The only good to come of this is the money I'll make off the saints when the bookies make us favourite again.

I would be very surprised if we start favorite, will depend on nab challenge results 

We need to keep building (rebuilding) our membership base and ability to play and win entertaining footy. 

The AFL tv rights income Mae and AFL HQ will always favour a higher rating game for prime time than one that's less so.

PJ needs to continue to build the brand, connect and convert the sleeper supporters to regular and growing audience... he now has a team upon which to run such a campaign. 

 

According to the hun we have the saints round 1 on the Sunday at Etihad. True to form they bury two up and coming teams on the Sunday, put the collapsing pies on the Friday night and the drug cheats on the Saturday night. 

Ten bucks it's will end up our home game at that dump too!

Typical bloody AFL Agree with all you have said!! Friggen useless excuse of a footy ground.

Although I hate it, it really does give us the opportunity of payback! Two shizenhuisen performances againts the Aints last year. Plus bury this friggen cannot play at Shitihad fiasco!

Time to Flex some muscle and display new mantra

"Keen Dees to appease in 2017"

 

It's a short sighted view though. You keep giving those teams the most exposure and they keep getting more popular. Eventually you end up with far less teams due to "commercial viability" and you have less TV spots and hence less money. The AFL have made it clear that if you get more success you get more exposure (which in itself is problematic) and they've gone totally against that stated principal in the very first round.

 

It is the AFL yet you are surprised?  It is just that..a stated principle.   The AFL don't actually have any real ones.

 

Their run and spread will kill us.

So it is up to us to counter this or give them something else to counter themselves.

Going in with only those totally negative thoughts will ensure defeat. A self fulfilling prophecy.....like the AFL's giving powerful clubs prime time slots. 

 

Their run and spread will kill us.

They need to get there hands on the ball 1st, I will back our mids to win the contested ball having Lewis only strengthenes that area, I will wait and see how both sides go over the summer but right now I would be confident of a win 

 

Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon host on our ground before us.  [censored] off! 

Anyone, any time, anywhere. 

 

That is such a dull round 1 fixture.  Not a single game i'll go out of my way to watch.  

I look forward to the rest of the "fixture" where we get to play our home game against the Saints at Etihad too. 

The AFL.  Experts at making amazingly poor decisions seem normal for 10+ years

Fixture = Fix'd Ya

The should re badge it, the annual Fix'd Ya

 

There's a nice symmetry here. Roos' first game in charge of the MFC. Goodwin's first game hence. Nick did us back then and again last year. Next year will be different. 

Yes, Riewoldt did us in on Roosy's first game as coach but he was being well covered by T Mac until injured in the second quarter. We also lost Fitzy early to concussion and one other player during the game. Kicked badly too. If the stars align for us then we win easily next time. 

✔️ Just do it!

I believe I may be a little delusional as I've got a strong feeling we will win this game. Can't let the saints scare us anymore. Can't let Etihad faze us. Can't afford to fear anyone anymore.

if this team is truly path to a new era the saints at Etihad should be a gimme.

 

 

 

Like it or not, Essendon v Hawthorn is a massive fixture and will draw a huge crowd.

Two clubs with big Victorian followings and two teams with a completely different look.

Bulldogs pulled the short straw.  They should play St Kilda at Etihad.

Collingwood host Melbourne on in the traditional Saturday 2.10 slot would've been nice.

But Richmond v Carlton is extraordinary.  Why do they persist with this one ?  Sure it will draw 50,000 but the game has been a fizzer for at least the past 2 years.

 

Their run and spread will kill us.

I sort of like this fixture. Nothing like facing your 'demons' first up. First game is only worth four points but all pre-season the focus will be on being as fast and as fit as they have ever been to compete with the Saints at Etihad round 1. Could set us up for the season. 

Would be good to know the TV ratings for these games, attendances are a long second to TV ratings vis-a-vis AFL decision making...

Well I hope the fixture turns around and we play the saints at the G later on. The AFL better not have us playing the saints in a home game at etihad again. 

It's the perfect challenge for Goodwin and the team. If we want to be a top 8 team then these are the games we need to win. 

Cant believe the scum get rewarded with a saturday night game. Hope the hawks smash them. They should have been given a 1:10 game on the sunday. 

 

But Richmond v Carlton is extraordinary.  Why do they persist with this one ?  Sure it will draw 50,000 but the game has been a fizzer for at least the past 2 years.

50k? try closer to 80k. it's gone 75.7k, 83.5k, 62k (when it was in round 2, and there was much gnashing of teeth from the carlton and richmond folks about it), 81k, 78k in the last five years.

it works well as a season-opener, with two 'traditional' vic teams, one of whose former and most legendary players is the longstanding chairman of the afl, kicking off the season, in a fixture request that both clubs have had for the best part of the last decade makes plenty of sense.

it's a 'fixture', not a draw.

we put in the request every year to host queen's birthday and to have no docklands home games, and one of two requests is granted...peptides requested friday nite season opener this year and were 'granted' saturday nite against a bigger team (e.g. hawks not us), and you can bet that some of the other requests that teams have made won't be granted. i would always love it if the clubs made their requests public so we knew what it was that they'd asked for had been 'granted' or not.

it's all set up for television, ultimately.

gotta play everyone at some stage, and i have zero dramas playing saints at docklands as THEIR home game but i'll be screaming bloody murder if we host any of the tenant clubs at that ground as OUR home game.

that, and the lack of fixture organisation to ensure that we have a bye / longer break after a game in the nt are my two bigger fixture gripes than anything else.

Some over reactions here I feel... neither team played finals last year and it's a 50/50 whether we will get a home game round one. We've had a great run of MCG  matches in the opening round over the last 10 years.

It'll be a good match; Melbourne by 20.

 

Which match if played on Saturday night will draw the bigger attendance and TV ratings? The Bombers have done their time and everyone knows their ladder position will not reflect this years performance. Pretty simple commercial decision really.

And I don't mind Sunday afternoon.  We get good footy matches on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and then go to Etihad on Sunday.  Great reintroduction to the footy!

Quite frankly, I'm happier to play against a team that's had the wood on us and at a venue where we haven't performed well in recent years than to have a home game against a team we're expected to beat easily. 

I prefer the challenge.

It would have been a lot tougher if we had been drawn to play Essendon in their home game at the MCG (which incidentally makes a mockery of us having to play home matches at Etihad) as happened last year and was originally suggested for a repeat in round one. The Bombers plan on putting on a march to the G again and to have an emotional welcome back for their drug cheats. Beat us last year and derailed our start to the season.

Won't happen this year.

 

On other forums I will state all preseason that we can't win this, but I do believe we can.

Goodwin has another summer to hone his 'outnumber at the contest then spread' game-plan and from a talent perspective, especially in the midfield, I believe we have the Saints covered.  The players will be excited to play for Goodwin and won't take in any baggage.

Joel Smith is highly rated and suits a fast deck.  He's a smokie for round 1.

You've warmed to Joel very quickly and adopted the "outnumber and spread" game-plan concept.  Smart man!

Not sure, as you're not, that Joel will be ready round one as we have three that have just made his job a lot harder, but I share your enthusiasm.

 

You've warmed to Joel very quickly and adopted the "outnumber and spread" game-plan concept.  Smart man!

Not sure, as you're not, that Joel will be ready round one as we have three that have just made his job a lot harder, but I share your enthusiasm.

Too early for mine although that view might change if he plays a couple of blinders in the NAB Challenge series.

 

You've warmed to Joel very quickly and adopted the "outnumber and spread" game-plan concept.  Smart man!

Not sure, as you're not, that Joel will be ready round one as we have three that have just made his job a lot harder, but I share your enthusiasm.

Liked what i saw during the year, which has only been reinforced recently.

I'm not a huge Jetta fan.  I acknowledge his terrific contested work and lockdown abilities, but to keep progressing as a footy club I want to see more drive from the back half.

 

Anyone, any time, anywhere. 

3rd page but we got there. 

Have the rest forgotten the Doggies draw in the finals.

It will be great to break the hodoo against the saints in rd.1.   Bring on 2017

Goodwin has all summer to plan. 

If the Dogs can win a flag from 7th  The MFC must win at The Docklands against whoever

it will be 11 years since.....

 

Some over reactions here I feel... neither team played finals last year and it's a 50/50 whether we will get a home game round one. We've had a great run of MCG  matches in the opening round over the last 10 years.

It'll be a good match; Melbourne by 20.

Never!! on Demonland, I am shocked, never understood the issue, we have to play at Etihad sometime and learn to win on a regular basis, before the first game I attended there, after reading fan forums, thought the seating faced the wrong way, if there were seats at all and it was a square oval and the goalposts hidden from MFC every time they advanced past the half way