great call...because everyone has a car

Great call . . .

Because even then I haven't heard people in Bairnsdale pissing and moaning about it

Your first claim was to simply "jump on the princes and you'll be there." i'm happy for the move there, just pointing it out that it won't be that easy for everyone

The MCG wasn't easy for everyone either.

No matter where they are it isn't going to be easy for everyone so that as a deciding factor is basically irrelevant.

It's only a training ground anyway

And i never claimed that to get to the MCG you just "belt up punt road." Don't get so defensive just because it's Cranbourne, i'm fine with us training there but don't want to be told thats its easy to get to by people that live there. the mcg isnt easy for everyone to get to, but it is a central location.

Semantics i know but all i'm having issue with is you saying to just belt up a freeway, when for me (and probably many others) its not that easy, especially compared with what we're used to.

Looking forward to the NAB Challenge match in 2009 at Casey Fields (assuming the Dees aren't in the Grand Final of the NAB Cup that evening).

If MFC moves out to Casey Fields for the next pre-season as Chris Connolly has said, it will be the closest thing to a home match for years.

Hoping for a big crowd of MFC supporters embracing the new environment.

Getting ahead of myself just a little!

Looking forward to the NAB Challenge match in 2009 at Casey Fields (assuming the Dees aren't in the Grand Final of the NAB Cup that evening).

If MFC moves out to Casey Fields for the next pre-season as Chris Connolly has said, it will be the closest thing to a home match for years.

Hoping for a big crowd of MFC supporters embracing the new environment.

Getting ahead of myself just a little!

Does that mean that we dump Sandringham in 2009.

I don't live anywhere near Cranbourne.

And there's no built up area that's hard to get to in Victoria - some places just take a little longer

Berwick, so I am 10-15 minutes away.

If it is going to be just used as a training base in summer it will not make a pinch of difference to support. The amount of growth out here is crazy but people are not going to start following Melbourne just because we train in the off season near them.

I think it might make a difference if it is marketed to the right targets - young kids at school and new arrivals to the area are two categories when quick inroads could be made. But it will take a smart and concerted effort by the club.

If we wholly moved out here and had practice games here and made a go of it we would pick up support, no doubt at all. But as we are going to have whatever it is going to be in Gosh's Paddock in 1.5 to 2 years, this is unlikely.

It's going to be a rectangular stadium, dominated by soccer and rugby interests, with training up the road at Gosch's Paddock. Do you think MFC will feel like it's home or will MFC feel like a fish out of water? Maybe your suggestion of wholly moving out to Casey Fields is the answer.

Does that mean that we dump Sandringham in 2009.

I don't think a move to Casey Fields means MFC necessarily dumping the Zebras. But who knows?

The same thoughts are probably going through Saint's fans minds about the future of the St Kilda/Casey Scorpions alignment following St Kilda's move to Frankston announced last year.

I think it might make a difference if it is marketed to the right targets - young kids at school and new arrivals to the area are two categories when quick inroads could be made. But it will take a smart and concerted effort by the club.

It's going to be a rectangular stadium, dominated by soccer and rugby interests,

You keep throwing this up but the shape of the stadium is meaningless. It's an admin base & there is more to training than the stuff on the ground - recovery, weights, pool, video etc etc. The club will still have ready access to a training ground which, to my understanding, will have dimensions closer to the MCG than the Junction Oval does. You obviously have a barrow to push on the full-time at Casey Fields issue and credit to you, you're doing a good job in terms of persistence. I just don't agree. My view is that moving permanently to Cranny would kill us. The answer is somewhere between the two.

We have to have our base near the CBD during the season, to me that's a given. But if we have a summer base at Casey Fields we have to be sure not to neglect the area during the footy season. The club needs to be highly visible. Regularly scheduled training sessions should still take place there, though the bulk of training takes place at Olympic Park. These sessions should be at times where kids can turn up to watch, then have a kick on the ground after training. Hopefully the coaching staff would give the nod for a few (or most) players to join in, chat to the kids, sign autographs, give away some family passes to MFC games. Embrace the local population with a few "Hawthorn style" sausage sizzles after training where they can meet & greet the players.

We need an aggressive approach to getting our players into the primary schools to run clinics, hand out some "made in China" red & blue footys (we have to get something out of the China trip). We can pinch Collingwood's idea where they play a "match" against a local primary school. Offer footy "scholarships" in the secondary schools where the winners get to do a week of (modified) training with the club. There is so much more that can be easily & inexpensively be done to generate support in the area & most of it requires our players prescence. We should have players in the schools the day the contract is signed. We are on the bones of our arse & our players, despite the team's appalling form, are our only marketable asset if we are trying to win the hearts & minds of kids.

But we can't be seen as being exclusively Casey. If we move there full-time, that's what will happen over time & we can't afford that. As big as Geelong is, they would wither & die if they relied exclusively on the support they get from that city. Their Melbourne based supporters are vital to them.

It's a much bigger deal than the shape of the stadium that houses our gym !

My view is that moving permanently to Cranny would kill us. The answer is somewhere between the two.

You mean Oakleigh - that's somewhere between the two?

You keep throwing this up but the shape of the stadium is meaningless. It's an admin base & there is more to training than the stuff on the ground - recovery, weights, pool, video etc etc. The club will still have ready access to a training ground which, to my understanding, will have dimensions closer to the MCG than the Junction Oval does.

I acknowledge all that, but MFC will be a second rate tenant scorned by the "true" (in their view) tenants being the sports that the stadium was actually built for. The scorn won't be too subtle, and I can only wonder what phychological effect that it will eventually have on players and admin feeling that they are not welcome in their own "home".

But if we have a summer base at Casey Fields we have to be sure not to neglect the area during the footy season. The club needs to be highly visible. Regularly scheduled training sessions should still take place there, though the bulk of training takes place at Olympic Park. These sessions should be at times where kids can turn up to watch, then have a kick on the ground after training. Hopefully the coaching staff would give the nod for a few (or most) players to join in, chat to the kids, sign autographs, give away some family passes to MFC games. Embrace the local population with a few "Hawthorn style" sausage sizzles after training where they can meet & greet the players.

We need an aggressive approach to getting our players into the primary schools to run clinics, hand out some "made in China" red & blue footys (we have to get something out of the China trip). We can pinch Collingwood's idea where they play a "match" against a local primary school. Offer footy "scholarships" in the secondary schools where the winners get to do a week of (modified) training with the club. There is so much more that can be easily & inexpensively be done to generate support in the area & most of it requires our players prescence. We should have players in the schools the day the contract is signed. We are on the bones of our arse & our players, despite the team's appalling form, are our only marketable asset if we are trying to win the hearts & minds of kids.

Absolutely spot on.

But we can't be seen as being exclusively Casey. If we move there full-time, that's what will happen over time & we can't afford that. As big as Geelong is, they would wither & die if they relied exclusively on the support they get from that city. Their Melbourne based supporters are vital to them.

No-one says MFC should be seen as exclusively Casey. St Kilda does not see itself as exclusively Frankston, and I doubt even over time they will be seen as that. St Kilda moved to Moorabbin in 1965, and didn't see support from other areas dry up as a result. If MFC moved to Casey, it would still need to maintain (and in fact pursue further) support across Melbourne. It has to do this wherever it locates, but locating in Casey creates the opportunity to develop a region as MFC's own and importantly to tap into a major new and additional support base.

You obviously have a barrow to push on the full-time at Casey Fields issue and credit to you, you're doing a good job in terms of persistence. I just don't agree.

Just having a go (and enjoying the interaction).

Earth is many, many million miles away from Mars

Nah, Cranbourne is about 30kms from my place, a 30-40 min drive.

Cranbourne isn't that far away for me. About the same travel time as going to the MCG.

I can't wait for the Demons to set up a Summer training base at Casey Fields!