Outside 50

We've just traded out two of the best ever players to pull on the red and blue. Reactions on demonland seem to fall into two broad categories: good riddance or gutted. Many of us are totally confused. Could you spend a few minutes unpacking the reasons for us, and how and with who are we going to replace them?

We need a Tigga to go with all the Eyeores on here!

There is always tension between a motivated seller and a reluctant buyer. That is where value is established. The success or failure of a deal is not what a third party (i.e. Demonland posters) sees.

Everyone looks better in our colours!

Brody Mihocek welcome to the Demons! Hope it works out better than the last Brody we got from Pies!!

Agree! Also the fact you called your eldest son Charlie Spargo is impressive!!

You are assuming the club is leaking this info. It could well be the player or more likely his manager. If something is on sale you need to advertise!

They wouldn't want to live there while he is playing. Noosa is a long way from the Gold Coast! Over 3 hrs one way, that'd be an awful commute to play/train.

Yes exactly. We need to bring in competent professionals not mates.

Totally agree. Dunno much about Derksen but to think he is replacement for May or keeps Lever out of the team is fantasy. He can’t get a game at the Giants, and is not even on our list!

Brilliant analysis. Also what really annoys me is journalists interviewing journalists regarding these ‘news’ stories. Echo chamber follows.

John Dellamarta was a good friend of mine despite being a lifelong Collingwood supporter. He was a very talented junior CHF, a strong mark and a booming kick. He couldn’t cement a place at Magpies so came to Melbourne as part of the Carmen trade. He played a couple of games with Demons but I don’t think his heart was in it after being let go by the Pies.

Unbelievable if true! It has been 12 years since he last coached ffs

The messiah coach rarely has premiership success at a 2nd club. I can only think of Matthews in recent times. Best to go with an up-and-comer in my opinion. Who that is I have no idea.

How long are we going to persist with going to NT? They all say they love going there, but so what? I like going on holidays too! It is time to get real about this, we need to play home games in front of our home crowd at the G. Not some carnival in front of a couple of thousand opposition supporters.

I think Healy is a good judge of talent. Often when he is commentating he mentions the qualities of a player I've never heard of. He is usually right.

Why so? Genuine question. In the long list of spectacularly bad decisions by the AFL for this to be one of the worst is saying something! Anyway I'd be interested to know.

Check out the interview with him on MFC website. He details his CV and experience.

Yes exactly. The messiah coach seldom works. From memory only Leigh Matthews has been successful, maybe Malthouse, although Hardwick seems to heading in the right direction. All others I can think of haven’t worked. Best to go for fresh ideas.

The quote is from a character in the novel The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway. It’s sometimes used in business. Your quote is pretty apt too.

Hi guys, love the pod. Could the panel explain for me why did we need a new game plan? Seems like the old one worked ok when we restricted teams to around 60 points, but since we introduced the new one they are scoring against us with ridiculous ease. What is the benefit of the new system?

Yes, this decline has been coming for a while. Reminds me of the famous quote: "How did you go bankrupt? Two ways: Gradually, then suddenly" Seems to me we have hit the suddenly part after being gradual since 2023

Good point, I was just trying to highlight the lack of respect for Robbo by many posters.

Yes he was. If we look at his record compared to Garry Lyon's it is almost identical. Lyon 226 games 426 goals. Robbo 228 games 428 goals. Garry is considered one of the greats and Robbo gets little respect from many. Weird!