The Backyard Charizard

I think the game plan will be looked at pretty damn closely after the Saints exposed our lack of judgment and skill.... Yes, we can be skillful in patches, but overall our decision making in a tight contest (apart from a few) is pathetic! We should be looking at playing our natural attacking game and run the corridor, bang the ball in long and tackle hard! Our fitness levels look really good and we ran the game out well, but bugger me I will not sit there and watch us put team mates in suicidal situations all year!!

Yes that was crap against the Saints, I think we have all established that... A few points that I noted in our loss tonight : 1. Need I mention handballing to a bloke under pressure?? I think not! 2. Our tackling was nowhere to be seen until the last quarter! Las year our tackling was brilliant and I am just going to put tonights effort down to the fact that it was Round 1 (and yes I know it was Rnd 1 for the Saints aswell) 3. Where the hell was Bizz?? (Will harp on this until he is cemented back in our 22) 4. Has Bate lost speed?? He looked so slow!! Even when he didn't have the ball he was moving like a gorilla! Big pre-season on the weights?? 5. Neitz had a pretty good game I thought.... Never gave up and under some heavy double and triple teaming all night.... Great effort skipper! 6. Welcome back Beamer! He looked a little under-done, but all in all it was a sight for sore eyes to see him getting posessions! 7. Miller gave us nothing until the last quarter when all was lost... The boy needs to produce that right from the first bounce... It's not that hard Brad... Just pretend that we have already lost the game before it begins and you should win our best 'n fairest!! 8. I believe Anthony Rock had a big influence on the Saints game plan tonight and it worked a treat! I could go on foreve with things that annoyed me about our performance, but I am going to bed with only 2 things in mind.... 1. We ran the game out pretty well, which says a lot for our fitness.... Again we have bugger all skill, but we ran hard to the end! 2. There is only one way we can go from here.... And that is UP!!! Bring on the Hawks (I sincerely hope ND does some homework during the week!)

I read this article this morning and I must say that it brightened up my day!! I was already reasonably optimistic about our chances this season but after reading his points on "why" he thinks we will be in the top 4 made me realise that this could be a fantastic year for us!! Now let us all pray....

A few years back I had a mate who suffered from the dreaded BiPolar Disorder and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone... He could go from being borderline ADHD to being almost suicidal during the course of an afternoon.... We had to walk on eggshells around this guy because it was almost as if he was Schitzophrenic! Unfortunately after a night out on the [censored], after we drove him home, he decided that enough was enough.... RIP Matty!! I have mad respect for Jonathon Hay for giving us an insight into what took him from All Australian footballer to the "Medication/Lithium ruined" bloke we saw on the Footy Show.... In my opinion he will never play AFL football again, but as long as he manages his mental state and remains in that "happy place" he described last night then in my eyes he is a winner! For those who may not be totally aware of what BiPolar Disorder is then here is a brief description from BiPolar.com : What is Bipolar Disorder? Everyone has feelings of happiness and sadness once in a while. Feeling high and feeling low are part of life. But for someone with bipolar disorder (sometimes called bipolar depression), these feelings can be extreme: These ups and downs can be too much for a person to cope with. They can interfere with daily life. Sometimes they can even be dangerous. The ups and downs One day you may feel so depressed that you can't get out of bed. Work may seem impossible. On another day you may feel great and full of endless energy. You may feel like you’re getting a lot done. But other people might think that what you are doing is dangerous and out of control. Bipolar disorder is a lifelong condition. It can be hard for healthcare providers to diagnose. But it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Learning more about how to manage the condition can help.

Can't understand how Ward can be put in the backline before the Bizz!!

I have already joined the DemonLand Comp on the official AFL DreamTeam, but am just wondering if anyone knows of a competition I can join in the Herald Sun SuperCoach site?? I will happily go into a public league but just thought it might be handy to see if anyone at DemonLand has any leagues running.... Thanks....

Definately pumped!! 9/10.... Only 1 off a perfect score, but that is due to the fact that I no longer live in Melbourne I can't wait for Friday night to get here, not only to see how we go against the Sanints, but to see how The Ox speaks about us on live TV.... Will be interesting!! BRING IT ON!!!

I'm in as Dee Enforcers Good Luck

The media hates us.... We all know this already, but I can now see why blokes like Sheehan and the likes rate the Bulldogs so highly when they have 5 blokes in the top 50 and Cooney doesn't even get a mention! Similar to Brock, but not good enough to get in over Griffin?? That list is crap!

Channel 10 sport say a lot of things..... IMO most of it is crap.... I think we will have to wait a few more days and hear what the good Rev says... Now there is a bloke we can believe!!

I believe they were resting him with a view that maybe Brock will not play Rnd 1.... Pickett IN Brock OUT

Cameron Bruce would make a fine captain of the Melbourne Football Club... His on-field performances (when not injured or at 50%) have been nothing short of brilliant!! The bloke is a gun footballer who on his day can set the ground alight with his silky skills and freaky forward 50 plays.... Hang on, this sounds like a few of our players... TJ, Davey etc.... I believe the only reason a lot of people would prefer to steer clear of Bruce as captain is physical stature When people think of a skipper, they think of hard men of the game.... Blokes who actually have muscle tone! I'm sure Cam would be the first to tell us that he isn't exactly built like a Mark Riccuito or David Neitz, but we only have to look at the leadership that a bloke by the name of James Hird has given the Bombers over his career.... I believe Brock will get his day if he stays with us long enough and keeps working at his craft, but until such a day, I believe that giving the captaincy to Number 32 would be a wise decision! The bloke bleeds Red 'n Blue blood and I think he has earnt his stripes! That is my humble opinion anyway....

Melbourne Vs St Kilda - Demons by 16 Kangaroos Vs Collingwood - Pies by 11 Fremantle Vs Port Adelaide - Freo by 26 Brisbane Vs Hawthorn - Lions by 18 Sydney Vs West Coast - Sydney by 5 Adelaide Vs Essendon - Essendon by 8 Western Bulldogs VsGeelong - Cats by 32 Carlton Vs Richmond - Carlton by 44 I think the Crows will struggle to kick enough goals to beat the Bombers (even tho it is at Moron Park).... I also believe the Blues will launch an all out assault on the Tigers in a high scoring opening game for both sides.... As for the Dees, I would love to say we'll win by 5 or 6 goals but I am erring on the side of caution after our up and down pre-season....

Well, this is all a bit of a pointless adventure, but for what it's worth here is mine... Geelong 22 17 5 0 2409 1991 68 120.9 Fremantle 22 17 5 0 2359 2041 68 115.5 Sydney 22 17 5 0 2278 2122 68 107.3 Melbourne 22 15 7 0 2390 2010 60 118.9 West Coast 22 14 8 0 2333 2067 56 112.8 St Kilda 22 14 8 0 2270 2130 56 106.5 W Bulldogs 22 13 9 0 2270 2130 52 106.5 Carlton 22 12 10 0 2296 2104 48 109.1 Adelaide 22 11 11 0 2220 2180 44 101.8 Bris Lions 22 10 12 0 2126 2274 40 93.4 Collingwood 22 10 12 0 2124 2276 40 93.3 Port Adel 22 8 14 0 2147 2253 32 95.2 Hawthorn 22 7 15 0 2054 2346 28 87.5 Essendon 22 6 16 0 2068 2332 24 88.6 Richmond 22 3 19 0 1933 2467 12 78.3 Kangaroos 22 2 20 0 1923 2477 8 77.6 I must say, I am as shocked as the rest of you at the fact that I have Carlton in the 8 above teams such as Collingwood, Adelaide and Hawthorn.... But as I was going thru the fixture, it struck me that we could have a bloody ripper season on our hands! I believe Geelong will finally do what they have been promising their supporters for a long time, and finally stand up! As for the dees, well a home final against last years premiers would be a nice way of testing our theory of improving each season!!!