Demon Dynasty

Not really. I believe it's a balance of both Adam. If you don't have enough players willing to committ to the contest and capable of getting first use of the ball your team mates (outside and runners) are unlikely to spread intinctively as they're too concerned about covering their opponent defensively believing that most of the time we probably wont win the contest. That is they don't want to be the one allowing their opponent to get away off the break from congestion. Coach & staff are watching and reviewing, watching and reviewing. Almost everything the players do on a footy field now is captured on tape and reviewed. They are held accountable for all actions, poor, indifferent, good, average, sublime. Defensive and offensive. Good teams will win a fair share of the contested footy (not necessarily the overal stat though, just a decent balance vs the opponent's stats) AND drill significant ball skills into the playing group across the board. Provide a balance of inside mids, outside mids, top running HBs with a few who are very accurate by foot. Have most players drilled into handball circle work/blocking etc, which enables them to escape almost any congestion under pressure acts. This includes getting them to lift their arms when they're about to be tackled so they at least have the option of getting that pressured handball away to yet another receiver, hopefully on the move. And on it goes. Instill quick ball movement and skills by both hand and foot in, around and finally out and away from congestion with a slick succession of handballs and then hopefully a short pass or 2 to the next lead up target up the field. Failing that option being open, to pre designated spaces/zones that we know player X/Y will be leading into or doubling back into etc. Once they have this belief in their skills and ability, more players will start to tackle a little more to try and force more turnovers as they'll "want" and hunt the ball because they'll believe in their skills and ability to use it quickly and well and find receivers away from congestion. And on it goes. Players outside the contest will begin to work harder to block/separate a little more, cirlcing just outside the main contest calling for and looking for that first outlet handball, instead of too many heading for the contest hoping to bottle it in (allowing opposition players to get the first outlet pass and run away without pressure), or purely worrying only about their opponent and being second to the contest hoping to pressure their opponent out of it if possible. The spread and run will occur once the balance between contested (inside work by designated mids/insiders/on ballers), uncontested (outside mids and runners) designated to sit just outside the main congestion are skilled up and understand their roles and play to them accordingly. And they also start doing the little common sense things to protect space for their fellow players and block etc when it makes sense to do so. All the things we do so little of or if we do ...for such short patches....now. We are severely disorganised and confidence is rock bottom. Most players are therefore unwilling to get that first contested possession, waiting for their opponent to get it first, then try and shut him down. The alternative is to get it first and risk turning it over as they are poorly skilled at short disposals via hand and foot (in general, there are exceptions). Most players are now hanging back IMO, waiting to try and attempt the shut down rather than risk getting it and being shown up with a poor clanger. In addition, if they are on the receiving end they're so down in confidence, most are just dishing it off to the easiest, but not necessarily the most ideal, option. In many cases just a quick lateral pass sideways or even 20 to 30 meters backwards, sometimes even into the defensive goal square or across it under pressure. Just give it to anyone....i don't want it is the general idea lol. Unfortunately even Jones is starting to dish up this carp. Pretty sad to watch. To me this is mostly a skills/ability issue and organisation. And much of this is a coaches (and line coaches') domain. Neeld has recognised this and probably planned to instill it all along, but in a steady as she goes manner after inducting all of them through a heavy fitness/defensive program in the first year and a bit. But i fear he's upped the ante on the skills/drills circle work stuff (particularly by hand) in the last few weeks, only because reality over holding on to his position has finally struck. Lets hope the pennies (and the payoff from the increased skill/drill work) finally pays off for Neeld and the boys. By instilling skills/spread/run/overlap and confidence into the playing group over the next few weeks, and with the return of some reasonable cattle, Neeld and the players just might (emphasis on might) have an outside chance of pulling off a giant upset win against the Filth in 2 weeks. Unlikely i know but...... And personally i would hope the Board allows Neeld to at least Coach untill round 14 against the Doggies and Saints at the G to give him every opportunity to turn this around before possibly moving on his position. I realise he's made a mess of it and all but i'd like to see him given a fair and reasonable chance, whilst under some sort of notice, to show us if there's some fight and coaching ability there. Not nice to see anyone get the big A and coaching this bunch would have to be one of the toughest gigs of all time i'd reckon. And yeah, i realise he's created a rod for his own back in some cases but the whole blame can't and doesn't lie with Neeld alone. Good luck to him and the boys over the next part of the season. Let's hope they can win a few games for everyone's sake.

Boards will come and go. CEO's will come and go Coaches & players will come and go Supporters/Members are the lifeblood and essence of a club. In many ways sponsors are as well. You/we/us are, ultimately, why this club exists. I implore every supporter to hang tough and reject not going as a protest. If you just can't stand it anymore and you need a break then fair call. Everyone has their limits. I did it after about round 10 last year and directed my energy towards Casey games as I was letting the on field carp effect me too much at home and needed some time out. We all get bloody angry and frustrated watching this rubbish I understand. if I could suggest...we all get behind the one shining light that to me has stood tall this year throughout the storm. I've witnessed and heard their efforts personally on 5 occasions so far and they've never let the team down. Even during the hurricane that was 148 against the bummmers they were giving their all right up till early in thd last. And that's some effort guys!!! Of course I'm talking about the mighty Demon Army! In a year filled with so many lowlights and darkness, the Army has been nothing short of magnificent. Get behind em guys and rally around. Lets stick together and give them and all the boys as much support as we can. For when the ship is finally righted, those who make it through from this existing playing group are going to do us proud. Lets make sure they remember why they are there and that we continued to back them during our most difficult hours. Let them know that there's one group in this club that refuses to say die, its die hard supporters! You all know where they are. If you haven't got a reserved seat etc...try and rally round them if you can. Looks great on the replay too if we have more numbers/flags etc in a mass group when the cameras focus in. Mighty Demons Forever

Missing my point I think UH. I'm all for this inept, poorly led, invisible bunch, especially the President, to be replaced in good time. But I'd want to see the alternative ticket and President riding in on their white horse first, demanding to take over the reigns of the MFC cart and have a good look at what they're bringing to the table. We need some strong hard arse football savvy leaders on there with an understanding of the cut throat nature of the game (both on & off the field) backed by some good business eagles/advisors (or just hire them...plenty of quality out there at the right price!) A team that is passionate about leading us out of the wilderness and willing to butt heads and push the envelope to get the best Coach, line coaches etc. Has a vision for bringing the club back to the members with an integrated training/admin and member facility (a la what the Tigers are doing just down the path). Are willing to spruik, market and defend/promote the club in all forms of media and get their face/voice in front of the media more often Especially on game day, both before and during the game. This board and its president have not only made a series of damaging blunders since 186, they just haven't been out on the hustings showing passion, direction and leadership for the club generally. We need to get a board and President that's not only smart from marketing/sell POV but is also (behind the scenes) business/football savvy and ruthless. The old boys club has to be shaken out of the MFC tree if we are not only to right the ship but to take us to a level that sees us knocking on the door of the top 4 on a regular basis and finally pulling it down and barging in for our fair share of silverware. The Old Boy's (gentleman's club) model has failed this club over many decades. Simply not ruthless enough and unable to go the extra mile to make us a top contender once more. Starting from the day we were "waiting" on Doug Wade to make the trip up the Geelong Rd to sign up but Bobby Davis got wind of it & went and signed him up under our noses, till now.

I'm dissapointed with the present board as well but if there's going to be a change at the top we need a stronger/viable replacement ticket led by a football savvy president to challenge UH. Have you heard of anyone out there challenging/offering to put their hand up? Not an easy ask or task to take this sinking ship over and turn it around.

I'd suggest Craig will be the likely appointment by default IF Neeld is moved on. When asked if he would like to coach again earlier this year he clearly said he didn't want to coach again and was happy in his present role. Now he appears to be the assistant coach or at the very least, Neeld's new 'advisor' during match day as well as a mentor/assistant to the players as they rotate to the bench. Football Director/Assistant Coach? Regardless his role has changed in the last few weeks to be something much more "hands on" on match day. He's actively involved in some form of coaching of the players and assisting Neeld with match day issues.

Yes, and sometimes they just don't perform even when under little to no pressure. Poorly skilled in general and little to no confidence in their disposal skills means little run in the whole team and a lazy appearance because very few are confident that they'll be able to find a player once they receive. They look for the easy layoff backwards or lateral just so ithey don't have to be responsible. Most are playing like rabbits in a headlight. Most AFL teams are able to work their way through congestion and out of it, and get the run/overlap happening with good use of handball (2 or 3 in quick succession along with short passing). Our handball skills are shyzenhousen around congestion and our players use it alot less than other clubs. We mostly just bang the ball onto the boot forward if we get into any space. Opposition teams, or at least the decent ones, push a defensive player and/or a mid a short kick or so on the offensive side of the pack/congestion waiting for the quick panick kick and back it comes over our heads into our backline, again, usually with pricision and a shot on goal results. Look at the marks i50 differential vs other teams. It's massive! Someone at the club has recognised this massive defficiency in our style (Neeld/Craig pointing it out to Neeld or someone) and they're trying to rectify it with more emphasis on clearing congestion with quick handball in and around the contest. I believe this emphasis (on skills) started in the week prior to the game against the Tigers or maybe the one prior to GCS. So Neeld's upped the ante in the last few weeks on this, but it's probably too little too late. Most of the players confidence and belief is already shot to pieces to be able to recoup and put into place anything learned on the training track in the last few weeks under match day pressure. Although there was some evidence of it in small patches of last week's game against the Tigers. I didn't see todays match so i can't comment. Maybe after another 10 to 12 weeks of practice we might start to see something take shape from this hard work on the training track! Where have i heard that before! That's in a normal AFL team though. Longer at the MFC probably. He's ok at playing a similar sized player (ie., clunky and a tad slow) fairly close in defense. His long kicking is impressive, particularly for goal. His kicking in open play when under little or no pressure is average to poor at best, particularly his short passing attempts (ie., under about 30 meters). As above re kicking but i agree, hasn't been able to hold down and impact in any position for more than the odd occasional game. At best he's a decoy forward coming off the bench. Like many of our backs he has poor disposal skills in close or when attempting to hit up targets on a short pass. Best to play him forward to avoid this or alternatively have someone run past for the hand off whenever he marks to run off and deliver up the field like Davey or Terlich. I wouldn't say he's worse as a forward. See notes above. Maybe a 50/50 proposition either forward or back. Possibly just in favour of being a decoy forward. Why? .... Less ability to turn the ball over in that role (via attempts to short pass where he often turns it over and/or playing on blindly into pressure without assessing the situation after marking in the back line.....this after 100+ games!!) and can score from anywhere inside 55 meters. One of the few players in the team that can do this atm. Howe the other from i50.Clark when fit. Can fill a role as decoy and take the heat off Dawes and Howe (when Howe's going there). I believe Dunn could also be used to fill Chip's role at FB without much of downside, provided Dunn is instructed to play to his strengths (ie., long kicking only, like Chip!!, and doesn't play on as soon as he marks in defence with a resultant attempt at a dud short pass). Ideally he shouldn't be in our 22 at this point but there isn't much pushing up from Casey to take his place unfortunately. Chip to be moved up forward until Clark returns. TIme for a change up and to try and freshen Chip up/give him a different perspective/role.....at least for the next 6 weeks or so to see what he might offer. Chip looks flat as a tack atm and has virtually no impact on the contest anymore.

Are we about to merge with the Freo?? WTF is Freemantle's "Board/Sign" doing there!!!

Frankie, if you've still got the Richmond game on tape, try and check out 3/4 time. Craig was down on the ground directing and coaching players from the bench from about half time and then at 3/4 time when walking off Craig was walking with Neeld to the huddle. Craig looked more in control and was advising/directing Neeld as to his thoughts. Neeld was either in deep thought....or alternatively was completely out of it with no answers. I don't have the coverage today but sounds like a continuation from last week. Neil Craig, Director of Sports Performance to Assistant Coach now?

He barely touched it last week either. And on the few occasions he did they were rarely effective and in some cases clangers. One of the worst games i've seen by a MFC player.....ever.

Possibly for Pederson if you're looking for a direct replacement that can't short pass either. The only advantage here is that Pederson might not TRY to short pass as he recognises his limits, whereas Dunn will often try and just give it straight back to the opposition on many occasions. For this reaosn i'd only ever play Dunn up forward so he doesn't really have to look for a short passing option.... Sellar, Bail & Dunn aren't up it. Nicho is worth persevering with, albeit off the bench (maybe as sub) only, at this point. If we wish to continue with Dunn i'd only ever play him i50 as a postential decoy target for Dawes and an occasional i50 mark and goal kicker. Mostly off the bench. Need to find replacements for all 4 IMO (and others lol)

Neil Balme (i think) about Round 10 1996 at Waverley Park i believe .... Diamond Jo met with him during half time to deliver the news (someone else may know more about this ...i was probably half plastered on the day lol but that's how i remember the call when listening on my tranny. I think it was KB calling the match)

Jaded....this effectively cost us any chance of winning the match last week. Neeld allows players with poor disposal by foot to kick in. In addition we are too stationary once the first outlet kick is found on the rare occasions we happen to find someone in a short outlet pass from the kick in. We don't run in waves past the recipient (or block etc) and try to create handball/overlap options (ie., create play and run it out of the backline) Way too stationary and stop/start, 1970's style!! Dunn is a terrible kick in and should never be given the kick in duties. If he is given them he should be told ony to ever kick long to a contest wide. Garland is a tad better but not much better from kick ins. Watts and Terlich are probably the only 2 players i would have some faith in with the kick ins when attempting to hit up the first outlet pass (short). Frawley is no better than Dunn with short outlet pass kick ins. Garland is marginally better than Frawley and Dunn but his decision making/option selections when doing so are generally poor which tends to offset any positive with his short passing ability (again only marginally better from the kick ins with short passes than Chip & Dunn). In addition, if Dunn is given the ball short he will often tend to just play on straight away, deep in our back pocket, without even looking at options up the field, often placing pressure on himself and fellow players around him or those up the ground he is bombing it to. Or alternatively he just coughs it up when under this pressure (from him playing on without thinking/looking) straight to the opposition. Basically the entire backline, Terclich/Watts excluded to some degree, is very disorganised, poorly skilled by foot (from the kick in) and generally either play on when they shouldn't (from a short outlet kick) or fail to run for each other after that first outlet kick in to provide the 1st recipient with quick options and create time, space and overlap run out of the backline. There's probably been worse backlines but this bunch would go a long way to matching the worst backline i've seen (collectively) at the MFC since i started following anyway.

GAME OVER

Lol....i know what you mean. I've been waiting for the MFC to do just that for decades.....

Only a hunch. But my gut feel is Neeld might have already been put on notice that his services won't be required, at least after season's end. I think he might already be gone and just playing a caretaker role from here. Definetaly hush hush and only on a "need to know" basis betwen the board/CEO and Neeld himself. Looks more professional to the outside world, in particular sponsors and members and just in general (press etc). The quiet approach if you like. In the meantime the hunt for an experienced coach is underway with the AFL's preferred man at the helm overseeing proceedings with the possibility of an announcement a handfull of games out from season's end or earlier if the right candidate is secured well before then. This allows the CEO/FD and most imnportantly the Coach and his new team, time to apply the big sell and secure the services of "required" players well before they make thier final decision with managers/family etc. Might even up the ante with more lucrative offers, with a helping hand from the AFL ($) albeit this would be limited within usual salary cap constraints. C&B's post (above) is valid in the sense that the AFL are already well aware of this danger. With AD's statement that "any club (ie., in particular US) is only one poor decision away from disaster", they can easily see the precipice on which we now stand. The AFL branded 'ascender' is well and truly attached and jumaring already underway IMO.

Just more of the same from the MFC....... [ youtube ] [/youtube ]

OD you more than anyone should know better. We've been serving up this rubbish for decades. And atm we have such little depth at Casey knocking on the door. On your point though i agree. Pedersen showed something last week and had a reasonable game. Can't recall Gillies having any impact.

I can't recall the Port game all that well. Think i was so annoyed at such a lame opening game....again lol. But 146 I watched closely to see who where up for it. Although you could almost count them on 1 hand, there were a few that could walk off at least saying they had a bit of a dip or alternatively didn't get completely wiped off the park. From memory Howe, Frawley, Jones, Garland, Grimes and Terlich showed something during small patches of the game. But agreed, most were only there in body on what was (for me) the saddest game i've ever had the displeasure of witnessing.

^^^^ Heyy that's not Nathan Burke during St Kilda's party era is it?? ^^^^^^ Looks like Col's changed drinking partners lately...and his dress sense (apologies if it aint Col lol)! >>>>>

Haha....hey Sylvia might look tough but i don't think he'd want to join a bikey gang and become a bar girl pimp!

Appoint a super experienced coach that he might think he'll learn from and play a big part in the climb up the ladder for the remainder of his career. Give him the VC (along with Clark). Jones & Dawes as co captains. Oh, and a nice contract with a bit of a sweetner. Maybe a guaranteed career post footy with a Company associated with a friend of a friend of a friend..... of a Director. Visy or someone similar....shhhhhh

The Wiz was better at the Demons than with the Dockers IMO. A rare win but a win nontheless Earl was pretty good with us as well. He looked better with the Blues as they finally improved his horrible method of kicking at goal. Goal accuracy aside, he played some great games for us.

Where did you get that it was a mathematical positive i was portraying? It was your comment that Sunday's result was a "positive" that i was responding to. The effort shown last Sunday went someway towards what most AFL clubs put in effort wise pretty much every week. A partial return to something like normal proceedings. This effort, and better, should have been there most matches we've played this year, but for some reason it unfortunately hasn't. Dawes's response in the press conference clearly indicated he was still very unhappy with what he's seen out there in his 2 weeks so far and that he wont let up on it until his fellow players deliver. In other words, where's the intensity/urgency in this mob? It should be there as a given is what he is saying. Why should the coach have to coach it!!?? He shouldn't. But why the hell hasn't it been addressed until now by the coach & FD? This part is called motivation/inspiration/communication. Maybe Neeld just doesn't have it. For me what Dawes said in 2 or 3 lines yesterday made it clear exactly what was needed, whereas Neeld tip toed around the tulips on the same topic and never really got his message across clearly (for me). Maybe this is what the player group is struggling to come to terms with. Poor communication/connection/motivation skills?? Doesn't instill "Belief" in the playing group? I have no idea. But something is obviously amiss and has been until Sunday anyway. Maybe Dawes gave them a rev up pre match lol!! The fact that some Demon supporters consider Sunday's effort a positive is a sign of how apathetic and easily pleased some have become. I guess with decades of under performing it's now conditioned in some supporters to get excited when they see our team performing somewhere towards the levels expected in the AFL. I hope you're not one of those Bing. Pretty sure you want higher standards on the field than we've seen this year like most footy supporters.

Poor effort, such as last week, is way below what's expected at any level, and unecceptable at a professional level such as AFL. At best yesterday's "effort" may have been better but it's still a negative. Why?.... Because, as Dawes clearly stated in the one of his answers to an "effort" related question... "the effort was there but so it should be at AFL level, we competed hard, we put ourselves in a position to win, but we couldn't win so we can't accept that, now we've got to train ourselves to be better so that we can start winning games". If last week's effort was a negative and this week's effort was just "there", then what Dawes is clearly saying is that the current level of effort and training is still not up to AFL standard and we still aren't competing at an acceptable level. A level that will allow us to win games of AFL football. In my mind that still constitutes a negative relative to the level that is required to win games. We lost by 6 goals. Yesterday's effort may have been an "improvement" on last week, but certainly not a "positive". QEF

Would need to see it again to know whether he came off the mark or not. At the game it looked like one of the worst pieces of football i've seen from any AFL player for a long time. But i could be wrong. As i said, need to watch the footage. Everyone around me (ie., 9 out of 10 were Toiger supporters), including our supporters were laughing at that bit of play. Sorry to JM, i wish him all the best and all, but to me he isn't an AFL footballer's bootlace. Great tryer, and gives his all but he's lost out there and i have no confidence when watching him play that we'll ever win a mid field battle, against pretty much anyone other than a few of the other bottom dwellers Viney, Sylvia, Grimes into the mid field rotations. Trengove/McKenzie out. Trengove is lost in there as well at this point. And that's nothing to do with fitness etc. He just is. We might luck an occasional win against the doggies or GWS on a good day but against any half decent midfield.... Until we find some extra class mid injections in the next year or so (2 or 3....hopefully 1 being Viney), IMO we are toast no matter who we're up against. I think Evans will be 1 option as a decent outside mid which is at least something. And M Jones possibly another who we can rely on after another 2 or 3 pre seasons. 2 Posts from last year pretty much sum things up from our point of view on this (Apologies to those Rangy haters out there lol)...... You might dispute much of what Rangey says but he couldn't have been more spot on with regard to the mid situation Then there's OD, he's seen it all and then some lol......