The heart beats true

Up next, Alf explains the theory of gravity... 'It's pretty much just trapping me here on this god forsaken planet'

Jimmy T will be a player but I wonder why he keeps getting a game. He seems to put too much pressure on himself and gets very lost. I wonder is he's in because dropping him would be worse for his confidence. I will say this. There are probably 10 blokes in our side that wouldn't get picked up by any AFL club if we let go off them. Pretty frightening thought.

Listening to Bombers supporters calling into SEN is amazing. They are delusional about what this means for them. They've failed to learn what we learnt the hard way with the tanking investigation - It's not what others do or did before you, it's what you get caught doing and how the AFL can use you as an example while protecting the leagues brand. They are in a world of trouble. The league can only protect them so much. There are legal implications that go far beyond the sport.

Love it Maldonboy! Some of you folks who are on the fence look like you might be coming down with something which could impede you're ability to work tomorrow. There is a red and blue flu going around ;-)

It's looking a lot like the weekend was the most rewarding 148 point loss we've ever had.

#demonunity Love it, and love the momentum this is building guys. Great job all.

Nice work Wizza!

Who lets Jack Watts face the media? Gee the club sends out some mixed messages. Not good enough during the game but fronting up to the media 3 days later? I'm so bloody confused half the time about the decisions regarding players. Let Clark and Jones speak. Older heads with less pressure on them, and some runs on the board. Jacks not even in the 9 person leadership group (which ironically is half the side).

Which is exactly why he is gone. He's been MIA since '186'. He didn't represent the club well because he knew that he'd lost too much respect amongst the playing group. We couldn't take advantage of his strengths (media) and so all that happened was the focuses shifted to his weaknesses (managing footy dept., sponsor debacles). Regardless of how you feel Satyriconhome I hope you can make it to training on Friday morning. Should be fun. Go Dees!

1. Get new blazers. Country Road has a nice padded elbow number that pairs well with a red sweater (for branding). 2. More brass instruments to play the song before the game. The Bugler looks lonely. 3. Add some more crap to the logo. Surely we can get a picture of the MCG, Norm Smith and Barass in there.

Get on down to training Friday morning all. The boys come back from Sorrento refreshed and revived only to face 200 supportive, passionate Demon fans at training. Will do a world of good for the boys to know we care. Come on down!

I think Ox has some bridges to build at the club first, by his own admission. I'd love to see him on the board though so that we have more footy people involved that can look the players in the eye. My money is on Healy or Spargo.

I'm glad you don't take delight in being right because I'm still waiting for you to apologise for the ENDLESS 'I Believe in Neeld' threads that you started in 2012 only to go very soft on him after about 20 minutes of 2013. http://demonland.com/forums/index.php?/topic/30189-everyone-stand-up-and-applaud-mark-neeld/ 'I'm backing him in come hell or high water.' You are a trooper.

Why is Caro so angry all the time? God I'm glad I don't have to spend any time with her. She'd be miserable about everything.

We need a football personality as president and I reckon Sugar would do us proud. In fairness to Don he's doing the role for Jim but since the big fella passed the club hasn't been able to look ahead. Hopefully this takes us forward. The CEO role is different and I hope we can get someone the AFL loves as it honesty makes life a hundred times easier.

You can say what you want about Schwab (and I wanted him gone 2 years ago) but he is literally taking responsibility for a lot here and should be applauded for what he's doing right now to present a unified front. Today is the start of a bright future for us.

Here's why that won't be a problem Longsuffering. If anyone thinks they can take cheap shots at our players for their own pathetic reasons will have to eyeball me (and dare I say 50 others) and explain how they are entitled to personally attack our team. It's one thing to express disappointment at Round 1, but another entirely to just literally beat a dead horse as some kind of way to forget the disappointments in their own lives. The media has turned on them already (360 last night was scathing of the degenerates after the siren on Saturday night) so a lot of the spotlight they wanted has faded. I sincerely doubt that they care enough to turn up at 9:45 on a Friday morning anyways. Most of them wouldn't be home from their paper rounds by then. No one should be afraid to show up. That atmosphere is going to be great. Just a bunch of supporters going to training to get behind the boys. Should be a blast.

Hi Mark, Thanks for taking your time away from our elite training to answer some questions. Just wondering what you think about the beards? (Oh, and can you take home a few of your personal items each day until Rnd. 4, just to get a head start?) Regards Teflon Schwabby

Nice work WW! Keep it up, and let me know if you need a hand.

Those Essendon supporters that took sad joy in our poor performance on Saturday night did so with the knowledge that what's to come for them is far worse and far more frightening than just a poor team playing poorly. They run the risk of not being able to literally field a team. Thier players will run from their club and leave them far worse off than we are now. They'll look back on Saturday night and remember how far they've fallen, and we'll offer them words of support and kindness, not because we won't want to rub it in, but because we are better quality people with more care for the game.

Guys, Does anyone know how I can find the team that took the field at Skilled for '186'? Would be interested to compare the talent we've lost versus what we've brought in for '148'.

In all seriousness I hope Jack walks. He's become a whipping boy for morons with no sense of just how hard the current game is in a team like ours. He's a smart young guy that could achieve a lot in life and I worry about the emotional impact of having 50,000 people abuse you for their own entertainment. I think Neeld better have a good reason for subbing him off aside from form. You can't say in the pregame 'there are no mistakes' and then back out of that plan an hour later and sacrifice the confidence of a guy under enormous pressure. Talk about mixed messages. That's the kind of stuff that makes players lose confidence in a coach, and in themselves.

Good on ya Mitch. I reckon a lot of the vitriol aimed at the players as they came off this week wasn't from Melbourne fans but from people who don't really understand what it is about our game that makes it great. It's one thing to let players know you're dissapoontment and an entirely different thing to try and destroy the self belief and worth of another human being. Those people ought to be ashamed of themselves. I also think opposition fans love to hate on Jack Watts simply because they don't know enough about the sport to know who our better players are. I've noticed it a lot against teams that have fair weather supporters that only go because they know they'll win. Hang in there mate. In a couple of years time when Jesse Hogan is monstering The Bombers and kicking bags of goals, and Jack Viney wins the Brownlow I'll buy you a beer and we can laugh about how far we've come. I reckon you'll be just old enough to enjoy a cold one by then Go the Dees!

Appreciate the answer, and feel like I should add that I wanted Schwab gone 18 months ago and have never changed my opinion on him. However, there is no proof that the administration isn't actually doing ok on off field issues. The AFL cant give us players and that's the real issue today. That why I don't think they can step in. I think it sets a really strange precedent for them and they might rather operate from the shadows. IMHO I hope they knife Schwab from the shadows so that the club keeps some integrity in the process and then we get some ironic but needed draft priority picks to use on 3 experienced midfielders.

I'd love to be a Geelong supporter. They don't ever think they can't win, and it scares the crap out of the opposition. Today has been a strangely simple eye opener. Footy is basically 4 things - kicking, handball, tackling, running. Unfortunately we aren't good at any of those things currently. Our kicking and running are really, really bad when you watch any of the top 10 sides.