binman

That's funny! I love storms and consider myself to be a bit of a storm boy myself. I've been to Asian in wet season a few times and nothing beats a good tropical storm Not yet been to Darwin but keen to go in the wet season.

Should change your posting name to Storm Boy

You usually make a lot of sense Fan (even if i don't always agree with the view expressed) but to be honest i'm not sure how your comment relates to my post. I am not saying questioning Trengroves form or potential is being traitorous (or perhaps that's not what you're implying)' Also not sure what you mean by all is good in the off season, given the negative rumblings even on a thread that is nominally about an injury to the skipper (eg who cares he's no good anyway). Plenty of pre season examples thus far from posters wanting to point out how bad things are. One thing i will agree on however is that some things that go round and round on DL are pretty silly.

Satryricon, i am 100% with you on this. One of things i really hate when i go to the footy is supporters (demon or otherwise) bagging their own players and whilst DL is a forum to discuss things about the club i also hate when dees players get bagged on this site, or at least when it is over the top. Questioning form, application, attitude is ok. Bagging them unnecessarily is just rubbish And i for one cannot understand the lack of respect shown our skipper shown by several posters in this thread. As for the questions marks about his form and where he will get to again i'm left bewildered. He was the first to admit that last he didn't play as well as he had hoped but according to Neeld he met the KPI's set for each player. I thought he was terrific in the last few games and with his fantastic work ethic, attitude and approach to getting the best out of himself i am super confident he will end up being a star. What is no doubt is that he will be (and is already i reckon) a great leader for the MFC over the next decade and a player who role models to all how to go about preparing for and playing AFL footy. In case some people hadn't noticed the MFC has been in very short supply of exactly this sort of quality leader at the club for a long tome now and these qualities are exactly why Neeld made him the youngest ever AFL/VFL captain - that's 160 odd years! Unfortunately some people cannot see a player in holistic terms and as an example discuss his form last year in isolation, without considering what else he brings to the table and contributed to the team.

The thing that makes suspicious that this isn't really Seve posting is why he didn't use a photo of himself!

IMHO, since say 1975 the dees have only had one out and out champion player (I'm defining champion as a player who is in the top 30 players of the 'modern era" ie the last 40 years). And that's Robbie Flower. As a couple of people have noted, the ox had the potential to be in that league, but injuries cruelled him. Lyon was a top shelf A grade player, but not a champion. I was always (and still am) a huge Neita fan but i rank him a few notches below Lyon and a fair way of champion level. Top bloke, great club man but not a champion. I suspect those on this thread claiming he is didn't see him play that often. He was confidence player and if he stared poorly rarely could turn it around, particularly with his marking. Got in great positions but dropped way too many marks. Also never could kick bags. One champion in 40 years. No wonder we've not won a flag in that time.

There was some talk earlier this year that CW was going to take the senior footy writer position at the Hun. Perhaps after considering her the Hun owners thought their paper was too high brow for her.

I'm not sure about that in so far as it is really just gossip. Perhaps its got legs in terms of being a good tid bit but its of no real interset outside of a gossip column. Footy players using recreational drugs? Woopdy doo. I could care less. Gossip pure and simple that adds nothing to dialogue about footy. To me i suspect this is more evidence of a pretty dramatic shift at the Age to really sleaszy tabloid style puff. Its not just in sports, have a squiz at how they are reporting elements of the Gillard union story. Only Gratten can hold her head high in the reporting of that story at the age. This story by Wilson obviously cleared the editing process and i would assume she has been encouraged to go down the sensationalist road - any attention is good attention rule. No better than Paparazzi style rubbish And the story has got some media play. But its amazing, CW seems to sabotaging her reputation as a serious journalist. As Fan has pointed out she has good sources and therefore knows scuttlebutt But these sources will dry up quick smart with the sort of muck raking palaver she has been serving up of late. Once she loses her sources what will be left? Nada, zip.

Great work FNQ. Please don't break DL hearts with some inside tanking info now that you have more than proved you're bona fide demon (joking)

Good move mods on the deleting posts front. As BH pointed out silly of me to give stuff airtime by commenting.In that post BH said something that made me chuckle though, something along the lines of 'íf i was a moderator' Whoa neddy that would be something: big, bad, bustling Ben laying down the law in D town. I can just see a post along the lines of: 'Whilst i respect your right to an opinion i have to say you're opinion is not right. In fact i doubt i have read a more moronic post and it really reflects your lack of football acumen and knowledge. So i'm going to delete it and give you a warning - any more like that and you're banned for 12 months. Got a problem with that. Tough. I'm BH and you're not'

I know that the photo isn't meant to a definitive photo of our new recruits (despite the caption) but i reckon it is interesting that Barry, Hogan and Viney are not included in the photo. To me it is a reminder that Viney and to a lesser extent even Barry and Hogan are already part of the club. For me that is great for the club and should not be underestimated i reckon. Having Viney at the club all last year means even though he is new draftee he is more a second year player. He knows the Neeld model, what to expect, the game plan and the rest of the players. You won't get a more AFL ready player. Hogan will be the same next year. Barry obviously not quite as entrenched but he still has 2-3 weeks more pre season training than other new draftees which will put him ahead of the newbies and stand him in good stead. Like it.

One of my top demon 10 favourite players. Famously told the press to never darken his door again after his one and one presser when he became captain coach. heard the end of of a bit on SEN the other morning about Saints players with mo's. He had some nickname i hadn't heard. The Shadow? (i cant recall if that was it)

The Big Carl award

He must have been having a premonition about his future AFL playing career.

With Viney another left footer. I reckon it would been a factor in selecting him as it is an advantage to have multiple left footers i reckon.

http://www.telegraph...ran-strike.html If you go to this article and replace the words international naval power with hardened guns and the words in the gulf as Israel prepares an Iran with at the dees as Neeld prepares a footy you will get my meaning

Of our new recruits next year only Barry has not played senior footy, including Hogan (who has already and will a play whole season with Casey, which by the by is fantastic for them and their finals chances given his talent and the fact that they can plan around him - though the dees might still put him the paddock early, as they did with Fitzy, i suppose). Neeld's army is massing.

Absolutely and this goes to show how silly the view some put forward on DL that GWS (or for that matter GC) would deliberately set out to screw us over in regard to Viney (some even suggested they would do as part of some Sheedy vendetta against the club) rather than try to find a way that they benefited out of the situation (picks 1, 2, 3 for example).

Wouldn't surprise me that he was involved in drafting decisions prior to Neeld coming on board and there has been suggestion he was involved in the decision to retire certain players (indeed this seemed to be a big bone of contention with the playing group). But i would be very surprised if he has had any input whatsoever in drafting decisions since Neeld has come on board. I can't imagine Neeld accepting any interference at all from a CEO and i suspect he has made that clear with the board and even made it a condition of his accepting the gig. By some accounts the board have backed him in this regard and made it clear to CS the boundaries of his role.

BH that just not true. As Neeld and Watts both pointed out last year Watts did not play as a loose man so it's strange that the idea he did persists (particularly from dees supporters). ' His ability to zone off and intercept the ball is a skill that takes courage, judgement and skill . When he does so he is still accountable for his man and so to do so is inherently risky as it leaves his opponent free. Few players have the nerve or skill to do that which is where the comparisons to Goddard come in. So given he has played his best footy down back and he has an opponent i would argue that in fact he plays his best footy with an opponent.

Classy Nasher and point well made. Demonland would be all the better for responses such as this rather than the usual abrasive put downs that seem to be the norm. In regard to his trajectory i would say however that whilst it hasn't been particularly steep (like Hill for instance) it has been on a pretty a steady upward angle (unlike Rich for instance), which is a little boring but if it continues will put him in a pretty good place in 2-3 years time.

Watts will be star, of that i'm certain. As i have said before by his mid 20's (another 4 years away!) he will be a regular AA selection and considered to be one of the top 10 players in the league by most pundits and footy fans. Mark my words.

Reads like an angst ridden Haiku (or a Smith's song)

Fair call old dee. I'll sometimes receive an email that has been forwarded which has a long chain of other emails in it. Its amazing what can be in the emails buried several below the first one. I wonder what Fans's reaction would be if an incriminating email was found sent from a key FD staffer?

You might be right Old dee, what's that's saying about not going wrong underestimating the intelligence of people? But as i have posted before CW suggests that the IT people went into the club in October. Let's say for arguments sake it was mid October, that's nearly six weeks, perhaps linger. Seriously, given they are presumably just searching fro incriminating emails and documents (as opposed to some super encrypted secret tanking file that only the greatest tech minds could unlock) surely they would have found something by now. I mean how long does it take to do a document search? Even it meant someone actually reading through all the emails from key (or even peripheral) staff that were sent from the club in 2009, surely to goodness it would be completed by now. How many could there feasibly be?