Demonland

CHANGES 2018 by The Oracle PART 2 - ¾ As things stand, the Melbourne Football Club has retained ¾ of the list that took it to fourth place in the recently concluded AFL season. Eleven players have either retired or been delisted or traded with three new names on the lockers at AAMI Park. The newcomers are Steven May and Kade Kolodjashnij who were second and third in the Gold Coast Best & Fairest count in 2015 and Braydon Preuss from North Melbourne. The 26-year-old May had been at Gold Coast since its inception in 2011 and served as its co-captain in the past two seasons. A strong bodied key defender with 123 games under his belt, the 193 cm, 102 kg May is an excellent intercept mark and will add grunt, pace and skill to the lineup with his precise left-foot kicking. Tasmanian Kolodjashnij was picked up by the Suns at number 5 in the 2013 AFL Draft and has played 73 games at AFL level but after an outstanding start to his career, which included a AFL/NAB Rising Star in 2014 and a podium best and fairest finish a year later, the 190cm, 85kg running defender’s career has been hampered by concussion injuries which are now under control. There’s no secret as to Preuss’ drafting. The Demons were bereft of a quality back up ruckman and the 206cm, 109kg was just what the doctor ordered for the club. A late starter with only 8 games in 4 seasons with the Kangaroos (none in 2018), the 23-year-old Preuss is expected to share the ruck duties with Melbourne’s All-Australian ruckman Max Gawn. The club has also elevated midfielder Corey Maynard off the rookie list to leave a primary list of 34 players with a further 2 on the rookie list, leaving a total of eight vacancies. There is every possibility, depending on what happens between now and during the draft meetings later this month, that the club might go with a primary list of 38 and take 6 rookies. There seems to be very little mail around at present suggesting that the club has the appetite to take a delisted free agent so the focus could well be on the two day AFL National Draft Meeting later this month. The first part of that meeting on 22 November won’t involve the Demons because it covers the first round picks from 1 to 20. It will be interesting however, at that point to contemplate where the club sit in terms of the rest of the draft pool. At that point in time, if you add potential father son and academy bids, then as many as 24 players might be selected on day one then and we will have a fair idea of who is still available and gettable on the second day given that the Demons currently holds picks # 23 and # 28. There are later picks down the track, one or two of which are likely to be used to bid for young Dandenong Stingrays speedster Toby Bedford who was a member of that club’s TAC Cup premiership winning team and is also on Melbourne’s New Generation Academy. The Demons’ player cake will finally be complete and come out of the oven later on the second day of the draft with the NAB AFL Pre-Season and NAB AFL Rookie Draft but for the time being, the lists read like this:- PRIMARY LIST: Oskar Baker Angus Brayshaw Bayley Fritsch Sam Frost Jeff Garlett Max Gawn Mitch Hannan James Harmes Michael Hibberd Jayden Hunt Neville Jetta Nathan Jones Jay Kennedy Harris Kade Kolodjiashnij Jake Lever Jordan Lewis Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Steven May Corey Maynard Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Braydon Preuss Christian Salem Charlie Spargo Joel Smith Billy Stretch Aaron vandenBerg Jack Viney Josh Wagner Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Declan Keilty Tim Smith ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Austin Bradtke Guy Walker

PART 2 - ¾ As things stand, the Melbourne Football Club has retained ¾ of the list that took it to fourth place in the recently concluded AFL season. Eleven players have either retired or been delisted or traded with three new names on the lockers at AAMI Park. The newcomers are Steven May and Kade Kolodjashnij who were second and third in the Gold Coast Best & Fairest count in 2015 and Braydon Preuss from North Melbourne. The 26-year-old May had been at Gold Coast since its inception in 2011 and served as its co-captain in the past two seasons. A strong bodied key defender with 123 games under his belt, the 193 cm, 102 kg May is an excellent intercept mark and will add grunt, pace and skill to the lineup with his precise left-foot kicking. Tasmanian Kolodjashnij was picked up by the Suns at number 5 in the 2013 AFL Draft and has played 73 games at AFL level but after an outstanding start to his career, which included a AFL/NAB Rising Star in 2014 and a podium best and fairest finish a year later, the 190cm, 85kg running defender’s career has been hampered by concussion injuries which are now under control. There’s no secret as to Preuss’ drafting. The Demons were bereft of a quality back up ruckman and the 206cm, 109kg was just what the doctor ordered for the club. A late starter with only 8 games in 4 seasons with the Kangaroos (none in 2018), the 23-year-old Preuss is expected to share the ruck duties with Melbourne’s All-Australian ruckman Max Gawn. The club has also elevated midfielder Corey Maynard off the rookie list to leave a primary list of 34 players with a further 2 on the rookie list, leaving a total of eight vacancies. There is every possibility, depending on what happens between now and during the draft meetings later this month, that the club might go with a primary list of 38 and take 6 rookies. There seems to be very little mail around at present suggesting that the club has the appetite to take a delisted free agent so the focus could well be on the two day AFL National Draft Meeting later this month. The first part of that meeting on 22 November won’t involve the Demons because it covers the first round picks from 1 to 20. It will be interesting however, at that point to contemplate where the club sit in terms of the rest of the draft pool. At that point in time, if you add potential father son and academy bids, then as many as 24 players might be selected on day one then and we will have a fair idea of who is still available and gettable on the second day given that the Demons currently holds picks # 23 and # 28. There are later picks down the track, one or two of which are likely to be used to bid for young Dandenong Stingrays speedster Toby Bedford who was a member of that club’s TAC Cup premiership winning team and is also on Melbourne’s New Generation Academy. The Demons’ player cake will finally be complete and come out of the oven later on the second day of the draft with the NAB AFL Pre-Season and NAB AFL Rookie Draft but for the time being, the lists read like this:- PRIMARY LIST: Oskar Baker Angus Brayshaw Bayley Fritsch Sam Frost Jeff Garlett Max Gawn Mitch Hannan James Harmes Michael Hibberd Jayden Hunt Neville Jetta Nathan Jones Jay Kennedy Harris Kade Kolodjiashnij Jake Lever Jordan Lewis Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Steven May Corey Maynard Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Braydon Preuss Christian Salem Charlie Spargo Joel Smith Billy Stretch Aaron vandenBerg Jack Viney Josh Wagner Sam Weideman ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A Declan Keilty Tim Smith ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B Austin Bradtke Guy Walker

We would have been using it then. Not sure when we started the actual Forum. The site was created in Round 7 of 2000. The forum didn't start until later. I don't believe we used the Demonland.com domain until 2001. We were using a free hosting service until then.

Here is a snapshot of Demonland in 2002

Yeah. It's a photo of a young Nick Reiwolt and Stewart Loewe.

The bad old days.

Alright. Let's keep this thread about Colin.

No disrespect to Col but to be honest when the footys on I want to watch the footy.

If it can be organised and get the word out to the 50,000 people there then I'll stand up but I'd rather an actual organised tribute before the game that everyone knows about.

Fair enough. It wasn't a knock. I actually hope the club do organise some kind of match day tribute. I assume the boys will be wearing black armbands but I'd love it if there was something more pre-match in Round 1.

Still 45% better than the next team. In my scenario we really took the pedal off in the second half.

I'll re-post here. THE KID - A TRIBUTE TO COLIN by Whispering Jack There are some truly endearing memories that I have of the Kid, one or two of them off the ground and others on the field of play. It seemed to me that at every club function I attended, one of the constants was the sight of the much-loved Colin Sylvia, face smiling and friendly, surrounded by admirers, young and old, male and female. There was the promotional clip (Foxtel, I think) with Colin in the locker room beside skipper David Neitz draped in towels and joking. It was as if, from the very beginning, the new boy on the block was being typecast as a larrikin, albeit a lovable one who, in our hopes, would one day become a hero. And that was the problem for the recruit from Merbein which, during my childhood produced another star Demon in Hassa Mann, a shy country lad who went on to captain the club, played in a few premierships and was a solid citizen off the field. The new kid from Merbein simply kept getting into trouble. There were problems with a girlfriend, he broke team curfews, missed the odd recovery session, left the scene of a car accident (it’s unclear if he was the driver). He was often in the wrong place and the wrong condition at the wrong time but we all still loved him. After all, he was going to be our hero. On the field, he was something else. The first time I saw him was in a practice match for Melbourne’s then affiliate Sandringham, at the Beach Road Oval, ironically named after another blond larrikan Trevor Barker who also passed at far too young and age but from cancer. There was one brief moment that defined Sylvia’s potential as a contender when he gathered the ball near the centre, swiveled past an opponent and barreled the ball from 70 metres out. Years later when I recalled that piece of play with him at a club best and fairest night, he laughed and said he remembered it but thought the kick was “from closer to 80 metres out”. It took a year or so to get his career going and it built slowly but surely within a few years during which time he grew in stature to the point that it wasn’t necessary to call him by his surname. He was Colin and we loved him. The tough break for Colin was that Melbourne went into decline just as he was approaching his prime. Most supporters would agree that his best game came on Sunday, 24 May, 2009 on the MCG in front of almost 40,000 fans against Hawthorn when he amassed 24 kicks, 13 handballs, 9 marks and 4 goals that were just not enough to get the Demons across the line. He continued to play good football for the year despite the fact that the club was regularly accused of tanking its matches and again into 2010 but at around that time, the injuries in the form of groin and shoulder problems came, the team was performing miserably as the veterans left while other young saviours who were replacing them struggled. The contender was also struggling to live up to his potential status as a hero; he was failing and the fun had gone. After 157 games and 129 goals, the Kid departed for Fremantle at the end of 2013. Things didn’t work out in the West and, amid ongoing controversy about his attitude and behaviour under Ross Lyon, Colin managed six more games that were mostly unremarkable. Career over before his 29th birthday with life after football bringing further challenges for a young man who found retirement from the game at its top level a tough gig. Colin was working to get his life on track when his car collided with another vehicle last Sunday afternoon at the intersection of Nineteenth Street and Benetook Avenue in the Mildura suburb of Irymple. He died on the scene and will be buried today. We loved him to death - our deepest sympathies go to his family.

I don't care about the non-Melbourne games so I came up with this ladder.

I like the sentiment but I've never understood the semi-ambiguous nature of these type of tributes. What's wrong with a proper tribute from the club/fans prior to the game? Perhaps something during one of Robbo's segments. They could invite some of his teammates who could say a few words, show some highlights and have a moments silence. No need to hide the tribute while the game is on. I think the display that you are suggesting is more suited to protests and not necessarily the right thing for a show of respect for the untimely passing of a past player.

There are some truly endearing memories that I have of the Kid, one or two of them off the ground and others on the field of play. It seemed to me that at every club function I attended, one of the constants was the sight of the much-loved Colin Sylvia, face smiling and friendly, surrounded by admirers, young and old, male and female. There was the promotional clip (Foxtel, I think) with Colin in the locker room beside skipper David Neitz draped in towels and joking. It was as if, from the very beginning, the new boy on the block was being typecast as a larrikin, albeit a lovable one who, in our hopes, would one day become a hero. And that was the problem for the recruit from Merbein which, during my childhood produced another star Demon in Hassa Mann, a shy country lad who went on to captain the club, played in a few premierships and was a solid citizen off the field. The new kid from Merbein simply kept getting into trouble. There were problems with a girlfriend, he broke team curfews, missed the odd recovery session, left the scene of a car accident (it’s unclear if he was the driver). He was often in the wrong place and the wrong condition at the wrong time but we all still loved him. After all, he was going to be our hero. On the field, he was something else. The first time I saw him was in a practice match for Melbourne’s then affiliate Sandringham, at the Beach Road Oval, ironically named after another blond larrikan Trevor Barker who also passed at far too young and age but from cancer. There was one brief moment that defined Sylvia’s potential as a contender when he gathered the ball near the centre, swiveled past an opponent and barreled the ball from 70 metres out. Years later when I recalled that piece of play with him at a club best and fairest night, he laughed and said he remembered it but thought the kick was “from closer to 80 metres out”. It took a year or so to get his career going and it built slowly but surely within a few years during which time he grew in stature to the point that it wasn’t necessary to call him by his surname. He was Colin and we loved him. The tough break for Colin was that Melbourne went into decline just as he was approaching his prime. Most supporters would agree that his best game came on Sunday, 24 May, 2009 on the MCG in front of almost 40,000 fans against Hawthorn when he amassed 24 kicks, 13 handballs, 9 marks and 4 goals that were just not enough to get the Demons across the line. He continued to play good football for the year despite the fact that the club was regularly accused of tanking its matches and again into 2010 but at around that time, the injuries in the form of groin and shoulder problems came, the team was performing miserably as the veterans left while other young saviours who were replacing them struggled. The contender was also struggling to live up to his potential status as a hero; he was failing and the fun had gone. After 157 games and 129 goals, the Kid departed for Fremantle at the end of 2013. Things didn’t work out in the West and, amid ongoing controversy about his attitude and behaviour under Ross Lyon, Colin managed six more games that were mostly unremarkable. Career over before his 29th birthday with life after football bringing further challenges for a young man who found retirement from the game at its top level a tough gig. Colin was working to get his life on track when his car collided with another vehicle last Sunday afternoon at the intersection of Nineteenth Street and Benetook Avenue in the Mildura suburb of Irymple. He died on the scene and will be buried today. We loved him to death - our deepest sympathies go to his family. “I'm the kid who has this habit of dreaming Sometimes gets me in trouble too But the truth is I could no more stop dreaming Than I could make them all come true” - Buddy Mondlock

THE KID - A TRIBUTE TO COLIN by Whispering Jack There are some truly endearing memories that I have of the Kid, one or two of them off the ground and others on the field of play. It seemed to me that at every club function I attended, one of the constants was the sight of the much-loved Colin Sylvia, face smiling and friendly, surrounded by admirers, young and old, male and female. There was the promotional clip (Foxtel, I think) with Colin in the locker room beside skipper David Neitz draped in towels and joking. It was as if, from the very beginning, the new boy on the block was being typecast as a larrikin, albeit a lovable one who, in our hopes, would one day become a hero. And that was the problem for the recruit from Merbein which, during my childhood produced another star Demon in Hassa Mann, a shy country lad who went on to captain the club, played in a few premierships and was a solid citizen off the field. The new kid from Merbein simply kept getting into trouble. There were problems with a girlfriend, he broke team curfews, missed the odd recovery session, left the scene of a car accident (it’s unclear if he was the driver). He was often in the wrong place and the wrong condition at the wrong time but we all still loved him. After all, he was going to be our hero. On the field, he was something else. The first time I saw him was in a practice match for Melbourne’s then affiliate Sandringham, at the Beach Road Oval, ironically named after another blond larrikan Trevor Barker who also passed at far too young and age but from cancer. There was one brief moment that defined Sylvia’s potential as a contender when he gathered the ball near the centre, swiveled past an opponent and barreled the ball from 70 metres out. Years later when I recalled that piece of play with him at a club best and fairest night, he laughed and said he remembered it but thought the kick was “from closer to 80 metres out”. It took a year or so to get his career going and it built slowly but surely within a few years during which time he grew in stature to the point that it wasn’t necessary to call him by his surname. He was Colin and we loved him. The tough break for Colin was that Melbourne went into decline just as he was approaching his prime. Most supporters would agree that his best game came on Sunday, 24 May, 2009 on the MCG in front of almost 40,000 fans against Hawthorn when he amassed 24 kicks, 13 handballs, 9 marks and 4 goals that were just not enough to get the Demons across the line. He continued to play good football for the year despite the fact that the club was regularly accused of tanking its matches and again into 2010 but at around that time, the injuries in the form of groin and shoulder problems came, the team was performing miserably as the veterans left while other young saviours who were replacing them struggled. The contender was also struggling to live up to his potential status as a hero; he was failing and the fun had gone. After 157 games and 129 goals, the Kid departed for Fremantle at the end of 2013. Things didn’t work out in the West and, amid ongoing controversy about his attitude and behaviour under Ross Lyon, Colin managed six more games that were mostly unremarkable. Career over before his 29th birthday with life after football bringing further challenges for a young man who found retirement from the game at its top level a tough gig. Colin was working to get his life on track when his car collided with another vehicle last Sunday afternoon at the intersection of Nineteenth Street and Benetook Avenue in the Mildura suburb of Irymple. He died on the scene and will be buried today. We loved him to death - our deepest sympathies go to his family. “I'm the kid who has this habit of dreaming Sometimes gets me in trouble too But the truth is I could no more stop dreaming Than I could make them all come true” - Buddy Mondlock

You want to play in Ballarat?

Agreed. Make them play all home games in Geelong. They can't have their cake and eat it too.

Nice of the AFL to gift us a 6 day break after the Alice game later in the year.

Why is the Round 5 game against St. Kilda at 4:35pm on Saturday when we have the 4 day break before the ANZAC day game? FFS AFL get your [censored] together. Why is this game not at 1:20pm? Not that it make a huge difference but come on.

To be fair none of their fans got to see that game live because they couldn't be bothered turning up. Let's reward them for that effort.

It will be interesting to see which strip the AFL make Essendon wear for our home game against them. Either we'll have to wear our away strip or the AFL will decide that there is no clash.

Round 23 match against Kangaroos in Tasmania.