Did anyone get along to the FF launch tonight? I was meant to be there but couldn't make It. I remember last year was a pretty good night with some good insight into the club. Would be good to get a run down of the night? Cheers.

Was a good night, not too much said that hadn't been said already through media. The usual hardest pre-season/everyones training well etc.

McLardy, Connolly, Howcroft, Garland & Watts were there

All spoke well (told everyone what we wanted to hear), hung around and spoke to a lot of people afterwards which was good.

Col mentioned Aussie is doing well, and that he really enjoyed pulling the raffle tickets out of the hat at the functions previously.

That's all I can really recall, I was towards the back, and with no microphone it became difficult to hear with the city noise around

Interesting to hear Watts talk.

Reading between the lines of what he said, the coaches weren't hard on him enough last year, didn't expect as much as they maybe should have, and his development was hampered somewhat by not having a decent tall forward to learn from.

I should have been taking notes, but the beers were free...

Interesting to hear Watts talk.

Reading between the lines of what he said, the coaches weren't hard on him enough last year, didn't expect as much as they maybe should have, and his development was hampered somewhat by not having a decent tall forward to learn from.

I should have been taking notes, but the beers were free...

Thanks AW, and this backs up what I have been saying on a different thread. Watts will benefit more as a forward from having Clark there. Just becuase Clark will be our main go-to man, doesn't mean we should send Watts to a different position. What he will learn from Clark playin g(basically next to him) will be far more beneficial to his development than playing as a loose man in defence or across half back.

Thanks AW, and this backs up what I have been saying on a different thread. Watts will benefit more as a forward from having Clark there. Just becuase Clark will be our main go-to man, doesn't mean we should send Watts to a different position. What he will learn from Clark playin g(basically next to him) will be far more beneficial to his development than playing as a loose man in defence or across half back.

Yep, Watts said as much himself.

Although, I heard Malthouse talking about him on 3AW last night, and he said he'd play him at CHB - I think there was some merit in the idea, maybe more if we didn't already have Garland and Frawley.

MM was talking purely in terms of developing Watts, from what I can gather.

Says a lot about the shambles 2011 Footy Dept. thankfully it is being addressed.

Yep, Watts said as much himself.

Although, I heard Malthouse talking about him on 3AW last night, and he said he'd play him at CHB - I think there was some merit in the idea, maybe more if we didn't already have Garland and Frawley.

MM was talking purely in terms of developing Watts, from what I can gather.

Would be a tempting idea to start getting the wins on the board. Watts speed and elite skills coming off half back would be extremely handy I think. I also think if he played on the Reiwoldts, Podys types who are mobile but big bodies, it would fast track his development especially contested one-on-one footy.

I would not be against him playing on a key player in the backline as long as he is not the lose man role, where he will learn nothing.

What was said about "The Future Fund"...?

What are it's plans for 2012 & Beyond?

It is very important.

Says a lot about the shambles 2011 Footy Dept. thankfully it is being addressed.

I reckon it says just as much about those who backed Bailey to the hilt when 1) He was MFC coach & 2) When they first hired him and his utopian power point presentation (i'd love to take a glance at what he put in it - as opposed to what he put into place on the field)

The most interesting things I heard last night were from Chris Connolly, Jack Watts and Russell Howcroft.

Watts talked of the impact of Mitch Clark being there and providing an example of how a tall forward should play and more importantly train.

MC has a good pedigree, being an understudy to J Brown for most of his career.

Watts also spoke of being pushed hard by the coaches and having more expected of him, but that it was good and he appreciated it.

Reading between the lines, it's something that wasn't done enough (or in an effective way) during Bailey's reign.

Jack singled out Neil Craig for always being there on the sidelines, yelling, on your back, pushing, pushing, pushing.

And that at the end of the session, NC is always there, coming over to have a 20 min chat, and going to pains to explain why he pushes and prods them like that, what he is trying to achieve, and what they should be trying to get out of it.

We are lucky to have Craig.

Chris Connolly mentioned the Future Fund itself, and growing the group, as one day we will be pushing the club forward in an off-field sense.

We need to promote the quality of these events, which have been great so far (and continue to get better), and if we can grow the group to be 4 times the size, it will go a long way to make us one of the power clubs.

Actually I think Don McLardy said a fair bit of this.

But what Connolly did say was that he had spoken to guys like Brad Green and Cameron Bruce, life members, guys who had played the majority of their careers at the club - it was now their responsibility to do whatever, go away to another club for 5-6 years if they want, but come back to the club and work towards building into a power club.\

That responsibility to put back into the club, like those before them that set the foundations so they could have a decent career.

And I guess it's not unlike our responsibility as supporters, especially when it comes to a "junior-coterie" group like the Future Fund.

Finally Russell Howcroft told of what he had learnt temporarily working on AM talkback radio for the last 6 weeks.

If you have a topic, and nobody is calling up to talk about it, you're failing as a talback radio presenter, and won't be on the air for much longer.

And what's one thing MFC supporters generally don't do? - call up talkback radio to talk about their team.

So to trace that back, radio stations won't talk about MFC because we're not a "sexy" club that will generate a decent response, like a Collingwood or Essendon.

Personally, I've always listened to some extent, but thought that to call up was mostly the domain of idiots and those with too much time on their hands.

And it's kinda true. But it doesn't matter how stupid you or your point are to the presenter - they just need something to keep people talking.

And talking about MFC, keeping the brand ever-present, is good for the club.

I had always thought to myself - as a supporter, what can I actually do to grow the popularity and strength of the club?

Beyond pushing acquaintances who I know support the club to buy a membership, what can I actually do besides pour my money into it?

Will this is one way, with really minimal effort - call up the radio shows.

SEN, 3AW, MMM... Get on the air, get passionate, and it becomes infectious. It'll have a snowball effect.

Hell, even if it's the same 10 blokes calling up, sounding like idiots, as long as they are filling the airwaves with MFC, talking about Watts' potential, Morton's skinny arms, Sylvia's guns, Blease's pace...

I guess it's all about promoting the MFC brand - about brand awareness, and the increase in supporters and interest in MFC will come from there, and eventually it will become self-fulfilling.

There is only so much the club can do, and we all as supporters have a responsibility to work towards a stronger MFC.

A bit rambly cos I'm tired, but you get the picture.

Nice post Arsene.

I call sen all the time if you here cam from hillside thats me im on all the time fighting with greg on K.B's morning show he hates us and he gets me going and you will find that melbourne is talked about alot on sen and we have been in the hun alot this year also. I must be an idiot cause i love calling in and i tell you what i have won about $2,000 in prizes over the years so they love the feedback.

I call sen all the time if you here cam from hillside thats me im on all the time fighting with greg on K.B's morning show he hates us and he gets me going and you will find that melbourne is talked about alot on sen and we have been in the hun alot this year also. I must be an idiot cause i love calling in and i tell you what i have won about $2,000 in prizes over the years so they love the feedback.

Keep it going Cam. I have heard ya!

Edited March 2, 201213 yr by why you little

I've called up a couple of times but then hung up when I've been on hold for a while. Will try and be more persistent this year as I definitely agree this is the reason radio stations are reluctant to talk about us because we don't generate calls and if they do talk about us other clubs supporters call up and change the topic.

The most interesting things I heard last night were from Chris Connolly, Jack Watts and Russell Howcroft.

Watts talked of the impact of Mitch Clark being there and providing an example of how a tall forward should play and more importantly train.

MC has a good pedigree, being an understudy to J Brown for most of his career.

Watts also spoke of being pushed hard by the coaches and having more expected of him, but that it was good and he appreciated it.

Reading between the lines, it's something that wasn't done enough (or in an effective way) during Bailey's reign.

Jack singled out Neil Craig for always being there on the sidelines, yelling, on your back, pushing, pushing, pushing.

And that at the end of the session, NC is always there, coming over to have a 20 min chat, and going to pains to explain why he pushes and prods them like that, what he is trying to achieve, and what they should be trying to get out of it.

We are lucky to have Craig.

Chris Connolly mentioned the Future Fund itself, and growing the group, as one day we will be pushing the club forward in an off-field sense.

We need to promote the quality of these events, which have been great so far (and continue to get better), and if we can grow the group to be 4 times the size, it will go a long way to make us one of the power clubs.

Actually I think Don McLardy said a fair bit of this.

But what Connolly did say was that he had spoken to guys like Brad Green and Cameron Bruce, life members, guys who had played the majority of their careers at the club - it was now their responsibility to do whatever, go away to another club for 5-6 years if they want, but come back to the club and work towards building into a power club.\

That responsibility to put back into the club, like those before them that set the foundations so they could have a decent career.

And I guess it's not unlike our responsibility as supporters, especially when it comes to a "junior-coterie" group like the Future Fund.

Finally Russell Howcroft told of what he had learnt temporarily working on AM talkback radio for the last 6 weeks.

If you have a topic, and nobody is calling up to talk about it, you're failing as a talback radio presenter, and won't be on the air for much longer.

And what's one thing MFC supporters generally don't do? - call up talkback radio to talk about their team.

So to trace that back, radio stations won't talk about MFC because we're not a "sexy" club that will generate a decent response, like a Collingwood or Essendon.

Personally, I've always listened to some extent, but thought that to call up was mostly the domain of idiots and those with too much time on their hands.

And it's kinda true. But it doesn't matter how stupid you or your point are to the presenter - they just need something to keep people talking.

And talking about MFC, keeping the brand ever-present, is good for the club.

I had always thought to myself - as a supporter, what can I actually do to grow the popularity and strength of the club?

Beyond pushing acquaintances who I know support the club to buy a membership, what can I actually do besides pour my money into it?

Will this is one way, with really minimal effort - call up the radio shows.

SEN, 3AW, MMM... Get on the air, get passionate, and it becomes infectious. It'll have a snowball effect.

Hell, even if it's the same 10 blokes calling up, sounding like idiots, as long as they are filling the airwaves with MFC, talking about Watts' potential, Morton's skinny arms, Sylvia's guns, Blease's pace...

I guess it's all about promoting the MFC brand - about brand awareness, and the increase in supporters and interest in MFC will come from there, and eventually it will become self-fulfilling.

There is only so much the club can do, and we all as supporters have a responsibility to work towards a stronger MFC.

A bit rambly cos I'm tired, but you get the picture.

This is the best post I've ever read on this forum. It makes a very important point on how we can all make a difference.

This is the best post I've ever read on this forum. It makes a very important point on how we can all make a difference.

No credit for me - it should all go to Chris Connolly, Jack Watts, Don McLardy and Russell Howcroft.

Also Colin Garland spoke very impressively. You can see why he's part of the leadership group.

I call sen all the time if you here cam from hillside thats me im on all the time fighting with greg on K.B's morning show he hates us and he gets me going and you will find that melbourne is talked about alot on sen and we have been in the hun alot this year also. I must be an idiot cause i love calling in and i tell you what i have won about $2,000 in prizes over the years so they love the feedback.

Sorry, didn't mean it like that.

It's taken something like this to make me realise I was being a bit snobbish, and that I should make the effort in future.

As we all should.

I now actually appreciate the fact that you call in.

Sorry, didn't mean it like that.

It's taken something like this to make me realise I was being a bit snobbish, and that I should make the effort in future.

As we all should.

I now actually appreciate the fact that you call in.

Thanks mate i got worked up today on sen over jack watts and guess what i won another prize go dees