Macca

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

Technically should 'probably' have been a 50 metre penalty but again, the rules are grey, the rules are not clear cut (so everyone understands what is going on) and because of that, the decisions are inconsistent It's now got to farcical levels where most people are totally confused with the officiating And soft free kicks aplenty. High contact being one of those soft areas. Just one example (1 of 10-15 similar) was the high contact free kick paid to the Swans player in the last 2 minutes of the game There was nothing in it and the decision should have been play on ... and if the players know that in advance then that particular 'play' could have been played out in an entirely different manner (without the soft free kick being an option) There are far too many free kicks being awarded anyway ... they could halve the number and it would still be too many

Yes

Soft5 now and improving ... very little rain predicted and Eagle Farms drains well Could be a Good4 at best so it doesn't look like we'll get a heavy track Had a small wager on Polly Grey but Polly likes it wet ... how far Zaaki?!

I noticed that 9GemHD are showing the Champions League Final live from 4.30am Good news for those who haven't got cable or one of the myriad of streaming services needed these days Should be more of it too ... if the FTA stations are serious they need to get hold of more big time sport. All of the golf majors instead of just the Masters for starters! Channel 10 are showing the A League Final live from 6.30pm tomorrow night (7.45pm kickoff) ... Melb City vs Western United Straight after our game vs Freo

@Dee Zephyr@Gorgoroth @Mr Steve Big day at Eagle Farm tomorrow - Super Saturday!! 3 Group races from the washed out Doomben races added to this Saturday's Eagle Farm card so we end up with 3 x G1, 2 x G2 & 4 x G3 and a listed race. 10 races in all Excellent fields and some very good betting races - value aplenty A perfect lead in to our game vs Freo Good luck if you're having a wager

An excellent system/game plan with loads of talent is a sure-fire way to success But our all-over defence cannot be understated ... without that all over the ground method, there would be gaps for the opposition to exploit So we've got all the key elements for September football. The other good teams don't have all the attributes And Salem will add a lot when he returns ... but without him we're 10-0!! Should have been All-Australian last year as he ticked every box and had an A+ year (in a Premiership team)

I spent a lot of my early years in Kew & Ruchmond so most I knew back then were Tiger fans Everyone I knew back then were on the Demon bandwagon ... the tears flowed after that Prelim but I knew we'd get more chances as we had a very good team ... trouble was that there were a few teams in that era (Hawthorn included) that were a shade better But Coach Northey had us up and running and it was a terrific 5 years where we won more games than we lost ... and after all those years of misery, it was great to be a contender at last But our current team is a complete outfit so the expectations are to win big. This year especially! I was involved in a lot of success at local level so that probably explains why I can be a little matter of fact and philosophical about sport (when it's all out of my control) Que sera sera ... and being a West Ham fan, expectations can never be too high. All the same, all things considered, we had a very good year As for the Champians League Final, there will be a lot of sentiment for Liverpool ... they play a style that is very watchable and Klopp is very well liked. Really like listening to his musings!

I was at all the games but my view of the prelim is a little different. Disappointed of course but still proud that we had progressed so far, so quickly after at least 2 decades of mostly miserable times In the prelim we had a gale force wind behind us for the first 3 quarters back when having a strong wind behind a team was a big advantage. People used to talk about having a 5 goal advantage (in a quarter) ... the sport has changed so much So we had every chance in the prelim. If we'd won, the wind advantage would have been a big factor. And the wind died in the last quarter. The wind switched at quarter time and then at half time ... at Waverley, you were out in the open so you could really feel the breeze. It was uncanny, we thought the gods were with us Anyway, we went out on to the ground after the final quarter and I'd pinpointed where Buckenara would have been if he didn't receive that infamous 15 metre penalty ... I reckon I might have kicked it!! Buckenara surely would have Better team won

We had a version of the EPL's last day in the VFL when all the games were on at the same time (Sat 2.10 approx) The most memorable for Demon supporters being 1987 & 1976 but even in 1988 we needed to defeat 2nd placed Carlton in the last round just to make the finals ... ended up in the GF after winning 3 finals to get there! But I recall there being a number of finals teams shuffled about in the last round ... and back in the day, the wooden spoon was to be avoided at all costs!

As I said, I was paraphrasing but it was words to that effect. Might have been 'Do that and we will go a long way towards winning the game' Fairly sure it was one of our midfielders who said it ... and it was almost a throwaway line thus I've only recalled it now

If Langdon is declared fit along with Viney, I can see a situation where the last man in is the first man out In: Viney Out: Dunstan But anyone with a niggle might be rested (or may not be) so I won't be surprised if there is a player out with some sort of ailment

Can't remember which of our players said it (sometime in the last month or so) but it was words to the effect of ... "The coaches have told us that if at least 16 players play their roles as well as they can, we can't lose the game" I found that to be a fascinating approach and I also found the statement to ring true In many of our games in the last year and a half we've had at least a dozen players who have played very well ... often reaching the magic 16 figure. And why 16? Can anyone verify what was actually said and who said it?