Jaded No More

Demonland is awesome when the team is struggling

Warnock wasn't bad. His disposal was good, and he had some nice spoils. I've seen worse players in Melbourne's backline. We have to give him and Frawley a chance this year, unless we're happy to keep playing Carroll in the FB position and watch him get smashed each week.

Indeed. We should have lost by over 100 given how many times Brisbane had the ball in their forward 50. Pressure was off in the last quarter and hence we played a lot better. We cannot play football under pressure. I'm sure we hit targets at training too. Oh and the game plan is always going to change when you get first possession in the midfield, which we didn't do all day until the last quarter (and Belly finally played in the midfield... WOO! :D)

To pull off Bailey's game plan, you need to be exceptionally skilled, because once you turn it over, you are stuffed. We unfortunately turn it over again and again and again. When we get our hands on the footy and move the ball forward quickly with handballs and then a kick inside the forward 50, we score and we look fairly good. The problem is we are struggling to get and KEEP our hands on the ball. Turnovers galore. I've counted no more than 6 disposals in a row from Melbourne before we turn it over. That's woeful.

I don't think he could either, doubt he's trying to out-do himself each week... lets see how much worse we can get with each passing round <_< But what has happened to this team that they have lost all basic skills? How can professional players turn the ball over 9 out of 10 times?

You all realise that if it wasn't for the 10,000 turnovers a minute, we wouldn't be 41 points down? All of our goals this quarter have come from quick ball movement, didn't they? It's when our players don't feel like moving their arse, creating an option, or running back into position that we kick to a 4-on-1 and inevitably lose possession. And lets not even mention the amount of times we turn the damn ball over in the backline. For the love of god, no coach in the world could get a victory out of 22 skill-less players. Disgusted in the players' response to losing Neita, to getting baked in the media and being humiliated every week. They just don't care to show any improvement or work hard for each other. How many times can you leave your opponent free? how many times can you just stand there instead of creating a viable target? UGH, thank god for Jonathan Brown... he at least makes this match watchable.

Where's the dilemma? With the creation of 2 new teams, and the draft concessions they are about to receive, it has NEVER been more important to get the best picks possible in the draft. Glad I'm not in charge of recruiting though, because the choice for #1 is going to be a difficult one. Freakishly athletic ruckman or gun midfielder... it's like asking what you need more, a leg or an arm.

Given the mixed reviews he's received, can I ask what in particular you liked about him today? Can't believe we finally play on different days to Melbourne and I'm stuck at work <_<

I agree that Jonesy has struggled. He really needs to work on his decision making, which is hopefully something that he'll develop with more experience. He has to learn to take the first option more often, because he does not have the leg speed to fluff around with the ball.

Indeed. They are playing the roles of senior midfielders, except they are 19 and 21. I can't think of one other club in the AFL which relies on the efforts of such inexperienced players in the midfield. Maybe possibly Essendon, and look at how they're traveling.

You can get pick 2 if you traded the love child of Gary Ablett and Mark Ricuitto... you know, Colin Sylvia :D

Stop your crying, Bate is EASILY in our best 18, which means he mustn't be 100% fit. They put him on the extended bench, gave him a fitness test which he didn't pass, so now he has to be put down as an emergency. We can't afford to be carrying underdone players, god knows we're crap enough with 22 fit players. Another week at Sandy, while Garland gets another game under his belt. It's not like we're fighting for a top 4 spot here people.

We got pick 14 for TJ. We could get the same, or higher for Bruce. We can also get fairly reasonable picks for Green and Sylvia, if we combine the offer with a later draft pick. There are ways of gaining early (not top 10, but top 20) picks, it's just a matter of having the balls to do it.

Clubs need to agree to this disgraceful robbing of talents, which they probably won't. Regardless, it makes getting a #1 pick, and trading for early picks this year absolutely paramount.

It's all a question of whether his body holds up. Another long-term injury and he may call it quits, and wouldn't that be a shame!

Absolutely true. I wouldn't put it past Carlton, if they haven't won anymore games by Round 15, to start tanking hard for another quality tall. Just hope and pray that they win 3 more games (who would have thought we'd ever wish for a Carlton victory!).

Ugh! Short term solution to a long term issue.

I would continue to support the club, financially too, but obviously after years and years of having no success my interest would drop significantly. Can't imagine ever supporting another club though. I hate them all too much :D

I'm hoping for the bench to be: Bate, Buckley, Dunn and Garland. Moloney is struggling, Warnock is not up to standard, and as for Jamar, he is just embarrassing.

Good to know. Lotto numbers for this week?

Could be useful to take some heat off McLean

No wonder the WB are struggling. They are not the benchmark, nor should they be. And I don't give a stuff about other sporting clubs and other supporter groups, I care only about what the MFC has. We obviously disagree that we have a problem with our supporter base, and that's fine. You choose to look at what we have, I choose to look at what we don't have and what we should have. SOME (read: SOME) of our supporter base is weak and unreliable. This might be the case for other clubs too, in fact I'm sure it is, but other clubs are not in the same horrible position that we are in with memberships, attendances and profits.

I NEVER EVER said we were without soul and support. And your comparison between Melbourne other sporting clubs in Australia is simply irrelevant. We are competing within the AFL market, and the facts are, that within the AFL market our brand is weak, our support is small and our position in this competition is far from guaranteed. Yes, we will always have a smaller supporter base and membership numbers, but it stands to reason that if we can get close to 30,000 members in 2007 on the back of 3 successive finals campaigns (albeit unsuccessful ones), that our membership should continue to rise or at the very least steady. That if fluctuates so dramatically, is just another sign that a lot of our supporters just cannot be relied upon. As for Sydney and Brisbane, they, unlike us, have the full support of the AFL. They can have 10,000 members a year and they will not go out of business. We have to battle with 10 other Victorian clubs and not many people at AFL house will care if we go under. They will not support us forever.

Perfect. Even Neita would agree that losing is the way to go. As long as Neita himself has a good game and we don't absolutely disgrace ourselves, it's the only way to go. If we're 4-17 in Round 21, we deserve a priority pick and we should make sure we get it.

Really? How many teams have 10,000 members who haven't signed on from last season? How many teams play half-empty stadiums? Which other club is currently struggling to string together 25,000 members? We don't have the supporter base of Collingwood or Carlton, which makes every single supporter we do have invaluable. That so many of them don't do their fair share for the team is really sad. Thankfully this doesn't apply to Demonland members, who are all passionate supporters and in most cases, club members. What annoys me more than anything is supporters who complain about our form, or what is happening at board level, and yet they wouldn't bother turning up to games when we're 0-5, or buying a membership if they don't think they can use it to get a finals ticket. I don't see why any of us should accept it as the norm, because it isn't. Accepting it and doing nothing about it is going to contribute to the ongoing stereotype of the typical MFC supporter, trying to change it won't. Go read Redlegs' excellent thread about what we can all do to help this club survive. Sadly, if we rely on our current supporter base, we won't make it much further in this competition. I think we can all agree that that would be a tragedy.