Demon Dynasty

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

Structure and game plan yes DD. But when are these players going to start "thinking" on their feet as the play evolves?? And i'm not talking about the Suns match. Take the game against the Saints last week. On a number of occasions in the 2nd, we were so focused on enforcing some kind of forward press, that we forgot there was a decent breeze. All the Saints did was adjust to that. Kick a quick short pass into the pockets knowing that they could then quickly bomb it over the back, where "unmarked" players were waiting just behind the press. That loose player or 2 were then able to run amok and link up through the middle/wings, freeing up others to take shots at goal. Where were their opponents on those occasions? Minds were still enforcing the press, and so were their bodies. Floating higher up the ground, not quite a full kick away from the outlet receiver for the Saints. Some players were still trying to maintain/play some kind of press instead of recognising the need to pick up a man (preferrably a designated one) once the Saints had gained that first outlet kick. This wasn't the only reason the Saints kicked so many unanswered goals last week in the 2nd quarter, but it sure didn't help matters. I'm just not sure this kind of "on the run" mind set (ie., footy smarts) is coachable with some of our players. It will need to happen soon though if we're to win a hand full of games against opposition other than the 2 new AFL franchises and only Richmond/Essendon from the Victorian based clubs as we've seen in the past 5 years or so.

Ablett obviously. Not sure you can put the other 2 in the Rolls Royce category just yet. But i hear what you're saying. Ablett on his own could probably take on our mid field atm and break even or possibly beat it. The thing is though, we have no idea what went down up there coaching wise or cattle wise. We might have even trialed another "experiment'! You know, players being played out of position etc.

And a whitewash it shall be. Vlad also seems at pains to push the fact that the outcome won't be forthcoming until well into the season proper ...... "Our expectation will be that this will go on for months." "No, I don't think you're going to see a result for months" "ASADA are going to be very thorough and very diligent. These things don't happen quickly" This plays into the AFL's hands beautifully, insuring the Bombers (and the whole Comp) is off to a nice "steady as she goes" start, regardless of the "AFL determined" punishment. No wonder David Evans is confident everyone at a senior level within the Essendon FD will more than likely retain their place, even prior to their own review being conducted. This confidence, seemingly against all odds, is quite evident amongst the Bomber's coaching staff as well. And while we're on the topic, shouldn't this so called 'independant review' have been called for and run by the AFL itself, once they were made aware of so called "irregular practices"?? Doesn't anyone else think it's a little strange that they (the AFL) should leave it to the club to conduct its own review, considering the weight of the allegations? Evans also said that Essendon members deserved to know the truth about what led to the ASADA investigation. Saying at one point, "We just want to get to the heart of what happened - we think the members are owed that. I want to ensure we give answers to our members about what happened and why, and put in place practices to ensure it doesn't happen again." What about the greater overall interest of the AFL and the game itself? Isn't this part of why the AFL exists? To govern and oversee the game and clubs as a whole in the best interest of all involved and to ensure the future success/growth of the game/brand? Then again maybe it (the AFL) has been flying by the seat of its pants on this, hence the announcement a few weeks back by McLachlan to try and piece together an AFL charter. Would love to know what NFL management think about an AFL led punishment!

You mean literally take our ground WYL? As in the G!!! And we end up at $#%tihad!!!???

Me too!!!

I think we should always expect improvement in whatever player enters the hallowed halls of the MFC, each and every year RR. Otherwise why are we in the comp. So i agree with the nature of your post here, just maybe not the method and some of the inclusions/exclusions. However i think 50 games is too little to be able to say "had enough time in the system and needs to be showing something substantially more than what's being delivered". Personally i think at least 60 games (approximately 3 full seasons of games played and 3 pre seasons) under the belt is needed before you can say, this player's not living up to expectations and needs to lift big time. From there, yes, i would have higher expectations, but i would want to see how they perform on the big stage for bulk of their 4th season (in terms of games played i mean....regardless of which season it might be), and then review versus expectations. Even sticking with your original theory RR (ie. 50+ games) i wouldn't be including Tappy in the mix, having only effectively played approx 1.5 seasons with only 29 senior games. Not sure why he's included and the likes of Bail, who has more games under his belt (36), gets overlooked. Yes he had an injury filled 2012 but Tappy missed about 6 or so last year with a pretty severe hammy. So effectively neither of these two should have been included under your original scenario. A bit harsh on the Tapster IMO. And why no Joel MacDonald and Grimes? I think Mac improved last year, but the disposal effectiveness and willingess to follow up (2nd efforts) after his first contest are a fair way from AFL standard IMO, especially seeing he has nearly 125 games under his belt. Grimes works hard and gets quite alot of ball, but his disposal decision making is often flawed IMO (ie., options/choices when coming off HB or the wing are too often "safety first". This might be ok if he was more accurate spotting up our players, but delivery in terms of accuracy/spraying the ball wide to the boundary where he usually goes are often sub standard. As a result we end up in a bad turnover situation and the opponents having loose players unmarked as a result = easy score for them. Needs to look downfield and/or inside to SEE if there's a better placed/more open player, instead of hitting the boundary or towards a player near the boundary so often. These are the 2 areas i'd be wanting to see him improve on using your expectations mantra) Apart from the above 4 player inclusions/exclusions, i actually think you're pretty spot on with the rest who should be under the spotlight and have some reasonably high expectations placed on them this year. Not that anything we say on here will make a skerrick of difference to what happens at any AFL club lol.

Rodan: Decent "short term" bolstering for a very inexperienced/young mid field. Byrnes: Likely to play bulk of time up forward, hopefully crumbing off talls when they return. Rotating through the middle at times (not sure the exact percentage but say 60/40 time spent as forward/mid respectively, give or take 15% or so lol. Jones: Has matured into an all round top B grade player for the club. With all his hard work/effort in and around the ball i'd just love to see him release the ball a little earlier/quicker and hopefully hit a few more targets by hand/foot this year. Not alone on this wish list however. Our inability to string 3 to 4 quick posessions together in and around congestion/stoppages and release the ball to our player's general advantage up the field was a hugely frustrating downfall of our play last season. McKenzie: Mainly a negating/stoppage specialist. Hopefully he handballs more often than he kicks this year lol. The above is the core IMO, until Viney, Toumpas, Kent et al put some real size on over 2 or 3 pre seasons and mature (hopefully). Don't underestimate the inclusion of Byrnes. He looks very hungry to me and if he stays injury free (touch wood) he might add some decent disposal skills and grunt in and around the stoppages through the middle and up forward. Leads by example and will provide great leadership. Something sadly lacking for the last 5 seasons (Jones the 1 recent exception). Rodan adds break away speed, agility and some fairly silky skills. He also has a super boot off only a few steps, can find space and releases very quickly (rare amongst Demon players through the mid). Being able to clear the congestion quickly from the middle should assist our 2 main tall forwards get one on one more often on their opponents (once they return). In theory the addition of Rodan/Byrnes should go some way towards improving our "conversion rate" i50 once Dawes & Clarke are both on the park and fit. Jones is now a pretty valuable leader for the younger boys obviously, and we can now add Rodan/Byrnes to the leadership list through the middle. However, as many others have mentioned here, we need to poach a top line A grader (or 2!!) from another club with at least 3 to 5 good years left. I can't see it happening due to salary cap constraints and existing contracts but Swan and/or Ablett would be a super injection for us. We just don't have any genuine super stars in this club to show the young blokes "how". Unless we develop one out of the existing group such as Watts, Toumpas, Kent, Viney then we are pushing it up hill from here. There are a number of 2nd tier players that will need to step up and improve their games substantially from last year if they're to play their part through the midfield and cover the depth, class and mature bodies from the opposition when the 3 core players are resting/rotating or injured. This Includes.... Sylvia. Who i'd rather see used as a medium size lead up forward i30. Is an instinctive player that loves shooting for goal from wherever and could provide a decent 3rd option up forward along with Howe. Then there's Magner, Jetta, Tapscott, Couch (mature age been in the system for some time, wont get many chances IMO so will need to make the most of them) and Bail . One player i think will surprise this year is Jetta. I think he looks in superb condition and ready to turn things up a notch. Not sure if he's up for a regular role in the mid field just yet but may grow into this as the year progresses. Having said all that if 2 or 3 of the second tier step up from last year's efforts, i could see us winning maybe 6 to 8 games. If they don't, and we have to rely solely on the core 4 above, then we might be lucky to win 3 or 4 matches IMO.

Seems to me the Bombers (backed by the AFL behind the scenes) believe this is a storm in a tea cup. The Bombers obviously feel they have so many "out of jail" cards that they're quite happy to stonewall this and see it through. Possibly that the outcome will result in, at worst, a minor strike against them. But more than likely not even a strike, just a slap on the wrist or some stern words from Vlad/AFL hierarchy once the outcome is known and the wrist slapping starts. There's just too much $ at stake here for everyone involved. The AFL are therefore happy to play the onlooking neutral observer role and say all the right things as per media management 101. I personally don't think ASADA have anything hard or fast on anyone at Bomber land (apart from a few loose lipped ex bombers) and if there is an "EX bomber employee/contractor" found to be up to no good re PEDs, then the Bombers believe they (and their players) can simply plead ignorance due to all their "outs". I'll be very surprised to see anything severley damaging a la the imploding Sharks. If it was an AFL "B League" club such as us, the Doggies or North, things might be different. But this is an AFL "A League" club. And "A League" clubs are a very protected species indeed.

Sorry Soidee, are you referring to Chip or Sylvia?

Apparantly the Tigers beat the Hawks by a kick after the siren, is this officially an early tank by the Dorks?

Lol OD A tad early isn't it. Don't pinch me just yet mate...i want to dream a little longer. At least till round 6 or so anyway It's a pitty we can't go and snatch Ablett to bolster our mids (& the whole team!) and teach (mentor) the likes of Viney/Magner/Kent, and even the Jones boy over the next few years. I realise it's like the pot-O'-gold rainbow stuff for us and will never happen given his contract, but to me he's the ideal fit right now given where we are at. Mind you he's probably the ideal fit almost anywhere!!

Easy Tat.... 3+ quarters to go lol