I have been away overseas, but have come back an watched Foxtel IQ. I watched Fotel 360 last night which I must say was incredibly scary for a passionate Demon supporter like me. Not only did all the experts agree that Tom Scully has already signed with West Sydney, but they said it is a disaster for Melbourne as they not only have invested in their first round draft pick in his football education, but when he comes good as a mature footballer, he will sign a $6m deal over six years which is what he has been offered apparently. They said this blows apart the positioning the Demons have been trying to create as for tge team about let's stick together to create an extraordinary ten year dynasty, but when the rest of the AFL realizes this is merely an illusion they will pick off our good players one by one.

Their conclusion was this will make a nonsense of the draft regime, and that the AFL will eventually have to act it to protect vulnerable clubs, but unfortunately the Demons look like being the club that suffers the most before the AFL acts.

They started off the program by saying Demons would be the team of the decade, but concluded that we would end up the victims and unlikely to play finals consistently, and certainly never get close to a flag because most of our best players would be targeted after Scully leaves and shows the dynasty argument is merely illusory.

What a shame...

Not only did all the experts agree that Tom Scully has already signed with West Sydney...

Not entirely true... Mark Robinson (I think it was) said that he believed Scully will stay at the Dees.

Top story at the moment so it is being flogged to death by all news outlets...

Wait until the season proper starts and there is more to talk about then the Scully story.

Opinions are like [censored] - everyone has them and most of 'em stink. There is no basis for any of this other than guesswork. Ask them how many of them had Brisbane falling apart before Voss took over or who tipped Geelong to be a champion team in 2006. Not many if any I'd reckon.

Not entirely true... Mark Robinson (I think it was) said that he believed Scully will stay at the Dees.

Not true at all you should say there HT.

Robbo was confident he will remain a demon

Not true at all you should say there HT.

Robbo was confident he will remain a demon

I think you guys are "clutching at straws". If I was in administration in other clubs I would be spending a whole lot of time plotting our

our demise. Tom Scully would be a magnificent starting point, and don't fool yourselves that all the other clubs are not egging western Sydney on in this. Even the AFL.

The economics for the AFL work best if the new interstate teams rise to the top fast. The last thing they want is for a middle ranking Melbourne team to dominate.

It is significant that apparently the AFL is having trouble getting the television networks over the $1B mark in the current television negotiations. The sticking point is who controls the so called "blockbuster" games between free to air, Foxtel, and online, particularly with the arrival of the NBN.

Don't fool yourselves, this is a very hard headed business proposition, in which the MFC is a nuisance rather than a player.

Sorry to be a downer, but we all should be aware of this. These are ruthless stakes that are being played right now. No-one will do the MFC any favors in this.

Edited February 10, 201114 yr by DeesPower

I think you guys are "clutching at straws". If I was in administration in other clubs I would be spending a whole lot of time plotting our

our demise. Tom Scully would be a magnificent starting point, and don't fool yourselves that all the other clubs are not egging western Sydney on in this. Even the AFL.

The economics for the AFL work best if the new interstate teams rise to the top fast. The last thing they want is for a middle ranking Melbourne team to dominate.

It is significant that apparently the AFL is having trouble getting the television networks over the $1B mark in the current television negotiations. The sticking point is who controls the so called "blockbuster" games between free to air, Foxtel, and online, particularly with the arrival of the NBN.

Don't fool yourselves, this is a very hard headed business proposition, in which the MFC is a nuisance rather than a player.

Sorry to be a downer, but we all should be aware of this. These are ruthless stakes that are being played right now. No-one will do the MFC any favors in this.

I think you are clutching at straws.

If I was in administration, I'd be plotting to make my club as good as it could possibly be and not worrying about how good the dees might become.

Tom Scully would be a magnificent starting point, but you need to convince him to leave first.

How is MFC a nuisance?

I agree no one outside the club will do us any favours, and why should they?

Nor should we need them to.

I think you guys are "clutching at straws". If I was in administration in other clubs I would be spending a whole lot of time plotting our

our demise. Tom Scully would be a magnificent starting point, and don't fool yourselves that all the other clubs are not egging western Sydney on in this. Even the AFL.

The economics for the AFL work best if the new interstate teams rise to the top fast. The last thing they want is for a middle ranking Melbourne team to dominate.

It is significant that apparently the AFL is having trouble getting the television networks over the $1B mark in the current television negotiations. The sticking point is who controls the so called "blockbuster" games between free to air, Foxtel, and online, particularly with the arrival of the NBN.

Don't fool yourselves, this is a very hard headed business proposition, in which the MFC is a nuisance rather than a player.

Sorry to be a downer, but we all should be aware of this. These are ruthless stakes that are being played right now. No-one will do the MFC any favors in this.

bordering on scaremongering here. btw, Robbo thinks Scully will stay. So too C.Wilson.

MFC a nuisance....who are you fn kidding !

I think you guys are "clutching at straws". If I was in administration in other clubs I would be spending a whole lot of time plotting our

our demise. Tom Scully would be a magnificent starting point, and don't fool yourselves that all the other clubs are not egging western Sydney on in this. Even the AFL.

The economics for the AFL work best if the new interstate teams rise to the top fast. The last thing they want is for a middle ranking Melbourne team to dominate.

It is significant that apparently the AFL is having trouble getting the television networks over the $1B mark in the current television negotiations. The sticking point is who controls the so called "blockbuster" games between free to air, Foxtel, and online, particularly with the arrival of the NBN.

Don't fool yourselves, this is a very hard headed business proposition, in which the MFC is a nuisance rather than a player.

Sorry to be a downer, but we all should be aware of this. These are ruthless stakes that are being played right now. No-one will do the MFC any favors in this.

Do you run or edit a conspiracy theory website? If you don't you should because you'd be very good at it.

Not entirely true... Mark Robinson (I think it was) said that he believed Scully will stay at the Dees.

So all the experts did agree then.

I think you guys are "clutching at straws".

Huh?? I was merely pointing out an error in your comment that ALL presenters on the show were convinced he had signed.

Not true at all you should say there HT.

Robbo was confident he will remain a demon

Things must be quiet up your way Rod. Flitting around like a butterfly.

Meh. More so-called experts quoting internet forums. There is no substance to this story, any more than there was when it was Frawley or Petterd heading to the Gold Coast.

I think you are clutching at straws.

If I was in administration, I'd be plotting to make my club as good as it could possibly be and not worrying about how good the dees might become.

Tom Scully would be a magnificent starting point, but you need to convince him to leave first.

How is MFC a nuisance?

I agree no one outside the club will do us any favours, and why should they?

Nor should we need them to.

I have been an insider in marketing/strategy in major corporations and PR for 30 years. I know how these guys work. They work what is called "above the line" ie what you can see, and "below the line" ie what they can do to sabotage their opposition. For the major players, this is no different in sport. In fact, many of the techniques were pioneered in major sports, starting with the East Germans in the 1970's.

I can't believe anyone could be so comfortable to believe that all you need to do is to develop your best and that will be enough. There are much bigger stakes at play here.

The AFL is engaged in a fight to the death with all the major sporting codes. fortunately for those people like me who love Ausdies rules the codes is blessed with very savvy administrators. But I know those same people would not hesitate to sacrifice the MFC if they thought it would help the code survive.

I watch the game play out every day, and I had hoped there would be a level playing field. The fact that the Scully defection has cone so early in the Demons resurrection is an extremely worrying sign. It to me has all the hallmarks of a bigger game here ie I will sacrifice an icon in Melbourne to protect my $200m investment to ensure the code nobles Soccer and the NRL in their major market Western Sydney.

The MFC potentially should it become too successful is not what the powerbrokers in the AFL want. That is why it is a nuisance. To think otherwise is niavity in the extreme.

This is not to say we are doomed. It is just to face reality, and know how to fight these guys. They can be beaten. But to think these thing are not going on is to raise the white flag. I for one are not prepared to do that. Nothing would make me happier than to see a demons premiership. But I can see dark forces at work here, and it required sophisticated responses to overcome them. To ignore them, or worse still think simply to work harder to get better, will ensure failure I can guarantee it.

Edited February 10, 201114 yr by DeesPower

I have been an insider in marketing/strategy in major corporations and PR for 30 years. I know how these guys work.

Then I would expect your comprehension to be a little better; your entire "clutching at straws..." discussion emanated from a couple of comments that simply related to an error in your reporting of the comments made on the Footy 360 show.

The MFC potentially should it become too successful is not what the powerbrokers in the AFL want. That is why it is a nuisance. To think otherwise is niavity in the extreme.

What rot DeesPower. You're fascination that the AFL don't want Melbourne to become successful again is a pipedream. They would love Melbourne to have 50,000 members; stand on their own two feet and be competitive in a thriving competition.

You're talking about "potentially...too successful"; that even remains to be seen. That confirms your pipedream.

I think you guys are "clutching at straws". If I was in administration in other clubs I would be spending a whole lot of time plotting our

our demise. Tom Scully would be a magnificent starting point, and don't fool yourselves that all the other clubs are not egging western Sydney on in this. Even the AFL.

The economics for the AFL work best if the new interstate teams rise to the top fast. The last thing they want is for a middle ranking Melbourne team to dominate.

It is significant that apparently the AFL is having trouble getting the television networks over the $1B mark in the current television negotiations. The sticking point is who controls the so called "blockbuster" games between free to air, Foxtel, and online, particularly with the arrival of the NBN.

Don't fool yourselves, this is a very hard headed business proposition, in which the MFC is a nuisance rather than a player.

Sorry to be a downer, but we all should be aware of this. These are ruthless stakes that are being played right now. No-one will do the MFC any favors in this.

Jeez...

I'll ease off because DC thinks I am flogging this, and he is usually on the mark with such things, but I just don't get this sentiment anymore.

It rankles.

We have made so many strides in the last few years that everyone lauds - but when it comes to saying 'we are the MFC and we are capable' we just can't do it.

(Frustrated, defeated sigh)

at least we are going to make history - the first club ever to have their dynasty come to an end before it even started