Mel Bourne

Deleted!

We weren’t on the whole tour! Just the Aus shows. They were an interesting bunch. Not exactly what you’d call “down to earth”, but also not that difficult. Have got many a horror-story about touring with awful bands, but thankfully many more that have been great.

Wow. There’s a band I haven’t thought of for a while. My old band toured with them back in 2001.

After something like that occurs, a player is haunted.

I get very solid info from the Tigers’ camp, and…. I’m not too into this idea.

I’m quite happy for Brayshaw to remain in the gear he’s in, thanks.

Fair summation. I think Sam is his own worst enemy. For some time now, it’s been apparent in his body language that he’s not had the confidence to play to the best of his abilities. There’s always been an observable tentativeness in his contested marks and disposals. I genuinely believe he never mentally recovered from his missed kick after the siren in ‘19 against the Crows. He played a great game that night, and didn’t deserve to made the scapegoat by the press, who cruelly focussed on him sobbing in the change rooms (and mind you, as an inset in the corner of the screen as the Crows we’re about to sing their song - a disgusting bit of direction that I wouldn’t even wish on Toby Greene). That kind of thing can be extremely damaging for a young player. I wish him every success, and I hope a clean slate does what’s needed for him.

You’d have to even more desperate to pretend to quote other people, just to get there. edit: oh man.

…..now? (oh man, I need a new pastime).

That we’ve actually done it….

300 pages of Luke Jackson monkey business, here we come…

I think a lot of good will perished with the report that he’d toured the Dockers facilities and made up his mind to go there, halfway through the season. People will get over it, but it wasn’t the classiest move.

Your “pity” is patronising and offensive to those who maybe can’t relate.

“Luke Jackson’s decision making process” is not exactly on the top of the list of things I want to read about. I imagine it involves Lego figures, crayons and lots of confused frowning.

Hard not to read this as: Melbourne gain a couple of potential stars for Casey, and the city of Fremantle to receive a new cashed up bogan.

You know the details?

We will. It’s more about the size of the barrel now.

Sure, but on Demonland we’re primarily discussing folks between 17-30 years of age.

There is definitely the element of increased diagnoses pumping up the numbers. But thanks to the Information Age, we now get served up news about climate change, potential nuclear war, increasing wealth divides and widespread corruption with our breakfasts. Then throw in social media and the various elements of that which all add up to “you’re not doing enough with your life” (or worse), and you’ve got the perfect storm for the mental health epidemic we’re currently witnessing. Note, I’m not framing this as a “young people are snowflakes” argument. Which is what BDA was addressing to another poster.

I'd say (as a Gen-Xer) the term "Ok Boomer" is a tad 'monolithic' too. And as crudely it was originally put by the OP, there is a genuine increase in anxiety/depression and a host of other neurological maladies in the younger population these days, which is a legitimate (and unfortunate) factor in the discussion of young player's mindsets.

This thread was based on a hoax, which was established a couple of days ago, yet here it it still is ten pages later. Get a grip, Demonlanders!

Based on what? A vibe? Freo are looking a cert for finals next year, and this future first of theirs has not exactly gotten me all that excited.

I don't think the term "go-home factor" is necessarily derogative, and can pretty easily accommodate what you've described here,

Young people who still say “ok boomer” are the boomers of young people.

Tempting to go on a spiel about the merits (or lack of) of “homesickness”, but wherever you stand on it as a reason for leaving a club (and a successful, nurturing one at that) after three years, you would have to agree that it’s a syndrome that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. In many ways, the MFC were extremely lucky to get what we got out of Jackson in the short time we had him. We were fortunate that 2023 wasn’t going to be the season where he was finally cherry-ripe and ready to help bring a club his first premiership, after three years of hard work with (and from) us. But many clubs will not be as lucky with their draft selections, and many will feel the sting of sending one home without the dividends of investment. I think the “go-home” factor though, is going to be more prevalent in the future than in past times. Younger folk in general these days are more autonomous than in past generations (some might prefer the more denigrating term “entitled”). The focus on individual needs has never been sharper. The mindset of “Hey man, at the end of the day, make sure that YOU are looking after YOURself” is a curiously virtuous vibe these days. On the one hand it has it’s merits, but taken too far and it can easily drift into good old fashioned selfishness. The NBA is a pretty strong example of the individualistic mindset seeping into team sports, and many of the current generation of AFL players look to the NBA with much admiration and aspiration. The “bleed for the club” mentality may very well become rarer than we would like. The solution can’t be to enforce young players to live away from their hometowns longer than they want to. That’s obviously just inhumane. But if this is something clubs genuinely want to avoid, then recruiters might want to prioritise looking for their future stars a little closer to home.