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At Woolies this morning, I asked the manager if he had any toilet paper. “NO!” he yelled at me, in front of the whole check-out queue. They all kept staring at me. I am telling you, that walk back down Aisle 5 to the loos, with my pants around my ankles, was the most humiliating walk of my life.

Quality thread idea. So my flight to Bangkok got cancelled. I was due to go there on April 6 to my wifes home in rural Thailand. We have been married for 7 years, but i havent seen her since early July last year. Now it looks like its going to be somewhere around 18 months by the time i see her again face to face. Sent emails today to Thai Airways and also for the internal flights airline in the hope of a refund. Cant cancel my leave as the roster is already full. Cant fly to the Brothers place in QLD either as i would be lucky to get there, and almost certain not to get a flight home.. My gym is now closed so i cant go there either. So i called work and told them i am happy to cover any shifts i can during my annual leave if our nurses need extra time off to care for their kids who now have no school to attend. There WILL be some who have to take extra time off now that School isnt an option for the ruggies. Easy to feel sorry for myself, and i did have my moments. Then i remember that my job as a Nurse makes me safe from the threat of job loss. I am even in the position that i could tell my daughter not to worry herself sick about losing her job at Bunnings as i can cover her mortgage until she gets some income. Sure, im also in an industry where my risk of catching "The bug" is fairly high, and i do have a health condition that makes my risk of death from it almost 15%, but hey, it could be much worse. As long as i dont infect my 79-80 Yo. parents with something i bought home from work, it should be ok. Will feel pretty rubbish if i bring home the bug that kills them. So yeah, its crap that i cant see the Wife for ages. What can you do. I feel a lot less sorry for myself when i see the lines at Centerlink on todays news.So many people losing their jobs with 10's or even 100's of thousands of others still to lose theirs. Be nice to your neighbors and dont abuse the poor checkout chick for the 1 pack pasta limit. Its not her fault. Stay classy and look after each other in whatever way you can.

Great thread and thanks to those who have shared a little of their personal stories through this unprecedented time. I’ve had a lot of time at home over the last two weeks. No, I don’t have corona, but I am a school teacher and our school did have a parent test positive, hence the shutdown. I feel fortunate to be in a line of work that is relatively protected from what is going on. We have had to make huge adjustments to our pedagogy and systems we use to deliver content, but that’s insignificant when I read the hardships of others. Demonland is a part of my daily life. Between classes I log on to post and read. As others have said, I don’t know any of you personally, but this is a community and one that I feel a sense of connection to, more than ever before. I know there are many on here like me that have footy as a enduring constant in their life. It’s part of the weekly routine. The highs and lows. The memories of 87. The visual that is conjured when you hear the phrase “Still Woewodin, Still Woewodin”. Footy is a massive part of our life and it’s gonna leave a massive void. I worry for the future of our club and wonder if we will ever go to a game at the G again. Sit near the same people we have seen alongside us for years. Urgh... it’s depressing. This is bigger than footy and so many people are in uncharted waters right now. I’ve had friends lose small businesses over night. Mates laid off. Friends cancel weddings. Footy, in comparison, seems insignificant. But, the reality is, we all love our club and what footy brings us, even when it is shyt. Demonland is a great community and I know we will all support one another through this mess. Please stay safe, healthy and talk up if you are feeling down or alone. We will get this through this.

OK, we're all a bit bored here so, further to that Peter Marquis post and veering completely off topic, I've gone the extra mile and come up with a cricket team for your consideration. In batting order, they are Nathan Jones, David Hasselhoff, Sid Vicious, Shane MacGowan, Waylon Smithers, Peter Marquis, Damien Monkhorst, Bill Dunk, Lou Reed, Colin Miller and Scarlett Johansson. Or, if you prefer, Chunky, Hunky, Punky, Drunky, Flunky, Trunky, Monkey, Dunky, Junky, Funky and Spunky. Phew!

I work as part of a team that puts together bespoke safaris in Africa and we were told that we'll be going down to a four day week. With the world in lockdown nobody will be booking anything for quite some time unfortunately so that four days could end up being much less if things don't turn around relatively soon. I had made plans to go for an early morning swim each day off but now that the local pool has been shut indefinitely I'll be out on the bike riding the capital city trail to keep the serotonin levels up. If anyone happens to be out on the track early doors I'll be donning a mint green helmet with the little Dees bumper sticker placed discreetly on the back. Happy to stop for a coffee and chat (at arms length of course) in one of my favourite hole in the wall cafes along the route if you flag me down.

Iv'e got a story that is even harder to believe, but I swear to god it's true. Went into the local Woolies in Airlie Beach yesterday and found people calmly going about their shopping with zero sign of hoarding, panic buying or aggression, all while keeping a respectful distance from each other. Found fridges fully stocked with fresh milk, fruit and veg, and no price gouging by the supermarket. That's not at all what the media has been telling me to expect. Todays world - a staff member with a squirt bottle of alcohol spraying the EFTPOS machine, counter, bags, register actually everything within reach the moment I picked up my bags of goodies.

Either that or complete fiction.

10 days ago I got married and it was the best day of my life. Today my husband and I were making decisions on if, and how, we can keep our business going and our employees (and ourselves) in work. It has been a truly awful few days and sadly I think things are going to get much worse before they get better. To have lost the escapism of footy on top of it all is just a final kick in the guts. I hope everyone here is doing the right thing, distancing as much as possible, staying safe, looking after themselves and their families. When this week is over and there is no footy on, do something for yourself. Go sit under a tree. Read. Drink. Have a bath. Do anything that for a minute makes you remember what it’s like to live in a normal world. This too shall pass and hopefully the world comes out of this having learnt a lot and made some serious changes to way we all live. At least our environment is finally benefiting for all of us sitting indoors for a bit. This is mother nature’s holiday.

Well played LN, I'm happy to throw in a few expletives just to get the crowd on the edge. Unfortunately I will be signing out of here for a while now while footy is off limits. I have too much going on in my personal life that's taking a real toll on me, and i need to now focus on my young family and extended who are battling right at this minute. Let's all try and be kind to each other, the world is in pain right now and we need to do the right thing and take care of our love ones. To many who I have had heated exchange over the journey, i do apologise, especially you @Satyriconhome you crazy old ba stard ? don't take it personally, we're all passionate about the greatest team ever. Much love demonland family, see you all when the footy starts!

Say what you like about Chris Scott (and I always do), but that's great leadership. It would be great to see others follow suit.

My old man used to say, Don't worry about hitting your ball into the sh.t, you find a lot of golf balls there.

Hmmm. You know nothing of my background so it isn't wise to make claims like 'you clearly have no idea'. To address your comments: 'Money in the bank'? $225k isn't very much. 'Substantial assets can be made liquid'. Our only asset is the Bentleigh Club while worth more than $8.7m value in the Balance Sheet, it is not easily 'made liquid' . We don't have debt because we used up the $10.0m in Cash at the end of 2018 (a large part was the sale of Leighoak. Money that had been earmarked for our new Club facilities). Without the $10.0m we would be deeply in debt. For more detail, the 2019 Annual Report shows: Total Assets: $21.2m of which only $2.7m are 'Current Assets' (ie Cash or easily converted to 'Cash'). At the end of 2018 the 'Current Asset' figure was $11.2m with over $10.m in the bank in part from the sale of Leighoak. Total Liabilities: $10.1m of which $7.9m are 'Current Liabilities' ie due in the next 12 months. Note: That our Current Liabilities are 3.5 times our Current Assets is not a good sign! Net Assets: $11.133m - primarily the Bentleigh Club valued at $8.700m altho worth a lot more but not easily 'made liquid'. A Loss of just on $2.000m That does not look financially sound to me. That we used up $10m in cash in 2019 to pay bills shows how poor our cash flows were in 2019. We are one of the very vulnerable Victorian clubs, not just financially but also poor on-field performance over many years, small membership, fluctuating sponsorships (we may be the only club that does not have a long term 'anchor' sponsor). You may like to think we are we are not vulnerable, that is up to you. Media Rights agreements has gone up in smoke. It is now meaningless - Fox and Ch7 have stopped paying the AFL. No games, no broadcasts, no money. Any new Broadcasting agreement will match the landscape of the AFL at the time: 18 teams? 16 teams? 14 teams? Who knows. I will but money on 14 or 16 teams after shutdowns, mergers and relocations. Tbh, selfishly I just want mfc to be one of them. Time will tell if we survive.

It's maudlin, but it's true. If this kicks off like it has in Europe, this will be the last season of footy for some DeeLanders. Forced retirement, not 4 to 6. I'm not quite sure what we can do to look after each other; we share a love for this Club and have endured together through so much [censored]. I saw a flag in '64, but I'm not sure my son will. It might just be worth checking in on each other once in a while. If you get crook, you might like to let DL know. We are, as they say, all in this together, and the odd (queue @Bitter but optimistic) message might lift the spirits. This isn't a drill. Stay safe. Stay at home. Go Dees.

A little bit of light for the club is that our very own Karen Paxman has tied with North Melbourne’s Jasmine Garner and Carlton's Maddy Prespakis for the AFLW Player of the Year Award. Congratulations to a terrific player who truly deserved this award!

Thanks ‘Chell’. I believe there would be a lot of people out there thinking the way we do. I have no fundraising experience but have been giving myself a crash course in GoFundMe this last hour or so to see if that would be a viable option. It seems around 98% goes directly to the cause with almost all the fee being credit card costs, which seems reasonable. Frankly, if there is someone here with the time and expertise to get something going I would prefer that. Failing this, I am willing to take it on. I want to make sure it is absolutely safe for mine and everyone else’s money first and that it goes to the club. Of course the MFC may organise something themselves which is the preferred option. I will be attempting to contact them tomorrow and ask the question and to see if they are comfortable for me to start something if they have no plans. As a 41 year member and former office volunteer they have my details. I am also willing to give these to Demonland moderators. Rjay is absolutely correct when he says people are suffering. The Government is and will continue to assist financially and through a variety of other means to minimise the pain. Personally, I have lost $40k of my moderate superannuation and yesterday was my last day of work in my daily part-time time until further notice – whenever that is. I am now totally reliant on my aged pension. But where rjay is wrong is in believing saving a football club is down the list for so many of us. This club has been the one constant in mine and many others lives. What price do you put on that? It will take time, but this virus will be controlled. My super will rebound. The scars will remain for the rest of our life perhaps but on top of all this, I don’t want 2020 to be the last entry on our clubs headstone.

I hear you, but it's a matter of choice. I'm not saying at the expense of other worthy causes but I'd like to think many of us would like to save the club and staff jobs before it gets too dire. Believe me, that's not fear mongering or too far away if wait 'until the time is right'.

Please don't use them all at once. This thread may have to last a few weeks.

$1,000,000 says that didn't happen. I mean come on, you happened to run into the same 4 people at 3 separate supermarkets? Wouldn't it have taken them a while to empty the shelves, then make it through the checkouts (which as we all know takes forever), while you walked in and out empty handed? If you're going to make up a blatant lie, at least make it believable. Edit: sorry Deemania, that came across harsher than I meant - I have a special hatred for online disinformation, of which this reeks.

VID-20200323-WA0011.mp4

I am still playing golf at a moderately remote course every day at first light. The magpies and corellas are still helping me find my golf ball in the half-light when things go astray into the rough. Bless them. I only play 9 holes, per day, but cover a pedometer-measured 9 000 metres in that process (my average score is 42 off the stick for the nine holes). I have the course to myself - me and the birds - and it proves to be a wonderful form of exercise and mental concentration. I intend to keep this up every day as I am convinced that the health benefits will aid in delaying the possible contraction of this horrible virus. I'd recommend this type of exercise to anyone; it is totally invigorating given the sudden and depressing descent of the C-19 virus on all of humanity. In this regime, I consider the MFC deeply, constantly and will strive to be at the first resumption of play in person. Like all good Demons' fans, soldier on!

Agree Daisy. As Eddie commented, clubs are going to have rebuild from the ground up. Club survival will be the force that drives change and that change will have to disregard previous arrangements, contracts and preferences regarding players, coaching and support staff. I suspect that someone like Burgess will probably go. I tend to agree (reluctantly) with the velvet sledgehammer that it provides an opportunity to slash support staff. Like many others, the number of support staff seems to have grown exponentially over the last few years. Just look at the numbers in the coaching box and on the ground at quarter time breaks. Lets hope that it provides an opportunity for media outlets to cut footy media scribes and hangers on who make a living talking and writing crap. Far too many second raters making their living their AFL connection. Hopefully, some positives will come from the changes imposed on the industry. At a personal level, it seems heartless as it means that many will lose their jobs and income but that is the case across society. On a macro level, it just seems that there has been a blow-out in folk making a living from AFL and that it is time that the sails are trimmed. Keep safe mate.

Well thank you Frankie. I must say I'm not always very scientific but we all must try and do our bit in these difficult times. To that end, my BDSM club made, made what I consider, a very thoughtful attempt at responsible behaviour during our weekend soiree . In order to abide by the conventions of "social distancing" we simply used longer whips. No fuss but quite effective.

Ripper post mate. We think the same way

I'm glad May got into the team of the week. A lot of frustrating things came out of this game but our defense looks better, when allowed to maintain their structures. As the commentators said, they would rightfully criticise May if Kennedy had kicked a bag on him so it's only fair that credit is given when he is kept quiet. Viney thoroughly deserves his spot, he cracked in all day and put a lot of his teammates to shame with his intensity.

Forgive me if this has been mentioned or even began, but is there a Go Fund Me or some organised fund raising effort under way somewhere to ensure our club stays solvent? I'm a pensioner but willing to contribute $500 for starters. If a quarter of our members did the same that is $5 million. I want my club to survive!

Why don't you read my post slowly and try to understand what I have written. I never said that "rumours of difficulty getting home" was an excuse for poor kicking. What I said was, that I am not too critical of a 27 point loss, given ALL the factors that I mentioned. Read it again here "Given the late flight, change in hotel, suspension of the competition just before the game, rumours of difficulty getting home, more inside 50 entries, playing a WCE at home and at full strength, poor disposal and terrible form of most of the team and then only losing by 27 points, I am not too critical of the result."

I've been banging on this for ages. We need to recruit players with excellent disposal skills or work bloody hard on existing to up skill them over whatever period we have out of the game. We get ball easily enough. We just give it back far to easily.

Congrats to May (and Viney) for winning selection in the team of the week for afl.com. https://www.afl.com.au/news/389954/team-of-the-week-r1-who-makes-the-cut- He's rightly copped it from all and sundry, but full credit to him for keeping a gun full forward goal-less.

A positive message from this guy. Will we hear anything from MFC President or CEO ? Or have they been cut already ?

photos please? did you get the rego? name and shame time

I actually think the opposite might happen. We are not a large economy and the game is unique to us, it couldn't sustain a private membership model. It's more likely a rebuild of the game will only happen if it goes back to being a real community club/competition again. Back in the time machine but taking the lessons of today could well be the answer. It won't be back to the VFL days, but a stripped back version of the AFL. A lot of volunteer work will need to be done to get things back on track. Private ownership has failed in the past and with a greatly diminished economy would make no sense.

Why does this not surprise me??!

Half time thoughts .... We bombed it in to the F50 15 times and WC rebounded Solution .... Lets bomb it in 15 more times and hope it somehow works out the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result

quite agree ernie. i've thought for a long time that the afl and clubs have got way too bloated and somehow the footy basics have been sacrificed so a good overhaul and rethink of the basics is probably a good idea if not painful

We can all just cut and paste our comments from last season because based on our first and possibly only match of 2020 it’s exactly the same crap. I have no confidence that if we have another preseason with Goody anything will change. Either the players aren’t listening OR the coach is not getting through to the players.

If he regretted posting it, I think Werridee would probably have removed it by now (or if unable to do so, should have requested the mods delete it). Werridee has been posting elsewhere on these forums since that post was made, so it's not as if he's not had ample opportunity to delete, apologise, or even to explain that it wasn't a serious comment.

Accounting 101 LH Very clear analysis. Thanks for that! It's great to have facts and proper analysis to counter some of the inaccurate delusions around here. Without the big bucks from broardcast rights the game will certainly change. We have seen the peak and now the challenge will be to remain relevent in a substancially cash poor enviorement

There’s always a sympathetic ear here Skuit. When times are tough it’s good to get things off your chest, even if the listener can’t necessarily provide useful solutions. Please take care.

The more I think about this current climate the more I could picture a new league forming, one based on private ownership in a similar style to how premier league clubs are. I fear for the survival of us, the Saints, North, WB, and Brisbane, also both expansion clubs (who were already a money pit). Should things get particularly dire it will be interesting to see where the AFL's loyalty lies, with expansion clubs who have been around for 5min or foundation clubs that have existed for a century.

Take care 'dazzle', it's a tough time that's for sure. You're a valued member of this community and I look forward to some of your insight and opinions again in the near future.

I had started a very similar thread the other day. And then didn't hit send for whatever reason. I'm not okay right now. A million difficult things are all converging at once. So please ignore any bizarre posts or tetchy responses etc. I will be okay though. And I'm all ears for whoever wants to chat. Probably better at dealing with other peoples issues than my own. It at least provides a distraction. But I will also be open and frank in regards to myself. For better or worse, this is the community I'm probably most actively involved with. Best wishes to everyone, Ronnie.

Well done Karen. Best deegirl by a mile.

Fritsch - Delivery crucified him...

Fair enough Joe but I thought Bedford showed some promise

Thanks mate. I just got an email that said “The last Flight ✈️ out to Melbourne until further notice” Everything is seriously shutting down now. Strange days indeed....

It was a tough Comp we were mid table on the ladder at the time of the game

He is a germ of a human being, nothing but a stain. Demonland needs to permanently isolate him from this website This is bigger then football. Look after your love ones everyone, and stay safe. We'll be back again.

If we can take anything out of 2020, it's that WERRIDEE has won the worst post for the year award in March. I don't think it can be topped.

Could make it a reality show. 8 weeks of Robbo doing winery tours.

Two things needed 1- minimum injuries 2- a key forward to kick the big goals when needed (Franklin, Cameron , Lynch, Kennedy). Not sure Tmac or Weid are that man. Hope so.