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I think it's time to place on record how poor our media output has been since the departure of Ben Gibson. Training photos, the odd awkward interview and generic reprocessed information. I understand the strategy of the club this off & pre-season has been to close up shop and let their footy work do the talking but I truly believe the lack of insightful and creative media content will impact membership numbers, engagement and anticipation ahead of the season. Our website still shows the exciting launch of the 2023 merchandise range. We never hear from Gary Pert or Simon Goodwin unless it's a members forum or AGM. Andy Moniz Wakefield's re-signing was never announced, we are none the wiser on his contract length. I've just gone on to a few other random AFL club pages for context. The Bulldogs have a unique video feature where Cody Weightman (and others) have been filmed from their morning coffee, routine once they get to the club with even a snippet of Luke Beveridge's whiteboard strategy session. It's a unique insight without giving too much away. Sydney have released a 15 minute video from their training camp at Coffs Harbour which shows the player bonding up close and how these camps play out. We know the powers at be read the forum so please place more resources in this area. Love from all of your fans!

Sadly what has been produced since Ben left is outright slack, lazy and simply not directed at us...the fans. Demonland was producing "happy snaps" of players at training 20 years ago, and what we are seeing now is nothing more. In fact our own @Six6Six produces far superior quality shots when compared to the amateur efforts shown by people who are being paid to do the job. At training sessions we see them behind their camera, and scrolling through their phone, while spectacular marks go un-noticed, and what's worse....not a single written report about what is actually going on right in front of them....or behind them as injuries occur during the session. Or who is training, who is not, who is rehabbing. ....off we go to Demonland to get that information. Podcasts from the club? No, you have to come to Demonland for that!. Interviews....once again unsighted since Ben left, except for the banal questioning line of "what was it like out there today". How about something as simple as asking Christian Salem how his recovery is going? Essendon have a run down on their community camp over a couple of days. And how about writing something? There is more food for the supporter needs right here on Demonland, than can be found on the club website. Like @Dannyz has pointed out, go to other clubs websites ( yes that hurts), but it shows what their fans are being given and entertained with, and can get excited about. That is how you build a fan base, that is how you maintain a fan base.

I believe his partner will be relocating across from ADL and has been spending a lot of time here in the meanwhile. McAdam will be a brilliant player for us this season. He's not here for his endurance, he's here for his freakish talents inside the 50. Appreciate your support of him also WCW.

I only wish I had the access that the Club has to players and officials and the platform they have to bring informative and creative content to the supporter base and beyond. And I’d do it for free.

Enjoy. Mbl ==> https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-gL7BLf/i-SNLGXjH/A 4K ==> https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-gL7BLf/i-bZWB8bG/A

Maybe he's thinking about Callum Mills' Mad Monday shoulder injury, Buddy Franklin and Paddy McCartin retiring and the fact that we belted them with a depleted forward line up there in the last round last year.

Wouldn't get past the Demonland profanity filters!

Pretty much every new player we have bought into our club (not the young draftees) have said our training standards & fitness are elite. Even Grundy alluded to it so whilst they might be fit.. they’re not “Melbourne “ fit.

Could not agree more. But to be clear i don't blame the current comms team (though i take Georges point about the content 'creators'. I'm not on social media and the only place i see their content is what is linked out here. But how many photos with captions like 'the colt horsing around' can you look at before wanting something with a bit more depth - i mean how hard is to write something up say describing the purpose of the drills - or do a quick interview with a line coach, trainer or player at training talking about an element of their training - as opposed to who chose the music. With tech now that sort of content is basically free to create) The club has got a lot of things right in the last few years. Coms isn't one of them. And i mean comms in the broad sense, not just fan engagement stuff. On the latter, i get the argument that with the soft cap restrictions the focus has to be on investments in the players and on field results. But the two are super inter related. For one thing, as i understand it growing the membership (to 80k) is part of the current strategic plan. Good comms is absolutely critical to achieving that strategic goal. Which makes sense, becuase that is how you bring in the income to drive on field performance. With the cost of living so high, if you are asking fans to fork out hundreds of dollars for a membership good fan engagement is part of the value proposition. Sure memberships gets you into games, but for many a membership is more akin to a donation. When making decisions about how to spend money all but the most hard core fans (and even many of them depending on their circumstances) to a greater or lesser degree will consider the value proposition of a membership before forking out for one. For me the website is an important part of the value proposition. And ours is woeful. As someone interested in stats and players histories our website is terrible. I just checked then, and credit where its due, the players info is now current - but it was all 12 months out of late last season. That is amateursville. What i'm most interested in is analysis. And again, there is nothing on our website that give me any insight into the game, how we are travelling, what our tactical thinking is etc etc. I just had a look at and the 'news' is training galleries and AFL articles. Carlton last year had video blogs previewing upcoming games. I watched it prior to our games and it was really interesting. Useful. Engaging. And no cost to create (apart from the employee time - but i assume we have employees doing comms?). I barely ever visit the MFC our website. I'd say no more than once a month in season - and not at all out of season. That's crazy. I get i'm not representative of what most fans want, but that's the point - a comms strategy has to include strategies of how to engage with all demographic's, including footy nerds like me. If for no other reason that if you ask people why they barrack for their team, 75% would say because my mum or dad did. And not investing in fan engagement is also incredibly short term thinking as it limits attracting new fans and keeping current ones. Fans become members. I've noted before Freo have really good content on their website. I just had a look and this video from a few days ago is a good example of what i mean about content that adds to the value proposition of supporting freo. As a freo fan i would find this really interesting because it gives a bit insight into a key role at modern footy clubs - the data analyst (i found it is interesting as a dees fan!) and introduces me to a a club employee who is part of the huge group of people behind the scene it takes to make a club successful (i watched it on their website, but the link is to their you tube channel as it links out better).

In match sims he has held his own vs Max and I mean if Max is no 1 Ruckman in the league, that should be a pretty glowing endorsement! Plus he plays forward BETTER than Grundy could ever do!

How hard would it be for each of the line coaches to write a piece for the website once a fortnight telling us how the players in their group are progressing? And if they don't want to do it, surely they can get some year 10 work experience kids to do it. Ditto for the Casey coach after each game. Do a pocket profile for each of the players like they used to have in the footy record, and release 1 or 2 each week during the pre season. I'd be interested in learning more about some of the off field staff we have as well, and what their jobs entail. Give us some regular, accurate injury and fitness updates. Not everything is a state secret that has to be kept away from opposition clubs. Put some posters and other downloadable materials on the website. Run some competitions on there as well. Update the team pages on the website so that the AFLW players drafted two months ago appear and those we traded out are removed.

I know it's not exactly the same, but I also feel there is a sense of camaraderie and bond created within the die hard supporters of a team such as ours that stick fat with the team through years of turmoil and then finally winning one. I sense this with my mates that grew up supporting they club, who were quick to call in a state of euphoria when we won in 2021, but also people I didn't know at the time and we both realise are MFC supporters - doesn't take much to realise how dinkum they were with their support and following of the team, when you reminisce about seasons past in the 80s/90s or whenever they seriously followed them and how good we were when we cracked it in 2021.

It's 4 weeks to the opening game. I'm definitely not writing off McAdam recovering over that period. JVR, Fritsch and McAdam can form a competitive set along with ANB, Spargo, Chandler, Laurie and Billings. Tholstrup may even get a debut. And there's Schache too.

I’ll be in that! I’ll be wearing one of these…

Guys let's not derail the Injury Thread with discussions about our forward line woes. Talk about them in the Forward Line Woes Thread.

My guess would be his fitness is not yet at AFL level. I only went to two VFL game last year , Coburg mid season and the blues later in the season - he looked gassed late in quarters in both, particularly the Coburg game. A modified program might suggest they are focusing on building his aerobic base (the same might be true of Mcadam). I suspect Jefferson dominated at junior level as key forward who was strong, had good hands, good one on one and and read the ball well. And his lack of aerobic tank was not exposed. But the days of a key forward being able to get by just on physical strength, clunking a few marks and slotting sausage rolls are well and truly gone. Hawkins is a good example - for the first two thirds of his career his role was pretty much to stay inside 50 and play the big gorilla, wrestling role. And he was just about the best at it too. But in the last few years he dropped weight and clearly improved his tank and running ability, getting up and down the ground much more. Arguably his 2022 season was his best. But last year he had an interrupted preseason and started the season nowhere near peak aerobic fitness. Forced to go back to his stay inside 50 style, he was nowhere near as effective as he had been. The same could be said of Tmac coming back into he side late in 2023. And Jefferson ain't no Hawkins (yet?).

I can't recall hearing a reason but he has been doing a separate modified program away from the main group for the past few months at training. Over the past weeks he has slowly been integrating into the main group initially for the warm up drills and then doing a modified program when the contact drills began. Yesterday was the first time I have seen him in the contact drills but before the end he left the field (not necessarily because of anything sinister) to ride the bike in the shed. I have not seen him much in a match situation but from limited viewings at trainings he has a great pair of hands, takes a good grab and has nice skills and a good kick. Can't comment on whether he has any mongrel in him but he laid a nice ferocious tackle at training yesterday. He got a lot of kudos from his teammates for it and I can only surmise that it was the type of congratulations you would receive if it was the type of actions the team wanted to see more of.

Nathan Jones. You have to feel for the bloke. Club legend.

They'll have lots of reunions down the track but let's hope we can add another flag or 2 so there can be multiple reunions Local level flags are one thing but at the high professional level? It's their whole life and source of income. There's no other job like it Although many professions outside of sport are extremely rewarding ... they just aren't rewarded with premierships! And then there are the champion players and A graders who never won a flag The last bloke picked in a premiership winning team gets the flag but great players often miss out completely

I was looking at the Gallery from training yesterday and was appalled that they could post such uninspiring, lifeless, dull, shots!! It was quite apparent that there’d been no real attempt to edit them and there were shots of players’ backs with little to no action occurring. I will admit that there were a handful of acceptable shots of individual players (a good shot of Salem for example), but even most of them (not that there were many - the entire gallery was just 30 or so shots) were pretty ordinary! I suggested to my son who late last year completed a photography course at the Torrens University campus in Sydney (I think it was a Billy Blue Design College course), that he send the club a folio of his work, but he wants to wait a while first as his priorities are to get a driver’s license (most important) and to maybe just shoot around at local clubs. His work is of a very very good standard, and his love of footy shines through it all! Despite being a massive Demons supporter (and member), his best shots are unfortunately of the Swans seconds playing at Tramway Oval across the road from the SCG; sure I’m probably biased, but as someone who knows a bit about photography, in my opinion he’s got talent to burn! Sorry, I got a bit carried away 😂🤣🤣😂

look higher than gibson's level as to who is to blame for the strategic direction of content delivery

You mean you don’t like the videos of players trying to roll a coin into a fork or stick a clothes peg on a singlet without getting caught? 🙄

At least we still have you @Dannyz 😁

I cringe at those types of clips. But I do understand people’s frustrations with our media department.

Should wear one of these.

Thank you Dz. Totally agree with the reasons he’s here, as stated by you. Also, I think oftentimes folks forget these are human beings, no two are alike, and when they come to a new club, a certain amount of nurturing is needed, as well as the cutting of a bit of slack. For mine, if he’s putting in as much as he possibly can - and he certainly is - I’m in his corner.

Selwyn certainly does have a different way of working with the players, in particular, the indigenous boys. That’s not something I’ve noticed, it’s something I’ve been told. Overall, Shane is happy to be living in Melbourne because his uncle and cousins - with whom he’s very close - live here, as well as his brother, Ash Johnson.

Personally, if i was framing a market for the flag i'd have the pies and the lions just about equal favorites, with us just behind (in large part because we've had more players with interrupted preseasons). There is very little separating those three teams. You only need to look at the exposed form from last season in terms of head to head games between them for clear evidence of that fact (ie small margins, pretty much 50 50 for all head to head combos) That said, 9.50 is not good value at all (and 5.00 for the pies to win just simply ridiculous). Futures bets, particularly for an event seven months away, is a total sucker bet created by the bookies to siphon money from punters (not that there would much money in GF pools at this point). As Webber notes above: 'Where we finish depends on injuries/players available through the season. As it does for all clubs. It’s the single greatest determinant of success, even if the least sexy.' There is no way of knowing which teams might cop key injuries at key times (like us losing every key forward, and then melk, at the business end of the season). Or which team might just have run of really bad luck - for example imagine taking a futures bet before the 2023 season on the crows to make the finals (or even win it), only for them to miss out because of a complete howler of a video review that knocked them out. For the same reason, futures bets on say the Melbourne Cup are a scam by bookies (though at least if you had an interest in a horse that you knew was a star, and others didn't, you might get crazy good odds). The current favorite for the Melbourne Cup is Without A Fight at $15. I wouldn't take $15 for it to actually run! On Webbers comment about the impact of injuries on teams chances of success, quite frankly, it amazes me that in 2024 this is just not an accepted fact. Since the end of the last season I've taken more interest in other football codes (and to a lesser extent NBA). For example I've been following the Spurs fortunes closely in the EPL and the 49ers in the NFL. The impact of injuries (and in the EPL also players missing due to international games) is forensically analyzed - and factored into predictions of how teams might go, previews of games and reviews of games. Unlike with AFL footy, noting the impact of injuries is not reflexively dismissed as making excuses, but rather factored in as logical reasons contributing to predictions, a particular result, or run of results. My sense is that it is uniquely Australian phenomena that the impact of injury is not realistically factored into the media's analysis of footy, and hardly at all by fans. I think the footy media plays a key role as it is dominated by the voices of ex footballers, many of whom played last century ,and the ridiculous make no excuses, soldier out, soldier in palaver is baked in to the coverage and therefore also the culture of the game.

I say if we kick straight enough, we win.

That's unlike you to talk like that, Jack It takes a good level of courage just to cross the white line Stan features quite a bit in the clip below playing as first rover And if Caleb ends up as good as Stan, we've got quite the player. Stan won 2 B&F's and ran 2nd in the Brownlow on one occasion And captained the club for 4 years. He was quite a decorated footballer Coll vs Melb 1968 Victoria Park

Have to agree with all said by @Slartibartfast. The session was just "meh", which perhaps is not unexpected given we don't want to be injuring any more players beyond the 9 sitting in rehab or doing their own thing. And also we are getting to the serious stage, so all the hard work has been done, so to use @binman's analogy, we are probably tapering. If we think we had forward line problems at the end of last year, when we have Petty, Fullarton and now McAdam rehabbing with Kossy not available for the first game, there should be a good argument for TMac to fill a forward line gap...but wait! He stood out the session today as well.... The backs in sharp contrast....and it is a sharp contrast....have their cup running over! Marty Hore, Tomlinson, Howes and Adams are all looking like they could fill any holes and probably more. But the rest of the regulars in the backline look as good as they have ever been, so where will the gaps happen? And I also have to agree with @Slartibartfastabout Kynan Brown. Sharp, slippery and skilled, he will be a great option at some point...but not this year. Like all the first year kids, he just doesn't have the strength to exist at the top level. When you see him and Windsor stand next to Woewodin for example, you truly see what the effect of one year in the system produces from a physical perspective.

They’re going to be mad when we finish 1st, yeah I said it. Bookmark this.

We should have a good idea sometime around the end of September 2024...

I don’t think any realistic guide to Melbourne’s chances this year involve Brown, TMac or Schache. Schache May surprise as he still has a body that can handle an AFL season but Jeepers it’s a long bow. Smith is done you would think. So in effect bar Fritsch and JVR we’re all hoping Petty can get fit and stay fit. How many players have great seasons after missing large chunks of a pre season with a serious foot injury? Add to this the fact he’s not a key forward yet. He’s a back who’s showed some promise as a forward. Then there’s McAdam who from all reports has done a power of work to get to the standard our game demands, he’s now injured his calf. For a 29 year old with a long history of injuries what chance is he to play 20 plus games and be ready at the business end? On top of this Oliver hasn’t even begun full training yet. Look I want us to win but this has been an ordinary off season for the club. I love all the happy clappers around here, you guys rock with your training reports, enthusiasm and positivity, I’ve been there the last 4 years, I know how good it feels. This year doesn’t have that same feeling for me. I really hope I’m proven wrong.

i wear one of those when near Filth supporters.

I'm not a Schache fan as you know picket but if it is his time at least he'll have an opportunity to state his case and cement a spot because there is certainly one there for a tall forward who can help in the ruck. You'd think it's last chance saloon. I was critical of his one year contract extension but it's now proving to be an astute bit of planning. Kudos to the FD.

This wouldn’t surprise at all. Salo is hands down the most popular amongst the players. He’s much loved and deservedly so since he’s a genuine good guy. I don’t know if this is how the new guys regard him but the old firm definitely do. I’d hazard a confident guess that the new guys feel the same way, and if they don’t already, they soon will. PS: it’s not just the players. At our premiership reenactment I met a couple whose son had just started working as an analyst for us. I asked them which of our boys (if any) he had befriended and they said, “Christian Salem, from day one.”

I yearn for the day when the gravy train of poorly educated ex footballers with too many head knocks is stopped. I don’t think we’re far off much better football analysis and commentary becoming mainstream. It’s there with some great podcasts and articles written. Problem is you then turn the TV on and you have gorillas on serious money commentating. Then you have FOX and it’s myriad football shows either attempting comedy or telling you the plainly obvious. It’s no wonder I come here. 😂🤓

I'm not sure that we can keep playing both Langers & Hunter on the wings. Gus is a great winger (and HB, and midfielder!!) so we mightn't be able to play him on a wing. One of the young fellas might well get a crack on a wing ... I'm very worried about Petty. Those foot injuries are diabolical. JVR is really good. Very confident about his continued progression. Clarry ... hmm. Who knows? Sparrow ... needs to go to the next level. Hopefully he does. And Chandler. And Kozzy needs to improve his consistency. I'm a real advocate of giving him short bursts on the ball to get him into the game. TMac & BBB are cooked. Sadly. I worry about Max. He's not getting any younger, and is repeatedly assaulted. Maysie ... great player, but on the wrong side of 30. Hopefully his inevitable slide is very gradual. Not sure it's exactly on topic, but I really hate the filth. As for Maynard ....

time to release the dogs

Vee do not panic about pre-season injuries at Kaos, Shtarker!

That's true We can't leave the midfield short on top level talent The good news is that we've got a number of choices* for half back so Brayshaw can remain in the middle But I wonder if we might revisit Brayshaw as that defensive wingman again? Hunter could play as a high-half forward either combining with Langdon or Brayshaw ANB to play a similar role on the other flank But to do that we need Clarrie playing Just a thought *McVee, Bowey, Rivers, Salem

i've done the math and i cant see him kicking less than 9 against sydney

Hi Herald Sun. I've included some edits in bold above free of charge.

While it is not ideal to have such a decimated forward line heading into 2024 I don't think it's all doom and gloom. Going into round 1 we will likely see JVR, Fritsch and Schache as our key forward targets, gaining Kossie for Round 2 and then McAdams and Fullarton filtering in during the early part of the season. I'm not convinced we will see a fit McDonald or Brown back in the side but either could play in place of Schache or Fullarton depending on injuries and form. I'd anticipate Petty and Melksham to come in after the bye and at that point our list should be at full strength with the next 10 or so rounds to keep improving for September. The bonus of starting the year without alot of firepower up forward will be the need to use the ball well out of the middle, a skill that will serve us well even when we have our first choice forwards available.

Why was he unfit to start with? I’ve heard (from several people including a relative of his) that Shane and Burgess didn’t work well together. You hope he’s improving? In early December he was bent over, hands on knees, sucking in air after any exertion. It was a conspicuous sight. He’s currently so much fitter, the difference is huge. It smacks of poor attitude? Maybe it appears that way to you, but I’ve spoken to him a bunch and his attitude is great. I’ve spoken to Kozzie about him, and Chocco and Perty as well as his relative whom I met last week. They only have positive things to say about him, that he’s determined to do well, he’s happy with us and with his training regimen. Perhaps his demeanour and/or body language belies his enthusiasm and dedication. That, along with the fact that he’s a quiet, unassuming person might explain why you’d think you’re seeing a poor attitude.

In 2024: Carltank will be found out and drop St Kilda will be botton 6 Footscray will implode Jeelong bottom 10 The Filth will do what they always do after they win a flag - crash and burn Brisbane can't win on the MCG in front of 90,000 Port are psychos Steak and Kidney will run on top of the ground on the basis of home town umpiring Essenscum will finish 19th Crows will choke on their own publicity or a chicken wing - whichever comes first Keep GWS safe - they seem tuff Richmond will be relegated to the VFA Meth Coke will be charged with crimes against humanity Heavy Ho will tread water Horeforn will jump up but still 2 or 3 years away GC *ums will rise with the bullet as will Norf. So there you have it. Deez play GC in the granny Maysie runs through the quarter-time huddle and flattens Dimma We win by 17 goals with JVR kicking 9 straight and Trac picking up a second Normie as well as booting 2.7 and 3 OOBOTF. I also predict the Deez will pick-up Goodstart Childcare Centres as our shorts sponsor.

Most experts have No idea. Who would have thought GWS would be as good as they were or the Dogs miss the finals. Im glad were flying under the radar.

On paper it's a reasonable prediction. Other teams have got stronger over the off-season, where as we're still waiting to see if we've solved our forward connection/forward line issues. We've lost ruck depth and not added any quality tall forward prospects to target. If Petty and Brown were fit, then we'd be on our way in 2024 and possibly would've won the flag last year too. Reality is neither are fit and neither will get through a whole season. We need other options now while we're in our window. That said, I see us challenging again this year and I wouldn't be overly surprised if we won the flag. We were desparely close last year and have been underrated/dismissed by the footy media, most of them being brainless sensationalist pelicans. We do have an ageing list though, now 5th oldest I believe. With guns and leaders like Gawn and May getting on, we need top quality replacements coming through or our drop off begins in the next few years.

And won a flag albeit of the VFL variety.