Lucifers Hero

Oscar got the standard 2 year contract renewal which is the minimum all new draftees get (unless they are total duds). Oscar played a bit of senior footy so showed he had something and deserved the standard two year contract renewal and I see no evidence that he was riding on his brother's coattails. They have the same manager so it made sense that the club negotiate with that manager for both players. I would suggest that when the club meets with Paul Connors for player progress/contracts they would talk about Petracca, Hibberd etc etc. simultaneously. It doesn't make sense to hold separate meetings for each player. Ditto for the McDonalds. I have no inside info, just working with the known facts.

This article is a about Tom's new role as a forward http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-02-11/stressfree-dee-relishing-his-shot-up-forward But there is a tantalising line at the end (re contract): "I'd like to get something done soon," he said. The club hasn't come back to me with anything yet, but it'd be nice to have it done earlier rather than later." Last time he put off contract talks till the end of the season. Not so this time! Looks like he will be off the Free Agency list before too long.

You could well be right Js5. The Age article http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/mark-bomber-thompsons-port-melbourne-house-raided-20180108-h0f5th.html says the raids were conducted by the Geelong and Southern Metro Divisional Response Units. Re the multimillion dollar deal, The HS article in the 'biggestred' post says 'Last March Thompson pocketed $7 million after selling his stake in a farming property at Armstrong Creek' which is near Geelong. The Age article goes on to say 'Divisional Response Units investigate property crimes and illegal drug activity (including cultivate, manufacture and traffic), according to Victoria Police'. People can form their own theories but that line is certainly a leading piece of info.

Agreed, the slogan itself isn't really important. Maybe our PR group are also still feeling flat from rnd 23 and the slogan reflects that. To me the real issue is our apparent non-conversion (so far) of the Dees supporters among the extra 146,000 people who attended our games in 2017. Win a few games early in the season and it might change quickly but I'm not holding out much hope of increasing the 2017 membership figure. Even if it increases, Vic clubs are growing faster than us (except Roos and maybe Saints). Our club works really hard but while our numbers are flat/small growth, relatively we are falling further behind them. It will be a poor return if we can't convert say 10% of the Dees supporters among the extra attendees. To avoid falling further behind, this must be our 'breakout' year on and off the field!

Article on each club's latest membership http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-12-29/on-the-campaign-trail-your-clubs-membership-drive I've extracted a summary and added comparisons to roughly the same time in 2017'. I hadn't realised the Crows had so many members! Almost twice the capacity of Adelaide Oval. Our slogan 'Be a part of our journey' doesn't sound too inspiring nor aspirational! It sounds like we are just plodding along - the story of the last 10 years. Would have preferred something like 'Come Watch us Raise Hell' or 'Join our March Upward' or 'Bleed Red and Blue with Us'. Or anything that aspires to where we are going or reflects our passion! Clubs set to beat prior records are: Crows, Tigers, Bombers, Cats, Blues and maybe the Bulldogs. Mostly the so called big Vic clubs. Pies keep their numbers to themselves so hard to tell where they are at. We are on track to achieve last years total of 42,233. But it will be really disappointing if we cannot convert last year's bumper crowds to members, especially given the level of talent in the team. Based on those crowds, our talent and 2017 improvement, 45,000 would be a realistic 2018 ie a 6.5% increase. I suspect a lot of people haven't forgiven or aren't yet convinced.

29,053. Slowly creeping up to last year's pre Christmas number of 29,426. I would guess the club is disappointed to be behind last year after a seemingly improved 2017. But probably not surprised.

A few new faces on the calendar. In: Jetta, Hunt, Garlett and TMc. Out: Tyson, Vince, Watts, Brayshaw. Rapt to see Jetta there. To go from delisting, to rookie, to AA squad is a superb achievement. A loyal servant of the club who is the best he can be and still taking on challenges to improve himself. Respect. Have been a huge fan of Hunt since I first saw him play, early in 2016, so delighted to see him on the calendar. A player who did not come in with any fanfare but has worked damn hard to cement his place in the side and now a deserving fan favourite. Edit: Forgot to mention, Petracca gets the honour of the cover page.

Hope it isn't so, od. If we make finals for next 5 years, play off in a few prelims and not get to nor win the big dance then we can all go to AA to get over our addiction and memberships be damned. Couldn't bear another rebuild...

Judging by comments here on DL quite a few were 'holding off' their renewals due to disappointment at season's end, hence the early poor numbers. But some have commented they have since signed up anyway! Extrapolate that over the whole membership base and it adds up. Have often thought being a Demon supporter is like an addiction...we keep going back for more regardless of the hangover and a membership is part of the deal... Hopefully, we will be rewarded before too long.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/the-age-and-experience-ladder-for-2018-where-your-club-sits/news-story/ec1626ea2a37e51263bd10b9084fc31d They have the Dees Total List Average Age as the 9th oldest on 24 years and 12th on Average Experience on 56.5 years. As noted in my post above I don't think the Average for the list is the best measure - I prefer the Median for the likely playing group. Nonetheless the article gives a reasonable indication where we sit approximately vs other teams.

I've extracted the Age and Game profiles: For the 'Playing Team' stats I've left out the 14 players who have played less than 10 games because our starting 22 will generally come form the top 30, especially in the first half of the year. Also if some of those 14 get games it is not going to change the average (unless Vince, Jones and Lewis don't play in the same game and youngsters replace them). To counter the impact of Vince, Jones and Lewis on the profiles the 'Median' is a better indicator than the 'Average'. Leaving out the 14 will help keep claims like the 'youngest team' and the 'least experienced team' in perspective. I am really pleased with our list profile! It is a long time (decades?) since we have had a core group around 25 years of age. Now the majority of our list is in that range. Ditto the experience profile - the majority of our players will be in the 50 to 150 game range next year. While there is still growth and experience to happen, at last we have a well balanced team with a lot of talent. At last the coaches can work with a team that will grow together. At last we have a list with some stars and a fair amount of depth and competition for spots. At last we can look forward with confidence!

On a side note, I noticed in the Financial Report last week that: '$1.847m was attributable to the growth in player payments limits following the finalisation of the industry’s Collective Bargaining Agreement'. Given that the CBA increase was about $2.1m pa I hadn’t expected the club to be able to spend most of it straight away. So, I would think Mahoney has been busy negotiating contract $ without changing contract length eg - - Big increase in contract $ for high performers like Oliver, Hibberd and Jetta with the increase being a large ‘upfront’ payment in 2017. - - Other players may not have received much of an increase in their overall contract $ but agreed to bring forward their payments to 2017. Also, players that renewed their contracts later in the season would likely have included a large ‘upfront’ payment in 2017 eg Hunt and Gawn. On this basis it is clear how we were able to fit Lever’s contract into our salary cap.

Now that our List is complete I've started a new thread for 2018 Contracts etc: I've merged the 'A' Rookies with the Seniors list as 'A' Rookies can now play at AFL level from round one without the need for promotion or upgrade or relying on a Long Term Injury. If you see any changes required please let me know. If you want to know full details on any player go to: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/Team/players/senior Interesting that of 21 players that are OOC in 2018 the high priority ones for me are Petracca and Jetta. Then the McD brothers and Brayshaw. I can't see Jetta and Brayshaw going anywhere. I wouldn't like to see the McD's go but we have good coverage for them at both ends of the ground. And, I recall reading that discussions are happening with Petracca on a new contract so wouldn't be surprised if there is an announcement before too long - maybe a little Christmas present for us .

Absolutely rapt that we have him! Was top of my 'wish list' '

25,028 as of Nov 22. Out of curiosity, I asked the club if the AFLW memberships were counted in the published count. They are. Now I wonder how much of last year's 3,000 increase was for AFLW memberships. Any increase in membership is great - just note that comparisons prior to 2017 are not quite apples and apples.

Sounds like a good match up with Clarrie - could do not better than learning from him!! A story about him from early last year when he won the RS nomination http://neafl.com.au/round-6-rising-star-nominee-oskar-baker/ Sounds determined! Here is a little video of the 2017 NEAFL game when he received a RS nomination. Looks ready built and fit, has a nice side step, bit of a fend-off happening and seems a clever player. If we draft him I can see him getting a game early in the season.

I've been following him in the media and one article said he was surprised to be released from the Brisbane Academy player so put his head down to do some hard work this year. That is a good sign about attitude and application. Turning his game around and doing the hardwork was a feature that impressed our recruiters with Clarrie last year so Baker may have impressed for the same reason. He would be a good get. Bit more of a known quantity than other draftees even tho is just 19. (LOL, one article had him listed as a mature age recruit - probably because it is his second draft). With the year in the NEAFL he could be an early starter in the seniors (if good enough) as there seems to be a spot for his type of player. Would be interesting to see who gets a game first - Baker or Balic. I would bet on Baker - seems hungry!

Absolutely, ET. On field enemies. But as they stuck with our beloved demons thru thick and thin and neither chose to go they are in my 'favourite enemy player' category. Just can't bring myself to feel badly towards them.

Good article on JT going to Port. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-11-17/trengove-happy-with-upfront-and-honest-hinkley He noted: "The other thing that struck me about Ken is that he really does just focus on what you can bring to the team, opposed to the little inefficiencies you need to improve on...for a player that's been around for a few years now, it's great to hear what you can do again". Watts said something similar in a post trade interview. I don't think either meant to chip Goodwin or Macca but it makes one wonder about positive motivation vs 'carrot and stick', post Roos. On a lighter note JT is the designated 'chaperone' for Watts: "Ken was pretty keen for me to live with (Jack) to keep him on the straight and narrow." Watts said in a recent interview they will share a house at Henley Beach. Having his mate who knows his way round Adelaide, is a known hard worker/trainer to buddy with, may just be the making of Jack Watts. Wish them every success.

Making good progress: 23,162. Up on comparable date in 2016 but just a few hundred behind 2017. Wondering if @george_on_the_outermight update and pin the 'Annual Membership Tally' thread?

For general info: Since the latest CBA, all Category A rookies can be selected to play from round 1 regardless of injuries, promotions etc. The difference between a Cat A rookie and a senior player is now length of tenure, termination conditions and pay scale. It is the reason we reclassified Maynard from a B rookie to an A rookie. It was a good move by the AFLPA as it gives clubs more flexibility. For example, if it was in place this year we could have played one or more of the rookies when Lumumba's departure left us an AFL player short.

Jack T was on radio saying that he contacted Jack W (in Canada) who shed a tear or two on hearing they would be together at Port. Shows how much they think of each other. I shed a few tears too. Never thought I would say this but I hope Port has great success next year (except vs us) with our Jacks! Good luck JT. Whatever happens, you'll always be a Demon champ!

It looks like a lot of people held off to the last minute for the Oct 31 cut off for Christmas membership mail. That and the Nov 1 Direct Debit renewals have kicked in and today's number is 21,559! Still about 1,478 short of 2017 figure around this time (23,037) but improving!

Thanks HBG. Again, it seems like poor membership communication on renewals. The new 'packaging' concept seems a back door way of raising revenue, especially as there are limited GF tickets available. At some point the club will need to cap the number of memberships with the gfg (as Bulldogs did post 2016) and then new members will only be able to buy the vanilla GA membership. To me it seems that without a 'reserve seat' option it is one less offering to help attract new members! Or offer a mid point for those who want to opt out of the gfg. Oh well, hope the club hasn't inadvertently deterred potential new members. We need every member we can get!

Thanks for the confirmation dc. The lack of a basic GA home game + reserved seat option would be a terrible oversight so one must think it is deliberate! Like you, I think it will come back and bite them. Or maybe it already has. Including the GF guarantee in what was a basic membership is like the club forcing people to buy a product with an option they may never use and don't want. This plus the lack of transparency and information on pricing/product changes is disconcerting.