Leaderboard

Sorry Old. You must be labouring under a case of mistaken identity. My position was always that, in the post-Daniher era, we needed to adopt a policy that focused heavily on youth but also one that wasn't predicated simply on pumping games into young players when they weren't ready or in situations where they didn't have the right mix of players around them to act as mentors both on and off the ground. Not saying we could have secured a leader like Judd but we never looked like trading in a quality player in all that time until the new regime stepped in. Anyway, it's good to see that we're now on the same page on this subtle but exciting change of approach at the club. I'm glad that under Mark Neeld and his extended group of assistants and the wider range of skills available, the need I spoke about many times in recent years has gained recognition and acceptance. We still have one of the youngest lists around but the maturity added in the latest round of trading and drafting will help us progress a lot more quickly than we otherwise would have done relying solely on youth and waiting for light bodied players to mature. I think that's why an astute judge such as Colin Wisbey, who being a Collingwood man knows the worth of having Neeld as our head coach, places us on top of his list of likely improvers. I also expect us to be up there competing with that tier of teams fighting it out for somewhere between 6th and 10th spot and I hold out high hopes that we'll notch at least one win against a top four team in 2012.

I asked in another thread about the legacy of the Norm Smith era. That doesn't mean the era was one that was dominated by one person in Smith but rather, that Norm was and always be the major figure associated with that enormously successful time in the club's history. Others included Ron Barassi and a bevy of players who formed part of a champion team and the legendary Jim Cardwell who was almost a one man band successfully running the club's administration and recruiting (today we probably employ 50 people to do what this man did single-handedly). And you can add others like Bert Chadwick who ran the show from committee level . If you look at the 2011 MFC yearbook @ page 32 the record shows the stability of the club in what I call the Norm Smith era. At one stage, we went for a period of 11 years with the same people filling the roles of Chairman, Club Secretary and Team Coach. That's what I call stability which is a prerequisite for success in any organisation. Looking back to the mid 1960s one would have expected things to go on like that forever but history tells a different story. Our long period of success did indeed cast a long shadow over the club in the decades to come. We were prepared to rest on our laurels. We failed to keep up with the times as commercialism crept into the game and we lost our pride of place at the top of the tree. Perhaps, we thought the MCC connection would be our saviour but, in the end, it was the opposite. We didn't see the need for change. By the end of the 60s we had hit rock bottom and over the next decade, we lagged far behind the other clubs. Nothing against Jim Cardwell but by the time he retired in 1975, we were light years behind the new VFL power houses like Richmond, Carlton and North Melbourne. When we finally saw the need to change it was too late - our business model was always half a generation behind the leaders. Successive administrations were riven by divisions within, by power plays and by a lack of money. While some of the other clubs bought premierships, we had in fighting. The divisions were maintained even when we split from the MCC and Barassi became coach. He instigated the Irish experiment and more importantly, got our junior development and recruiting off the floor but he had passed his best as a coach and couldn't work miracles. We had our moments under Northey, Balme and Daniher. The grand final appearances of 1988 and 2000 filled us with hope. Balme's 1994 side might well have become a premiership team in the years to follow but for being blighted with injury. But our history and our poor financial state weighed us down and always seemed to come back to haunt us. Whenever there was a light at the end of the tunnel we had something like the merger battle, Gutnick and Szondy and a balance sheet full of red ink and debt. So it's clear that, since the Norm Smith era, our history has been dotted with periods of division and disharmony. That is not to say that these necessarily stem directly from the success of Norm Smith's era or from the episode of his sacking but they constitute the background to the club's condition to this very day. I never thought in my wildest dreams that a Garry Lyon would take up the call to arms of an ill Jimmy Stynes who has already done so much to relieve us of the burden of our debt. However, the things he has achieved in such a short period of time and the way in which Mark Neeld has gone about doing his job to date is a promising start to the task of removing what is a heavy weight off the club. I've remained an optimist most of the time since the Norm Smith era ended and, though I could well be wrong, I have a feeling that the era after the Fox is now finally coming to an end. And thank goodness for that!

Hold it right there. Is there any evidence of this so called "direct support" or the demands that are being alleged here? If not this is an unwarranted slur on a club sponsor and there's no place for it on this site.

I disagree. Whilst I am in sympathy with those who seek to stamp out some of the cruel practices that the OP mentions, I haven't seen sufficient evidence that Pets Paradise condones these activities. We've been given one reference in the form of a 13 month old blog which contains accusations against the company but no substantiation of Pets Paradise's involvement with the particular puppy farm and no suggestion that it engages in any cruelty towards animals at all. There was no right of reply or response given to Pets Paradise whatsoever in the blog. Until a direct link is made between the company and the cruelty complained about in the OP, I don't think it should be treated as something directly special to the interests of the MFC but rather, a matter for the general discussion board. I'm referring this to the moderators for a majority decision. And in the interests of some fairness and balance, I found this on the Pets Paradise website:- No, it doesn't excuse cruelty to pets but unless a direct link involving the company with such conduct is found it is not deserving of our condemnation.

If you look at Davey's body shape now compared to when he started it is completely different. He is much heavier now and doesn't glide over the ground as freely as he used to, I am not sure he is still suited as a small forward, but more than happy to be wrong.

So our amiable boofy players didn't produce a "Glee"--type performance. My favourite negative comments are : "makes me sick", "accepting mediocrity" and the wonderful "made to look incompetent and underprepared" !

+1

"Mega Watts lighting up the track "& this about Davey................ "Misson admits the Demons have been led on a steep learning curve. "They needed some real structure with their training, weights and conditioning," he says. "We needed to improve their strength and fitness and we've put some systems in place to get them up to speed on what an elite AFL program is. To be honest, they've embraced it and in the seven weeks I've been here they've really taken to it. "We can see a lot of upside and the improvement in just seven weeks has been more than I expected. We've got a long way to go, but they're really taking the bit between the teeth and I think they're enjoying the hard work." They've EMBRACED.........upside& the improvment in 7wks All very positive and leaves me salivating about our future

about friggin time he has had it far too easy for far too long playing that role across half back welcome back flash, time to show us once again why we named you "flash"