Lucifers Hero

Crikey, Saty what can be done about it! Critical if we are to go anywhere.

That is exactly what Lewis said about last Saturday's pre game mood vs Pies! Mood must be contagious!

Does he have mail? It sounds like he is making out he does to cover himself in case it happens: "...There’s people at Melbourne whispering to other people that they believe that Lever may have had a verbal commitment to join Melbourne,” Robinson said...That’s just speculation..." Doesn't sound convincing! Maybe he is listening to the same Melbourne people who thought we were in the finals...

Thanks for posting that 'Steve'. We let you down in the end this season: At least somebody gets it! Jones is a champ in so many ways. He really feels the pain. But how does his heartfelt message reach all members and fans? It is on twitter (and might make it to the club website or fb). But thousands of dee fans would not access those forums very often, so Nathan's message isn't being heard by the faithful. If only the club had emailed something like that to members last Monday morning - much heartache would have been saved. It isn't too late for the club to come out and make its own statement directly to all members. Better late than never.

The AFL are pumping up their tyres. (Gil chairs the Rising Star Selection Committee) Ess aslo have 5 current or ex players in the final 22 AA team, 3 of whom were suspended; one of whom (Daniher) is a dubious selection (in front of Ben Brown) and Zac Merrett in before Kennedy? Not saying they are all undeserved but their is a definite selection bias toward Ess from the AFL.

@steve_f I don't think @Nasher was referring to you. I think he was referring to 'stevethemanjordan' Would be sad to see you go, having been a member since 2005.

You could still send it back to the club...

Agreed. I would think a short email along the lines of: Hi.... Our whole club is very disappointed with how our season ended. Our captain Nathan Jones had a press conference today sharing that disappointment with you. It can be viewed at .......... In due course our coach Simon Goodwin will talk to you about the season and our future. You will receive a booklet on finals tickets which was sent out prior to round 23 to all clubs in contention to ensure that if we made the finals you would have every opportunity to share it with us. Unfortunately we didn't get there so we ask you to recycle it or return it to the club. Thank you for your support this year. How is that bb? Not that hard is it? I've worked with organisations who would have gone into 'damage control' mode: At 6.00pm last Saturday developed a communication plan to customers (in our case members) and press releases to the media, in case WCE won. At 8.00pm on Sunday it would have been activated in time to be in the Monday morning newspapers and in member's email boxes when they woke up. It would have stopped many of the angry phone calls and emails to staff. Not stopped all but a lot of them. The club could then control the public narrative. There is no doubt the Jones press conf was a reaction to the sh...t storm that they got Monday morning. Not one iota of pro activeness! They could have managed it properly and stopped the whole debacle! Not that hard is it!

Yes! This is another example of reverting to 'comfort zones' and selfish/self preservation play. Rather than take the tackle, players are randomly hand balling it. It is pre Roos stuff. Better to take the tackle, get a ball up than turn the ball over and give the opps an easy run thru our zone defence because our players are still 'at the contest'. That first quarter was real hands off football. Didn't want to tackle, didn't want to take tackles. So Collingwood walked the ball thru our defence to kick 6.3 in the first quarter from turnovers. We gifted it to them on a silver platter!

I am really surprised the club has not made direct contact with members this week leaving them in limbo. Possible news with/from the club: A member has called/emailed them first then received a response. the Jones press conf on the website - how many members saw it? (Not sure about other media like twitter or fb). Did anyone receive an email, sms telling them it was there? Other info sources: Fan forums like this one. Newspaper/radio/TV reports (mainly ridicule) There are 42,000 of us! How many of those members have not accessed one of the above: 20,000? 30,000? They have been left in limbo. Without Demonland to keep me informed, I would have gone spare. I have been waiting for an email from the club all week. Nothing. Have other members received anything from the club (aside from finals ticket booklet)? Rightly or wrongly I am now feeling let down by the club itself. The club has missed the opportunity to get on the front foot and get its own message to members. I can only think they are still in a state of shock and have no idea what to do. The silence is deafening.

Not a delisting and not about a player but Sam McClure is reporting Collingwood is making a big play for Craig Jennings. I think he is still contracted to us but is very highly regarded in the industry. He was hand picked by Goodwin and McCartney so I sure hope Jennings stays the distance with us!

I wonder about that. Could it be that our players aren't in the position they are supposed to be. Hawthorn were brilliant at making position and it looked easy. Sometimes it his kicking but often I think it is because our players are not disciplined enough or work hard enough to get to the designated spot and keep the space open and it looks like the kicker's problem.

Sorry to ask but are you really a Demon fan? Is it an accident that this thread is on the 'General' Board not the Main Board? What Demon fan gives a damn about the finals let alone think about those questions? We were the 'dark horse'!!! To paraphrase Marlon Brando I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody. We let it slip. It hurts. It hurts really bad. Sorry about the rant to a newcomer to Demonland. But, its all a bit too raw right now. Time might heal but the trust has been broken once too often. I will get back on the Demon bandwagon but it will take a while, long after the finals are over.

It is on this Saturday night. Free Entry. FTA on Ch7. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-08-31/take-no-prisoners-in-aflw-state-of-origin-clash The Demons have two players in the Allies team: Elise O’Dea and Bianca Jakobsson We have four plays in the Big V. including the Vic Captain, our Daisy. The others are: Karen Paxman, Melissa Hickey, Lily Mithen Most on here are over football but it might be a good distraction from our recent debacle. It would be great if the mods leave this thread on the main board so DL can be aware it and post to it during and post game. Should be a good spectacle. Go Vics!

On SEN I heard a review of our season. Things that stood out: We had the 4th youngest squad but no consolation Richmond have the 5th youngest. (I think our youth is something we look for as an out when we lose) We have lost 11 1st quarters - negative 126 points. ie we have had to catch up a total of 21 goals. It is no wonder we can't run out games. Unsurprisingly we were 4th for quarters won. This one is really damning: 16th for 'ball movement' behind only Carlton and Freo. Not entirely sure how they measure it but I think it was related to inside 50's to scores or scoring shots. However, it is measured it is horrible. Are we the only club that does not have a 'ball movement' coach? We all want the team to bury clubs but we won't as long as we keep losing 1st quarters so badly as we simply run out of puff and can't put them to the sword. Someone needs to unlock the mystery of why we have such slow starts! Unless we fix those fundamentals we aren't going anywhere and we will wear out kids our digging us our of a hole each game to scrounge out a win.

That is exceptionally sad. It is not their job to be the 'voice' of the club at such a time. The club should not put them in that position if they have not been trained in crisis management. This was a crisis for which the whole club seems poorly equipped to deal with. As to the vibe? It sounds like the 'Veil of Negativity' that Roos said permeated the whole club has returned with a vengeance. It certainly has with supporters. Perhaps the club should have had the coaches and leadership team on the phones!

Go to your first post and click on 'Edit'. At the top you should see a tab with 'Poll'. Click on it and fill in the gaps. I think only the thread originator (or mods) can do this.

#4 Watts stunning run and stirring goal vs the pies on QB to win us the game

#2 Oliver kicked the impossible goal (from 'Eddie's pocket' no less) that was a key in the momentum to overtake the Crows lead and win a great game.

I think they do that. But that is my point. Who sits slightly outside the group to challenge their direction, decisions and hold them/head coach to account. I don't think McCartney can wear both hats. I think McCartney is very good but I don't think anyone, anywhere can be part of a group day to day decision making and then hold himself of the head of the group (Senior Coach) to account. Somewhere along the way objectivity gets lost.

Who are they? He doesn't have a Roos, a Balme, a Hocking, a Fagan (when at Hawthorn) etc to mentor or challenge him. McCartney is a coach and reports to Goodwin. I don't think it is Mahoney who is excellent in the football admin role but doesn't have the breadth of experience (or I suspect authority to question the coach). It is no coincidence that Sydney, Hawthorn, Geelong and now Richmond are reaping the success of those senior guys mentoring and challenging their coaches. For example who is there who will challenge Goodwin on his selection of coaches or game plan. We still have a very, very inexperienced football department! The Roos, Balme and Fagans of the world ask the hard questions of the coach on list strategy, team selection, game plan, game day tactics, (importantly) assistant coach selection, player management, public persona etc. Anyone know who Goodwin officially reports to? I think Goodwin has been has been given too much latitude before he is ready for it and there is no-one to guide him and importantly to hold him to account.

And what is with the school boy blazers. Cameron Schwab must be advising them! They look hideous! How they left out Sloane...but included Selwood. And Rance being captain... Clearly, they 'reward' the name not the performance. #ditchtheblazer, better still #ditchtheAA Edit: Daniher for Brown...? Anything to keep the "$4m profit Ess" juggernaut in the limelight. #ditchtheAFL

Excellent! He only played 18 games this season and was still AA. Somewhat of a quiet achiever. Always gets the job done. Gone unnoticed in the aftermath of Saturday but he was also nominated for MOTY on Saturday. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/2017-08-29/michael-hibberd Well done on a great first year with the Dees.

I heard the podcast and I think the spray was at 3/4 time probably for taking a kick in, which seems against team rules; it isn't his job. The Cox mark proved why it isn't! The leaders were off doing their own thing all game. Gawn and Jones were the main culprits with TMc. If the torpedo cost Dunn his position in the team that kick in should cost TMc his spot in the leadership team. As a group the leaders (except Lewis) cost us that game by playing selfish football. They were so busy getting stats and playing their own game they forgot Team First and forgot to follow and enforce team rules! Terrible example to set to the young guys.

To be fair to the club and its staff lots of info goes to members directly from the AFL. Clubs hand over their member contact details and the AFL use it as it sees fit. eg The Draft Order article, Finals Tickets package. Check other club websites and they have the same general info and articles. The problem is the other contending clubs made the finals so their members appreciate the early advice. We on the other hand ... I think we need to cut the club some slack on communications to members and what gets dumped onto our website. It is usually outside their control.