This seems a pretty clear cut proclamation to me of the dire consequences in 2014, noting all the other changes that have happened with coaching and administration:

This is another example of the sky is falling attitude. People have been worked up into such a frenzy that the awarding of a PP has been twisted into an issue of far greater significance than it ever ought to have been.

And I do not agree with that assertion. It is more of the same victim complex that has swept this place like a firestorm.

I have read the endless "woe is us" threads on here, pedalling the idea that the AFL and other clubs are out to get the MFC. The AFL are not the enemy of the club. The last thing they want is to see it go under, and they've demonstrated that by hand delivering the best CEO and coach money can buy,

Whilst I think the AFL would want to be very clear on its criteria for PPs in the future if Melbourne's circumstances don't qualify, I see the logic to their decision. To suggest that another club would have succeeded in these circumstances is clutching at straws, and just serves the purpose of more pointless hand wringing.The fact the other clubs unsurprisingly support the decision is neither here nor there. The AFL will wait to see what unfolds given the dramatic changes at the club, with a list they deem not to be as bad as what it has shown. Another year to find that out isn't going to kill anyone.

Another year like this one and I'm not so sure.

...but we move on.

It will cost us a few million and a year of time but not the club itself.

And lol at WYL who now does not think that the club is on the precipice but did if it weren't for Roos.

We all have the things in our minds eye that makes ALL the difference but for us to get better there is no one cure-all. We need a great coach, great facilities, pick really well, keep our best players, develop our youngsters, and, yes, we may need draft assistance in 2014 if it is as troubling as I think it will be.

It will cost us a few million and a year of time but not the club itself.

And lol at WYL who now does not think that the club is on the precipice but did if it weren't for Roos.

what are you lolling about rpfc.

Stop thinking we DESERVE help. We don't. Its time to earn some respect.

The Red & Blueprint was a complete and utter failure.

We need to draft very shrewdly using FA

we have pick 2.

Learn to fight rather than beg.

Anyone who is delusional and trying to deny that additional draft picks aren't beneficial, should look at where GC are.

They won four times as many games as us

Unfortunately we aren't a 3 year old franchise who had to have these picks to be competitive (Didn't work for a while though). We're the club who wrote the rules of the game and the fact we've screwed up so much lately and need AFL help just makes me sick in the mouth

what are you lolling about rpfc.

Stop thinking we DESERVE help. We don't. Its time to earn some respect.

The Red & Blueprint was a complete and utter failure.

We need to draft very shrewdly using FA

we have pick 2.

Learn to fight rather than beg.

Lolling?

No offence, wyl. But you put the quit in non sequitur. So I won't bother.

Edited September 24, 201311 yr by rpfc

Unfortunately we aren't a 3 year old franchise who had to have these picks to be competitive (Didn't work for a while though). We're the club who wrote the rules of the game and the fact we've screwed up so much lately and need AFL help just makes me sick in the mouth

couldnt agree more with this statement. We have what we need now so lets get it right! talk about some hand to mouth squeelers on this site

They're all tied together Dr., we play poorly we get shafted in the FIXture, we have to force the AFL to give us a ether deal and that will only be done by better performance on field.

Top clubs dine out at the top end of town we go to Centrelnk and eat at Maccas.

we've had a poor fixture in financial terms but the last couple have been incredibly soft in terms of the difficulty

not that we capitalised on it

Lolling?

No offence, wyl. But you put the quit in non sequitur. So I won't bother.

why don't you answer the question.

You have said all along we DESEVE. We don't.

We might need but we do not deserve.

The club has been given countless picks since 2007.

Most were wasted sadly.

It is now time for smart decision making.

We're like the once, grand old department store that tried to hang on to its past glory, whereas North have turned themselves in to a bunnings, not great to look at but steady business and much more practical.

The bulldogs are in strife if they stay too long down the bottom and the Saints have a fickle crowd that will drop off if they don't start to climb back up to the top.

Our support is hanging by a thread, that being Paul Roos and if he can't dig us out of a hole then where do we go from there?

He may be a good coach and all that that goes with it, but not even he can get us off the ground without all the help he can get.

I pretty much agree with the above Robbie.

I think we have stopped digging now.

I will continue to do the small amount I can do.

But if PJ, Roos and the new FD and board cannot get us winning games and being very competitive most weeks no one can.

IMO we have two years to achieve that.

I pretty much agree with the above Robbie.

I think we have stopped digging now.

I will continue to do the small amount I can do.

But if PJ, Roos and the new FD and board cannot get us winning games and being very competitive most weeks no one can.

IMO we have two years to achieve that.

Yes. And a PP would have helped. Not saying more than that or that we would definitely go under whatever happens in the near term as some have read into my earlier post.

But history shows that we could end up merged/relocated with one or more of the several weak clubs. Just because the AFL is helping us now, who knows what their attitude may be under new management if we are still crud in x years time and it suits the $'s to change the nature of the comp. Ready to barrack for the Melbourne Saints instead of Demons? It's not victim mentality, it is just reality.

But accepting that doesn't mean I'm saying that we can rely on messiahs either in the form of PP's or coaches for that matter. Not that the sky is falling. A PP would have helped.

No one seems to have commented on the fact that when Roos first accepted the job he 'joked' about what he'd do with a PP. Did anyone think he didn't want one then? (Want in the sense of 'prefer', not 'I will cut my wrists if I don't get one'). He now knows his task will be just that little bit harder. Good luck to him. Lets' move on.

we've had a poor fixture in financial terms but the last couple have been incredibly soft in terms of the difficulty

not that we capitalised on it

That they have, and we still can't get wins on the board.

Just two examples, and I don't mean to pick on you guys but reading through the threads the past few days the sense I get is one of impending doom if we didn't get the PP.

Robbie, the Bulldogs, Saints, North etc are in a similar position to us yet they haven't been anchored to the bottom of the ladder for 7 years at any time during the national era. North hasn't had any top 5 picks from memory and the Dogs and Saints have performed very well recently with multiple top 4 finishes and were often in prime time slots. Being a smaller or poorer club doesn't preclude you from competng on-field and subsequently demanding better/fairer fixtures.

the issue for me p-m is how LONG we take to get off the bottom third of the comp

atm its looking like many years, which is many years of trying to get sponsors, members and players without much to offer

a PP merely provided an (possible) opportunity to accelerate this a little

why don't you answer the question.

You have said all along we DESEVE. We don't.

We might need but we do not deserve.

The club has been given countless picks since 2007.

Most were wasted sadly.

It is now time for smart decision making.

Well, then why don't we forfeit Pick 2 then as a suicidal show of humility and idiocy?

And I am the one who says that no-one 'deserves' draft assistance. Each club that gets in that position gets there trough their own bad decisions: trading poorly, drafting poorly, or holding onto good players too long.

I always have said that we needed draft assistance and so does the AFL to help a club that was just terrible to get to mediocre and hopefully grow from there.

We need assets and we have one fewer than I thought we would have.

And wyl - don't address me anymore if you are going to give me BS.

Yes. And a PP would have helped. Not saying more than that or that we would definitely go under whatever happens in the near term as some have read into my earlier post.

But history shows that we could end up merged/relocated with one or more of the several weak clubs. Just because the AFL is helping us now, who knows what their attitude may be under new management if we are still crud in x years time and it suits the $'s to change the nature of the comp. Ready to barrack for the Melbourne Saints instead of Demons? It's not victim mentality, it is just reality.

But accepting that doesn't mean I'm saying that we can rely on messiahs either in the form of PP's or coaches for that matter. Not that the sky is falling. A PP would have helped.

No one seems to have commented on the fact that when Roos first accepted the job he 'joked' about what he'd do with a PP. Did anyone think he didn't want one then? (Want in the sense of 'prefer', not 'I will cut my wrists if I don't get one'). He now knows his task will be just that little bit harder. Good luck to him. Lets' move on.

I don't disagree with you Sue and no I will never barrack for the Melbourne saints or the St Kilda Demons of the Tasmanian Demons or the GWS Demons or anything other than the MFC.

No MFC will be no AFL for me.

And yes we are still a possibility to not exist by 2018.

But we do not have a PP so lets get serious about what we do have and ensure we all have a team to follow in 2018

the brownlow is a measure of nothing. What kind of idiotic system rewards 3 players out of 44. Not to mention it is awarded by the cretins. If you lose a game, at best one of your players is getting a 1 or a 2, except under highly exceptional circumstances. So if you don't win matches you don't get votes, simple as that.

Spot on, the brownlow is a joke.

I seen something on big footy the other day that said something like Ablett has two brownlows - when he has consistently been the most dominant player since 2007 - at the very least 2008... Since that time maybe two were up for grab, but Ablett should have 5 brownlows, he is lucky to have 2.

People think that just because Ablett has 2 that it's great, etc... But it's a joke, the kid has had 5 DOMINATE years and only has two, so [censored] the umpires and they should scrap the voting system, the award should go to the leagues best player.

Well, then why don't we forfeit Pick 2 then as a suicidal show of humility and idiocy?

And I am the one who says that no-one 'deserves' draft assistance. Each club that gets in that position gets there trough their own bad decisions: trading poorly, drafting poorly, or holding onto good players too long.

I always have said that we needed draft assistance and so does the AFL to help a club that was just terrible to get to mediocre and hopefully grow from there.

We need assets and we have one fewer than I thought we would have.

And wyl - don't address me anymore if you are going to give me BS.

Pick 2 has nothing to do with the PP.

as i have said before the AFL has already given us massive assistance this year.

Peter Jackson is now the CEO & Paul Roos is now the senior coach.

Compare that to 12 months ago...

The playing list will stay.

I will address your posts when i see fit. You have been banging on about the PP for months.

The assistance i have mentioned is far more useful than another 18 year old kid.

It's not BS at all

Edited September 25, 201311 yr by why you little

Pick 2 has nothing to do with the PP.

as i have said before the AFL has already given us massive assistance this year.

Peter Jackson is now the CEO & Paul Roos is now the senior coach.

Compare that to 12 months ago...

The playing list will stay.

I will address your posts when i see fit. You have been banging on about the PP for months.

The assistance i have mentioned is far more useful than another 18 year old kid.

It's not BS at all

How can you think that "Pick 2 has nothing to do with a PP" addresses rpfc's point? Surely he is saying if you really want to be hairy-chested about not needing a PP, you could also say the same about pick 2.

And a PP did not have to be used on 'another 18 year old kid' - it could have been traded for an experienced mid-fielder.

It may well be true the other assistance we have had may be more useful than a PP (even if used for a trade). For example, we may have been bankrupt and unable to pay anyone or ended up with a Demonlander as coach. But that does not prove a PP wouldn't have helped.

But as Old Dee wrote: But we do not have a PP so lets get serious about what we do have and ensure we all have a team to follow in 2018.

How can you think that "Pick 2 has nothing to do with a PP" addresses rpfc's point? Surely he is saying if you really want to be hairy-chested about not needing a PP, you could also say the same about pick 2.

And a PP did not have to be used on 'another 18 year old kid' - it could have been traded for an experienced mid-fielder.

It may well be true the other assistance we have had may be more useful than a PP (even if used for a trade). For example, we may have been bankrupt and unable to pay anyone or ended up with a Demonlander as coach. But that does not prove a PP wouldn't have helped.

But as Old Dee wrote: But we do not have a PP so lets get serious about what we do have and ensure we all have a team to follow in 2018.

We finished 17th. We take pick 2

I have no problem if the CEO asks for a PP. i would do the same.

But i do not say we had a God given rite to it.

This club made some shocking decisions. We have to wear that and be far more proffessional going forward.

I believe that will happen.

rpfc also states we didn't Tank on many occasions.

We did.

The legal wording says we were not guilty.

2014 we have to rebuild respect. Bit by bit.

We finished 17th. We take pick 2

I have no problem if the CEO asks for a PP. i would do the same.

But i do not say we had a God given rite to it.

This club made some shocking decisions. We have to wear that and be far more proffessional going forward.

I believe that will happen.

rpfc also states we didn't Tank on many occasions.

We did.

The legal wording says we were not guilty.

2014 we have to rebuild respect. Bit by bit.

So I am a fool for wanting a PP but we should have applied for one and Jackson did the right thing in doing so?

Self-righteousness has to be earned, wyl.

So I am a fool for wanting a PP but we should have applied for one and Jackson did the right thing in doing so?

Self-righteousness has to be earned, wyl.

You and others expected the PP rp

I didn't, but there was no harm in trying.