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Who's going tonight!? Who's watching from home? Share a pic of your game gear! I got myself a new guernsey (I had an old Tooheys one) because I wanted to mark the start of a new era. I'll be at the G tonight. Don't think I'll be able to work today haha. So excited! We've got this. Go Dees!

Just some helpful advice to Nasher and Demonland. Kurt Tippett has today announced his retirement. Be prepared for a Demonland meltdown if the AFL allows Sydney to replace him on their list.

Saturday’s match kicks off at 4.35pm AEDT and will be broadcast live nationally on Fox Footy from 4.30pm. Melbourne AFLW team: round seven Backs: Jasmine Grierson, Mia-Rae Clifford, Katherine Smith Half Backs: Daisy Pearce, Laura Duryea, Richelle Cranston Centres: Harriet Cordner Half Forwards: Karen Paxman, Alyssa Mifsud, Lily Mithen Forwards: Sarah Lampard, Shelley Scott, Cat Phillips Followers: Lauren Pearce, Mel Hickey, Elise O’Dea Interchange: Emma Humphries, Maddie Boyd, Aliesha Newman, Ainslie Kemp, Brooke Patterson, Deanna Berry Emergencies: Pepa Randall, Jessica Anderson Unavailable/injured: Stephanie De Bortoli, Meg Downie ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This could either be our last game of the season or the second last depending on how things go. For those who remember the Melbourne V Brisbane exhibition match at the MCG last year will also remember our score being 91-20 in our favour. Yes - it was an all-star Melbourne side against an extremely weak Lions outfit, but jeeez if we managed to repeat that score this weekend then we are a lock to make history and make the inaugural AFLW Grand Final (not to mention it will be the first granny this club has appeared in for 16/17 years). If we win by 70 points, this will boost our percentage over Adelaide's. If Adelaide win though, and by a large margin, then the boost won't really have an impact. As disgusting as it is, we have to hope that the filth beat the Crows next week. This will be the most likely scenario to see the Melbourne Football Club contend for the 2017 AFLW flag. We have Brooke Patterson coming back who has been quite a handy player and may provide some fresh legs for the side who pushed it to the absolute limit last week in Darwin. What's not in our favour is Freo coming off of a win and bringing that confidence in this week. Don't think they will be used to playing at Casey and also do not think they will match our confidence, team unity, etc. Adelaide would also be feeling the effects from the last round and on top of this they have to travel again to VIC to play the filth at their home ground. The scumbags have come off a large win last week and are on a run, and me thinks that their ego will want them to get a big scalp in Adelaide and end their season. Will be very disappointing and very Melbourne-like to throw in the towel and lose on Saturday, but I am confident that we are going to absolutely belt the living christ out of the Dockers and barge our way into the granny. Dees by 70 (or at least we win/crows lose).

Watched the AFLW replay of the Dees and Dogs game and only just realized they've re-recorded their theme song with a female singer and have slightly modified the lyrics. To put it nicely, it's atrocious. Absolutely shocking. Very cheesy and cringeworthy. Love how teams have modified jumpers etc but messing with the theme song seems sacrilegious and if they are going to do it then at least try to make it work. Very glad we have not meddled with our great song, but even if we did it would still be better than this mess. https://audioboom.com/posts/5591215-daughters-of-the-west-western-bulldogs-aflw-team-song

http://m.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-clubs-are-desperate-for-a-womens-team--heres-one-reason-why-20160408-go1vab.html Bastian EBA chief executive Jack Watts said companies in the insurance and finance industries in particular were interested in sponsoring women's sports, because women often made the household decisions in regards to their products. Many women's sports did not yet have the audience reach to justify potential sponsors' investments, although that was changing, he said. They're out of assets to sell," Watts said. Watts said clubs would not see a women's team in terms of short-term gain, but rather as an investment as girls' and women's participation in the game continued to grow.

The AFL is at it again with letting their 'journalists' have a free voice of one meaningless paragraph on huge topics that seemingly never get discussed by actual footy journalists (although there are about 3 of those)... Today is Should player salaries be made public? http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-01-22/should-player-pay-be-public Now, this one is a tricky one, and I don't really hold a strong opinion on a desire to see it become public knowledge, however, the benefits of having it open are, IMO, quite obvious - if Player X knows exactly what Player Y is getting, then he can make a more informed decision on his own worth. Geelong made a mockery of the salary cap when they were enjoying their dominance form 2007 to 2011. Players might have known they were getting well paid relative to the teammates but not the competition. Their stars were underpaid and while that is the dream of every team's supporters to have players underpaid and outperform - it is against the ideals of a salary cap equalised game. Ablett should not have been comparing himself to Bartel's wage, but all the other very best players in the game. While player agents have some - to very good - knowledge on what people are being paid - having wages public would make it profoundly more an effective way of making sure players, and their representation, knew their market value. It also wouldn't hurt for the public to know the exact reasons how and why Sydney and Carlton can always apparently chase all the biggest names every year...

You can argue the merits of his NFL idea of the top 4 being restricted from involvement in FA but you cannot argue that he is not right about the AFL being half pregnant in its FA model. There is much they have taken from other equalised sports that has merit as an equalisation measure as well as a way for players to have more freedom - but there is much they have left on the table that would make FA a more worthwhile experience for clubs down the bottom that the league wants to see up the top. The FA-related Mechanisms to install immediately; 1. Players cannot veto trades. 2. Contracts cannot be signed until the October they expire. 3. Lists are not finalised until two months into the season. 4. Injury replacement players can come from outside the AFL. At the moment the AFLPA has got what it wants without giving much at all - the AFL needs to make sure it doesn't relent on more freedoms without thinking about what effect it will have. Frankly, the AFL has been making up this stuff as they go and it has been embarrassing to watch these people free jazz their way to policy.

Getting the ball rolling... Predictions for this round (after getting bugger all correct last round): Collingwood v Essendon: Bombers missing Goddard and out of form, but both sides lift for these marquee games. Still, Pies by 14. Fremantle v North Melbourne: Dockers will be stinging after a loss, but losing Ballantyne hurts. North are pretenders for mine, and Wells injury takes away much of their class. Ziebell comes in, but I'm not sure if he'll make a massive impact this early. But in the end, it's all about winning the contested ball for North - when they do, they win. Unfortunately I think this is something Freo is pretty good at themselves. Dockers by 34. St Kilda v Brisbane: Saints have shown that you underestimate them at your own peril. Brisbane on the other hand, have given plenty of reasons to underestimate them. Hanley back is a boost for the Lions though. Interesting to see Moloney dropped for those of us who like to partake in a bit of schadenfreude. It'll be a dewy, slippery contested rolling maul all night, and that suits the saints. Saints by 26. Suns v Giants: Suns are the form team, have the more mature bodies, and the Giants look like they need a rest. Heath Shaw returns, which makes a big difference to the Giants, but they haven't looked as formidable since Mumford went down. If Sam Day can sort his kicking out, the GC forward line will be impressive. I really rate Tom Lynch. Jonathan O'Rourke also comes in, for those interested in a former pick 3 in 2012 that has shown stuff all since being drafted. Looks like we're not the only ones that had a chance to select Wines. I think it also holds some interest come the end of the year, as O'Rourke and a late top 10 pick might be a good deal for our first pick, a la the Salem & Tyson trade. I like to dream. Anyway, the Giants are horrible at taking marks inside 50, so if GC's mids can stop GWS' mids from kicking goals, that's the game. Suns by 27. Carlton v West Coast: Carlton really looked a class above last week. They looked unrecognisable from the team that played us 2 weeks ago. Carlton can't keep playing that well, but might surprise the Eagles still with a very competitive performance. Eagles by 9. Melbourne v Sydney: I think the swans, poor form or not, will simply be too good and too well drilled. I expect a slow dogged affair, but ultimately a solid loss. Swans by 28. Bulldogs v Adelaide: Adelaide have found some form, and the bulldogs are doing poorly in contested footy. Dangerfield hitting his straps. Crows by 17. Richmond v Hawthorn: I don't care about recent history of Richmond having Hawthorn's number. This will be messy. Keep an eye out for new running machine Hartung. Hawks by 65. Port Adelaide v Geelong: Gonna go for an upset here. Just got a feeling about it. Power by 6.

It seems that Alan Stockdale's fears over the governance issues, with Jackson choosing his future bosses in conjunction with new Directors George Freeman and Glen Bartlett, and the AFL Executive, have led him to be convinced that an independent ticket is required with him as President - Former state treasurer Alan Stockdale has revealed his plan to save Melbourne Stockdale has unveiled his plan to gauge the feelings of Dees supporters toward his proposed ticket - well, we have an obligation as the foremost fan community of this club to let our feelings be known. The Road To October The AFL will install who they want with the help of Freeman and Bartlett through the medium of Jackson on an interim basis in the next few weeks. Where we come into a massive impasse is if Stockdale is not on that ticket and decides that indiscretion is the better part of valour with a rival ticket at what the AFL would have assumed would be a fait accompli of an EGM with a unity Board with their approval. Whether this expectation is hubris on the part of the AFL is irrelevant - Stockdale may challenge. This poll asks a very simple question and should reflect the view of the body of people Stockdale hopes to capture now or in October. rpfc's view: What a waste of talent. That is how I see the few of have followed Stockdale down a road that we lead to either NOTHING or a costly ticket in October that the AFL do not want to see and that the future of the club could do without. I hope the AFL get on the phone to each one of his backers and asks them for their insights into a UNITY Board.

Could not really find a place to post this.... The AFL continues to attempt to change our game for the sake of it. I think they believe they are evolving the game with time although I believe they would feel silly if they don't introduce rules or change our game slightly every year. It is the greatest game in the world and should be changed as little as possible. Today we are witness to an overabundance of free kick rules that has made the umpires somehow a pillar of the game. I understand and respect that some rules have been introduced to protect players although I think it has gone too far. The AFL now insists on making an interchange cap for reasons I have yet to find out, is it to make players more tired therefore further degrade their foot skills, slowing the whole game down and making it worse to watch? Then there is the induction of more teams and with it the introduction of the much loved twilight games. Who wants to go to a game late on Saturday afternoon knowing you have work/uni early the next day? I think that games should stick to the middle of the day (2:00) and night (7:00) where they belong. There is something I have grown to love about a 2:00 game, it's the build-up to the game - the breakfast reading the sport section (game preview), listening to the pre-game radio whilst driving to the MCG and then getting stuck in to some overpriced hot chips! It's a time when your not yet thinking of the tasks and work that is waiting for you on Monday - it is just the footy. These twilight games deter me from going to the games and sap some of the enthusiasm from me. With our NAB cup game being played on Saturday morning I can only hope that the AFL isn't thinking of having morning games in the real season. If this is all due to these expansion clubs well you can give them the Sunday twilight games. It's things like this that should not be changed, it is the essence of our game and before we know it we will have a rugby/American football style game - with music/entertainment at half time. The games changing to quickly and Andrew Demetriou must realise this - I do and I am only old enough to have experienced a decade + of good footy. Despite our game being 150+ years old it has stayed constant and reliable till now. It's time for Demetriou to pull his head out of the sand and wake up or someone else has to before the fundamental things that make our game great are lost. It's all up to the AFL department, lets hope Demetriou can wake up to the music - although I think he is having trouble putting his finger on why the game has lost spirit....

In case anyone missed it ... Dees clear about Draft In this pre-draft Q&A, Todd Viney discusses the criteria the club uses for selecting players - the 4 pillars of talent identification: competitiveness football talent physical attributes character Worth a read, if you haven't yet.

Melbourne coach Mark Neeld hanging tough after nightmare start to season Not altogether that bad. There are clearly a few paragraphs that should be bolded because they have been said by MR, but have been attributed to Neeld. Notes that he reads letters sent to the club, and sometimes conveys them to the playing group, which should fill a few here with burgeoning sense of self-satisfaction. Any thoughts?

Hi Demonlanders, Thanks for your continual feedback via Demonland. We at the club read posts like this one, and felt it was appropriate to let you know how important supporters like you are to helping us create the next generation of Demon supporters. We have a number of strategies in place to create new supporters, most of which link to our 30-year agreement with the City of Casey. As many of you have commented, children are more likely to follow a winning team, but in the meantime it is our goal to get more kids wearing our colours- particularly those who do not already support a team. Last year we were able to give away 1,000 red and blue guernseys to kids in Auskick centres, creating hundreds of new Melbourne supporters. The feedback from this program was sensational, with lots of parents saying their child could never commit to a team but now barracks for Melbourne, or originally liked Melbourne and now loves them. This year we aim to distribute 2,000 guernseys, which is a costly but worthwhile exercise. Upon reading this thread, we had the idea to ask supporters to help us achieve this by donating towards this program. We have received an overwhelming response already and the donations are still flowing in via our website. To find out more about this program or would like to get involved, please click here- http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7415/newsid/134719/default.aspx If you are involved in an Auskick Centre and would be interested in helping us to distribute these guernseys, we’d also love to hear from you- if you send an email to [email protected] we will send you some more information. Go Dees! Cheers, Demons HQ

It's done apparently. http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/127273/default.aspx One thing that caught my eye: Abolishment of the veterans' list, with primary lists extended from 38 to 40. This will mean the immediate elevation of Nicholson?

I always have this question in my mind because, I see NBA, NFL, MLB and EPL have owners that own their franchises but in AFL it's different than that, and i think for a club that has great history like demons, we can have the richest guy in Australia owning our club and be much powerful force than we are right now.

Can someone please explain to me how Sam Reid has been signed by GWS as a SECOND uncontracted player from the Bulldogs, after Callan Ward? So the dogs will receive compensation for him? After Brisbane needing to trade one of Rischitelli and Brennan last year, this has been some serious shifting of the goalposts. Surely a trade has to happen, or GWS can just pick him up in the PSD, but how does the AFL bend the rules like this? Otherwise it looks like Port will (should) get compo for both Cornes and Brogan, and Brisbane for Power. *caveat - the Herald Sun could quite easily be very wrong on this.