Demon Dynasty

There's that number again

It's big $. As they say, money talks.....[censored] walks. I don't blame Scully. Right place right time. But there's only one outcome that will make this a positive for the MFC........... Jaeger O'Meara The MFC needs to go f*&@ing hard on the AFL to make sure this happens!!!

The No. 31 jumper is cursed. Personally i would retire it...... permanently. Never to see the light of day again. 1 very famous, and now one infamous player (from our club's point of view), have worn that jumper and turned their back on our great club and walked away. It no longer holds any great honor IMO and i'd be more than happy if i never see that jumper running around on a MFC player's back ever again. Nor should any player be burdened with it in future.

It beggars belief that a top end business and/or professional club at the highest level takes a player PLUS his family on a guided fully paid tour of their interstate facilities, not having signed the deal (at least in principle). If it was just him (and say his manager or a mentor).....maybe. Get the pressers over and let the compensation negotiations begin!

Spot on. One of the rare moments i can recall that we also out chanted them at their home ground! It was a hollow feeling in the end though as we'd missed out on finals. I seem to recall the Pies supporters chanting something about the dogs towards the end of the game knowing that we would miss if the Bulldogs won. Didn't the Pies also collect the spoon in 1999?

Yep. Or something completely different......

FFS: FFS this abbreviation annoys me Any other alternatives much appreciated. FWIW: Is there a live market out there that puts a value on our comments/views? Go get yourself a tea/Go lie down/Take a breather: Hang on, doesn't tea have caffeine in it which will keep me awake wanting to write more drivel which will annoy you even more? Lying down will probably ensure a nice rest, enabling me to think up more drivel and then i'll have more energy to write more stuff that you can't stand! Taking a breather should help to re-energise me and re charge my batteries .... allowing me to do same as previous Go Lie Down comment. Cuts me to the 'flag' core: Haven't seen it used yet but i'm probably going to! We should have seen this coming: Now that we can read the tea leaves....can someone with this amazing gift pleeeease use it to select our next premiership coach! Seriously, we need your help....things are pretty grim atm! We butcher the ball: Probably damning and somewhat true of our team this year but i'm just sick of hearing it lol. Get John Butcher: Ummm....yeh....well i'm pretty sure it ain't happening. Get Fev: That ain't happening either. Ain't: I use this way too often and the grammar police on here probably hate me for it. Actually they probably hate most of what i'm writing haha. +1: Something i'm guilty of using a little too often... This ^^ : Something Belze uses a little too often! Sorry Belze lol. And now i'm starting to as well. Thanks alot Belze!

Be better off targeting support from countries that have similar values to us and have English as there main or secondary language. Countries who also play games of interest that we have an interest in. Such as India and Sri Lanka who are into Cricket big time, like us, and already have many of the cricket (ie., potential footy) ovals available that are the perfect shape to put on demonstration games and even get embryonic local teams starting to play during the cricket off season. China is a complete waste of time IMO as we have nothing in common from a cultural/language point of view other than them wanting our mining resources and using them to build hundreds of thousands of buildings/infrastructure projects etc.

Just a thought gang. Was wondering about our midfield situation and how we lack depth and some bigger bodies etc in there. He's had an interrupted year and it's only his first. But mostly he's been played down back this year with the exception of his last game where he spent a bit of time up forward i think. He has the body already and it's only going to get stronger as we put pre-seasons into him. He's a reasonable kick and strong through the body. Not sure about his 'short' game/skill side at this point so this might go against him a little until he develops this side further. How about developing Tappy as a mid-fielder as a core part of our rotations through there? Worth trying you think?

I think all our 'preferred' options are long shots at this stage. I agree. Doesn't make sense that Bomber would change from one club to the other in a the same role (actually it's as Senior Assistant at the Bombres not Footy Director so apologies on that part), especially given as he's gone back home to his Bombres. I'm more thinking if we did snaffle him it's more likely to be as coach. There might be the attraction of a longer contract with a few more $$ on offer to come across too if we assume he's only signed for say this year and next at the Bombres. I'm also thinking Gazza and the committee might be looking at Viney as coach with maybe Eade as senior assistant/mentor. And i'm not saying that's something i prefer. Just another option. Although Gazza's not that keen on Eade generally so this might go against Eade being appointed in any capacity. I guess there's so many options that could occur depending on who's willing and who's available at the right price for all parties.

Might be something to this (and might not be either lol)..... Gazza gave me the impression he was waiting on a result from this weekend. To me that leads to The Bombres, who he may expect (or hope) will be outed this weekend, opening the window for the deal to be finalised and the announcement to be made in Garry's words "sooner rather than later". My gut feel is Bomber T as coach or Viney as coach with Bomber as assistant or at least in a mentor role (Footy Director etc). B)

Amazing what putting 'Sheedy' in your headline will do for a topic! I might try this myself sometime haha. Nice work there Old Dee

Very rarely does anyone comment on my comments lol. But yes, i think Lyon's also done an amazing job obviously. Although some would argue he should have gotten at least one premiership from the 3 attempts so far and in a way has under achieved. I think Malcolm Blight had a similar outcome with Geelong from 89 through to the 92 and 94 finals. Before moving on to finally break through with Adelaide. Maybe this is an omen should Lyon end up coming across to us. 'Almost' with the Saints.....then success with the Demons. By the way, you don't happen to work or own a cafe' or something....by the sounds of it you might. Was just wondering if you see Mick with Gazza at your place sometime, maybe you can slip a little happy juice in Mick's coffee pls!?? Might help get him over the line!

Oh i dunno Mr Dee. I find it boring how the tip rat kicks all those 'boring' goals and gets so fired up, inspiring his team mates and often turning matches on their heads. How Clint Jones has grown an extra gut running leg this year, running off his direct opponents and spreading into space to provide multiple options around the ground. Hec, i hated it how he shut Daisy down to the point of frustrating him so much Daisy ended up smacking him in the head. It cost Daisy a week off damn it! Sean Dempster.....he better stop this sort of thing too! I saw someone he was on getting upset with the attention recently too! I truly wish our players don't pressure to this level and upset anyone. It would leave a bad taste in my mouth. The way Montagna, Clint and others run back so hard to affect the zone or cover their opponent when they lose possession. Makes me sick! How boring is that! The way Adam Schneider always seems to get into the play at some point in the game, no matter what sort of form he's in, and kick the odd 2 - 3 goals or at least split/spread in space where the tip rat and Reiwoldt aren't to take his opponent away from their lead up zone. Gee i hate that. So boring the way the Saints are able to close down the opposition when it looks like the games getting away from them. They often seem capable of changing the momentum of their matches, and slowly edge their way back into the game. This often results in them coming away with a win in close games as well. Boring old Lyon! What are you thinking Dee? Sheez

You're right. How could such a simple task as getting the colour of the jumpers/scarfs right have been stuffed up? If it were just a slightly different tinge as you claim, supporters wouldn't have noticed it and it never would have become an issue. Professional clubs are capable of getting both the on and off field right. That's what professional clubs do. If the colour on the scarfs that were sent out is the same as that on the player's jumper (or similar).....it's a very poor choice, harking back to the days of Fitzroy's old maroon colour when they were named such, circa 1883 - 1938. And we all know where they ended up. It may hail from a bygone era of ours, but that's best left to a heritage weekend of footy. Regardless, at least make sure it doesn't appear to have a pink tinge on tv etc. No supporter (well almost none....maybe with the exception of Gareth and CS) wants a pinkish colour in a footy guernsey. And you'd be surprised what putting a jumper on and how it looks, makes a player feel like. If it has a fair dose of whimpyness/cringe worthiness to it..... believe me...the players will feel likewise towards it, and wont enjoy playing in it. Hope this isn't reflective of the general attitude towards supporters within the club's administration. If so then we're truly just fodder to suck the life from and it's all just a big game to the MFC. No heart or soul in there if this is the case. I doubt that's the case. Hopefully this is just your view mate.

How about the one handed 'hand throw' from Westoff at one point! He was being tackled and no one else directly involved other than these two.....all eyes must have surely been on him (or at least 1 of the 3 umps) yet.....miraculously it wasn't seen....and somehow Blease is throwing (twice) while apparently at least connecting with his fist. Laughable if these were the only crazy decisions which went against us on the day, but they were just 3 out of so many. Umpires weren't alone in deciding the result as some of our goal kicking and decision making (Morton/Fitzpatrick etc) was absolute rubbish. But they definitely influenced the outcome and made sure the history books would show that Port were the first winners at the soon to be new home of footy in Adelaide. A small but nonetheless very important outcome for the AFL and their festering/bleeding Adelaide franchisees (and potential sponsors etc). The minor Vic clubs again on the receiving end of the AFL's grand plan. Anyone who didn't see this (or refuses to) must have been watching the game looking through their rose coloured beer glass through the other dodgy eye..... This will continue for as long as the minor Vic clubs continue to lay down and accept this crap as just part of the game. There should be a rule brought in where players (or coaching team or a designated person from within the coaching team) from either side are able to query say 3 decisions per half (just as in tennis matches, NFL and cricket) and have the 4th umpire adjudicate via video replay. If they get it wrong it's 50 meters (or a goal....something severe) to the opponent so it would only be used if the players involved (or coach etc) are almost 100% certain that they felt it was an incorrect decision. If no decision can be adjudicated by the 4th umpire either way from the replay then it's a ball up maybe. Somehow the umpires must be held accountable for these nonsense decisions throughout the match. It's becoming too influential and often changing the course of some of the close matches IMO as we witnessed on Sunday. In addition the advantage rule needs to be either dumped or changed. The umpires rarely get this right and the 3rd part of the rule, which says that... "the umpire must be certain that play is continuous"... can rarely ever be ticked as a yes because most of the time players hesitate (even for half a second or so) once the whistle is blown before attempting or continuing to play on. Therefore play stops, even if its just for half a second or more, and is rarely ever truly continuous under the rules' own interpretation. If the umpires were being true to this rule, they would rarely, if ever, call advantage. The advantage rule, at least in its present form, needs to be thrown out.

You put alot into this eh FT. Points 2, 4 5 6 & 8 are interesting and i'm open to some of what you're saying. Chip might be worth a roll of the dice through the middle but maybe just in the pre season warm ups to see if it's a 'possible' as an experiment. You never know but i doubt it. Stranger things have happened. And the Jamar point. I'm in two minds here. If we were to trade him i'd want something pretty special in return. I think ruckman are probably the last part of the jigsaw puzzle in terms of being the key to a premiership. But the big capable bullocking ones, who can play a little, don't grow on trees. We definitely need to get some mongrel into this side in the short and long term so i'm open to getting some bad boys or unloved ones that no one else wants provided they've proven they can play and we're getting them at a bargain like the Pies did with Krakour. Within reason though and contracts that allow us to quickly send em out the way they came in if it goes pear shaped lol In particular i also think we need to get our best team on the park while the season's still alive and make the youngsters work/develop/build in the Magoos until they're ready and have earned their rightful place. Something the Cats have been able to afford to do very nicely. The only problem being we don't have a direct VFL affiliate to control how they develop and where they're played etc like they do. Cheers mate

Lol. Yep. Judging individuals during those last 3 junk time games is dangerous i reckon. Having said that i don't think Matty was given a decent shot at it to try and show or regain any type of 'AFL level' form in the seniors during the year prior to junk time commencing. He was in for a week, out again, in for a week or 2. Out again. Poor management IMO. Many commentators who've played at both levels say it takes at the very least 2 - 3 weeks in a row to pick up the pace from VFL to AFL level and gain AFL match fitness. The silver fox said the same earlier this year when asked about it. He must have a fair idea. IMO this leaves us really not knowing what his true value is.....either way. I feel sorry for Matty in this regard.

I think this is one example (there would no doubt be many) of where a mid season draft would have been beneficial for both parties. I can see the reasons for leaving him out. But at the same time i think he at least deserved a 3 - 4 game run leading into the West Coast game to see if he'd improved or matured a little from his many games with Casey and to match him up on those teams we were up against late in the season with multiple talls. Maybe the recall could have been spasmodic to suit who we were playing, but i think he should have been given this chance IMO just to be sure he hadn't improved in some areas before he parted ways. I would also be worried if Frawley got a serious injury next year as to who we would try to bring in to cover. Matty had the mature body and enough experience to cover in the short term (ie., not another rookie), without the run, skills needed and poise of course. But I certainly didn't see anyone on Saturday who would be up to it either, with the exception of maybe Mohr, but i don't think he's on our list. Had a good look at Matty on Saturday and he played a reasonably solid game without standing out, although he wasn't alone there as the Scorps defense was put under immense pressure. Was always going to be a tough day once we started losing the mid field contest. Seems like a good club man and appears to be in good nick and very fit. Might be a handy pick up for GWS for a few seasons as a part time defender when the young boys are being rested etc. Good luck to him wherever he goes from here.

Same here. If you watch the condensed 'match of the week' version that has the time outs cut out and it just shows the plays. Or alternatively record and just fast forward and skip the breaks.....it's sometimes better to watch than AFL outside of the top 6 - 8 teams playing each other anyway. And even if you don't have the breaks cut out, provided it's 2 good teams playing off i can still handle a full match with all the interruptions provided it's a good match up. The breaks allow you to get things done in between as well if needed. Beyond say the top 8 teams playing each other in the AFL (and us of course) i find many AFL games pretty amateurish and often a complete mess to watch with the ball just going back and forth between half forward lines as each team turns the ball over so often and easily. Reminds of a game of basketball on a huge field when like that. You've also got many different types/sizes of players playing NFL who are all elite from the amazing sprinters/catchers in wide receivers, the medium sized line backers and tight ends (ok some not so medium sized lol), the brute force of some of the running backs (but with speed as well) or alternatively small running backs with amazing speed agility. Then there's the bullocking big boys in the centre fighting like giant bears, looking for holes, to sack the QB and protecting the QB etc. Then there's the special teams who are like crazy insane lol. Also NFL is great to bet on once the seasons 3 to 4 games in and you're starting to get some meaningful stats to work off....a nice winning percentage there with the system i'm using

According to reports on SEN not long ago, Lyon has come out and made a specific statement that he wont be leaving the Saints. That leaves Mick as the only experienced successful coach left who's presently coaching who just might be available. Can't see him coming in 2012 though and we'd need to be showing something pretty special in 2012 to snatch him for 2013 IF he decided to return IMO. As well as a pretty amazing deal, which i'm not sure we'd be up to budget wise. Choco maybe. If he wont come i'd say we'll end up with Viney as a last resort caretaker on a 1 year contract/trial. Maybe with Eade or someone experienced recently out of the game (eg., Eade as i can't think of anyone else available that fits that criteria lol) as a senior assistant/mentor. My confidence in securing a top line successful experienced hard nosed coach is waining by the week. And personally, as much as i appreciate and admire the short term effort Garry is making on behalf of Jimmy, i really don't feel his heart is truly in it or the club in a meaningful way. Just as it wasn't last time when he helped in giving the nod of approval to Bailey before riding off into the media sunset. Just as he's said he'll do this time around. Thank lucifer Jimmy helped in demolishing the debt and we managed a record membership. otherwise I'd fear we'd be in a world of trouble going into 2012 right now. I think we all better take a vial of luck potion just like Harry did in The Deadly Hallows lol. We sure need it. I can't remember the last time things started going our way both on and off the field (injuries too etc) other than securing a few early draft picks (which was a given) after hitting rock bottom a few years back. This is the first time in many years i'm not looking forward to next year. I just can't see the light and fear we'll end up flat lining. Maybe 2013 if we work really hard over the next 2 pre-seasons and secure a kick ass coach and about 4 - 6 players that are much needed to fill gaping holes. I'm normally very optimistic in most things but this is just how i'm seeing it for 2012. If we secured Choco....and some common sense/sweet trades and drafting occur....i might get a little more optimistic. But even then i wont be getting my hopes up for any improvement in 2012.

Should have rested the bottom 6 in experience/size and sent them on an early holiday straight after the West Coast match. Watts included. I'm referring to only those we decide to keep from here of course. Could have brought them back a little earlier than the rest and wacked them in the gym before the rest to get pumping earlier. Whatever it takes. Bring in biggest/toughest or just more senior players from Casey (yes even Juice if needed) for last 3 to allow this to have happened. Dunn etc. I wanted to see some bigger nastier men running out next year, instead of too many skinny boys. There's always going to be the odd one or 2 in any teams when you're bringing in the odd newby and giving them a try out. But we have way too many who just aren't up to a hard nosed physical stoush when the heat is on and the opposition starts to crack in. And.....we also allow too many players to get a look in too easily. Need to earn it big time in Casey unless there's injuries of course. If they don't earn it they shouldn't be getting an easy walk up gig. Unless they're a proven past performer coming back from an injury, a key part of the jigsaw and have fully regained their fitness and some form after a few Magoo games. Too late to do this now though. What a waste of 3 weeks.

Lol....is there a stat that captures 'Taps to the opposition's advantage' ?? And whatever happened to just thumping or punching the ball forward (or at least attempting to....even with say a 3rd man up) when your losing most of the middle clearances when trying to tap??

I watched this as well. My bro knows an ex player who played with the MFC in the early 70's. He asked him about what was missing back then at our club. Like why couldn't we match it with the better clubs in the early 70's like the Hawks, Richmond and Carlton. This bloke said, we just didn't have the mongrel/big brutish players to stand up against the oppositions meanest and nastiest players. We had some talent in Wells, Alves etc but not the grunt. I guess that's why the club decided to recruit Carl in 1973 and add some mongrel. Unfortunately that didn't work out too well either lol. But in many ways this is what's missing from this team and has over recent decades since the Northey years. There's just not enough big tough blokes in our team with enough talent to go with them to have an impact when the game's in the balance. We just don't stand up under any amount of physical/close checking pressure. Even against below average teams like Port. I fear we're going to be left way behind most teams (other than GWS in its first 2 years or so) going forward from here, given all the recruiting of skinny boys in the last 3 years, Tapscott and Howe excluded. Tapscott having some grunt and an AFL bod, and Howe (although skinny) a real goer who can take a mark and knows where the goals are and is willing to work his butt off when he doesn't have it. We also don't have a true forward who can take occasional contested pack marks throughout the game and kick goals consistently from inside or around 50. Especially given the way we bomb the ball in in straight lines most of the time. It mostly just rebounds straight out as we have no true crumbers/readers off the packs either. And then there's our midfield. Or should i call it our mildfield. Our basic skills around clearances under pressure (handballing to player's feet, at their heads at a million miles an hour or over their heads etc) is also woeful. And our decision making even IF we manage a clearance, is pretty p&@s poor the majority of the time. I can't see us improving much next year regardless of who the coach is. Maybe 2013 there might be some light finally but only IF we get it right coach and FD wise in 2012. My expectations for next year are zilch i'm afraid. This club has truly lost its way and its mojo for now. I'll believe any significant turnaround.....when i see it happen. And that means starting to win games away from home and against quality opposition and starting to win more of the close ones....period. Not just winning games we're expected to win at the G. Yet another year to forget.

I don't think one game is an appropriate time to judge anyone and certainly not taking any notice of individual performances these last 3 rounds as they mean absolutely zilch. Our season and that which we deserved to be judged on, was over after the West Coast game IMO. However, the worry for me lays with our performance off the field.....again. This club is as soft as marshmallows. How Fitzpatrick and Bennell were left on the ground after half time (other than for a few minutes at a time in order to rest other players) is just mind boggling. So in many ways i blame the FD for what went down today. If they can't see where the gaping holes were today they must be either blind or very dumb. But i certainly don't want to see yet another skinny inexperienced youngster in this team from here, Fitzpatrick or whoever, until they've truly earned their stripes in the magoos and actually have an AFL sized body a la Tappy. Regardless of today's performance, i'd be happy to never see him, Bennell or Morton in the MFC jumper again.....ever. We need big bodied boys from here, with talent and some agro/mongrel! And that was my view before the last meaningful game against West Coast. Thanks but no thanks to more guys 'like' Fitzpatrick.