Demon Dynasty

Not necessarily Red. They may have simply just walked out and on permanent LOA without the club knowing

We have no idea what effects or benefits, if any, where delt to players as there is apparantly no record (according to Club/AFL officials... and contrary to Dank's version) of what was taken, how much was taken and when/where it was administered. While i agree, the initial benefits (if any) may have worn off, those same potential benefits may have particularly assisted and fast tracked the younger less developed players within the playing group to retain and maintain their size increase (if there was one) from a much higher starting base than had they not allegedly taken named substances.

I think the AFL should be congratulated for ensuring that half the team didn't receive infraction notices, quarantining the issue to last season only, enabling Essendrug to field a full team (along with recruiting multi premiership experience in Chappy and Captain playing, who publicly admitted taking said banned substance) and are still kicking ass this year. Congrats to Vlad and co.

When he says his re-signing is "subject to" seeing whether a coach re-signs or not, i believe it is holding the club to ransom. If he says i havent made a decision, waiting till later in the year etc that would be entirely along normal lines a la Buddy

In the words of the great Seigfried.... "I find that hard to believe!"

No, but it was mentioned in Misson's autopsy report

Mate i drive past many training sessions (as part of my job) and i've been watching him run laps for the most part of the last 12 months. I'm not so sure seeing him "run laps" at any pace is necessarily a sign of something good. It could just as well be a bad sign. Maybe If i see him in a full on drill session with the rest of the undead, then yeah, a chubby might not be far away

Yup...count me in

I see where this is going Song You don't give a TOSS about midgets!

No No No and No As much as i rate Chip and hope he stays on next year, i'm not big on Ransom demands on a club by individual players. And we all know who the last player was to do that....

Quite sad that the members don't get to know a single detail about what's up and absolutely no idea on a possible return time frame. Just nothing. I wish Mitch all the best but as members paying over our hard earned to support the club, as well as turning up and spending more time/$ at the games we attend, surely we are entitled to know some basics like the above on any player, let alone our highest paid player? I agree mate, close the thread. It's a whole lotta stuff about NOTHING..and we know NOTHING

There never was going to be any WYL. Chappy must have been the sweetner in the points deduction deal with the AFL. Nice outcome for the bongers i feel. And ditto mate.... and that's saying something as i hate both teams with a passion

It's a discussion site. That's what we do here, discuss and pontificate all things MFC. If you don't like it no one's forcing you to read it. Then again we could always do with a few more smart asses and snipers on here. Not related to Satyr by any chance? Welcome aboard junior

Yeh i know mate.... it's a very dark navy blue i think. That's another reason i prefer stuie's version. The White banner also stands out against the darker background, clearly embolding the nick name... Demons.

Stuie there are ways around the copyright issue. If serious the club could employ the services of a patent/copyright firm who would solve that one way or the other i believe. Shouldn't be a stumbling block. Where there's a will and a good law firm's hefty fee lurking, there's usually a way

Our trouble is Dee that we don't really have proven quality smalls/quicks at this point either. I like the strategy though. Just don't think we have those types of options who we know can be relied upon to deliver. That's not to say we won't develop them going forward but it's not really a geniune option right now. I wish it was, particularly this week. Can't see how else we can beat the Weagles with a standard set up....not that anything is standard with the MFC line up right now. Barely a dangerous key position player available to pick.

Only time will tell Sassy. Lets get Hogan on the track and fully fit first. And not just that, we need to be able to deliver the ball to his advantage or into his lead much more efficiently than we've done in the last 7 years if we're to see him become that dominating forward we're all hoping for. What a relief it will be to see him running around and fit. Toumpas is a WIP. He just seems a half yard behind AFL pace (both across the the ground and speed of disposal) at this stage. However, we wont really see his likely potential i believe until he has 60 to 80 games under his belt. He is showing glimpses of real class though which is a great sign. Being a long suffering supporter ive seen many early bloomers in the past fall by the wayside. Along with many other youngsters in our team he'll need to take many steps up from here over the next 2 or 3 seasons to compete effectively at AFL level week in and out against the very best.

There were a few taking the game on Robbie. Matt Jones and Grimes (disposal) were definitely having a crack and Watts was pretty classy all night and taking opponents on. But i do agree with your point about being hesitant. And yes thats a part of the "possession" style that Roos is trying to teach em. The trouble is when you do it "most" of the time it's just too predictable. The opposition have too much time to find a man a kick or so behind play but also players about 2 kicks behind can also push up a little and create a wall which if you kick to it under pressure will usually see the ball being rebounded quickly over your head with a fast break. We just don't have enough "dangerous/attacking" players** who are willing to take their opponents on and run (most importantly bounce) their way through a line and link up with a next player by forcing an opponent to come at them. This obviously creates the overlap (fast break linking up out the back) style. This is something the Cats are experts at and which has made them such a great team over the years. The possession/tempo side is important and we've so far seen a big improvement here vs recent times, but unless we learn to run hard and break lines with overlap style footy as well, then we're simply treading water and IMO we'll win very few games playing this style "most of the time". It's a balance of both IMO that will finally see us winning games on a regular basis, even against quality opposition once we can put a forward line on the park. ** Blease is a must if we are to counter this imbalance as are any other run and carry style players with a little bit of finish and decent ball use (yes i realise we don't have those type of players growing on trees lol... Jetta, Clisby maybe??)

Nice summary TGR. I think Frawley needs to look longer as first option instead of instinctively short. Not sure we can dismiss him as just being a chook at this stage as we don't exactly have many alternatives. Spencer does give his all and love his desperation around congestion and body work in the ruck but his options/disposal at times are ordinary and i've yet to see him take any pack or overhead marks around the ground. We are desperate for some strong overhead marks that can take a telling grab in congestion once in a while and act as QB across HB and up forward at times. Howe is a given here of course but outside of him i mean. Clark and Hogan would have provided some of this obviously but we need Maxy in ASAP to provide this tall marking ability and also take another tall opponent and stretch em a little more across the ground. JHK must also be blooded up forward this year IMO. Jetta is ok in traffick but i wouldn't be banking on much of a return from JHK higher up the field as he was played last night when he came on.

I would have Jetta in before Bail and just let him go for it for the next few weeks. Not sure that he's a better footballer at this point from an attacking aspect but at least he pressures and tackles super hard. Jetta's a marginal call but no loss losing Bail for him at this point i don't think.

We showed we could possess the footy and were a bit more capable and organised in the back half. We were more competitive around the stoppages but we still allowed too many balls out the back to a +1 or +2 on their defensive side with the easy kick forward or 1 2 handball then a kick forward to a lead up. To me this was a mid field loss against a very depleted and lowly rated mid field. This was the most dissapointing aspect IMO as we know we don't have a forward line and were expecting as much down there performance wise. I hope we never see Pedo having to play in any position other than HBF off the bench when alternative stocks are non existent. Hurry back Garlo. The same can be said of T MacDonald. Injury aside (ie., prior to injury) i still can't see a quality AFL footballer in any apscet of his game to this point. Dunn was fabulous down back and Terlich was his usual desperate self but a little hap hazard with his disposal and options. Grimes tried hard but his disposal turnovers cost as badly. Trengove showed some good signs but nothing outsanding. Watts showed some quality and class, creating time and space and many of our attacking opportunities and goal (or shot at goal) assists. There was a general determination not to give in at any point which was an improvement (but no less satisfactory outcome wise) compared to last year. Without a decent forward line that can actually kick at least 40% to 50% of shots at goal and players capable of hitting up some decent talls on a lead (if we ever find any that can stay on the park for more than a few games a season) we are toast for 2014 (and beyond if this aspect is not addressed/solved) from what i can see. If we do somehow manage to get a fit Dawes and Hogan on the park for the rest of the season from Round 4 or so then we might see a few wins against lower opposition at the G (and only at the G). That was our 8th first up loss in a row. and the 9th time in a row we've failed to win a first round. So many records for this club for all the wrong reasons. When will it end i wonder.

He was very good tonight. He gave us some run and creativity and created time and space bringing others into the game and starting many attacking runs off half back.

I agree chook. Apart from Jones, Reiwoldt and Armatige tonight (yes they have many outs who are worthy inclusions when they return) we played a very ordinary team this evening and still couldn't put any scoreboard pressure on them. Unless Dawes, Garland, Viney and Hogan return within 3 weeks i'd be surprised to see us beat many teams this year. My prediction of 2 to 4 victories (max) looks about right at this point.

Matt gave us some run and class through the middle and outside in parts of the 2nd half. Bail's finish and ability to choose obvious/basic forward options (ie., hit targets) has been his downfall his whole career so far. I think it's time to look elsewhere if he can't turn this aspect around in the first half of this season.

Pot calling the kettle black