Supreme_Demon

"Diamond" Joe Gutnick is yesterday's news. He did save the Melbourne Football Club from merger but that was in 1996. That is 28 years ago! I remember his Presidency being full of drama and fighting with the AFL. He then lost the Presidency in 2001 or 2002 to Gabriel Szondy, from what I recall? He still owes the Melbourne Football Club around $400,000 dollars. A debt he never paid. He stuffed up our opportunity to have a proper Home Base at Olympic Park but unfortunately Eddie and the Magpie scum swooped in and stole the location from us! Now in 2024 after many years in ignominy and being bankrupt (at least it says that in past newspaper articles) he has the "chutzpah" to think he speaks for us?! In my opinion Joseph Gutnick has lost any respect he once had with most Melbourne supporters and members many years ago.

The Home Base for the Melbourne Football Club at Caulfield Racecourse needs to be one of the top priorities for Steven Smith or whomever becomes the next President. This matter will also need to be brought up at the next Melbourne Demons AGM. We cannot allow the issue of the Home Base to linger on forever. Time to get it done!

First off, I want to thank Kate Roffey for all the wonderful work she did for the Melbourne Football Club. She was the first female President of the Melbourne Football Club and oversaw our 57 year drought breaking AFL Premiership and our very first AFLW Premiership. Kate seemed a really nice lady from what I saw of her. She often went down to join the Demon Army cheer squad at games (from what I saw). She was also always in the Club rooms hugging players and coaching staff (win or lose). As President she was also a huge supporter of Simon Goodwin and that paid off with our Premiership in 2021. Sadly, her trainwreck interview the other week on SEN radio was unacceptable and she did the right thing stepping down. However, I genuinely wish Kate all the very best and hope she remains a passionate Demons member for the rest of her life. One major issue remains lingering though. What will happen with our Home Base? Will it still go ahead at Caulfield Racecourse? Who takes over this project? Will the next Melbourne Demons President make our Home Base a priority to complete? Brad Green has a big job to do in being interim President. Especially in regards to the Review to be undertaken. I hope that we do an external Review of the Melbourne Football Club. But we shall have to wait and see I guess? Lastly, it will be interesting who will be the new nominations to join the Melbourne Football Club Board. We expect Steven Smith to become a Board member and possibly become President. But who else will nominate? Will Peter Lawrence try again to join the Board? Will any other former Demons players? Whomever it is the main priorities need to be this: 1) Fixing Club Culture and professionalism. 2) Growing the Club and increasing membership to 70,000+ as mentioned by CEO Gary Pert previously. This will help with Club revenue and being in a strong position financially. 3) On field performance and winning more AFL and AFLW Premierships. 4) Completing the building of our Home Base at Caulfield Racecourse (or wherever it will be?). 5) Implementing a new Stategic Plan for the Melbourne Football Club for the next 3 to 5 years.

I would probably get shouted down for this suggestion, but I wouldn't be against Kane Cornes and/or David King being part of an external review. However, with Christian Petracca now recommitting to the Melbourne Demons I don't think we will see an external review happen. It will be another internal review now. Will that be good enough though? It will all depend on how successful next year in 2025 will be. It it's another stinker like this year then heads will need to roll.

Was very pleased with Caleb Windsor's first year in the AFL. Shame he got injured. He does remind me a little bit of Demon legend Robbie Flower. Just the way he moves. Hopefully, he has a massive Pre-Season and comes back stronger and fitter in Season 2025 next year.

Fingers crossed that Kozzie wants to stay in Melbourne at the Demons. 🤞

Any chocolate will do. Those sound delicious though! 😋

That was a wonderful letter. Maybe it actually worked?! 🤔

Phew! What a relief! I am glad Christian Petracca is staying a Demon. He is one of my favourite players. I hope he enjoys his time off and goes on an enjoyable holiday and possibly visits the Redbull Fitness Centre again (if he wishes to?). Staying a ONE Club player will also earn him respect in the AFL. As for Tom Morris....I won't hold my breath waiting for an apology. He is made to look quite a fool now!

"Grumpy" Garry Lyon is better in the media. He at least puts his "Melbourne cap" on occasionally. I still remember Garry being annoyed and grumpy when I was a young lad at a Melbourne Demons family day and my Dad asked him to sign the back of my Demons guernsey I had on way back in the 1990s. David Schwarz and David Neitz on the other hand were always friendly. Garry has said himself he isn't interested in being MFC President (at least for the time being). Plus he admits himself that he isn't a people person. He helped his great mate Jimmy Stynes when he could during Jimmy's cancer battle. Unfortunately, Garry made an error of judgement choosing Mark Neeld. Hard to come back from that embarrassing failure. It really left egg on his face. Even Kevin Sheedy poked fun at Garry Lyon for that decision on the Footy Show once (although I think Kevin Sheedy was still annoyed he missed out on the Demons coaching job way back in 2007). Anyway, let Garry Lyon continue to be an ally for the Demons in the media. If we're going to get former Demons players to consider joining the Melbourne Demons Board. Let's look at those with actual business acumen like Andrew Leoncelli (who was formerly on the Board), Anthony McDonald, Paul Hopgood, Glenn Lovett, David Neitz and Greg Healy (who was also a former Board member). Whether any of them are interested or have the time is another question altogether. In the end, I only want extremely passionate and capable Melbourne supporters with both honesty and integrity on the Board. Football knowledge is beneficial but it shouldn't be compulsory.

Joe Gutnick?! Oy Vey! That's a name I haven't heard in many years! I appreciate the fact he helped save the Demons from being merged with the Hawks way back in 1996. But his Presidency was full of dramas from what I remember. Didn't he go bankrupt? From what I recall "Diamond" Joe still owes the Melbourne Football Club $500,000 doesn't he? We also missed out on getting Olympic Park as a Home Base under Joe's Presidency. Although, Eddie McGuire's machinations were at play there too against the Melbourne Football Club and getting the Magpies to swoop into that opportunity.

One of the worst interviews I have ever heard from a Melbourne Football Club President in a very long time and I have been a member since 1998. That was embarrassing and Kate Roffey was ill prepared to give that interview. As harsh as it sounds, but that is unacceptable as a President of an AFL Club. No wonder Christian Petracca is upset. I am incredibly furious now at this disastrous situation! 🤬🤬🤬🤬

An external review is required. The Melbourne Football Club must be transparent for the sake of it's integrity and for all of us many loyal Demons members and supporters.

Another small forward pocket would definitely be handy. I don't have much faith in Shane McAdam, but I hope he proves me wrong.

Pretty damning if Kate Roffey hasn't spoken to Christian Petracca and/or his family in months. Simply not good enough as President of the Melbourne Football Club. It may be unpleasant to bring up but do you think Eddie McGuire would do this when he was President of Collingwood?! If Nathan Buckley was injured Eddie would be at his bedside in the hospital! People can joke about Eddie (and I am not a fan of his) but there is no doubt he cared about his players (at least most of them).

I read the email and watched the little video from Deemocracy. Unfortunately, Peter Lawrence doesn't have enough support to get things going in the direction he wants and has probably annoyed many Melbourne Demons members with his emails and flyers etc. Nevertheless, I do agree that an independent/external review of the Melbourne Football Club is required. Particularly, in relation to the current fiasco that is going on with if Christian Petracca will stay a Demon or go to another Victorian Club. Losing Christian Petracca will be just as devastating as losing Ronald Dale Barassi at the end of 1964 in my opinion. It will definitely upset many young Demons supporters. There is also the lingering frustration of how our issue of not having a proper Home Base (now expected to be at Caulfield Racecourse) has dragged on and on for decades now! Whether or not an independent/external review actually happens at the Melbourne Football Club is another story altogether. It may open a very ugly can of worms....

Can't read it....bloody paywall! The question is....how does it effect the building of the Home Base for the Melbourne Football Club?

An F for Fail?! Ouch! A bit harsh, although a lot of truth in what was written. I would give us a D....for Disappointing and lots of outside Distractions that hindered the Demons. This whole Petracca drama that is currently unfolding is a D too...D for Debacle. The sooner all these issues are resolved the better!

As harsh as it sounds, I somewhat agree. We have gone backwards with our list management since our Premiership in 2021. Our list certainly isn't as strong as we expected it to be. We crowed too early thinking about a "Demons Dynasty" unfortunately. Tim Lamb is certainly under massive pressure now as Demons List Manager. I would definitely be making a phone call to former Magpies List Manager Graham Wright to see if he is interested in a new challenge before the Tasmanian Devils team arrives in the AFL.

Thank you for the link. Some fascinating reading there. While the Demons need to consider the long-term replacement of May (and Lever). I think midfield talent is the priority. Especially after losing Angus Brayshaw (and possibly losing Christian Petracca). The loss of Angus Brayshaw has probably made the most significant difference to us unfortunately missing the finals this year. People might have underestimated this factor, but I certainly didn't. We desperately need more high-end elite talent in our midfield. Particularly young players who are excellent kicks and decision makers. If we can somehow get 2 picks in the top 10 of this year's AFL national draft I will be over the moon! We can then allow Jason Taylor and the rest of the recruiting team to work their magic.

Will desperately need Shane McAdam early next season with Kozzie Pickett missing the first 3 rounds. Hopefully Jake Melksham stays on for another season or two as well. We will absolutely need his leadership in the forward line with Alex Neal Bullen going back to either the Crows or Power.

Really hope our list management team (Tim Lamb and co.) could pull off a bit of a draft coup for 2024. Along with pick 5# if we could get another 1 or 2 picks in the top 15 of this year's draft that will definitely set us up for the future. Alot will depend if we can do a deal to give points to Gold Coast. Especially as they need points for Leonardo Lombard. Take pick #6 and/or #13 would be pretty handy. I am also a fan of Xavier Lindsay. Here is a highlights video for those interested.

I won't go into specific details of the interview but former Demon legend Davud Schwarz is still very angry and calling for an external review of the Melbourne Football Club. Here is the interview: All I will say to David Schwarz is that if he really cares about the Melbourne Football Club then he needs to get involved at Board level. No point making criticisms from afar but not helping the Club and simply making complaints while hungover in radio interviews.

They can't hate Petracca that much if they're all drinking at the pub together! I'm a bit old school...but a lot of problems can be resolved over a few beers with mates (but it can also start problems too).

Pretty frustrating that this has been dragging on and on.... As Melbourne supporters and members we should be demanding a progress report and a timeline for completion of our Home Base at Caulfield Racecourse at the upcoming Melbourne Demons AGM.