Demon Dynasty

Yes and other clubs such as North (JB) have threatened Caro with defamation action and asked her to withdraw. At least publicly Not every club gets slandered by the chief like we have that i'm aware of, so there's no prior example to which you refer. Good try though.

No need to state "He's a liar". Just come out and publicly refute that which was said against us....publicly. And at least ask privately behind the scenes for a public retraction from AD regarding his line that we didn't fess up when we had the chance. Something may have happened behind the scenes at Board/Office unofficial levels. But to keep it internal if it has, again to me is a sign of weak leadership. Stand up for the club and communicate with your supporter base. What else are you there for otherwise? Weak response publicly on this issue so far = poor communication/ weak leadership

I'm not so sure it did. We were fined $500,000 for not tanking. You call that working? Yes i have read those 2 statements like most on here, but at no stage does the club refute or address the slur/slander that AD has committed against this club, either in writing or in any other media release/statement or interview that i'm aware of. Weak response, weak leadership. ...."Demetriou said in a radio interview that Melbourne would be in breach of league rules if the club had lied to his officials about Dank. ''If there was an association [between Dank and Bates], regardless of whether there has been an employment agreement, I think that would have been relevant to our briefings,'' said Demetriou. ''This issue of ethics and trust in our code is something that you can't play ping-pong with.'' Priorities!!? Slander and Defamation should always be defended re the Club as a whole. If you aren't willing to defend the club in such circumstances at this level you may as well give the game away and head to the VFL or an amatear league. The official response/line from the club is that we've done all the right things governance wise with regard to the club doctor and supplement administration/procedures at the time. We reported it to the AFL in good faith in Feb (full disclosure). It appears we may have become aware of Dank's involvement with Trengove (as a minimum) via Bates with at worst a possible administration of an OTC anti obesity cream that purportedly contained traces of AOD964 post the Feb disclosure (courtesy of Dank & the 7.30 report). If there is a JT issue, then i agree with you, it is an accusation which must be handled with due care and the utmost dilligence and urgency. But with regard to defamation of the club itself...... in my eyes the Club is always bigger than any individual player. It should be defended varaciously in the press by at least one representative/spokesperson of the club. Yet we have an invisible Board that only issues the odd written statement that mentions nothing about the AD accusations/inferences. Where is our spokesperson/defender PJ? Where is our Smorgan, Kennett, Evans, McGuire?? Where is Don McLardy??

"........Says the senior official: ''We are a football club, not an investigation agency. The AFL and the government have all the powers to do in-depth investigations and they keep saying that they know more than everybody else. To say that the club as a whole tried to cover anything up or mislead the AFL is a joke.' " Are you referring to this 'reported' quote Pit re us putting the heat back on the AFL?? I hope not. If so, and IF this reported response is anywhere near the truth and the source accurately quoted (and i'm not assuming they are) then IMO it's a pretty PW effort to defend the Club. If we did fully disclose the nature of the relationship with Bates/Dank back in the Feb meeting then Don, the Board/MFC should be asking for a full and unequivocal retraction from the AFL/The Age or take them both to court for defamation. If the club can't stand up for itself in the face of what appears, at this point, is clearly a series of misleading statements by CW/The Age and AD then what does it stand for and represent? And if this isn't the case and we didn't fully disclose when we had the chance then they will be seen to be just as inept. If the present Board/President can't defend the club under this scenario then it/him should be replaced ASAP with a ticket/people/president that are willing to.

Mate if you have the guts to say that to my face..... please ....feel free to send me an email with a time and a place (anytime after 8pm weekdays or pretty much anytime on a weekend will do just fine). You and me RR....mano to mano

I'm sure you're a fully qualified Medico RR. I'll defer to your more learned judgement as always. If Trengove goes for applying a topical cream, part of which has a questionable weight loss chemical that isn't on the Wada banned list (only caught via a "catch all" sub clause introduced Jan 2011) then the whole AFL list would be at risk of being banned. As for your last line i see you haven't changed your spots RR. Always playing the man not the ball.

"The AFL is furious that it only recently learnt that this drug was used" Last time i looked a drug was something you ingested or is otherwise introduced into the body (ie., by injection). A cream is not a drug. It may contain substances and supplements within it to acheive certain chemical reactions within the skin/muscle tissue but it isn't a drug. Trengove has nothing to worry about here and nor does the MFC. Open and shut case. This is the AFL looking to difuse and diflect the Bummers bombshell away from Golden Boy and his men any which way they can.

de·flec·tion The action or process of deflecting or being deflected. The amount by which something is deflected. sub·ter·fuge Deceit used in order to achieve one's goal. A statement or action resorted to in order to deceive.

Subject to Clark/Dawes coming in in the next 2 to 3 weeks and staying there, minimal other injuries and Neeld/FD playing Rodan for the rest of the year and somehow getting Magner into the team....Yes!!

Yeah i realise he's had a Scheisshaus 12 months and 3 matches Hard. No argument there, however..... Once belief starts to take hold in a playing group (and a club) things turnaround fairly quickly and they're already turning. And with very few players on the LTI i'm predicting a pretty good turn around from about Round 7 onwards. I don't expect us to be giant killers and nor do i expect we'll win this weekend without a Key Forward, but we should start to rack up some wins against teams from about position 9 and down. And no i'm not suggesting we'll win every match but other than interstate games and North at Etihad (where we completely suck and they own) i'd say we're a strong chance against any of the other clubs in those positions (9 and down) at the G. I'm predicting approximately 7 to 9 wins from about Round 7 onwards. Get your flogger out and your IQ on the ready and enjoy mate! B)

Ask me again in 5 to 6 weeks once Dawes debuts and Clark returns and they both have a chance to settle.....

This thread is going to look pretty silly in 5 to 6 weeks when we have Dawes/Clark back and the team starts stringing a few wins together on the trot against decent opposition. I can see another thread starting...... "WE MUST KEEP NEELD!!" B)

Did anyone else hear today that AD has come out in support of The Bomber players (alleged to have been taking illegal substance) stating it would be ok for them to plead ignorance???

I think Terlich and Garland are our best defenders so far this season. Yes, Terlich even at this early stage. Terlich's probably getting the 2nd or 3rd best forward so maybe that's a little unfair on Chip but Chip just seems happy to put in a reasonable game each week rather than extend himself to the next level. Terlich is "A" grade in attitude, effort and attack urgency at the ball/opponent. Chip is a B grader who's shown spurts of A grade form and effort in years past but has never quite taken that next step and definitely hasn't so far this season. Still a solid defender though IMO. Hopefully by seeing Terlich's efforts/urgency and willingness to take the game/opponents on, and even Garland's improved efforts and confidence so far this season, he might start to get a little riggle and niggle on in his attitude and put that extra effort/urgency and more effective/smart disposal into his game as the season progresses. Could be a little burnt out after seeing so much ball rain down on the defenseive lines the last 12 months. Maybe a little refresher up forward would't hurt for a few games, similar to what Neeld tried with Garland late last year. They say a change is as good as a holiday!

How about a boxing trainer?

Yeah it was great but not as great as how i saw it on the day. Maybe i should take my bonoculars to the match next time. Good to see though and hopefully we see this sort of attack and committment from the whole team from here on.

Hi Mark and welcome to Demonland. Good luck against the Lions this weekend mate!

Cheers HN. Yep, they sure have it in spades mate. And they're so damn good at executing, in some cases both sides of the body too! In addition they make sure they've usually got at least 2 or 3 fast/or evasive outside runners (i say outside but they're also willing to take the game on through the guts at times) to receive and move the ball/break lines (in order to create mayhem/uncertainty/and defend by all out attacking play). Unfortunately they appear to have uncovered yet another one of these in young Motlop. Selwood was pretty amazing on the weekend but Motlop's ability to run/burn off an opponent through a change of pace and lateral movement, then execute lace out passes & fairly accurate kicks for goal after all that work is something to behold atm. Add a fit Varcoe back into the mix and look out. As if they aren't a handfull already lol. Stokes is pretty good at evasion up forward as well. Hopefully Byrnes is passing a whole lot of this good stuff on to the younger boys, well actually most of the boys lol! Really enjoying his work and hoping he can stay fit. Oh, one other thing, i think the skill level with some players will improve somewhat now that they appear to have found some belief on the field. I think many of them would have been playing in fear or for their career which can do weird things to people. With belief will come confidence and more attackiing flair (i hope!). Although i realise it will take more than one solid quarter against GWS to grow the belief/confidence factor. Going to be interesting to see if this is the case this weekend.

I think in the end this is what it comes to RP. If the players truly believe in and have faith in the Neeld mantra, strategy and style then they'll show it more often and will fight games out to their last breath when behind and bury teams when they get on top of them and can. If they don't they wont and Neeld (or pretty much anyone that coaches them) is toast given enough carp dished up from the playing group and enough time. All Neeld (and the board/club) can do is set up the environment, facilities, culture and training program (which hopefully is TRULY elite or so close to it it doesn't matter) then the rest is up to the present player list and their efforts or lack thereof during every minute of every game. The coach can make some sort of difference there's no doubt, even on game day with match ups and pre match at the selection table. Even off the field with what he seeks from the trade table as well as how he (and others charged with doing so within the FD) develop each player individually. My one worry is the level of turnovers and some of the poor disposal efficiency that is still present in many minutes/quarters with some improvement in the 2nd half of the GWS match albeit against a below par opponent. If Neeld & crew are running an elite program it's awefully hard to tell when watching some of the woeful disposal/skill levels in most of the matches this year. I guess the only option (if it persists and they aren't improving over a reasonable time) is to keep rolling through the list and bring in further recruits who can to replace those who aren't able to cut the mustard. Ultimately though, if most aspects of the club's FD are very highly comptetitive with the top liners of the league (and assuming we recruit/develop quite well comparatively too), then surely success or otherwise will come down to the players and their own attitude/desire/want to better themselves as individuals and as a team. Where there's a will there's a way. All you have to do is watch the Cats in pretty much any game and it's on show. They never rest even when playing a high level of football and are always willing to do the 1 percenters as well as run both ways and close down space on their opponent to pressure him into a turnover or steal the ball themselves. They then have complete faith in each other, put 2nd and 3rd efforts in running forward/lateral once they win possession or think they're about to, demanding the next possession (even if they've just given it off). Their game style is fairly simple but what isn't simple is their massive desire and their will which they impose on each and every contest to try and outplay and compete/beat their opponent one on one. I realise our list is a million miles away from the Cats at this point, but if we show the same intent/desire and effort every minute of every game as the Cats do and as we did in much of the last quarter on Sunday, then i think Neeld (and any coach for that matter) is more than likely going to stay the journey.

Was a jaw dropping moment for me. Can't recall the last time i saw a player at the MFC do something like that. Maybe Jakovich in full flight, but even then it would only be 2 players max. I think Col brushed off 3 in that run or was i seeing things?

Oh Shyte.... poor choice on my part!

Not disagreeing with you. But these are options for us until we find the right mix. Dont need to be super fast to play it smart in the mid field. Watson, Hodge, Mitchell some examples present day. Greg Williams a classic example of a past great. Players can be perceived as slow by foot and may well be, but if they learn to use and move the ball around smartly and quickly and also learn to baulk/fake etc laterally, it can make up for a lack of leg speed when trying to clear the centre contest, but only to a point. You certainly wouldn't want your ideal mid field to consist entirely of solid but relatively slow by foot types. That's why I added that we definity need leg speed outside, but u appear to only see what you want to see.

Re Sylvia, I think Neeld will be champing at the bit to get Dawesy into the foward line. Allows Sylvia to rotate through the mid more often versus up forward. Will provide another dangerous option up forward and stretch the opponents defence a tad more too. But yes, mid field is the key and needs more talent unfusion regardless of Dawes injection. Dawes injection will bolster things a little though.

Thats where we (Neeld/FD) chose poorly IMO placing Couch/Magner on the Rookie list. Not our mid field saviors by any means but to have the extra AFL "like" bods and a little maturity/experience plus 2 extra rotations might have meant staying in games against quality opposition a little longer and reduced the blow outs somewhat.Difference might have been marginal, maybe 3 or 4 goals but an improvement's an improvement until we find decent mid field additions and develop Viney over a few pre seasons. Need a decent outside classy/quick mid as well. Might be Evans or Kent but too early to say.

Yeah....he goes alright the Jones boy