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actions speak louder then words....the only way for DM to shut up his dissenters is by transferring all this fighting talk onto the footy field.....every coach talks up a good fight for their troops....proof will be in the pudding I guess....

out of interest, if Perth has a similar season to last year, how long will you the die hard PFC fans give DM.....half a season or a whole season?....or does he get another contract in the belief he will get it right eventually?

Freezin wrote: actions speak louder then words....the only way for DM to shut up his dissenters is by transferring all this fighting talk onto the footy field.....every coach talks up a good fight for their troops....proof will be in the pudding I guess....

out of interest, if Perth has a similar season to last year, how long will you the die hard PFC fans give DM.....half a season or a whole season?....or does he get another contract in the belief he will get it right eventually?

Spot on Freezin, it's always positive this time of year at every club regardless of who's come and who's gone. The proof will be in the pudding when the real stuff starts. Results don't count for much during pre season.

It seems your last paragraph has drawn a blank. I doubt very much anyone at this club has the balls or the character to sack this coach, they have invested too much in him to admit they were wrong in appointing him in the first place, then whacking another year on when he still had a year to run.

A few supporters have been conned into this "Give the bloke a go" mantra. Bottom line is he was given a go for two years and he has failed but no one to this day from the club can explain who gave him and why he was given a 1 year extension?

Now that should attract a response from Marty's attack dogs.

My take on it is Trevor Williams is next in line and they will find a way to put a spin on it to make it look like DM has not been sacked but has stepped aside for work or personal reasons.

I would guess any coach into his 3rd year,no finals and coming off 8th would have the first 6 to 8 games to impress.
Anything less than a 50% win/loss ratio at that point would cost him his job in my opinion.

Johnno i know your probably right but i just cant get my head around the fact that Williams could be(i say could be because im not certain would be) the next coach in waiting.

This is what i would do next year and yep like you they will swoop on me and pick this to bits.
Appoint Kevin Sheedy for 2 or 3 years and no more and have the next coach serving under him as his apprentice be it Pickering or whoever,learn from one of the best in the last couple of decades.

Demons Forever wrote: Mr AFL your post gave us a great insight into what and how the club has tried to address from a playing perspective.

From what I gather the club has also tried to address other things such as:

• Culture & commitment.
• Strength of coaching talent.

Do you have a perspective on these aspects?

I would value your opinion.

What do others think?

Damian McMahon said this in the newsletter "The players have taken their training to a new level of commitment and professionalism and are making great progress. My belief is that we are enduring our hardest pre season in my ten years at the club. There is a great vibe around the group based on great attitudes and the willingness to work hard together."

One would think that the players commitment and professionalism is always at a high standard. But if this is even better now then we should see a more PROFESSIONAL team run out there on weekends which should lead to more wins and a better standard of football being played.

As for the strength of the coaching talent I am happy that they have implemented a new strength and conditioning system which we will hopefully see the full benefits of. At times last year some players simply were not fit enough and this hurt the squad on matchdays.

Sometimes less is more and by the sounds of it we wont have 12 coaches surrounding qrt time and 3qrt time huddles this year. Broadbridge was there last year and while he has been in the system a long time I have heard both good a bad reports about him. In saying that though he has still managed to be employed in the industry so he must be doing something right.

Say what you want about Trevor Williams and I know that he didn't have the best coaching record at Peel Thunder over the last couple of seasons at the helm of the league team but his coaching record with juniors is pretty impressive. He coached Peel Colts to the 2004 and 2005. His abilty to nurture young players should come in handy as Perth has it's fair few of them coming up the ranks. The experience that Trevor has in WAFL level should only be a benefit to Damian during training and on match days. I spose you could call Trevor a senior Assistant Coach similiar to that of Mark Williams at Richmond and Brett Ratten at Hawthorn.

I have massive raps on Adam Pickering from what I have heard and what he was able to accomplish last year. Michael Saunders is another that should surprise a couple of people. Have only heard him speak publicly a couple of times and have been impressed with him every time he speaks.

Lucifer wrote: Heres what the coach had to say DF.....

"My aim as the coach is to have an extremely hard working, disciplined, dedicated, team orientated and united group that gets out there week after week and get their hands dirty for the Perth Football Club; a group of competitors that just keep having ago for this proud club. There is no doubt we will have some ups and downs but I can assure you this group will be giving it everything they’ve got to win as many games as they possibly can and that's all we can ask of any playing group"

This was a good quote by McMahon Lucifer. I also liked this quote The reality is we have lost some players that will never be replaced but we all have to look forward at the current group. The past isn't worth talking about because it’s been unsuccessful, I am not writing to you to say we are going to win the premiership this year. What I ask is you come to the football this year with a open mind and a fresh outlook, give this new look young group all the support you can because you might be pleasantly surprised what a bunch of blue collar workers can dish up on a Saturday afternoon.

I'm not trying to make excuses for Damian. I like everyone else on here know that he has faults and the game plan last year simply didn't stand up. But by reading what he has had to say and judging by the recruits he has signed he knows that he needs to do better and has along with the club attempted to fill the gaps as best as they could.

Coming into the last year of his contract it is extremely important to capitalise on the fact that in the first 5 games of the season we play at home 4 times.

Thank you for your thought Mr AFL.

I think the changes the Club has made (including the recruiting) are very positive and am looking forward to the season.

I agree with Damian it is no good looking back we need to get behind those that will carry the flag and continue as a Club to work hard.

I wonder how often we will hear from the coach with regular updates if we aren't winning games of football? We didn't hear much from him last year.

I must admit my biggest criticism of the dees last year was their game plan and structure. I hope williams and co can contribute significantly to that this year.

Johnno wrote: Credit where it is due looks like a couple of genuine ruck prospects have been obtained but this Lyendekers bloke sounds like a draft prospect in a year or two. The ruck has long been an Achilles heel of this club.

This one is just for you Leigh. You said you have been watching this forum for a few months and no one ever says anything good about the club but you must have missed this one. Funny how these things seem to get overlooked.

Noticed another old boy running around at training last Friday night - Kane Ransted. Assume he's back for another crack.

Still reckon we are deficient in height and strength particularly in the back half but too late now, we'll see how the team shapes up this week in the practice game against SF.