Jokes or no jokes, there was dodgy stuff going on here. All was settled inhouse. Is it necessary to bring up it up again?

Only brought up to contrast the reaction of AFL House to Hird's disgraceful outburst against the people running the game.

Any reasonable person would see that as bringing the game into disrepute, but, not even a please explain letter.

I like Roos' current suggestion to strip the game back to how it was 10 years ago, but leave in throwing the ball up to see if it resolves the congestion issue at least.

Was listening to the radio last week pre-game and an old bloke got on and said he didn't like the umps throwing the ball up cause it took the randomness out of the play.

Said it made it easier for the coaches to set up play for a ball that went strait up to the same height every time.

Made sense, so I doubt it would help congestion at all.

Soccer's where the money is.

Also the fame, travel, longevity and decent video games. If I had a choice to be a star in either sport, I know what I'd be choosing.

All the AFL has is that it's tougher and faster paced. Two things that are getting micro-managed out of the game.

I like Roos' current suggestion to strip the game back to how it was 10 years ago, but leave in throwing the ball up to see if it resolves the congestion issue at least.

You have a short memory if you think this administration is worse than Demetriou, Anderson and Gieschen.

Dill's mob are just building on a fine tradition.

I'm more concerned with Mike 'I leave the room, sit on my hands' Fitzpatrick who has overseen both these administrations.

Only brought up to contrast the reaction of AFL House to Hird's disgraceful outburst against the people running the game.

Any reasonable person would see that as bringing the game into disrepute, but, not even a please explain letter.

Yes, Hird is a good blackmailer and despite his worries still has a lot of influence and power. Just like current realpolitik. Make war against the weak but avoid all all cost warring against real adversaries especially the ones with nuclear weapons. Whatever Hird has got against the AFL is, it scares the daylights out of them for sure.

We were fined $500k, for employing an Official, who was found to have joked to his recruiting staff in a private club meeting, that he would sack the lot of them if we didn't get the number 1 pick in the draft that year. Most people at the time thought that in itself was a joke, considering the real offence was tanking and it was acknowledged that many clubs did it and were rewarded with draft picks.

The Bombers' Coach recently attacked several past and present AFL Officials, basically calling them liars and dishonest or corrupt.

Yesterday the CEO of the AFL said neither the Coach nor his Club would be punished, as the AFL just wanted to get on with the game. Not even a please explain.

I ask any reasonable person to decide which statement was more likely to bring the game into disrepute.

It seems that a private joke, when made in a lowly club, is far more damaging to the game, than public statements, denigrating the very people running the game, made by someone from a powerful club.

Well I have a new joke and it is the preceding line.

Hey hang on, I might get fined by the AFL.

I think the answer is simple, the AFL know Hird/Little will take them on.

They knew MFC wouldn't, we'd just accept it, just like we accepted mediocrity for seasons on end.

There was also more evidence against Carlton than Melbourne, yet the AFL chose to target MFC.

We were just an easy target, it was a good time for the AFL to look like they were actually doing something.

We were fined $500k, for employing an Official, who was found to have joked to his recruiting staff in a private club meeting, that he would sack the lot of them if we didn't get the number 1 pick in the draft that year. Most people at the time thought that in itself was a joke, considering the real offence was tanking and it was acknowledged that many clubs did it and were rewarded with draft picks.

The Bombers' Coach recently attacked several past and present AFL Officials, basically calling them liars and dishonest or corrupt.

Yesterday the CEO of the AFL said neither the Coach nor his Club would be punished, as the AFL just wanted to get on with the game. Not even a please explain.

I ask any reasonable person to decide which statement was more likely to bring the game into disrepute.

It seems that a private joke, when made in a lowly club, is far more damaging to the game, than public statements, denigrating the very people running the game, made by someone from a powerful club.

Well I have a new joke and it is the preceding line.

Hey hang on, I might get fined by the AFL.

if you're referring to James Hird's comments on radio when he was interviewed by 3AW on the Sunday after the Essendon v Melbourne game, I think the media, and particulalry the print media, subsequently made more of what Hird said than was reasonable to infer.

Apart from calling some people "ordinary" (a word in itself which, in it's literal sense is as neutral as can be, although clearly he wasn't using it in its literal sense), Hird never named anyone and my inference was that he was talking about the AFL industry as a whole, not just AFL officials. It was impossible to know from the comment itself whether he was talking about people at AFL House, Fairfax Press writers or anyone else. What was clear, though, is that he's certainly unhappy with a few people.

In my view, and essential to your opening point, Hird didn't defame anyone. He didn't tell any jokes, either.

Yes, Hird is a good blackmailer and despite his worries still has a lot of influence and power. Just like current realpolitik. Make war against the weak but avoid all all cost warring against real adversaries especially the ones with nuclear weapons. Whatever Hird has got against the AFL is, it scares the daylights out of them for sure.

Indeed. He's got the truth.

Indeed. He's got the truth.

That is the one for today H_T you are the winner.

Oh come on. We all know we tanked and we all know the charge and the penalty were massaged so the AFL didn't get investigated by external bureaus for running a rigged comp.

What sets people off is the sheer unfairness of being investigated while the ones who wrote the blueprint got off scot free.

That nails it Ted, you are absolutely correct. Whether we tanked or not, as with other clubs, we operated within a framework, constructed by the AFL, that set the scene for teams accepting mediocrity, believing there was a bigger prize at the end if they did.

The greatest guilt which rested on the collective shoulders of the MFC was not tanking, but the dumb way we went about it and the obvious mind set that high draft picks would cure all our ills, while not developing the talent we had from within. Cale Morton's reported observations in Sundays Hun reflect this.

That nails it Ted, you are absolutely correct. Whether we tanked or not, as with other clubs, we operated within a framework, constructed by the AFL, that set the scene for teams accepting mediocrity, believing there was a bigger prize at the end if they did.

The greatest guilt which rested on the collective shoulders of the MFC was not tanking, but the dumb way we went about it and the obvious mind set that high draft picks would cure all our ills, while not developing the talent we had from within. Cale Morton's reported observations in Sundays Hun reflect this.

but i don't think we went about it any dumber than carlton

there were also 2 whistle blowers at carlton who were ignored/silenced

but that's all history now

but i don't think we went about it any dumber than carlton

there were also 2 whistle blowers at carlton who were ignored/silenced

but that's all history now

I would tend agree, having witnessed the "Kruezer Cup'. But I think the tanking Karma bus hit us harder, because we treated the opportunity of gaining higher draft picks as a panacea, rather than look into what was fundamentally wrong with the footy club. All of us are witnessing that legacy and have done for too long. Obviously our hope is now that Roos, Goodwin and PJ purge us of that legacy.

Tanking is the wrong term.

It implies we were a decent shot of winning anything.

We cleaned house and rebuilt with average personnel.