By Laine Clark
April 28th 2008 @ 8:32am
View The Roar's top AFL writers.
AFL Tipping now live on The Roar. Join now.
Love new art, fashion, music? Check out Aussie site which unearths all things cool and creative.
Bailey keeps the faith during Demons’ season from hell
A black arm band was worn by Melbourne coach Dean Bailey yesterday for their AFL Anzac weekend clash against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.
A local wag suggested it was for Bailey’s likely demise.
Certainly he looks more and more like the AFL’s dead man walking after the win-less Demons’ sixth straight loss – a 52-point [...]
This article is over 2000 days old and has been trimmed.
Get Australia's best AFL opinion emailed daily.
Like this content? Buzz it up!
Free Email updates:
Our daily emails are only sent if there is content for the sport or that author. You can subscribe to multiple daily emails; or get the daily Roar email with all our content in it. We value privacy. More...


![The brutal execution of John Howard’s hope to be the Chief Commissioner for a new independent Rugby League Commission by the Labor Left hard man, the Federal MP Anthony Albanese, was totally predictable.
Rugby league, traditionally, has been the Labor Party in NSW and Queensland at play. There is no way the party is going to [...] Spiro Zavos: Why John Howard is out of his league](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/why-john-howard-league-th.jpg)
![What a state Australian football is in: the Socceroos are on their way to an historic second World Cup, while their long-term successors are stuttering in Egypt; and the A-League has expanded in size and brought along some world-class names. But crowds are evaporating quicker then Brendan Fevola’s career.
Australia has put forward a World Cup [...] Davidde Corran: A-League must focus on quality not size](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/a-league-focus-quality-not-size-minniecon-th.jpg)
![If 2009 was meant to herald the return to dominance of the little man in rugby league, then to borrow a phrase from our tourism board, “Where the bloody hell are they?”
The game was meant to be faster, meaning we were going to see more players like Matt Bowen carving up tiring forwards.
However, what coaches [...] Steve Kaless: A good big man will always beat a good small man](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/good-big-man-josh-perry-th.jpg)
![Now that the beer coaster that I had used to write on has dried out, it’s time to reveal the Roar’s NRL Team of 2009. By way of introduction, it is worth mentioning that there were a number of debates that centered around a few different areas.
First, what is better, consistent effort or explosive [...] Steve Kaless: The 2009 Roar NRL Team of the Year](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/nrl-make-move-benjimarshall-th.jpg)
![The most overheard phrase around the Olympics must surely be “there should be no politics in sport.” What a load of rubbish! There should be more, lots more. It makes it more interesting.
The most exciting part of these year’s Olympic build up is wondering just when the Chinese might roll out the tanks.
Giving the Games [...] Steve Kaless: Why we need more politics in sport](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/olympics-2-th.jpg)
![Those in positions of power at AFL House are criticised heavily when they do something wrong, so it is only fair we acknowledge them when they do something right. Finally, the league is going to come down on a group of players no one likes – the stagers.
This season will see players fined for faking, [...] Luke D'Anello: AFL to finally rid the game of stagers](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/is-mandatory-helmet-th.jpg)
![It’s been a bit of a gloomy start to the new A-League campaign. Crowds have stagnated. Certain pitches are a disgrace. And now the mainstream media has a new show reel of ‘crowd violence’ to dredge up every time football threatens the status quo.
The so-called ‘clashes’ between Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory supporters last [...] Mike Tuckerman: A-League boneheads need a new hobby](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/a-league-boneheads-th.jpg)
![Just imagine the following happened: Sydney FC played an A-League home game against the Melbourne Victory at the Sydney Football Stadium as a curtain raiser to the Socceroos-Holland friendly on Saturday night. Yep, I’m dreaming right?
Absolutely.
There are numerous and obvious reasons which would preclude an A-League-Socceroos double billing on the same night.
However, I can’t help [...] Adrian Musolino: FFA needs to look beyond the rules of Marketing 101](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/central-coast-mariners-player-drain-th.jpg)
![Gary Player clinked a longish shot on to the eighteenth green at Augusta, about 25 feet from the cup. He then meticulously three-putted, and to a fervent standing ovation from the huge crowd, made his slow way off the course and into the forever green memory of the game.
That long hit to the green was [...] Spiro Zavos: Farewell to the the players’ Player](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/farewell-players-gary-player-th.jpg)
![The success of football teams wearing red shirts – including Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal – is no coincidence according to academics.
Their findings suggest that simply wearing a red shirt has given football teams an advantage – thanks to our deep-rooted biological response to the colour.
The research, by the University of Plymouth and Durham University, [...] Chris Court: A red shirt is the key to sporting success](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/manchester-united-th.jpg)
![Rugby league has enjoyed a marvellous year, apart from all the stories of hotel defecating, public urinating, girlfriend glassing, mate blaming, woman bashing, gang banging, sponsor biffing, player slapping, coach punching, street fighting, binge drinking, drink driving, pill popping, sexual assault, racial abuse, stimulant use, party drugs and defections.
The game itself, the actual playing of [...] Doug Conway: The year from hell for NRL](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/footystars-not-role-models-matthew-johns-th.jpg)
![It’s not often that the Carling Cup semi-finals take on major significance in England, but then it’s not often that the world’s richest club takes on the world’s most indebted with a place in a knock-out final at stake.
That the two teams hail from one of world football’s traditional hotbeds makes tonight’s Carling Cup showdown [...] Mike Tuckerman: English football is awash with stars – and debt](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/balance-power-epl-jay-spearing-th.jpg)



