So there they sat, without us and talking about how fed up they are feeding us each year. The fact still remains that if you fixed the fixture, each and every club could turn a profit. For instance, give Melbourne Saturday home games against Hawthorn, Richmond, Essendon, Carlton and Collingwood and shift some of their games away from these slots. The fact remains they have enough supporters to watch them play at whatever time the AFL chooses.

If you keep shafting the smaller clubs with these fixtures then be prepared to keep bailing them out. Quite frankly Eddie, you can shove a trident right up your a hole. All the smaller clubs are asking for is a level playing field in terms of the fixture. Fix that and you fix the games number 1 problem."

Drop the NAB Cup, lengthen the season to 28 or 30 weeks plus finals and make sure every club gets the draw it needs to make money. Oh, and while you're at it reduce the salary cap by $2 million and tell some of these overpaid bogans to go and get a job to pay for their tattoos.

Well said.

Or, if you want to keep a team on the drip like, say, Melbourne...give em MCG home games against Port Adelaide, West Coast, GWS, Gold Coast, Sydney and Freo and only two home games against big drawing clubs, say, Hawks and Pies.

Oh wait! They already did that?

And a home game at Etihad against a Victorian club?

Amazing.

Integrity & Equalisation are two things the AFL are not, but i hear it aaid they are everyday.

I hate the AFL more each time the sun goes down.

I was once proud of the VFL, but that was when there was 6 games every saturday @ 2.10 pm

and reduce Demitriou's salary by $2.5 Million to put him on a par with the Prime Minister who is similarly talented at running down a large organisation!

Seriously this is what should be discussed at the AGM by the President & CEO, to the members.

Not Blazers & the 1948 Premiership.

How do we drag ourselves upwards?

It is possible. I repeat Hawthorn 1996.

They did it & so can the MFC.

Seriously this is what should be discussed at the AGM by the President & CEO, to the members.

Not Blazers & the 1948 Premiership.

How do we drag ourselves upwards?

It is possible. I repeat Hawthorn 1996.

They did it & so can the MFC.

That's true 'WYL' but I think it was on the back of a couple of things. Premierships in the late 70's and though the 80's generating young supporters and Ian Dicker who is a very smart operator taking advantage of the situation.

The Casey move may prove a good one but will count for little unless we get runs on the board (consistent success) and will take a while then to filter through. Who will be our Ian Dicker 5 to 10 years down the track, let's hope the ground work is done by Don and his crew now to ensure we are set up for the future.

The only way to make change is to implement a movement or idea. As a club the powers that be can probably start a movement & lead the equalisation debate. Along with North, the dogs, the saints & MFC I'm sure there is enough clout between those clubs to form an alliance of sorts to push for change within the AFL. Whether any of those clubs have smart enough people in positions of power to try influence the AFL is another story. Also the AFL currently only listens to the $ so any attempts at fixing or correcting the current system in place is probably feeble & would be a drawn out process.

That's true 'WYL' but I think it was on the back of a couple of things. Premierships in the late 70's and though the 80's generating young supporters and Ian Dicker who is a very smart operator taking advantage of the situation.

The Casey move may prove a good one but will count for little unless we get runs on the board (consistent success) and will take a while then to filter through. Who will be our Ian Dicker 5 to 10 years down the track, let's hope the ground work is done by Don and his crew now to ensure we are set up for the future.

yes we need to find our "Ian Dicker" & fairly quickly if that Silks meeting has any credence.

We are not considered long term.

Are Mclardy & Schwab strong enough to drag this club upwards?

It is the initial movement that can be the hardest. At least to midpoint.

......on a par with the Prime Minister who is similarly talented at running down a large organisation!

You keep thinking that, and believing the chicken little Liberals and their press club mates.

The AFL will be in big trouble in a decade or two if the league doesn't provide a useful method of equalisation.

I don't mind the Bulldogs suggestion of a pokie tax for an initial method. If clubs are supporting themselves by these horrible means they could share the wealth from it.

Ultimately though the AFL need to make a clear and responsible choice on the fixture

And if they don't even it up then they will have to be very strong on fat Eddie and his mates and to explain the situation about the massive compensation owed to the shafted clubs.

Also I certainly think the Afl should try to purchase Etihad early which would boost north and the bulldogs.

Or lets equalise the teams with their Etihad contracts. Oh good and who gets shafted. Let me think us and Port but then lets not forget Vlad gave them millions so that they could go to Milan. That's Milan (Italy) not Darwin. No wonder half of us here have conspiracy syndrome.

You keep thinking that, and believing the chicken little Liberals and their press club mates.

Exactly, AD is nothing like the Prime Minister, the AFL still have some money left.

Exactly, AD is nothing like the Prime Minister, the AFL still have some money left.

Why does a surplus in the treasury equate to good governance? Howard and Costello had every opportunity in the boom years to take this country to the stratosphere but were poor visionaries.

Abbott's latest policy? 'We'll cut public service jobs?' Wow! Creative, inspiring and has NEVER been done before - the guy's good.

That's okay, Palmer will continue to build his Titanic and Reinhart will be the richest woman in the cemetery.

Now, back to equity....players deserve the coin they get, the game's brutal. There should be a salary cap on footy departments.

I hope we keep our Queen's Birthday game.

It still comes back to the fixture. It's plainly not fair and the smaller clubs are being shafted all the while the bigger clubs are starting to complain about paying us. Worse still they're doing it without us. Football as we love it is fast disappearing into an all too familiar corporate shite hole.

I don't like the idea of these so called taxes on the wealthier clubs, I think it is much better to keep the draft and salary cap, forget free agency and bring in a footy department spend cap along with a footy facilities cap. Then at least we will get an even playing field as far as the game goes.

The AFL already has the means to distribute money through their current equalisation methods, they just need to make sure the spend is evened out.

Let the clubs do what they will with a surplus, maybe they will invest some money back into the community and community football. Maybe they won't use tax payers money to set up these bogus community facilities like the new Collingwood one. I wonder when I will be able to have a kick on the ground or use the gym or pool.

Exactly, AD is nothing like the Prime Minister, the AFL still have some money left.

As long as workers go to the footy, and the wealthy avoid taxes it will always be so.

Why does a surplus in the treasury equate to good governance? Howard and Costello had every opportunity in the boom years to take this country to the stratosphere but were poor visionaries.

Abbott's latest policy? 'We'll cut public service jobs?' Wow! Creative, inspiring and has NEVER been done before - the guy's good.

That's okay, Palmer will continue to build his Titanic and Reinhart will be the richest woman in the cemetery.

Now, back to equity....players deserve the coin they get, the game's brutal. There should be a salary cap on footy departments.

I hope we keep our Queen's Birthday game.

Jumbo returns for PM!

Integrity & Equalisation are two things the AFL are not, but i hear it aaid they are everyday.

I hate the AFL more each time the sun goes down.

What about when the sun comes up?

I don't like the idea of these so called taxes on the wealthier clubs, I think it is much better to keep the draft and salary cap, forget free agency and bring in a footy department spend cap along with a footy facilities cap. Then at least we will get an even playing field as far as the game goes.

The AFL already has the means to distribute money through their current equalisation methods, they just need to make sure the spend is evened out.

Let the clubs do what they will with a surplus, maybe they will invest some money back into the community and community football. Maybe they won't use tax payers money to set up these bogus community facilities like the new Collingwood one. I wonder when I will be able to have a kick on the ground or use the gym or pool.

Its not as simple as the equalisation fund.

That is just the way the AFL saves themselves from embarrassment, whilst they're pretending to be doing their jobs. In hope more than anything else.

The only way the weakened clubs can climb is thru equal Fixtures, & equal billing at the good grounds.

Including the 'so called blockbusters', which only exist because we have a 2 or 3 tiered competition.

If all fixturing was rationalised equally, all the games would be of more importance, in a more naturally even competition...

Its not as simple as the equalisation fund.

That is just the way the AFL saves themselves from embarrassment, whilst they're pretending to be doing their jobs. In hope more than anything else.

The only way the weakened clubs can climb is thru equal Fixtures, & equal billing at the good grounds.

Including the 'so called blockbusters', which only exist because we have a 2 or 3 tiered competition.

If all fixturing was rationalised equally, all the games would be of more importance, in a more naturally even competition...

I get that...but equal billing is not going to happen when you have clubs with massive supporter bases that's why there needs to be an across the board cap to equalise the spending and allow all clubs the opportunity of the ultimate success. In the end it is the only way for a club to really build a supporter base.

All of the big clubs with the exception of Collingwood have built there memberships on the back of consistent premiership success. Unfortunately for us it is a distant memory and that's why our supporter base is ageing. There were a lot of Melbourne jumpers around in the 60's but by the 70's they started to disappear.

Good management and on field success but in this time the AFL will need to put something into the mix or we could end up like the EPL where only a few teams have a chance for the life of the comp. a very sad state of affairs.

I get that...but equal billing is not going to happen when you have clubs with massive supporter bases that's why there needs to be an across the board cap to equalise the spending and allow all clubs the opportunity of the ultimate success. In the end it is the only way for a club to really build a supporter base.

All of the big clubs with the exception of Collingwood have built there memberships on the back of consistent premiership success. Unfortunately for us it is a distant memory and that's why our supporter base is ageing. There were a lot of Melbourne jumpers around in the 60's but by the 70's they started .

Why should we cap spending? And if we do that where does

It stop. I want the AfL to be the best it can be which means investing in football departments.

Richmond and freo havent had success and Carlton haven't had some for a while but have continued to grow. Equal billing should be able to happen. Even if the fixture isn't commercially fair in terms of dollars

In you could at least it more equal in exposure. I'd start with giving every team at least 2 Friday night and 4 Saturday night games per season

One thing the AFL did to try to even up the competition was to introduce priority picks !!

Eddie's abuse of power continues - even down to the symbolism of holding the function at Silks. To think that there was a time when he criticized us for spending time at ski lodges!!Rather than wasting club's his money touting its wealth , he should be giving all his supporters dental vouchers!

The fact is that an even competition is in everybody's best interest

What about when the sun comes up?

The cycle starts again Red.

The last 7 months we have all endured.

The last 7 months we have all endured.

In some ways you remind me of Yoda.

I get that...but equal billing is not going to happen when you have clubs with massive supporter bases that's why there needs to be an across the board cap to equalise the spending and allow all clubs the opportunity of the ultimate success. In the end it is the only way for a club to really build a supporter base.

All of the big clubs with the exception of Collingwood have built there memberships on the back of consistent premiership success. Unfortunately for us it is a distant memory and that's why our supporter base is ageing. There were a lot of Melbourne jumpers around in the 60's but by the 70's they started to disappear.

Good management and on field success but in this time the AFL will need to put something into the mix or we could end up like the EPL where only a few teams have a chance for the life of the comp. a very sad state of affairs.

Well they will never fix the problem.

A lack of upright vertebrate leadership has caused this & allowed it to become chronic.

It can happen, if the will & the courage is there to do it. This is, after all, what governance is meant to be.