12 hours ago, Demon Dynasty said:

It's now 41 years since we were kicked off the G.

And a year later, we started playing finals after moving to the Junction Oval

Zero finals from 1965 to 1985 when training at the home of football

Coincidence? Not really and a training venue is one thing, but having the talent to play finals is another

For instance, we could be training in the most swish conditions right now with everyone under the one roof but will we even play finals with the current list? (This season)

For now, training at AAMI & Casey is quite acceptable. That doesn't mean we can't pursue nice, swish training facilities (whenever that might occur)

Just got to get on with it

The AAMI stadium facilities are not up to it. You walk in and there's literally 3 rooms. Everything else is shared with 3 other teams, gym, pool etc. Plus nobody from the Admin side is connected to it.
This is why they're going to Waverley. Much more space, private oval metres from the whole team. The only thing that would make it untenable long term is no second oval.

1 hour ago, WildDogDee said:

Is there any way the club could sign a naming rights sponsor to help get the project off the ground? Possibly less money needed from state government. Potentially their sign would be seen at all Caulfield race meets.

Imagine a Chief Marketing Officer trying to explain to a board that they want to spend millions on naming rights for a training facility that may or may not get built, has no location and no timeline for building.

Better chance getting a wealthy benefactor to put their name to it.

16 hours ago, chookrat said:

The MRC as a stakeholder is a tenant and nothing more. They don't have a say in whether we are able to lease the area inside the racecourse. While it helps that all stakeholders are aligned and supportive the MRC is not a decision maker.

Not quite right - for example the MRC does have a big say in relation to the construction of tunnels under their leased track and the use of any other bits of land it leases from the CRRT. They have no interest in acquiescing to our plans (through necessity they are required to live with the school, but they don't have particular interset in us being there) - they will have to be forced to accept our presence and that requires political muscle which has not yet been flexed...

1 hour ago, seventyfour said:

Imagine a Chief Marketing Officer trying to explain to a board that they want to spend millions on naming rights for a training facility that may or may not get built, has no location and no timeline for building.

Better chance getting a wealthy benefactor to put their name to it.

I don’t exactly see them falling over each other to do that either.

1 hour ago, PartyTimeJohnny said:

The AAMI stadium facilities are not up to it. You walk in and there's literally 3 rooms. Everything else is shared with 3 other teams, gym, pool etc. Plus nobody from the Admin side is connected to it.
This is why they're going to Waverley. Much more space, private oval metres from the whole team. The only thing that would make it untenable long term is no second oval.

Why not use the first grade facilities we have at Casey?

Why spend money on yet another sub standard option?

50 minutes ago, Mgdee said:

Why not use the first grade facilities we have at Casey?

Why spend money on yet another sub standard option?

Because it's 3 rooms and has huge limitations that were listed - and they're not spending money on another place AFL is letting us use it for an interim period.

The "Waverley is not good enough for Hawthorn so how can it work for us" argument is flawed because they just had Waverley. No Casey.

I strongly prefer Caulfield but if the club sees benefit in a move to Waverley from Gosch's in the interim then I'm fine with it.

That benefit needs to be weighed against the reasonable arguments made here that we may be able to exert some Caulfield funding pressure by staying at an in-demand Gosch's.

17 hours ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

I used to live near VFL Park and always saw it as a soulless windswept dump but it won't be me that has to drive down there to work. If we did move our training base I'd miss getting down to Gosch's a couple of times a year to see the boys train on public holidays. It's lovely on a sunny autumn day.

I'm not a fan of the Waverley option, but it used to be a paddock in the middle of nowhere. It's now a built up area in the middle of suburbia - there are people everywhere at all times.

There is no comparison to how it was before the development took place.

4 hours ago, WildDogDee said:

Is there any way the club could sign a naming rights sponsor to help get the project off the ground? Possibly less money needed from state government. Potentially their sign would be seen at all Caulfield race meets.

They already have one who has committed. It’s part of the MFC side of the project which has confirmed funding.

32 minutes ago, Dannyz said:

They already have one who has committed. It’s part of the MFC side of the project which has confirmed funding.

Any idea how Caulfield is progressing Dannyz? Or if the club feel like giving an update?

Whatever occurs we must not dilute our ambitions to have a ‘State of the art facility’.

Our tunnel must be wide enough to fit an ambulance and two people walking abreast the other way.

Our tunnel must have capacity to fit ten thousand people on a family day tour and to view pre finals training.

The ground must have a minimum of two rows of seating all around the oval.

A toilet block, takeaway coffee and a burger and chips van, taps accessible all the way around the oval and club shoppe

It needs to be on a grand scale, otherwise, forget it.

12 minutes ago, bluey said:

>>>>

Our tunnel must be wide enough to fit an ambulance and two people walking abreast the other way.

Our tunnel must have capacity to fit ten thousand people on a family day tour and to view pre finals training.

>>>>>

ambulance and family day crowd can use the existing drive-through tunnel on the mid west side

new tunnel only needs to cater for low pedestrian numbers and a golf cart/trailer facility that the club now uses to move stuff around. All other larger vehicles can be driven through existing western tunnel

stop trying to grandiose the requirements of a new south-east tunnel

1 hour ago, Roost it far said:

Any idea how Caulfield is progressing Dannyz? Or if the club feel like giving an update?

I cannot get even a whisper. Nothing! Everyone’s shut up shop.

Gerard Whateley will ask Guerra next Tuesday for our membership day and that’s probably our only hope.

When we trained at the MCG the centre square would be roped off. Players trained after work and the only illumination when it got dark was the half a dozen or so single lights perched on the roof of the old Southern Stand. During summer we trained on Scotch Oval which is now buried under Melbourne Park. I know it's OUR home ground but it's not like we own the place.

31 minutes ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

When we trained at the MCG the centre square would be roped off. Players trained after work and the only illumination when it got dark was the half a dozen or so single lights perched on the roof of the old Southern Stand. During summer we trained on Scotch Oval which is now buried under Melbourne Park. I know it's OUR home ground but it's not like we own the place.

Given that the MCC operates and manages the MCG and the MFC was born out of the MCC, one could argue that the MCG is no less ‘our’ ground as Kardinia Park is Geelong’s

On 05/03/2026 at 11:18, Macca said:

And a year later, we started playing finals after moving to the Junction Oval

Zero finals from 1965 to 1985 when training at the home of football

Coincidence? Not really and a training venue is one thing, but having the talent to play finals is another

For instance, we could be training in the most swish conditions right now with everyone under the one roof but will we even play finals with the current list? (This season)

For now, training at AAMI & Casey is quite acceptable. That doesn't mean we can't pursue nice, swish training facilities (whenever that might occur)

Just got to get on with it

That was a measure of the greatness of Swooper plus how highly the playing group rated tulip coming into his final swing song imv Macca.

Add to that the fact that we had a proper oval to train on consistently week in and out (most weeks anyway) and we produced a short era of decent footy on the back of those stars coming aligning.

There was still a bit of air in the balloon post Swooper's departure but it didn't take long before it fully escaped.

Regardless, the whole club will be more settled, steady and better off once we find a genuine place to call home.

3 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

That was a measure of the greatness of Swooper plus how highly the playing group rated tulip coming into his final swing song imv Macca.

Add to that the fact that we had a proper oval to train on consistently week in and out (most weeks anyway) and we produced a short era of decent footy on the back of those stars coming aligning.

There was still a bit of air in the balloon post Swooper's departure but it didn't take long before it fully escaped.

Regardless, the whole club will be more settled, steady and better off once we find a genuine place to call home.

I agree re a proper home ... much needed

But it's not the main reason for success or failure

I've got recruiting & therefore, talent, right at the top of the tree. Everything else runs a long 2nd, even coaching

And it's not a bad thing to do it tough whilst pampering can sometimes be counter-productive

Another huge issue is when the players rule-the-roost. If a club has that problem (as we have done in the last few years imv), then the best training facilities in the world won't make an ounce of difference

On 05/03/2026 at 16:23, bluey said:

Whatever occurs we must not dilute our ambitions to have a ‘State of the art facility’.

Our tunnel must be wide enough to fit an ambulance and two people walking abreast the other way.

Our tunnel must have capacity to fit ten thousand people on a family day tour and to view pre finals training.

The ground must have a minimum of two rows of seating all around the oval.

A toilet block, takeaway coffee and a burger and chips van, taps accessible all the way around the oval and club shoppe

It needs to be on a grand scale, otherwise, forget it.

Yes, good is the enemy of perfection.

And We should always remember that progress is not good enough, and if you can’t fix everything, you shouldn’t fix anything.

And also that having suitable training facilities for elite athletes is JUST AS IMPORTANT as fans being placated with seating for the short period of time that a number come to watch training.

Letter from President re Caulfield



"This is not where we belong" he says. I think he was referring to Casey

Edited Monday at 03:142 days by dice

Based on the fact that we were told there would be a significant announcement at the AGM which was 3 months ago and it didn't happen and Steven Smith's comment at the AGM that the club people involved were learning a lot about politics, joining the dots there seems to be a pretty serious glitch going on in the chance of this happening. Based on past comments the Caulfield stakeholders seem to be onboard so I'd be guessing the bankrupt Victorian State Govt don't want to contribute. Possibly there are other stakeholders as well that aren't contributing. First time in this process I've begun to wonder if this is actually going to happen.

4 minutes ago, Its Time Again said:

Based on the fact that we were told there would be a significant announcement at the AGM which was 3 months ago and it didn't happen and Steven Smith's comment at the AGM that the club people involved were learning a lot about politics, joining the dots there seems to be a pretty serious glitch going on in the chance of this happening. Based on past comments the Caulfield stakeholders seem to be onboard so I'd be guessing the bankrupt Victorian State Govt don't want to contribute. Possibly there are other stakeholders as well that aren't contributing. First time in this process I've begun to wonder if this is actually going to happen.

So just tell us that.

It’s half expected any way.

Nothing re Caulfield in the President's letter today? Perhaps tomorrow on the radio when we have our membership drive (SEN?).

7 minutes ago, Harvey Wallbanger said:

Nothing re Caulfield in the President's letter today? Perhaps tomorrow on the radio when we have our membership drive (SEN?).

Gerard said last week he will be asking Paul Guerra about the facilities

a lot of waffle and not a lot said by stephen smith here https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1967897/letter-from-steven-smith-2026-season