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Also good to see Ben Brown kitted up in training gear.

Clayton has been selected.

All three players look like they share Donald Trump's makeup artist.

All big ticks for clarry. But also a massive tick for the club, how it has handled this situation, and yes its culture. And a massive cross for the media and the media model. Slam us for months with all the preseason from hell and salacious innuendo bulltish. Drive a narrative not supported by the facts. All's fair in clicks and war. And then don't balance that with any retractions or contrary stories and information. Sure, when clarry gets back and we are travellimg ok there will be a few token redemption stories, good for clicks. But they won't come close to balancing out all the slanderous, false narrative rubbish the media has thrown at the club for the last five months. By the by, Sammy is one of the few footy journalists I respect. He has been a lone voice of balance and non hyperbole. Good on him.

Just walked into Brisbane airport wearing my Demons retro t shirt (for the record our best emblem, not this upside down acorn) & the first person I see is a bloke wearing a Swans polo, he looked at me then looked away. He knows….Olivers back baby and the Swans will taste defeat come Thursday night.

Oliver to play per Sam Edmund on SEN this morning. The club has apparently been impressed with his attitude, training standards, investment in his teammates etc... I think there is now enough noise to suggest that he'll be playing.

Getting 2021 vibes: Goody copping criticism and media thinks he’s on the chopping block Young kids being injected into the 22 Team looking hungry and united

Now you’re talking. Hungry and a little angry is how I want us to play the big moments this year. I thought we were a bit tentative and reactive at crucial times last season. No room for doubts….Go Dees

If Maxy endorses Blake (and he does, see above) that’s good enough for me, and should be good enough for all of us. ”the best trainer for the f*****g year…” — Maxy on Blake

Very exciting news for the club. For Howes to break into the backline he must be very highly regarded by the FD. Billings and Windsor seem like natural and complementary fits to our crash and bash. All with a healthy Clarry returning. Team balance feels on point at the moment.

A week after I booked my flights and accommodation in Sydney everything slowly felt like it was falling apart for this game. now I’m pumped! Especially with Oliver back. I feel mentally refreshed for some reason… haha hopefully players feel that way too!

Exciting to see some fresh faces and one very welcome older one in the side. I feel a new dawn rising.

i'm confident that salem will play midfield all year

Simon Goodwin has said: Howes and Windsor to debut. Billings and Oliver to play. Brayshaw to take some time away from football before the club puts something in front of him. Very pleased to hear he will be part of MFC

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!

It’d be nice to see a few of those doom and gloom posters who are a part of Demonland doing the same. I can’t recall who exactly, but there were those who’d written Oliver off for the season at a minimum, not to mention those who cast aspersions over his character (hence Demonland having to lock the Oliver thread).

Howes and Windsor debut

Have had opposition supporters saying they have inside info he won’t play all year. I have been replying all summer without any inside info, that he will play first round if his fitness is ok and Medical people have no issue. Hopefully he plays and has a great season and sticks it up the whole AFL media and opposition.

At the season launch, Max’s speech had a noticeable undertone of being pretty peed off with all the external criticism and I think he said something to the effect, the players need to respond through on field actions not words. His performance v Carlton was at an exceptional level for just a practice game. It’s a long season though and early motivational drivers could easily slip away, time will certainly tell. Looking forward to Thursday.

That’s the beauty of being totally delusional and having blind faith in our Club/players at all times 😂 I never experience the slowly falling apart feeling. I’m forever in the I’m pumped mode. I highly recommend it! 😃

I for one already have! In fact, one might say maybe a little too much 😂

Clarrie for Brownlow would really stick it to the media pack of hyenas

New players to watch. A bit if a surprise but it’s live on ABC Australia in Bali so I can sit back and watch. Feet up Bintang ready. Go Dees

Has to be one of the silliest comments on demonland. Nothing but respect to JJ, he busted his balls for us.

Really like the fact that he is super versatile. Can play on smalls or talls if need be as he is 191cm. He can play that higher role up the ground roaming up and down the wing and as we've seen in pre season, he can lockdown deep in defence. I also like the fact that with Brayshaw now gone, Rivers will spend more time in the middle so it is great to have another medium sized defender come into the mix to fill the void Hibberd has left. The development of players on our list is now first class and I really look forward to seeing what Blake can do this year.

What a great way to start the week, with the debutants listed - and the goat, Clarry to play! The media won't retract a damn thing, nor will the numpties on socials apologise (with their 'inside' info re his health and progress) - so I am overjoyed that Clarry has obviously been doing the right things to get his body and mind on the right track. Now it's a matter of every day, every week, just continuing the process and letting his footy do the talking. Would be amazing to see him just demolish, and take out a Brownlow. But one week at a time :-) I know we're missing some stocks here and there, some permanent (Gus - which will create a good opportunity and Salo moving up certainly helps that), some temporary, mostly up forward, but we have some exciting kids - Windsor looks like he knows how to kick' em. Max looks genuinely possessed out there. With all the noise and media beat-ups I wasn't sure whether those ghouls would damper by usual excitement for the first (lol, opening) round - but they haven't. I am so pumped. The Swans up there is a solid first up challenge. They'll play some good footy this year. With their outs, and ours I think we're fairly evenly matched. There was a lot to like from, admittedly, a praccy against the Blues, but I'm pumped to see Windsor on the big stage, a bit more of Howes (who I wasn't convinced about, yet - but the boys look to regard him very highly and that's enough for me), Jibba, and Trac, Jack, Lever, May, Salo on the day, Fritter finding his goalkicking feet, the kids, and our boy Clarrie lighting it up!! Let's go!!!

Sydney record at the SCG in 2023 was not that formidable. In fact they struggled against the better teams. Feeling a lot better about Thursday night :) def Hawthorn (81pts) Lost to Port (2pts) Lost to Giants (1 pt) Lost to Freo (17 pts) Def Carlton (26 pts) Lost to St K (14pts) Def West Coast (151pts) Draw geelong Def Dogs (2pts) Def Gold Coast (24pts) Lost to Melb (21 pts)

Delighted for the young debutants. Very sad that Brayshaw had to retire but it’s opened the door for Howes. The cycle of life. best of luck Caleb and Blake in your first games. I hope you both have long and distinguished careers with the red and blue. go dees

The only footy thing better than that, would be he also wins the Norm Smith, in a Dees Premiership this year, which starts off a threepeat. Oh stuff it, make that a sixpeat.

YEP!! There have been a few of these. But I suspect we won't hear much from them. Doom and Gloomers gonna doom and gloom They're very loud until they're not.

I better not hear anyone giving Clarry a hard time. I certainly wouldn't put it past Pies supporters. I really hope Oliver has an outstanding year. Seeing him do all the photos with fans over the last month shows what a decent bloke he really is. Can't wait till Thursday. It seems like an eternity since footys been played.

What a buddy ripping video.

I would make him the runner - even if just against Collingwood 😈

I am not sure Brown or Fullerton are likely to be named as the sub, I could be wrong, but aren't the AFL rules slightly different now that we name up all 5 on the bench as part of the full team 23. Which is a little different than last year where clubs name 4, then announce the sub on the day from outside the squad. Thanks to Champion Data! :) If either of these were being named then it's likely that they would have been announced at training as well with the squad you would have thought. So my guess is that the 23rd player will be from the existing 2023 squad as such.

< insert done to death and annoying "why don't we have both" meme>

I said this to a mate but he pointed out how wrong I was. It's the Norm Smith for Clarrie.

An arguable claim. You may be correct, but I'm sure others would support Gawn, Petracca, Viney and May as other contenders for the title. Me? I think it's Gawn for his play plus his leadership.

I hope all the supporters get around Clarry. Our most important player, club champion multiple times, has been through public hell and deserves a lot of love from the Dees faithful.

Feeling those all positive vibes coarsing through my veins. Footy season and the Dees are back! Love it. 🇱🇮🏆🥇

So Clarry comes in for Pickett and no doubt pushes Tracc and Sparrow forward more. Nice little 5 man rotation with Salem and Viney. I still think Woey’s versatility makes him the right choice for sub. Only selection decisions left might be what to do with the struggling talls at each end but I’m guessing status quo unless Fullarton or T Mc really look the goods at training and in the invisible vfl game last week.

Congratulations Blake! Well earned by the sounds of things. Can anyone shed some light on what type of player he is? Seems he was drafted as a fwd that might move to the wing and now is a utility/def? is he a quick rebounder type?

Brings to mind one of the great songs, and one of my all time favourite covers. By the by, this version is 21 years old. Listen to the first 20 odd seconds of this video, spoken word from Joe strummer (not on the cd or any other version) - incredibly prescient about the world today (and pretty relevant to clarry too). Genius gets thrown around alot, but it's apt for Joe Strummer.

And get around him we will.

Yet they are accountable to no one, If not encouraged by the toxic system they exist in. Even with our understanding of mental health and how hard it can be for young men in the spotlight being dragged through nonsense rumour and innuendo. The best thing we can all do is turn it off which is the only way they will be held accountable and or forced to change.

Awaiting the announcement of our new sunbed partner...

Even more exciting about going on Thursday night now.

And just like that the Dees have gone from $2.28 into $1.94.