Long Term Damage to MFC

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

So....

At the end of the year before last we all thought we were on a good wicket, then we had last year where it was revealed we had problems, but had a good list, with a fair amount of healthy development in it. I was relatively pleased with the direction of the club, but I have always been fearful for what might eventuate when we have our obligatory "down" period.

Alright, so the fall we had to have came a season or two before it was scheduled to come...

What I would like to hear is peoples' thoughts on the following... My great fear is that MFC is not financially strong enough, and doesn't have the wherewithal to fight off a negatively balanced merger, or even a move interstate. If this is true, over the next few years we may find a new coach, a bit of rebuilding, and you'd think at least 2 more seasons on top of this one where we'll be bottom 4, before we start winning games and winning back fans.

The depression has hit, can MFC survive the swings?

Discuss....

[beelzebub 23,193]

I dont share your pessimism on this matter. I see there is definitely a way forward. For sure some personel changes will ring out come season end> With a more stable board with goals being kicked off field, a new home beckoning I sense its the prelude to a new era. As others dance the jig of unsure homes and hearts Melbourne whilst not brilliantly succesful on the turf at the moment is cementing its place in this city.

have faith...believe. it wil lhappen....just not overnight !! :-)

[Jaded No More 67,609]

I think you are being FAR too negative.

Even with all of our deficiencies, an injury-free list would get us into the top 8 for the next 4 years at least.

Whether we go any further is another issue, and one that I believe needs to be solved through list management, delistings, drafting, as well as a face change(s) in the coaching box.

But to say that we'll spend at least 2 more years in the bottom 4, or that we need to do that in order to fix our problems, is madness.

We have a lot of natural improvement to come, when you consider that most of our ball winners are under 23 years of age and still developing. Our spine needs a bit of work, with the ruck and FF positions soon to become vacant, but if we just get ourselves right mentally and become a bit smarter with the way we use the ball, we will play finals for quite a few years yet.

I certainly believe that our list is better than the Kangaroos, Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon (who rely on a lot of older players) and at least on par with St.Kilda's.

I agree that we can't afford to bottom out, at least not for a sustained period of time, but then again, we are hardly alone. There are plenty of Victorian clubs who wouldn't survive a long stint at the wrong end of the ladder.

[Courtney_Fish 183]

Come on mate. We're only 5 games out of the 8 with 13 games to go and we were within a kick of beating 2 teams on 2nd highest number of wins. And we've got Whelan, Rivers, Bartram, Bate, Moloney, Yze, Picket, Jamar & Silvia to come back (did I miss anyone?). That's like replacing the half back, centre and half forward lines. (Oh, Ferguson!). And we still might see Newton.

[Rogue 585]

Alright, so the fall we had to have came a season or two before it was scheduled to come...

over the next few years we may find a new coach, a bit of rebuilding, and you'd think at least 2 more seasons on top of this one where we'll be bottom 4, before we start winning games and winning back fans.

I don't think there's necessarily any reason why we'll languish in the bottom four for at least two seasons. I felt less optimistic about this year than many, but I believe we'll be better in a few years than we are now...and yeah, I created a thread (one of the rare times) stating this at the end of last year. Looking at the list indicates that while we're going to lose a few players we're going to have further development from many of our younger guys who are already in or around our best 22.

If, as you said, we we had a good list coming into this year then it's not going to get much worse. In fact I imagine the development to guys with less than 50 games will be substantial. Those players are Bartram, Bate, Bell, Dunn, Ferguson, PJ, Jamar, CJ, Jones, Sylvia, and Warnock - while some may not make it, the majority are in or around our best 22. McLean, Carroll, Moloney, Rivers, and Davey were in that group not long ago. By my reckoning I've listed at least half of our best 22, and we all hope that young guys like Newton and Frawley kick on and become regular senior players.

While McDonald (31) has been a good player for us I don't think our midfield will be diminished when you look at the younger players coming through. White (30) has been less effective in recent years but is still one of the first picked and our rucks are certainly a problematic area...and one that I felt would hold us back from being a top-tier team in '07. Neitz (32) will leave a big hole in our forward line but I don't see his retirement proving to be ruinous for the team. While some solid players are departing I feel it will be offset by the emergence of our younger group.

PS. Sorry this turned into an essay on our our list, but I thought it was relevant considering part of your argument was based around the presumption that we're in for some pretty hard years ahead.

[praha 11,100]

Wow. We are in no need of a "rebuild". A few players will go, but I mean gee, we aren't in bad shape. Right now we are, but for the future, no. Practically, we are rebuilding now and have been for a few years. We have the talent and squad to go all the way, just not the culture or coach imo. We will be top 4 next year.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

I dont share your pessimism on this matter.

I think you are being FAR too negative.

PS. Sorry this turned into an essay on our our list, but I thought it was relevant considering part of your argument was based around the presumption that we're in for some pretty hard years ahead.

Fair enough. I think you're all wrong.... Ok, maybe PRESUMING we would be in the bottom 4 for the next 2 years is a big stretch. Fair enough. We may even make the finals next year, as we will most likely see no retirements of any major consequence at the end of this year.

My point is, and if you look at it with fair judgement, we have a NUMBER of players doing A LOT, who will either diminish or retire over the next 3 years... and it just so happens that the positions they fill will probably not be able to be replaced in the trade period.

Look, with no Neitz, an ageing Robbo who relies on his explosiveness, JMac who CONTINUES to be under-rated, Jeff White (no backups in sight), that's 2 tall forwards and a ruckman (to go with the 2 backups you would OBVIOUSLY need).... That's 5 quality talls we have to recruit, train, mature, play 50 games and THEN hope they can get us to a flag chance before the next slew of players who are now 26-28 get old (Bruce, Trav, Green, Whelan). That's going to be almost impossible. I grant we could pick up a good ruckman with our first pick this year, maybe... there's one who'll need a few years. Juice is a FREAK of a talent, but he's YEARS off meaning as much to the side in terms of structure as Neitz. Dunn has not completely convinced me, Bate is good, but will play a variety of roles, PJ is stopgap material.... It all makes me very nervous... and just because we draft talls HEAVILY in the next few years doesn't mean they'll work out!

I liked our list for this year and next, and hey, I still kind of do. I worry that Neitz and JMac may not be able to cover the ground they'll need to next year, and Jeff and his mates would be hard pressed to beat HALF of the AFL's ruck combinations. It's not ideal, but we can be effective, and possibly make top four ASSUMING we get a good coach and he doesn't do a complete clean out... fair enough....

But if not next year, we are going to have a gun midfield (Brock, Bate, Bartram, Petterd, Bell maybe, Sylvia, Green, Bruce, Trav, Davey), and an up and coming defence (Frawley, Rivers, Carroll + whoever we want to draft that's huge) and a VERY shaky forward line... That doesn't spell premiership success to me.

There are the two major reasons I feel we will struggle.

- We have a black-hole in our drafting history around 2000-02. Those years after Green, Bruce and Whelan came to the fore. When the clubs who recruited well in these years find those players reaching the all important 25-30 age bracket, we'll be found wanting. Or at least we'll be compensating hoping our younger players will play above their weight division, and our older guys will stay fresh...

- Hawthorn did it right. They went NUTS recruiting talls all at once. Many don't rate Roughie, and I'm certainly sceptical, but he, Franklin, Boyle, and a handful of other interesting players like Croad and Dawson, have taken their customary 3 years to fill out as all talls do, and all at once they'll start improving dramatically. They'll give, from NOW, 10 YEARS of good service, playing well into their 30s as tall players seem to be able to do. During this time they have some ripper young midfield leaders in Hodge, Lewis and co.... And they can recruit MORE young midfielders who can potentially make their mark on the comp MUCH earlier. Earlier than the talls anyway. In short, we have recruited a good midfield that I'm happy with, we've put together a potentially powerful defence peacemeal, and we are NOWHERE NEAR putting together a ruck division, or 2 absolute certain star power forwards. Of the current bunch juice shows potential only, and Bate is too good at too many jobs.

Your points regarding our young improvers are well made, I just don't think there's enough of them. We've got rippers who could fill maybe 14 positions in the side and you'd completely trust them... but there's ALWAYS going to be holes... we're the victim of our own success, getting lower draft picks for a sustained period.

Mark my words, we are due to start the premiership clock again soon, and if we get a new coach, then you can bet it will happen then... and you can bet we'll have no REAL success to speak of for a NUMBER of years...

[Gorgoroth 12,697]

i can see your point and its easy when your 0-9 to see all the bad points but i thought we would challenge for the flag in the next 2 years and i still beleive so.

go dee's 08!

[grazman 7,263]

- Hawthorn did it right. They went NUTS recruiting talls all at once. Many don't rate Roughie, and I'm certainly sceptical, but he, Franklin, Boyle, and a handful of other interesting players like Croad and Dawson,

Mark my words, we are due to start the premiership clock again soon, and if we get a new coach, then you can bet it will happen then... and you can bet we'll have no REAL success to speak of for a NUMBER of years...

They didn't go nuts - it was a process. Boyle was recruited two years under Schwab, who fell on his sword by admitting he got it wrong with the list and calls on older players (some parallels there I think), Clarkson then purged the list of players that wouldn't be around in three or fours years. They took a calculated gamble in drafting Franklin and Roughead, but Roughead may very well prove to many that you pick the best available player, rather than the best bigman available.

The other major difference is that Danners has always sought to strengthen the list, he hasn't traded away first round picks. Our U23 core is stronger than that which Clarkson inherited from Schwab.

[Garry Lyon's Leg Hair 0]

So....

At the end of the year before last we all thought we were on a good wicket, then we had last year where it was revealed we had problems, but had a good list, with a fair amount of healthy development in it. I was relatively pleased with the direction of the club, but I have always been fearful for what might eventuate when we have our obligatory "down" period.

Alright, so the fall we had to have came a season or two before it was scheduled to come...

What I would like to hear is peoples' thoughts on the following... My great fear is that MFC is not financially strong enough, and doesn't have the wherewithal to fight off a negatively balanced merger, or even a move interstate. If this is true, over the next few years we may find a new coach, a bit of rebuilding, and you'd think at least 2 more seasons on top of this one where we'll be bottom 4, before we start winning games and winning back fans.

The depression has hit, can MFC survive the swings?

Discuss....

Negative Nancy!

You do realise that we have lost three games by a goal or less and if these had gone our way we would be 3 -6 and only 2 games out of the 8 with a favourable run of games coming up.

I think the last quarter last week (7 goals to two) against a young and fit lineup in the Roos, shows signs of turning the corner this season. Confidence may be down a little after another close one gone the other way but I think these are the types of games that build character and determination to fight it out for the full 100 minutes. I wouldn't be surprised one bit if we can upset the Crows this week and we should give the Pies a good run the week after then its the Tigers, Bombers, Blues, Lions, Kangas (again) all of which are very winnable games.

[Jaded No More 67,609]

we are going to have a gun midfield (Brock, Bate, Bartram, Petterd, Bell maybe, Sylvia, Green, Bruce, Trav, Davey), and an up and coming defence (Frawley, Rivers, Carroll + whoever we want to draft that's huge) and a VERY shaky forward line... That doesn't spell premiership success to me.

You might remember this team I hear is going around in the West, they call themselves the Eagles?

Apperantly they have an ordinary forward line where someone called Lynch is kicking bags of goals, when in fact, if he played for any other club he'd be delisted within 5 rounds. A gun midfield makes a team.

Adelaide's forward line is a disgrace, but it doesn't stop them from finishing top 4. St.Kilda's forward line is excellent, and they can't buy success despite spending a lot of time on the bottom of the ladder.

I also think you over-estimate the importance of some of our players.

Jeff White is no longer the ruckman he used to be. When PJ was on the ground on Sunday, we won just as many clearances. In fact, when Jones and McLean were in there, we were winning the ball, period. Ruckmen are overrated, because if they are surrounded by a great on-ball division, they are made to look better. As long as a ruckman breaks even, and the on-ballers are good enough to win the ball by reading the taps of the opposition ruckman, that's all that matter. Sydney nearly won a premiership last year with Jolly as their number one ruckman, Jolly FFS!

As for James McDonald, he is nothing that Bartram isn't, except that he's been doing it for years. He brings a lot of heart and hard work to the club, but he isn't a vital part of a premiership side.

Neita is of course going to be a massive loss, not just for his goal kicking but obviously his leadership too, but you forget that Robbo is only 28... he is just a year older than Bruce. He can play for at least another 4 years, and we know that he thrives when he is our number one target, which he will become when Neita retires. Robbo at FF is a headache for most coaches. He is much harder to stop than Neita when he is on fire.

Anyways, you are being overly negative... even too negative for me, and that says something :D

[Jonesy is the next captain 0]

Goodness me that was a negative rant. I dont think there will be any takeovers or mergers and unlike anyone else we cannot be moved interstate. Our name is Melbourne which also happens to be the capital city of Victoria. We arent some little suburb like Fitzroy or Richmond so I dont think you will see us moving anywhere ever.

Its not an excuse the truth is we have had an unlucky year and everyone can point the finger at ND as much as they like but he is not God and a lot of things have been out of his control this season. Financially though yes we suck

[Gouga 560]

I also think you are being too negative. Our list is in good shape. I just hope we can find a coach that can maximise it.

There is some concern about the financial future of the club. It is widely accepted that 10 clubs can't prosper sharing the Victorian market. We need to put ourselves in a better position than the Bulldogs and Kangaroos so when it comes a time that clubs must relocate, we are not the one the AFL looks at. I think we are ahead of the Bulldogs and Kangaroos because have been more successful, historically and recently. We also are somewhat of a protected species being the oldest club.

As much as people try and hide away from it. Clubs, in order to survive will need to merge or relocate. This will be fastracked if the interstate dominance continues.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

They didn't go nuts

I'm fairly certain that's incorrect. The chief was on SEN as recently as within the last month. He admitted that the recruiters at the hawks identified the fact that there was, around the time Franklin and Roughie were recruited, a famine when it came to quality talls. They knew that should they recruit the best big boys around, in all likelihood when they matured they would have little opposition in the same age bracket as them. Hence they went with them, and stuck with Boyle.

Negative Nancy!

Are you kidding me?!!! What does winning all those games achieve?! EVEN IF we won against all 7 or so of those opponents, we can afford, from the next 13 rounds, to only drop one more game in order to make the finals!!! I'm not saying we can't win more games this year to get us safely away from the spoon, but what exactly would the point be of trying to win every game from here on in?!!! We play the bulk of our interstate games in the second half too! Open your eyes people, the situation IS dire!!! If you think the current list is capable of winning a flag, you have to take a long hard look at yourself. The Saints and Crows have both had major injuries, and they're still in the running.... we haven't even been close.

West Coast has Cox, Judd and Kerr, as well as a supporting cast that can go with/beat our best players besides maybe McLean, and they aren't even mature yet. As good as Brock is, he's not quite Judd or Kerr. To say WC have a gun midfield is a MASSIVE understatement. Adelaide have an EXCELLENT defence we have a good one MAYBE in the future, and I'd prefer to keep the St Kilda comparisons to a minimum... they are, after all, a bit "different." I understand your point, but we don't have world beating midfield or defence. Just good ones. Add Judd, and maybe you have something... But that goes for EVERY side.

Hmmm... Yeah, I see your point with ruckmen, but it seems to me you still need at least a GOOD one and an ok one to backup. PJ, it seems to me is good backup, but a quality ruckman is YEARS away should we need to train one. And I think you slightly UNDERestimate ruckmen. Our mids have struggled now that Jeff is no longer a leader in the AFL. It's no coincidence our being 0-9 coincides with his decline. He has been a GREAT player... and we need a GREAT replacement if we're serious. Premiership winning teams have all had top grade ruckmen.

Your point on JMac highlights what I said before. We may well have "as good" players coming up from the youger ranks... that's all well and good... what I'm saying is that our midfield is stroinger with BOTH JMac and Barts. When our better old guys retire, the responsibility falls to these younger players... then who takes up THEIR slack? Do you see my point? Just because you have an immediate replacement for a player doesn't mean the problem is solved. Unless we have 22 players under 25 that together make a starting team, there's always going to be holes.

Robbo? I worry about him. His inaccountability hurts him, and I worry that his explosiveness is an integral part of his game, and that as his knees start to creak in two years, his height and weight deficiency may FINALLY get the better of him. Happy to be proven wrong....

Yes, I am being negative, but I will make you this one note. I was told off for being negative early this year when I said I thought we had some pain in store for us this year. I claimed that we COULD make finals, but that a far more likely scenario would be that we would fight to make them. I believed then, as now, that too many good players are fulfilling the roles STAR players would fill if we had any... eg Rivers + Carroll = Glass, Robbo + Neitz = Feva... My concern was that in any normal team they hope that their best 5 players, presumably their stars, would stay uninjured. They would then have some hope. We have 10 players who would need to stay uninjured before cracks started to show. Granted, we've been hit hard, and even those that were right to play had AWFUL form problems, but my point still stands. I was convinced otherwise by certain people, and as it turns out, we didn't get the injury luck we needed. So what happens now? We have a crack at '08. Like I said, that's fine, but I doubt any coach we could afford would come in and win a flag in his first year even IF he decided to give this list one more go. And if Daniher stays, does anyone think he could coach us to a flag? EVEN IF either one got close, after '08 we have some rebuilding to do that will take 2 years AT A MINIMUM!!! Fair enough, we may not be bottom 4 during this time, but we may as well be, because we won't be Grand Finallists in '09 and '10....

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Aaaah. Good. Some people see the point of the original post.

I don't believe, for a second that being "Melbourne" football club saves us. We could still merge. And lots of weird and terrible thing may happen. If things go from bad to worse, teams may eb EXPECTED to move interstate, and I don't believe for a second that being the capital city of a state automatically gives you the right to sit back and relax, safe in the knowledge you're not going anywhere.

My point was that all these weaker clubs, Doggies, Roos etc etc are always going to have financial problems... do you think when push comes to shove, that they will be able to beat the Pies and Dons off the Titanic? They're far enough behind as it is. If any fan were to look at our history and say we are safe, then THEY should take an honest look at it. We are under some risk. Isn't that enough reason to be at least prepared for a fight? If the powers that be in the AFL see no other recourse but to relocate or merge clubs so that we're left with 7 VIC sides, OF COUrSE they're not going to come to the Pies or Dons. The simple fact is they have larger membership bases, and it would hurt the AFL more to lose them. It's simple numbers people. Lower membership base = More likely to go...

I'm not saying we WILL go, and I don't think we're under the worst threat, but we'd better bloodywell recruit and play a dynasty in the next 10 years wouldn't we!!!! The club is in desperate need of a golden era, and for about 10 different reasons too...

[Little Goffy 13,963]

You must be kidding? 2 more years in bottom four?

Honestly, I'm still not convinced we'll finish THIS season bottom four.

I think it's fair to say that there will be a bit of a clean out at the end of this year, but consider who that clean out might include, anyone from -

Ward, Brown, Holland, Wheatley, Ferguson, Bizzell, Godfrey, even Jamar.

Some delistings, some trades maybe, there might be a reitrement or two as well, from other players.

But we could lose all eight of them without making a dramatic change to our performance. (harsh)

And then we'd have a Craig Cameron party in the draft, with at least fairly early picks to boost things along.

(and then of course we'll be getting Judd, on a charity-case salary, with a preseason draft pick)

But before you even look at that, consider what we can put out there as a 'youth' team already -

FB: Bell

HB: Bartram Rivers Petterd

C: Moloney Bate

HF: Sylvia Miller Davey

F: Dunn

OnB: Mclean Jones

That list obviously doesn't include the players who aren't quite proven yet but seem credible -

P. Johnson, C. Johnson, Newton, Frawley.

Given Miller's inconsistent form, you'd have to say our main issues with the youth squad are key positions and ruck. So come on PJ, Newton and Frawley!

I don't think a long term slump is on the cards. But damn, I had really hoped that the odd-year even-year thing was over...

[Jonesy is the next captain 0]

I don't believe, for a second that being "Melbourne" football club saves us. We could still merge. And lots of weird and terrible thing may happen. If things go from bad to worse, teams may eb EXPECTED to move interstate, and I don't believe for a second that being the capital city of a state automatically gives you the right to sit back and relax, safe in the knowledge you're not going anywhere.

My point was that all these weaker clubs, Doggies, Roos etc etc are always going to have financial problems... do you think when push comes to shove, that they will be able to beat the Pies and Dons off the Titanic? They're far enough behind as it is. If any fan were to look at our history and say we are safe, then THEY should take an honest look at it. We are under some risk. Isn't that enough reason to be at least prepared for a fight? If the powers that be in the AFL see no other recourse but to relocate or merge clubs so that we're left with 7 VIC sides, OF COUrSE they're not going to come to the Pies or Dons. The simple fact is they have larger membership bases, and it would hurt the AFL more to lose them. It's simple numbers people. Lower membership base = More likely to go...

I'm not saying we WILL go, and I don't think we're under the worst threat, but we'd better bloodywell recruit and play a dynasty in the next 10 years wouldn't we!!!! The club is in desperate need of a golden era, and for about 10 different reasons too...

Well I do think it does gaurantee us that, it would be like moving the Sydney Swans to Melbourne, just wouldnt happen I think. With all the cash the AFL has now I do not think there is any threat of us going anywhere cos they will try and help us stay cashed up. The days of the Hawthorn merge are behind us.

All Victorian teams are in need of an era to end the bloody interstate era

[Finks 19]

So....

Discuss....

It's sad when a poster such as you DD falls on his own sword.

Sadder than being 0 and 9.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

And then we'd have a Craig Cameron party in the draft, with at least fairly early picks to boost things along.

Not even Craig Cameron can achieve the impossible. Not only would he have to recruit a KP defender, forward, 2 ruckmen etc etc but he'd have to recruit them from a draft, and they'd have to be READY MADE!!! That's impossible! The best ruckmen in the land usually take until they're 23+ to make any REAL impact. Yes we could trade, but could we trade for that many QUALITY players? Also, they'll be someone else's trash for a reason... You're missing the point. The draftees for next year would be HARD PRESSED to make any impact straight away. It almost never happens. If we have a RIPPING draft year, then that's exciting, but it's not exciting immediately. Those draftees need 3 years in EVERY case to become the players they need to be. Even Judd took a couple of years to start smashing the competition.

FB: Bell

HB: Bartram Rivers Petterd

C: Moloney Bate

HF: Sylvia Miller Davey

F: Dunn

OnB: Mclean Jones

AGAIN! I'm as much a lover of that list as ANYONE... Even MORE of a lover of some of those players than many.... but you'll notice that it's only 12 players. Be kind to some of the other younger guys on the list and you'll have maybe 14 to 16, but it's still a long way off.... Look, all we can hope to do is have a strong few recruiting years in a row. That way those players start to own the comp ALL AT THE SAME TIME. We've done half the job with that list above, and that's certainly something to be excited about... but those players will be making their names IN 3-5 YEARS! In the meantime we have MANY problems that need fixing, not just one or two.

Well I do think it does gaurantee us that, it would be like moving the Sydney Swans to Melbourne, just wouldnt happen I think.

Good grief. How many teams do the Swans compete with in Sydney compared to the dees? How much media coverage do they get in their home state compared with the dees? It's like saying that Melbourne Victory have many more supporters than any of the AFL clubs. Add 9 more soccer clubs in Victoria and we'll see how their numbers go...

I'll say it one more time, and if people don't get it by now they never will. It's supporters who think we'll be fine just because we're "Melbourne FC" that will be the ones shocked and dismayed if another merger/move is touted. Being the only team called Melbourne didn't save us from merger talk ten years ago, and it won't save us in the future if the situation regarding interstate dominance gets worse, which it very well could for all we know.

Take off the rose coloured glasses. We're not a dead club walking, far from it, but we will be if this kind of naivity is allowed to perpetuate.

[Jonesy is the next captain 0]

I'll say it one more time, and if people don't get it by now they never will. It's supporters who think we'll be fine just because we're "Melbourne FC" that will be the ones shocked and dismayed if another merger/move is touted. Being the only team called Melbourne didn't save us from merger talk ten years ago, and it won't save us in the future if the situation regarding interstate dominance gets worse, which it very well could for all we know.

Take off the rose coloured glasses. We're not a dead club walking, far from it, but we will be if this kind of naivity is allowed to perpetuate.

It was just that "talk". The whole competition is in a better state than it was 10 years ago and North will go only if they want to not because they have to. Its not rose coloured glasses at all its reality. Financially we do suck we need people to get on board end of story, bums on seats and memberships.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

It's sad when a poster such as you DD falls on his own sword.

Sadder than being 0 and 9.

Just had a look at my original post, and I see what you mean. I don't think we're for the scrapheap, not at all. I mean, we are in '07 and have been for a while now, but as a club I'm excited about our future.

What this was meant to do was raise the point that we need now, more than ever in recent years, to maintain our memberships, keep going to games, because the great unwashed won't be turning up to keep the club's coffers full...

Sorry to seem depressing, wasn't my intention.

[Jonesy is the next captain 0]

Just had a look at my original post, and I see what you mean. I don't think we're for the scrapheap, not at all. I mean, we are in '07 and have been for a while now, but as a club I'm excited about our future.

What this was meant to do was raise the point that we need now, more than ever in recent years, to maintain our memberships, keep going to games, because the great unwashed won't be turning up to keep the club's coffers full...

Sorry to seem depressing, wasn't my intention.

Well I have been saying for some time that everyone is keen to point the finger at the club, the players the coach but what about our performance as supporters? Been worse than our teams I think it has been bloody disgraceful

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

It was just that "talk". The whole competition is in a better state than it was 10 years ago and North will go only if they want to not because they have to. Its not rose coloured glasses at all its reality. Financially we do suck we need people to get on board end of story, bums on seats and memberships.

ODB, you're aware our club's members voted for it? I realise we had the better part of the deal in the take-over, but I don't think you understand how close we came as a club to merging.

Oh my god... we're here again... Sorry to all the posters sick of seeing this topic brought up every 6 months...

North will only go if they want to? Where have you been? They ARE going... do you know any North Supporters who can look you in the eye, without a television camera around, who actually WANT their club to move? yes they'll most probably return to some success, yes it'll save the blue and white, but at what cost?

Jesus it scares me when supporters are told how much danger MFC was in and they shrug it off saying "it'll be alright, she'll be ok, don't worry mate!"

I thought those days were gone...

[Deelusioned 0]

What this was meant to do was raise the point that we need now, more than ever in recent years, to maintain our memberships, keep going to games, because the great unwashed won't be turning up to keep the club's coffers full...

I haven't read the etirity of this post - but the above is an absolute necessity in order to get us going forward, people need to turn out in droves Saturday to avoid us owing the AFL another 50k.

Although I reckon as usual, once we start winning a few games all those bandwagon jumpers will don the colours and come out of the woodwork. Our supporters are as bad as the Cats in terms of stick with em when they're firing, but get as far from them when they're stinkin.' Weak.

[Jonesy is the next captain 0]

ODB, you're aware our club's members voted for it? I realise we had the better part of the deal in the take-over, but I don't think you understand how close we came as a club to merging.

Oh my god... we're here again... Sorry to all the posters sick of seeing this topic brought up every 6 months...

North will only go if they want to? Where have you been? They ARE going... do you know any North Supporters who can look you in the eye, without a television camera around, who actually WANT their club to move? yes they'll most probably return to some success, yes it'll save the blue and white, but at what cost?

Jesus it scares me when supporters are told how much danger MFC was in and they shrug it off saying "it'll be alright, she'll be ok, don't worry mate!"

I thought those days were gone...

You are having a rather negative day arent u? I remember all too well the merger I even had a NO MERGER sign in my window at home. The AFL is generally in a better position, there is plenty of money around (thankyou Channel 7 and 10) and I do not think we are going anywhere. I think however people need to get off their couches and go to games. All I am going to say is that we have a few footy clubs on the books at work I will not name who and they are not in as bad state as you think.