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DEE fence is bang on, the silence is deafening. MFC wins the trophy and 1mil for being the most consistent club across AFL and AFLW and radio silence from AFL.com. Instead an article about how important top ten picks are (duh!). MFC has been the benchmark across all three competitions AFL, AFLW, VFL for three years now. We’ve won 3 premierships (and counting with AFLW23 still to play) 4 GFs, finished in the top 4 8 times, made 9 final series and easily been the best club over this period. But what are they reporting on? A smear campaign against our coach and his family from 2020-21. What are our real issues?Joel Smith is an [censored] who did coke in season. Clayton Oliver is immature and has some issues, Stephen May is confident and has a big mouth, leading to one stupid fight with his teammates and a statement about CFC that annoyed them (despite being true!). That’s it. Compare that to CFC: Magpies deny players involvement in elicit video (off-season 2023): https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/collingwood-magpies/magpies-deny-players-involved-in-explicit-viral-video-and-warn-fans-of-criminal-offence/news-story/1527df5feed42453ba45d130f819cb56 Ginnivan at the races pre GF: https://www.theroar.com.au/2023/09/30/magpies-defend-ginnivan-over-trip-to-the-races-before-grand-final-everyone-just-relax-and-chill/amp/ Jack Crisps alleged sexting exchange with an underage girl 2023: https://7news.com.au/sport/afl/jack-crisps-next-move-revealed-after-afl-completes-investigation-into-inappropriate-video-c-10314050.amp Jack Ginnivan allegedly does ketamine with players preaseason 2023: https://amp.abc.net.au/article/101994502 Jordan Degoey’s litany of mysognistic misdemeanours: https://amp.9news.com.au/article/384aa7b0-45be-4488-8f9c-d9c1f2e1191f Quaynor and Ginnivan rate women’s appearance in online video: https://www.foxsports.com.au/web-stories/free/fox-sports/jack-ginnivan-and-isaac-quaynor-apologise-for-tiktok-video Steele Sidebottom goes out drunk during COVID restrictions: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8477947/amp/AFL-star-Steele-Sidebottom-drunk-does-not-remember-breaking-COVID-19-rules.html The “do better report”: https://amp.theguardian.com/sport/2021/feb/01/collingwood-afl-clubs-culture-of-structural-racism-condemned-in-scathing-report Wow what an incredible “culture” led to this years flag, it’s almost like winning premierships is possible even with a team of misbehaving DH’s as long as they are good at football. But no, it’s probably Darcy Moore’s ability to deliver a year 10 level debate speech and Craig MacRae and the Daicos’s being nice guys, I’m sure that’s an impeccable “culcha”. It’s nice to confirm the bias against us in the AFL media, which was largely under the surface until now. They hate us and will never praise us as a “big club” (within 10k and 16k of Hawthorn and Essendon with a higher average home attendance but never acknowledge that). Time for us to start calling them out often and loudly, or stop listening to and watching their rubbish as Robbo, Warner at the Hun are out for us as are Damo, Cornes and others at AFL.com. Stuff em.

More good news for the club. Any journos perusing Demonland for a good news story, please note, winning the McClelland trophy for best men's and women's football program can be added to an impressive list of positives from the last 3 years, a period where we: have won three flags are even money favorite to win our fourth flag in a few weeks finished top 4 in the men's and women comp every season made finals in every VFL season (In spite of this success) go into the upcoming draft with a brilliant draft hand for any team, let alone a top 4 team have a united board a CEO (who had his critics when he came to the dees) doing a top job have stabilized financially thankfully no longer have to rely on income from pokies got to 70k plus members (an all time record) continued to strengthen the women's program have been able to keep the women's team together (very much unlike other top teams) are on the way to creating the best, most successful program in AFLW history did a thorough review of our 2022 season and made changes as a result resigned our men's and women's coach made a series of long term, contract extensions to key players resigned Koz, a terrific message that our club is considered culturally safe by Aboriginal players (reinforced by McAdam nominating the dees) been leaders in the Aboriginal cultural space - for example the Indigenous jumpers and Narrm initiative that other clubs are now getting on board with (eg renaming their team for Indigenous round) not unrelated to the above two points, bedded down our Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan managed the departure of Jackson in a way that has given us a great draft hand managed the transition of Burgess to Griffith super well managed the situation with Jonsey not getting a game in the GF super well resigned Melk when we we could have easily said see ya have done a great job connecting with past players and bringing them back into the fold had an assistant coach win one of the most coveted jobs in footy - the senior coach of the tigers Yes, like every other club we have had our share of isolated incidents but by any measure that is a super impressive list of achievements, albeit missing one key thing - a home base. We are in better shape now then at any other point in the 45 plus years i have ardently followed the mighty dees. Go redlegs.

13. Caleb Windsor Melbourne Eastern Ranges, 184cm Midfielder The mail is that Melbourne is just about set on selecting Windsor with its second selection here. The Eastern Ranges product is another player to have shot up draft boards in the second half of the season, even more so after a strong showing at the national draft combine. The wingman had a big under-18 national championships with Vic Metro and is seen as a player with real weapons with his speed, foot skills and decision making. He is a modern-day wingman who most clubs would love to have.

I've jumped on board the band wagon of picking him at 6. The more I watch of him the more I see Nat Fyfe similarities. I am no way saying his career will pan out the same way but his freak athletic attributes and strong aerial ability will be hard to match up on. Then taking into account that he's ability to have significant impact in all 3 lines of the ground being back, mid and forward. Very rarely you see junior talent being able to do this at this level.

6 and 11. Two ‘Top Ten’ picks. Two Top TEN picks. TWO Top Ten Picks.

Is it just me or is AFL.com.au and other media deafening in its silence about Melbourne’s success, doesn’t fit the narrative? 5th para in the Age article about Collingwood losing, mentions that Melbourne wins, pathetic, just pathetic. And for all the culture bandwagoners, our culture is just fine, it is how you come back from adversity that matters, every set back we’ve had since 2018, the team has found a way. Good to see tall poppy syndrome alive and well (not). I remain as proud (and frustrated with the result of Pies/Carlton games) of the club as ever. Finally my daughter was at a wedding yesterday/day before (who knows with timezones) and this was played. I suggest that plenty of folks do possess the spine required to handle the adverse media, driven by those journalists who are truly parochial and adversarial in their agendas. (And D’landers in this crowd btw?) VID-20231028-WA0017.mp4

There's certainly suggestions they're key reasons why Chloe Molloy, Steph Chiocci, and Jamie Lambert left their AFLW program. Their entire team went to the football department last year after DeGropey's Bali incident and basically stated that unless the club does something to address apparently misogyny in the club, they'll have a serious problem retaining several of their women players. Those three walked. I can't say I blame them.

If Adelaide win 100 - nil, their percentage would sit at 233.46%. If we win 50-49, our percentage would be 233.56%. If it is getting that close, every West Coast score is a big bonus to us. Similarly every point we prevent Brisbane kicking makes a big difference also.

I would be so surprised if we over-look Curtin if he falls to us. Will trust JT though, he doesn't get too many wrong.

Geez I really hope that doesn’t happen. But if MFC fans are able to attend a home final/grand final but choose not to, I don’t wanna hear these same folks whinge about not having seen a Melbourne grand final in person. We support our Club therefore we should support ALL of our players, ie. anyone who pulls on a red and blue jumper. I almost forgot to add… IN MY HUMBLE OPINION. 😉

Gary Pert has just out a very long statement addressing Clayton Oliver, Joel Smith, Simon Goodwin and the MFC culture

Weird how "theres a clear top 8 and then a big gap" and "i cant see any changes to the top end of this draft" has been the narrative for a month and now every club is into Leake having got whisper we like him. I'd guess this chap was our target/reason for trading for pick 11 and now possibly have to use 6 on him? Who knows. But funny how every club is obsessed at who JT likes.

Just Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples related issues. Their report on misogyny is still being worked on. Epic report - current draft has 3,232 chapters.

I don’t really see Bailey, his pace bursting through and away from packs is his strength. Leake is more winning the ball, he’s bigger and more of a long strider. I’m reluctant to use the F word but I can see why others have gone that far. And if you want to get really crazy go with a hint of a smaller Adam Goodes. I’d probably go with traits of Elliot Yeo down back and maybe a Kyle Langford up forward.

It’s appalling isn’t it. Almost everything CFC on that list is a serious crime, the club cleans up for them. There’s a patterns there of seriously disgusting attitudes and behaviour to women also.

I was at a wedding yesterday for one of our Ruby Demons members, to which Hester Brown was the celebrant. Ben Brown and I were discussing the McLelland Trophy, and he hinted there were a few of the male players who were planning to do just that. On another note, Ben and I did get in trouble for following the scores of the Adelaide/North game. We were watching the last quarter on my phone, to which Hester came over and said, "Oh, Ben, you're not....." Ben and I did get the giggles!

Have to agree with the criticisms of Casey. I attend all my AFLW matches via public transport and Casey is a nightmare. I'm currently, temporarily, living in the northern suburbs and it's around three hours each way. Even from my regular abode in the inner city it's still usually over two hours each way. The wind nearly always has an adverse impact on the quality and spectacle of the match and I'd argue it has produced our three poorest performances this season, the loss to Adelaide and two scrappy wins over the Dogs and Dockers. If the club wants to grow the support for the women's team and the AFLW in general they need to play their matches where the majority of the supporters have more ready access, and the best of the game can be showcased.

Most on here have had the chance to consider this for a while now. Each year is different but as the years roll by, we make more informed decisions and our team are at least as good it seems as the top 4 or 5. This year we dont need pretty good players, we need a gun to top up with. I'd hope we would swap 6 and 11 for 2 if we had the opportunity.

Maximus Holmes PTSD?

It’s the grand final rematch this Saturday: Brisbane vs Us at Brighton Homes Arena. They chose that grand final venue last year, much to our chagrin, despite having never played on it. It was their new ground so after the match Daisy said we gave them “the housewarming from hell” 😂 which was printed on T-shirts and which still makes us laugh now.

Get him in

Intercept defender, damaging forward and goal kicking midfielder. Sounds like a weapon.

Thank you, I will try.

His footy IQ is through the roof, the thing that really stands out to me watching his highlights is how much faster he reads the play than anyone else on the ground!

And just to put some figures behind the crowd comparisons for our home games in 2023, it's exactly as we'd expect: Avg. Casey attendance (3 games): 1,694 Avg. Princes Park attendance (2 games): 5,558 Avg. home attendance last H&A season: 1,288 (4 Casey games - not including the 17,851 MCG crowd for R2) We've done the most important thing in attracting crowds, which is to win games and be a consistent, competitive and enjoyable team to watch. Based on the above, the next obvious thing is not to play at Casey. Obvious but perhaps not easy contractually? Though that fastest-growing area thing only works if we've actually got a strategy for converting those people into supporters and members. Would love to know if there's any evidence of that happening and if it's enough to counter the number of existing members who would attend but will never set foot at Casey Fields.

Yeah right, like last time we had pick 2. Christian Petracca or Caleb Marchbank plus Liam Duggan? You must be laughing so hard!

I don't think the thread is touched, perhaps the readers and posters now that's another question. But I do like it !

I'm not even sure they exist outside numerous media articles. This is a reasonable summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Football_League_draft Proviso: The AFL have an enormous propensity to use their 'special herbs and spices' recipe to amend rules at their discretion ie act outside their own rules to favour certain clubs...it happens every year in one way or another.

13. Caleb Windsor Melbourne Eastern Ranges, 184cm Midfielder The mail is that Melbourne is just about set on selecting Windsor with its second selection here. The Eastern Ranges product is another player to have shot up draft boards in the second half of the season, even more so after a strong showing at the national draft combine. The wingman had a big under-18 national championships with Vic Metro and is seen as a player with real weapons with his speed, foot skills and decision making. He is a modern-day wingman who most clubs would love to have.

We have over $20m in the bank from the sale of the Bentleigh club so $500k is not going to suddenly mean anything. And no, we want a training base the way everyone else gets one - from the taxpayer.

All the finals scenarios based on possible results next week here: https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/aflw-2023-afl-womens-last-round-finals-scenarios-the-run-home-ladder-predictor-round-10-games-what-every-team-needs/news-story/d6060d2daf5fd9ec9dc0454f8df1df95 As mentioned by others, for us the equation is pretty simple: "Win: Finish 1st unless Adelaide wins by biggest margin in AFLW history, then finish 2nd Lose: Finish 2nd if Adelaide wins, 1st if Adelaide loses With the $1 million McClelland Trophy already theirs, the Demons are simply aiming for the minor premiership on Saturday night. But there’s something arguably even more important on the line - a very favourable qualifying final. We can’t imagine Adelaide losing to West Coast earlier in the evening, so if Melbourne loses to Brisbane they should drop into second, and very likely face North Melbourne in a tricky qualifying final. But a win over Brisbane will knock the Lions out of the four, and hand the Demons a qualifying final against fourth-placed Essendon or Gold Coast - who the reigning premiers would be heavily favoured against. Either way the Dees are one of the flag favourites but an easier qualifying final is quite the reward."

Shouldn't let your chooks drink coffee WCW. They'll be up all night. You might get some tasty eggs though.

I love our club

Definitely at Ikon. That’s already been decided.

Surley icon park

Starting to feel like a bit of a JT special isn’t it. Wasn’t even in Cals top 20 a few months ago. The more noise there is about us picking him at 6 the more it reminds me of the noise about Jackson coming up to his draft. If we were to pick him ahead of Curtain or Sanders it would show how highly we rate him. Have to admit I didn’t really notice him in the few Allies games I watched as I was focused on other players. Be interested to hear people’s thoughts on what position he would start off in should we pick him. Just going off his highlights he plays very like Fritter up forward.Can take a mark and good shot for goal. Is there room for two of those type in our forward line? Seemed to struggle to make his tackles stick a few times so might need work on that to play half back at AFL level.

Today's HUN has us taking Leake (based on latest talk (speculaton) and Windsor

My thoughts on the above post in blue ...we've got lost lodgement deadlines on Tuesday 31 at 2pm and again before the draft on 14 Nov. Correct Do you know if the club needs to declare it's list make up (i.e. 36/6 or 37/5) at one of those list lodgements? Or are we free to go the draft do our thing as long as the outcome fits within the rules? No need to declare the Seniors/A rookie mix. It will be known after the draft. If it's the former, then I suspect the club are playing it like this: - the club is going to wait and see what happens on draft night. Agreed. - if we can get Brown as a Rookie (ie no one else bids) then we'll do that. I haven't seen anything that says we will take Brown. F/S nominations close tomorrow so we should know then. That nothing has been reported suggests we may not or else just poor info from AFL who publish the lists. - if a bid comes 56 or later, I think that thanks to the 20% points discount, he can match for free - presuming we have a list spot left. We still need to use a draft pick but it could be 93, which will come in to about pick 60 after the other Academy and F/S bids have been matched and clubs pass on picks over 50. That is what happened to get Woewoden. Yes we still need a list spot. -if our draft hand stays exactly as it is, and we can manage any other trades, it will depend on whether we rate Brown at 42 or would prefer someone else. But based on Tim Lambs comments. I can't see us using 42 as well as 6 and 11, unless it's for Brown. I can't see us taking Brown at 42. With relatively flat second round talent 42 is a valuable pick. I reckon It will be used in a pick upgrade (into top 10), pick swap or cashed in for 2024 picks. - So my guess is that strategy around selection otherwise (ie before pick 56) will depend on any trades we were able to make to improve our top picks, and whether they give us any pick in the 50s or 60s back that will enable us to match a bid. Agreed. - In short: we'll take him if we can, but we aren't stock piling assets for him, we are trying to get the best top end talent. Agreed....I'm not seeing intent to create a list spot for him but as you suggest we can go from a mix of 36/6 to 37/5.

that bit of alfoil at the start looks a bit suss 😮

Gonna be pretty hard for Tassie to meet their milestones before fielding team. A not-yet-funded stadium, possible change in state govt at the next election (current opposition against the stadium), not a shovel of soil turned yet, some local protests and resentment, sponsorships to be found..... I believe Whispering Jack made reference to this a couple of weeks ago after a recent conversation he had with an former Tassie premier A lot to happen before a team gets going down there. I wonder if Gil made it just a touch too difficult for this to get off the ground

Cannot see nth passing up on Curtin when they need young Talls. Can't see dees passing up on him either. Won't get to 9

No ...and no

Honestly James Leake looks like a better forward than Nate Caddy. re-watching his highlights i'd definitely take him 6, he looks like he could be a really good player in any area of the ground. reminds me of Shaun Burgoyne in that way

Yeah, massive drug issue. Spent time at Sam Quentin for running a Bolivian junta in 2012. US Marshalls still looking for him. I have mentioned this before…