Macca

I don't believe so in a general sense but I heard somewhere that the Pies get the 'pouring' rights in the Western Stand (Ponsford Stand) ... for all their 17 or 18 games at the MCG Having a bit of money & clout goes a long way hey! Others may know better but we get some sort of cheque from the MCC for each of our home games at the MCG. However, break even might be 22k minimum And the Pies make a stack of money out of our home games against them. They sell more than 20k x $1000 premium memberships that allows them to attend away games (with reserved seating payments as well) So it's a myth that the home teams at the MCG (against the Pies) get all the cash

Ha ha! Collingwood often have 60k screaming fans like your goodself ... but they've probably got a million supporters Australia-wide But they are nearly always in some sort of contention finals-wise (despite only winning 2 flags in 65 years) Living proof that playing finals consistently delivers the numbers Bottoming out and staying down the bottom like we often did kills off support

Most Demon supporters are too old to yell anymore. Our supporter base must be the oldest in the league. By a stretch What we need is hundreds of thousands of new young supporters ... and that can only happen with at least a decade of sustained success When that happens we'll be a lot louder. Maybe 10 years away though so don't hold your breath

I've got a mate who is in the building trade (supplier) He deals with hundreds of people every month and those numbers are changeable The talk often revolves around footy with nearly everyone of his hundreds of contacts Zero Demon fans as contacts ... none! All Tigers, Pies, Blues & Bombers with a smattering of Dogs, Hawks & Saints fans In many ways we are like North Melbourne supporters ... scarce And that's what happens when you crud for decades. And we will continue to be that way unless we have sustained finals success for at least 10 years And that's on the club, not us. It's the club that needs to deliver (consistently) All we can do is fork out our money and support. And as far as I can see, our supporters have always fulfilled our part of the bargain It's the club that has often fallen short

Our defence line-up is looking mighty good and how good would it be if we could use Petty back? May & Lever have hit their straps and with Salem, Rivers, McVee, Bowey & Brayshaw (along with Petty or Tomlinson) we can push for another flag tilt Backline is full of class and a bit of dash The 2nd half against the Blues gave us a glimpse of the past (2021) and a vision of the future

It's not going to change in your lifetime so you may as well deal with it Since the 1960's I've been hearing the same thing so your evaluation is nothing new We won 5 flags in 6 years with a reserved and conservative support base ... in front of bumper crowds (100k etc) What wins games of football is pure talent and good coaching. All the rest of it is fluff and mostly bs

We are a quiet crowd and that ain't changing in a hurry We're reserved, conservative and dare I say it, civilised! It's a point of difference that doesn't bother me one tiny bit. It's who and what we are Urging otherwise is a waste of time and effort as I've been hearing the same thing since the 1960's

And I'd rather drink Grange over Ben Ean Moselle but you can't have everything

It's quite incredible how our own supporters fall-in to the ridiculous narrative that we don't turn up for games I'd like to know where all these supporters who don't go to games are? I don't know any Demon fan who doesn't attend games Seriously, the city of Melbourne is full of supporters of the big 4 clubs (Pies, Tigers, Bombers & Blues) It's a total myth that there are thousands of Demon fans that are fair-weather. It's total BS. Rot. And the ratio of members who attend games is about the same percentage for all clubs Again, the Pies have 5 times as many supporters as what we have ... they are everywhere. So they (by rights) should outnumber us 5 to 1 at our clashes. But that never happens ... it's more like 2-1

And with Sidebottom & De Goey out, it's advantage Demons Defence based with a return to our 2021 method. Do that and we'll have a more potent offence

Pies have 5 times as many supporters as what we have. Maybe more I've lived in Melbourne my whole life and there are Pie fans everywhere. Demon fans are scarce and I rarely come across them other than when I'm at our games They will obviously outnumber our supporters Most of our supporters are members but Collingwood have hundreds of thousands of fans who aren't members (in my opinion) If we can get about 35k of our own supporters at the game with the Pies supplying 55k, we'll have done exceptionally well on a pro-rata basis

Well done to the young bloke! Showed real maturity in the game last Friday evening. Cool and calculated and is really coming on Would love to see him play CHF and further afield (when applicable) as he has play-making attributes He's not just a goal kicking KPF

Looks like we've gone back to concentrating on defense first. We looked back to our best in the 2nd half against the Blues (Defence-wise) In an ideal world Petty rejoins the backline to make it even stronger But for that to happen we might need JVR to hold down CHF (I reckon he can do it) with Brown to come into the side as the FF. Either that or T-Mac finds some form (FF more so than CHF as he doesn't appear to have the legs up the ground) But Petty can hold down CHF if we go down that path ... he competes well, plays in front and brings the ball to ground for the small forewards. He doesn't have to hit the scoreboard frequently as the position (CHF) can be played in a variety of different ways If that is the pathway, Tomlinson can be used periodically as the trouble-shooter down back. Lever & May seem to be more freed up with another tall backman to help them out

Man City score first - after 13 seconds!! Fastest ever I'm Cup history (apparently)

The FA Cup between United & City is being broadcast on SEN Radio from midnight tonight Not on free-to-air TV which is a real shame The Champions League Final will be broadcast live on 9Gem (Next Sunday morning (11th June) from 4.30am ... Man City vs Inter Milan

van Rooyen 16 possessions ... he's coming on nicely

Great goal from the skipper!

Comedy of errors

9GemHD are showing the Europa League Final tomorrow morning from 4.30am (Sevilla/Roma) Jose Mourinho aiming for his 27th trophy!

We didn't play very well with way too many below their best. Skills below par and not nearly enough corridor football. Forward line pressure again not up to standard In other areas of the ground they offloaded the ball very quickly to good effect and subsequently, we weren't able to pressure them The good news is that we can play a lot better, hopefully beginning next Friday evening

'Silo' is excellent ... didn't think I'd like it but it's won me over. Good sci-fi 5 episodes of season 1 are out

Gotta love the banjo in the Swans song Smacka!!

Blues don't have an extra gear in crunch time

Ok so that's feasible as 2 draws is on the cards for the Everton & Leicester games Big Sam has done a few Mr Fixit's over time but as you said earlier, a lot has to happen for Leeds to stay up I'm old enough to remember when Leeds were a powerhouse under Don Revie. Billy Bremner, Peter Lorimer & Gordon McQueen were 3 of the stars back then but you had a lot of good players

Yeah going to be tough ... of the 3 possible upsets, I can see Leeds winning as Tottenham are not in good form (also, avoiding the conference league qualifying might appeal for a bigger club like the Spurs) My Hammers are playing well but Leicester at home will be desperate to win. Same for Everton vs Bournemouth But you never know