george_on_the_outer

This isn't just about a training field, and it is not the 1960's. This is 2021 and all teams are professional and to get to the top you have to give yourself an edge or just equal footing to everyone else. It is why WCE have played in 25 finals series in their 34 years of existence! We currently lease closet sized offices in the MCG not in the one location. We share facilities with Storm, Victory and Rebels at AAMI. We have to book the gym or the pool around them. Our current training ground is small and 500m away from the Football department, and 1 km away from the admin department. It is all second rate. We are fortunate we have a group of talented people who got us to a Premiership this year. We cannot depend on that alone. With Hawthorn and Adelaide building $120M facilities, and Brisbane, Port, Fremantle, WCE, Bulldogs, Richmond and GC all receiving state government handouts to IMPROVE their facilities, we will fall even further and further behind.

Notice the two big sun-shades that are proposed, so that we can train in the shadow at the height of summer!

In short term Brisbane will be the real challengers. As @deelusions from afarnoted, losing Hipwood and McStay for the finals simply blew their season away. The same would have happened to us without Brown and McDonald in the same scenario. They were really unlucky to lose to the Dogs in the semi, and could have actually been our opponent in the GF. However, the one that will be up and coming are Essendon. Draper, Zerk-Thatcher, Perkins and Harrison Jones are exactly the types of players around which to build a premiership side....just like we did! And Parish is finally showing the form in the same way that we knew Petracca would show one day. When we played them, they really took us to the wire, and have that same youthful enthusiasm that can take you a long way. Pity is they spent capital on Shiel, Devon Smith and Stringer, who are brilliant one day and miserable the next. Worse is that when they do come good, their sactimonious fans will be even more unbearable!

Missed 16 games due to persistent hamstring injuries in 2021. 5 games, one of which was as a medical sub. Now delisted from a side which finished bottom of the ladder.....after being moved on from Port as well....and people entertain the idea of bringing him to Melbourne?

Thoroughly approve of the name….

We now know who the oldest former player is: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1027591/a-special-visit-for-melbourne-s-oldest-living-past-player He played 1 game in the Premiership year of 1948. http://demonwiki.org/Des+Bell

And that Bontempelli didn't get any....

I wish people would get over their MFCSS. We are the best side in the competition. 1. Do they remember that we absolutely belted the Bulldogs in the GF? They would be traumatised by the prospect of playing us at our home ground in front of rabid supporters, after what we did to them at a neutral venue. 2. Sponsors bring more money into the club than members. Here is the opportunity to grab a prime time exposure for the sponsors in front of a huge crowd. This sort of prospect make the club marketable. The AFL won't fixture us for this type of exposure if we are playing GC. You have to make hay while the sun shines. 3. Playing the Dogs is the opportunity for the players to show they are serious about giving their home fans the chance to see us playing in another GF at home. Beat the Dogs again , and the rest of the competition takes a collective breath. Win this game and all those members who waver about stumping up their money for 2022 quickly head for their wallet.

Just brilliant @Demonstone!! Had to forward your assessment on to a Hawthorn fan.....how good is it being able to crow after a Premiership?

Looks like Noel is winning the race: Born 30/10/26,(94) Ken 11/2/31 (90) Clyde 27/11/33 (87) I met Noel by accident one night after a game. He had taken the wrong turn leaving Box Hill station and was wandering the street when he flagged me down. I set him on his way to where his daughter was meeting him. Interesting I am sure it was Clydes son was featured on Australian Restoration on the ABC recently, as they had restored a house they owned in Beaumaris. Showed pictures of the son with his brothers as young boys decked out in Demons gear.

Even better to watch will be if they don't leave or no-one takes them on. What will that do for them as players? What message will it send to other players? What will younger Hawk players think at the moment....they want me to walk through brick walls, but then throw me out like I'm seeing done to others?

Salem 26 years old. 130 games. Probably needs another 8 years, but he isn't playing a crash and bash role in the middle, like Oliver. Could be like Burgoyne still going at 34....

Here is the site: MFC Member badges brought home: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1732461107107595

Aaah the Toump! Perhaps we should re-draft him based on his performance in the SA Grand Final? https://sanfl.com.au/league/news/eagles-win-2021-statewide-super-league-premiership/ 26 touches....wow. Not to mention a couple of Menzels and another draft prospect in Riley Knight playing. and that Stengle bloke looks good too.....in such esteemed company and high level football surely someone will draft him this year?

You have to give @Supermercadoa bit of time. After all it took him 57 years to write the book about our last Premiership.

That's it! And it means we get next years player in this year and can put 12 months of development into them. What don't people understand about being in a Premiership window? It is about the now, we make the team better NOW. We would only "lose" at the draft if we drop to the bottom of the ladder in 2022. Do any of the critics of this tactic think that will happen next year?

If this goes through he is simply insurance should injuries occur. We have retired VDB and Jones at 29 and 32. Dunstan at 27 would give us 2-5 years as a serviceable player, which is all that the other two could provide in Season 2021. If he provides more, then that is a bonus.

Looking forward to Cam beating up on the opposition for the Phillip island Bulldogs at the Annual Easter match in Cowes. He really is miles ahead of anyone else at this level.

Gold Coast's other problem is their list size. I think they had 51 for this season, as a result of concessions the AFL gave them in 2019-20. That has to be reduced like all clubs, I think, to 36 plus rookies. So they have accumulated a heap of players they now cannot keep or pay for. Their salary cap problems are tied in with the number of players they have to pay, not the quality of players. And like a lot of clubs this year, to meet reduced COVID salary caps, they backloaded contracts. The backloading starts happening this year, so we will see a lot of delisting just to keep under the cap. Other clubs just did an across the board reduction in salaries for 2021, and will avoid the problem.

Now pinned at the top of the Demons Forum

Absolutely! Harris and Purcell will be huge additions, while players like Bannon, Hanks and McNamara will only be better. We have gone for the Doctor to get the Premiership this year, while Daisy and Karen are still playing. Harris solves the problem up forward, and Lauren Pearce is the best ruck in the AFLW. Now is the time, and since the competition has been put back a month, the COVID situation should improve. I do feel for the girls though if they have to play games in Brisbane and ( heaven forbid) Alice Springs in summer!

Every year they come out with the same statistics which have a very fundamental flaw. Ask anyone in NSW which AFL side they follow, and they say Sydney, not because they do, but it is the only one reported on in that state. It would be the same as asking people in Melbourne which NRL club they support. You can see the same problem in SA. Does anyone seriously think they have that much support nationwide? There are only 2 clubs in the state, and you either support Port or you hate them. Morgans then translate those state based survey result into nationwide support. Trouble is 4 of the top 5 sides identified in the survey come from the 2 team based States, all outside Victoria. Surely that should ring a bell?

Exactly. If he did his research and read his own article he would find out Oliver and Pickett are contracted for another 2 years, Gawn for another 4. Our priorities for next year are Jackson and Brayshaw. Yes they will get a salary increase but Jones and Jetta have retired now, which will go a long way to covering any increase. As BDA has said any club that has won a Premiership has the same problem. But any club that is in the top part of the Ladder will as well ( apart from Collingwood). It's all about list management. Not the bleeding obvious!!

Flanagan really does put a lot of this story in the fictional basket designed for the American market: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/tom-wills-remains-a-major-figure-in-australian-history-20210924-p58uih.html

MIght be a long session this week.....Has Andy's MFCSS been cured?