Leaderboard

I've heard that Sparrow has re-signed. Great news!

Is Demonland going to ban all Jon Ralph articles from being posted from now on? Clearly they are unsubstantiated rumours which are strictly forbidden.

A rare insightful piece of analysis from the media in the form of this article from Rohan Connolly of ESPN. Why the Demons can rise above off-field drama in 2024 Please note the site’s code of conduct continues to apply but otherwise discussion on the football aspect is most welcome.

Were you you living under a rock? The media scrutiny on the whole Essendon drug saga was the biggest media scrutiny I had seen in the AFL on a club alone. They literally had cameras parked out the front of James Hirds house from dusk to dawn and nearly drove him to his death. It was constantly front and back page of the Herald Sun for two years. Both Melksham and Hibberd have been quiet vocal around the intense media scrutiny and the toll it had not only on their mental health but their personal lives as well. The whole Wayne Carey cheating scandal was a close second even in the day and age where social media wasn't a thing. It was certainly one of the biggest and scandalous stories we've seen. To think we've copped as much scrutiny as these other events is just laughable. It doesn't even compare.

Well, now that the Ralph rumour has been exposed for the BS it always was and Tom Sparrow has re-signed with the mighty Demons, I'd like to share a fascinating story I read recently about crows of the feathered variety. Researchers for VicRoads found over 200 dead crows on the Western Highway near Horsham recently, and there was concern that they may have died from Avian Flu. A bird pathologist examined the remains of all the crows and, to everybody's relief, confirmed the problem was definitely not Avian Flu. Rather, the cause of death appeared to be vehicular impact. During the detailed investigation, it was noted that varying colours of paint appeared on the birds' beaks and claws. By analysing these paint residues, it was determined that 98% of the crows had been killed by impact with trucks while only 2% were killed by impact with cars. VicRoads then hired an ornithological behaviourist to determine if there was a cause for the disproportionate percentage of truck kills versus car kills. The expert very quickly concluded the cause. When crows eat roadkill, they always have a lookout crow in a nearby tree or high vantage point to warn of impending danger. They discovered that all the lookout crows could shout "Cah!" but not a single one could shout "Truck!".

Awesome signing! Sparrow has played a really selfless team role the last 3 years which probably hasn't allowed him to show supporters how good he actually is! i've spoken to a couple of people involved with the club and they both said they rate him as an elite prospect and think he can become an All Australian level midfielder. I would expect he will play a more balanced role in 2024 and we'll see him kicking more goals, taking more marks and being a real handful around the ground. there is a lot of Luke Parker about him

Can't stand the whole poor me mentality on here. Has it been a challenging off season? Yes absolutely.. has it been the worst in our time? Nope, we've gone through the whole Troy Broadbridge death, tanking saga and Jim Stynes death in one hit which I think was more significant then what we've just experienced. In my opinion the club has handled the Clayton Oliver situation incredibly well and they need a pat on the back for that. Does that mean we need all articles out there saying what a great job the club had done? Nope, i would rather be winning games and Oliver playing a big part in that. Results will speak for itself. Anyway enough of that, let's smash those Swannies!

I don’t think Melbourne will let the Crows have Sparrow but they can still give them the bird.

Minus the kiddy fiddling I hope. Can we leave his name off this board in future.

I think we should be incredibly proud of the way the club has handled this off season, it's been a mess, and some of the interesting articles coming out of the herald sun haven't helped, but i feel we have shown our culture is strong and we're ready for the season. on a side note, it sounds like Clarry has been to hell and back so for him to tick all the boxes and be selected for round zero is an enormous accomplishment and something i hope he's very proud of.

you're easily astonished.

Tom is going out with Rodney Owen's daughter. Tom's sister is living in Melbourne and goes to all of his games here in Melbourne. Tom's brother lives in Sydney.

I’m just waiting for Demonstone to ask whether he’s a flight risk.

With Dixon and King putting us out of the 8 you can pretty much lock us in now. Easy option to nominate the pies again but I think they’ll struggle to go back to back. Won a lot of close games last 2 years, could’ve lost any of their 3 finals last year. Pundits overrating them. That said we have a fair bit of work to do to stay in top 4 contention as other teams are coming (giants and swans worry me)

Ben Dixon: Premiers: Collingwood. “System and talent, clearly the competition leaders in these areas, young enough to be still hungry and their ability to win tight games in clutch moments is no fluke.” Young enough to still be hungry? We'll i guess that could apply to any team, but relevant data points are the Pies have the oldest list in the AFL and 9 of their best 22 players are over 30: Cameron Mihocek Crisp Hoskin-Elliott Elliott Cox Sidebottom Howe Pendlebury

Here we are approaching the first game of 2024. I have been busy with other things in this early part of the year and have only seen highlights of our practise matches. Looking at the side selected and knowing we have a number of good players on the injured list I am feeling confident this year. We will beat the Swans the only thing up for discussion is by how much. I doubt I will ever get over losing Gus to that charming individual from the pies. The sound of those Morons chanting Collingwood while Gus lay unconscious on the ground will haunt me to the grave. That aside I am looking forward to an enjoyable year watching the Dees.

I'll start to worry if he's named on the wing.

I wonder if this was leaked by our media department to old dopey Ralphy, as a way of then illustrating that despite our players being in high demand by other clubs, our players are still re-signing. Ala, we are well and truly on top of our "cultural problems". That's how I'd play 4D chess anyway. Too Machiavellian?

Very, very happy to read a good news story for a change. Two days in a row - Clarry yesterday and Sparrow resigning today. The future looks bright ❤️💙

He’s a proper journalist. Like Greg Baum. They’re on the margins of mainstream sports journalism now, but only because they refuse to be part of the click-bait garbage media that gives brainless ex-footballers prime air and print time. Needless to say the Herald-Sun won’t be knocking on Rohan Connolly’s door.

Jordan Lewis has gone?

I think you'd be confident in saying many of the predictions about us are based on the pre season issues and thinking we won't be able to play football anymore. Blues game showed not only are we still an elite drilled unite but our system is even better. Plus hopefully our injury woes will be well behind us within the next 4-6 weeks but they might cause us a shaky start in the first 6 weeks which could leave us outside the 4 for a while. Thus opening game is sooo important. I haven't seen anyone in the press comment on the fact that we flogged Collingwood and Carlton in the finals in every statistic except unfortunately the final one of a winning score. All we need to do is fix that final part of the system and we should be serious contenders and on the basis of the Carlton game there's a lot of improvement already. IT's prediction. If we get through the first 6 weeks at say 4-2 we'll finish top 2 and will be hard to stop from there. I have a wedding to go to on Grand Final day. I've already told She Who Must Be Obeyed I'm not going to miss finally seeing a Dees Premiership live for that wedding.

There’s an old fashion footy term known as “ the one-eyed supporter” . I image everyone knows what that means and their characteristics do not need explaning. All clubs have them. Loyalty on steriods. Their club and their players could never, ever do anything wrong. Joffa @ Collingwood comes to mind. Many Demonland members do not like the Joffas from other clubs and are quick to criticise them. They think, take your eye patch off. Just my opinion , but there are too many Red and Blue Joffas on this site.

I've been called a dead set flanker even though I'm not a footballer. I'm a bit hard of hearing, but I'm pretty sure that's what the other person was saying.

Only Tuesday and already struggling to concentrate at work. 2 more sleeps to go

Overture, curtain, lights This is it, the night of nights No more rehearsing and nursing a part We know every part by heart

“Jeff Gleeson saying “this is a classic case of avoidable head-high contact. The contact was violent.” He could / should have said exactly the same thing last September. However , finals, Collingwood - say no more.

I would almost guarantee this would have been driven by Sparrow and his management backing him to improve his stocks and sign a much more lucrative deal in 2026 rather than the club being conservative, if we could have locked him up for 5 i reckon we would have jumped at it.

I'm hoping the next story Ralphy breaks is Petty is ready to sign for the Crows.

I live in Caulfield South and the local member [no censorship, please] has been calling for comment, claiming that the move of the MFC to Caulfield would reduce green space in the area and shut the community out by putting the land in the hands of private clubs. Us locals need more green space, apparently, than Glenhuntly Park, EE Gunn Reserve, Packer Park, Princes Park, Caulfield Park and Lord Reserve/Koornang park, with Elsternwick Park, Duncan McKinnon Reserve and Yalukit William Nature Reserve plus a few others not much further away. I let David know - as he seemed not to realize - that the facilities the MFC would use would bring more of the community in than the few dog walkers, joggers and snake hunters using it presently by providing more of the very green sporting and leisure facilities he seems to think we lack. Next time I might let him know that I didn't vote for him because there was a candidate on the ticket who had luscious long red locks, for which I am a sucker. In other words, he needs to do something positive to get my vote, and being another NIMBY ain't going to get him over the line against a smiling redhead. Note: Had no idea of her politics. Just dug her hair.

Curious how much of a pay cut sparrow put on the table after hearing there was a possibility of ending up at the crows

Very apt flipping them the bird

Jon Ralph. 🪿🪿🪿🪿🪿🪿🪿 Goose of the Day award.

It's a wonder The Hun didn't go with a headline of "Oliver in hospital again!" I'm with you and most others here WCW. Can we just get behind one of the greatest players this club has seen and ignore the disrespected muck raking media outlets. If we start putting an * against any good deed he does then we sink to their level.

AFL orders clubs to stop ‘ridiculous’ tactic The AFL has officially ordered clubs to end the ‘ridiculous’ tactic of labelling injuries as ‘short, medium or long term’, with expected return dates now required for the 2024 season. Geelong, Richmond and Essendon were among those to come under fire from fans and broadcasters for the strategy. But all clubs must now share its plans for matchday and mid-week injury updates with the AFL as the league enforces the swift and detailed release of information. Criticism reached its peak midway through last year when dual premiership player David King said clubs — the Cats in particular — were “treating the fans like fools”. The changes, initially outlined in the new collective bargaining agreement, were reiterated by the AFL with new details ahead of Opening Round and Round 1. Clubs have been told to provide injury information “as soon as possible” on matchday. A player’s status must be declared alongside specific details around the problem, such as left or right side of the body and noting, for example, AC joint for a shoulder issue. Mid-week updates should also include that information — and, crucially, offer up the number of weeks until an injured player is expected to be available for selection. “It is not permissible to provide general availability windows, ie short term, medium term, long term,” the AFL wrote in its 2024 policy document. The shift has already become clear in Geelong’s injury reporting. After injuries suffered in Round 5 last year required surgery, the Cats said Tyson Stengle (fractured left wrist) and Rhys Stanley (fractured right eye socket) were both out for the ‘medium term’. But the ambiguity was on full show when Stengle returned in Round 10 while Stanley made his comeback in Round 15. In a further sign of the discrepancy, Geelong skipper Patrick Dangerfield was ruled out for the ‘short term’ with a left hamstring strain sustained in Round 8. Yet he went on to miss five games — the same number as Stengle with his ‘medium term’ injury. Following the introduction of the new rules this year the Cats last week specified Cam Guthrie was “likely to miss 8-10 weeks”when he went down with a right quadricep tendon injury. Clubs retain the ability to list an injured player’s return date as to be confirmed “if correct at the time ... but the status must be updated ASAP to a week-of-return timeline”. Geelong’s tendencies came under fire last year. “They want to massage the truth with all sorts of reporting, they don’t want to give up and extra information to opposition clubs, which is ridiculous,” King said on SEN. “At the end of the day, the fans pay the price for that. “The Geelong injury list is just ridiculous — the short term, medium term and long term. It’s always been 1-2 weeks, 3-4 weeks and five plus. “And then when something goes wrong, they say ‘you’ve got to trust us, you’ve got to believe us when we tell you this’. Well, we haven’t been able to believe you for the previous five years so why do we have to believe you today?” “Let’s just be done with all that stuff, you’re treating the fans like fools.” The new policy arrived alongside details surrounding greater media access to players as agreed in the new CBA. All players are to be made available, if requested by media, after matches and mid-week but “there is no realistic expectation” for all 23 players to attend a single session as a full group. The revised requirements sparked questions around Dustin Martin’s response, given he is the most high-profile player who largely shuns the spotlight. Fines of $10,000 for players and $20,000 for clubs are reportedly on the cards if requests are repeatedly rejected.

Well that saved a 40,000 page thread.

On visiting a young fan in hospital: 'This is the side of Oliver we don’t see, but Oliver never turns down the chance to give back outside club hours. Like most AFL players, Oliver doesn’t feel the need to publicise these moments.' I reckon certain Collingwood player might learn something from Clarry.

Agree totally with the poor me attitude

What a name... Feel like this function is right up my ally.

Yeah look, Devils is nowhere near close to Demons. It clearly refers to the animal. There is zero doubt in this, right guys? Great name. Logical choice.

I am totally fed up with the way the so-called Footy Press has solely concentrated on the so-called shenanigans at Melbourne. [censored], they've lost 4 finals in a row, there's the punch up between may and Melk the year or so before, there's the Smith 'unique' fiasco, and there's the Clarrie saga, and some of them even hint at 'deeper troubles'. I don't recall this much attention to Essendon when all drug hell broke loose, the various shall we say 'dubious' behaviors at the E Coli Wobbler Protected species, and oh, no, there was no twubble toil and trouble at Richmond, Dusty who?, nor have I recalled the mighty ex North Oracle, aptly called The King, mention how any turmoils were handled in his time at a turmoil ridden club, and we won't talk about Lamumba, nor have I hear or read anything about how Geelong, anothery in the line of AFL protected Species, didn't even make the friggggin finals a year after a Flag. Jesu Christe the Western Media is already enough warped in mass manipulation to allow the so-called Footy Pontius Pilates to just totally and constantly just focus on one team. As Leigh Montagna pointed out to Mister Huddo and Pontius King - funny how he wanted to dude to get ten weeks after assaulting a Norf player, where was his voice when Brayshaw was put kaput? - that this kind of 'turmoil' most often unites teams rather than fragments them.

Stunned this is still in ‘talks’. Melbourne: “please exempt his salary from our cap or we’ll begin talking about our concerns that the AFL isn’t doing enough to protect our players’ wellbeing” AFL: “sounds fair. Help yourself to some mentos on the way out”

Bugger off Adelaide.

Tell Adelaide they are dreaming!

All three debutants are skilled ball users. Great move by the coaches to address a weakness and try to find the right balance. Pumped for Thurs night now. Go Dees!

Love the boy and I can fully understand why others would love him too.