Lucifers Hero

Suns can't afford to win as they will go from 17th to 15th and give up draft picks 2 and 3 (Lynch compo) for 4 and 5. Doubt they will take the chance of Lions/Saints losing games so they can stay on 17th. They can do some decent trades with pick 2/3, especially SA clubs as apparently this draft is stacked with top end SA players. Lesser trades with picks 4/5. Adelaide seem very keen for a top 2/top 3 pick. ...we will win and a repeat of the record i50's last time we played and much more accuracy will make for a very good result!

Thanks. A great read and some terrific anecdotes, especially his first meeting with Jones where private school boy meets bald-headed, tattooed tough guy with the big black ute! I really like that Gus didn't nominate playing after concussion as his 'big risk'. His story is now so much bigger than that story. What I also really, really like is that Goodwin is embracing some of the more 'sensitive' approaches to player performance and well being: " In the era of mindfulness, vulnerability and story telling as coaching styles, Simon Goodwin had asked his players to reveal a moment they had taken a risk". A page out of the Roos and more recently Hardwick play book perhaps but I'm rapt that Goodwin is shifting a little from that uber competitive, tough at all costs approach. Both work side by side and a much more balanced style of player management.

I'm not so sure North will make it. Next two games are Bulldogs and Adelaide and based on yesterday's results their run home looks harder and could easily drop both games. Higgins will be back for them which will help but I wouldn't count North in the 8 just yet!!

Luke Darcy just said that Jenkins thought it hit the post. Honest but seriously dumb by Jenkins. Should have said 'umpire was in the best position to decide'.

The way Geelong played is a bit of a lesson to us: We have lost only 3 games by more than 10 points - Hawks (67pts), Tigers (46pts) and Pies (42pts). What do they have in common? They were at the G and we played almost exclusively down the wing and the members wing at that. We still play the wing in most games and works against a lot of sides. Geelong showed that to have a decent chance against the Tigers, playing the wings plays right into their hands so other coaching tricks are needed to beat them.

Geelong played high risk football down the corridor for much of the game and it nearly worked. It was a good surprise tactic to which Hardwick didn't respond. Richmond enjoy getting the opp to play wide and running the ball down the wing. The cats denied them that. Geelong playing the corridor won't surprise Hardwick again and any team trying to copy it might just play into the tigers hands..

It seems quite a few of the young Suns are angry at Lynch's defection and told him so in no uncertain terms. https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2018-tensions-high-among-gold-coast-suns-playing-group-after-tom-lynch-departure/news-story/51496c9832adfacf7628a3d42315afdc They may well vent their spleen against us on Sunday. We need to be switched on from the first bounce - none of these slow starts of recent weeks.

It seems some KBW took to social media to condemn Balic's decision. https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-stars-slam-comments-on-social-media-criticising-melbournes-harley-balic-for-early-retirement/news-story/d8e9ccaff4a01ce241de667601d62c26 Some younger AFL players twitted in support and it seems Harley took the 'clueless' tweets gracefully and made a classy twitter response: "There’s a higher purpose for everyone, stay true and the negativity becomes nothing but foolishness and ignorance not heard but seen in the background ???? Good on him for being true to himself and having the courage to take another road.

The media can't - they are beholden to the AFL's favours. That is why I so admire that Daisy more or less said 'to hell with that, I'm saying my piece...Stuff Gil!!'

Not sure where to put this article. It is info only - not to remotely imply a need to target anyone. 16 of 18 coaches participated in survey. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-08-03/is-it-the-tigers-to-lose-coaches-pick-premiers Can't disagree with that rating. Clarkson really worked us over earlier this year. That is why I really hope they don't make or we don't meet them in the finals. As an aside, I read today that Clarkson is waiting till end of year to progress his contract talks. Would be very surprised if he leaves Hawks.

Too often the AFL lurches into something and then has to back track. Recent examples are: testing new rules in so called 'dead rubber' AFL games in season; trying to 'modernise' club songs (sacrilegious), and now revamp of the AFLW fixture. All display complete and contemptuous disregard for the people delivering 'the product': players, coaches and clubs! Damn shame Gil didn't talk to the likes of Daisy in the first place.

She is the leading voice in the comp and universally admired across the AFLW and the AFL. Very compelling reasons she puts up against the 6 week/2 finals comp and against a 'conference' structured comp. She has called the AFL out on their stupidity!! I reckon either have a proper comp or don't have one at all. Daisy is as courageous off the field as she is on. So rapt she has taken the AFL on over this with no fear or favour! Go Daisy!!

Have to give a nod to Swan's Alex Johnson. 5 knee reconstructions and 6 years out of AFL. Huge achievement to make it back. Testament to his commitment and resilience. Wish him well.

VdB may take some time to adjust to AFL footy again but the aggression at the ball and the ball carrier that he brings is phenomenal - second only to JV in my book. VdB's contested ball work will help keep the ball in our fwd 50 and make us a better 'forward half team'. Wouldn't be surprised to see fewer i50's simply because he doesn't let the ball out!

He has played 11 games and is still 18. Give him a bit more time to show what he can do. Our fwd line is still a bit like Brown's cows. I reckon Charlie will improve as those around him sort themselves out.

That is correct - we have the second highest conversion rate of supporters to members. Problem is we don't have a high number of supporters, relative to other clubs. We have the 3rd lowest of number of supporters in the league. Sadly, it is these figures that Ch7 also consider when deciding their broadcast premium slots. Lots of supporters means lots of tv audience. Helps explain a bit why Carlton get so many games and the AFL want to 'make them great again'. Not that I agree with them one single bit. In many respects we punch well above our weight.

Updated for Harley Balic's retirement. His retirement gives us our first 2018 List vacancy. While I always find it sad to see a Demon player depart it seems the best for him and will make the Club's list management that tad easier. That leaves 10 listed players and 3 'A' rookies, OOC. OMac is in discussions with the club so just a matter of time. Based on recent selections I would expect AVdB, JKH to be given contracts. On my reckoning that will be 7 listed players OOC. Not sure if we can keep the 3 'A' rookies another year without offering them a contract. Anyone know? Some of the OOC's will have their papers stamped and some will have to wait until the end of the trade/draft period to see who we get. Anxious wait for some.

Good to see coaches have shown faith in Tyson and JKH by keeping them in the starting 22. Would be a real boost to their confidence. They are both getting more and more into games. The more continuity our players get the better now that we are getting to the pointy end of the season. Fully expect Petracca and ANB to be in.

Definitely a pedant!! The examples were to show that even the most talented have issues adjusting that are detrimental to their mental health, not to exclude any other AFL footballer or other people. Agree that there have been some poor and insensitive comments in this thread.

Welcome back AAron! Great reward for huge amount of rehab work and giving it everything he has in recent Casey games. He never gave up. He never gave in. I really like that about him. He is a true warrior!

There are too many recent top draftees dealing with mental health issues: Tom Boyd, Josh Schache, Aaron Francis to name a few. All have changed or requested a change of clubs in their first few years. Time will tell if they stay the distance. Good that Harley got out before the grind affected his well being, especially if his heart isn't in it. Wish him all the best.

Great to see Max (and other players like Brayshaw and Oliver) get recognition. It all helps us get more respect across the league. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2018-08-02/coaches-pick-gawn-as-leagues-most-influential The really interesting (of the 16 responses) for me were: "...on which type of player was endangered, based on the way the game was being played. ...nearly 40 per cent predicted the demise of small midfielders, while almost one-third suggested key forwards were on the way out". "...to name the statistical categories often cited by media and fans they believed had little bearing on the result of matches, with 18.75 per cent of coaches listing kicking efficiency and the same percentage pointing to tackle numbers. "They also said total disposals, hit-outs and free kicks had little impact on the outcome of games". Hmmm, kicking efficiency, tackle numbers, total disposals, hit-outs, free kicks' believed by some to have little impact on the result. So much for the hand-wringing that happens on DL after each loss or to criticise 'poor' performing players! ?

I'm guessing the AFL then adds the AFL members, Auskick members etc. to the memberships sold/reported by each club to reach the AFL wide total of 1,008,494. Which begs the question why the figure the AFL reports for mfc is the same as that on our website...something isn't adding up...

I can think of a few things that might have caused our membership to not increase as much as might be expected. Unique items to 2017/2018 and in no particular order of significance: the way we missed the finals going down without a whimper in rnd 23. the 'get your finals tickets' campaign fiasco before we made finals. the lack of communication plan from the club for those possibilities the loss of our much loved #4. restructuring the membership options to 'force' new members into 'packages' eg for reserved seats and GF guarantee. price increases, especially in the lower categories and of the GF guarantee. Home MCG games vs not very exciting opponents = questionable value of membership. Time slots of Home games. Those things won't stop the loyal, die hard demons on this site from buying memberships but there would be more easily disillusioned supporters out there who would react to one or more of the above. Interestingly, we had massive record attendances at our games in 2017 but for some reason only a very small %'age were converted to memberships. As I noted in another thread I'm rapt with the 25% increase in members since the Jackson/Roos era started. But we cannot continually go backwards relative to other clubs who are also vying for sponsors and broadcast airtime/slots. It will be interesting to see what initiatives Pert comes with. Growing membership will be his biggest challenge and hopefully his major KPI.

The full breakdown is: I would guess the one-game memberships are in the 'Reduced-Access' figures. I recall reading that Collingwood has a huge i/state and o/s memberships and would be in that category. Ditto the StKilda $1 memberships. It is the above figures by club, that Ch7 use to determine the premium time slots so the 500,000+ Non-Full Member figures are really important as they are the ones who stay at home and watch on TV. And really important for Clubs as that is where the potential for conversion to Full members lies.