premierships. St Kilda might also point out they had a 20-2 home and away record in 2009... and only lost 1 final. And now Nick Reiwoldt is just a regular retired great, instead of being the greatest hero in St Kilda's history. Even Geelong might pull a stool over and pour a beer to tell you about the 1990s, or indeed, the one that got away, when they won 23 games and only lost two for the whole of 2009... and now instead of them, Hawthorn is considered the greatest team of this century. I suppose I am just echoing a point that Paul Roos made an awful lot of times - there's no point climbing up the ladder a bit if you haven't laid the foundations of a team ethos that will win under pressure and will follow the plan first, last and always. Again, Geelong will tell you the difference between getting good wins and looking impressive (to, say 2006) and forming a hardened culture that is determined to do the things it takes to really win when it counts.

Hawthorn has lost Hodge, Lewis, Mitchell, Lake, Gibson and Hale from their last premiership team, but they still have the second oldest and the most experienced team in the league... they're still very top heavy.

Saw this last week on Facebook and got emotional watching it. I would have been at many of those games and still clearly remember that intercept mark against Hawthorn, Kelvin Moore I think it was. He kicked a goal from it too. Very few players could read the play before it happened like Robbie. Very fond childhood memories. We would get flogged more often than not but you just knew you would see a genius at work and he never disappointed.

the guy is so ambidextrous he seems to be able to switch to either hand/foot so naturally seems to prefer left hand for bouncing and right hand for kicking but no weakness either side freak

Robbie was almost always leaning forward when he ran. Low centre of Gravity, his balance skills are a joy to watch. He could play the same way today and be a star. Best player i saw play, Matthews was a street thug The ablett’s were on a par with tulip but not one Brownlow a complete joke that Dippierdethuggero is a Brownlow Medalist and Tulip is not i don’t rate the award at all for that reason

AFL.com.au shows no respect for us by putting Oscar Mc in our best 22.

Put him in the 2018 team and we are complete

Your efforts in this thread are much appreciated LH.

Yes Macca....looks like everyone else copied our tactics...........that will teach us to post on Demonland!!! Pretty average day in the end. I did make the call on Fuhryk tho....and he completely missed the start, if not he was the winner i reckon......but as some famous poster said on here recently....thats racing!

Surely that is the nature of list management. You give fringe players short term contracts so they will always be coming out of contract more regularly.

Enjoy==>https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-4TgXDk?mobile=true

Especially when the journey starts so young. I'm 34, so at the age now where I'd likely have been out of the system for a couple of years now if I'd been a good player in the AFL. I'm at the stage of my life where I am established in my career and financially stable and comfortable, but it took a decade of slog, stress, sacrifice and mental breakdown or two in my twenties to get here. I'm a lot stronger and better placed to deal with life's difficulties thanks to having had to go through the hard way. I can't imagine what it would be like trying to basically start from scratch at this stage now. I realise that for people like Colin much of the struggle is of their own doing for not setting themselves up when they could have, but to me that doesn't dull the empathy for the situation. Most young adults aren't going to appreciate the stress of every day adult life if they're not exposed to it, so I don't blame him or any of them for missing that boat. Psychologically it would now be a struggle. That said, I have no sympathy at all for some of his alleged behaviour. Nothing justifies his reported treatment of his partner for example. He has to own that, and fix it pronto.

Agree. This is the list that best indicates where Melbourne may go Hogan 23 y.o at the beginning of 2018 season. 51 games played Salem 22 years 46 games Petracca 22 years 39 games Viney 24 years 88 games Lever 22 years 56 games Brayshaw 22 years 36 games Tyson 24 years 90 games Oliver 21 years 35 games Stretch 21 years 36 games ANB 22 years 34 games Harmes 22 years 44 games OMac 22 years 37 games I know that all Clubs have good young players but that is a dozen good to very good players who are about to reach a 4-5 year sweet spot. Gawn, TMac, Garlett, Jetta, Melksham and Hibberd are all young enough and good enough to play for most of that time too. We really should be giving it a fair nudge anytime from next season on.

Agree and disagree... simply writing games and age for the whole squad doesn't tell you a whole lot. A break-down of the age and experience of their best 22 tells you a lot more.

Being the youngest or least experienced list was always a mirage. It's not good, or bad, or anything meaningful. Certainly nothing to hang our hats on. Only one statistic counts. Games won.

Not a comment on The situation Colin finds himself in but it must be difficult making the transition from full time footballers to civilians particularly if you haven’t planned ahead. You go from making 100’s of thousands of dollars a year and in an environment where you are told where to be, what to eat and when to exercise. You have the mateship and adrenaline. Your picture is in the papers and your playing deeds are featured on the tele each week. You can get into any night club in the country and people who wouldn’t normally pay you any attention hang off your every word just because you play football And then all that is gone, literally overnight. The rivers of gold stop and the security of being micro managed ends. I remember reading an article (by perhaps Tim Boyle) who, after retiring, was amazed how quickly his body went from being elite athlete back to normal person. Not only do they do it physically but socially and possibly financially they become mere mortals. Psychologically that must be a confusing trip.

I've extracted the Age and Game profiles: For the 'Playing Team' stats I've left out the 14 players who have played less than 10 games because our starting 22 will generally come form the top 30, especially in the first half of the year. Also if some of those 14 get games it is not going to change the average (unless Vince, Jones and Lewis don't play in the same game and youngsters replace them). To counter the impact of Vince, Jones and Lewis on the profiles the 'Median' is a better indicator than the 'Average'. Leaving out the 14 will help keep claims like the 'youngest team' and the 'least experienced team' in perspective. I am really pleased with our list profile! It is a long time (decades?) since we have had a core group around 25 years of age. Now the majority of our list is in that range. Ditto the experience profile - the majority of our players will be in the 50 to 150 game range next year. While there is still growth and experience to happen, at last we have a well balanced team with a lot of talent. At last the coaches can work with a team that will grow together. At last we have a list with some stars and a fair amount of depth and competition for spots. At last we can look forward with confidence!

Before "Flash" did his hammy really badly at Etihad years ago he was the fastest player on a footy field i had ever seen. Those first 2 seasons he played were incredible

Great stuff, enjoyed the interview. Thanks guys!

Ah yes, my 49er's playbook for most of the last 2 decades

I met Robbie a number of times and he was always a modest, unassuming and courteous man, whose skinny, accountant-like demeanor belied a driven and passionate footballer who loved the Dees with an intense desire, and played the game as if his God- given talents were a reward for us mere mortals who could only marvel at his feats.

OX knows there are a lot of other deficiencies that may trip us up. He is just being face saving for us in case we do fall over. Like fake news there are also fake football clubs and if we can’t use the humiliation piled on at the end of last season as a spur to finally make a genuine move for success I might be fully convinced we are not the real deal and never will be. The bath water addiction of the players is more of a worry than injuries at this stage.

One of my favourite players was The Flash who we drafted from the VFL (originally as a rookie). The club has drafted three players this year from that competition and I hope they can have good AFL careers like his. Meanwhile, Aaron has taken up a coaching job at Doveton which is not that far from Casey where two of our rookies were recruited from - Aaron Davey to coach Doveton in South East Football Netball League Good luck Flash!

If that happened it would be great but to be honest, I haven't entertained any thoughts of playoffs. We're too far back, the Vikings are a lot better than I thought they'd be, Atlanta can keep winning, same for Seattle, Detroit's schedule isn't tough and then there's the Panthers, Saints, Rams & Eagles. 3 of those 8 teams would have to fall away quite dramatically and in my opinion, that isn't going to happen. Even Dallas are a game ahead of Green Bay. So that's 9 teams ahead with 6 spots available. It was different in 2013 as the other 3 teams in the NFC North were incapable of taking advantage of Rodger's first broken collarbone.

My brother who lives in FNQ has told me Flash has been appointed coach of the Carins City Lions. Really great news as Aaron was one of my favorite ever players with us and as a former resident of Carins and follower of Cairns afl i think it will be great for the sport up there.

I'd prefer if people didn't because picks can be done after viewing the picks from other posters ... and where does it all end? Your original tips will have to stand Dappa ... otherwise the whole thing becomes a total farce. The leader of the comp holds an advantage and can tip late but they've earned that right. Those behind the leader can tip in a creative way to try and even the score.

After my recent foray of misadventure vis a vis Mango Daiquiris... it's back on the wagon with a Banana Milkshake Wife backed up with Banana toast !

Perfection in a Demons jumper, it bought me too tears. His play on at all cost would not b out of place in todays game. Not too many stars of the game have a highlights package like this. Thx for posting Dland.

Even in December that's not how you scoop up a ground ball. Bet he fell over.

What is interesting about this list - nearly every one was taken later in the draft and everyone is very "teachable/coachable" then has been developed to play a specific role in the team. So much for early draft picks being the panacea to all your problems, sure they are elite talent but have the right development programmes and you can get talent from nearly anywhere in the drafting process. Go Dees

Might be of interest to some here.... Matt Febey last weekend won the A grade golf championship at the National Golf Club at Cape Schanck on the Mornington Peninsula. He won the match play event 2 & 1... Clearly a very handy golfer....

Note the following story from today's HS as well: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/is-your-clubs-list-in-the-afl-premiership-sweet-spot/news-story/540bb90bc4d58552fbc5441d068cf2d3 We rank 17th for players aged 25-29, 1st for players aged 21-24. Assuming the quality is there, that would suggest we are still a couple of years away from having a critical mass of players in the sweet spot. Of course, it doesn't help that we keep trading away players from that age bracket.

We should have given it a fair nudge this season just gone. And our end to '16 was also a nudge-free zone. It wasn't our youth that was our downfall, it was the space between our ears. A problem that will continue to haunt us, unless addressed, regardless of our youth.

So basically what happened to us this year. The biggest factors with injuries are: - In game injuries that leave you down 2 players early: Against Richmond in Round 5. Lost Gawn early in Rd 3 against Geelong. - Injuries to multiple players from the same position group: Jones, Viney, Tyson, Salem. Bugg suspended. - injuries to groups of players at the same time that leave you short handed and also struggling to get recovered players back in to the team at the same time. Round 14 onwards, with the above group. Watts, Jones and Gawn were all short of a gallop when they returned.

I'd say we had a few injuries to key players last year as well . . . AND . . . moved up the ladder.

I noticed we didn't have any really for last week and found these for Friday 24/11/17 on Big Footy by Proper Gander. Not much to go off but better than nothing. Without delving further into the interesting area of the relative merits of adding bulk v drinking beers while on holiday - here is my general impressions of training. Also Starc just got Jake Ball’s wicket, which is nice.Notable absentees were Jack Viney and Michael Hibberd (unless he was in the rehab group on the far side, and I never saw him, but I don’t think he was there).In his own group, doing the special older guy with 4 premierships routine was Jordan Lewis who was doing laps early on checking his time every now and again. I gave him a supportive smile every time he passed that he totally ignored, which pleased me no end. He left soon after 10 AM and wasn’t seen again.The rehab group being tortured by Crossey for the day consisted of Kent (shoulder), Jones (something), Filopovic (why not), Lever (post premiership loss related angst), Joel Smith (things), Tim Smith (other things), Weiderman (eating disorder), Wagner (who knows), TMac (surgery for things) Buggy (pest patrol) and anyone else who was in the rehab group that I have forgotten. I think Jeff didn’t join the main group today - I saw him running a bit with the rehab guys at one point but he seemed to have left the field by the second hour so he probably went to have beers with Jordan to talk about how to get 4 premierships. TBH this group started early, and were doing things with Crossey with music on the far side of the field next to Punt Road, so I never got that good a look at them unless they were running the perimeter.The main group rocked up at about 9:35 - 9:40. Tardy buggers.Now to add a further layer of complication to the who is big, who is small debate for Topkent to argue about, my body shape observations are that other than Kent who looks to me much as he ever has only with bandaged shoulder, everyone appears to have come back in decent shape with some looking very good indeed. Max Gawn, as reported elsewhere, is leaner. Stretchy is really hard looking - this was evident last off season too. He seems to have one of those body types that shows muscle definition clearly. The ripped award goes to Joel Smith who was running with TMac at one stage, both wearing those silly GPS bra things. He looks like one of those Olympic sprint swimmers - washboard belly with clear 6 pack - and makes Tommy look portly if that was ever possible. Wagner in great shape too, but when is he not? His concerns do not include skin folds, which is just as well because in my view he has other issues to contend with.Channel 7 reported Petracca as ‘lean’ a few weeks back, which to my mind is media puff because he looks much the same to me. He is a big lad who has borrowed May West’s thighs, after either winning or losing a bet depending on your POV. He trains really well and is generally smiling, except during running drills where he looks like a guy hefting around 90 plus kilos who still has endurance work to do. The coaches are all over him, and Mitch Hannah who also struggles with running drills, but Ancient said Trac has improved already from a few weeks back where he was struggling to keep up, so maybe he can spend the summer shadowing Ollie shadowing Stretch and create a kind of domino effect premiership side.Clayton Oliver looks like a different person to the guy we drafted. He’s lean and has muscles and stuff, and is very focussed and effective all through the session, and the big surprise is none other than Mitch King who really has gone from ‘LOL you’re kidding’ to the heights of an interesting theoretical possibility. Hogan looking good and has come back relatively lean, in a big forward type way, and Pedo looks heaps better than last year post surgery when he was puffing his way though hours of Crossey type punishment.Goodwin also absent, but I think the draft might be held in Sydney this year so he’s probably heading there.I am now going to make a cheese sandwich and will return with more once I’ve eaten it and can recall some drills and stuff. The cricket has gone to [censored] again, so I will continue.The main group warmed up on some silly drills. They played soccerish stuff with a round ball which everyone seemed to enjoy. Our best soccer player is head-and-shoulders James Harmes who was having a Beckham-like blinder, and Dom Tyson isn’t bad either. Welcome to the next International Rules match boys. Then they play cone dancing for a bit - kind of footspeed, balance drill with players in turn having to skitter inside a diamond of different colour cones towards the colour cone yelled by a coach. Everyone okay at this. Of course there is the routine hilarious moment where the coach yells “red!” And everyone falls over their feet because there is no red cone. Wacko. What with the soccer drill then the invisible cone dance this all looks to me like a super way to do an ankle. By now I take two paracaetamol because my temper has taken a sudden nose-dive for no good reason.Then some real drills in ball movement. Interestingly with a spot of light body work, so we’re ahead of the curve, but no full tackling, just some friendly nudges. The players have split into three rough groups which are the defenders, forwards and mids (loosely speaking). I was closest to the mids. Thinking back to preseason a few years back, we look a much sharper, more experienced and generally better unit then back then. Plus Dawes isn’t here which is a relief and works even better than the paracaetamol on my head. Harmes is killing it in the midfield for sharpness and intensity. I’m pleased about this. His best footy is really valuable - read 1st quarter against Saints last we played - but like a true demon his consistency hasn’t been great. But he looks the real deal ATM so I’m hoping for a big year. Also he has terrible tats and his hair is achieving new heights of dodgy so I’m thinking breakout, Dusty type Brownlow year for the Horse.I check out Balic’s work and thought he looked okay, certainly not out of place. He has a good size and body shape for midfield, though looks a bit softer than some of our returning players which is hardly surprising given he is pretty young and hasn’t had much of a run at AFL game time as yet. I will watch with interest. He has an awesome totally deadpan expression, like a police officer reading from his notebook in the Federal Magistrates. His flat affect will no doubt drive Bigfooty posters to extremes during the year and I’m looking forward to it. Given he was a low pick, injury riddled past, only a year contract, and isn’t best 22 yet he seems totally the perfect character for a Melbourne sponsorship. Whoever goes to the BBQ has exactly 1 hour to make him smile or pay everyone here $50 (photo or it didn’t happen).We also did some full team drills where the Simon Goodwin changing lanes special is on full display. Skills are pretty sharp overall, though as Sir Hugh pointed out Jesse did some real worm burners from time to time. I like to think it was intended to sharpen the ground ball skills of his teammates, such is his generosity. But on the whole we look like a functioning unit rather than a group of randoms who showed up for a spot of kick-to-kick which is encouraging. Petracca is loud and somewhat ADHD but a few more running sessions quieten him down eventually (his recovery is very good - he is a complete goose again before home time). Track also does his tongue out thing at seemingly random times, so I’m now convinced it is totally unconscious. I hope he doesn’t get a surprise tackle while like that. All in all, I think we can be reasonably confident that the change lanes thing should be executed well in 2018. Hopefully in the season we can add in the taking marks thing, the not spoiling each other thing, the kicking goals thing and not going missing during random quarters for no obvious reason thing.JKH is training well, though I should point out that every time I have been to training he is going well - he’s very focussed and generally upbeat in training. But full marks for effort even though I’m not convinced he will make it as an AFL player - he won’t die not knowing, so good for him. Harmes is the dynamo of the day though - he is completely on and wins the intensity award. Also smiles a fair bit; but his teeth are pretty big so it’s probably just more comfortable to display bits of them from time to time and give his lips a rest.Late in the session there is some goal practice. Jesse redeems himself with some excellent kicking in set shots from various angles. He is also putting a fair bit of time now and after the session in practicing snaps for goal, so maybe this year he has decided to shrink and become a crumbing forward in the hope of winning over Ando. Jake Melksham has paired up with Jesse and misses virtually everything. Someone needs to get in his head and tell him its neck and neck in the 4th. Christians 1 and 2 both look good. One quiet and one loud. I’ll leave it to you to decide which. Oliver goes about his business like a pro. There are some nice moments where everyone is lined up watching the goal kicker and generally sledging to put the man off his game. So its a general testosterone competition of gruff swearing and raucous HaHa-ing - passing dog walkers glance over thinking its international pirate day. Harmes hasn’t tailed off yet and his goal kicking is solid from all angles.With some more running just for fun, the last bit consists of some positional work in pairs. Max has taken Mitch King off to one end and they do some light contested stuff. Max wins mostly but Mitch doesn’t look utterly out of place any more which is a step in the right direction. Jesse is working hard on getting some distance on his man (OMac), pushing off or out-bodying. He looks great now, and OMac not doing a bad job. Close by Pedo and Keilty are doing similar work but with more comedic misses and general pointless running about, falling over, scrambling etc, but who knows what the coaches are asking for so whatever they are doing could be perfect for all I know. So lets say it is perfect and give both a big hand.Some other coaches are doing contested midfield work tapping it to players taking turns in offensive and defensive roles. This group are all travelling well, even Balic who looks like a footballer (but still hasn’t smiled or for that matter twitched). He is getting a fair bit of encouragement but that could have been to get his face to move.And so it ends. I head off towards a tram. I try to hang by Christian Salem and Melksham who are in conversation to find out what interesting things footy players chat about. What I found out is that Jake reckons sessions like that are the pits for changing shoes from spikes to runners. He’s right. They all should get a pay rise. I slope off when both become aware that they have attracted a third person to their conversation and give me some WTF looks.Overall the dynamic looks good and we will probably get a premiership this year

To clear up any confusion, I have stopped posting training reports because I got bored with the constant negativity displayed by some posters and decided not to feed them anymore I will continue to post pics on Instagram 2 notes to leave you with Tyson is now pain free in his knees for first time since arriving at the Club and is running his best times Bradtke is there to develop big man agility, Stafford will continue with ruck craft

Looking at his size beside Gawnie, I'd suggest we add him to the playing list and make him 1st Ruck...!!

This is the bit where we stop bitching at each other, and actually appreciate the track watchers who take their time to post pics of the new players. If anyone can get pics of Petty with Oscar, Ninja with Hunt etc, that would be even cooler. I'll just sit here refreshing my screen for the next couple of hours in anticipation, and appreciation. Thanks. *refresh* *refresh*

Like this team selection of yours, Clint Bizkit.

It's career ending, worse than simply a calf, he's now missing a lower right leg. WARNING, look away if you are of weak stomach: (Photo courtesty of Hardtack)

Yes his tackles from behind in the centre square were worth the admission price alone. Such a shame he didn't play serious finals football in those 2 years (Prelims or GF's)

He was like a leopard pouncing on opponents. Flash certainly changed the landscape for small forwards. The best ones then became defensive as well as offensive weapons. Exciting to watch.

He's got 5 kids and at least two (but I think 3) are boys. Naturally, all 5 will be playing for Melbourne!