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I'm almost convinced that Scully is going.

I would like to offer thanks to Don for taking on the role of President at a most difficult time and doing a great job of continuing Jimmy's work; it must be hard for him to follow in the footsteps of such a legend. Don was mainly responsible for Jimmy putting himself for President in the first place and I'm sure he would never have envisaged a time when he would have to step in and take over, none the less he has and I hope he is given time to put his own stamp on the job. I don't know if he will put himself up for re-election or not but I certainly hope he does because we need someone at the helm who will give us stability and I reckon Don can. I guess he's not all that high profile and some will want to get someone that is, just remember that he loves the club and is in it for the club's sake not his own. Just my thoughts on the job as we go in to the next season and beyond.

RP, I'm not sure I totally agree re the online ability to access merchandise. The reason I'd like to see something in the CBD is more for brand awareness than merchandise sales. It's about any new Melbournian or any visitors/tourists that come to Melbourne, know exactly who Melbourne is. Same as my thoughts on a Demon Shop/outlet being near the MCG tour stuff. The market I'm targeting is those that will buy on impulse, for example, that tourist/visitor who has just been on the MCG tour, learnt about the MFC's history, and on their way out can buy a Melbourne shirt/jumper/whatever. That market won't be the ones that get on the website and buy merchandise.

Has there been a player drafted in history with so much scrutiny ? Tambling copped a lot; Hodge had the spotlight early days, as did Goddard; and to a lesser extent Buddy and even Riewoldt. Peake flying in on a helicopter for the Cats meant he put a target on his back in the 80's; Diamond Jim had fanfare, but couldn't deliver; Pitura became a dud when he shifted teams; and Templeton couldn't get over injuries at Melbourne post Footscray. But there's no doubt that Watts gets an extraordinary amount of publicity and focus. When one considers that Gumbleton was a number 2 draft pick and hasn't fired a shot due to injury and Hansen a number 3 pick, who's delivered little, the attention Watts receives is out of proportion. We sort of know why to an extent, i.e. Queen's Birthday and the way we pumped up his debut, pick one ahead of Naitanui, the private school boy stuff, and the mere fact that these days there's more journalists covering football than politics. Freak is way off the chart saying that he's shown nothing. How many 196cms have his ability below their knees, have his agility, have his kicking skills off both sides, and make some of the smart decisions he does ? If you can't see his talent you're either blinded by bias, can't detect ability, or are so disappointed that he's not what you wanted from a key position player that you won't acknowledge his skill sets. Having said that, I'm terribly disappointed in the way he plays. I'm terribly disappointed that entering his 4th year he was playing wing in the VFL when he was drafted as a key forward and at pick one no less. And it does matter. I can't comprehend why so many supporters are satisfied by his development and excited by a 20 possession outside game at Casey. They seem to shrug their shoulders at what's transpired, or are just so supportive of all things Melbourne they wouldn't hear a bad word about John Hopoate if he wore red and blue. Maybe they just don't understand that Watts' lack of physicality, lack of urgency, and lack of contested ball winning ability is why the coach is scratching his head about picking him for round one, as per today's HS. Can Watts improve these areas ? Sure, but right now some parts of his game aren't AFL standard. So while some salivate at a few nice things at VFL level there are reasons why he's a border-line selection. I judge every footballer on their ability to contribute and influence finals. The pressure in finals is elevated to an extraordinary level. I don't rate Davey and would never factor him in any plans for the future. I'd play him in some H&A, but he won't stand up and put his nose over the ball in a final. Coaches have to have non-negotiables and right now Watts is struggling with the intensity at NAB level, let alone a final. Neeld won't put up with players that don't put their body on the line. He won't put up with half-hearted one arm marking attempts. He won't put up with players not committing to contests they could make. I support every player when I'm at the ground, in between my barely controllable rage, but on a footy forum I'll give a warts and all opinion on how I see it. Most won't agree with me and that's fine. I don't pick on a player because I don't like them. I pick on a player because they can and need to deliver far more to improve my footy club. Their career will be over before they know it. This is Watts' 4th year and the penny needs to drop. Don't give me this "he's just turned 21 this week" tripe. Excuse after excuse isn't going to be Jack's friend. Let's look at the output of other players as 21 year olds: Chris Grant - 71 goals, Lloyd - 87, Richo - 91, Brereton kicked 58 as a 20 year old, Dunstall - 77, Salmon kicked 65 at 19, Franklin - 113, Lockett - 117, Jack Riewoldt - 78, Nick Riewoldt - 67. But it's not just the output of goals I'm interested in, it's how they played. It's how they competed. It's their appetite for the contest. It's how they demanded the ball. The easiest thing in the world is to make excuses for Watts. The facts are he needs to develop his game and do plenty of things that don't come naturally for him to be the player he could be. And for those that think he could be an elite mid I disagree. Elite mids win tough contested footy. They don't have to be inside mids, or clearance specialists, but they have their nose over the footy in packs. Watts will never be an elite mid. But I don't think he needs to be. In fact, I don't want him to be. How about he become a dangerous, fast, clever 196cm tall marking forward who's a dead eye dick ? Just learn more about the game, improve your work-rate and put your body on the line.

Knocking Jack Watts has become a fashionable thing do to this season. As with many things in the AFL once a few commentators make comment everybody wants to jump on board. I think there are a few things we all need to remember to put the whole thing into perspective. I know many of these points have been made earlier but I would like to support them. Firstly since Jack has been at the club the Demons have been consistently among the lowest ranked teams for creating inside 50's. We all know that playing on the half forward line is seen as one of the hardest positions on the field to play. Add to that the lack of supply and the degree of difficulty would have to increase significantly. Jack had three or four good games playing higher up the ground last year where he was able to be more involved in the play and was less reliant on supply from the midfield. His other solid games were when the team was playing well (Fremantle) and he had more opportunity as a forward to have an impact on the match. In the last three years MFC has been developing in many areas of weakness. After watching the Demons play week after week our kicking effiency would have to be among the worst in the league. Playing as a forward trying to make something out the sub-standard disposal from the midfield and half backline at times looked to be close to impossible from the stands. Also the midfield has also been extremely indecisive with their forward movement making it hard for our forwards to create space and make good position. This indecision also come from the lack of forward structure MFC has had for the past 5 or 6 seasons. Jack has often been the key forward for the past two of those years. This is an enormous task for a 19 or 20 year old. Nick Riewoldt had Fraser Gehrig playing full forward while he was developing and Jonathan Brown has Alistair Lynch to help during his development. With structure as a key to the new coaching regime and the inclusion of Mitch Clark it will be interesting to see how Jack fares this year. I see Jacks lack of hardness more as a lack of self belief. I think this has been caused by him being asked to do to much to soon in his career. He has had to play as a key forward in a struggling team, often taking on the best defender of the opposition. As mentioned with a more structured game plan and forward line and the addition of MC, Jack will have much more opportunity to succeed. This should build his self belief and we will see his intensity increase as a result. It may seem like I am making excuses, but in my opinion think Jack has been up against it so far in his career. At times I think he has been mismanaged by the club and I also think he is an easy target for the media. Assuming he stays relatively injury free, he has 10 years of footy ahead of him and possibly 180 to 225 games. I think we will all look back on his entire career with great memories (hopefully including a premiership or two).

The Anti-Oracle © has spoken! Jack Watts will be a great of the Melbourne Football Club! As it is, and always will be. Amen.

JW just turned 21. Seriously 21! Jack was not born with the baulk of the incredible hulk so to expect JW to crash packs and physically destroy the opposition at the age of 21 is beyond dumb. He is not a midfielder who can walk in and see ball get ball as they say. He is playing what a lot of people have said is the hardest position to play in the AFL. To say he has shown nothing in any of his games really gets me going. I will say he hasn't blown a game away but to be honest being a forward in our team the last couple of years hasn't been easy on anyone (Brad Green) He has shown plenty in plenty of games for me. When we smashed freo last year JW set up that many goals for us. His game against richmond where I believe he kicked 3 and kicked a goal beating two tigers by himself gave me plenty to be happy with. Sure trade our number 1 draft pick who has shown plenty as of last saturday night and while your there you suit up since by your own accord you could show form if you played 30-40 games.

I am more than happy to have too many contested footy types in this team right now, we were pathetic in contested footy last year. Just hopeless.

I think it's great to see so many young guns showing loyalty and signing big contracts with their current club. Tom Scully, you are an even bigger f'ing d'ckhead now than you were last year. Hope you spend the rest of your career struggling on the sidelines.

I actually suggested that there's grey between your assessment and the simplistic view that the alternative to yourself is the happy clapping, strawberry fields Demonland supporter. I'm a debating coach and the first thing I tell my debaters is to take an extreme stance and to distance yourself from the opposition as much as you can. That's exactly what you're doing. That's what makes you a good debater but it doesn't necessarily mean you're accurately summarizing the views of people here. You're suggesting that Watts has critical issues in his game and that the alternative view is that he doesn't and he'll be right in the end. It's not that simple as you've shown yourself by suggesting with a softened view that you believe that the penny will drop and I've shown by acknowledging that I'm disappointed with his unwillingness to assert himself in contested situations. There's your grey. I think most on here share your concerns. Just because one supporter gets a little excited and makes a Brownlow comparison (which I think was unfairly criticized and taken out of context) after his Casey performance doesn't mean that the vast majority of us are putting our heads in the sand and failing to see his flaws. When you make statements like, "I know that 26 disposals and a couple of goals from a wing/half forward will excite nearly every Melbourne supporter", you're setting this up in a Rono-style us versus them argument - the chest beating realists versus the rose-coloured glasses-wearing optimists. You're right, it is a chat forum and of course you're entitled to share a differing view. I just think you regularly choose to stereotype and pigeon-hole those with a very slightly different view to your own to create the impression that there is a huge chasm between you and everyone else. I've always loved reading your contributions and know that you've spent an enormous amount of time defending Jack over his first two and half season over on bigfooty. You've given opposition supporters heaps and Jack hasn't always backed you up and I completely understand your disappointment. I certainly hope, when you suggest that the penny will drop that you're right. The alternative, I'm afraid, is another decade of mediocrity.

So, you're a drummer? ;-)

How did Ben's problem start? Was it being homeless and alone? Was it the abusive parents that drove him to drugs? Was it the hard life, working in a factory all day, struggling to make ends meet? Was it... Hang on, he's had a privaliged life, good parents, money, physically gifted and a dream career. His 'problem' is that he's a party boy. He likes to party and do drugs. If anyone thinks that's a problem worthy of sympathy, well maybe you need to meet some people with real problems.

I wouldn't be holding my breath if I were you. The club has been in the news a lot recently and with Jimmy's funeral service taking place this week, they will want to get the players' angle on how this will affect the team, I would think.

Re: Demon Shop Location We should pressure the MCC to let us have a shop on the city side of of the MCG on the Ground level. Other than that, no dice. Waste of money to have it anywhere else. And with internet shopping becoming more and more popular, as long as you have an accessible website, you have accessible merchandise. Re: Casey We are trying to steal the kids. We are, and should remain, going to schools and doing clinics and giving away free tickets and being in their faces. If we get good we will give them a reason to follow the 'local' team that has come good. This is a long game. It's the right move. Re: International Students Good idea to focus on them and I hope the club is more grass roots on this. When multicultural day rolls around at Monash/Melboune/La Trobe give out free tickets, get in the ear of the Monash?Melbourne China Associations and give out 'Chinese language' flyers and merchandise that builds a tie to the brand. They are proud to study and live in Melbourne, let them be proud to follow Melbourne.

Well reasoned post. My issue with the attention is the attention. If Melbourne is to improve in 2012 it will not be because of Jack Watts, hell, he improved markedly in the din that was 2011. We should be holding Green and Davey to the fire that is reducing Watts' feet to embers. Moloney should be more consistent. And talking about NAB Cup form is a waste of time. Melbourne beat Collingwood, Carlton lost all matches, it means nothing. Magner, a VFL star, was the best player on the ground in two matches. Bring on the real stuff and judge that, it'll be here in 4 days. I won't judge Jack Watts in 2012 before 2012 starts.

Some people may think this sounds silly but i think the MFC should actually target international students to try get a fan base. Firstly alot of then actually live in 'Melbourne' in the city where they study, so obviously if they began to follow the code, this would be the team for them. Secondly, alot of them stay in Melbourne once they graduate. Thirdly, there all young so will be around for along time Fourthly, a heap are from china, so if they do go back to China it would only help the MFC's push to get a fanbase over there. I see thousands of international students in the city everyday and cant imagine other clubs having targeted this market. The days of trying to attract supports from Junior football are numbered and a new approach is needed i think.

If he makes a meaningful contribution to a Melbourne premiership then we'll all win. Who cares how he compares to others based on where he was picked? The question for me, now that he's drafted and on our list, is whether he makes us a better team when he's in it. Whether we'd pick him number 1 again if we had our time over or whether we should have gone with Hurley or Naitanui is Bigfooty fodder for gleeful West Coast and Essendon supporters. He's on our list, he's improving and has incredible upside. Our job is to support him. Let's get on with it.

The club could not have done a better job today. Beautifully represented, both inside and outside the church. A united front, just like Jim envisioned when he first took the job of president. He must be very proud looking down today.

Yes Nasher , I was agreeing with you .Presumption of innocence is one of the primary tenets of the legal system .When his wrist and form are right ,he will be picked .As he should be .

Whatevs, I am fkn loving Mitch Clark.

$4mill for 5 years. GWS paid more for that guy . I'm petrified that big Max or Stef might get targeted by them .

On one hand that's right - but I don't think he's really asking for anyone's compassion or understanding is he? Addiction is an illness, albeit one that is self-imposed. Everyone has their demons and it doesn't really matter what your background is. I doubt he had his first line thinking it would end up like it has the last few years. I can understand the judgments that get thrown around because at the end of the day the addicts problem is self-inflicted and s/he has control over his own destiny with every action he takes. But once you fall into the habit (and it is very much to do with habit as well as chemical dependence) it can be a very difficult cycle to break. Thats all well and good but there's a reason the "Just Say No" crowd and the drug war has failed. The fact is all drugs are different. Alcohol is one of the most destructive drugs around but it is legal. Caffeine and sugar are drugs that invade most processed foods that we consume in western society. Drugs like LSD and psilocybin have many beneficial uses if the user is educated about them. Meanwhile drugs like heroin and meth have no real benefits whatsoever though are highly addictive due to the euphoric feelings they give you immediately and which you keep chasing after the first hit looking to recreate that feeling. So you can tell your kids that drug users are stupid and they should just stay away as drugs are dangerous but what happens when they have a puff on a joint and realise that its relatively harmless? How do you reconcile the fact that alcohol & tobacco are both dangerous/deadly but legal while marijuana and MDMA are no worse (and in many cases better) but are illegal? This is why "Just Say No" doesn't work because kids are smart and quickly realise that it is [censored]. This doesn't mean you should condone your kids taking drugs or even tell them it's up to them or there are no dangers with drugs, but education is better than simply telling them all drugs are bad and deadly and drug users are stupid because odds are they will have at least one friend if not a number of friends who end up at least experimenting with drugs at some stage.

And will sign my 3 year old up on Saturday, his first ever game!

Poor, dumb, exceptionally talented and attractive Benny. He had everything, fame, money, success, perfect facial and abdominal features, and he threw it all away because he couldn't kick the drug habit. I don't feel sorry for him anymore, I feel sorry for his family and mostly his kid, because that kid won't have a father for very long if Cousins continues to behave like an irresponsible superstar.

Gave it a sympathy "like" Biff.

Lets hope he is an armchair off the old block .

Could find a way into my Dream teams forward pocket...

Didn't take Sheedy long to turn a ball player into a thug . Won't do McDonalds reputation any favours if he spends his last year ironing out kids.

In addition to this, we're also running the Demon Heartland program. More likely to be worthwhile when we win a few, but regardless, I'm still chipping in two (and have done for the past 3 years).

He probably would have gotten off scott free if that was the case hardtack. Ahh I'm bitter.

I think even the AFL would support this type of marketing as it would be growing the game to new supporters. And I agree, if richmond or Collingwood started training at the park down the street to my house, it wouldn't make me support them. Also alot of supports just follow whats already in the family or the suburb they grew up in. Young students who live in Melbourne and currently support no team even though they live a stones throw away from the MCG and Etihad should be the biggest marketing target to gain support, not family days for existing supporters or shops that most people dont even think twice about as they stroll past. A few free tickets and you'll have some of these students with Jack Trengove or Jack Watts T shirts. If i was in another country and i could take a stroll down to watch them play there national sport with a free ticket i would be there in heartbeat.

One of my ongoing frustrations is the way so many on here view things in simple black and white. I've gone on record here as saying that Jack Watts is the single most important player on our list in terms of our premiership jigsaw. I'm massively disappointed with his inability (so far) to show that he has the necessary mongrel to split a pack open or the willingness to compete more ferociously in one on one contests. But I fail to see how repeatedly lamenting his flaws on a football forum is going to help the situation and more importantly make Jack a more traditional bash and crash CHF. If you'd been questioning his drafting prior to draft day, I think many on here would be more sympathetic to your position. Jack may not be the player many of us were hoping for but he still displays the talent, speed, skills and athleticism that had all recruiting departments salivating. How that translates to AFL level and indeed finals footy remains to be seen but until his development is more than half complete, the supporter in me and many people on this forum will back him in. That doesn't mean we don't cringe when we see him take a short step or yell in frustration when he seemingly doesn't will himself to get to a marking contest. There is a middle position. There is some grey between your assessment of Jack and the overly optimistic defence of his ability that you continue to allude to.

A couple of good ideas there Gonz. While I understand wha tyou are saying about the rent costs for a shop in teh CBD, it is more about advertising our brand/getting our brand out there. It would be more considered as marketing rather than trying to generate revenue from merchandise sales. If placed in the right spot - someone would have a better idea than me as I have been out of the CBD loop for a while now, it create great exposure, especially for tourists. I would imagine a place like Federation Square, somewhere that is close to public transport and other major attractions, would be a good start. I also have said previously that the location of the current Demon Shop is terrible. Only Melbourne supporters would go there. I'd be trying to get an area of space, somewhere around where people start/finish the MCG tours. What's more embarrassing - having a shop with no customers in it, or having a shop fully of customers that can't buy the current seasons footy jumper?

I have thought this for a long time and spoken about it on here or 'Ology previously - it really is a no-brainer to at least have a go at it. Teams like Collingwood, Carlton, Richmond and Essendon all built their massive supporter bases off the back of European immigration in the 50's, 60's & 70's so I see no reason why we couldn't do the same today. Give free tickets out to them more than once a year to have them keep coming back or have more opportunities to come back. Any time we play a non Vic team at home there should be free tickets available to international students in the city. I'm pretty sure we did this R5, 2010 against Brisbane and it was our biggest ever crowd against them (although still only about 35K it was a step in the right direction.) There's no need to limit this to any ethnic communities either, target all of them. If we get some from one group and some from another, who cares, it doesn't have to be exclusive to one ethnic group. The Casey thing I'm not so sure about, yeah it's a growth corridor but who is living there? I don't live out that way and never go there but I'd think it is more likely to be suburban anglo's or at least people who have been living here for a couple of generations already - they are more likely to already have an allegiance to a specific club and are unlikely to change just because Melbourne trains down the road, particularly if we are rubbish which we have been. If Collingwood began training where I lived when I was a kid I don't think it would have made much of a difference to the kids who lived around the area. in fact I was in the old Collingwood zone and we used to have them come out training etc sometimes and it didn't make me want to barrack for them. The idea of a Demon Shop in the city, while nice, is pretty impractical. It would cost a mint in rent alone and I couldn't really see us making too much money back off it. How depressing would it be to walk in there and the place is a ghost town in the middle of a packed city. Maybe though we could have stalls set up at the uni open days and try and target the international students there with free tickets, scarves, coffee etc Would be way cheaper than opening up a shop with limited target market in an expensive real estate.

Mate, this is the best link I could find - http://www.melbournefc.com.au/tabid/7415/default.aspx?newsid=121645 Shows that they were expecting 1500 international students from Latrobe Uni on that day. The important thing is to throw it open to ALL international students, especially considering I beleive the Indian student population is greater than the Asian one. I could be wrong on this, but I know it would be fairly close. And given the way they, the Indians, celebrate their own national sporting achievements, it would be great to get that sort of atmosphere at a MFC game. Round 19 this year is a Melb v Gold Coast game at the G on a Sunday. We would be budgeting on getting around 25k to the game, it would be great to get another 10k or so of international students from across Victoria, not just Latrobe. Not sure how the club would feel about giving 10,000 tickets away for nothing! But it is something that if we want to establish a market with such students, that we need to do on a regular basis (at least once a season), and promote it.

That was indeed me on both pages. I am glad they only shot me from behind. I pulled a sicky from work yesterday. Would not have been a good look if i had of shown up on The Age photos at the funeral.

Tom Waits for no man :-) (couldn't resist, given your avatar)

That was a very enjoyable interview. A bit of an insight into the club along with a bit of humor

I hope U2 never touch our wonderful song, they would massacre it. The pogues on the other hand!

And not to forget, Naitanui is nearly a year older.

Nic is not streets ahead of Jack, this is one of the biggest fallacies going around. As far as room for development goes, Naitanui has 8 ft ceilings. Jack has 11 ft ceilings. You will choke on these words one day.

Brian spoke beautifully today . All who delivered a eulogy were wonderful in fact . The picture of Sam with Tiernan outside the church was incredibly moving and reminded me of another poignant moment in time . Echo 'Jaded's thoughts - our club did us proud . Macca

The wife said it gives the group a real off-field look of unity. I couldn't agree more.

I think regardless of what anyone thought of blazers before today, the memory of today will be attached whenever we see them in the future.

i am amazed at some of the criticism of jack on this site. sure he isnt the pack crashing big marking key forward we were hoping for when he was drafted, but he showed some big improvement last year, and has plenty of upside. he has just turned 21 for a start. we havent even started the season yet and people are writing him off. give the poor kid some time and im sure he will prove plenty of you wrong. freak, your comments are ridiculous. to say that he hasnt even shown glimpses in three years just shows your lack of footy knowledge. i will readily admit that he hasnt set the world on fire, but there have definitely been glimpses. the 3 goal game against richmond would be just one example. i think if given the chance, you would find 17 other teams that would happily trade for jack.

im at the point now where I would be happy to trade him. He has done nothing special in 3 years, not even any glimpses to be honest. I reckon I would do something good on a footy field if I was given 30-40 games. He is just dropping in value at each time he squibs a contest or doesn't crash a pack.

Cam's a Demon at heart. He will be back at the club when he finishes at Hawkland. You don't play 220 plus games without getting red and blue blood. What a beautiful service for Jimmy. I watched it live on Ch 9 from Perth and it was so moving to see so many Demon supporters in club colours farewelling their hero. Also other non Demons there too. Would have liked a closer view of our Demons forming a guard of honour in their new blazers. One guy though and easily recognisable was Matthew Bate. Gee, his hair looked redder than ever! Farewell Jimmy, you will be always be remembered in so many different ways.

going to buy mine on saturday, try something a little bit different this year! my girlfriend is only a casual football fan, mainly geelong, but theres a membership and jumper coming her way to try and swing things around!

Groan. Can we just pipe down and let the kid fail already? 2012 hasn't even started yet.

Why don't we all get off the kids back. He did not bestow no.1 status on himself, the MFC did. I seriously doubt he will live up to the No.1 status but he shows signs of being a good player for the MFC. Can we just let him get on with it and see how he turns out please.