harry

I'm 24 and have been a Melbourne supporter my whole life. Schwarta in 94 was the best player I've ever seen in a Melbourne jumper and, were it not for the injuries, would've become the only true champion of the league I've ever seen play for Melbourne.

I understand the argument for the collar. But it would make the players a lot easier to tackle in certain circumstances. Won't happen.

Hey guys,

Firstly, longtime Demonland reader.

Thanks for all the positive feedback on the video. It all came together pretty quickly. I was thinking about putting together a vid of great MFC moments through the years, and just happened to see the Avett Brothers perform the song on the David Letterman show early last week. I had never heard it before.

Also thanks to everyone who has posted MFC videos and footage on Youtube. I pretty much trawled through everything I could find and took the bits I wanted.

Oh yeah, and I'm glad some of you know who Alan Partridge is.

Also, over the next few weeks I plan on posting some more old Melbourne footage, games, highlights etc.

Funny you should say that Harry, because thats the goal I would have preferred to use but couldnt find any of the game on Youtube at all. But like I said, over the next few weeks, I plan to change that.

I look forward to it! Mate, seriously, the video you made is an absolute gem! GO DEES!!!

That was f#cking awesome!!!

My only criticism is that it should've had Brian Wilson kicking the sealer at the Western Oval in 1987 "cover yourself in glory son!". Or at least some footage from that game.

Complete dog and Pick 11 better be a good player. I'm actually fuming. Can't wait to see Moloney clean him up when we verse Carlton next, and coincidently I have mounted a strong case for Beamer to be our next skipper.

You might want to rethink your avatar mate.

Not sure about this. When we move into the bubbledome the training will not be on the playing surface - it will be on Gosch's paddock which is the oval closest to the corner of Punt Rd and Swan St. This oval is used for Premier Cricket over the summer, hence the pitch and removal of goal posts would rule it out as a training venue.

Would also assume that this would be the case for the new docklands ground - if it is a Melbourne Council owned venue you would think that it would get used for cricket over summer but maybe not.

So in either circumstance I would think that we would probably still do our summer training at Casey.

Fair enough then.

Although I'd hope they wouldn't put a bloody cricket pitch in if they build a new ground for us.

I think everyone realises the team will be judged by more by their win/loss count next season and less by their 'improvement' and 'potential'. Nonetheless, we will still be in the early stages of development and will lose a lot more than they win.

This has been mooted once before from memory. It seems like it will be a good thing as, whilst bubbledome will be an improvement, it won't be a perfect fit as the admin will be split, we'll have to share the gym etc. If this new ground is being built just for us, you'd think it would be moulded to fit us perfectly.

It will be interesting to see figures in a few years of how much support/members we generate out of the Casey region. Casey is great for us now and in the next couple of years because we currently can't use the Junction Oval or the G in summer because of cricket. So it provides us with great facilities over summer and we don't have to train at different grounds every week. However, once the new ground or bubbledome is in action, we presumably will be able to train at them over summer. Which means that the only point to training out at Casey will be from a marketing perspective, not for the facilities. This means that the whole Casey experiment will have to justify itself on the grounds of the support generated. To simply manufacture a region of support would be an extremely tricky task in a city with entrenched football loyalties going back decades. I hope the club are able to succeed.

Nonetheless, I don't believe the Casey venture is costing us anything financially, so conceivably the only drawback to the club if the experiment fails would be an inconvenience to the players having to drive out there all summer.

If he could kick straight he could be really good. He's only 21 or 22 and has only played 20 odd games. He is a young forward in the worst team in the comp, yet had he been able to kick straight he'd comfortably get 2 or 3 every week. I don't think he'll ever be a great kick, but may turn out to be an okay one. In which case he'd probably make a decent 3rd or 4th forward in a future forward line containing Watts, Jurrah, Bate, Wona, Maric etc.

It's unbelievable the amount of vitriol he gets from his own supporters.

"kid was a shining light in 2008. out injured all season, is just getting back fom injury and people call for head. ridiculous".

Couldn't agree more, Jackie M. I'm sure he has something really special.

But Rhino's right, he's in the mix to be de-listed, since the footy dept. does not have the same high opinion that we do of him, his contract's finishing, and the improvement of McKenzie and McNamara means that someone else has to go.

It would be so unfair to get rid of him after his promising '08, when he's been a victim of over-training(as I think O.P. is) and unable to consolidate his improvement this year.

I take some heart that he was named in the full squad for the firsts last week(before the paring). Perhaps(I hope) ,I'm wrong about the footy dept.

I thought his effort for Casey on Sat. was very encouraging.

I have so much admiration for his creative, line-breaking play ,that I almost hope he's NOT promoted in case he makes us win!

The boy has real talent. I'm amazed that not everyone can see it.

Someone once wrote on here or ology that they'd spoken with Bailey at some function about Buckley and Bailey said, "he could be anything". I wouldn't worry about the footy dept not rating him. I reckon he's a gem. Pace, strength and invention. I see him, Sylvia, Jones, Morton, Scully and Blease as being our midfield core in the next couple of years.

Really the only thing holding him back is his kicking for goal. Every week he seems to kick 2.3 or 2.4. If he could improve that just a little bit he'd be in the team and probably kicking 2-3 every week (bearing in mind he'd probably get less shots for goal in the AFL). I reckon that would place in the mix for being one of the tall forwards in the long term along with the likes of Bate, Watts, Jurrah, Martin and Garland.

Jimmy was there for the club at its hour of greatest need. Now we must do the same.

The way I see it, the reason we've seen finals action but not a flag in the last decade has been that we've always had a good number of B graders, but a serious lack of A's. The thing that the premiership sides have all had is a couple of top line players capable of tearing apart the opposition single-handed.

Good point about the lack of absolute champions. I'm 24 and I've never seen an absolute champion of the competition wear a Melbourne jumper. The closest we've probably gone in my time is Schwarta and Jacko who couldn't maintain it for different reasons. Sure, we've had very good players, excellent players even but none in the 'Buddy, Ablett, Judd' category. I guess you'd hope that out of the current lot maybe Watts or whoever we get number 1 or 2 this year will become that absolute superstar.

This is a very good question that is obviously impossible to answer. We simply don't know how good the youngsters on our list will become. What we do know is that most them have shown varying levels of potential. I guess the thing we have to ask ourselves is are we in the best position to make use of whatever potential these guys might have. Our coach comes from Port with the reputation of developing players. In addition, there has been a definite improvement in certain young players at the club. Obviously it's impossible to make a judgement from the outside looking in, but you'd have to say we're on the right track in that department. Furthermore, we now have the amongst the best facilities in the league. We used to have the worst. In a competitive competition, who knows what that extra 2-3% may've made to some of the best sides of the Daniher era. Regardless, we seemingly have the facilities to give our youngsters the best chance to develop. Finally, our club is united and getting itself on the right track financially. So, more than generations of demons players before them, these guys have the conditions to succeed. It's now up to them.

Hope he turns the corner. He could be anything.

The snow thing has never bothered me. It's just a bit of fun. It's like the Collingwood - toothless thing.

The club has turned itself around financially. We're heading in the right direction. The final part of the jigsaw is a better stadium deal and then we'll be sweet (BTW a better stadium deal will see the roos and doggies gain financial security as well, which is good for the game in my opinion).

Please, please, please people, don't ever believe people when they say Melbourne fans have no passion. That claim is not based on any evidence. However, there is lots of evidence that we are. For example:

* We've just recorded our highest ever membership after our worst season in 25 years.

* One of the club's major sponsors was sourced by a supporter.

* Our supporters raised more money during the debt demolition than any other group of supporters in football history.

* Despite having a fairly low membership, our 'member to supporter ratio' is in the top two or three in the league. The AFL did a survey a couple of years ago working out how many fans each club had. Using this you can work out the ratio of members to supporters. Ours is much higher than Collingwood or Essendon.

Morons like Brian Taylor carry on that Melbourne fans don't care. But does he ever offer any evidence???

People say we've got no brand power, don't market the club properly etc. Then when we do create a bit of a stir they say we're putting marketing above football. In life, there are people who will never let you win. Seriously, who gives a f#ck what they think.

GO DEES!!!

Great idea. Will probably give us a few extra members and supporters but will also make us much more attractive to sponsors. Will also make us very popular with the AFL.

We need a bit more pace and skill in our midfield. This seems to be what we drafted for this season so hopefully when they come through we'll have a nice blend of hard ball winners and classy ball users. I think the main reason Daniher never won a premiership was that, for various reasons, we weren't able to get any of the former. In addition to this nice blend, we probably need one of our young blokes to develop into an absolute rolls royce top of the line champion midfielder. Someone who is as good as Judd or Ablett. This could be either one of the blokes we drafted this year or maybe one of the guys we get in the draft at the end of this season. We've never had a midfielder that good in my time as a dees fan (age 24).

We've got better coverage this year than we've ever got I reckon. The 'new regime' have a lot to do with that. The only thing that really annoys me about certain sections of the media is the lie that our fans are apathetic. What really kills me though, is when our own fans buy into it. There are many reasons why I think we've got the best fans in the league.

Hmm. I can't form a solid opinion on Juice. Need to see more of him.

It can't be can it? No, my eyes must be deceiving me. A person wants to take the time to analyze a bit of evidence over a period of time before jumping to knee-jerk, reactionary conclusions? On a footy board? Hallelujah!!!

Well done to you sir/madam.

I love the flash. He's one of only one or two players in the side who'd get a game for Geelong (who I reckon are the best side in the comp). After really lighting up the scene when he first arrived there's been the perception that he's dropped off a bit. I reckon that's partly because the team has struggled and because he went from being the 5th or 6th concern of the opposition's defensive 6 to being probably our only decent creative player. Is a pleasure to watch and has a lot of courage for a skinny fella. And, what's pretty important given our club's current position, the kids love him.

He's only 21, played 17 games and everyone knows it takes KPPs longer to develop than other players.

Had he kicked a couple of sitters he could've had 4 or 5 in front of one of the worst midfields in the comp in a forward line that has been struggling to say the least.

Despite all this, there are plenty on here who are not only prepared to say he's not good enough, but that he's lazy and lacks commitment.

Ur. Avin. A. Larf.

Nothing beats Saturday arvo. To me that will always be the best day for footy. But don't really mind the Sunday games. It's just terrible from a financial point of view. BTW that game against Adelaide will be a real danger of dropping to around the 15 k mark. We'll be struggling, they may be struggling as well and the bloody game's at 4pm! Luckily Adelaide have a lot of supporters in Melbourne.

Is that 11 for the Demons or the Scorpions?

On the playstation...