Demonland

The tall defender spent most of the season at Casey before receiving a surprise call up to play against Fremantle in Perth and did not disappoint. Games MFC 2015 2 Career Total 2 Goals MFC 2015 0 Career Total 0 Games CSFC 2015 13 Goals CSFC 2015 2 Games CSFC DL 2015 2 Goals CSFC 2015 DL 0 Keith "Bluey" Truscott Memorial Trophy 19 votes

A disappointing year from the strongly built utility who was shown up for his lack of pace at and struggled to gain a place in the MFC team. Has been delisted. Games MFC 2015 4 Career Total 25 Goals MFC 2015 0 Career Total 8 Games CSFC 2015 11 Goals CSFC 2015 4 Keith "Bluey" Truscott Memorial Trophy 6 votes

As a rule our Special Features usually stick to things Melbourne but we at Demonland believe strongly that Adam Goodes deserves a special tribute for his great career, for what he has done not just for our original Australians but for all of Australia and also for what he has had unfortunately to endure in the twilight of his days as a player in our great game ...

Adam Goodes first came to my notice during the TAC Cup finals of 1997. It was a year in which Melbourne, having performed miserably, had finished last and was about to receive the first pick in the AFL Draft. The 17 year old Goodes starred for the North Ballarat Rebels kicking six goals in a best on ground performance against the Dandenong Stingrays. All eyes that day had been on Travis Johnstone, a Stingray player described as the "Rolls Royce" of that year's draft pool. I was overseas in New York at the time of the draft, the internet was just starting to take off and there was nowhere to simply log on and find out who was selected. It took until we embarked on the Qantas flight from LA and I was offered a copy of a day old Australian newspaper that I finally discovered that Melbourne got the Roller and I was equally surprised that Goodes had been drafted by Sydney with a pick as low as No. 43 overall - their third round draft pick. It was an inspired selection but also a clever one. In those days, clubs could only select one 17 year old player. The Swans had selected Jason Saddington with their first pick and waited for others to make their selections, allowing them to take the last of the 17 year olds with such a low choice. It was another year and a half before Goodes would make his debut senior appearance after spending 1998 in the reserves. When he finally made his debut, he quickly leapt ahead of the rest of the pack of his young contemporaries and in the end outlasted all of them (Chad Cornes who retired two years ago came closest to him in longevity). He was the last Rising Star of the last century and he went on to hold an elite place in VFL/AFL history as a dual Brownlow Medallist, dual premiership player, four-time All-Australian and a member of the Indigenous Team of the Century. He also holds the record for the most games played for an Indigenous player - 372 games. He also kicked 464 goals and his playing achievements include:- * 2 AFL Premierships (2005, 2012) * 2 Brownlow Medals (2003, 2006) * 3 Bob Skilton Medals (2003, 2006, 2011) * 4 times All Australian (2003, 2006, 2009, 2011) * 3 times Sydney leading goalkicker (2009, 2010, 2011) * AFL Rising Star 1999 * Indigenous Team of the Century But that's not all ... When I arrived home from the States, my family had taped the AFL's draft and when I got around to watching it, I was taken as much by the small snippets of the Goodes family as I was by Melbourne's Rolls Royce pick up and the others like Nathan Brown and Guy Rigoni who were taken with later picks and who also turned out to be good players with the Demons. Of course, their careers all paled into insignificance next to that of Goodes, the shy awkward looking young kid whose family was a single parent family with three young boys (the father had long ago drifted away interstate). His mother's story was one of deprivation, much like that of many of her indigenous contemporaries but how proud must Lisa May Goodes have been that day when her son Adam was chosen to play in the country's highest sporting competition? How proud must she have been to see him achieve those many honours in the almost two decades that followed? And how proud must she have been that her son did not stop at achieving on the football field but that he stood up for the rights of his people and was named Australian of the Year in 2014 for his community work through the Go Foundation and advocacy against racism? We can never divorce ourselves from who we are. Adam Goodes did for his people the best that he could and much more than anyone could have expected on that day eighteen years ago when he picked to play for the Sydney Swans but he also paid a price for being Adam Goodes. You see, we all have our flaws and the same goes for kings, prime ministers and sporting heroes. Both on and off the field, a player can do things that might not please all. And the crowd can boo you if it likes, for the odd act or mistake that you might later regret, they can be angry that you've stood up for what you believe in, that you've achieved more in a single day than they have in their dreary, miserable lifetimes. They paid their admittance so they can even boo and then feign indignation that you had the gall to react to racism in your work place. But when they do it constantly and incessantly and let others who do much the same and in many cases far worse off the hook, then it's something else altogether. ... The price that the Sydney Swans paid for Adam Goodes was pick 43 in a long ago national draft. They received great value for their choice. All of us did.

The diminutive JKH suffered from the second year blues and injury which limited his season to just 8 AFL games. Despite his disappointing year, he still looks looks capable of significant improvement and will need to do so in 2016. Games MFC 2015 8 Career Total 22 Goals MFC 2015 2 Career Total 11 Games CSFC 2015 7 Goals CSFC 2015 4 Games CSFC DL 2015 1 Goals CSFC DL 2015 0 Keith "Bluey" Truscott Memorial Trophy 12 votes

"Vince's 10th AFL season was one of his finest, as he became part of a select club of players to win a best and fairest at more than one VFL/AFL club. He is now just the 19th player to achieve this feat. Vince had an outstanding season, which included three matches where he won 38 touches in each game. He also won 30 possessions and kicked three goals against Collingwood in round 18." Games MFC 2015 21 Career Total 172 Goals MFC 2015 11 Career Total 104 Winner of the Keith "Bluey" Truscott Memorial Trophy and club champion with 328 votes. * quote from MFC site

A promising midfielder who struggled with injuries last year. Was in and out of the team this year and needs to be more consistent with his output to hold his place.. Games MFC 2015 11 Career Total 18 Goals MFC 2015 0 Career Total 0 Games CSFC 2015 8 Goals CSFC 2015 3 Keith "Bluey" Truscott Memorial Trophy 40 votes

The workhorse put in some handy games as a forward/ruckman before breaking his hand in mid-season. Games MFC 2015 7 Career Total 52 Goals MFC 2015 6 Career Total 45 Games CSFC 2015 2 Goals CSFC 2015 5 Keith "Bluey" Truscott Memorial Trophy 39 votes

"Garland bounced back this year after an ankle injury interrupted his 2014 season. Although the defender missed three matches in 2015 from rounds 11 to 13 with a hand injury he was a strong performer this season. It was the fourth time in the past five seasons he has finished in the top seven of the best and fairest for Melbourne." Games MFC 2015 20 Career Total 135 Goals MFC 2015 1 Career Total 16 Keith "Bluey" Truscott Memorial Trophy 218 votes (Sixth club champion) * quote from MFC site

The clever midfielder from Port Adelaide was good early but his form fell away and he spent time at Casey before coming back late in the season and kicked three goals in the season-ender against the Giants Games MFC 2015 11 Career Total 15 Goals MFC 2015 11 Career Total 11 Games CSFC 2015 8 Goals CSFC 2015 6 Keith "Bluey" Truscott Memorial Trophy 46 votes

"Cross final season was not surprisingly another ultra-reliable season. In his second last game, he notched up an equal career-best 39 disposals. Cross ability to finish in the top six means he has now finished in the top 10 of an AFL club best and fairest on 10 occasions. Eight of them have been top six finishes an indication of his remarkable consistency." Games MFC 2015 22 Career Total 249 Goals MFC 2015 0 Career Total 34 Keith "Bluey" Truscott Memorial Trophy 242 votes (Sixth club champion) * quote from MFC site

The tall speedster barely had a chance to show his wares, a broken toe suffered against the Crows in Round 3 put an end to his season. Games MFC 2015 3 Career Total 24 Goals MFC 2015 0 Career Total 2 Keith "Bluey" Truscott Memorial Trophy 11 votes

CHANGES 2015 - a race around the stars by The Oracle The last time that Melbourne had a "winning season" (i.e one in which it won more games than it lost) was 2006. The club has undergone numerous changes in its quest to improve and in the main the outcome has been abject failure although its current trajectory is a welcome move forward and upward. Forward and upward enough perhaps to suggest that one day soon the Demons might even enjoy the experience of those clubs left today in the finals race around the stars. If there is one thing that the club has lacked in the past decade and even in the years before it has been star quality. It has only one player on its list with All Australian credentials and those were achieved at another club and half a decade ago. With the recent departure of Mark Jamar, we don't have a single home grown All Australian - a sad indictment on the club's recruitment and player development over this period. Of course, there are changes taking place and since the advent of Paul Roos as coach only two years ago, they have brought new faces onto the scene, a new attitude and new-found hope. We can't but feel excited about the likes of Jack Viney who narrowly missed out on becoming club champion this year, Jesse Hogan the NAB Rising Star, Angus Brayshaw, Dom Tyson and last year's second pick in the draft, Christian Petracca, who is yet to play a game due to a knee injury. "Bluey" medallist Bernie Vince has also made an impact in his short time at the club and while Heritier Lumumba didn't set the world alight, he had an impact on the playing group and brings a premiership attitude with him. Sam Frost broke his toe early in the season so we didn't see enough of him and there is a bevy of other names such as Stretch, Neal-Bullen, Harmes, Oscar McDonald and White who have now experienced AFL football at the highest level and have valuable games in their legs. As the 2015 season wore on - and at times it remained a painful thing to experience - it became clear that the coaching panel's emphasis was on ringing in the changes and bringing the youth to the fore, even if at the expense of winning (and I'm not telling a joke when I say that!). Without a doubt, these are the stepping stones to the stars. The club's playing list for 2015 was:- PRIMARY LIST: Rohan Bail Angus Brayshaw Daniel Cross Chris Dawes Lynden Dunn Jack Fitzpatrick Sam Frost Max Gawn Jeff Garlett Jack Grimes Jesse Hogan Jeremy Howe Jayden Hunt Mark Jamar Neville Jetta Matt Jones Nathan Jones Jay Kennedy-Harris Dean Kent Heritier Lumumba Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Jordie McKenzie Viv Michie Alex Neal-Bullen Ben Newton Christian Petracca Aidan Riley Christian Salem Jake Spencer Billy Stretch Dean Terlich Jimmy Toumpas Jack Trengove Dom Tyson Bernie Vince Jack Viney Jack Watts ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A James Harmes Max King Aaron vandenBerg Mitch White ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Nil That list was good enough to lift its on field result from four wins to seven in 2015, to raise its percentage by almost 9% and to improve its ladder position from 17th to 13th. That's still a position in the bottom third of the competition but it's clear that the changes in playing personnel (more than 20 list positions turned over in two trade/draft periods) are slowly and inexorably having their effect. And as for the future, the club has already signaled that there will be no let up to the policy of turning over the numbers to improve the playing list. Even before the curtain fell on the season, Daniel Cross and Mark Jamar's careers came to an end when the club announced it would not renew their contracts. Yesterday, it announced the delisting of Rohan Bail, Jack Fitzpatrick, Jordie McKenzie and Aidan Riley, all good servants who are the victims of inevitable change and will therefore not be taking part in the club's race to the stars. With the trade and draft period looming, we know that they are not the only ones but we salute them all for their efforts and contributions to the red and the blue.

The last time that Melbourne had a "winning season" (i.e one in which it won more games than it lost) was 2006. The club has undergone numerous changes in its quest to improve and in the main the outcome has been abject failure although its current trajectory is a welcome move forward and upward. Forward and upward enough perhaps to suggest that one day soon the Demons might even enjoy the experience of those clubs left today in the finals race around the stars. If there is one thing that the club has lacked in the past decade and even in the years before it has been star quality. It has only one player on its list with All Australian credentials and those were achieved at another club and half a decade ago. With the recent departure of Mark Jamar, we don't have a single home grown All Australian - a sad indictment on the club's recruitment and player development over this period. Of course, there are changes taking place and since the advent of Paul Roos as coach only two years ago, they have brought new faces onto the scene, a new attitude and new-found hope. We can't but feel excited about the likes of Jack Viney who narrowly missed out on becoming club champion this year, Jesse Hogan the NAB Rising Star, Angus Brayshaw, Dom Tyson and last year's second pick in the draft, Christian Petracca, who is yet to play a game due to a knee injury. "Bluey" medallist Bernie Vince has also made an impact in his short time at the club and while Heritier Lumumba didn't set the world alight, he had an impact on the playing group and brings a premiership attitude with him. Sam Frost broke his toe early in the season so we didn't see enough of him and there is a bevy of other names such as Stretch, Neal-Bullen, Harmes, Oscar McDonald and White who have now experienced AFL football at the highest level and have valuable games in their legs. As the 2015 season wore on - and at times it remained a painful thing to experience - it became clear that the coaching panel's emphasis was on ringing in the changes and bringing the youth to the fore, even if at the expense of winning (and I'm not telling a joke when I say that!). Without a doubt, these are the stepping stones to the stars. The club's playing list for 2015 was:- PRIMARY LIST: Rohan Bail Angus Brayshaw Daniel Cross Chris Dawes Lynden Dunn Jack Fitzpatrick Sam Frost Max Gawn Jeff Garlett Jack Grimes Jesse Hogan Jeremy Howe Jayden Hunt Mark Jamar Neville Jetta Matt Jones Nathan Jones Jay Kennedy-Harris Dean Kent Heritier Lumumba Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Jordie McKenzie Viv Michie Alex Neal-Bullen Ben Newton Christian Petracca Aidan Riley Christian Salem Jake Spencer Billy Stretch Dean Terlich Jimmy Toumpas Jack Trengove Dom Tyson Bernie Vince Jack Viney Jack Watts ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A James Harmes Max King Aaron vandenBerg Mitch White ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Nil That list was good enough to lift its on field result from four wins to seven in 2015, to raise its percentage by almost 9% and to improve its ladder position from 17th to 13th. That's still a position in the bottom third of the competition but it's clear that the changes in playing personnel (more than 20 list positions turned over in two trade/draft periods) are slowly and inexorably having their effect. And as for the future, the club has already signaled that there will be no let up to the policy of turning over the numbers to improve the playing list. Even before the curtain fell on the season, Daniel Cross and Mark Jamar's careers came to an end when the club announced it would not renew their contracts. Yesterday, it announced the delisting of Rohan Bail, Jack Fitzpatrick, Jordie McKenzie and Aidan Riley, all good servants who are the victims of inevitable change and will therefore not be taking part in the club's race to the stars. With the trade and draft period looming, we know that they are not the only ones but we salute them all for their efforts and contributions to the red and the blue.