Demon Dynasty

There is only one option...... the greatest rock n' roll band Australia has produced. Survived through decades. A living legend. The song written with Satan (close as one can get to a Demon) in the lyrics. Nothing more appropriate. Nothing more fitting. Lord knows we need a massive rev up and some theatre pre match. And we need a song to toughen this soft as marshmallows club up. I've posted this before a year or so back. A demon enters the arena pre match. Fully kitted with horns, tail and trident. 5 to 6 Demonets towing out a bell with "THE MIGHTY DEMONS COMETH" on one side, and "In Honor of the great Jim Stynes" on the other......the Demon then uses his trident to begin striking the bell.....the music errupts..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQIi5szpO1E

Now that had me laughing....nice OD

I seriously hope not Dee. I won't believe it till i see it. But then again i didn't believe i'd see what happened happen yesterday either until i watched it unravel in front of me.

I think we have to pray that we're the rank amatures Macca and the Circus Masters in the FD actually have everything under control, even though it appeared the chimps escaped yesterday and were running the show. Unfortunately i've felt we've been behind the other top clubs, and at this point pretty much every other AFL club (other than GWS....i hope!), for decades now with only the Northy years an exception. And for a time there i was a believer in 1994, at least until we met a rampaging West Coast lol.

For a club to be successfull and win the ultimate prize, it must be completely united behind the Coach. All the way from the President/CEO down to every assistant coach, player, bootstrapper, stats man and even the doorman! I've heard this said before from Premiership players and coaches alike. United we stand....but if the club is in any way divided and doesn't fully back the coach.... forget it. Having said that, i'm not happy with the present board and its pi$$ weak "rolling over" on the AFL's tanking farce. So it wouldn't bother me if we were to replace the invisible man (CS), and the current President with someone who has some balls, stands up for the club and who doesn't cowtow to Vlad and the AFL on matters of injustice. Provided they back Neeld and honor the remainder of his contract/tenure, i'd be supportive of a new solid team coming in at years end. But the coach stays and should get our full backing for the remainder of his term. That's not to say he shouldn't change things around if he needs to, including coaching assistants/game plans and personell/players as required. Happy for him to adapt and improve where he sees fit of course! Stand still in this cut throat comp for long and we'll be toast anyway i would think.

Nice post Deecisive. This is true of most good quality AFL teams. In addition they follow through after their initial possession/give off, try to run/spread into open space and make an option either sideways from the player they gave it to or up the field as an overlap. 2nd/3rd efforts and hard work to provide "another" option after the first give, making space! And as you pointed out, they lead up....hit up....lead up....hit up. Mind you, you still have to have decent passing/handballing skills to pull this off, which just isn't there for us in a big way atm unfortunately. This is what we saw in a major way from the Cats in the 2nd half today. We aren't Geelong and i realise they're a star studded bunch with many top liners and veterans. But it might be worth sitting the boys down and showing some of our "stationary" style of play, work ethic (ahem), decision making etc and then watch the 2nd half of todays match as a stark wake up call with regard to basic non negotiables and levels we have to start going to. And yes Macca. You're spot on. I doubt anyone at club level will give a rats tossbag what we are writing about on here. And i agree with most of your points, especially that it's a sad reflection on where we're at. But unfortunately this is where we're at as a club atm. And Neeldy was the one who through his hands up and asked the question of the press. And you never know in life Macca, when people are under severe pressure, sometimes they do look to others for a bit of inspiration or a lift. He certainly won't be turning to us for inspiration or ideas lol, but who knows. Someone from the club might be watching and maybe just maybe 1 or 2 super ideas (in the eyes of the reader) might filter through to the war office. Lord knows they need something different happening down there cause whatever it is they've been doing up till now just isn't working. I'm certainly not suggesting any ideas i might have are worthy, nor am i suggesting we tell Neeldy "how to". That's one reason why i referred to an MM idea as an option because in the end suggestions/ideas have to come from someone a coach might respect and take notice of. However, I'm very much holding out hope that he's leaving no stone unturned and at least willing to seek advice and/or suggestions from those he does look up to. Neeldy certainly needs a serious change up from here if we're to make something of this season. In all seriousness though, what we write and vent on here means nothing to anyone of importance at the club for sure, but we talk about these matters Macca because the club means alot to us. I suspect that's a part of why many others, including yourself, are here as well! B)

A devastating loss for our club yesterday. It's the morning after. The dust has now settled and we've had time to reflect and vent. Microwaved membership cards have cooled a little....i'd like to hear from anyone as to what the Demons (ie., Mark, the coaching crew and the players) can do to turn things around? No doubt many suggestions have already been put forward (some excellent and maybe others not so) on other threads here. But i'd like this thread to focus on any contructive suggestions and ideas if you have them, even if you've put them forward in another thread and you think it's worth repeating. Only putting this forward as it appeared MN has thrown his hands up (during the presser) and asked anyone if they know what to do! This to me is a veiled cry for help and digging the barrell. So lets dig! I would never be so bold as to know exactly what is ultimately wrong with the player group etc. However to kick things off i'll give one suggestion from a recent premiership coach. One which i've always fully believed is a key aspect in any coaching mantra 101 manual and which i used during my short stint as a soccer coach at junior level for 3 seasons (1 runner up result, defeating the unbeaten top team along the way and a premiership the next season. Yes hit and giggle i realise but still enjoyable seasons and results for all involved!). Even the second part might have some merrit to it after some of the attempted passes (by foot) i watched from our playing group yesterday! http://www.michaelmalthouse.com.au/coaching-and-leadership-tips/1-keeping-it-basic

Guys, it's true some of the defenders had a bet going on. All was going well off the field ('A' grade training results etc and set for a big match today) until some smarty bum official at the club showed them an old scanlons footy card (see below) of the previous club record holder. The shock on Watt's face in the interview tonight had nothing to do with today's loss!! http://demonwiki.org/tiki-index.php?page=Garry+Baker

Does a good job at hosting a few TV shows about footy. Had ample opportunity to support the club officially and been asked this same thing on umpteen occasions by his fellow commentators. Always been clear he's not interested and only wants to continue in his present role/career. He was a quality player for the club and i'll always appreciate the service and committment he gave on the field, but the club needs to grow up and move beyond ex players who won't committ but still like to be "seen" to be doing something on the odd occasions when asked. Inviting the likes of Garry in (or whoever it is) to provide some sort of advice each time we have a change of coach or a crisis arises, smacks of amature hour. P.S. I think it's a tad early to be calling for Neeld's head (inference of the OP banner IMO) but that's just my op. Keeping the faith for a while longer...not sure how much longer though. I guess the next 8 to 10 weeks will tell the tale.

Is this because they seem to lack any belief & confidence in each other? Devoid of winning for so long maybe. Confidence totally shot. Also the other gaping hole is leadership and not a single star to lift the moral and standard of skills/finish. Too many basic things just don't happen, like someone staying off the contested mark (and contested/congested packs where there's already enough of our players contesting), front and square in our forward line. Without wanting to single anyone out ...McKenzie at one point in forward pocket, marking contest at Punt Road end, rushes towards contest instead of sitting off a little to see where the ball falls, Port player gets it instead and they transition quickly out of defence....golden goal opportunity missed. Many more examples if i was willing to suffer through a replay. Dumb, dumb and dumber!

Your entitled to your opinion. I watched 2 or 3 pre season matches and in most i saw Davey having a red hot go and showing some signs versus the last 2 seasons (a low base i realise). But worth a role of the dice IMO given our lack of leg speed and poor disposal skills. Davey's main problem is his inability (or unwillingness?) to "close check" his opponent when we (he) don't have the ball. Often playing off his opponent, allowing his opponenet an easy possession down back, then trying to chase him down with his pace after the horse has bolted! So yes he has defficiencies for sure, but in the short term we need the former i reckon. Maybe off the bench and in short bursts. At least give him one last chance for 3 to 4 matches and see if he can deliver, even off the bench in short 5 to 10 minute bursts maybe. As for Sellar, i'll back him above Garland at this point in defence (from here). Although i don't think either show signs of being star players in this area of the ground or anywhere really. Unfortunately, Sellar played most of last season in defence (finally improving somewhat towards the end) only to be groomed pre season into a pinch hitting forward role? I think he can be forgiven at this point for not knowing whether he's playing Arthur (up forward) or Martha (down back) as a stop gap and having difficulty getting his "defensive or offensive?" mindset correctly tuned as to whether to attempt to mark or punch during one defensive contest during the match. Agree he was far off it today, as were most of the team, but Garland IMO just doesn't show that he's improving his already average at best game from season to season. To me, garland has had plenty of time to show some coolness and footy smarts when placed under a bit of pressure, but most of the time he hits the panick button, disposing very poorly, choosing the wrong option and/or panick disposals into no mans land when something better was often an option. The same could be said of Garland i guess, who was played up forward towards the end of last season with some degree of success. But from what i've witnessed at this point, Garland having approx 4 seasons of football behind him, and Sellar less than 2, if i had no other choice i'd take Sellar as a stop gap down back. Not the long term solution by any means but marginally a better option in terms of the damage they are both capable of (to us i mean lol). Sadly we are so lacking in depth this is what we have come to. Some marginal improvements across lines (maybe) in what it seams is a pretty average list to start with, with a few exceptions.

Agree Norm. The selection aspect was mind boggling for mine. Ability to spread and test/break down the opposition's defensive set ups/zone (ie., speed across the ground and quick/clean transition from clearances won)..... The FD (MN) leaves Davey out, who IMO had a pretty decent pre season and has a bit of toe still left in him and decent disposal by foot and can still run a player down on occasions (read perceived or real pressure on the opponents to make a quicker decision...ie hopefully panick a little). Couldn't have been worse than some of the lead foots we had on the park today anyway. Blease sitting as sub and only brought on in the final quarter? If he's that underdone he shouldn't have been in the best 22 (surely better off playing half to 3/4 at Casey in preparation for next week or week after!) Kent i realise is only a young rookie and far from being able to cope at this level for more than a quarter or 2 IMHO. But we have to start blooding him. From the little i've seen so far, he appears to have the capability to hit up targets coming i50 more often than not (and in other parts of the ground) and this should be fast tracked ASAP given we are presently sadly lacking in this aspect (that's when targets do actually lead up hard....which is rare in itself). Even if it's only for 5 to 10 minute bursts off the bench in his early formative days. The luxury of waiting/waiting for a player to learn his craft in the Magoos is not on this club's side any longer. Jetta is a must inclusion and should have been in today given his pre season form. Can't u'stand why he was left out yet we place so much faith in others like Pederson/Gillies who have so far shown very little and certainly don't have the speed over the ground that Jetta offers (not that he is lightning but he is compared to some in this team at present). Defence.... Neeld has prided himself on this aspect and made it a pretty big priority. However to me the following is obvious... Garland is a liability in this team atm and def not up to AFL standard at this point (as are a number of others who played in defence today) and should be replaced directly by Sellar as soon as Dawes returns. Watts was exposed today as being next to useless in the loose man role when the pressure is on. I say it's time to role the dice and play him alongside Howe, Clarke and Dawes up forward, make him earn his spot and give us a decent return on the investment placed in him. Too easy to be unaccountable in this loose man role. When the going gets a little tough and there's some big bodies being thrown around in the clinches, he tends to go missing. At this point any returns we've seen have been either mediocre to good (at best) or he goes missing completely (like today). If he has that much talent it's time to show it in his fourth season. Either give us a return up forward OR make him play accountable one on one footy down back and prove he can shut down and run off his opponent. His been given the No.4 guernsey for a reason. If he can't do either of these consistantly or well this year then we have a major inherent development problem at this club. Time to stand up. Swap T Mac in for Watts when ready but in a shut down accountable role that we know he is good for. The Mid Field What a debut by young Jack. One of the best first game performances i've seen from any player at this club or any other club for that matter. However, IMO the Sylvia experiment has well and truly seen its day. He didn't stand up (again) today when the question was asked of him. His great games are far too few and in between. And his mind lacks an ability to play smart / clean powerful footy when it's expected and most needed. He's way past a junior yet to me he still plays in patches like he's a rookie and without the obvious footy smarts that you would expect to have seen him develop at this late stage. Time to give others like Magner and Couch a fair go, even though they may not be the long term answer either. I'd like to see them get a fair crack at it and lets see what they have. It is clear (to me) that we need to buy a super star mid into this line up who still has a good 3 to 4 years of football left in him to teach these blokes how to. Beyond Jones and a very green Jack, we're going to be very stretched through the mid field going into the next 2 to 3 seasons at this point. This is an important "part" of their development IMO. We have Dawes up forward who's come from a successful club. And i'd like to see us add one more to teach the youngsters in the next few years and lead them (and us as a club) out of the wilderness from the mid field. This to me is a massive key factor at the MFC right now but one which i fear we might not be able to fullfill. Royal, you've had a fair crack mate. If there's little to no improvement by round 6 to 8, i'd say thanks for your efforts so far but it's time to move on. Quick clean transition from Defence into attack (both game plan/execution and mind set)..... Presently non existent (Blease excluded). The Coach IMO he has about 8 to 10 weeks to turn around this opening round disaster around. Until then i will wait and watch. Hoping for the best. But also preparing for the worst. Good luck and lets hope that he (we) can do so starting with the Bumbers next week.

6. Grimes 5. Viney 4. McKenzie 3. N Jones 2. 1. Blease

Neeld can't roll that old cliche out against Port. We had on average 10 more games per player on the park. Port also had 14 players with less than 50 games under their belt versus 10 players on our side. In addition we were, on average, a slightly older team in age by 1 year. A minor gap i realise but we were still a more mature team on the park. There's no excuses for todays pitiful performance against an at best (by season's end) bottom 5/6 opponent.

I say keep the buglar. If anything we need to give him more prominance on match day! He'll be the making of this club if only we could parade him on a float so eveyone gets to see that amazing jacket and hear his amazing tones. Tut tut and tally ho chaps, an amazing cultural heritage before every home game what! BTW, does anyone know what the fine might be for throwing eggs and tomatoes at someone on the hallowed MCG turf? Good therapy for every frustrated Demon supporter!

The Demons vs The Power Round 1, 2013 Team Stats Total games played Demons - 1,390 Power 1,162 Games Average Demons - 63 Power 53 Age Average Demons - 24 Power 23 Height Average Demons - 187cm Power 189cm Weight Average Demons - 88kg Power 87kg Number of players by category 0-49 Games Demons - 10 / 17 (number of players/average games played) Power - 14 / 15 50-99 Games Demons - 6 / 89 Power - 3 / 80 100+ Games Demons 6 / 130 Power 5 / 146 Stats courtesy of footywire.com A big thank you to Fifty-5 for pointing out the total games error in my intitial post in the other pre game thread. For the first time in 3 years we're actually ahead on this count versus a non recent start up AFL club! No excuses Demons... lets rock!!

The Demons vs The Power Round 1, 2013 – Team Stats Total games played Demons - 1,390 Power – 1,922 Games Average Demons - 63 Power – 87 Age Average Demons - 24 Power – 23 Height Average Demons - 187cm Power – 189cm Weight Average Demons - 88kg Power – 87kg Number of players by category 0-49 Games Demons - 10 / 17 (number of players/average games played) Power - 14 / 15 50-99 Games Demons - 6 / 89 Power - 3 / 80 100+ Games Demons – 6 / 130 Power – 5 / 146 Stats courtesy of footywire.com

Not a bad post Chippy. I think what we have in Neeld is a coach that's seen the best of it at the Pies and then the worst of it in his first year with us last season. Personally i believe this puts Neeld in a great position to know where to take this club in terms of the infrastructure required, fitness levels and professionalism at all levels. At least in terms of what he's in charge of and able to control as well as the amount of resources provided to him by the club ($ & personell) versus other clubs. Obviously the Pies would have a much greater spend within the FD versus us so he is no doubt behind the eight ball a little in this area (in a direct comparison against the Pies anyway). I also believe he's the ideal man for preparing this club to be "ready" to launch itself into matching it with the big boys in the AFL within 2 to 3 years from now. SUBJECT TO..... getting our draft/trade selections right and running a successful development program that can take many of the young recruits to another level as well as get the best out of the more senior crew. I also felt Danners was quite good at the "off field" preperation of players pre match, but IMHO not so good with selection/match day strategy and tactics. I'm fully confident that MN is getting the preperation/training/fitness side right, setting us up to match it with the big boys fairly soon. As for the selection/game day abilities i guess time will tell. The question is do we have the personell ready to meet what's going to be asked of them, and are MN (NC etc) able to set us up (selection wise) for match day and most importantly MOTIVATE these boys into competing every moment of every quarter to the best they can? I think we have to demand and expect a much higher standard from many of the boys this year, particularly those that have approx 80+ games under their belt already. We've had 2 pre-seasons under MN now and the injection of some more experienced players into the club means we should be able to not only compete with but win against lowly teams like Port , GCS, GWS, the Lions both at home and away as well as the doggies and the Blues (at least at the G anyway). To me this is where the 7 to 8 wins (at least) should be coming from. Anything less (at worst close losses under say 2 goals to the Lions/Doggies away) against these lessor lights would be a major disspointment. A pass this year IMO, is winning most of these matches. A big bonus if we beat anyone else anywhere else at this point. Although i'm more than happy to take extra wins of course and would hope we can pull out a few against a few other Vic clubs. I'd also expect us to win at least 1 interstate match this year against even a half decent team (away) like the Lions. While skill levels and maintaining structures (no injuries/fitness/footy smarts etc) will be critical, motivation, old fashioned G&T and the will to win (both as a team and as individuals) will also be major factors in a must win game for this club tomorrow. 1 win or loss wont make a season for any club, but i think tomorrow is critical for this club's confidence for the remainder of the year. For a "winning" culture to emerge at this club and and to have any momentum at the start of this season, we must beat teams like Port at home. The time for excuses against these lowly clubs is over!

Cheers Rock I reckon the tide has to turn at some point. Hopefully this is the year we see a tipping point in our favour. Young talent mixed with some decent senior injection just might be the right mix and tonic for hope, belief and most importantly the creation of a never say die, winning culture. P.S. Love the pic of Balls mate. Could do with his leadership down back this year. Hopefully Watts will take another step and start to rally the troops with the help of Tommy Mc, Chip, Dunny, Jetta and even Nicho! Contrary to some i think Nicholson will become a key player for us, providing decent run and turning defence into attack with quick transitions/breaking lines etc (ie., quick transition = better opportunities for our forwards by isolating them and preventing numbers getting back versus a slower transition out of defence).

There's a massive Demon fan i know. Goes by the name "BIG POPPA". He's been following the Demons since just after the last GF. In other words a pretty long time. Almost Old Dee territory! Note i said "almost" Old Dee! He doesn't post on here but watches the goings on once in a while pre season and spasmodically through the season. He reckons Demonland needs an injection of peptides into the mix on here as it's a little too dour and negative of late leading into the season (in general, not in all posts obviously). Big Poppa asked me to remind everyone on here of the following re how we might go in the opening round........ The year was 1994. In our lead up practice matches we crapped out losing to the Pies in the final practice match of that year, only kicking a total of 4 goals for the entire match. One week later, the opening round 1994, no one gave us a a chance against the cats, however we had other ideas...... http://finalsiren.com/MatchDetails.asp?GameID=1415&Code=7f3417889685e53b6349381e472a5518 In addition, we made the finals that year, beating Carlton in one of the best finals i've seen us play and thrashing the Doggies coming into the preliminary, but running into a pept up.....sorry...pumped up West Coast in Perth. I remember speaking to one offical at the club the year after that finals series and he claimed many within the club believed we had missed one of our biggest chances to snatch a GF since 64. However we did see a real star for the club absolutely shine during the early part of that series, and what an impact this young bloke had..... I for one plan to give the boys everything i got on Sunday. It's time for the Phoenix to finally emerge from the fire....It's time to start winning. Lets start by kicking the Power's ass back over the border where it belongs! CARN THE MIGHTY DEMONS!.

Pringle, with all due respect to you, anytime i see Pedd in the ruck (see link below) during a pre season match, i'm taking no notice. I for one will be calling on Abaddon to intervene in our game plan If he's played there for any extensive period during the season proper (ie., beyond the 2 minutes it takes to replace an injured Jamer/Spencer etc while the sub comes on). And if he is played there any longer than that and Abaddon fails to follow through, then i'll swim across the Yarra river naked during the middle of winter (that's assuming all our other ruck options aren't out injured that is. If so this statement is Null and Void!). http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-03-16/gold-coast-v-melbourne

Yep. We're definitely on notice it would seem. The plans might have already been unofficially discussed by unseen men in unseen places in a preliminary sense. And not just 5 normal games OD. It'll be against the heavy hitters, like Port, Freeo and the 2 new franchises. Spectacular stuff. If we're lucky we might manage 15,000 - 17,000 on average against these teams if we start winning some games from here. Maybe 10,000 - 12,000 or so if we don't by 2015, and a third of those will probably be opposition supporters. Already we are being overlooked for any official radio/tv coverage in the NAB cup, and try to get a review on any radio station post match on local Vic radio sport channels! Zilch, Zip, Nada. All we get now is a final score lol. And as for a retail recruiting drive (excluding to existing/lapsed members to renew) i can't say i've seen or heard anything in the media/billboards/net by the club to this point. We are on the brink of becoming the forgotten AFL club if we don't start to win a decent number of games this year and keep improving from then on. We also need to uncover a few "real" superstars and soon. We're such a non saleable product in terms of TV/Radio coverage at this point. Hec, even Foxtel might have second thoughts about broadcasting some of our matches if we don't get a move on.

Lets hope more of our players catch on sooner rather than later then. If your prediction is close to the mark it's going to be another very painful year mate

NIL injuries = Win! Take no notice of today peoples. Hit and giggle stuff