Demon Dynasty

He would want to. I think another 3 to 6 games with Casey would have sent a better message and also provided him some good game time in defence learning his craft. More than likely he'll only end up being dropped again after this week knowing the way our revolving door ins & outs record has worked in the past. That will do a world of good to his confidence! As Frankie-D says.... Honor before Honers.

Cheers fellas. Got the picture. Although i'd still like to see some hard evidence. Only due to the fairy tale finish lol

I hope that's a mis quote. If it isn't then the Ox better better be ready to take over the reigns from DM. Otherwise it would be best for him to just butt out IMO. Another G Lyon hit and run job!!?? The last thing this flailing club needs atm is a part time ring in advisor who wont be there to be held accountable after any recommendations he makes are (potentially) acted on.

Garry who??

Ox isn't going to shake anyone up. He's merely there to offer some assistance. And if you ever see Turfy there we're in even bigger trouble! As much as it's nice to have 2 Demon boys on SEN, Turfy's said on many occasions he would never consider playing a role at the club and doesn't hold any sway down there. And personally i wouldn't like to see him within a bull's roar of the place, not in any official role anyway....but that's just me. Some grudges just don't get any more mellow, no matter how much water passes

It would want to have been VERY damning given that he he was starring for us towards the end of 94 (including solid finals appearances) and went on to be a 4 x premiership player. He was a pretty wild fella in his early days, even according to his own accounts, but it would seem Norf and the Lions had no trouble getting the max out of him afterwards.

CS was all class on the way out. I think he (Don & the Board) knew the end had finally arrived, with his fate sealed by that disgraceful effort on Saturday evening on the field and the pitiful performance the week prior. The cries from supporters finally shook the hallowed halls of the Green room with echoes of "186 !" reverberating through the board room (and no doubt a few calls from sponsors!)....ITS TIME!! TIME TO MOVE FORWARD AND SHAKE THAT UGLY BAGGAGE LOOSE MATE! This might be the first time i've ever seen the MFC executive actually sit up and take serious notice of what many of its members were screaming for! And part of that message, as Don reiterated many times over during the presser, is ...... to start bloody winning games of footy...BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE'RE HERE FOR! What CS's removal does is.....it puts everyone on notice, EVERYONE. From the executive down to the coach, every single player, right through to the trainer. "Hey, we love you guys and we'll give you all the support and every resource we can possibly muster, but if you f*@k up enough from here......well..." Don isn't Eddie, nor is he a Smorgan (thank Lucifer's trident), but for the first time i really thought he took the bat to the press vultures and was standing up for this club. That's quite amazing given the crap i've seen served up by some of our recent presidents. I don't believe the AFL had the ultimate say here. Sure, no doubt Vlad would have voiced his concerns to DM, but it was the overwhelming and consistent attack from many of the members, most likely the sponsors and to a lessor degree the AFL that would have forced DM and the Board's hand in asking for CS's resignation. I'd be happy to see DM stay on in his existing role at least until we find an alternative candidate. But the alternative needs to be a big player and a massive Demon man who'll carry significant weight in football circles and is willing to get out there and spruik like crazy. And part of that would be to regain the confidence of recent disenfranchised/lost supporters and potential new ones. Robbie Flower would be an amazing appointment for this club as President IMO, but unfortunately i know he won't commit. And in many ways this is where our old club has problems being seen as standing for anything. Most of our past greats prefer to stay out and watch from the sidelines, happy to provide the occasional morsel of advice, but unwilling to commit and do the hard yards and actually represent. There's power in numbers in a club as well as greater transparency, especially when you have great people on board demanding the very best of each other. It's this aspect of the make up of the board that concerns me the greatest regarding our future from here. I realise we don't have many "living/able" past greats. But the ones that are able and still exist have truly deserted us in our greatest hour of need. Just as they did during some of the ugliest times i've seen at this club (1996). In the end we're going to have to back someone. At this point it has to be Don, The Board, Mark, Craig and most of the FD from here (i'm excluding CC and Royal in that group as i believe they both need to move on). Don finally appears to have been woken from his recent apparent apathy with recent goings on. He's woken from his slumber at last (i hope) and decided he's going to fight tooth and nail for the club from here and has stated clearly what we're all about. However, this should have been the message/culture from day 1 when he inherited the role as president. To do so now feels somewhat hollow, but as the old saying goes, better late than never. Lets hope Mark and the boys finally got the same wake up call! Carn the Demons!!

Why are most players unable to lead up and hit up targets on a regular basis and why are our disposal skills, both by hand and foot, some of the worst i've ever witnessed by any team after 2 pre seasons? Why do we allow outside players to have so much space at the stoppage and run/spread, seemingly at will, from the stoppage? Why is there seemingly no effective forward press after 2 pre seasons? Why do we use what appears to be a "rigid" zone press at the oppositions kick outs when the AFL coaching standard is more commonly a "rolling" press pushing to the direction of the kick out and closing down space? Why was Heppell (among a few others but mainly Heppell) alllowed to run riot during the first half on Saturday night and at no stage did it appear we tried to put a lock down on him? Why was Gillies allowed to remain at full back on multiple opponents for 3 quarters (approx) and till the game was well and truly gone when it was clear he was being smashed at pretty much every contest? Why didn't you say no to the camera fiasco and save our boys and the club the embarrassment of the 'behind the scenes' TV intrusion? Who was the idiot that came up with that idea? Is he still at the club?

HELL YES!!!! If only this would happen. Hec we might even see a contest for 3 or 4 quarters!

I'm fine with the beards and would happily grow one if my boss wasn't going to shoot my ass. However, where i draw the line is the contest to grow the longest. As the Ox said (i think) on SEN today ....if they're going to play games make it footy related....eg., they should start up a competition to see who can get the most bloody tackles, kicks and marks!

Does he what. I only wish the MFC had someone at the top who stood up for us and went on the front foot as much as Eddie does. I realise he's a media magnet and knows how to play it, seeing as that's where he came from, but our profile/culture and a passionate/charismatic person at the helm to defend us to the hilt and push that message (Visibly on TV) is sadly missing. Even when the club is at its lowest ebb, the best McLardy and Schwab can do (so far) is to send us a written message and do a few brief radio snapshots. Yet another reason (of many) that they both need to be replaced in good time. We need people with a passionate football background and some charisma at the helm who have some understanding of player issues, the value of senior players and who can relate to the members. Not more white collar lawyers, accountants and corporate bean counters.

So true. But that's where Old Dee is correct, we've effectively made a rod for our own backs and opened ourselves up to being a very easy target by failing in so many aspects of the game as a club. So many opportunities lost over so many decades. Never able (or is it willingness/competancy?) to go the extra mile and take the necessary steps to the ultimate pinnacle of success.

Garry was involved in the committee that chose Bailey over Sheedy when the rot started under Paul Gardner (and not for the first time) in 2007. Passing up a legend with 4 premierships under his belt and massive AFL marketing weight/drawing power for this wallowing club? That says it all for me. Personally i'm not a huge Sheedy fan in terms of the way he handles things, but i'm pretty sure he wouldn't have brought us to the train wreck we're seeing (on the field) now and i'm pretty sure he would have told old Cam to stick his bloody nose out of FD business when he felt it wasn't warranted and was potentially effecting the running of the FD and the playing group itself. I'm also pretty sure 186 would never have taken place either. A once in a lifetime opportunity and they blew it. Only a fool (along with the bunch of other fools on the committee) would have done this. I loved Garry on the field and was there for most of his matches cheering him on like many here i'm sure, but off it he should keep his nose out of any executive decisions from here unless he's willing to put his balls on the line and actually take up an official role. Then he can do whatever he pleases as far as i'm concerned. IMO he's responsible in a significant way for our present position. When we (me and family members) hear him getting stuck into us i seriously want to whack him over the bonce!! An excerpt from an Age article from November last year about the committee's interview process with Sheedy in 2007 is quite ominous.... ''It was all about 'How will you coach the team?' Well, I mean I know how to coach the team, I've got no problem with that,'' he said. ''But it's about how the club sees itself. To me … I have no problem with Dean Bailey and young [Mark] Neeld [who succeeded Bailey] as coaches, but you needed to take over the club and really get it right up there with marketing, members, sponsors, the whole lot. ''You needed to be in a position to take over Melbourne, like Sir Alex Ferguson [did at Manchester United], to really shake it and rattle it.'' Full story here for those who haven't read it: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/sheedy-saw-dees-problems-coming-20121102-28pqb.html

Heyy the boys of aimed for the gutter 2 weeks in a row now and hit it admirably. They don't seem to mind! Maybe they prefer the gutter

Yeh. heyy i got an idea, why don't we try and pinch Nic Nat. Maybe we can do a swap. Watts and Jamar!! But wait....there's more....Seller, Gillies & Pederson!

I would say he is a must against the weagles talls. The bigger frame alone in the middle presents a different look for them match up wise. Jamar is unfortunately Gawn. Gawn in 2 or 3 weeks once he's got some sort of tank back provided he he's coming into some form as well. Match hardened is the only way from here. No point picking under done returners from long term injuries with little mileage under their belt like Trengove yesterday.

On last nights performance there's no question i'd take Seller over Gillies if they're the only optional outs down back. Seller had another shocker as well but at least knows where to position his body when the ball's in flight at a marking contest and as you said, he can punch the ball away and hopefully prevent it (and his opponent) getting behind him for regular easy goals.

From the MFC website (player profile) ".... a knee injury (posterior cruciate ligament) sidelined him from round seven until round 14 (2010). It was a savage blow for Jamar and Brent Moloney, who had established a dynamic centre square partnership. He wasn't the same player when he returned, with the injury affecting his leap and timing at ruck and marking contests." end Pretty old news and not telling anyone anything new, but never been the same player since unfortunately. If this is unfixable i'm afraid we just have to blood Spencer/Gawn as short term replacements (possibly longer term if they fire) and look to bring in an athletic high leaping, hard running/marking ruckman.

We need harder nuts in next week who will contest, run hard all day and tackle tackle tackle....especially through the mid field. Jetta, Kent, Tappy, Couch and Magner MUST come into this team. All potential mid field rotations as well. Most clubs are now able to rotate approx half their team (or a tad less) through the mid field now. We'd be lucky if we had 6 in the team from last night that were capable of being rotated through the middle and that's stretching it. P.S. If you're going to go into matches taking an under-maned mid field in this day and age....expect to get smashed....week in and week out. Need Spencer in for Jamar as well. He playing today KC? If so hows he looking if you're able to update thanks mate?

Deecisive i appreciate your concern but could you refrain from using that number in future please....anything but that number

Apparently first thing Monday morning, all members of the Board, Neeldy/the FD and the whole playing group are all off to the movies to enjoy OBLIVION

I think you'll get your wish. Neeld said himself he has no idea what went wrong last week. So with this result he'll have to just step aside and let the players work it out for themselves. Either that or he steps aside and lets someone else coach them such as Craig. I even think Leigh Brown might be a better option. At least he'd probably bring an attacking flair and mindset! Neeld moves into the mid field role. Royal out. Dawes coaches the forward line as player/line coach lol.

All obvious points really. Heppel was left to rampage at will until half time. Either we had no one who was willing or capable of running with him and trying to shut him down (which i just don't believe) or Neeld isn't capable at this level. The whole team lacks belief! The point is, why hasn't Neeld been able to address any of these issues until now after 2 pre seasons? Will he survive if we lose to GWS? Why did Lyon recommend Bailey over Sheedy and Neeld before an interim/caretaker coach and then Malthouse? And why did the board ask for Garry Lyon's input anyway? (i could keep going but i'm getting too tired now and there's just too many unanswered shitty questions about this club to worry anymore).

Mate anything was better than Gillies tonight. He has no idea how to shut down a forward nor where to position himself in a marking contest. Continually allowed his opponent to work him away from goal side and also allowed his opponent to slip behind on many occasions, running into an unmarked square for an easy goal. But hats off to Terlich this evening. In the 2 quarters he was down my end (city) i didn't see him put a foot wrong in the kick outs or in general play. A small shining light for a first gamer. Well done son. But what's worse was Neeld's decision to continue with Gillies at FB until deep into the 3rd when he was clearly a massive fail in the first 2 quarters here. Neeld is coaching like a frozen rabbit in the car headlights and the team is playing accordingly.