^{Of course the odds were shocking $1.02 to $11, because we were tanking!!! Everyone knew it!!!}

It becomes a circular argument then. This feigned outrage by people at "manipulating" results which has implications on the betting industry (which in itself is an ironic way of moralising any of this) doesn't stand up. All clubs down the bottom of the ladder at the business end of the year for the last decade were priced similarly.

The great irony in all of this is that Melbourne beat the line ie $1.90 point handicap in every game they were suspected to have tanked. In other words any punter with half a brain would have cleaned up on them. IIRC Richmond we're about $1.50 favourites against us, they were comfortable favourites with the bookies. We lost by a kick, we smashed the line for an outsider priced over $2.00, in other words we far exceeded betting market expectations.

Oh really? Why don't you stand on the Flinders Street steps tomorrow and survey 1000 people with one question 'do you think the MFC tanked?' You will find that this garbage has further damaged our already-battered brand, when the basic thrust of it is simply untrue. How can you expect anything different when there is nobody telling the truth in the public arena?

I did that today. Here are my results. 727 couldn't give a fats rats clacker. 125 said we tanked but we shouldn't get punished because every body was doing it and the rules of the AFL tacitly encouraged it, 54 asked me for a couple of bucks to buy a train ticket to get home. 22 said not to worry about any AFL sanctions because the Mayan calendar predicts that the world will end on December the 21st and the draft sanctions won't hurt us. 51 said they couldn't believe it wasn't butter. 3 invited me to partake in a personality test. 17 said they thought Caroline Wilson was fantastic in "No Country for old Men". And finally one said that he was devastated that Melbourne delisted Juice Newton and therefore we must be punished. Case Closed.

P.s The last person interviewed may or may not have been Juice Newton.

I did that today. Here are my results. 727 couldn't give a fats rats clacker. 125 said we tanked but we shouldn't get punished because every body was doing it and the rules of the AFL tacitly encouraged it, 54 asked me for a couple of bucks to buy a train ticket to get home. 22 said not to worry about any AFL sanctions because the Mayan calendar predicts that the world will end on December the 21st and the draft sanctions won't hurt us. 51 said they couldn't believe it wasn't butter. 3 invited me to partake in a personality test. 17 said they thought Caroline Wilson was fantastic in "No Country for old Men". And finally one said that he was devastated that Melbourne delisted Juice Newton and therefore we must be punished. Case Closed.

P.s The last person interviewed may or may not have been Juice Newton.

Nice work

Oh really? Why don't you stand on the Flinders Street steps tomorrow and survey 1000 people with one question 'do you think the MFC tanked?' You will find that this garbage has further damaged our already-battered brand, when the basic thrust of it is simply untrue. How can you expect anything different when there is nobody telling the truth in the public arena?

Boggles the mind.

Seriously, do you think the MFC making a statement would change the minds of any one of those 1000 ppl?

FFS.

Playing it well by slowly releasing other news to shift the focus, but keep it on us:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/melbourne-set-to-reinstate-jack-trengove-and-jack-grimes-as-captains/story-e6frf9jf-1226512538069

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/failed-pokies-venture-leaves-melbourne-affiliate-casey-fighting-for-survival/story-e6frf9jf-1226512561376

The casey news is terrible, though.

Boggles the mind.

Seriously, do you think the MFC making a statement would change the minds of any one of those 1000 ppl?

FFS.

yes I do, he-whose-mind-is-very-easily-boggled

yes I do, he-whose-mind-is-very-easily-boggled

Boggle....boggle.....now that's a nice woody word

carry on

yes I do, he-whose-mind-is-very-easily-boggled

Case closed, your honour.