As the title suggests I think I've finally gone round the bend, we're more than halfway through the season and we are clearly the worst team in the comp. We have massive holes in our list, our captain and arguable our most successful player in the modern era has just retired and we're as close to being broke that an AFL club can be.

Yet, despite all this I'm excited. For some reason I see hope that didn't exist over the last 3 or 4 years. After a decade of sameness I sense a fresh breath of new life seeping through the whole club from the top with our new president down to the rank and file supporters.

On the field we've had players arrive who previously where lost (Garland & Warnock), we've discovered new talent (Morton, Valenti & Wona) and even the much maligned (mostly by me) Brad Miller has turned a sharp corner. I'm not sure if Bailey is responsible for all this, I'm just happy to sit back and watch the younger guys grow and develop for the rest of the season. What impresses me most about the club at the moment though is the gradual change of culture. Hell, I can even see a positive in guys like Dunn and CJ.

Off the field Casey, Canberra and the OP precinct will be our future, and for the first time in a long time I can actually see us survive and once again grow into the powerhouse that we once were. Stynes is going to reap the rewards of all the hard work that Gardiner and his team did, but I realise now that he is an inspired choice. He is the face of Melbourne, along with guys like Gary Lyon. He's a better figurehead than an unknown but wealthy businessman, and he is very good at gathering people to a cause.

I still strongly feel that we need to secure the first pick though, and not just for the november draft. The 1st pick in the psd may bcome very important, especially considering that we will be able to afford a big salary with all of our retirments coming up.

Good to see you being positive Jarka. ( I agree btw)

Ahh Grasshopper.. you see beyond the mist into clarity. All is not as always as it seems. Discard the material confines and grasp the purity of belief.

That or youre stark raving mad ...... which do you prefer ? :D

Couldn't agree more. I was watching the Gruen Transfer tonight, and the guy named Russell (I forget his last name) is now part of the Stynes team, I can only assume in a PR/advertising role. He seems like a no-[censored] type, and it occurred to me that the situation mFC is in now is, in a lot of respects, as exciting as at ANY time in a club's life...

Why?

You look at the power-players and board members of other clubs, and it seems to me like they're all secret-handshake groups that are IMPOSSIBLE to penetrate. So many other clubs' supporters and high-profile members would love to be involved more with their clubs' arrangements, but can't get in... MFC is now the place to be if you want to get a game, want to contribute to an AFL club then we're the place to go... and best of all we're not a GC/West Syndey/Bears type club with no history or identity...

It's not that I'm not scared, or frightened about our future... I am... But I'm thrilled we're at the bottom of a ladder that could reach the ceiling, instead of hanging on with one hand to a ladder that would NEVER go all the way to the top.

I do honestly think Bailey has a lot to do with this: whether it's his relationship with the players or just talent or whatever he seems to be getting the best out of players who didn't excite (Miller, Garland etc.).

Off the field Casey, Canberra and the OP precinct will be our future

OP?!?!?!?! Please tell me you are not talking about the club building a small city to house all the players on our list with this horrible injury?!?!?! This is disastrous news!

OP?!?!?!?! Please tell me you are not talking about the club building a small city to house all the players on our list with this horrible injury?!?!?! This is disastrous news!

hehe, not quite.