Macca

Robbie Flower's the most exciting Demon I've seen . By a street . Back in the day most of our games weren't "On the replay" so many of Robbie's great exploits weren't captured . We were sometimes the "3rd" game televised and we were often confined to "The late replay" . Many times with with the "electrifying" commentary of Bill Twomey ! Cheers

And how about that Peggy Lee ... this song helped launch her career. A huge hit back in the early 40's. Peggy came from North Dakota and was married 4 times. Other notable Peggy Lee hits were "Fever", "Heart", "Is that all there is" and her first no.1 hit "Somebody else is taking my place." A super talent was Peggy Lee ... Macca 2.6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgnXZopKTqI

We only played the Lions once a year from 2001 to 2007 . The record was 5 - 2 in their favour . All the games were at the Gabba and I think all or most were our "home" games ! We've won 4 of our last 5 encounters against them . By the way , we beat them at the Gabba in 2002 . Neitz bagged 7 . Ward got 4 . Cheers

Blair Campbell . Only 12 games for 23 goals but a couple of those "boomerang goals" were beauty's ! A few others that had a bit of "excitement" about them were Denis Clark , Warren Dean , David Williams , Les Bamblett , Ted Fidge , Allan Davis , Cameron Clayton and Brent Crosswell . Some characters there ! Cheers

Well , we're getting to the pointy end of the season JJ and it looks like Chicago and Miami have got the top 2 seeds stitched up in the Eastern Conference . And can the Knicks hold on ? Milwaukee have won 7 of their last 10 and are a bit of a chance . In the Western conference Oklahoma City and the Spurs look like they'll be the 1 and 2 seeds going into the playoffs . I'm still holding out hope for the Suns ( who've recovered well ) . It's fairly tight from 4th down to 10th with Utah on a bit of a run . Tomorrows ESPN game is the Magic @ New York whilst Saturdays ESPN game is Portland @ the Clippers . Here are the standings .................... http://espn.go.com/nba/standings Edit : Hey JJ , with Detroit and New Jersey unlikely , have you got a team or 2 you're likely to follow in the playoffs ? And anybody else out there in the wonderful world of 'Demonland' got a team ? If the Suns don't make I'll be hoping Chicago , Dallas or the Clippers do well . Though I still think Miami will win the thing . Cheers

One of my favourite songs . A huge hit back in 2003 . Clever video . Macca 7.1

Brian spoke beautifully today . All who delivered a eulogy were wonderful in fact . The picture of Sam with Tiernan outside the church was incredibly moving and reminded me of another poignant moment in time . Echo 'Jaded's thoughts - our club did us proud . Macca

Excellent idea 'DL7' . And entirely appropriate . Even better if our club kept it quiet . Just imagine the team (all in green) running through the banner on Saturday arvo and the crowd reaction ! My take on possibly wearing the Irish training guernsey is more a mark of respect for Jimmy .

I like the new one , a fuller sound , more dynamic . And the banjo is just simply sublime ! (I have no idea what this means but it sounds intelligent) Cheers

Yeah Cudi , as I've stated in a couple of other posts it's tough going . I reckon we punch above our weight and we are reputed to turn a bigger percentage of our fans into members than any other club . It's also possibly that we have a bigger percentage of affluent members than a lot of other clubs . Quality membership over quantity of membership ? I'm sure our Club is addressing the issue . Save for giving out free junior memberships and using our name to it's best advantage I really think we need some sort of on field success . What's encouraging is that our membership has increased quite well in the last 5 years and we wiped out our debt a couple/few years ago despite being really poor on the field . We really need to embrace that whole Casey area . Make that our area if that's at all possible . It's worth a try as it's a huge growth corridor . I reckon a lot of the stuff you've suggested is worth a go . Often you have to spend money to make money . I've often thought that the biggest advantage that the VFL/AFL had or has over other sports is that they make it really cheap for the kids to go to the footy . And the kids need their parents to take them . It's a great strategy and one that our club could well employ . Cheers

Yeah , fair enough Wyl , but there's no denying our total number of fans isn't great . That table only serves as a guide but .............. Lots of things we can do to improve the numbers of course . Winning a flag or 2 would help enormously ! Getting involved in the Casey area "big time" could help us boost our supporter base . I reckon a lot of our fans cop a raw deal with regards to our level of support . And some end up succumbing to that public perception . Not this fella . I've always felt it's a load of rot . But ...........if people want to start seeing "huge" numbers at our home games right now , they're not being realistic . I believe our fans/members are great when compared to a number of other clubs fans/members . We just don't have enough of them . We could possibly point the finger at what has happened post 1964 but we're better off just getting on with it . Cheers

Somebody else posted this table on supporter numbers a few months back . Whilst it's not exact it does you a bit of an idea of what our club is up against . Numbers for Sydney and Brisbane could be ignored for obvious reasons . Even if you just took the Victorian clubs numbers , the results aren't good . http://www.roymorgan...t-supporte.aspx Cheers

You may be right OD . If Grimes isn't fit enough to play then Joel Macdonald comes back into proceedings . Mainly because he's a pure backman . Cheers

The problem with your argument Doc is that there isn't an easy solution . How do you propose we start getting "Collingwood" type crowd numbers to our games ? It's like trying to get blood out of a stone . The reality is that we don't have that many fans/supporters/members . This is a fact . Auskick numbers are poor due to our lack of on field success . I've been involved with local sporting clubs my entire life and there's just not that many Demon fans about . You keep blaming the existing supporters but they are the ones that are actually supporting our club . I believe we punch well above our weight with regards to supporter/member numbers . So what if we're more realistic than other groups of supporters . Some would see that attitude as a good thing . Tell us how we can get 50,000 plus to all our home games ? And of course , if we can miraculously get to these numbers then surely Collingwood would be locking out 180,000 odd per game . In case you didn't know , the Pies have about 5 times as many fans as what we do . We don't have a realistic chance of coming close to competing with the big clubs . We can still get better of course , but all we can do is our best . Every club has a large percentage of fans that never become members and who rarely go to games . We're no different at Melbourne . It's a fact of life and it will never change . All things considered we have very good membership numbers . Our ratio of fans to members is probably the best in the League . That doesn't mean we can't get better but we're doing ok in all reality . In terms of sponsorship dollars , memberships and the like , we're like a mid table EPL side . The big clubs are the big clubs . We can therefore only do our best . For what it's worth we're already 500,000 dollars up on last years guernsey sponsorships . Hopefully something comes through in the next few weeks for the FOJ sponsorship . Cheers

Fair points OD , but Tappy as a sub should be ok and you need a bit of mongrel in the side . I reckon that Neeld will want Grimes out there . He has made him co captain and may want him in the team for this reason alone . I reckon he only played half a game for Casey to give him a bit of a run . Also , the team I picked is the one I think Neeld will pick . I'd probably have Tynan in there for Davey . We need to inject some new players into the team . The previous group have been found wanting . We'll find out soon enough . Cheers

This is the team that I think Neeld will pick for this week B : Bartram , Garland , Rivers HB: Grimes , Frawley , Blease C : Watts , Trengove , Bate HF: Petterd , Martin , Green F : Howe , Clark , Davey R : Jamar , Moloney , Jones I/C: Magner , Couch , Sellar SUB: Tapscott Unlucky : Gysberts , Bail , Tynan , McKenzie To come into the side when fit : Jurrah , Sylvia . Blease is on the HBF because of his run . He may be needed across half forward to give the team some pace there . Sellar on the bench for a few reasons . He may be used in rotations with Martin , Garland , Jamar and Rivers . And we need to start picking a taller side to get ready for the good teams (Eagles the week after) . 3 talls in the backline vs Brisbane will probably be enough but there's going to be some tired players come 3/4 time (being round 1) and a fresh(ish) tall could be very handy in the last quarter . Not even sure that Couch has been elevated yet but given Neeld's want for grunt and Tom's pre-season form I reckon he's a real chance to play this week . Cheers

Like your team 'tonatopia' I'd find room for Sellar in the 22 , Probably have Green in the forward line but he could rotate in there with Watts and/or Davey . I like your dash off half back (Pies like?) and the "outside the sqaure" thinking with Frawley is good . Couch is a dark horse too but ya can't fit 'em all in the 22 ! Cheers

Big bodied forwards who can take a mark , create a contest , play in front all the time and bring other players into the game are vital in todays footy . Pies , Cats , Eagles and Hawks all have at least 2 . Sometimes they'll play 3 . It's the Blues achilles heal . We've got maybe one in Clark . Probably one if we're being optimistic . Neeld has come from a club that always plays at least 2 big bodied forwards . And the Pies keep making it to the last 2 weeks of September . Neeld talks about grunt a lot as well . And we're possibly going to be playing around the boundary line from defence . It stands to reason that Neeld wants at least 2 big bodied forwards in the key positions . If Neeld was going to play Jack at CHF in game 1 vs Brisbane then why would he not play him at CHF last night . Surely Mark would have some input . It doesn't bother me where Jack plays . As long as we get maximum value out of him . Cheers

Looking ahead to next week - What position is Jack going to play in our round 1 clash vs Brisbane ? My guess is as a utility - bit of wing , high half forward , sometimes deep forward , maybe even a bit of ruck-roving . Reckon Martin will play CHF for now . Cheers

And I'm usually awful at these sort of things . hehehehe Cheers

I somehow nailed it Chook ! Do I get chockies ? Cheers

Thanks DD . Well done . Cheers

If we don't play finals this year one of the main reasons will be our forward line . It's been dysfuntional for the past 4 years and although Clark should make a difference we're still a fair way off . We don't have star quality in that area . Clark can make us better but I'm not yet convinced with Watts as a key forward . Forwards win you games . Just look at what a difference Neitz and Robbo made . And we didn't have a "great" midfield when they played . We played in finals a lot though . Whilst I agree with you somewhat re the midfield , we need decent key forwards to kick to . It's a classic catch 22 argument . I say we go get another decent forward 1st . Getting a decent "free agent" midfielder as well would be a big ask . Pendlebury not being a free agent makes him a much harder target . I believe we will primarily target free agents or perhaps a young player coming out of contract at the GCS . Pendlebury might cost us too much . Cheers

I don't give it a big chance either Redleg , but don't agree about the 0% . We should be in the market place . All this talk of GWS being the only club with big money to throw around is pure folly . Free agency brings all the clubs with room in their salary into play . We should have room . If we don't then we're paying our players way too much in my opinion . We've got a history of going after a big name . It may not be Cloke but it could be somebody else . We don't have an established star on our list so we'd be negligent in not trying to change things . I noticed that 126 out of 164 'Demonlanders' reckon we won't make the 8 this year . I've tipped us to finish 8th but I still regard that as mediocre in some ways . Our club needs to be proactive otherwise we will continue to be mediocre . Cheers

Cheers