........an opportunity for some to make a name for themselves and in so doing cement their position within an organisation. This someone who , for sake of argument call ...."A" thought he saw gold glittering away in the pan. He ought to have known it was Pyrite after all it had been unearthed by the Queen of Fools herself and abetted by others similarly twisted in their views and with their own barrows of bile and gurge to push.

Great work, belzebub, especially the sentences highlighted. Great work indeed.

Hey, I reckon a belting with the dipstick could hurt! Whippy little thing like that!

... not to mention you could splatter oil on people, and that would be a [censored] to clean off clothing!

thats what happens when equity isn't happening,,, & clubs need special help because of the inequities gone before...

.... AFL steps in behind things, & wheels turn within wheels, & all of a sudden we have different view points as people from different organisations aware of different informations,,, form different views.

Lets see how the powers that 'B', clean this up & wash they're hands of it.

Excelent read BB, one of the best on 'land for some time.

I have wondered if A is falling on his sword, however I have also pondered another scenario where this his departure has been on the books for some time, that CW was aware of it and that she was so fearful her arch enemy CS was potentially in the running for the position that she wrote the series of articles to destroy any chance he may have had.

While MFC may not in the end be charged with anything, it would be impossible for the AFL to employ CS at the moment given the CW created perception of a lack of integrity.

It cant be coincidence surely that AA's time at the Fortress will end at about the same time the inquisition comes to an end. The symmetry is just too powerful...lol

I suppose there are any number of possible views to this whole debacle. some pieces of the puzzle just seem to fit quite well. No guarantee admittedly they are the correct ones

Still looks like a train wreck to me... the Poltergeist type ..lol

Caro has gone very quiet on this, and it seems that Jon Ralph has just picked up and trying to make something outta the dregs of it.

I actually used to rate CW a while back, and I thought she was quite good on Footy Classified, but I don't know if I can stomach her this season. If as was speculated they put Lloyd on to replace Grant Thomas,.... the panel will be pretty lightweight indeed.

One of the reasons I think Caro is a must read is at least she has contacts and finds things out. We'd have a much better idea of where this was going if she was reporting it.

I still think we are very exposed here and I'm comfortable that the investigation is taking as long as it is. It's allowed us to participate in the drafting and trading this year which was critical and now any draft penalties will not hurt so much. If the trade off for that ability to participate is a long investigation I'll live with it. Also the longer it goes the more it becomes a non issue. That helps.

Unlike many here I'm not worried about Caro's reporting and want to here from here so I know what's going on. For the record I loved Grant Thomas too and am sorry he's gone.

Facile journalism.....

What Ralph has done is connect the two where no connection actually exists. It's like saying a police criminal investigation has to be completed before the Supreme Court rises for its summer break. What nonsense.

He's really struggling for copy isn't he? He probably wrote it a few weeks ago while sitting in front of his calendar planning his holidays - which seems to have already started

All of this reminds me very much of the adage "Fools rush in where wise men fear to tread "

There is a very good reason why the whole issue of "list management" had been let alone. Its quiksand. Wiser heads at the AFL ( not necessarily cleverer ones, just wise in this instance ) simply realised that once you set of down the path to Tanksville that you would invariably at some point become so immersed in the quagmire that extradition becomes near on impossible. For this reason it was left alone , ne denied for years. There's no problem ( well there is now and its really of our own creation , so no admission there..lol ) What was once a seemingly harmless exercise now had grown into serious use of the end of season ( or for some the whole season ) as a building block , a conduit to rebirthing a team. As with all cultures ( especially those of the Petrie dish variety ) they grow. This one morphed quietly into a monster.

Demteriou realised that the only real way to deal with this was to effectively starve it and let it die away of natural course. Eventually if all carrots were removed then with no attraction teams would move on to other avenues of recourse in reshaping teams and it ( the AFL) would have been spared the agony of dealing with the beast.......................

Of course it came as no surprise to Demetriou when Andersen tendered his recognition having fallen upon a sword as the sword was most conveniently left by Demetriou for him to do so.

The Crusade has now become not much more than a lost and riderless horse whose days are spent wandering aimlessly and ineffectually nibbling her..............

Great read BB

And I reckon your are on the money about Anderson.

What all this ignores of course is that every day the fiasco drags out, the MFC suffers. This thing is hanging over our heads - and as potential members and sponsors wait for the outcome - we lose money.

The club can't come out and criticize the delay ......... but you'd someone in the media might point it out.

We've been penalised already.The longer the thing goes the harder it will be for the AFL to justify a "not guilty" verdict. ... and if that's what they do find - they should give us compensation.

One of the reasons I think Caro is a must read is at least she has contacts and finds things out. We'd have a much better idea of where this was going if she was reporting it.

I still think we are very exposed here and I'm comfortable that the investigation is taking as long as it is. It's allowed us to participate in the drafting and trading this year which was critical and now any draft penalties will not hurt so much. If the trade off for that ability to participate is a long investigation I'll live with it. Also the longer it goes the more it becomes a non issue. That helps.

Unlike many here I'm not worried about Caro's reporting and want to here from here so I know what's going on. For the record I loved Grant Thomas too and am sorry he's gone.

You value her opinion because she's informed, but you're not worried about her reporting?

Wilson November 2012:

Melbourne will be harshly punished. Cameron Schwab and Chris Connolly will be finished at the club ... What Melbourne did in manipulating results was disgusting. The result of the fix was pathetic.

That sounds unequivocal to me.

.... the panel will be pretty lightweight indeed.

Much the same as the show itself. No wonder it's on so late at night.

You value her opinion because she's informed, but you're not worried about her reporting?

Wilson November 2012:

That sounds unequivocal to me.

It's not Wilson's fault we are where we are, it's ours. She is reporting on it and I want to know what's going on. She's the only one who is shedding any light on it.

She is also only reporting what she knows, not what the AFL knows which is a point I think many miss and really the only thing that matters. If Wilson doesn't report it doesn't mean it's not being investigated and if Wilson does report it doesn't mean the AFL agree with her position. I'm not spooked by Wilson at all. She's just a journalist.

She clearly doesn't like us but so what. I'm much more worried about what the AFL think. It's important to try and separate the wheat from the chaff with Caro and it's why I like her articles.

Some items that lead me where it did. They in themselves are proof of nothing ( seems a theme currently about some areas of the AFL )

However...as it occured to me :

This only grew legs and became an inquiry proper in the vacuum that was Demetriou's visit o/s. i firmly believe this never would have got off the ground in this format had he remained in town.

The main flag bearer from the 4th estate was/is Wilson. Others seem either sycophant in nature or me too. Wilson was either clairvoyant in her ability to know where the Inquisition was in its workings or she was in receipt of surreptitious intelligence ( ironic that really ) .

Vlad rides back into town. He would have to be dismayed by what he finds... the kids have been playing with matches again tsk tsk !!

He cant turn off the rampant machine but he can remove its fuel. Suddenly Wilson seems bereft of 'news'. The underground communication tunnels have been shut. The Inquisition express has been set off down a branchline. To where...who cares !! lol

As Sussan would have it...this goes with that!!

It's not Wilson's fault we are where we are, it's ours. She is reporting on it and I want to know what's going on. She's the only one who is shedding any light on it.

She is also only reporting what she knows, not what the AFL knows which is a point I think many miss and really the only thing that matters. If Wilson doesn't report it doesn't mean it's not being investigated and if Wilson does report it doesn't mean the AFL agree with her position. I'm not spooked by Wilson at all. She's just a journalist.

She clearly doesn't like us but so what. I'm much more worried about what the AFL think. It's important to try and separate the wheat from the chaff with Caro and it's why I like her articles.

fair go Fan please. You are really pushing it here.

Wilson in the above quote has made some very bold statements that are HER OPINION & as such are nothing to with any investigation.

What exactly has been found in this investigation so far??

Emails, stickies, an unwiped Whiteboard full of instructions?

No. Nothing yet. Its all been Wilson's slanted opinion on what She HOPES will happen.

fair go Fan please. You are really pushing it here.

Wilson in the above quote has made some very bold statements that are HER OPINION & as such are nothing to with any investigation.

What exactly has been found in this investigation so far??

Emails, stickies, an unwiped Whiteboard full of instructions?

No. Nothing yet. Its all been Wilson's slanted opinion on what She HOPES will happen.

And for mine , others were complicit in those 'hopes' of what would be uncovered..

The silence is deafening !!

there are no doubt some who will abide by the idea, but wait, where there's smoke theres some sort of fire....ergo We must be in the mire no matter.

I suspect what weve seen isnt so much smoke as fog and mist. No fire.

fair go Fan please. You are really pushing it here.

Wilson in the above quote has made some very bold statements that are HER OPINION & as such are nothing to with any investigation.

What exactly has been found in this investigation so far??

Emails, stickies, an unwiped Whiteboard full of instructions?

No. Nothing yet. Its all been Wilson's slanted opinion on what She HOPES will happen.

Rubbish. We know about the investigative tactics, we know the meeting that is at the centre of the investigation, we know what Connolly was supposed to have said, we know that the main players have been interviewed multiple times, we know the general nature of the MFC position and if I cared to go back and read her articles again there would be much more.

We also know her opinion. I'm not worried about that because I'm not spooked by the journalist. If our club can't survive one negative journalist we really are stuffed.

I've found myself wondering what going on since her last series of articles and nobody can provide anything.

I'm looking forward to her next article, not because of the slant she'll put on it but because of the information it may contain.

umm .maybe we ought to merge this thread..

The silence is deafening !!

Seems to me you're more worried about what Wilson thinks than the AFL. I'm not and the silence isn't giving me any comfort.

It's not Wilson's fault we are where we are, it's ours. She is reporting on it and I want to know what's going on. She's the only one who is shedding any light on it.

She is also only reporting what she knows, not what the AFL knows which is a point I think many miss and really the only thing that matters. If Wilson doesn't report it doesn't mean it's not being investigated and if Wilson does report it doesn't mean the AFL agree with her position. I'm not spooked by Wilson at all. She's just a journalist.

She clearly doesn't like us but so what. I'm much more worried about what the AFL think. It's important to try and separate the wheat from the chaff with Caro and it's why I like her articles.

It's totally her fault. Let's see some evidence?? She doesn't have any. The "Vault"?? Are you kidding me? Our weekly meeting room?? Now its the Vault??

And past players: Brock numnuts McLean?? - on the record saying "we were never told to lose" "It was a vibe" - welcome Denis Denuto from the Castle.

The Richmond game?? Well the facts say we were ahead after the siren. WHat else have you got Caro??

It is total speculation on her behalf and she has no evidence whatsoever to back it up. If she did she would print it. Anyone can do that - its not what a journalist does though.

For you to say she is 'reporting on it' is a fabrication. She re-started the speculation. On what??

Nice trolling BTW

She lied about "The Vault". That was the basis of her argument, it has since been proven to be a lie and she has nothing now.

Rubbish. We know about the investigative tactics, we know the meeting that is at the centre of the investigation, we know what Connolly was supposed to have said, we know that the main players have been interviewed multiple times, we know the general nature of the MFC position and if I cared to go back and read her articles again there would be much more.

We also know her opinion. I'm not worried about that because I'm not spooked by the journalist. If our club can't survive one negative journalist we really are stuffed.

I've found myself wondering what going on since her last series of articles and nobody can provide anything.

I'm looking forward to her next article, not because of the slant she'll put on it but because of the information it may contain.

I couldnt care less if she never put pen to paper ever again. She has used up all her lives now. All she has is her OPINION and very little fact. What little that is real is often so twisted beyond recognition as to render it moot.

There are scribes who rely on FACT... She tenders hearsay and gossip as reality.. As about real as any reality show id suggest.

Seems to me you're more worried about what Wilson thinks than the AFL. I'm not and the silence isn't giving me any comfort.

went straight through to the keeper did it fan ?

I only note shes shut the f*#k up since Vlad got back and has finally rounded up the strays.

Shes a joke

Shes a joke

Each to their own.

And for mine , others were complicit in those 'hopes' of what would be uncovered..

The silence is deafening !!

Bloody Oath it is. The journalists would have been high 5ing when this broke on the couch.

Who is going to uncover the gold that will tear down the MFC?

Having worked with journalists for over 10 years in the 80's & 90's i have seen the feeding frenzy first hand. A major reason why i moved departments. It sickened me before and during the First Gulf War reporting.

They were excited to see blood.

Wilson has said nothing except to mention an off the cuff remark in a shed and a CEO with a surly expression!!

Glad you are getting your Rocks Off Fan, you are easily sated.

I don't think it's the reporting of the facts that irks people, it's the use of emotive language and moral judgements that she makes.

But hey if you want to applaud someone who calls our club "pathetic and disgusting"....

She lied about "The Vault". That was the basis of her argument, it has since been proven to be a lie and she has nothing now.

I don't believe she lied. She was mistaken. There is a difference.

The most telling stuff in her articles was entirely contradicted by later reports in the Hun, and later in her own follow ups, but I think that was because she was being used by the investigators to state their case as powerfully as they could hope it to be presented, possibly to put the heat on other soon to be interviewed witnesses.

She was mistaken because she took the investigators at face value. Her biggest offence is failing to check the teeth of the gift horse. And you might say that is because she harboured ill feeling there towards us.

All that said, Fan is deluded. Poor Fan.

I don't think it's the reporting of the facts that irks people, it's the use of emotive language and moral judgements that she makes.

But hey if you want to applaud someone who calls our club "pathetic and disgusting"....

But she is the one reporting the facts and that is what I read her for. I couldn't give a stuff about the other stuff.

If you want to get upset at a journo's view that up to you.

If it was Carlton being investigated I bet you'd applaud her calling them "pathetic and disgusting..."

Toughen up Dandy.

But she is the one reporting the facts and that is what I read her for. I couldn't give a stuff about the other stuff.

If you want to get upset at a journo's view that up to you.

If it was Carlton being investigated I bet you'd applaud her calling them "pathetic and disgusting..."

Toughen up Dandy.

You have a massive chip on your shoulders.