Intra Club - Thursday 19 February 2015 at Casey Fields @ 3pm

[Yossarian 1,820]

I hope that is all tongue in cheek, if it's not, it will be a great conversation starter with Paul Roos if you get the chance

Mate, quit acting like you're Paul Roos' Demonland mouthpiece.

[What 18,810]

After all these years I still have no idea where Casey is

[Henrietta Lumbago 331]

I hope that is all tongue in cheek, if it's not, it will be a great conversation starter with Paul Roos if you get the chance

Why would it be tongue in cheek, surely it would not be a huge difference to the fitness program to have the intra club on a Saturday instead of a Thursday...?

[Wiseblood 24,637]

After seeing what other clubs have done in terms of their intra club what we did with ours is indefensible. These are professional athletes being trained by professional coaches and fitness staff - surely they have the smarts to alter the plan slightly so the intra club can be played at a time when they get as many people there and make a day out of it.

Supporters, and memberships, are the lifeblood of the club. To not put more weight behind that is disappointing from the club.

[Wiseblood 24,637]

After all these years I still have no idea where Casey is

I would be surprised if you remembered where you lived half the time HH...

[FarNorthernD 5,861]

I hope that is all tongue in cheek, if it's not, it will be a great conversation starter with Paul Roos if you get the chance

It actually would be more than a fair question to ask. There would be so many advantages to playing an intra-club on the weekend and from the clubs perspective it would have been the smarter option

There is obviously a good reason that they scheduled it for 3 o'clock in Casey but it must be pretty excellent as they would have struggled to scheduled it a worse time and, perhaps, place. As others have mentioned I am sure they could have tweaked the training to accommodate a weekend match rather than mid-week

We have a tiny membership base. We need to be doing things better than everyone else. It was a wasted opportunity

[daisycutter 29,743]

it does seem strange - all he same to me but

i wonder how many disaffected supporters have bothered to voice/written their opinions to the club?

[mo64 5,881]

After seeing what other clubs have done in terms of their intra club what we did with ours is indefensible. These are professional athletes being trained by professional coaches and fitness staff - surely they have the smarts to alter the plan slightly so the intra club can be played at a time when they get as many people there and make a day out of it.

Supporters, and memberships, are the lifeblood of the club. To not put more weight behind that is disappointing from the club.

Surely Jetta and JKH will be unavailable for Round 1 given their disrupted preseason.

In all seriousness, clubs can alter their training schedule when it really matters, depending on whether they play any time from Friday night to Sunday twilight. It's ludicrous to suggest that moving a practice match would be a huge impost on the training schedule.

And what if it was 35 degrees at 3.00PM, surely that would impact on the recovery time of the players or the intensity of the practice match.

[Gorgoroth 13,024]

I get what people are saying about time etc, but really how many more would have gone to Casey if it was today at 3pm?

[DeeSpencer 26,083]

I get what people are saying about time etc, but really how many more would have gone to Casey if it was today at 3pm?

My guess is there were about 500 there. Quite a few in the main grand stand and then some more near the entry wing with only a few on the far wing.

I think on a Saturday they could've got 1500.

They didn't have any membership sales. So 0 from 500. Maybe after watching Hogan, Garlett and Salem tear it up in front of 1500 there could've been 50 memberships sold. Which would easily covered the cost of sending 2 membership sales staff out there.

It was bloody warm and would've been even warmer out there today. Surely one of the local footy clubs could've been found to run a drinks stand and maybe split the profits with the club. I was thirsty and couldn't see any drink tabs, I would've gladly paid $4 for the right to being ripped off for a nice cold bottle of water.

[Wiseblood 24,637]

My guess is there were about 500 there. Quite a few in the main grand stand and then some more near the entry wing with only a few on the far wing.

I think on a Saturday they could've got 1500.

They didn't have any membership sales. So 0 from 500. Maybe after watching Hogan, Garlett and Salem tear it up in front of 1500 there could've been 50 memberships sold. Which would easily covered the cost of sending 2 membership sales staff out there.

It was bloody warm and would've been even warmer out there today. Surely one of the local footy clubs could've been found to run a drinks stand and maybe split the profits with the club. I was thirsty and couldn't see any drink tabs, I would've gladly paid $4 for the right to being ripped off for a nice cold bottle of water.

And it's for these sorts of reasons that I think the club really missed the boat this year.

In this day and age there is always extra interest and scrutiny on the intra club game - even the most fickle and negative supporter can't help but be interested in the game, so why not turn it into one of the first big days on the clubs calender? Get the membership tents there, the mascots, food etc and encourage fans to come along and support the boys through some training and the practice game. As you said, watching Salem look good off half back, Hogan jag a few and Garlett look dangerous would win some memberships and get some of those young kids excited as well - some of those kids might even find themselves a new favourite player and want to go to and watch the real stuff when the season begins.

Hopefully the club can see this and look to make amends in 2016.

[timD 994]

I agree with that bit, wasn't sure why there was nothing, was going to ask but only admin staff there were media.

I understand that there is going to more emphasis on the match day experience so assume we are saving the budget for that, and probably the Family Day which attracts more and more each year

I don't defend, but with talking to a lot of people involved in all facets of the Club, I have a bit better understanding of situations, just

No, you don't.

I attended one of these events years ago. Barely any merchandise. Couldn't buy a membership. A handful of players, at best, were around after the event...and years later nothing has changed. I talked to one young chap on the day and said, in effect " I'm here with two kids, trying to spend money and you have nothing for me to buy!"

Bloody amateur hour.

Again.

Saty, I get that you defend the club regardless of what it produces. I bemoan our state out of a desire for us not to be a laughing stock. We have so far to go it is just maddening.

[angrydee 842]

Saty, you have unfortunately over the years made an art form of defending the indefensible.

Even allowing for the unfortunate timing of the practice match, to not have membership staff and some form catering shows how shortsighted this club can be.

[Tough Kent 2,137]

You want to talk abut the club missing the boat by having the intraclub at 4pm on a Thursday. How about them having the Season Launch on a Monday night????

It was such a fabulous night last year on the Friday night, where you could let your hair down and enjoy your $250 worth of food and drink. I know availabilty of the MCG and perhaps cost must have been a factor here but Monday night for a formal funtion? Lost income to the club, no doubt.

Edited February 21, 2015 by Tough Kent

[Bossdog 2,002]

Wow......All this angst over a scratch match played in Feb.......

[old dee 23,872]

Wow......All this angst over a scratch match played in Feb.......

I could not agree more bossdog.

IMO no matter where or when you played this match you would only get the fanatics like here on demonland along.

All are members so I struggle to see the gain.

Beat Freo in the first nab game that will get the doubters buying a membership not a scratch match in mid Feb.

[ex52k2 238]

As a member who defended the Casey practice match before the event, and was present on the day , the organisation was pitiful. No food or drink. no memberships sold, no talking with supporters.

But I still think the Casey idea is as good as we can afford at the present. BUT for all you complaining posters I assume you will be at docklands for the druggies game. I HATE docklands ,cold ,spiritless,expensive and lets be truthful here drab. Concrete hell.

Then we come to game day and the mighty Dees are playing there. Everybody get off their collective bums and GO. Support the team, if Casey is the outback for you, just this side of outer woop woop, GO to eckythump, close enough.

Go and support a non druggie team against a druggie one.

[Wiseblood 24,637]

I could not agree more bossdog.

IMO no matter where or when you played this match you would only get the fanatics like here on demonland along.

All are members so I struggle to see the gain.

Beat Freo in the first nab game that will get the doubters buying a membership not a scratch match in mid Feb.

Typical old dee response. If all supporters were like you we would be a boring, passionless bunch who would simply shrug their shoulders at everything and allow the club to fall behind because we didn't do anything new.

I mean, how dare people show some passion and disappointment at Christian Petracca's injury? How dare people show some passion and disappointment at the fact the club missed out on a great early season opportunity to get more members and make a positive impression?

Thank goodness you are the minority and not the majority. Go ahead and shrug your shoulders and ignore it, but at this point in time the club needs to get everything right in such a competitive market and we got this one wrong. Even St. Kilda got it right, so that should say something about how much we missed the mark.

[hardtack 10,627]

Wow......All this angst over a scratch match played in Feb.......

Perhaps the club were giving the Melbourne based supporters a taste of what it's like during the season for us interstate/country based supporters? If my son and I want to see their away game against GWS, it's a mere 280km drive from Sydney's Inner West where we live (the game being in Canberra).

The week before that game we visit Melbourne for round 1 as we have no other options if we want to attend a game... so all I can say is "harden the [censored] up princesses" :-)

[dazzledavey36 55,362]

As a member who defended the Casey practice match before the event, and was present on the day , the organisation was pitiful. No food or drink. no memberships sold, no talking with supporters.But I still think the Casey idea is as good as we can afford at the present. BUT for all you complaining posters I assume you will be at docklands for the druggies game. I HATE docklands ,cold ,spiritless,expensive and lets be truthful here drab. Concrete hell.Then we come to game day and the mighty Dees are playing there. Everybody get off their collective bums and GO. Support the team, if Casey is the outback for you, just this side of outer woop woop, GO to eckythump, close enough.Go and support a non druggie team against a druggie one.

Il be at the Essendon game. I actually dont mind going to ES. Good atmosphere when there is a good game going on. Im hoping we absolutely pump them. Give us much needed confidence for round 1.

Plus it will be my only free saturday off before i get stuck into footy myself.

[rpfc 28,781]

What a missed opportunity...

The only positive from such an inward looking, misguided, and low key effort is it kept a lid on Hogan Hype ©...

[hardtack 10,627]

Go ahead and shrug your shoulders and ignore it, but at this point in time the club needs to get everything right in such a competitive market and we got this one wrong. Even St. Kilda got it right, so that should say something about how much we missed the mark.

I would be interested to see just how many memberships the Saints sold as a result. Sorry WB, but I have to disagree. We might have sold a couple of additional memberships but really, the only way we are going to make any significant inroads into both winning the hearts and minds of the public and selling memberships is by starting the season with a few hard fought wins.

[T&W 38]

Nothing but a bunch of silly old whinging bastards. Cant wait till we start winning to shut you morons up.

[Wiseblood 24,637]

I would be interested to see just how many memberships the Saints sold as a result. Sorry WB, but I have to disagree. We might have sold a couple of additional memberships but really, the only way we are going to make any significant inroads into both winning the hearts and minds of the public and selling memberships is by starting the season with a few hard fought wins.

I'd be interested to see the number as well.

I just believe that the market is too competitive to miss out on any form of opportunity. They gave plenty of notice and could have scheduled it on a better day and focused on getting people down there.

The club has been terrible for so long, and now that we can actually see some light at the end of the tunnel in god knows how we long, we need to capitalize on that in any way, shape or form.

[rpfc 28,781]

I would be interested to see just how many memberships the Saints sold as a result. Sorry WB, but I have to disagree. We might have sold a couple of additional memberships but really, the only way we are going to make any significant inroads into both winning the hearts and minds of the public and selling memberships is by starting the season with a few hard fought wins.

Absolutely, but that really is not going to be affected by moving the intra club back or forward a few days, having it at Gosch's, and having the players stick around for an hour after.