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Presumably the 2nd oval will be in the dimensions of GMHBA given how often we are fixtured there.

Welcome back Clarry

Whilst everyone talks about his body, which is undeveloped at this early stage, he actually has very few problems influencing aerial contests in the VFL despite being underweight. I think the biggest issue for him at this point is just his ability to do AFL/VFL style running at the moment. The possessions he wins are the difficult types, where he outmarks 3 opponents or wins a hard ball on the ground when he's part of a contests. What he doesn't do enough of right now is get to those contests so that he can be a factor. He does the difficult stuff (the stuff he's supposed to do) really well right now despite his lack of weight, so his likelihood of being a good AFL player is actually really good, IMHO. He needs more AFL preseasons to get into AFL shape, which will take time.

Heard 21 year lease. Two ovals. Building to house admin and football department. $15 million needed from us - come on down Foundation Heroes and Legends.

I have a pretty good source - the kid himself - confirming this is 100% not true. He thought the setup in Perth is amazing and is happy to go anywhere and play. West Coast are incredibly strong and financial off the field and would support his family as much as possible to see him play. He has no issues in going there.

Not only is the Foundation Heroes event on today, but also the Ron Barassi Wills and Bequest event. This is for people to include the MFC in their Wills and Bequests Ties in with money being sought for new facilities. Remember we have a lot in the bank already from the sale of Bentleigh land and Oakleigh lease of pokies facilities. However, we would be talking a lot more money and will need plenty from other sources, private, government, AFL etc. Hopefully my info was correct and Caulfield Racecourse is about to be announced as our new home base. Go Dees.

You're fired.

He’s been very very good in the middle. Amazing when Gus is playing well not many seem to praise him. When he makes an error or two like every other player he gets bagged constantly by the same ones. Last week’s electrifying performance, makes it two in the last four weeks.

How long have you been posting here? I don't think very long, unless you are a banned poster posting under a new name... Either way, if you really think this about Demonland, you obviously are new. This is where negativity thrives. But forgive those of us who look at us sitting pretty in second spot with 3 rounds left of the H&A season, after a flag in 2021, and a top 2 finish in 2022, not wanting to take a steaming [censored] on the club right now. It's always so easy to be negative, and nothing is EVER as good or as bad as it seems in footy. Things changes so quickly, just ask Pies and Blues fans. But right now, if you can't see any positive things about where the club is at, then I just feel really sad for you. I for one want to enjoy this rare moment in time where we are an actual serious contender, rather than constantly looking over my shoulder at the black hatted negative nellie behind me.

Well...... I'm a big Jeffo fan, for a lot of reasons which if I can say I know he will do! 1 He has already put on a bit of weight. Give him another preseason and he will put on another 5 Ks 2 He might be quiet BUT BOY does he take everything in.. He will be analysing coaching, and getting used to a full time Footy gig.. BUT don't take his demeanour of slightly introverted at all, he is a deep thinker 3 I've seen him live only twice this year ( But have done my PF Trade Mark training reports) and he is working well. Having said that I watched him closely at a windswept Casey a few weeks ago and have this to say a It wasn't a great day for forwards but he kept presenting and was ignored b I saw him PUT HIS BODY on the line on many occasions and in doing so created a ground ball possibility c I saw him held of the ball 5 times for which if it were AFL , He would have been given Free Kicks, but umpiring at that level is like watching pre school teachers trying to articulate who dropped the most crumbs during morning tea! d He took a spectacular mark ( contested and goaled) e He does put himself in dangerous positions f He is for the most part a deadly accurate kick! So there is my rationale, I beleive he will make it and he will be a DEES Favourite for a long time. My Take P.F

Shocked to see no Dangerfield on the list.

Good mail redleg, I’ve had confirmed that we are “being considered as a tenant” but nothing official. This coming from an existing tenant. Long time coming. I may be singing the praises of Pert & Roffey once it lands.

Bin, I think you're looking into this far too deeply and carrying on a bit. Clarry wasn't being rude at all. This has been Clayton's persona since well before he entered the AFL system. He was exactly like this certainly in my time dealing with him at the Murray Bushrangers. He's generally a shy guy who struggles to compose himself in front of camera at times. Similar to Dusty. He gets anxiety and nervous. You can't be critical of people if this something they're really uncomfortable naturally purely because for your own sake he's representing the club and has to be role model for kids. As if kids are going to look into this and then change their opinions on him as a player.. c'mon mate. We shouldn't be critical of others when they're put in a situation they're uncomfortable with.

I'm guessing smith sub and hibbo into the starting 22. Wet night, don't need 3 talls down back given McKay is out. Hibbo can crack in. Smithy injected forward or back late in the third, depending on where needed.

Put in on the dees to beat the blues. And remember, gamble responsibly.

Amazing to think we have had, for the majority of the season, no Brown, Tmac, fritsch and are sitting 2nd with a great percentage. it’s been a transitional year for us up forward and up to now we’ve been nothing but impressive.

I might have missed some, but I don't recall reading any posts that underrate the blues. So them being seriously underrated on here is a stretch. I'd actually argue that you're on rhe money - if anything they are being overrated by some. At least in terms of their chances of beating us As I have noted many times, the betting market for a match provides the best objective relative head to head assessments of teams. The market's assessment is we are the clear favorites for this match @ 1.72. Which, by the by, is shorter than the pies are against the Cats. Which of course doesn't mean the blues won't win. But it does mean the more probable outcome is we will win. I actually would have us a bit shorter, perhaps 1.65. I think the blues are in fact a touch overrated - at least for this match. Whilst they have done really well to win without Kennedy, McKay, Walsh and Cerra, they are big outs, particularly against us. Assuming oliver plays, we have Petty and Fritter our best 22, but i still think we are ahead on the injury front (I'm not sure if durdin and sos are in their best 22? But both have been in their team thru the season). We are in red hot form too, and with our midfield and maxy in great nick, we are very well placed to exploit the absence of Walsh and Cerra (which would be the equivalent of us not having oliver and tracc). They have a very similar game plan to ours - forward half, get territory,win contests. But that works in our favour because over the journey we are the best in those areas (teams with different methods, like the Hawks, crows and lions worry me more because we have to adjust our method more) They have massively improved their transition game. Daniel hoyne posits that is why they have improved so much. Again, we have a better transition game over the journey. The likely wet weather creates a variable. But i don't think it favours one side more than the other. I'm not sure how the blues have gone in the wet, but we have struggled, in large part because it exacerbates our poor foot skills. But we did ok when it got wet against the tigers. Slippery conditions make it harder for curnow, but brings their small forwards into play. The slippery conditions mitigates the loss of Petty, and our small forwards were brilliant last week. We have one really big advantage. The blues have been running out games really well, so are obviously fit. But i dont have a good sense of how fit they are blue relative to us. But I do know we are close to being in top shape, are super fit, and have been stronger for longer in all our games since the saints win. The advantage we have in that space is the blues are coming of two hugely taxing games - physically and psychologically. Their game against the pies was ferocious and intense. And last week, the saints applied incredible pressure and were super hard at it - particularly in the first half. We have seen recently the impact of back to back tough games on the pies and port. Neither team had won since their epic match at AO. And both have looked flattened. We had two tough games against the lions and crows, which made our tigers win even more meritorious. The roos were hard at it last week, but really only for a half. And the game wasn't intense in terms of stakes, build up or a huge crowd going ballistic. And we had the luxury of basically resting our midfield in the last quarter, with maxy, tracc and viney spending most of it sitting on the pine. On top of that, we are likely injecting one of the best 5 players in the competition into our midfield. Clarry might be a bit ring rusty, but he will be fresh and ready to rumble. I think we will win. The line is currently minus 4.5 (meaning we need to win by 5 or more points to cover the line). I think that is too skinny, and would set it at 6.5 (but won't be taking the line on, because there's nothing worse than the dees losing AND also losing money). I have a feeling we could look to make a statement and put the blues back in their box. Under goody, we have always looked to do so against potential contenders and it makes sense to hit the blues because they are def contenders and there is a good chance we might have to play them in the finals. Dees by 30 plus.

It’s less time consuming to list what he doesn’t eat. He is not match fit.

I hope Gawn plays a fair bit forward and shows something when he's there. I understand he's a fantastic ruckman and is blowing teams out of the water in that area in Grundy's absence, but part of his role in the Gawn/Grundy partnership is to play forward as well, and he has underperformed in that just as much as Grundy has. They both need to lift their forward game if this is to work like it needs to over the next couple of months.

I just want to see Smith back as sub because he was an amazing sub, Oliver for Harmes, Tomlinson for Smith and send down back, Grundy for Petty and just give it a shot again. Plays forward, doesn't interrupt Gawn's game, is second ruck, how bad can it be he's a pretty decent footballer...just hope he can kick straight!

2005 OG Demonlander who has been banned once thanks to Saty. Don't feel sorry for me. I love the club. And I love coming to Demonland to provide an opposing view.

Sounds to me like you could care less, considering the amount of words you’ve used to say you couldn’t care less.

Significant news. it really is incredible to think back to 2012 when the club was in legitimate trouble and think just 11 years later we'd be around the 70k member mark, had won a flag, look a big chance to win another, on the verge of securing a facility upgrade. all the wonderful people involved have done a remarkable job.

He’s our riskiest first round pick. Low possessions, no standout athletic traits and whilst brave in the air not a physical player. But the same could be said of JUH who is a pretty similar package with more output and maybe a touch more speed. JUH was nowhere near it year 1. Played 1 good game year 2, and is now a star in year 3. I think we’ll know by mid way next year if Jefferson is on track to being a regular in years 3/4 or a genuine project player.

Far be it for me, a lowly PA, to question the top dog, but I think this point is far too overstated on Demonland. Name a game where the weather cost us? When it rained during Geelong, we dominated them - they came back into it when it stopped raining in the last. When it rained against Richmond, we piled on goals in the last and it was slippery in the third after rain at half time. When it rained against Port, we kicked 7 goals in a quarter in hostile territory. I don't think 'Melbourne are a poor wet weather footy team' stacks up to scrutiny. I've felt it was the case in the past too, but really it's down to whether we win ground ball or not, because we obviously intercept mark less. I think our evolution, I won't say change, in game style, has meant less reliance on May, Lever or the third tall intercept marking, which means we can still win provided we win ground ball and neutralise the opposition in the air. To me, groundball and intercept are the two best indicators of victory in modern footy.

One aspect of his coaching that is not recognised is his capacity to make adjustments to the game at half time. Somehow he just tinkers with things - don't ask me how- and all of a sudden it "looks like a Melbourne game". Of course, many on here think he is a terrible game day coach but there are many games where we improve noticeably after half time (eg last Sunday).

Good to be so positive, from someone who has reached the pinnacle before. Now though is the time to walk the walk and silence the doubters. ❤️💙❤️💙

Yes according to C7 Also they said in: Clarrie and Grundy out: Petty and Harmes

The list was his top 5 coaches this season. I can't remember exactly his criteria, it was a bit rubbery, but included overcoming injury and list strength, As i noted i get why he would leave out Goodwin - creates some angst and some click worthy content. And for what it's worth I'd have Mcrae top too - he has changed the way the game is played, something normally only premiership winning coaches do (eg Hardwick - and i would argue Goody too) And i would have Voss and Kingsley in my top 5 as well. I wouldn't have Mitchell in my top 5, but i see where he is coming from because i love that Mitchell is trying to develop a game plan that is the benchmark in 5 years time not following the current trend (Mitchell's words). And as Hodge said he took very gutsy gamble cleaning out his team of so many experienced players like Gunston. But leaving Hodge's opinion aside, i really believe that as a broad generalization, Goody doesn't get the respect or credit he deserves, even on this forum. Leaving aside previous years, goody has been brilliant this season: Clear in his messaging (eg it's all about peaking in September, what the dees DNA and game looks like etc) His tactical nous (eg Goody showed the competition how to beat the Pies, not Voss or Mitchell) The changes he has implemented from their post 2022 review (eg player management, less rigid with roles) Player management (eg bringing in Woey to get a taste of AFL footy), Courage (eg dropping Grundy) His preparedness to experiment (eg Petty forward) His push back on silly media narratives (eg the baloney about our 'scoring and connection issues' = by the by, the Pies haven't scored more than 100 points since round 18) The third top 4 finish in three years (no mean feat) And the way it now feels like we have multiple ways we can win, with different methods (eg fast, slow, all about attack, take away oppo strengths etc etc) The value of this approach is now becoming very clear, with the Pies having been worked out to an extent (as we were last year), but having no time to practice i game any significant game plan adjustments Goody has been simply fantastic this season. I understand he won't get the respect and credit he deserves from the media (unless of course we win the flag). But i live in hope he gets the respect and credit he deserves on Demonland. Onya goody

What kind of response were you expecting when you categorically stated that a first year key forward who's kicked 21 goals in 16 games delist material at the end of the year. Mind you he's just signed a 2 year extension deal on top of his already 2 year deal. Yes we all have opinions, but your suggestion of him being delisted at the end of year shows your complete lack of football observation and knowledge in today's game.

Hilarious. Goody coached his team to the minor and proper premiership in ‘21, finished 2nd last year, top 4 (or better) this year! Doesn’t matter how unsexy he might appear to media (and he really doesn’t excite them), by sheer performance over a 3 year period, he HAS to be top 3. I reckon the other reason they don’t rate him is that in this world of goldfish attention spans, he’s just old news. They’re already bored with the MFC/Goody being successful. Incredible, but true I reckon. Put that together with a perception that MFC’s list is blessed with talent (albeit they’ve become bored with talking about our stars too), and Goody becomes irrelevant to these utter muppets.

Agree Smith is the perfect sub. He already jumps higher and uses his athleticism advantages really well. These strengths are even more pronounced against tired players late in a third or fourth qtr

Gives me flashbacks to my days desperately trying to find a decent rental to live in

Sorry mate you definetly havent watched him more than me, my son plays for Casey and im at most games :)

I’ve heard that Clarry completed the club’s main training session today and worked freely. He’ll be back to take on the Blues on Saturday night!!!

From what I've seen in the VFL so far this season, 'Starship' has a good pair of hands, a big leap and a reliable set shot. However, physicality and defensive pressure is definitely something he'll be working on during the off season which is nothing to be ashamed about considering his inexperience. Still, he's kicked 21.14 from 16 VFL games so far this season which is a decent effort for a first year tall forward. Pending improvement and opportunity, I could definitely see a Woewodin type situation where he's given a taste of senior action for 3-4 weeks sometime next season before he hopefully pushes for regular senior selection in '25.

How big is the cheer going to be when Clarry gets his first touch of the pill on Saturday?

It wouldn't allow me to register a new name with the apostrophe. Trust me, it made me cry.

For a slight KPF his attack on the ball in the air is very impressive.

I don’t think he came across as rude at all. To me he came across as someone who thinks he’s been right to play for weeks and been told no by the club, so is saying I don’t know if I’ll play as he knows the decision is ultimately not his to make. Bit of a dig at the power above I’d say. It’s why he mentioned needing to get through training because he’s obviously been told that’s a non negotiable. It’s also why I think he was playing around at training pretending like he hurt his hammy. He’s clearly just a frustrated player who has been told no too often for his own liking recently and can’t handle it. It is, after all, his first ever serious injury. He came across as annoyed and incoherent. As for not stopping for the media, I think that would have been more rude and caused more panic. “Oh Clarry is refusing to answer questions about his recovery. What’s he hiding?!!!” I think ultimately the media should know he’s not going to give them what they want, which is a clear coherent well spoken discussion about a topic. Go to Trac, Lever or Gawn for that. Not Clarry 😂 And by the way, given the rubbish that’s been aimed at him and the club from mainstream and social media during this hamstring saga, I reckon he has every right to flip everyone off. He is after all a drug trafficker 🙄

I didn't even find it awkward. He was actually better spoken than he normally is. I have absolutely no idea why people are squirming. He's very confident he'll play, but he needs to tick off the training session, which is exactly the same messaging as the FD gave...

I wouldn't worry too much. English isn't his first language. And he doesn't have another.

He’s two years away from being two years away.

I was anointed by the neggy one.

2025 I reckon at the earliest. Petty and JVR is our 1-2 punch for 2024.

He is one to two hundred burgers short of a run in the seniors. Needs a good pre season to be a chance to get a game next year IMO. Could still be two seasons away. Developing nicely and should stay on this path. JVR was far more physically ready last year and still didn’t play when everyone else was slowly dying. I reckon Jefferson is far less likely to been seen in 2023.

Changed my mind again. Trade up, take two top 10 picks to the draft and one inside 15 as there'll be a couple of sliders. I think we need a spread of talent across the field and a new generation of talent coming through together rather than all chips in on one. I think it'd give us a boost like Sydney have experience with their influx of high end talent over an off-season a few years ago. It'd also allow us the flexibility to trade for a ready made player/forward/back which needs to come under serious consideration given May's age, Petty's injury, Brown and McDonald's form/age/injury history. I can see Reid being unbelievable for us. But it's clear our problems lie in an array of areas that he won't fix alone. And selling the farm for him seems a big risk, especially long-term.