Macca

Could the AFL step in with their own sanctions with regards the unruly behavior? Of course, we still don't know all the details and the latest is that May didn't make the jibe about the GF & Jake

Are we still in possession of Schwabby's $80k desk? If so, that should cover things

Sometimes there is a simple explanation to a complex question Not only do we not have anywhere near enough younger supporters but because our members are generally much older, they are staying away for all sorts of reasons. And I suspect the oldies much prefer day games And the oldies aren't very loud nor do the oldies like noise. Especially loud nouse. This is true even when we're not talking about the footy. Nothing much is going to change either despite all the urgings. It's not rocket science And it will take more than a decade to change the age demographics of our supporters. And only after a long period of sustained success So we're not necessarily introverted, we are just a quiet, older, more consevative crowd situated mainly in a conservative and more quiet part of the MCG (MCC area & Northern stand) That is who and what we are

Socceroos get past the UAE This team of largely unknowns might just make it to the world cup One last hurdle and it's a tough one ... away to Peru at 4 00am next Tuesday

Yes it was a particularly nasty thing to say - could be the grog talking but that's no excuse It's lucky he's such a good player but the club and leadership group saw fit to suspend him anyway. A brave call If we defeat the Pies without May all will be ok (at least for us supporters) but if we lose, there could be some fallout and the natives could get restless. And the media will get stuck in you'd imagine We just have to win ... forward line needs to fire and the backline will have to make do without May again And as we all know he's way more than just a top level full back. He's the general back there and organises the other backmen like he's another coach. And the other backmen play better with May playing his role We didn't need this sort of thing to happen but it has happened and we're just going to have to make-do without him

I did a thread here on our inside 50's in the GF with a full description on what happened with every entry - took me a day to do it! Easy to find with a quick search We win another one I'll do it again. We had a very open forward line in the GF & Prelim but since both those days our forward line has been crowded by nearly every opposition team with Sydney doing it and then playing us on the fast break - soccer style So targeting our forwards hasn't been easy this season ... we've become the hunted and that was to be expected

I believe Percy Beames kicked 6 goals in the 1941 GF And he was a rover! Norm Smith kicked 7 in the 1940 GF But Fritsch at any other time may well have won the Norm Smith Medal ... did he get 2 votes from every person allocating the votes? Petracca of course was magnificent and a worthy winner of the medal From inside 50 entries in last year's GF, Fritsch was targeted 9 times where he won the ball 8 times and kicked 6 goals 2 behinds. A fabulous strike rate especially in a GF

"Demons to destroy Pies and their finals aspirations" A DEMON DEMOLITION Undercard May vs Melksham in the rematch of the century (half time entertainment) ... referee'd by the maitre d of Entrecote That should ensure a bumper crowd!

A heavier fine ($10k - $15k) would have fixed things but a $5k maximum fine (PA CBA agreement) almost forces those imparting the punishment to go heavier ... which ends up being a suspension Community service is also part of it but is that strictly adhered to? We are in the business of trying to win the only prize on offer (the Premiership) and every Home & Away win increases your chances of winning the big one ... and any loss lessens the chances You do not want to be playing a prelim final against Brisbane, Fremantle or Sydney as the away team And you don't get many chances at the top as us supporters know full well ... we are in our window and the time to win big is right now May had to cop a sanction for breaking protocols but suspended? Not for mine As for the actual fight, it doesn't look like he threw the first punch and in that situation you might feel inclined to fight back for fear of more fists coming your way. Jake might have wanted to go in for a bit more. Who knows in that sort of chaos? But we don't know the full story so my opinion is just that, an opinion I wouldn't have suspended him on what we currently know to be true (breaking concussion protocols)

If we lose a close one against the Pies then May's absence will almost certainly be a contributing factor And that would make it 3 losses in a row with Brisbane up next The Pies would be looking on with glee A suspended sentence, a heavy fine and lots of community service should have been the outcome Trouble is that the PA have been able to cap the fines at $5k So a $15k - $20k would really hurt May but that sort of figure can't be enforced

It is for Collingwood these days!

Just give the bloke a fine, not suspend him Hurts the team more than the player. I'm all for doing the right thing off the field but would we suspend him on the eve of a GF?

I know we've got young supporters but how many? And how many in comparison to the other Victorian clubs? Also, how many in proportion to our supporters aged over 40? My guess is that our age demographics are probably different to a lot of the other clubs I've got a mate who works in sales (wholesale building supplies) ... he has hundreds of clients and the topic of conversation (apart from the business side of things) centres around footy He reckons there are only a handful of Demon supporters where as the other 250-300 all support the Blues, Hawks, Pies, Bombers & Tigers Our years in the wilderness has cost us in terms of having a younger supporter base ... especially so when we were absolute crud The remedy is to stay in contention for at least 5-7 years. Whatever window we're in needs to be extended and maintained indefinitely I also reckon we convert a lot of our older supporters into members. $250 is not a lot for the afluent (if afluency is a factor) Doesn't necessarily mean that they are going to attend games though Just my take as I could be wrong on a few fronts, LE

Just on only 10% being under the age of 30 is a damning statistic. How this compares with the age demographics of our actual membership would be interesting but the club would know But if you put 100 demonlanders in a large room right now only about 10 of them would be aged 30 or under. It'd be an old crowd Not surprised but if you are looking for a loud supporter group, a club made up of primarily over 40's (60%+) aren't going to be the raucous types (as a general rule) Most oldies don't do noise and aren't very loud themselves either ... they might be 'keep off the lawn types' but loud? I don't think so If a noisy crowd is needed then we need 10's of thousands of young supporters. And that can only happen if we have sustained success

Well you can volunteer your services and help out then

Keep up the good work, Civ You and your team are doing a great job

Why would anyone be dissatisfied with the efforts of a cheer squad? Who cares how much noise they make It's not like the players and team are going to be affected one way or the other anyway They are volunteers doing their best to support the team. Just like any other supporter So we lose a game and it's the cheer squads fault? How utterly ridiculous

We aren't a loud bunch and that's not going to change in the foreseeable future. It's who we are However, we are quite loud during finals at the MCG so there's that. The place was rockin' in '87 and during the finals under Northey. Similarly during Neale's reign. But big games and finals only to my observations. We also got amongst it during the 2 finals in 2018 But I believe our age demographic needs to change before we see more raucous support. And that could take 10 years or more (so long as we have a sustained run of contending)

We are not playing well but nor did we play very well in a 9 game stretch last season where we lost 4 games, drew another and barely got past Essendon in a close one in that 9 game time period. I suppose a lot of us are hoping we are into the 'loading' phase Yet we took all before us in the lead up to the finals last season and then played fabulous football during the finals (where our forward line clicked into gear) Much has been discussed about the make-up of our forward line looking ahead but the main thing is the forward line just has to play better as a unit and in terms of individual output T-Mac not being available means that we are playing 2 KPF's who are either not good enough or out of form ... and that's 1 player of that standard too many (especially in a team that is on top of the ladder) The 3 players in question of course are Ben Brown, Mitch Brown & Weideman Thought could be given to going with only 1 of the 3 plus Gawn or Jackson as permanent forwards (along with Fritsch) and maybe play another mid-sized player like Harmes as a forward. Or could Jordon play forward? He's close on 6'2" in the old language For team purposes Brayshaw is better placed on a wing so Rivers could slot back in on the HBF Ben Brown (if preferred out of the 3 aforementioned) could be moved up to CHF to get him into the play (for a time) ... after that, rotate them around where the 4 marking forwards all get their chance deep forward (or out into the play) C Brayshaw Petracca Langdon HF Kozzie Ben Brown Jordon FF Fritsch Gawn/Jackson Spargo Int Neal-Bullen (rotating into the forward line) Bedford is a chance for a similar role

Reckon we will persevere with Ben Brown for the time being in the hope that he comes good May will be back which adds a lot and Rivers could get an early recall. If so, Brayshaw goes back to the wing Maybe swap Weideman for Mitch Brown in the hope that Weideman finds some form in the seniors. Nearly all of the others have points in the bank but our glaring weakness is our forward line and to a lesser extent, the delivery into the forward line But the forwards can't expect lace-out delivery unless they present properly. And that isn't happening. Also, our small forwards (collectively) need to step up and start hitting the scoreboard As for the tall forwards, we need Ben Brown, Weideman/M Brown and a resting ruck (Gawn or Jackson) all competing hard, fighting for the front position and/or creating separation The options aren't really there with our tall forwards so what is needed is a greater output from what we've got. Van Rooyen looks like he needs plenty of time in the reserves. Project player Fritsch as the floating 3rd forward is playing his role but he could be a much bigger weapon if the tall forwards play their roles well At times last night we looked like a one-man team (Max Gawn) The big bloke needs help and lots of it n.b. T-Mac may or may not be available so the above is based on his unavailability

The game starting at 12.30pm AEDT would be 8.30pm on the East Coast of the USA ... 5.30pm on the West Coast (once daylight saving time is operating here in Oz) So Saturday Night Football beamed in from Australia ... or Sunday Night Football if they held the game on the Monday of the NSW Labour Day weekend (early October) Maybe late December could fit ... they traditionally play a few NFL Saturday night games post the College Saturday schedule in late December Whichever way they do it tickets to the game will be hard to get hold of!

Rams/Cowboys set for a regular season game in Sydney in 2024 If they held the match on the same weekend as the Everest (mid October) that would be a decent weekend away!

Jail Hindley is on the verge of winning the Giro d'Italia after a magnificent performance on the final climb yesterday 1'25" ahead of Richard Carapaz going into tonight's final stage (17.4 Kilometres)

Just had a bad day ... most of our players were well down on their best And you always learn something from a loss. But in advance we would have known that unless we bring our best (or close to our best) we're in danger of losing So we didn't bring anywhere near our best and paid a price Injuries played a part (especially with balance across the ground) but we had too many players who didn't play to expectations Harmes, Langdon, May, T-Mac & Salem may all miss next week so we may not see many changes ... so roughly the same team will have a chance to make amends against Sydney next week. And it's good that we're playing a decent team straight up after this loss - we need to bounce back against good opposition who will keep coming at us Right now, I'd take any sort of win next Saturday night The Swans will be up for the contest so we certainly will need to be up for the contest as well

What we do know is that a 50 metre penalty can be awarded for infringements after the final siren ... usually with regards to the man on the mark infringing in some way But with the new dissent & abuse rulings, a 50m penalty can be applied in that area (after the siren) As for last night, it seems the benefit of the doubt seemed to go with the Swans player but is another umpire in a similar position going to rule in the same way? Who would know? Technically, the Swans player could have been pinged if the umpire did believe that the player was deliberately transgressing Just another grey area with an accent on interpretation