Little Goffy

Love that this thread is being bumped from pre-premiership.

Should I suddenly be feeling optimistic?

The element of panic was summarised by that very last play.

Everyone bolted to get 'back' without actually moving to defend - to not be aware of their opponents, nevermind one of the in-form players of the game, is unmistakably a sign of feeling all eyes on themselves.

Focusing on the task at hand should be a comfort to anyone in a stressful moment - that's what thousands of hours of training is supposed to ensure.

Tell you what, my wife can't accelerate from a standing start much, but she sure as [censored] wouldn't go completely to water in a crisis like these million dollar ponies did.

Edit: I suppose my point is that for whatever amount of time and for multiple reasons we've had a psychological detachment between happiness or contentment and actions of substance. Like the alienated worker doing enough to hold their job, but no longer motivated by the satisfaction of doing their job well.

I remember the assessment of Scott Morrisson as 'wanting the title of the job but not the actual job'.

I suspect there's a whirlwind of personal rivalries and oneupmanship motivating a lot of what goes on at the 'leadership' levels of the club, which goes in a circle, or perhaps a see-saw, or perhaps a see-saw on a merry-go-round.

Time for a wild analogy;

During the constantly on again off again strife and civil wars of Greece, every time there was a change of government there would be a purge of the armed forces officers, and naturally those no unemployed and insulted officers would ally themselves with whichever they considered the most likely opposition to seize power back or next.

The end result was that by the early-mid 20th century there were typically three available officers for every actual position. One holding the position and two straining to get back into it by first overthrowing the regime and secondly competing with the other displaced officers.

Looks like Melbourne has something like that, and every person currently sating their vanity with the glory of being a VIP around the club is mirrored by others craving a return.

As they say in the classics; "A position soundly reasoned must be held against opposition, but opinion held onto motivated by a feeling of opposition itself is the path to disaster."

Vehement factional opposition to Goodwin has been visible since before the premiership.

This awful moment will probably give that faction the final surge of influence to cause a spill.

But short of another messianic Roos-Jackson style combination, I fear that no matter who comes into the club they will immediately face resentment and undermining from the 'purged officers', the wannabe VIPs who actually contribute so little, and thus the slow-burning civil war will continue.

To quote the great master;

"There's only one way out of this, and it's together. Whole club hurting; every component. That's what we talked about. Head Down. Work hard.

...

There you go."

The trouble is, when you start these things there is no controlling which way the wrecking ball swings.

You can lose Dean Bailey and keep Cameron Schwab, for example.

Good opportunity for a new coach to start with a win.

Like drinking four cups of cold coffee with slightly overdue milk.

I feel extremely agitated and not well at all.

That game has added outright embarrassment and shame to the tone at the end of an already thoroughly disappointing season.

This final quarter has been really annoying.

3 minutes ago, DutchDemons said:

We look way better without May and Lever.

3 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Let’s not forget the Saints have a terrible tall forward line. We aren’t playing Jeremy Cameron and Jesse Hogan here.

1 minute ago, Heart Beats True said:

So far our pressure has been great. Effort couldn’t been questioned.

I'm going to speculate that it is a case of the rest of the team being forced to take collective responsibility.

Lever's value especially was always built on being able to pay the reward for the whole team's defensive pressure forcing loose kicks that he could swallow and rebound from. Allowed to play that role he was gold, but exposed 1-1 on the like of Hawkins or Walker is not a happy memory.

If the team plays well then Lever is a multiplier, which should not be confused with a cherry on top, a downhill skier or a passenger.

However, that factor does make me doubt whether he can be an effective captain when so much of his own value depends on the team effort. That and the occasional brain fart, of course.

Viney getting a sniff of tackle count records now.

I swear Fritsch cradled the opponent's neck to ensure the head was supported as he brought him to ground.

Good dad vibes.

And on today's form if you had to drop a baby out of a burning window, you'd want him to be the one waiting below.

36 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

there's nothing he can't do*

*accurate set shots inside 30m from goal excepted

Running Bounce.

He might actually be able to do them but it is on record he swore an oath not to.

Maybe for the memes in his final game in 2031.

Disappointed that Gawn's hitout rate slowed a little. Halfwayt hrough that quarter he was on target for 100+

Still on the pace for a personal best, which would also be a top-10 all-time hitouts in a game.

With all due respect to Marshall, he is out there more or less on his own and Gawn is already clunking contest marks in defense, and equal lead for clearances after the first, as well as racking hitouts all over.

Could be a big'un for Gawn.

Viney really energetic early. Nice for him to grab a goal.

Oooeee isn't Langford looking good early, too!

On 22/07/2025 at 17:28, whatwhat say what said:

if sandringham are going it alone in 2026 and the aints are fielding a standalone vfl side... now how many teams will there be in this competition??

I suspect still several more than the VFL fixturing team can count to.

It has been about 15 years since a club accumulated so much early-draft midfield talent and got such little result for it.

Currently Clarkson hasn't got close to Bailey and is barely ahead of Neeld. (expansion team caveat noted)

The fact they've popped up for the occasional win when they seem to feel like it must make it all the more frustrating for North's remaining supporters and, dare I say it, any young players with serious ambitions.

Good to see West Coast staying in the game against Freo until the 25 minute mark of the first quarter.

Rivalry round is AWESUM

Remember when it was all fair and reasonable that we never got good time slots because we weren't very good and/or we didn't draw crowds and/or our play style wasn't exciting? (depending on who you ask)

The only really interesting thing about tonight's game is the old '186 watch'. Dogs can score frantically on their day and Essendon are perfectly capable of throwing in the towel.

1 hour ago, Gibberish said:

There's not much that is free these days.

Ahh, I knew I smelled a rat.

A premium Versailles-inspired rat, to be sure. A rat Louis the XIVth would be proud to have crawling up his drain.

23 hours ago, Superunknown said:

https://parfums-de-marly.com/

Must've scraped the mucus off a lot of horny dolphins to make those.

If you sign up to their email marketing you get a free 'scented miniature'. I now have an ambition to get every member of Demonland to sign up and stockpile them.

9 minutes ago, Smokey said:

I love how on Demonland we manage to make an acronym out of anything and everything

Surely You mean "AnE".

18 hours ago, bluey said:

Terrific, the club is in crisis and Gawn has a good laugh with Andy Maher, nobody cares Gawn, grow up and represent the club, time to move on and find a real leader , we have heard all your funnies before.

Genuine concern for your mental health, but also blocked because nobody needs that [censored]

12 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

You once started a thread on here titled “I like big butts and I cannot lie.” That’s a dead giveaway right there 😁

It was about players having a low centre of gravity, long bodies and short legs and in your words… big butts.

I recall thinking that one of Jack Watts' key weaknesses was that his butt was too high off the ground.

Somewhere between Coldplay lyrics and word salad.

But I think I'm good with the general sentiment.

Good job Freo.

Glancing at the other game, the chances of the Suns somehow missing the finals after ANOTHER pathetic late-season fade is looking very strong.

Is there something weird going on over in Adelaide? Did lightning strike their pre-game huddle? How can a team that stacked for talent not even kick a goal in a half of football?

I'm just glad we don't have Gold Coast's junk coach, whoever it is.