I can't access this (even with Google pasting), so would love it if someone could post the actual text.

Hi Dwayne.

Hi Dwayne.

I have no doubt he wrote that article cos he saw this thread. That is the kind of deadbeat loser he is.

Stupid tool cant handle the fact the Demons have the most prized asset in the AFL, Jesse Hogan.

I have no doubt he wrote that article cos he saw this thread. That is the kind of deadbeat loser he is.

Stupid tool cant handle the fact the Demons have the most prized asset in the AFL, Jesse Hogan.

He probably saw this thread too.

I can't access this (even with Google pasting), so would love it if someone could post the actual text.

AMID the celebration and fanfare of Demon young gun Jesse Hogan’s NAB Rising Star victory sat the dark and dirty question of whether Melbourne is brave enough to offer this kid a new 10- year, $12 million deal to keep him for eight years beyond his current contract, which ends after the 2017 season.

The problem with a very public, get-down-on-one-knee, lifelong marriage proposal, is of course; what if the answer is an embarrassing no.

Because Hogan will get multiple brilliant offers from elsewhere, and most believe he will, before long, leave Melbourne for one of the two teams from his West Australian home.

The least surprising thing about this past week is that almost every AFL player that has requested a trade so far, is attempting to leave a club that doesn’t win, and/or plays to small crowds, in an effort to get to a big drawing club that wins regularly.

Charlie Dixon (Gold Coast), Adam Treloar (GWS), Jake Carlisle (Essendon), Matthew Leuenberger (Brisbane), James Aish (Brisbane), Jack Redden (Brisbane), Jaeger O’Meara (Gold Coast) and Lachie Henderson (Carlton) are just the current elite tip of the iceberg.

Expect the flood to continue, with a dozen more to join other smaller names such as Lachie Plowman, Andrew Phillips, Dion Prestia, Brandon Matera, and Curtly Hampton, who are also tipped to find better homes during next month’s trade week.

Modern footballers play for many different sorts of reasons — fame, fortune, self-satisfaction, peer respect, to make their family proud, to break records, to be the greatest, to be remembered forever, and obviously to win premierships.

But you can presume the best thing about football for the modern stars, is actually the same as it was for every footballer ever — the feeling you have for a few hours after a win, especially if it’s on a big stage.

You can’t buy it. It’s difficult to explain. But there is a calm, a feeling the world’s stopped turning for us, peace and satisfaction to it. You just have to be there to share and soak in it. Sometimes the high lasts for days.

Matthew Pavlich ... success not just measured in premierships. Picture: Michael Klein

You cannot play AFL any more with the sole motivation and measurement for success being a premiership. Otherwise most footballers, many with 300 games to their name such as superstar Saint Nick Riewoldt and docker Matthew Pavlich, could be resigned to finish their careers without feeling successful.

The expansion to an 18-team competition now leaves many players resigned to the fact even before round one, that they can’t even make the finals let alone dream of winning a flag. Melbourne for example, will not play finals next year. Nor will Carlton or Brisbane.

In my first season of VFL in 1987, there were only 14 teams, no salary cap and no draft, and every player on every team began the season believing the premiership was achievable.

Now, through necessity, there are other methods of success and player satisfaction — outside of the ultimate prize of a premiership medal — that make the massive modern sacrifice worthwhile.

The Melbourne Football Club played to a home crowd of just 8974 against Greater Western Sydney last Sunday, the worst AFL crowd ever at Etihad Stadium.

Don’t be too shocked. The Giants players would have felt at home, as they have played to home game crowds as low as 7000 again this season, hidden away in a mid afternoon television timeslot where few people will ever see it.

The Gold Coast crowds at their poorly positioned backblocks home venue are also regularly under 10,000. There’s often more atmosphere and more chance of a walk-up patron on the moon.

Richmond and Collingwood played to average home crowds of 48,000 this year, with their big game crowds, just like Hawthorn and Geelong’s big home games, topping out at around 90,000 at the MCG.

Adelaide and Port Adelaide fill the biggest fan and player buzz generating venue in Australia, the 55,000 capacity Adelaide Oval, most weeks.

West Coast and Fremantle play to sellouts every single week. And every week, like Port and the Crows, the Eagles and Dockers are on prime time free-to-air TV.

If it’s a weekly chance at loving life and career fulfilment you want from football. well you get the point.

Jesse Hogan is from Perth, where football is flying. The amazing new 60,000 seat Burswood Stadium is due to be completed at the exact same time Jesse Hogan comes out of contract, at the end of 2017.

Everyone wants to win a premiership. But as a fallback, would you rather play in a win most weeks in front of 60,000 screaming home fans and to millions on live prime time TV?

Or would you rather lose most weeks in front of 9000?

Did a grown adult actually write that?

So he spends the article, seemingly, lamenting that good players are leaving poor clubs, then finishes by saying Hogan should go home to WA.

Okay then.

The same Port Adelaide that had to put tarps over their empty seats 2 years ago and were starting to roll them out as they crashed back to earth this year?

How about Ryan Griffen leaving a small club and going to a smaller one, and the big dopey idiot that swapped places with him?

You're a smug faced bag of shoit, Dwayne. We know you're reading this.

You just knew he'd be all over that Etihad crowd. Conveniently fails to mention the average crowd attendance of 29,710 which is higher than several clubs including finalists in North and the Bulldogs. Destined to go higher as the club's fortunes turn around on field. The two clubs he seems to have a hard on for are marginally ahead on average attendance - Fremantle at 31,461 and West Coast at 32,150.

It's verging on depraved this vendetta he has against clubs down the bottom. Just a grade A turd of a human with the intelligence of an earwig.

That's not fair on earwigs.

That's not fair on earwigs.

You're right. Apologies to any earwigs reading this.

That article should be used as motivation to actually make the Finals next year.

That article should be used as motivation to actually make the Finals next year.

Can't give him any credit for anything 'SWYL' apart from being an arrogant, know nothing [censored]...

Sorry but I think there will be a lot more motivation to make finals next year without relying on kindergarten tripe.

I hate this piece of dogshyte, he is the most loathesome person in media, hate the turd and will not listen to him again

He makes it sound like we will forever be last and crowdless. So bleak and so so wrong.

He is at us again.

Even when we have a good moment he brings us down. This time he is putting a dampener on Jesse Hogan winning the Rising Star.

He suggests that we will continue to be poor on field and 9000 attendance at home games is standard. He believes that we are not worthy of Hogan.

He really has it in for us.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/crowds-and-on-field-success-the-keys-to-avoiding-player-exodus-says-dwayne-russell/story-fnia3gpe-1227524184552

The thread title summed up by this article. Still cannot forget his commentary of the Geelong game, and how the win emphasized my loathing of the <person who tosses> And how his commentary and the disappointment in his voice as the result became inevitable actually enhanced my joy at the victory.

dwayne reminds me of nobody.....and that is what he is

Perfect

You just knew he'd be all over that Etihad crowd. Conveniently fails to mention the average crowd attendance of 29,710 which is higher than several clubs including finalists in North and the Bulldogs. Destined to go higher as the club's fortunes turn around on field. The two clubs he seems to have a hard on for are marginally ahead on average attendance - Fremantle at 31,461 and West Coast at 32,150.

It's verging on depraved this vendetta he has against clubs down the bottom. Just a grade A turd of a human with the intelligence of an earwig.

Never let the facts spoil a contemptuous article. Never remind us that given the circumstances (last round of a disappointing season) and the time slot (late Sunday Fathers' Day) were somewhat unique.

[censored].

The guy is a [censored] turnip.

I refuse to listen to his crappy radio show, I despise it when he commentates. The way he bangs on you would think he played over two hundred games and won a Brownlow, norm smith and 8 flags.

I preferred the days commentators called the game and didn't give their opinions on everything.

Shut up F!og and call the game!

Unfortunately, the worst repercussion of David Hooke's tragic death was this **** took his place.

I detest the smug [censored]. Years ago when we were courting Judd he'd laugh and talk about which clothes hook he'd be assigned down at the less than salubrious Junction Oval.

This article almost needs it's own thread, as I suspect many won't open the latest posts and will remain oblivious to this fatuous and spiteful article.

I consider myself a pretty measured guy, but this joker makes me irrationally angry. Even if I tune into a neutral game he makes me want to throw my remote through the TV, so it isn't just MFC related. He really has to go.

Some people have resilience Dwayne. They just don't pack it all up for easy success three years into their AFL career. And they take satisfaction from starting from nothing and building it into something.

You just knew he'd be all over that Etihad crowd. Conveniently fails to mention the average crowd attendance of 29,710 which is higher than several clubs including finalists in North and the Bulldogs. Destined to go higher as the club's fortunes turn around on field. The two clubs he seems to have a hard on for are marginally ahead on average attendance - Fremantle at 31,461 and West Coast at 32,150.

It's verging on depraved this vendetta he has against clubs down the bottom. Just a grade A turd of a human with the intelligence of an earwig.

Yep Sunday afternoon, father's day, Round 23 against GWS at Etihad. You'd pencil that in for 60,000 or so every day of the week....

What a tool.

Ha ha from his Wikipedia page....

Russell unsuccessfully applied for a journalism cadetship in Adelaide in 1984 before starting a journalism career in Geelong in 1989

There's a reason he was knocked back. He writes like a 2yo.....

I reckon Russell's issues with Melbourne are all about projection. He commentates a lot of our games? Why? Because he is on the Foxtel B team. And unlike say a Jessie Hogan who could pick any side to play with Dwayne is stuck in the B team. So he is angry and hurt.

Collingwood played Essendon on the same day as the dees gws game. Much bigger crowd but alas Russell was stuck covering the dees again.

And that article? Lordy what was the point he was trying to make? I mean good players wanting to leave struggling clubs for more success is hardly a new phenomenon. I have said this before but from the beginning of the comp players have left clubs. Look at the dees in the seventies and early eighties. Two Melbourne greats in Alves and Wells left chasing premiership glory (and found it). As did greats from other clubs like Doug Wade and Tony Lockett.

Russel how about proposing some solutions? For example not allowing free trade players going to top 4 sides.

Ha ha from his Wikipedia page....

Russell unsuccessfully applied for a journalism cadetship in Adelaide in 1984 before starting a journalism career in Geelong in 1989

There's a reason he was knocked back. He writes like a 2yo.....

hey, my 2yo grandson objects to that malicious slur

I reckon Russell's issues with Melbourne are all about projection. He commentates a lot of our games? Why? Because he is on the Foxtel B team. And unlike say a Jessie Hogan who could pick any side to play with Dwayne is stuck in the B team. So he is angry and hurt.

Collingwood played Essendon on the same day as the dees gws game. Much bigger crowd but alas Russell was stuck covering the dees again.

And that article? Lordy what was the point he was trying to make? I mean good players wanting to leave struggling clubs for more success is hardly a new phenomenon. I have said this before but from the beginning of the comp players have left clubs. Look at the dees in the seventies and early eighties. Two Melbourne greats in Alves and Wells left chasing premiership glory (and found it). As did greats from other clubs like Doug Wade and Tony Lockett.

Russel how about proposing some solutions? For example not allowing free trade players going to top 4 sides.

I get the feeling he isn't greatly respected by his peers. How could he possibly be with the constant arrogant dribble that comes out of his mouth? I'd be especially interested in hearing Dunstall's view of him behind closed doors.

This article, like the last one, is nothing but an excuse to have a crack at clubs he feels the competition would be better off without. His own beloved Port was virtually on the scrap heap before the AFL swept in with a multi-million dollar rescue mission. Never a whisper of that from this dope.

The title itself is a laugh: "Crowds and on-field success the keys to avoiding player exodus says Dwayne Russell".

It would have been just as insightful if it read: "Australian rules football played with an oval shaped ball says Dwayne Russell".

The problem is, you can't even say that he will be made to look stupid if Hogan stays past 2017 and the club is competing in September in front of healthy crowds. That ship has long sailed away.