Little Goffy

I still think we need to get pick 7 somehow. That's where you get your gun mids these days. Meanwhile, going on what I've read, which is of course of limited use, there seems to be a pretty strong first round's worth of this draft. I'd be fascinated to see what we get with our pick in the very late teens, or higher if we can bump it up a little in trade week. I'm not completely joking about pick seven though - I'd throw every later pick we had that plus an expendable player or two to get another top ten pick, if I had to. In that scenario, I'd think Scully, Jack Trengove, and then someone who offers a forward threat with 7. I like recruiting from the NT, it seems to go well, so that would mean Troy Taylor, just to ensure our entire forward line is freak-stylish (Watts, Jurrah, Wonaeamirri, Taylor).

Also, be sure to watch this - It's not really relevant, but it doesn't need to be I can try to make it relevant... ummm... Walsh is a red head just like Cheney, and they are kind of similar players. I'm sure Strauss will be just like Green in time... and uhh... Maric looks a like like Yze now his hair is dark, and they're both called a variation on 'Adam'.

We have one or two players who might look like stars if they were dropped into any of the last ten premiership teams. We have a few players who might be stars if they can either sustain their new form, regain some lost touch, or take the next step. We have a horde of kids who have barely played yet and many of these were high draft picks or have already shown real promise, or both. Whatever happens from here this season, I reckon we're in for at least one very high draft pick! Find me five players out of that who might simultaneously be All-Australian, anywhere acros the ground, in 2012, and I'll believe in our future, with a grin, because I think come what may we will at least have good depth given the sheer volume of promising kids we've brought in. And of course, by 2012 we'll be ready to bring Stewart Dew, the superstar, back out of retirement to make a third major contribution to a premiership win.

I think something we're missing is.. Febeys! 2 in the 90s, twins. Both elgible for father son system. Each has one set of twin boys (it is genetic, after all) and they all grow up playing footy together. Those 4 all (of course) go on to play at least the hundred games for the Demons. Each has twins boys (it is genetic, after all) and they all grow up playing footy together. Those 8 all (of course) go on to play at least the hundred games for the Demons. Each has twins boys (it is genetic, after all) and they all grow up playing footy together. Those 16 all all (of course) go on to play at least the hundred games for the Demons. Each has twins boys (it is genetic, after all) and they all grow up playing footy together. I estimate that by 2050 we'll have at least 30 Febeys on our list, and by then be averaging 2 additional Febey father-son picks per year.

I think where we have a problem is the lack of courage to leave a forward, and a couple of half forwards ACTUALLY FORWARD, even when the ball is hovering in defence. Too many people running back undermines manning up, people get confused. Having those three or four guys upfield ready to receive the clearance, even if it is rushed out of there, at the very least causes a delay before the next time it comes back in. If you've got 18 players in defence, obviously every time it comes out it just goes back in. I like the basic gameplan - running along with a chain of handballs with the goal of keeping it moving forward at the same time as trying to work a player free with enough space to delvier a really good kick into the forward line. In many respects all it needs is better developed skills and fitness. But it just doesn't work if there's nobody there, and it doesn't work if you force the whole team, all the time, to be running back and forward. Those forwards are 'resting' even while they do an important job - being a menace!

Love your work, Hannabal.

Nice work, it's great seeing 'champion' supporters getting organised and helping build up a Demon community. What is the collective term for Demons, anyway? A cabal? Edit: Looked it up - it is "A circle of demons".

Over the last couple of decades there has been a fundamental change in what 'savings' are - the 'Gen Y' version of savings is in a sense intellectual property. Because better qualifications, skill acquisition, a diverse and interesting resume and even 'extra-curricular activities' make such a massive difference to personal income potential in the 'information-driven economy', the best form of saving for the future isn't cash at all! Meanwhile, the disposable income difference between what you can typically earn early in your career and what you can earn when you've developed your skills, added an extra qualification and at some point got your 'break' is so great that what you might have been able to save in five years before the gap is no more than what you could save in two years after the gap. So the summary - younger people appear irresponsible and impatient to older people because the fundamental ways of being responsible have changed. For younger people the most important thing for planning for the future is to do as many things as possible as soon as possible. At the same time, traditional saving for a house deposit appears a futile effort given that house prices have, for fifteen years now, gone up faster than a reasonable person on a moderate income could hope to save. I guess one way to illustrate it is, if a 19 year old said to their parents 'I don't need to study because I'm going to work at the car factory for the next forty-five years, gradually save for a deposit and settle down to raise a family', the parents would be genuinely worried about the kid's future; if that job goes, they and their family are stuffed, possibly for generations to come! I'd like to be clear that this is not something the older generations 'did' to the younger - we all know the unemployment 'scrap heap' that so many people found themselves on as the economy shifted like this, and as so many stable jobs (textiles, manufacturing etc.) evaporated they were left with no transferable skills to take into a new career. As the economy changed, many of the older generation bore the worst possible impact of what the younger generation are now structuring their lives/careers to avoid. This also partly explains the level of workplace conflict between generations - for the older generation there is much more of a cultural emphasis on stability and development within a role, so when a younger colleague is putting pressure on them to 'move on', it is undertansably seen as an attempt to usurp the job and kick the incumbent out. But for the younger worker the goal is almost a kind of rotation - the idea being that they'll get a go at this role, add it to their resume and then target another step - and not necessarily a liner promotion. From their perspective, the older colleague is bordering on being irresponsible themselves, by sticking in a rut and limiting their own 'personal growth opportunities'. They really do mean it when they say indelicate things like 'don't you think it's time you went somewhere else?'. For the record, my age puts me right on the cusp of generations, and I can say without doubt that I don't belong in any of them! But then again, neither do most people. I hope this has helped shed some light on why the different generation's annoy eachother so much.

Hi Lisa, great to see a new supporter group getting underway, wishing you all the best. You might not get a large number of responses to this site because it's heavily populated by people who are either out of Melbourne but dedicated to keeping informed, or people who are in town and keep themselves informed anyway. But I will say to everyone in Melbourne - get along to the opening of the Casey Demons supporter group! Let's make them feel welcome and be there at the start so we can feel good watching it grow!

Davey giving the ball away under pressure? Do you mean turnovers? Because he would be the last person to face criticism for his disposal, certainly at Melbourne and he'd be among the best in the league. Maybe you're thinking someone else - Bennel, Jetta? Wonaeamirri has had a string of injuries, that's why he's out. Wheatley has been out with injury early, and is now at Casey doing 'ok'. Almost certain to be gone end of year as he fails constantly to apply defensive pressure, and turns the ball over routinely because he has very poor decision making. Anyway, I like you're suggestion that we stop saying we're a chance to win games. I think that's something the club and fans should really take on board. And the players, too, especially the young guys. I think it's really important that they worry as much as possible about looking stupid when they try to do something and it doesn't work out.

I'll be in again. I think there's a key point here that the club is aiming to steadily eradicate the debt, not just keep covering it. The board has repeatedly stated that they are determined not to draw out any new debt. If the 'ordinary operations' this year break even, but the debt demolition kicks in another million, then it's a very good year, considering all the circumstances. Of course, if we miraculously get 2 million this august, then budda-bing budda-boom, we're debt free. I'll tip in for that, for sure!

I can verify that Rivers has in fact taken a few of his trademark marks, I remember watching, catching the crash and thinking 'I'll bet that was Rivers stuck in the middle of all that... He's been a long time out, and certainly not going to be delisted at the end of this year, thats for sure. I'd think Johnson will be with us a little longer too, despite his frickin horrendous use of the ball so often this season. He's wearing out his time though... I actually think Bruce is in danger, at the very least of being dropped occasionally. He gets plenty of posessions, but rarely is damaging with them becasue he never quite gets that extra half pace ahead that he needs to be. Same deal defensively, he is often in the vicinity but never quite close enough to be putting on pressure, and his tackles are too often 'just a tackle', lacking the impact to cause a turnover. It makes me very sad to see so many stalwarts fading, but even Bruce will be a fringe player by this time next year.

- CONTROVERSIAL SUGGESTION WARNING - As this stand, looking at the proposed prospects for the coming draft, I've got two main thoughts. It's Scully for No. 1 by all accounts, and geez he loks good in the videos. There's about a dozen other seriously first class options. In the event of getting our bonus pick, my thought are that we should seek to get ourselves a second pick in the top ten, for example by trading 2 and 18 for 7 and 9, or something like that. Even 2, 18 and 34 for seven and nine sits quite comfortably with me. It would be a matter of how to get things rolling so that another club can make that trade to us, obviously there's a lot of water under the bridge yet... But whatever happens, we MUST get pick seven. Seriously - Rich, Palmer, Selwood, even Ryder has come good, and Jordan Lewis. You have to go back to the 'scrap draft' of 2003 to find Kane Tenace before you'd be unhappy with your choice.

First Stefan Martin, now Liam Jurrah - whatever comes through in the end, those two first picks in the pre-season draft have been very well researched in that extra time, and used to bring in unexpected players with really good prospects. We were hardly going to get a dud with no 1, whoever we'd chosen, but getting good players with good character into the team with very late picks, that's gold.

If it makes anyone who is actually bothering to compare these two after one game feel better, Watts is a year younger than Natanui.

Here's another source with the 59648 figure - http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_matc...istics?mid=3567

Didak is an arsewipe. Hall is a [censored]. Fevola wears a nightie and novelty dildo in federaton square in the middle of the day. Jason Akermanis WTF!? You can make a pretty good forward line from people with major adjustment and socialisation issues, I'd say. I would suggest that the draft order is determined by a perceived risk/reward scale, with variations in perception and importance to each. Picutre a < pair of lines. Below the bottom line is the chance of failure by whatever cause - injury, lack of ability, external commitments, being a [censored]. Above the top line is the chance of success, in terms of becoming a star/All-Australian/club leader/poster boy, based on skill, athleticism, size, attiude, character. Obviously the closer you get to the 'pointy end' the less tolerance for risk of failure (below), and the greater demand for likelihood of success (above). As you get further down, to the later picks, the acceptable area increases, of course. Every club and recruiter has different priorities and the line is not evenly angled - some will tolerate more risk, others will demand reliabiltiy first, and so on. Every club, recruiter, and fan also has different ideas of what constitutes a sign of risk or potential reward. Someone picked Didak, after all. Someone also picked Fiora, what a nice young man with a solid set of all-round ability. There's a lot of testing and assessment, there's a lot of interviews and watching games. But it's all a judgement call in the end, it's not an administrative decision by a functionary.

I'm gonna trot out my old line on this - It's not like we're looking at Pavlich v Fiora or Franklin v Roughead. We have what looks to be a gem, West Coast have what looks to be a gem. Smiles all round.

Carlton 2007 4 wins. 78%. 2006 3 wins, 1 draw, 74%. Hawthorn 2005 5 wins. 82%. 2004 4 wins. 70%. St Kilda 2002 5 wins, 78%. 2001 4 wins. 72%. These teams are scattered with names like Crawford, Harvey, Hayes, Mitchell, Croad, Everitt, Fevola, Loewe. We're building a team from so close to scratch it's not funny. Given that we don't have a single champion-level veteran currently (performing) on our list, I'd say the kids are holding up well. Rewind 20 years... a little more... find yourself the youtube video of the Demon's 'Night premiership', there was a comment in that which has stuck with me for months; 'and he kicks it forward to the Demons most dangerous forward, the teenager...' This time round, the kids will have the facilities, football department and political stability to give them the best chance possible. Don't go putting a hex on it just because of the occassional mental crash along the way.

How good are we? Right now I feel a lot like 2005, where we had the long slump followed by the last three wins in a row in tight games, scraped into the finals and then got smashed by Geelong and straight out of the finals. It's been similar - we've being putting a hell of a lot in this last month, and I'd reckon doing that and still not getting the wins would be even more exhausting than those last desperate games of '05. We hit our limit today, mentally done in, we crumpled. Just be glad it's the split round and we have some time to freshen up, focus on the much more attackable draw in the second half of the season, and see how we go from there.

Part of why we did so poorly was because the veterans generally had poor games. It's not like we're about to lose our top assets to age. Our oldest player who had what I would call a decent game today was Green, and that wasn't spectacular. Moloney might be next, I'm guessing. (Yes, I know Bruce got amongst our highest disposals, but they tended to be low-impact and there were too many pieces of lazy non-defence non-pressure from him) As has been pointed out before, we also have a very wide split of ages - our older players are properly old, meaning that the large number of younger players are balanced out in the average age stat. Remember that one 33 year old plus three 21 year olds is the same average (24) as a 27 year old and three 23 year olds.

I felt quite sad at times today (well, actually quite a lot of today) when watching Robbo, Bruce, Whelan and McDonald. Add Wheatley, though he wasn't out there today. I love these guys, they've been at the club for the whole decade I've been a proper supporter/member, but it's just starting to feel inevitable that we will lose them, very soon. Some are fading out in that they are still doing the things we respect them for, but not often enough in any given two hours. Others seem to be still getting it and being involved, but not having any great impact. It reminds me a lot of the emotion at the end of '07, the big farewell game for so many, at the end of an era which we all knew in our hearts was also going to be the beginning of the end for the remaining veterans. On the other hand, hoopla we've got some good kids developing. I for one am looking forward to seeing how they go once they finish puberty!

The descriptions of Jurrah as a tall forward Aaron Davey not only have me excited, but they all make me refelct a little - I had the priviledge of seeing Aaron Davey's first game for Melbourne, in the then Wizard Cup, up close and personal at Manuka Oval in Canberra. He did a few nice things, a couple of tastes of the great high speed tackling, and then... there was a piece of play that will remain etched in my memory. Ball was just crossing the 50m arc, coming to group amongst a tangle of players. Davey just bolted into it at breathtaking speed, almost scary in so much congestion, it was like he'd been invisible two seconds earlier. At full tilt he slammed into the guy with the ball, it spilled with a barely legit and completely powerless handball, another opposition player gathers it, handballs it off quickly, but Davey is there with another fantastic tackle, this time gathers the ball himself, puts a couple of steps between himself and anyone chasing, and sends it on to the top of the square. I don't even remember the opponent, or even what happened next, I just remember the sheer elation of seeing such a great bit of play from such a new player. Quietly I'm hoping that Jurrah will play his first game up in Canberra, get to meet a few politicians and put Yuendumu on their radar, and give me another 'moment' to remember for years and years, leaning against the fence and letting him know how good it was!

The thing about Brock is, his game is built on determination. When things get a bit hair-raising and the pressure is on, he'll maintain his level while others on both teams start to fluctuate. He also works very hard to get to contest after contest after contest - the number of times Brock Mclean is there, turning what would otherwise be a two on one into a two on two, or an easy run and bounce for the other side into a hard one, it's truly impressive. He doesn't win every contest like magic, but because of Brock Mclean in any given week there's an extra dozen contests that our opponents have to work through. The work ethic, determination and calmness will be priceless in big games, for a taste we only need to look back on the Elimination Final against St Kilda.

Pair of Jacks wins over full house. Every word except 'of' in that headline uses double meanings. I'm so proud.