Talking Point: What does the Melbourne Football Club stand for?

[rjay 24,182]

It's not a matter of what you stand for but Roos identified a lack of a brand when he came to the the club and in this he meant football. What style of game do we play.

Let's set up a game style that is identified as Melbourne football, if we have that it means we are wining and that's all we can ask for.

[dee-luded 2,958]

Virtues such as Truth, Justice, Fairness, Honesty etc are all things that you can stand for.

Winning or being feared by an opponent aren't but are what all clubs play for and aspire too.

As I have posted earlier it is an exercise in futility in trying to name any club that actually stands for something tangible.

passion doesn't have to have tangible, but it requires the perception of. as all sports try for.

passion us whats truly missing from this organisation, the passion that all walks of life & demographic can proudly identify with.

we have been simmered down to a rusted on concentrate of Demon nerds. all the other demographics left long ago, the majority anyway, those with the ability to shake themselves loose.

we need to fix this issue, get a broader demographical fan base, & lose the hoity. as Jimma was trying to work towards.

Edited February 15, 2015 by dee-luded

[dee-luded 2,958]

Hawthorn.......winningness? That's what I would like to stand for.

no, togetherness band of brothers who will fight to death for one another in trying times. family down to earth type club.

Lyrics to Hawthorn Hawks

We're a happy team at Hawthorn

We're the Mighty Fighting Hawks.

We love our Club, and we play to win,

Riding the bumps with a grin (at Hawthorn)

Come what may, you'll find us striving

Team work is the thing that talks,

One for all and all for one

Is the way we play at Hawthorn.

We are the Mighty Fighting Hawks!

[dee-luded 2,958]

What do we stand for?

Misogynist old boys club, conservative reacts poorly to change, bitter, anger, frustrated. Not trusted by the governing body of the competition, the AFL, to elect its own board and hence competently run its own affairs. Overtly political.

Perceived ageing male dominated membership. Due to prolonged poor on-field performance is no longer relevant to the youth of today. Moving closer to its used by date, unless MFC can become competitive in memberships, sponsorships and gate receipts with other major Victorian clubs.

Resilient core group that have done an amazing job mentally to remain loyal and positive. Empathy / Sympathy from the public due to us being the founding forefathers of the competition but their patience is running thin - bad media ie tanking, poor recruiting , incompetent board selections etc has created an external believe of self inflicted problems.

Glimmer of hope with Roos and Jackson culture and on-field performance can be fixed. Have time but the clock is ticking. Winning will help but it will not solve all the issues.

beautiful work T&W, this is exactly how I see & feel it as well.

clock is ticking, & we have to make 'hey' while the Suns not shining, with Roosy & action man.

everytime we fix up the soft underbelly culture, a couple of years later it starts to slip back down again!!!! (WHY is this do you all think???) this is what happens because we let our boys become soft, & lazy & too happy with their lot in AFL.

we take all pressure off when traveling well,,, & demand perfection when we are trying to climb back up

we all have a bearing on this slipping culture, thru the way we over politely, politically correct ways; make no waves when meeting our boys players, via being polite ahead of sharing our Needs, Wants Desires, Sorrows, etc...

... the sort of things that stir wannabe HERO'S into action, to FIX the supporters woes.

"better luck next weak" "oh never mind", just never cuts it, we need to leave them with just a little of our heartfelt desires for success each time; just a little, mixed with our true hurt if there, & positivity, IMO.

[dee-luded 2,958]

What does the club stand for? community the club does a lot of things exp. Read like a demon, bring poor kids to games, pink lady night, so I don't know what some are talking about the club being snobs, I think that's a myth even some of our supports have fallen for, what do other clubs do that is similar? And about tanking we are only looked down upon because we did not win flag out of it like hawthorn,Collingwood, west coast, and Sydney I am sure if we had a extra 10% of our salary cap like they have had for the last 10 years then we would have been as successful as them, every team that has had that extra salary cap has done well, when Brisbane had the three peat they had extra salary cap. So what does west coast stand for? Letting a drug users playing and they did nothing about cousin and Kerr, why because they were winning, some times winning does not mean a good culture, likewise with the bombers hird know what was going, on Bruce Reid warned them about it, even the ceo knew what was going on, but you see winning makes everything like alright,

so we have to go out to schools, hospitals, etc, to those who don't barrack for us... but those poor souls who have hung on & hung around for decades get 1/2 an hour with strangers in a lounge bar, & then sent home after school.where is the mingling with the lowest common Deenominators... the supporters who usually, but Deecreasingly so, get to most games every week....

those are taken for granted, not made to FEEL special, not allowed into the rooms anymore matchdays since that monstrosity shut them Out.

this is why we are dying, slowly bleeding out. & we have No home BASE. we traded on the back of MCC/MCG but now all teams play at the 'G',,, & attend the MCC for many.

we the supporters, are the Sons & Daughters sent away to boarding school, with no parental attachments, or Love.

... this IS what its like, & why we're dying. & why our players continue to grow soft & lazy, after we all start to get satisfied & gloat.

.

Edited February 15, 2015 by dee-luded

[dee-luded 2,958]

Collingwood fans stand for a very long time on the dental care wait list.

or weeks at a time in September, to get tickets, such is their love & loyalty.

[dee-luded 2,958]

I think a related but different question to ask for this thread is "what differentiates our club" and also "how would we like to be differentiated in the future". From a marketing point of view you need more than just success to be a powerhouse (although it helps) and also a club may "stand" for great and noble values but it may simply be a marketable player or likeable logo or song that converts young children or adults that are new to the game to support a club.

The A-League has demonstrated how far behind Aussie Rules is in terms of atmosphere on match day and I can't help but feel that the first Aussie Rules club to get something similar happening will win a lot of new supporters. I also think the Dees could allow some of our likeable characters such as Bernie Vince to have a bit more creative license in the media as frankly the interviews at our club are too scripted and bland for my liking. Anyone else agree?

lets settle for strong community values, & the spirit of togetherness for One Another. lets leave the noble sort of talk in the stables & Flemington,,,, & we can settle for "all for one & one for all attitudes"...

a family of supporters, club legends & players, all at the same level enjoying one another. the way it used to be as I knew it.

don't go to schools for media publicity, go because of a heartfelt desire to help individuals, Minus the media spotlight.... thats Integrity.

.

Edited February 15, 2015 by dee-luded

[P-man 13,309]

Not necessarily. Each of the adjectives I mentioned could be perceived as positive but they by no means were synonyms of each other.

Teams without a history of success can stand for things as well:

St. Kilda: the party club

Doggies: the battlers/the club of the (south) western suburbs

Us: the club of the 50's

Without any context put in, those descriptions could be perceived as either positive or negative.

They sort of are synonyms though. Disciple, professionalism and accountability are all pretty much the same thing. We're basically talking about being tough and being successful.

The point remains that successful clubs are deemed to "stand for" something, generally by being tough, hardworking, having elite standards etc, cause those are what make a successful team. Unsuccessful teams are deemed NOT to "stand for" something, because they lack the aforementioned attributes.

It's all a [censored], really. If you implement the non-negotiable standards that make teams successful, you win games, hey presto, you suddenly "stand for" something.

The off field associations like St Kilda's antics I wouldn't say are what the club "stands for". Every club has its cliched associations. They are pretty much irrelevant to being successful.

[Demon trucker 1,800]

lets settle for strong community values, & the spirit of togetherness for One Another. lets leave the noble sort of talk in the stables & Flemington,,,, & we can settle for "all for one & one for all attitudes"...

a family of supporters, club legends & players, all at the same level enjoying one another. the way it used to be as I knew it.

don't go to schools for media publicity, go because of a heartfelt desire to help individuals, Minus the media spotlight.... thats Integrity.

.

I don't know what u stand for you say the are snobs, then you bag them for being community minded, I would not be against being part of the MCC the MFC should never parted with the MCC, just think if it where one club we would have 95000 members, you are a snob, also the club can't be all bad in the last 20 years, the most successful team at the moment is full of ex Melbourne people Clarkson,yze,Fagan,Nita.

[Guest]

They sort of are synonyms though. Disciple, professionalism and accountability are all pretty much the same thing. We're basically talking about being tough and being successful.

The point remains that successful clubs are deemed to "stand for" something, generally by being tough, hardworking, having elite standards etc, cause those are what make a successful team. Unsuccessful teams are deemed NOT to "stand for" something, because they lack the aforementioned attributes.

It's all a [censored], really. If you implement the non-negotiable standards that make teams successful, you win games, hey presto, you suddenly "stand for" something.

The off field associations like St Kilda's antics I wouldn't say are what the club "stands for". Every club has its cliched associations. They are pretty much irrelevant to being successful.

Not to argue for the sake of it but those three are but I wouldn't have thought that innovation or ruthlessness had much to do with the adjectives you raised. You can be ruthless which just means you are willing to often step beyond the bounds of what is deemed acceptable to achieve your goal. People who are accountable/disciplined etc. may not go that far. Pretty pedantic but anyone who knows me will say you get that when talking to me.

I would say that the Saints hierarchy would probably not want the Saints Disco to be the first thing people associate with their club but sadly it is is how it's perceived. What clubs base their existence around isn't what they would like the public to believe and often they can't see what they are really standing for. Look at the Demons of 2008-2011. What we thought we stood for and what we ACTUALLY stood for were two completely different things.