Macca

A boutique stadium for all these low-drawing games could be an answer too Trouble is where do you build it and how much would it cost? So North, St.Kilda, Melbourne, Hawthorn, Bulldogs vs GWS, Gold Coast, Freo, West Coast, Adelaide & Port Adelaide could all fit nicely into a 30,000 seat stadium (roofed) You'd have a much better atmosphere than what the sparse crowds at the MCG or Docklands deliver The AFL are now just entering into the next broadcast rights ($4.5Billion) so it's not like the league is short on a quid

One of my all-time favourites ...

Need an open forward line and that can only happen with fast ball movement. The use of the corridor along with what has come into vogue ... the 45° criss-cross passing (at speed)

What stood out most of all with Xavier was his vision and ultra quick release. Amazing for a first gamer And that's not the sort of thing you do and then not do. We've got a lot to look forward to with this lad

Righto, I like that. A defined position that can be judged by all and sundry And with that responsibility comes close examination (by us haha)

Those missing people you referenced have already made up their minds on how they are going to view the team playing. I can't see them going more often just because they are seemingly supposed to And what are the chances that even one of the no-shows is even reading what you've got to say? You may as well be talking to a brick wall, in all reality This conversation reminds me of a coach I once had who went off his head about the lack of numbers at Tuesday training. We had to tell him that it's no good lecturing us, we're here! Needless to say he didn't last very long after that! Anyway, we could pick up lapsed members but are they going to go to many games? They are not die-hards To increase the crowd numbers we need more die-hards. That can come from new adult members or those that go to say, 75% of games And that will come with more team success but it's a slow-burn It's rare to get adults to change teams and adopt the Demons, and the Chinese & Indian communities do not seem to be interested in footy So it's the kids and the Auskick kids. If we win they will want to barrack for us but then we have to wait 10-15 years for those kids to become adult members The club needs to get the kids on board out at Casey & Cardinia ... there's over 500,000 people in the 2 Shires. It's huge and it's untapped (and nearly twice as big as the Greater Geelong area) I'd give every kid a free membership out there and then hope that the Mums and Dads take them to the footy. At the very least there would be heaps of Demon jumpers on show at Auskick in those 2 Shires And if we're doing clinics out there, ramp it up in triplicate So there is a way out, but it's going to take time And we can ill-afford to drop out of finals contention in any given year

Forward line coach and team offence but the offence starts from Stoppages, Turnovers or Half back Does he cover all that area, @Adam The God?

Game 4 of the NBL Finals on 10Bold right now ... Melb Utd vs Illawarra Hawks

Fritsch stays for mine ... in a stronger forward line he is a real weapon. To me, he's not the problem, it's what surrounds him. We need him to able to play as the opportunist and in 1 on 1's Plus, if he wanders upfield his delivery into the forward line becomes another real weapon I don't have any issues with our midfield or defence but I can't wait to see Kozzie, Melk & Tholstrup back to strengthen our forward line Here's my forward line (which includes T-Mac unless Jeffo or AJ can establish themselves) With May back we can move T-Mac or even Petty forward (we won't need 4 talls in the backline) But I'm playing T-Mac deep as he can act as a decoy or take a decent defender with him. And only 2 KPF forwards HFF (A) Kozzie & Petracca rotating from the middle CHF van Rooyen but he needs to get on his bike and get involved when applicable HFF (B) Fritsch (with a licence to roam wherever) FP (A) Henderson (I'm hoping that this kid becomes a good small forward ... in before Chandler for now) FF T-Mac (has the experience and an innate ability to find space. Whether his body can stand up as a forward is the question) But he plays deep. Failing that, AJ or Jeffo) FP (B) Melksham or Tholstrup (experience or youth? Whoever wins out) Back ups ... Chandler, AJ, Turner, Jeffo And I've got Sharp, Langford, Lindsay, Sparrow etc as rotating mids Sharp could fill in as a small forward and Langford might find himself on a flank as well

Good post My original post was related to the make-up of our forward line on a damp day and the way we deliver the ball into the forward line in general IMV we made it easier for GWS to transition the ball out of our forward line To be fair, Goodwin is probably the best defence orientated coach going around Maybe we need an offensive coordinator who can call the shots

There's no anger, more so an observation of a silly thread But, again, if you are happy to be associated with your fellow supporters being labelled pathetic, good for you

Excellent post I came to terms with our crowd numbers decades ago An example of that is comparing our number of absolute die-hards* compared to the Collingwood numbers We probably sit about 12,000 - 13,000 where as the Pies would be 45,000 to 55,000 And there lies the answer to all the other questions *My description of a die-hard would be those who rarely miss a game and even regularly travel interstate games So, as a base, the Pies are miles ahead of us Same for Richmond, Carlton & Essendon except the disparity wouldn't be quite so high as the Pies If we were a big club, the counter argument would have relevance

The keen ones attend, the not-so-keen ones may not attend Multiply that by every club in any sport, Worldwide There is no uniqueness I know plenty of people (who are members) of other clubs who will often not go to games. Pies, Blues, Tigers and Bombers fans especially But those teams (IMV) have at least 5 times as many fans as do Melbourne supporters Face it, we are a medium sized club (just) and until we are a big club, attendances are always going to be a talking point TV rules ... e.g. If 2 million people watch a game on the telly where there are say, 40,000 at the ground, that means that 50 times more people are watching the game on TV Honestly, we could fast forward 10 years and the same silly argument will still be around And if we are a big club in 10 years time I'll be very surprised

Like a lot of other clubs on a regular basis, average to low attendances in any number of games are going to happen based on the home team's supporter base up against the opposition's supporter base numbers So if you do the maths, the Demons vs most of the interstate teams isn't going to draw big numbers. Same story for a number of other Vic teams Ignore the media and ignore supporter-speak. Oneupmanship is at play But if you enjoy being called pathetic, good for you

@DeeZone I also reckon that once Melk, Kozzie and Tholstrup become available along with Petracca having stints in the forwardline, one of the talls will be squeezed out anyway So I'm going early so as the team can get used to playing with just the 2 key forward targets (now) Langford on the flank instead of Turner is what it boils down to. Is that such a risk? And can JVR play as a CHF type like he did against Carlton 2 or 3 years ago (a High CHF!!) He looked good in that role and seemed to relish the freedom of getting up around the centre-wing

My observations upon seeing his under 18 highlights was a Craig McRae type So Lindsay is really neat footballer who doesn't waste a possession Also had Langford as a Luke Hodge type so fingers crossed that he ends up being that good As it turned out, Lindsay is the plug-in-and-play type where as Langford might take a bit of time (I had it the other way around!)

I didn't mind Fritsch's game ... more so after half time. He got involved and had a go With the KPF's, unless we had 3 very good ones, I'm happy to go with 2 and another runner/mid-forward type And I'd like to have a look at Langford for a full game and we need to find out if Laurie is going to make it. Billings deserves a chance too I've only got Laurie as the sub but sometimes the sub plays close to a half of footy I thought we were a runner short against GWS and you've previously seen my thoughts on the output of the 3 KPF's on Sunday (not going there again) So I'll go with 2 talls where as most will be happier with 3. And the MC will almost certainly go with 3 talls But I have to have a consistent argument so 2 Keys is my preference ... and it's one player out of the 23 playing a different role ... let's not sweat it Running forwards or potential running forwards ... Kozzie, Chandler, Henderson, Sharp?, Petracca, Tholstrup Then there's Melk & Fritsch who can get on their bikes when they hit good form We're not too badly off for mediums & smalls up forward. Just need to get them all fit and firing

Yeah, but I'd prefer another runner. And it's certainly nothing personal against the lad (Turner) I could give some other reasons but you've seen those on the post match thread! However, I reckon Turner will almost certainly get a gig from the MCbut Jeffo & JVR will do me Interesting observation by @KozzyCanwhere he noted that the Hawks only have one genuine key forward and they have kicked 31 goals in the first 2 games So this ol' boy is gettin' with the program, DZone And @DeeSpencer also has some interesting observations on the modern game and where it's all heading i.e. the future might see teams only going with 1 or 2 KPF's and definitely just the one ruckman It's a midfielders game and that means all the players have to adopt a total football mantra ... and we are already in amongst that style of footy You don't want to get left behind either

Fair enough Out: AJ, Howes In: Billings, Laurie (sub) B: Bowey T-Mac Lever HB: Salem Petty Rivers C: Langdon Oliver Windsor HF: Fritsch JVR Langford F: Chandler Jefferson Henderson R: Gawn Petracca Viney Int: Sparrow Lindsay Billings Sharp Sub: Laurie

The 'Pathetic' word should be removed totally. It's demeaning to the site It's inappropriate and quite frankly, wrong

Good post On the above bit, it's a lot like the pure 2nd ruck In many ways, obsolete The game is a midfielders game with the majority of players being able to defend & attack A form of Total football

Well, we need to change as we are being left behind Working for a boundary line stoppage in our own forward line is now playing into the oppositions hands ... the other clubs know what we are going to do and plan accordingly We have to work too hard for our scores. It's exhausting to watch, imagine being part of it?

Out : AJ Howes In : May* Billings (sub) So that's 2 Talls up forward (only) as 3 unprovens is 1 too many T-Mac can do the spare rucking in the backline which leaves JVR to do a few in the forward line We can always throw T-Mac or Petty forward if we need some forward line marking power (in game) The swingmen *Is May available?

I thought Henderson & Sharp were ok for their first games. Both might have a future In the selectors minds It's perhaps Chandler or Spargo but when Kozzie comes back that might change What stands out (and has done for quite some time) is our lack of front & centre types. We pick blokes for that role but they rarely deliver ... it's a real issue as we aren't getting those snapshot at goal from the hot spot

I don't get the love for Spargo ... at the top level he has been found out time and time again. Doesn't get the ball enough At a lower level down he can play well but that's not always a good indicator I hope he does well, if picked The issue I have with playing the 3 talls (JVR, Jeffo & Turner) is that none of the 3 can be relied on to contributing in a meaningful way So it's one too many until they belt the door down A lot of teams have gone medium/tall and if we have Melk available with Petracca & Fritsch pushing forward, there's your marking power in totality (2 talls, 3 mediums) Added to that (if we're talking 8 or 9 possibles - rotating forward) are Tholstrup, Kozzie, Henderson, Chandler and the like So we can have a workable and dangerous forward line So it's not just picking things apart from my point of view ... I'm offering a solution as well And we shouldn't be too concerned about the 2nd ruck duties. JVR and our spare man down back (T-Mac) can cover for 5 minutes per quarter