Having the most supporters in the country and a loaded fixture certainly helps grow your club.

The MFC has the largest conversion of supporters to members in the AFL. That is a great effort on its own considering our last few years.

It's really not rocket science: play good football and the people will come and watch.

Part of Collingwood getting a loaded fixture during an era where media exposure is so important is because they have been good for going on a decade. Geelong, Hawthorn are no different.

Carlton was shocking in the 00s and it took them 2-3 years of consistent footy to get back in the limelight. I imagine that this year will be the last that they get so many Friday night games. If Collingwood was in the same situation I can assure you no amount of membership numbers would gift them primetime games and fixturing.

It's a myth to suggest that only the "big" team get the benefit of fixturing and exposure. It's the "good" teams, nothing more, nothing less.

If the AFL could have predicted how the season would be after 6 rounds, don't you think Footscray would have been on Friday night the past 5 weeks instead of Carlton?

A big support base is important. If you play attractive, good, successful football, the fans will come. If the fans don't come you don't get money and can't build a team worthy of playing good, attractive, successful football. What comes first: the chicken or the egg?

Melbourne has had a coach and administration handed to it by the AFL. I'm unconvinced that the league's charity helps those at the bottom end of the ladder, both on-field and off.

I personally find "equalisation methods" to be nothing more than a PR exercise. The league imo should be more punishing to those clubs with poor administration. I say that because Melbourne has been an indictment on the league for the past four seasons and the turnaround is still a long, long way away.

And by "punishing" I mean not directly getting involved. Because Melbourne has been receiving league funds for decades and imo that's created a culture of dependence.

It's like when you start a blog: you don't ask, "How can I make money from my blog?" You ask first, "What do I have to do to get an audience? What do I have to provide?" In AFL terms, that answer is good football. Melbourne hasn't had any less access than any of the top teams when it comes to talent. They've just been run by amateurs. No amount of "equalisation" has countered that.

He is an arrogant bully boy. Some years ago he did the same thing to a young woman at a function that she was helping to organize. He was unhappy with the arrangements and he walked up to her inches away from her face and shouted abuse at her leaving her in tears. My niece was organizing the conference and witnessed the incident. She was stunned with his aggression, foul language and the nature of personal attack. She vowed never to organize an event with him again. Not a nice person.

He's a psychopath off camera. Has had stagehands fired for so much as looking at him wrong.

Could care less if he quits. In fact, the sooner he stops influencing the league the better (sadly he has a stranglehold on the AFL with his company now and undoubtedly enjoys huge influence on Gillon).

He's known to be a total pain, but...

used to always have his lackey running around saying Eddie wants this, Eddie wants that...he (Eddie) really didn't have a clue what he wanted, he just wanted people to make a fuss of him. Pretend it's done and do what you do anyway...

We've been given good free to air fixtures by the AFL after promising seasons before.
Then stunk up the TV with garbage when the cameras were on.

has he retired yet?

has he retired yet?

Seen Frothing at the mouth...

Carlton was shocking in the 00s and it took them 2-3 years of consistent footy to get back in the limelight. I imagine that this year will be the last that they get so many Friday night games. If Collingwood was in the same situation I can assure you no amount of membership numbers would gift them primetime games and fixturing.

It's a myth to suggest that only the "big" team get the benefit of fixturing and exposure. It's the "good" teams, nothing more, nothing less.

If the AFL could have predicted how the season would be after 6 rounds, don't you think Footscray would have been on Friday night the past 5 weeks instead of Carlton?

What a crock of sh....

2006, Melbourne were the best performed Victorian team, 2 Friday night games, neither a home game in 2007

Wasn't sure if you were serious, but realised you are, yet you use Carlton as an example. 2-3'years of good consistent footy means they are rewarded with all these Friday night games.

Were those 2-3 years in the '90's or 80's. Talk about clubs ran by amateurs, Carlton competes with us at that level.

Using them to support your argument, destroys it

What a crock of sh....

2006, Melbourne were the best performed Victorian team, 2 Friday night games, neither a home game.

Wasn't sure if you were serious, but realised you are, yet you use Carlton as an example. 2-3'years of good consistent footy means they are rewarded with all these Friday night games.

Were those 2-3 years in the '90's or 80's. Talk about clubs ran by amateurs, Carlton competes with us at that level.

Using them to support your argument, destroys it

Excellent post, Rod

I wonder how people would feel if Melbourne were at the top and raking in the money?

Pretty [censored] good. And I'd expect that the cringing supporters from other teams would scatter rose petals in front of me at I walked down the street and kow-towed to me everytime I looked at them.

1 It's not Collingwood fault that they are a succesful club... There was a post about their 70k membership, that's their good business mgt etc.. When Eddie took over their club was in big debt etc... The MFC was offered olympic club but Guitnick said we couldn't afford it! Our club has been going around in circles for the last 50yrs present mgt excluded!

2 The afl have created the uneaven comp thru a draw based on tv rights who demand bigger clubs to play on prime time which helps build their brand etc... The rest are shoved to play on crappy times.. You dont play each other twice..no home & away.. Show me a company around the world were you have this?

3 How can you have a draft/salary cap to create eveness then havd free agency were most of the gun players end up at premiership teams which keeps their list strong...

has he retired yet?

Wish Eddie would disappear because he is stifling any progress in the AFL. Any idea floated that may effect Collingwood adverely is attacked ruthlessly by Edie through all his media outlets and the AFL Commission goes back into its hole. Gutless drones that they are.

Wish Eddie would disappear because he is stifling any progress in the AFL. Any idea floated that may effect Collingwood adverely is attacked ruthlessly by Edie through all his media outlets and the AFL Commission goes back into its hole. Gutless drones that they are.

wish he'd take dillom and fitzpatrick with him too

It's really not rocket science: play good football and the people will come and watch.

Part of Collingwood getting a loaded fixture during an era where media exposure is so important is because they have been good for going on a decade. Geelong, Hawthorn are no different.

Carlton was shocking in the 00s and it took them 2-3 years of consistent footy to get back in the limelight. I imagine that this year will be the last that they get so many Friday night games. If Collingwood was in the same situation I can assure you no amount of membership numbers would gift them primetime games and fixturing.

It's a myth to suggest that only the "big" team get the benefit of fixturing and exposure. It's the "good" teams, nothing more, nothing less.

If the AFL could have predicted how the season would be after 6 rounds, don't you think Footscray would have been on Friday night the past 5 weeks instead of Carlton?

A big support base is important. If you play attractive, good, successful football, the fans will come. If the fans don't come you don't get money and can't build a team worthy of playing good, attractive, successful football. What comes first: the chicken or the egg?

Melbourne has had a coach and administration handed to it by the AFL. I'm unconvinced that the league's charity helps those at the bottom end of the ladder, both on-field and off.

I personally find "equalisation methods" to be nothing more than a PR exercise. The league imo should be more punishing to those clubs with poor administration. I say that because Melbourne has been an indictment on the league for the past four seasons and the turnaround is still a long, long way away.

And by "punishing" I mean not directly getting involved. Because Melbourne has been receiving league funds for decades and imo that's created a culture of dependence.

It's like when you start a blog: you don't ask, "How can I make money from my blog?" You ask first, "What do I have to do to get an audience? What do I have to provide?" In AFL terms, that answer is good football. Melbourne hasn't had any less access than any of the top teams when it comes to talent. They've just been run by amateurs. No amount of "equalisation" has countered that.

Nice theory however the evidence shows the fixture is rigged towards the same clubs, whether they're good or poor. And its not just Friday night footy, it's also the guaranteed local derbies they get against the same clubs every single year while clubs like ours get stuck playing the Non-Vic clubs at home in the "division 2" schedule with the likes of Footscray, North and Saints (we've plated 7 of the 8 non-Vic clubs at home for the last 3 Yeats from memory).

Whenever someone tells me that the AFL will reward us when we start winning with better fixtures, my mind goes here:

Does Eddy think we like him and would miss him if he left the AFL?

Eddie is spot on. Eddie uses this platform to raise the real issue here, the academies, COLA.

McGuire has every right to ark up over this. The AFL cannot even get it right on the field, now it want to come to Collingwood and demand they hand out to bottom clubs.

So I see why Eddie is peeved. He has every right to be peeved, and he has a point as well. The league will be more equal if the AFL scraps COLA, and the academies.

McGuire highlights that the Bulldogs are as competitive as Collingwood, and it is hard to argue against that. Off field spending isn't all it is cranked up to be.

Eddie wants the AFL to get things right on the field and let clubs have their freedom off field, that is hard to argue against. Thank god this guy is around.

Is t the fixture now in 3 groups of six?

And for the last time, every Victoria club requests to play the Pies as their home game. How about we start giving up QB every second year?

Why?

How bout playing some games against Victorian sides. The Filth are not the only enemy.

We get QB as our home game every year, why is that the case since Collingwood account for over half the crowd. On Anzac Day the gate takings are split each year or alternated which is basically the same. Considering how badly we've performed over recent years were lucky to still have it. We know we have ourselves to blame in terms of the fixture. I thought this year was the introduction of the top 6, Middle 6 and bottom 6. But looking at the draw I'm not sure that's the case as we play Collingwood and Freo twice.

So it's cool to bag Eddie? No I don't agree with everything he says but I admire what he's been able to achieve. Do people forget when he was hosting the footy show and found the Bulldogs a major sponsor when they were struggling?

Eddie's not always about Eddie.

So it's cool to bag Eddie? No I don't agree with everything he says but I admire what he's been able to achieve. Do people forget when he was hosting the footy show and found the Bulldogs a major sponsor when they were struggling?

Eddie's not always about Eddie.

The one we were about to sign? Mission rat droppings?

I didn't forget.

Players association (Aflpa) proposing an equalisation fund to distribute the wealth more evenly among the clubs, a la the NFL model.

Eddie threatens to quit.

What a win for the game, Eddie goes and the competition does not get divided into the haves and have nots like the NFL system.

What so others think? Is this equalisation good for the game or not?

Start an online petition demanding he quit and send it around all the other AFL chat sites.

Just fake deimatic behavior from Eddy,he's not going anywhere.

Gee, what a great Labor man he is.

So it's cool to bag Eddie? No I don't agree with everything he says but I admire what he's been able to achieve. Do people forget when he was hosting the footy show and found the Bulldogs a major sponsor when they were struggling?

Eddie's not always about Eddie.

Eddie has been able to achieve a lot because when he took over The Filth Presidency the supporter base was already entrenched

Allan McAlister had run the club completely off the rails, but the supporters were still there.

Eddiie does what is best for Eddie and The Filth...Including Hijacking The Ponsford stand for his clubs exclusive use...which as an MCC member i find highly offensive

Eddie is all about Eddie i assure you

They should get Alan McAlistair back, as long as he behaves like Eddie does

Eddie does what is best for his club and who could blame him? I fully expect him to be unfair to others, selfish, arrogant, money-hungry, ambitious etc etc. That's just how things work and I'd expect our chairman to act in a similar way if we were in the same strong position. From an ethics and moral standpoint it's a trifle unpalatable but the AFL is big business now and in a lot of ways it's every man for himself.

The AFL on the other hand needs to have an attitude that embraces all - as custodians of the game they need to look after the welfare of all the clubs - unfortunately they're not very good at that.

Their primary interest is making money as well as garnering as many sets of eyes as possible. They mistakenly think that by doing that it helps all the clubs but they are effectively creating a large gap between the haves and the have not's. Their business model squeezes out the smaller operations.

The fixture reflects that - it's designed to help the larger supported clubs. Extra millions of dollars go to the bigger clubs every year at the expense of the smaller clubs (Dogs, Saints, North and us) Over time, that model is creating larger and larger gaps ... and that model didn't start recently either - we've had 10-15+ years of it (so far)

It's really not rocket science: play good football and the people will come and watch.

If Collingwood was in the same situation I can assure you no amount of membership numbers would gift them primetime games and fixturing.

It's a myth to suggest that only the "big" team get the benefit of fixturing and exposure. It's the "good" teams, nothing more, nothing less.

Disagree.

Its about ratings and the big teams have the most people watching. End of story.

Also, when was the last time the Pies played at Geelong? It has nothing to do with them having more members and not being able to get into the ground, because our 35000 can't get in either. The big teams are simply looked after and that is a fact.

Even when the Pies were down, they travelled less and got Friday night games.

Are North a fair side, how many friday night games do they get?