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What an absolute disaster this off season has turned into. Leaks to the media on a daily basis. Players being disgruntled. Lack of clear and honest communication from the Melbourne Football Club. Allegations of the Melbourne CEO sounding out clubs to see if they are interested in Clayton Oliver in contrast to the views of the coaching panel and Simon Goodwin. It has been an absolute mess and we are the laughing stock of the AFL after a mere 3 years since our Premiership in 2021. Sadly, I think it is time for Gary Pert to either resign or be sacked. I say this with a heavy heart as I thought Gary Pert was doing a good job. But it seems like I am wrong. Gary Pert came to the Demons to become our CEO after 10 years at the Collingwood Football Club. He did a lot of good work there. But there were rumours from Magpies supporters telling us that Gary Pert meddles too much with football related issues. Myself, and many others ignored this scuttlebutt. In many ways Gary Pert has done an excellent job. He helped the Demons end their 57 year Premiership drought after the internal football department review at the end of 2020. Gary Pert helped us get our membership numbers up to well over 65,000+ which is amazing. He also helped us finally make progress with the Home Base to hopefully be built at Caulfield Racecourse (if everything goes to plan). However, there has now been lingering cultural issues that have been festering. Some of these relate to individuals and topics we cannot speak of here. But we all know what they are. This has been a dark shadow hanging over the Melbourne Football Club and something which will eventually all come out like "opening a can of worms" in the future impending court cases. Of course, I won't say anymore. Anyway, the main thing is that we have had a horrible 12 months at the Melbourne Football Club. Our second straight sets finals losses in 2022 and then 2023. We also had the much publicised dramas around Clayton Oliver and his behaviours. Then the possibility of him being traded. Which fortunately did not occur at the time. Season 2024 started with the suspension of a player for reasons we cannot discuss here. Then the forced retirement of one of the Melbourne Demons leaders and comradery promoters in Angus Brayshaw after almost getting killed by that vile Magpie thug Brayden Maynard. Then during the season we lost Christian Petrracca to a serious injury, ironically, also against the Magpies. Due to injuries and poor form we tumbled down to an embarrassing 14th on the ladder. Once the season concluded we then heard rumours about Christian Petracca being disgruntled and wanting to leave the Club. Fortunately, this was resolved (for the time being). But you had our former President Kate Roffey make a total fool of herself in a disastrous radio interview. Who admitted to not talking to our star player Christian Petracca much or his family?! Not long after that Kate Roffey resigned. Now of course Gary Pert isn't responsible for all of this as Melbourne Football Club CEO. I did mention that he did a lot of good things. What irked me the most was the illusion that "everything was fine" at the Melbourne Football Club and the culture was the best it had been for years! This was deceitful in my opinion. Especially due to the various controversies that cannot be mentioned here. Further to this why would the CEO in Gary Pert be independently asking AFL Clubs if they were interested in trading for Clayton Oliver?! Especially if the coach in Simon Goodwin wants to keep Clayton Oliver at the Demons! Shouldn't we try to keep a generational talent like Clayton Oliver and work through his issues? Just like the Tigers did with Dustin Martin or like the Giants did with Toby Greene? It really has been an absolute train wreck publicly for the Melbourne Football Club. The media have been like vultures gleefully picking at us. Even so-called Melbourne supporters like Tom Morris have been quite pernicious in their behaviour reporting the Club. I think the best course of action now is for Gary Pert to resign as CEO after the Melbourne Demons Best & Fairest. That way, he can leave with some dignity and we can hopefully salvage things with Clayton Oliver (as well as Christian Petracca) and then start things fresh. It will also make sure that the independent review being done for the Melbourne Football Club is indeed independent. Mark my words, the Melbourne Demons would be better cutting away the dead wood now if we are going to start again fresh in season 2025. Anyway, we shall see what interim President Brad Green and the Melbourne Football Club Board does next I guess? The ball is now in their court to make some important decisions and give proper explanations to us as Melbourne members.

I think time is up for Melbourne List Manager Tim Lamb. Unfortunately I think this is the best course of action and Tim Lamb should look for opportunities elsewhere. If you asked me at the start of 2022 I would of said Tim Lamb has done a fantastic job and helped end our 57 year Premiership drought. Sadly, since then, it has been mistake after mistake with our recruiting and trading. There were many failures that he has to take responsibility for as our List Manager. That is why it is best he parts ways with the Melbourne Football Club. We can then look to heavily pursue Graham Wright. A man with a highly credentialled career as a List Manager with success at both Hawthorn and Collingwood. He is the man we want as our new List Manager. I hope that the Melbourne Demons look to try and recruit Graham Wright. Nevertheless, it will be interesting what the outcomes will be after our external review of the Football Department is completed.

Interesting to see Shane Woewodin has given his 2 cents worth about the Melbourne Football Club. I understand he is our most recent Brownlow Medallist (2000) but besides his son being at the Club, I don't know how heavily he is involved at the Club. I think his words have been blown way out of proportion saying the Melbourne Football Club is "a bit of a mess" but we do need to fix things. Not sure how helpful the comments are for his son, Taj Woewodin. He would want the Club to be stable. Personally, I really hope Taj Woewodin gets super fit and strong over the Pre-Season would love to see him have a significant impact at the Demons in 2025! I do agree that there needs to be open lines of communication at the Demons though. Transparency is key. We will see what happens after the 2 independent reviews I guess? Anyway, here is the article from SEN radio for those who may wish to read it: https://www.sen.com.au/news/2024/10/09/a-bit-of-a-mess-former-star-and-father-of-current-dee-makes-melbourne/

I haven't been on Demonland for a while due to work commitments and family matters. However, I thought I should make a post about the serious issues the Melbourne Football Club is facing. After finally breaking our 57 year Premiership drought in 2021, things are now looking grim and we need to fix the serious problems that the Melbourne Demons are currently facing. This is why I support former Demons champion in David Schwarz about having an entire review of the Melbourne Football Club. I don't think CEO Gary Pert should do a mere internal review as I don't think that will be enough. We need both internal and external people investigating the problems the Melbourne Football Club has and look to identify these problems and find solutions to them. Kane Cornes actually wrote a good news article discussing our issues the other week: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/the-demons-stand-at-the-gates-of-footy-hell-these-are-the-five-mistakes-that-got-them-there-20240808-p5k0ms.html I actually agreed with many of the unpleasant truths that he identified about the Melbourne Demons. An external review is the only way to get to the bottom of all our problems at the Melbourne Demons. Some of the problems have been out of our control like Luke Jackson wishing to leave the Demons and return home to WA. Others, have been due to rotten luck, like poor Angus Brayshaw being knocked out by Brayden Maynard and then forced to medically retire due to all his concussion injuries. Why the Demons players didn't seek vengeance for what happened against Angus Brayshaw still bitterly disappoints me. But I guess I have a more bloodthirsty attitude compared to others and would of liked to see football played the way it was in the good ol' days of the 1980's with brawls and pay back against any of our players that were hurt by an opposition player with "an eye for an eye" mentality. Sadly, our attitude against Collingwood on King's Birthday this year was as soft as butter on a hot summer's day in my opinion and was humiliating to witness. Nevertheless, other issues have to do with poor list management and recruitment. The foolish trade for Brodie Grundy, with the experiment given up after one mere season of trying to see if it could work and then trading away both James Jordon and James Harmes. Not trading in a tall forward or a forward-ruck to help Max Gawn was a big mistake. I don't think we bothered using Tom Fullarton at all either. Losing Alex Neal-Bullen is disappointing too, but family comes first and hopefully we can arrange a fair trade for him to either the Crows or Power. Then there are cultural problems and the poor behaviour of Demons players. Obviously, some of these matters cannot be mentioned. But the most important factor is the need to raise the level of the professionalism of a significant portion of our players. David Schwarz even mentioned this on the radio with Demons players allegedly mucking around during their preseason camp down at Anglesea. Most importantly, we also certainly don't want to see one of our greatest Demons players ever and Norm Smith medallist in Christian Petracca leave the Club. Losing Christian Petracca would be as bad as Ronald Dale Barassi leaving for Carlton at the end of 1964. So reconciling with Christian Petracca is a crucial matter that needs resolving. The stagnation regarding our Home Base development at Caulfield Racecourse has also been incredibly frustrating and this also needs to see further progress. In the end, I don't think I am alone with these concerns and the entire Melbourne Football Club (from boot studder to President) has a lot of pertinent questions to answer. We as Melbourne supporters and members deserve answers and explanations for how things have fallen into disarray so rapidly in season 2024. Anyway, we still have 2 rounds to go. So let's see what happens....

Surprised nobody has mentioned this letter from the MFC President Kate Roffey. Lots of good news which is wonderful to hear. It seems we have 2 new board members too. Steve Morris and Mohan Jesudason are retiring and being replaced by Sarah Robinson and Geoff Porz. They both seem capable. Here is the link regarding the letter: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1420657

For those who don't know, a "Creed" is something that can be a formal doctrine or set of beliefs or philosophy that an organisation can encapsulate what they stand for. The development of a "Creed" is something which can also help with driving the standards and culture of an organisation. A good example of a "Creed" is one that our new MFC Head of Development, Mark "Choco" Williams' Father, the late and great Fos Williams created for the Port Adelaide Football Club in 1962. Here is a link to it for those who haven't read it before: https://www.portadelaidefc.com.au/club/history/the-creed The Port Adelaide "Creed" was recently brought to my attention with the celebrations of the 150th Anniversary of the Port Adelaide Football Club and I thought it would be a good idea to try and emulate something similar. Now obviously, we don't wish to plagiarise what Port Adelaide has done. But I would like to put forward the suggestion that the Melbourne Demons Football Club creates its very own and unique "Creed". Something that I hope will assist with shaping the long term culture of the Demons. Nevertheless, this is something that we as Melbourne Demons members and supporters can only suggest. But I think it is worthwhile pursuing this idea. However, it is crucial that this is driven by the Demons players, the captain Max Gawn, the coach Simon Goodwin, the CEO Gary Pert, the President Glen Bartlett and all other stakeholders of the Melbourne Football Club. Mark "Choco" Williams having input would also be invaluable. This is something the Demons players and coaching staff could develop as an activity while on their Pre-Season camp perhaps? Anyway, I am interested in hearing other Demonlanders opinions on this possible suggestion of developing a "Creed" for the Melbourne Football Club and ideally helping to develop our culture.

I'm very interested to see how Brendan McCartney goes at the Melbourne Football Club. I think he is a man of great character who is highly regarded in AFL coaching circles. Specifically in his role as a development coach. It must not be forgotten the brilliant work he did at Geelong from 2000 until 2010. He was instrumental in helping to change Geelong's culture. The only issue is his unfortunate tenure at the Western Bulldogs as the senior coach. The questions need to be asked? Will he get along alright with Daniel Cross? Has he learnt from his player relationships at the Western Bulldogs? Were the Bulldogs players "sooks" and too soft or was he too harsh on the players? Personally I think Brendan McCartney has learned ALOT from his time at the Western Bulldogs and he will be brilliant in his development coaching role at the Demons! In the end, time will tell how well this relationship will work between Brendan McCartney and the Melbourne players. Either way, I have faith in the football department that we made the right decision in recruiting him to not only develop our players but also to be a mentor for Simon Goodwin when he takes over from Paul Roos as senior coach of the Demons in 2017.

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?

Times are tough, but this is still worth a smile for Dees supporters. Gotta have a sense of humour about these things... watch this video called .