Diamond_Jim

Was always madness to have this occur. Should have been alternate years. You could do it by phasing the change over across say three years and sharing gate receipts in accordance with a pre-agreed formula. Time to re-visit the Alice game. Either it's promoted by the AFL and Channel 7 as a special event or it's over. Years ago Ch 7 put a lot of effort into promoting the game. It was looking great and now it's buried in a dead time slot on Fox

Will we finish above them and/or will we beat them in the H&A. To improve to say 11th we need to overtake (most likely) Essendon Port and Carlton. Not sure about the Swans. North are still a question mark. Making finals doesn't excite me anymore. Since 1987 (excluding the horror years) we often made finals but rarely did we have a team to win the big one. I'm looking for solid forward progression and evidence of a post Gawn world. (He has two more years at best is my guess). Salem, Melksham and Lever (injury) will also be gone. I think we have May covered with Petty (why he was wasted up forward for two plus years we'll never know).

I feel a "new Event" weekend in the making A bit hard to add another one or two teams and have a play off but with it being pre-season you might just manage On the player payments... are some being paid more than others? Wonder how the pool is divided.

He was a "slow burner" at Casey but he started to impact in the second half of the season. I have no idea whether he can make it but he is the size and build of the modern mid fielder. He also has a strong vertical leap which makes him a nice marking target. Good luck to him.

So how many did we end up with for this game from MFC? IIRC it's three players.... Gawn, Rivers and Pickett. Have I missed anyone? Statistically 3 players seems about right... 3 X18 teams = squad of 54 players

Can we beat and finish above Carlton? Like us they have lost two marquee players and traded in a few "old soldiers"

12th or higher would be nice. No real reason to think we will end much higher. 12th would probably put Essendon below us. Equalling the Bulldogs would be great but I see them around 8-10

Is that the 4k service FND? I wonder what the story is with these club deals. I assume Kayo think these people would have gone after 6 months and therefore they are giving 12 months for the price of 8. If you assume the club gets say $25 for the referral it's a bigger subsidy. IMO Kayo need another killer sport such as EPL

They are certainly reducing the operating loss but it will be a painful road to profitability. We're simply too small a market for ever increasing sports rights fees

$46 a month is a massive 50% price rise since 2024. For a sports service that only has four "big" sports three of which are non exclusive (AFL, NRL and cricket) that's a big ask. F1 is exclusive but given its time zones is it really that big. I always knew Foxtel/Kayo was a loss leader for Rupert but what worries me is that a back of the envelope calculation shows that even at $46 per month with everyone staying for 12 months it's still a loss operation. Next stop... ban password sharing and bring on more ads.

The future fund is an attempt to "future proof" our finances. Spending it on an unsaleable training facility defeats the purpose somewhat. Ask North Melbourne whether their leasehold improvements at Arden Street have any real value. Have a look at Collingwood's future fund if you want to get an idea of a well financed club in the modern era. We really stuffed up leveraging off that 2021 win from a financial viewpoint.

Unlike onfield success, memberships etc the training ground issue is one that is firmly within the bailiwick of the Board. So many wasted years but more damning directionless

Windsor has the goods to take some big steps. Langford perhaps top 50 in the comp. Unfortunately we will still end up around 14th

An aside but how did we miss singing "That's Petracca" while we had him... Fans would sing about players they loved (or hated), things that happened on the pitch (or off it), adapting melodies from popular songs or full chants from other teams while simply tweaking the lyrics to suit the subject. One of many, many such examples: Dean Martin’s That’s Amore became a tribute by Brighton fans to Bobby Zamora. From a great article in the Age about why the Barmy Army are streets ahead of Aussie cricket fans when it comes to match day singing. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/why-don-t-aussie-sporting-crowds-sing-like-the-brits-do-blame-the-beatles-20251229-p5nqh1.html

Soccer is tougher Try a world cup qualifier.... One leg in the cold and then fly for twenty hours before another game in the heat and humidity two days later. African Cup is on at present.... It's serious world class football

Only $2.25M... worth that for the jumper alone !!

Thanks for that. So he's a "list strategist". Useful appointment. Will be interested to see if we keep offering 7 year plus contracts.

Article in today's Age on the relative finances of the AFL clubs. While we're not a basket case suffice to say we're still on Struggle Street. Of Victorian clubs we were ranked second last both in members and revenue beating only North. On AFL handouts we scored a little better with North Saints and the Bulldogs getting higher handouts. This was a year to forget for the Demons. There was major on-field upheaval, while they also recorded a $4.45 million loss, significantly impacted by the decision to axe Goodwin and move on Oliver. This came a year after the Demons had to factor in a $3.1 million payout to Angus Brayshaw for his medical retirement. While they had a drop in membership to 58,563, the Demons insist their balance sheet is strong. They have net assets of $24.4 million, a Future Fund of $23.7 million and combined cash and financial assets of $6.9 million. Their membership and gate receipts were $18.3 million. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/pokies-handouts-and-membership-records-inside-the-finances-of-the-afl-s-victorian-clubs-20251208-p5nlqd.html

Not great to have a leased facility which is open to rent increases/redevelopment adjacent to our rent free ovals. Hopefully it's a very long lease on the admin facility. Ideally the whole facility would be one parcel but we aren't exactly in a wonderful bargaining position. Would it not be amusing if MRC and co also opened the project up to bids by Collingwood

Why would you want to play for any AFL aligned club when you know you will be dropped for fringe AFL players who may not be as good as you. As a comp it has produced very few players at VFL level who get promoted to an AFL list. It simply doesn't work anymore on so many levels. With the inclusion of interstate teams it has also lost what little community feeling it had. I liked going to Coburg, Port etc but now we are lucky to get to play at the old grounds

Wait till we see what happens when we all add Demonland to our social media links for the US ETSA

The first test will be whether the GF guarantee is open again. IIIRC it has been full since 2021. TBH I have always found the GF guarantee for struggling teams a little sus but there's always optimists.

Not sure how Oliver's move puts us in the red. The subsidy we are paying is inside the salary cap which amount we pay anyway. I think it's an accounting entry akin to the new CEO and Chairman writing everything down so future years look good

Lever and Viney are probably the only candidates. Lever is fraught with injury issues and Viney is in his twilight. I'm for keeping Gawn for one more year and then perhaps Rivers. I wouldn't be averse to Rivers moving up to VC in 2026 if the explanation to Viney and Lever can be managed but probably not worth the angst.

I love it that we ask the big questions on this Board. Must say I'm worried what will happen if I hand out my DL user name as part of my next ESTA application for USA. Then again Satanic Worship is probably a recognised religion over there so Demonland might not ring any of the wrong bells.