On 21/12/2022 at 05:08, old dee said:

He also said that contrary to popular beliefs the players do not see travelling to Casey as a big problem in fact they enjoy being able to train in privacy. 

Thanks for posting od.

Just on this comment that "the players love Casey" - it's not necessarily the current players I'm worried about but how it might be a disadvantage in recruiting players from other clubs. If it's between us and Collingwood, Carlton, Footscray, Essendon even Saints, what is the more lucrative location? Obviously there may be other reasons players choose to come to us and creating a great environment is key but at the end of the day all other things being equal it will set us at a disadvantage.

  On 22/12/2022 at 02:25, daisycutter said:

"Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." (Les Brown)

may the force be with us, dz

I think, given what we know about space exploration these days, this saying should be changed to ‘shoot for the moon, even if you miss you will no doubt suffocate slowly, decompress and explode or burn up in re-entry’

  On 22/12/2022 at 04:03, Dr. Gonzo said:

Thanks for posting od.

Just on this comment that "the players love Casey" - it's not necessarily the current players I'm worried about but how it might be a disadvantage in recruiting players from other clubs. If it's between us and Collingwood, Carlton, Footscray, Essendon even Saints, what is the more lucrative location? Obviously there may be other reasons players choose to come to us and creating a great environment is key but at the end of the day all other things being equal it will set us at a disadvantage.

I don’t disagree Dr. But is seems that will not be resolved anytime soon. We have to get a location and right now Zero.

  On 22/12/2022 at 04:03, Dr. Gonzo said:

Thanks for posting od.

Just on this comment that "the players love Casey" - it's not necessarily the current players I'm worried about but how it might be a disadvantage in recruiting players from other clubs. If it's between us and Collingwood, Carlton, Footscray, Essendon even Saints, what is the more lucrative location? Obviously there may be other reasons players choose to come to us and creating a great environment is key but at the end of the day all other things being equal it will set us at a disadvantage.

Hasn't stopped us trading in May, Lever, Grundy, Langdon, Brown etc. though.

North Melbourne is a more "lucrative" location than Casey, how are they going attracting talent?

  On 22/12/2022 at 03:41, Demonstone said:

It would take a joint effort to get the deal rolling but that may be a pipedream.

That will end up in smoke

  On 22/12/2022 at 02:25, daisycutter said:

"Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." (Les Brown)

may the force be with us, dz

Or this one from Leo Burnett, “When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either.” Perhaps not as classy, but more realistic 😀 

 

  On 22/12/2022 at 05:34, dice said:

That will end up in smoke

Well it's a-reefer-derci to that idea, then.  It's a shame we traded Weed in retrospect.

  On 21/12/2022 at 06:37, george_on_the_outer said:

Sorry OD, just the same old story we have been hearing again and again. No action, always blaming someone else, always expecting a handout from Government, AFL. 

About time we started planning and dipping into our own pockets, instead of being beggars and expecting others to help us out.

I completely disagree with this, George. It's not at all attached to reality either.

All businesses need co funding, whether it's subsidies, direct funding or debt financing. The latter option is a dangerous path in the austerity environment governments are in. 

IMO we need to bring multiple parties together to solve this financing puzzle, not splash our cash reserves all over the joint because it hasn't been solved 50 years earlier.

I'd like it solved too and I'm not particularly impressed by our board at all, but I also don't want us to take all our cash reserves (which are nowhere near what would be required to get the facilities we need) and invest it in a home base.

That to me is dumb. If it takes a little while longer, but we get co funding between governments (state and even federal), the AFL and the MCC (potentially even get one of our current sponsors to kick in some more money) to reduce our own liability and required investment, that is the sensible play.

I don't however like the idea that some board members could use this to extend their time on the board.

  On 22/12/2022 at 03:41, Demonstone said:

It would take a joint effort to get the deal rolling but that may be a pipedream.

What a cracker!

  On 22/12/2022 at 06:04, A F said:

I completely disagree with this, George. It's not at all attached to reality either.

All businesses need co funding, whether it's subsidies, direct funding or debt financing. The latter option is a dangerous path in the austerity environment governments are in. 

IMO we need to bring multiple parties together to solve this financing puzzle, not splash our cash reserves all over the joint because it hasn't been solved 50 years earlier.

I'd like it solved too and I'm not particularly impressed by our board at all, but I also don't want us to take all our cash reserves (which are nowhere near what would be required to get the facilities we need) and invest it in a home base.

That to me is dumb. If it takes a little while longer, but we get co funding between governments (state and even federal), the AFL and the MCC (potentially even get one of our current sponsors to kick in some more money) to reduce our own liability and required investment, that is the sensible play.

I don't however like the idea that some board members could use this to extend their time on the board.

and the working committee don't all have to be sitting board members

  On 22/12/2022 at 06:04, A F said:

I completely disagree with this, George. It's not at all attached to reality either.

All businesses need co funding, whether it's subsidies, direct funding or debt financing. The latter option is a dangerous path in the austerity environment governments are in. 

IMO we need to bring multiple parties together to solve this financing puzzle, not splash our cash reserves all over the joint because it hasn't been solved 50 years earlier.

I'd like it solved too and I'm not particularly impressed by our board at all, but I also don't want us to take all our cash reserves (which are nowhere near what would be required to get the facilities we need) and invest it in a home base.

 

I didn't mean the club assets....it is up to you, me and all of our 60K members, because successive Boards over a 35 year period have done nothing to create a home for us.

Imagine how much we would have if we each had contributed just $10 or $20 per year toward a building fund?  It isn't hard to organise.  But it requires someone to do just that.  It took 5 years before we caught up to Essendon, who enabled the means to make tax-deductible donations through the ASF. It just requires foresight.

Hawthorn are doing it to build their Dingley facility, even though it is not built yet, because they know you cannot depend upon government largesse alone.  

  On 22/12/2022 at 06:22, george_on_the_outer said:

Hawthorn are doing it to build their Dingley facility, even though it is not built yet, because they know you cannot depend upon government largesse alone.  

Hang on, you've also previously complained about Hawthorn getting government money, this feels like a bit of a bet each way.

Hawthorn will be getting $20m from the federal government, they're expecting about $15m from the state government, $5m from local grants, they're receiving a $10m donation from an ex-pres and they're going to use around $16m from the sale of their pokies venues apparently, that's 2/3s of the expected $100m cost.

As of around November, they'd apparently gathered less than $1m in donations towards Dingley from supporters.

Supposedly they have another $25m or so to find, and if a Tassie team comes in their finances will take a hit.

Can you name any clubs that have built an entirely new base using only supporter donations? Can you imagine the supporter reaction if the club asked for that?

  On 22/12/2022 at 00:07, Kick_It_To_Pickett said:

Currently, the corner of Punt Rd and Swan St has a massive vacant block sitting there. It used to be a car rental place. It was cleared and one apartment/hotel was put up. It looks half completed and abandoned. The rest of that block is completely vacant. If we are serious, we could take that block and put all the club offices and a training facility in there. Players simply walk across the road to Goash’s 

At a minimum we could put a portaloo there so the players have somewhere to go when their training on Gotch's.

Club has become so cbd / mcg precinct obsessed that perhaps other opportunities have been missed .. No doubt Pert & co have done a great job in terms finances, sponsors , resources for footy dept has resulted in flags across all the teams. Port Melb Fc is ripe for development but you can’t align urself with 2 VFL clubs

  On 21/12/2022 at 05:08, old dee said:

Ok here goes I was rung by a person from the club, not the President or Gary Pert. However they were of some importance and I believe they were well informed and honest. Basically what I have thought for some time appears to be correct and the information provided by Dante is correct. WE are now in a long term situation meaning nothing is going to happen fast. We have little power and are at the mercy of the Government, AFL and MCC. The club is bound to a secrecy agreement that they will not disclose details of  discussions. The reason other clubs are getting money is because they have a site to spend it on. We do not.

They have looked at approx 30 venues within the middle ground of Metro Melbourne and while  they would prefer to be close to the G they will look at any venue that  the  Government brings forward.  He was adamant that the Olympic park Magpies episode would not happen again.

Currently we are using Goschs and Olympic park facilities and Casey. He believes that between the two we have facilities  as good as most of our competitors. The club is committed to both venues for Girls , boys and VFL teams. also said they need both as one venue is not enough for the three operations.  He also said that contrary to popular beliefs the players do not see travelling to Casey as a big problem in fact they enjoy being able to train in privacy. 

While admitting that it would be good to have one home for the whole club he did no believe the current situation was placing us at a disadvantage to other clubs.

Now some of the above you can say well he would say that wouldn't he.

My view is we are some time away from a central home for Players and fans but currently we are not at a disadvantage.I firmly believe it is not for want of trying, there is just currently no spot.

 

Frustrating if true & sad that a club with the City Name can’t be accommodated yet the gvt finds a way to build tunnels which continue to blow out of budget by billions 

  On 23/12/2022 at 06:11, Demonsone said:

Frustrating if true & sad that a club with the City Name can’t be accommodated yet the gvt finds a way to build tunnels which continue to blow out of budget by billions 

Well the majority of Victorians want the ALP to remain in power, as evidenced by the recent election. The Libs would be no better.

Maybe we can form an MFC party and hope all members vote for us and we get the balance of power seat. Then watch the funding come rushing in 😁

  On 23/12/2022 at 06:11, Demonsone said:

Frustrating if true & sad that a club with the City Name can’t be accommodated yet the gvt finds a way to build tunnels which continue to blow out of budget by billions 

As frustrating as it is Demonsone I believe we will get there with a decision within the next  couple of years that we will be happy with. I get annoyed seeing the amount of funding other clubs receive for facilities while we have not yet been able to get commitment from stakeholders for a site.  Personally I reckon our facilities will be planned in alignment with the Southern Stand redevelopment, e.g. as part of the business case they are looking at access and transport links to the MCG which will require quite a bit of planning in the surrounding area which any MFC facility would be connected to.

Sydney have just moved into their new facility:

https://www.afl.com.au/news/872122/historic-building-transformed-into-swans-new-training-facility

  On 11/01/2023 at 02:34, Gouga said:

Sydney have just moved into their new facility:

https://www.afl.com.au/news/872122/historic-building-transformed-into-swans-new-training-facility

Envious

  On 11/01/2023 at 08:04, Neil Crompton said:

Envious

yeah they should be unbeatable on small indoor grounds

  On 11/01/2023 at 08:04, Neil Crompton said:

Envious

The Old Melbourne Gaol has been out of commission for almost a hundred years now. It’s relatively close to the G too, maybe we should convert that into our new digs? 😂

apparently the swans are organising a practice match against the druggies in the hangar

I am hopeful someone will ask the question about what is going on with our Home Base at the upcoming Melbourne Football Club AGM on the 20th of February. I would do so myself but I won't be available unfortunately.

It is vital that we continue to keep the pressure on the Melbourne Football Club Board about this matter of our Home Base.

 

  On 02/02/2023 at 04:28, Supreme_Demon said:

I am hopeful someone will ask the question about what is going on with our Home Base at the upcoming Melbourne Football Club AGM on the 20th of February. I would do so myself but I won't be available unfortunately.

It is vital that we continue to keep the pressure on the Melbourne Football Club Board about this matter of our Home Base.

 

I think you can forward a question to the club before the meeting SD. 

I don't understand why the club is not pushing hard for state of the art facilities in the Southern stand redevelopment and use of Gosch's and also Casey. Wouldn't that be the cheapest option and get us a home?