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Darwin game dumped

Grapeviney
Grapeviney
in Melbourne Demons

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Posted

Hearing from extremely reliable sources that the MFC is looking to get out of the Darwin part of the NT deal.

Club has no issue with the Alice component and was very happy with this year's 'Heart of the Nation' game. 

But the humidity of the Darwin match and the flow-on effects the following week is considered too high a price to pay.

The AFL is apparently - finally - willing to schedule us for a bye after the Darwin match, but this would mean the Darwin game needs to be played earlier in the season (in these middle rounds), which ruins the whole concept of the Doug Nicholls / Heart of the Nation / Alice game, which both club and league are backing to the hilt. 

MFC and AFL have already met on the issue, with more talks to come. 

Edited by Grapeviney
Thread merge / title change

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    Presumably that might affect the sponsorship dollars we get from the NT Government. Nevertheless, I'm in favour of extricating ourselves if we can afford it. And presumably we wouldn't be doing this unless we thought we could.

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    Yup, get rid of the Darwin game.

    Another Home game at the G would be better for us. Much rather the Freo game there than Darwin.

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    3 hours ago, Gorgoroth said:

    Yup, get rid of the Darwin game.

    Another Home game at the G would be better for us. Much rather the Freo game there than Darwin.

    Please another game at the fortress not the G! Evidence based and data driven grounds based on wins

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    If we're looking to get out of it then I take it as a sign that we won't be affected financially by this decision.

    It's the right one to make as well.  I understood why we agreed to play games there, but now that the MFC machine is running well we don't need to play games there anymore.

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    3 hours ago, DemonOX said:

    Thank the good lord. 

    Lucifer Ox... Lucifer!

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    Is it too late to move this seasons Darwin game to the G?

    Actually nevermind, Freo might beat us there again like last season.

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    1 hour ago, Sir Why You Little said:

    Wish we could kill both. 

    “Bring them home to Mama” to the MCG

    Maybe we could sign a deal to play there as the away team similar to Port in China. Whenever we play there Crows/Port seem to have more supporters than us anyway.

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    6 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

    Maybe we could sign a deal to play there as the away team similar to Port in China. Whenever we play there Crows/Port seem to have more supporters than us anyway.

    That certainly is a weird one: Port claiming China as their turf but the games are not home games.  ALF logic?

    And yes, totally unfair, on both participating teams, not to have it before the bye

    Edited by monoccular

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    2 hours ago, Petraccattack said:

    Is it too late to move this seasons Darwin game to the G?

    Actually nevermind, Freo might beat us there again like last season.

    Or move it to our new fortress.....Etihad!!!

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    12 minutes ago, —coach— said:

    Or move it to our new fortress.....Etihad!!!?

    We don't want to become the new Saints. unable to win at the 'G'.

     

    We can defend well currently at Etihad.  Bit more difficult to control opposition, at the 'G'.  We need more speed around the midsection, for the Mcg.

    The Flower's, Stretch's, Johnson's, all did well around the Mcg.

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    2 minutes ago, Moonshadow said:

    Maybe they are thinking of 2 games per year in Alice

    In front of 7000 people. 

    WOW....

    Edited by Sir Why You Little

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     Even if wet get another home game in Melbourne they'll find away to make us play an extra interstate away game to even it up!

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    2 minutes ago, Moonshadow said:

    Maybe they are thinking of 2 games per year in Alice

    ah, bookend the Naidoc Week, perhaps ?

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    If true, I have even more faith in our administration (for you know, agreeing with my thoughts precisely). I ordinarily hate regional games - Alice is an exception, and something we can build into an annual showcase with a fair number of peripheral benefits. 

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    3 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

    In front of 7000 people. 

    WOW....

    I'm starting to like the Alice game but the 7k capacity together with hotel and flight limits doesn't bode well for a long term strategy.

    The only saver would be some serious national TV coverage.

    Not sure how to do it but perhaps we could play the highest ranking interstate team from the previous year and thus make it into a must see match. Ticketing would be balloted etc and it would become  a"hot" event.

    Edited by Diamond_Jim

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    Demonland might become more interesting for it, but the club seems a little less tight lipped in the last week, than it has in the past.

    Or maybe I'm simply reading into it...

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    4 hours ago, A F said:

    Dpemonland might become more interesting for it, but the club seems a little less tight lipped in the last week, than it has in the past.

    Or maybe I'm simply reading into it...

    Yes funny that after the Pert appointment, Jackson himself?

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    4 hours ago, A F said:

    Demonland might become more interesting for it, but the club seems a little less tight lipped in the last week, than it has in the past.

    Or maybe I'm simply reading into it...

    This is something that has been commented on for a while by people in the media and this is not a media leak but a poster with a supposed inside source.

    Wait for the article in tomorrow's Sun quoting Grapeviney as a source ;)

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    9 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

    In front of 7000 people. 

    WOW....

    Maybe, but if there is TV coverage and the club makes decent $, it's better than playing in Darwin

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