Leaderboard

Confirming Angus has officially accepted a role at the club for the 2024 season.

Sincere thanks to many many posters, who have expressed sentiments I strongly agree with. I couldn't post sooner, this news really hurt. There is no way around it, by fair means or foul, I want that dog hounded out of the game. To me there is an unspoken contract, between the improvement in fitness and skill of players and the level of protection they should receive. I honestly believe i would be outraged at any player getting lined up the way Angus was. I acknowledge that Gus might have been more susceptible to the impact than others, but that was fair dinkum, a sniper shot from the 70's. I think Gus is doing the right thing fwiw.

Yep, @Pennant St Dee. I reckon a few need to perhaps disengage from the mainstream media and AFL media. I personally don't have the headspace atm, which is handy, because until the season starts and we get a few rounds in, we really won't get a good read on things. Intangibles like culture are bandied around all the time. Collingwood had seemingly huge issues, even as late as last year, their premiership year. The perception can turn like that. I don't personally believe off field issues play a great role in a team's ultimate success. But I do think luck and injury play a huge role. If we're to do well this year, we need our best players on the park at the right time. If we get that, have some luck go our way as well, we can win the flag. Let's leave the self pity until we've at least got a read on the season. And even then, things can turn. Think Carlton last year and Collingwood the year before. We still have the best midfield, one of the best interceptors of the modern game in Lever, one of the best full backs and Fritta and Kozzy. If Petty gets on the park consistently with JVR, that'll make a huge difference. Let's hope backs to the wall suits us.

I'm so devastated I haven't been able to post for 24 hours on this. Angus is one of my all time fave Demons (and I've seen every Demon for the last 50 years). It's been a privilege to watch him over 10 years. Always fair, committed, courageous and a club-first player. A premiership star who could play anywhere from half-back to half-forward to mid-field and influence the outcomes of games. Never shirked a tough contest nor gave the Club grief - a model citizen on and off the field. His parents would be justifiably proud of their children. It'll take me years to get over this. Signing off with a tear in my eye. QD

Reading all of the hand wringing about the Demons as we head into 2024 is enough to make me spew. Honestly, can we be as big a basket case as we are being reported as? The demons have huge challenges and massive messaging headwinds just to get to the starting line. Today I got contacted about the Demon draw raffle - I’m in immediately. I might break my oath to never bet on sport and choose dees for top 4, GF and premiers. When you put coal under pressure you make diamonds. We are under pressure now but I remain all in. C’mon Dees, stick it up em all and take the flag!

Hopefully in the media department. Two birds with one stone. by the by it did occur to me yesterday that perhaps there is a reason the dees comms team seems to be staffed by kids on work experience, ie to leave space and funding for Gus to come in and play a key role. In all seriousness he would be a brilliant fit. Already doing club comms, smart as a whip, has an interest in media and who wouldn't want to hear Gus interview his ex teammates?

ill point you at gus' statement where it says "a direct result of the incident in the qualifying final" then.

Personally I'm not going to waste any energy on Maynard. My focus is on the AFL handling of this. They have basically acknowledged the rules were inadequate in terms of protecting a player in the position Gus found himself in by changing them as soon as they could. For me that is explicit evidence of Gus' implied criticism of the AFL being reactive not proactive. And evidence of the AFL, stewards of the game not just the financial bottom line, of failing in their duty to protect players. Why? Because the risks involved of a player leaving the ground and jumping towards an opponent were clear prior to the Gus hit. It's why koz copped 2 weeks for his bump on Bailey Smith despite not hurting him. Yes, that was a bump but so what? The logic remains the same - leave the ground and the risks, and potential level of head trauma, increases. The Gus hit wasn't a novel event that couldn't be predicted- for example like Judd's chicken wing tackle was. Hell, Maynard's accepted defence, promoted by most of the footy media and ex players, was it was a 'football act'. Can't be an event the AFL couldn't reasonably be expected to have had the rules in place to prevent AND be a football act. A less significant example of this complete lack of ability to get ahead of the curve and proactively prevent predictable issues, at least in terms of protecting the health of its employees, is the joke that the score review system is. It is predictable a player will receive significant head trauma from a bump. I would argue if that happens it's on the AFL. The AFL can be proactive when they want to. One player having their leg broken led the AFL to introduce the slide rule. That rule change didn't change football. But somehow the bump is sacrosanct, which is deeply ironic. They have been inching towards banning it. Rip the band aid off before another young player has to leave the game because of head trauma so bad they have to remain in a darkened room and can't shake migraines. That would green light all the levels below the AFL, including junior footy to ban the bump. I can only imagine how many unnecessary hits to the head there are at local club level and how many thousands of people have some form of head trauma from such hits.

Read today's article by Peter Ryan in the Age. Sums up Angus beautifully, but also refers to mayanard having to carry the load for this decsion by Angus and maynard's action. IMO, Brayshaw is and will be all class and revered into the future. I know I will. mayard is now a footnote/stain on AFL history (along with the Tribunal members who found him not guilty). A much bigger lifetime burden to carry than a lousy 3 week suspension he should have been handed.

I'm not so bothered by the culture 'bin'... I always find that talk a little flimsy with all clubs. Of course if we don't perform well on field this season then the C word will be all over here and the media. It's going to be a tough year. We are 5+ down before we start the season. 2 will not be back. 2 are pretty much done for, Tommy and BBB. Melk is out for at least half the season. Who knows how things will pan out for Clarry. Petty can't get on the park. It's going to be tough, good culture or not. List management might be an interesting discussion. There have been some puzzling decisions the last couple of seasons.

The vomit emoji is because you're a tiresome bore. Can you give us all a break and leave one thread free of your wrist slitting.

I think the cumulative effect of all the events at our club over this pre-season and the subsequent media feeding frenzy can have two possible impacts on the team. It can either galvanise them or knock the stuffing out of them. I hope and pray it's the former. Demons for Premiers in 2024.

Whatever happens there will be handwringing and unfortunately to many are so driven to want change overnight they can’t see subtle change. Lets not gild the lily we are not currently in a great place injury wise or with the off field issues relating to some of our players. I like many of our fan base have been around a long time and seen a lot of footy and still love the game and to be involved in it. It’s a cliche but I stand by the things are never as good as they seem and are never as bad as they seem. The media and many here seem to forget the club is aware of some of the issues at hand. There was outrage at the thought of the club trading Clarry and some were going to walk away from the club. Was that the moment when the club drew a line in the sand and whilst the JS revelations this week are not ideal we may be already down the road to beginning to address those things. I personally recall being quite happy towards the end of 2020, whilst we didn’t make finals after2 losses against Sydney and Freo, there were big signs of how good we were looking defensively and there were some smart (not many) footy people who thought we’d be top 5 in 21 if we stayed healthy. We know how that ended and whilst this year will be challenging, injuries, suspensions and retirements bring opportunities as we’ve seen before. Sometimes they take 30-50 games to really bear fruit but they all start somewhere. I don’t accept mediocrity and I never consider us top 4 certainties. I understand the game and the peaks and troughs it brings. Whatever will be will be in 2024 and any issues in the playing group will certainly be addressed and action will be taken. Its going to be fascinating

2019: Melbourne recruit Luke Jackson - Media "what are they doing, they have Max Gawn" 2022: Melbourne recruit Brodie Grundy - Media "what are they doing, they have Max Gawn: 2023: Melbourne recruit Fullarton as fwd/ruck but gets injured - Media "what are they doing, they only have Max Gawn" I realise it's not this simple and it's far more nuanced, but can't help but feel we can't win with the media. They seem to take any opportunity to have a dig at us even if it contradicts their previous stance.

So they are not going to report the abuse towards the MFC or Brayshaw, are they? The Media is a piece of filth just like Collingwood.

Everything i've read said he was "ok without being outstanding" in Sydney's sim today. That is exactly how he played at Melbourne. We need to move on. Sparrow is entering his prime, RIvers is ready to go to another level, Woewodin could be anything, and Billings could be a great addition once he finds his groove. There are plenty of players available to fill the small shoes left by Jordon.

So given the 5 years and the deteroration post Maynard The Hit was instrumental in the long term injury and Maynard and the Tribunal are complicit

Still feeling very flat about this.

This situation is yet another reflection of the current state of our society. When an individual or entity faces adversity, there is a tendency for others to join in criticism and scrutiny. A good old pile on. Let’s just prove them wrong.

What do you expect? We were a laughing stock for all of my generation, we finally crack it and then we're back to being a failure after a flag and consecutive top 4 finishes in the two years since - really? I'm proud of my club and I say a big F U to any that want to keep sh##ing on us. Yes we're still to forfill that illusive premiership on the G, but not for lack of being in the race. Biggrst one hit wonder, pfft. Yeah nah. And I'll say, we're down right now, but not out of the race for another just yet either, so a premature call at best.

Zero short term (say next 10 -15 years). In large part because there's little evidence they work (they don't stop the brain whiplashing around inside the skull, which as I understand it is where the real damage is done). But at some point for sure. I have heard there are some helmets designs pretty well advanced that look promising. They have some sort of compression material that absorbs some of the impact and reduces the whiplash effect. And apparently there are smart mouth guards already available that measure impact to track the frequency and severity of head knocks. But what I can see soon is the bump being banned. And even leaving the ground to smother such is the risk (as we have just seen) Goody has said the bump being banned is inevitable and that they train the players not to bump. This is where the AFL is allowing itself to be exposed legally - and morally. They should ban the bump NOW. Or at least phase it in by immediately banning the shepperd/bump where players run past the player with the ball and hit a trailing player. Proactive The hit de Goey put on that freo rookie last year is what I'm thinking of there. He flushed his jaw with his shoulder. Broke his jaw and knocked him into next week. From memory only got two weeks. Football act. If he had not got him in the head he wouldn't have been reported. But it was a totally unnecessary act. Whichbbroke the jaw of a 20 year old kid in his first or second game. Shepperd with your arms out if you want to shepherd. But they won't because they are gutless and don't want all the talk back, its not netball whoo ha and bone head ex footballers on their back about changing the game (massive credit to David King on this front - one of the few ex footballers serious about this issue. He has too many friends with cte). And inevitably someone will get hip and shouldered and have to immediately retire because of the severity of the hit. Get brain damage, just like gus did. And then they will have to scramble to ban the bump. Too late for a young bloke who's footy career is over in the blink of an eye. Reactive. The other factor is a serious legal tsunami is heading the AFL's way. Its surely going to force the AFL to make significant changes to the game. The NFL has already faced it/is facing it. The big, big difference is the NFL is a trillion dollar industry. The AFL is small change in comparison. Of course the NFL want to reduce risk (eg helmet technology, in game testing, some rule changes etc) but its hard to see them radically reducing the number of helmet to helmet clashes that characterise the game But the NFL can absorb the payouts, insurance and super schemes and factor it into their business model. The AFL can't.

Hopefully Max is taking the time to look each of his Teammates in the eye today. The Number 10 Guernsey should be in the warm up room wherever the team trains this year. We need players to Step up and take responsibility as Angus did, so well. Look them in the eye Max, as you did in early’21, when the Players all went away for a few nights Look them in the eyes again, and get that commitment. The Media want us to fold like a deck of Cards. They want us to bleed and go away…. commitment 100%

It’s only fair that Freo should be made to give us his brother.

Are we sure Fullarton is still out until April? He seems to be advancing fairly quickly with talk he’d play some minutes on Wednesday? He could be a chance for round 1 or 2 (17 or 23 March). The other question is are we sure Verrall can’t play round 0? No expectations he’d play more than about 50% game time (30% ruck, 20% forward) but is he an option?

I was saying that to someone at work today, it would be a perfect fit for Gus to be in the club's Media department. I've been thinking for years he would have a brilliant career in the media after football, I can't think of a better fit for his talents. He's funny, clever, endearing, he'd be so good!

Agree well said. He has so many positive characteristics that enhanced the team. Perhaps we are only beginning to recognise the true value of those characteristics and the extent to which he will be missed. He was the thinking footballer that backed up with natural intuition and courage. One of the most courageous players I have seen. Above all else, his versatility across all lines made his role in the team almost irreplaceable. He ranks up there with Petracca, Oliver, Viney and Gawn for contribution, leadership and value.

Disgusted with how our preseason has gone? Disgusted? For pete's sake we've had one player get pinged last season (the news came out post season). And with clarry, the club has handled a tricky situation super well and he has gone off and worked his backside off to get into AFL level shape. The club has reintegrated him super well and a player many feared might take months to get back, IF AT ALL, is in the frame for round one selection. Huge tick to clarry and the club. Gus has had to retire through no fault of his own - or the clubs. And we've had a handful of bog standard injuries, none from mismanagement as far as I'm aware. All that after was generally accepted to be a successful trade and drafting period. And that disgusts you? Seriously, get a grip. And perhaps turn of SEN, get off twitter, put down the hun and stop slavishly buying into the media's hysteria theatre.

Too bloody right. I get the anger at Maynard, but personally i only have so much emotional capital and i want to spend mine on my love for Gus and the dees and being positive about our 2024 season. Feeding the trolls just encourages a cycle of angst, and without getting all hippy, bad vibes and negative energy. It just becomes a self fulfilling, unvirtuous cycle of negativity. Demonland has had enough bad vibes and negative energy this preseason. I don't think we need more.

That's my reading of it too. He had previous knocks but he had good care and multiple ongoing scans which showed no deterioration until.... The Maynard incident. I would think Gus would have many scans in his back pocket highlighting/ benchmarking his neurological health along most of his career and through those previous concussions until the QF last year. Proactive vs reactive. He's made a point of the incident and the mismanagement by the AFL. I reckon he and his team might have a crack at the AFL

For Brayden

And what about the coaching staff, these players are told how to act on the footy field.

I thought there was some karma. Maynard slammed into Murphy, who then lost his bearings and ended up unconscious from the subsequent collision in the '23 grandfinal. Murphy has been unable to get it together, remaining on long term concussion protocols. The wrecking ball strikes again. Very little duty of care, a thug, goes in with intent to hurt any in his way. Turns himself into, ~100kg missile that leads with his shoulder. Is the "Angus" shoulder still a worry for him after his surgery? The AFL cannot afford to have such recklessness from the players.

Channel 7, go [censored] yourselves. Serious. Join that pit in hell with Maynard and those Collingwood filth. I hate you. https://7news.com.au/sport/afl/brayden-maynard-abused-online-after-angus-brayshaws-medical-retirement-from-the-afl-c-13696703

I’ve had the good fortune of meeting Angus and having a brief conversation with him regarding, playing against his brother early in his career. We also shared something in common Go Bloods! Left me with the strong impression of a friendly, gregarious young man with the world at his feet. Who still had the time of the day to talk to an old bloke about footy. His pre-mature retirement leaves a void that will be difficult to fill. Both on field and in the hearts of many true red and blue supporters. Others have rightly eulogised his on field exploits and contribution to the success of the Club. Of course his courage, never say die attitude and commitment to others out on the field cannot be questioned. A great team man with a heart of gold and a great sense of humor. Would like to wish Angus all the best in his post football life. Sursum Corda.

The upcoming class action lawsuit against the AFL.

He also has $3m+ owing him on his contract so the above comment combined with his choice of words in being ‘medically retired’ suggest to me he was making sure there is no stuffing around when it comes to a salary payout in full.

Stayed off this thread all day enjoying a wonderful day. I'm going to go back and watch the third QTR of our premiership game. I firmly believe it was not the "bang bang bang" but Gus Bradshaw's heroics and selfless play leading up to that, that turned the game our way. He was just immense. He never gives in and I will miss watching him do the hard things that others don't when games are on the line. Thank you Angus Brayshaw G A G F AFL for letting it slide and letting Maynard get away with it.

Was trying to have a break from Demonland until the 2024 AFL season started. This has absolutely gutted me! Very sad news, I wish Angus Brayshaw all the best. He will always be remembered as a Demons Premiership hero who helped end our 57 year Premiership drought. I will squarely lay the blame of this tragic set of circumstances with that piece of excrement and all-round knuckle dragging troglodyte Brayden "the thug" Maynard! Never forget that he is responsible for all this and Angus Brayshaw being forced to retire! Be sure to BOO him incessantly when we play the scum at Collingwood! 😡😡😡😡 I hope that Angus Brayshaw considers suing the AFL, Collingwood and Brayden Maynard for their lack of duty of care!

Haven’t been on for ages because I couldn’t deal with the off field drama but I came in response to this news. I’m heartbroken for Gus but absolutely love this photo and it sums up my memory of him for me. Premiership hero and all time great in my mind and my heart. Love you Gus.

A lot of talk about culture of late. The culture of any organisation is not tested when you're flying. It's tested when under pressure and there are internal and external shocks. Let's see how ours stands up this season.

Agree. Please let it be the making, not the breaking. Us supporters have a role here. We can sign up & go along & support the team, or we can walk away and be part of the breaking.

If the AFL has created a substitute for game day to compensate a team that loses a player due to concussion, it would seem to me a logical step for the AFL to allow a team to replace a player on its list who is forced into a medical retirement because of concussion. Clubs should not have to be forced to wait to do so until the next available draft period. If nothing else, it puts unnecessary pressure on players contemplating retirement due to concussion who may feel they are leaving their team one short.

Bombers of 2000 say hello. What a BS article.

It’s all been said before but I hate the term “spud”. Its unnecessary, insulting and disrespectful. Tomlinson and others may have deficiencies but we all do. Yet we don’t go around calling family members, friends and work colleagues, “spuds”. Just not necessary.

I’ve an Anzac and away jersey I need to add numbers to. Both are 2022 vintage with the gold Premiers logo I’d planned on having #5 on the Anzac one but I think it only fitting #10 goes on When wife (pies) asks why, I’ll explain it’s a reminder of Gus, what was taken from him by that animal, and how he went out - with grace, humility and a bona fide legend.

The culture talk is a funny one tho. Praised when we win the flag and now it’s awful over the past few months. Kidding ourselves if this wasn’t happening in 2021 but just not getting caught - equally the other 17 clubs would all have their own things every year.

Jane, I think I speak for everyone when I say we feel your anger, rage and devastation. It makes my blood boil too everytime I think about it. Know this though - the outpouring of emotion, admiration and community wide respect for Angus today has been outstanding. He's an amazing guy who has the right values, and today leaves a legacy and a mark on the game that is being lauded far and wide. His life will be full for all his days because of it. He will have every avenue of life (other than football) open to him because people support good people. If and when Maynard retires, he will not enjoy a morsel of what Gus has experienced today. Maynard will be remembered fondly by a small number of slack jawed yokels, but otherwise does not and will never have the respect of his peers or the general public. It is easy to see that opposition players already don't respect him, and haven't for years. His post-footy opportunities will be limited by this. The richness and fullness of his life over the long term will be limited by this. We talk about the karma bus - this is what it truly looks like. It's not him copping an injury, or a suspension, or losing an important game - it's the long, slow, day-by-day realisation that he could have been better, and wasn't. Regret and emptiness will be his prize at the end. As for his premiership medal - flags aren't about that. They're about fulfilment, mateship and a sense of accomplishment - and his will always have an asterisk against it. Not in my view, but I can say with some certainty in his own mind. Anyone who has ever felt white line fever will watch that incident and can tell he bumped with intent. Ultimately he won some footy stuff, but left a body behind and lied on the (kangaroo) stand to get it. That's not fulfilment.