Demon Dynasty

Wrapped to see these two back. My only worries...are they both back a game too early? May copped a massive knock and Fritta with a hand that surely can't be 100% ready either. He might not need that hand for the ball drop but he'll sure need it for marking and tackling attempts. I realise the FD is all over these things and i defer to their better judgement of course but that nagging doubt still lingers. Should have a pretty fair idea how they're both traveling by half time anyways.

LJ is starting to hold his own in the ruck, even winning a few contests now. Is also very handy at ground level competing well. I could be wrong (a regular thing!) but i can't see how he would be anywhere near the 'Ins / Outs' radar or discussion at this stage.

Coaches have long memories. The last time North won anything that saw them on the front page it was probably their Rnd 11, 2019 sterling win by 6 goals against the 'about to be dual premiers', the Tiges. BB kicked 5 big ones.

Latest on where the Demons are tracking from Fox Footy. Some of this has already been covered by astute contributors on this forum but nonetheless an interesting read... https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/melbourne-demons/afl-2021-melbourne-demons-improvement-stats-why-theyre-50-anzac-eve-game-vs-richmond-preview-afl-360/news-story/38380c0d733ad217d25cfb99a118987a

Not every aspect of a club / business has to be turned into a major profit centre LN. Provided its not a massive drain either of course. The venue could always be contracted out and off the books anyway. Provide some rental income as well. Anyway you are obviously dead against any such aspect being considered from your POV so we'll agree to disagree on this one.

Regardless of their discount arrangement it is not located within reasonable walking distance of the present training facilities or those being loosely muted (Gosches/therebouts). 2km from Gosch's. Too far for my old legs to get there and there's very few, if any parking options in Bridge Rd now. Random Swan street cafes/outlets are an easier walking distance get after training and they're also mostly open from 8.30am I don't understand why you would not want to offer this sort of meeting place as part of a new facility anyway? You don't want to cater for any supporters who might be attending training or visiting the club? Personally i would love the opportunity to randomly meet up with fellow supporters/members over a coffee/drink possibly while watching the boys train etc if the facility caters for that.

I was attending as part of work i was doing at the time LN ...neither visit was voluntary and no i wasn't looking to jump ship as you so kindly alude to. I'm not sure why that matters in this regard anyway. I'm merely pointing out that both facilities were impressive, even from an opposition supporter's perspective. Was i envious of them? Bloody oath i was.

So we ignore what other Clubs are doing and bury our head BW? As for the last suggestion, i've been attending the G and it's surrounding bars for decades. Barrassi's Mount View Pub finished up in 2000 and Swooper/Gazza's around 1994 and neither were actually affiliated in any official way with the club. They never truly felt like Demon pubs, although the London felt about as close as one could get for a couple of years or so there. I can't see the club changing their mind and attaching themselves to something like this if they haven't till now and we are talking over half a century of opportinity to do so here.

The other two are the official Cafe's of the Cats and the Saints located within their training grounds/facilities. Social club or not these clubs still have a place where supporters can go and hang . They're at least offering them something and players/coaches are often visiting / eating and mixing with their supporter base. Members/supporters/friends/families/business associates etc can have something to eat / drink and then go watch training if they wish should they wish to time their visit accordingly. It doesn't have to be the old school version of a social club which has mostly gone the way of the dodo bird, especially since the exit of most clubs from gaming facilities. Barkers is the new facility at Whitten Oval... ..."previous owners of the Pound Café decided to sell the business. This resulted in the creation of Barkers Café delivered by Letsbark Pty Ltd, a company owned by Kerri O’Toole and Terri Montgomery – who you may also know as the wives of Bulldogs President Peter Gordon and Bulldogs Senior Assistant Coach, Brett Montgomery. In a fantastic act of generosity to the Club, Kerri with Peter have decided to donate their share of profits from the business venture back to the Bulldogs." I've attended this (randomly once only) and ran into Bevo on the day while having some breakfast. Very pleasant. Same with the Cats' Kardinia park restaurant. Good menu/food and decent service also.

Blighty suggested on his SEN segment today you can acheive this separation of a 'two talls' forward line by playing them out of either pocket. Leading to either side vs up the middle and getting in each others way. Have a crumber in between those two. My only issue with that is they'll mostly both be shooting from low percentage angles and the scoreboard likely to suffer as a result. 5:30 mark if you want to hear this from Blighty.. https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode?id=818273

So basically scrap all players from Tracc down and we'll go undefeated for the entire season.

I don't wish anyone any ill will Cards but as OD has already pointed out, imagine the chances of getting a substantial project at Gosches (or similar local) off the ground if the Tiges are running into issues merely looking to adjust their existing facilities.

That's not far away from where Gazza grew up / played local footy i believe?

Yes i reckon the country locals there would be pretty [censored] if we were to venture anywhere near their set up Mono. I'm more than happy to make our base Casey if we are unlikely to find something more central eg; a fair bit closer towards the CBD. Say from 15km or so out but not as far as Casey. There has to be a viable option where we don't have to travel an hour (or for some longer) to visit the club's home base surely. I'm pretty sure there is but we aren't presently looking.

Already running into issues if this article is anywhere near the truth....

At this point just a lousy premiership will do me Mr Old. As for the club base / development thingy...i will believe when i see it. And by that i mean a genuine state of the art facility that encompasses training, admin and some sort of bar/social area/cafe thingy for the fans/members. My gut feel Mr Old is that it will be a massive compromise if it's anywhere near the G or the paddock is involved in there somewhere.

Very nice trip down the lane thanks Tiers. Still plenty of grey matter left there.

All good HT. That post had eerily similar tones to it. Probably just a coincidence. Maybe they are buddies.

Sadly i suspect that would appear to be the default fall back mantra as the board, until now, has not tabled one serious alternative solution for its fan base/members to mull over. At this point one can only deduce that the board/power brokers are so stubborn about having a new base close to "their/our" precinct that they just wont concede and refuse to even consider an alternatives a little further out. We have sat on our hands for 35 years and there has been ZERO supporter/member back lash. As a result the board appears to be happy to continue to tread water on a viable solution and/or do same until one near the G presents itself. There is zero pressure for them to act it would seem, so, they don't. If we do ever end up in a new base, many on here (possibly myself included) will be pushing up daisies.... R.I.P.

Chicken and egg LN. I think its the reverse. Had we had that base i think there may have actually been a GF party or two at said base already and we would probably not be talking about the need for a base or the lack of any silverware since 64. I'm not changing the point at all. The base is a must, not just for training & admin, for the fans as well. Without fans and without considering them in the picture, the club in its own right (having no real face to face connection with fans at any point, outside of game day) effectively is running itself in isolation and for what purpose? To please the people in positions of power, the coaches and FD, the players and the media? Without the fans there is no point in the club existing at a professional level. Even a small country club eg; Barnawartha Tigers has a raison d'etre, a soul, a base and possibly a better connection with its fan base at this point as a result of having a place to call home. It's part of the fabric, the essence of any half decent club imv... You (and i'm sure a number of others on here) therefore must feel there is no need to connect / please the fans at all. Just take their $$ and continue on continuing on no matter what happens on or off the field.

I think the 'cause' of being as close to the MCG as possible OD is probably being lead mostly by a chorus of MCC connected members vs those who are MFC only. Maybe the board doesn't want to ask the latter nor care for their response?

SATY is that you? ?

It's not just about training & admin imv LN. The fans are just as important as is having a base you can associate with and call home. There will remain a disconnect between the club and its players until this is found imho.

I don't mind speculating the 'what ifs' if we're able to keep most key players on the park and what if we can win X number of games for the remainder? Where would we likely finish on the ladder IF? I think most do that. But outside of that i never think anything beyond who's ahead of us this coming week. Most of these journalists writing these articles have no idea what it's like to live through what we have lived through. Some no doubt might if they follow the likes of the Saints or Bulldogs (prior to 2016). I believe they are confusing "enjoying winning more often vs the ****ty feeling when you lose alot" ...with dreaming. They are mutually exclusive from where i sit and i never scream the house down as a fan during a match thinking "oh if we win this, we might win most of our coming matches, we might make finals and we might make a GF. Hec we might win it this year". This is all just journalist and opposition clap trap. Most would hate for us to have any success as they can't stand the idea of such a loser club (in their minds) beating up on their beloved club/s. Most journalists, regardless of how much they might scream... "i'm a professional unbiased journalist", are barracking for the team they followed as a kid growing up or the team/s they played for. They want to see their team/s winning, they don't want to see us have success. There might be a few rare ones who maybe follow other sports and don't have a team they support who are truly unbiased and want to see the under-dog succeed, such as us, or have us as a second team. However, you could probably count them on one hand. The rest are dying for us to fall over at some point so they can all say "I knew it", "You heard it here first", "Same old Demons" etc. The only way to shut the [censored] supporters and journalists up is to keep winning and bashing up on their precious clubs. Many of whom got to where they are from winning so many premierships in the 70s and 80s (namely Carlton, Richmond and Hawthorn) by rorting the zone system the VFL set up in 1970 for a good 15 years prior to it being disbanded in 1985. For all those supporters and journalists, especially the ones who follow those three cheating clubs in particular, and who might be whining about us having a few wins in a row....SUCK IT UP CHEATERS! ?