Demon Dynasty

Yep, lets set our sights somewhere near the bottom or below average every year. That way at least we'll never disappoint ourselves and usually end up somewhere thereabouts. Also pick up more and more early draft picks once they come back on line so we can rebuild on our earlier years of rebuilding

Will the real Demons please stand up? Given so many injuries early and so many outs beforehand, this was always gonna be a tall order to bring home the bacon. However, yet again, it's the way in which we lost that cuts to the core. No real stand out pride for this club, not guts, no willingness to say "Bring it on Fellas, and we'll give it back in spades". Just a half backed effort from some, with a few odd players giving it a pretty hard go in spurts, and the rest getting blown away when under half decent/reasonable pressure. Don’t get me wrong, there were admirable efforts at times from a few individuals like Jones, Watts, Chip, Maric, Juice etc. But where was the overall team effort from last week? The press up when the ball was in our half? The attack at the footy/ball carrier, numbers at the ball, pressure/tackling in our forward 50 (apart from juice early on…when he was left there) , intensity etc etc from last week? And this against an average to below average opposition (to this point). Yet again, a poorly rated opposition somehow finds a way to play itself into decent form.....against us. Only one win prior to us and that was against Port (on the road) who, if not for Brisbane’s lame start also, would now be holding up the rest of the ladder. Port having only beaten Adelaide this year (at home obviously) and losing to GCS, as we all know. Our structure (through the spine) and match-ups appeared to be working in the first half of that first quarter with Juice up forward, Martin in the middle and Chip leading the charge down back. All appeared well. Yet……out of left field, we move juice into the ruck where IMO he has no idea, then down back (ok he was probably on the ball), then up forward again?? All in the space of the last 10 – 12 minutes? IMO if it aint broke don’t fix it. We were humming. Ok Martin needed a break at some point. But have enough confidence to back your mids to get their share of the pill from the chop outs or opponents ruck work, and clear it and force it forward. Alternatively, at least back them to put enough heat on the opposition and intensity at the ball carrier, to force our fair share of turnovers and possibly more stoppages mid field and around the ground. Where again we have another chance to gain possession, push forward and/or force another stoppage. Instead, what do we get? Bailey (and coaching staff) either panicked or had such a rigid/fixed game that they just had to stick to it, moving juice out of the forward line no matter what was happening up forward or on the scoreboard! Surely we didn’t need to stop what WE were doing well and change it to offset Goldstein or North’s impact at that point? Or was I imagining things, including the scoreboard turning over in our favour every few minutes? North weren’t having any impact at that point. We had them worrying about us up forward and to some degree through the middle with Martin more than coping. And it showed eg., the frustrated slap on Newton resulting in 50 metres resulting in a certain goal. We HAD the momentum! Call me an ignoramus. I’m sure some will can me for this thread as i’m writing angry right now (and I’ve had a few frothies to try n drown the sorrows in). But I just don’t get Bailey (and the FD) at this point. I can’t see or grasp what it is he’s trying to do with this group of players any more, and apart from last week, haven’t been able to all year. As each loss arises, apparently against any team that’s willing to play more than one half of tough, hard-nosed contested (in many cases man on man) footy, I become more and more despondent with the direction, or lack thereof, that he’s sending our boys down. And as for leadership. After watching the game today (and reading through your comments here, listening to the experts on radio, player interviews, coach etc), I gotta say….we appear to have NO one who’s willing to stand tall…week after week…when the heat is really on. All teams have their days when most players are off and they cop the occasional towelling. Happy to except and factor that in. But we are beyond that now I’m afraid. As some have mentioned here already….it’s something ingrained in this Club. Whatever this culture is, it isn’t one that’s going to see us wining consistently going forward. I’ve seen enough this year. I love Greeny and his contribution in the past has been sterling for this club and he’s to be commended. I did say he was a champion (for this club). I was incorrect. He plays star games and great games on occasions as an individual. And he has shown leadership and great courage on many occasions. But… he’s no leader of men, or at least I don’t think this group believes he is. And he certainly doesn’t play mid field well. He looks lost and he’s chasing tails far too often. Half back or forward is fine. After the half time break, the players were looking every which way but at each other or whoever was chatting to them in the huddle (I’m assuming it was Greeny). They appeared as little lost sheep looking for their bo peep! At this point I see only one potential leader. He’s the big bull in the park who the others might follow and be willing to go over the top with. Provided he’s willing and wants it. And he’s willing to put the beer swilling away and truly commit. I say you just gotta throw the dice. IMHO Moloney is THE MAN to lead this club. He might not perform week in week out every week. And yeh he may be a bit of a flat tracker versus real quality opposition. But he has company. And who the hell else have we got at this point who will stand up for us, who intimidates the opponents, willing to take them on in a toe to toe test of strength and brute force? No, brute force alone won't win matches. But it’s sure better than rolling over like a pig in swill. My other big concern if we keep down this patchwork path is this…..and no this isn’t my quote but I noted it some time back when I was reading BigFooty blog one day, and it’s worried me ever since..... “Why would Tom Scully stay and play for a rabble like Melbourne when he can get paid millions to play for a rabble like GWS?....Danair, Big Footy 28 April 2011. And if Tom goes…..i’m not even gonna finish that….it’s just too scary to contemplate. Love or dislike Bailey, we’ve only beaten two Vic teams since his appointment. Richmond twice. And Essendon…..once. Both teams during a period when they were hitting rock bottom on the field or coming off rock bottom (sound familiar?). Bailey still has (in aggregate) the worst win/loss record of any Coach in the AFL (other than one carved out stat versus interstate clubs played here) and unless he produces some kind of miracle on the field from here, this year’s ratio is looking likely to be similar to , or possibly worse than, the lowly (but slightly improved coming off a very low base from 2009) win/loss ratio of last year. As a result of this weeks effort, the Club is now (yet again), on a knife’s edge both Coach wise and, in many ways, player progress/development/leadership wise. I don’t feel that sacking Bailey right now is the answer either. Far from it, being too early in the season as well as having no super duper alternative in the starting blocks or willing to commence half way through a season. But the wolves are about to bay even louder, even more so if the rot continues once we regain a few of our more valued outs in 4 - 5 weeks (hopefully). If the rot doesn’t stop shortly thereafter, and we don’t see a worthy turnaround early into the 2nd half of the season, the supporters/media will no longer be talking about the likelihood of Bailey staying or going. The attention will quickly turn towards “who” the replacement is likely to be for 2012 and what effect, if any, the appointment will have on the likelihood of TS (and others out of contract) re-signing or moving on to real or perceived greener pastures. P.S. I'm not even going to mention Dunn's effort in this post, nor Bailey's efforts in managing him position wise

Oh I dunno.... I COULD ALWAYS USE CAPS!!

The Footy review show afterwards had a replay of a sling tackle on ablett last year (i think)....came in right at the end so i missed most of it. Was tackled by a Sydney player (i think it was SCG) and hit his head on the ground. Took a while to get up....anyone know about this incident and the outcome re MRP if it was looked at?

Yeh Tricky. So you should be. Don't knock the Belze. It's a pretty serious hobby he's taken up!

Heard it was a pre-briefing for a guest appearance on Footy Flashbacks B)

Fair enough Jumbo. I think we're both seeing him at this point as a "work in progress". Opinions divided as to where he's at. I'm willing to give him a good go in seniors while Jamar's out to see what he's got for us. I've been pleased with this year compared to last (yep, Wet Coke game excluded, but hey....the list there would be as long as your arm!). Appears to be putting in the hard yards off the field. Lets hope he can keep on improving from here for the team's sake.

Arghh. Ok O.D. But i wont be beatin my own drum regardless of whether it turns out something like the way i'm seeing it. I'm just pi$$in into the wind from the top stand i think. Hec, I was wrong on Bater and MacDonald (being picked) and game hasn't even started lol! At end of the day it's just an opinion/feeling based on many years of watching from the stands and tv. Many more learned and experienced footy peeps (and some good local/ex footy players etc) on this site that would cut my opinions/views to pieces with more solid/sound reasoning and experience/knowledge (including yourself maybe). And sometimes they do !!

All pretty good points Dee Cheers B)

I would have thought Bennell's role is not to "Go in Hard" for the contested ball. Nor is he built for it. We already have a number of players who are built for that and whose role is to bang in/contest/link etc. He's an outside run & carry player (poise, finish/class player when he's on) in a similar vein to Davey...without the mature body. Not saying he should come straight back in but he wasn't the worst of the worst players against Wet Coke, yet he's paying the price. Not convinced he's suited or needed at the confines of Shiityhed either. Bring him back at the right venue AND opponent/match up...but only once he's shown something in the Magoos for 2 - 3 weeks. Has great potential but needs to work harder and longer at doing what he does best. Not sure that he stinks lol. I have more faith in him and believe he'll become a solid/valuable/consistent contributor for the Demons at some stage going forward. If not you can remind me of this post in a few years lol. Agreed... Cale needs time in Magoos to gain some confidence and improve on a number of aspects of his game before he gets another shot with the big boys. Shows class/looks super in spurts but always appears a little undercooked body/speed/contest wise when the heat is on.

Possibly spot on here Jumbo. However, you think it's worth testing this and asking him to step up this week? (provided he isn't carrying a severe injury of course) When else is an appropriate time if not now? At least we'll have a better idea after this weekend whether he has the smarts or whether he needs further development in the Magoos. Maybe even the next 3 - 4 weeks as a baptism of fire, subject to weekly review/match up requirements and form of other alternatives in the Magoos. I'm not convinced that Martin is THE back up yet either. Just putting this forward and interested in your's (others') views.

Lol OD. Yep. Pretty crappy case i put forward eh. Was off the cuff and just a gut feel. I did give some detail. Said it'll be scrappy! Having said that, amazing things can happen once the "belief" factor creeps in, especially if the boys still feel a lil like they're under siege! And now, the pressure valve's been released (aka last weeks thrashing).....look out! I wouldn't wanna be playin em right at the moment if i were an opponent (Pies/Cats excluded as their belief/skill/execution/experience factors are massive obviously). Re your points: Martin: 99% sure he'll play even if only 85%-90% fit. Lets see what he's got, albeit expectations shouldn't be too high if carrying something and given he's still very inexperienced. Trengove: Agreed. Another massive loss. Joel MacDonald is at least an "ok" option to provide a contest and link man. Grimes: Will be badly missed no doubt. Bennell in for pace, poise and finish (i hope!). Not saying MacDonald or Bennell are equivalent replacements. But at least they have some experience and can play in spurts. Martin in the middle. Dunn to help him (us) out around the ground. Random 3rd man up to assist as required. Engine room is humming (The Key IMO!) Bobby provides the junkyard contest and finish inside 40. Air Jurrah the unexpected brilliance inside 40 also. Flash to fire again, albeit more difficult on shittyhed to work through the zones/space etc given the space constraints. Consider a surprise move up forward in brief spurts here to unsettle opposition. Bater, Tappy, Sylvia, Jones to pepper the sticks from 40 - 50+. Too many offensive options for North. Wanna to provide some crumbing & finish up forward. Big game needed! Apart from ruck stocks down, biggest weakness/danger is defence versus their talls. Can we hold em to a losing score? Bring the intensity, attack and tackling we brought last week (even 95%), and decent form from Garland/Warnock and co. and I say yes we can... 4 - 5 goals...stickin with my first call. (If you're correct OD i'll tips me hat to ya!) B) Mighty Demons Forever

You guessed wrong. 6' 1" That's where i played up till bout year 11 til i became too short, or was it that others just got way taller lol. And before you go crazy on me, no i'm not sayin school age footy is anywhere near senior or AFL level. Not by a country mile. Nor am i sayin he can with broken ribs of course. If so he wont play anywhere for some time. General soreness or mild bruising shouldn't be an issue though. As i said in another post...there's always the Dermy option of wearing a padded vest lol. All i'm sayin is, he'd have to have a very serious injury to not play given the parlous state of our ruck stocks atm. Dunn did quite well as a fill in against Crow eaters. Martin with assistance from Dunn and cameos from others as 3rd man up to help out just as we did against Crow Eaters

The Trengove saga only helps to increase the "seige" mentality amongst the players and builds character/determination. We win by 4 - 5 goals in a gutsy scrap at Shiityhed Stadium B)

Jackson, If he doesn't play, i'd suggest that the pic you have on your profile thingy will be what he sees from Bailey as he's getting his marching orders! Like i said in an earlier post, unless he's got a damaged spleen/kidney (or worse), he'll play B)

If the AFL was truly concerned about concussion and facial injuries then they could easily make all players wear some sort of helmet to reduce the incidene/severity of concussions and avoid/reduce the possibility of serious facial injuries (eg., Johnno Brown/Hird/Dunstall/Neitz/Sylvia) etc. Had umpteen opportunities/examples yet i've never heard anyone from the AFL proactively raise this as an option to clubs

A truly professional football club should be able to handle both B)

Whatever it was, it doesn't warrant 3 weeks for a first up offence. Appeal for a reduction in sentence for first offence or take to courts just as the Swans did with Barry Hall, which effectively won them a premiership! Even Dermy, Rhys-Jones, Dipper or Mathews wouldn't have got 3 weeks for that touch up. Every tackle should be carefully scrutinised by the MFC from here. Any "pin one arm" tackle which ends up in a concussion should receive no less than 3 weeks!!! Anything less and we seek a post sentence review if the appeal process fails etc. Lets take em on Demons!

Stynes in for Jamar!! Article refers to Martin hurting his ribs. I'd say unless he's ruptured a kidney he'll be in!! I remember Dermy wearing that stupid vest for the Pies when he had same. Ended up ripping it off half way through game i think lol. Anyone got his number? Host of the Fox Footy clip referred to JT as Drac! DRACULA Trengove ... A real Demon of the night! Mwahaha!

Geddy has a point, Redlegs has many excellent points. More investigation needed. I can understand the rough charge and verdict being upheld but not the severity of the penalty for a first up offence. Seems very harsh in light of the offence. And yes QueenC, one rule for some. I wonder how Pav got that cut under his eye against the Blues last year? Must have been his cat. Clearly reckless conduct under the AFL definitions and guidelines, yet not even a reprimand

Regardless of percentages of members/non-members attending etc.... As i said, i don't think you'll see any significant improvement in these types of games (specially on Mothers day matches) until the success arrives and/or membership breaks 40,000 / 50,000 marks. No coincidence that there was a Monday night match scheduled for Saints/Blues. Wanted to avoid too many teams playing on Mother's day with numbers likely to be down versus normal schedule

Yep. Unfortunately, as many have already stated infinitum on this site, the truth is it took a clanger to motivate them. But respond they did. Impressive effort....so far. I'm wondering whether they responded as they felt it was us against the world. The seige mentality can be quite a motivating factor for some players/teams. Don't know how long that lasts though. Lets hope it's more to do with FD/Coach/players drawing a line in the sand after the wet coke match. B)

I wouldn't get too skitzed over this guys. Agreed. Looks better and is better financially if we have more attending whenever possible. However, numbers will only improve significantly with success IMO. Until we have a halcyon type period with a premiership or more, we aint gonna break too many attendance records i don't think. But for Sundays's game. Say we take off 2,000 to 3,000 to allow for Crow eaters. You get about 17,000 to 18,000 Deminions. That's about 50% of our membership base atm yeh. If we somehow managed to get 70% of our membership base attending, which would be most unlikely at most standard home/away games other than say Queens b'day. That's still only 25,000 Deminions (approx) and add 3,000 Crow eaters... max say 28,000 at this point of our membership tally. I think 30,000 is break even (approx) at G isn't it? So we still miss financially even with an unlikely and probably unrealistic 7 out of 10 members attending. Yes, i'd prefer 28,000 attending any day of course but i think you get my drift here. However, lets say we have some major success over next 3 years (wishful thinking!) and membership improves to 50,000 (woo hoo!). Worst case scenario: We have another Mother's day game against Crow eaters or Dockers etc. 50,000 @ 50% + say 3,000 crow eaters again. 28,000 (approx). Ok, at the end of the day it's probably still a marginal fail financially, but it's a realistic number and looks a whole lot better for us on tv coverage and in press/radio reports etc. Now lets take it to another level. Say we're on a winning streak and game aint played on Mother's day and we get say a more conservative/realistic 60% of membership base attending versus crow eaters/dockers etc. Do the numbers... 50,000 @ 60% = 30,000. Add the 3,000 crow eaters. 33,000. All of a sudden we're in profit territory when playing interstate clubs here. More so when playing Swans/Lions, who tend to attract greater numbers than other interstate teams given they're old base of followers here. And the impression on tv etc. Looking a whole lot better me thinks. Obviously the numbers look even better versus another Vic team using the major success scenario.

Yeh. Fingers crossed Rojik. Hec, we might even get Thomo to see the light from here! I reckon deep down he actually Bailes and wants to keep him on! Common Thomo....outski! P.S. Not with you on the don't mind losing bit. Seen enough of those in 70's, 80's, 90's and Naughties to last me a lifetime!

Yeh. 2nd that. Bennell for some pace and silky skills to cut through the zoning etc at *&(*hed stadium for Grimes. Was unlucky to be dropped i think. Wasn't great but wasn't at the bottom either i didn't think. I wouldn't be playing with the line up other than injury/match up requirements. Gotta send the right signals after such a solid win, just as you do after a shocking loss. Bater needs 3 - 4 weeks at least in order to get a feel again of what's needed at AFL level. Players always say there's a big jump from VFL to AFL in terms of the speed with which everything/everyone moves (Lingy an exception lol....even tho he's one of my all time favs and a gr8 player regardless of speed! Love watchin that guy. Feel like i'm in a time warp back to the 80's!). B)