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I'll have first crack. It was cold, very bloody cold for a Nov session. Windy, was blowing a bit of a gale straight down the ground, it was on the ground Pies normally train on. As you can see from pics the Pres was there, Schawbby, Viney, Mahon's and a few others from the 'office' dropped by at certain points. Neeld loves to mess about with the coaches and players, in fact all the coaches do before sessions start. Seems like a great tight coaching group. Tappy arrived late, right hammy strapped up (sad face). The light drills group was larger today than last time I was down, Tappy, Mitch C, Russian, Flash, Spencil, Toumpas, Mckenzie, J Mac and one other. Hogs and Gawn did maybe 3 laps then headed across to oval set up with league goal posts with Tynan and Kent to work on agility and build load into the legs. Dawes running laps on his own before doing some in close ball work with Russ and couple of others before heading in. Col did all warm up but got to the end of the 2nd warm up drill and came off to get wrist, maybe thumb taped up. He went back out but headed off again at around half 10, didn't see him come back by the time I left at around 11.20. After warm up they moved into 2 tackling based drills. Far side was technique on backs then 'british bulldog' type exercise. As has been stated from previous sessions technique is go in low at the hips, head to the side grip and lift. Near side were 3 players in green, 3 in blue keepings of type drill. Players from both groups started 5m apart and each group had to get around a set of cones before ball was put in play and feed directly to one of the 3 blue players. Blue players had to then break through the 3 green players and get to a cone another 5m away. Main focus seemed to be working in tight, positioning, trying to stand and dish of in tackles for blues while greens was the tackling technique from above, in low at hips... I thought Howe, Jones, Fitzy and Jetta were stand outs of this. Dom Barry was getting a fair bit of feedback form Greeve's, Dom is a stick at present and really needs to get the technique right. Interesting to see Greeve's and one other coach recording this drill on ipads for future review and also showing Barry replays of how he was going during the drill. Next drill was 3 teams, green, white and blue. Set up so blue team had ball trying to keep it off green team. Blue had to get it to 8 (wild guess) consecutive handballs without a turnover, if achieved green team would sprint across to other wing where white team was waiting. Green would then try and strip off white team... then white team would sprint across to other wing and go against blue team... blue team would then come across to the other wing etc etc. I hope I was able to explain that one... Again another drill focussing on in close, contested work before being able to spread as hard as possible. I didn't really see any stand outs on this, maybe other did. Barry left main group at about 10 past 11 to do some agility work with Tynan, Kent etc. Howe also left main group around here and headed inside. Last drill I saw (too cold had to leave!!) was a full ground drill where blue team had to move the ball down the ground from defence. Little bit like circle work starting at full back but with a number of green 'defenders' trying to force a blue turn over.... they did this pretty easily. While it was windy indeed and it is early in preseason plenty of balls hit the ground or green team was able to intercept/tackle etc. Overall from the time I was there it was a really solid standard session, everything timed to the second, every drill thought out and preplanned. Plenty of improvements, yet we still have a long way to go but each session is a step forward. I hope I can get down towards the end of preseason to a couple of sessions to compare against the last 2 sessions I have been too. I don't envy the team going to Darwin to do the kind of sessions they do here in the heat and humidity, hope all goes well and they come back hungry to keep improving.

That all sounds great except for the possibility of Mitch playing time in the ruck. I'd really hope it would be Jamar and Ped playing first and second; i think it would be a real and unnecessary risk putting Mitch in the ruck, he's a precious commodity in the forward 50.

I don't think anyone is dancing in the streets with the news that we turned a very small profit. It's akin to keeping afloat in a recession, a very long recession. You keep costs down and try to ride it out. Yes we are miles behind the power clubs, but we have a better outlook than some. MFC was a train wreck financially not long ago. Now the train just sits at the station waiting to be driven to it's destination and we are all waiting for it to get F)(&%^% moving. People forget that this is a football club, and our financial success is linked to our ability to play footy well, which we have not done for a long time.

Some of the [censored] I've read on here astounds me, it's like there are a few that are willing us to fail. We're not doing as well as Collingwood; no [censored] wonder why? Maybe it's because they play finals every year and we don't, maybe it's because they've recruited great players and we've recruited crap, reckon that may have something to do with it? We are starting off behind the 8 ball and the reason for this is the way the club has been mismanaged over the years, those that still rabbit on about the previous boards should be ashamed of themselves and are talking out of wounded pride not some sense of wellbeing for the club. The club is now on a sound footing, despite the bleating of the few and we are in a better position than we've been for years, sure we've made some mistakes but that's the nature of business. Baby steps, we need to go along consolidating and when the on field performance improves we will generate more revenue through additional members and sponsors, simple really. Bit of faith instead of the continual knocking wouldn't hurt. Rhino, do you ever post anything positive about the club? If you ever have I guess i missed it.

I do agree we need a social club. I've been to the Bentleigh Club a couple times and IMO It's a run down pile of crap. You may as well just rock around to my place and watch the footy out on the deck while I cook the barbie & serve up some cold cans it would be a much better experience.

It's not final but I thought I would get something up to compliment the other changes.

Not sorry to see the back of this guy to be frank. That role is largely considered to be heir to the throne, and a number of bungles have his signature on it, including the witch hunt we're being subjected to. I'd hate to have him in charge of our game.

Take a deep breath chaps it doesn't mean rucking throughout a game, but an x factor that can be thrown in, that is why Pedersen is there as well....... and forget Clark as the power forward, it will be Dawes and Pedersen, Clark will have a roaming brief...... .he has shown what he can do, without a defender hanging all over him in the 50 , match up nightmare as he roams around.......... especially if we have another tall or two that need minding in the 50........listen to what Neeld is saying

Yes we still have a long way to go. And no we are not out of the woods. I think everybody is well aware of that. But we still made a tiny profit in a very bad year. I am proud of the MFC for doing that. I hope that the profit for 2013 is larger. Chin Chin....

Oh dear, how sad when a simple post aimed at helping people understand how things work is interpreted as being part of a "political agenda". Club TPP's are moving targets effected by players receiving match payments, achieving benchmark games, AA selection and B&F results. Injury payments are also included in the TPP with an allowance received. It's a very complex calculation. It's not until the end of a season that clubs know what their TPP payments are and know the amount remaining within their TPP. All clubs with the cash will then renegotiate player contracts to make sure they pay the full TPP within the year which in effect brings forward expenditure from the following year into the current year. The contract adjustments are agreed with the player and player agent and then the variation is lodged with the AFL. There is a cut off date for variations. The recording of these expenses is correct in an accounting sense and complies with TPP rules. There is a significant advantage for clubs that can do this as they free up TPP room in the future which can then be used to retain existing players or attract new players. The sting in the tail is that the payments are treated as an expense in the current year and reduce profit. If a club finds itself in a position of wanting to show a profit rather than a loss it can adjust this TPP payment accordingly to show the result it wants as it's at the clubs discretion. IMO we are in the business of winning Flags so paying 100% of the TPP is one of the core expenses of the club and "non negotiable". But in todays environment there seems to be a heightened focus on the simple end number being "profit". We've seen the lunacy of the Labour Government bring forward billions of dollars of expenditure in one year so they can budget a profit in the next. It's accounting trickery and designed to window dress the real situation. It's not unique to the MFC but is common throughout business. It's why the devil is always in the detail and my point is that we don't have the detail. Our profit of $70,000 is really a break even situation for a business of our size. It can be manipulated by the TPP issue above, not buying new footballs for training until 1st November instead of mid October, delaying the purchase of stationary or asking a sponsor to bring forward a sponsorship payment by a month or so. I'm not suggesting we did any of these things and in my view it doesn't really matter if we did because what the result shows is we are on the margin. We are about break even and we spend millions less on our football department than the wealthy clubs. Whilst many seem happy that we've done as well as we have I think it's just further evidence of the almost impossible task we have of being ultimately successful and still leaves us in a position of vulnerability. This is not a crack at the Board but a statement of fact.

I hope your not speaking from experience there old mate.

Under accrual accounting principles the date of receipt is not the critical event. However under controversial standard AASB 1004, the $700k will have to be taken up as 2012 revenue as long as the donations were not subject to the express condition that they be retained for use in 2013. If the donations were unconditional then I agree that they will be part of this year's comprehensive income ( and probably profit) By the way, don't confuse taxable income with accounting profit - there are two very different concepts which rarely ,if ever ,coincide. Absolutely. Given the struggles of last season - its a big plus For a myriad of reasons dating back to the late 60s and 70s through into the 80s , we are a relatively small club with a relatively small supporter base - that is a fact . However we are much stronger than we have been - and we have done well this year in the circumstances We cannot realistically hope to be as financially strong as Collingwood - but we can realistically hope to be strong enough financially toenjoy the ultimate success of a premiership as long as the draft and salary caps remain and the AFL's equalisation policies continue to improve - provided we stick together and think positively!!

Bumbling Clousseau himself would have been able to deduce the agenda of the person you are referring to, so transparent was his agenda so the reference is entirely accurate. Possibly he embodies the paltry investigative skill that I posesss, but in this instance it was all that was required As for the people, rather "person" you refer to a number of people here who are capable of independent thought formed the same opinion with no help from me whatsoever. Back on topic, what exactly did you expect in terms of financial figures in the circumstances and how could it have been improved?

Whens the first away game Matt?

Vlad even rang Schwab to congratulate him and stick to his guns re our list experimentation. If that ain't explicit approval what is?

What would the club be guilty of?

Very nice work on the banner - I reckon David Neitz should be in there - record games, record goals, record games as captain - under-rated.

Good to see that article chip in with one last Maloney before it's too late.

If (when?) we get off that Caroline Wilson article where she says we 'will be punished heavily' will become the most viewed in internet history if I've got anything to do with it.

Maybe we can afford to by a more secure vault now?? One that does not leak!

I will be extremely happy if young Jack is picked up by us as a rookie.... The kid can play! Living over here in Adelaide, I am a massive Norwood/SANFL follower and have seen a fair few of his games live... Perfect rookie draftee... Has really started to bulk up over the last 12-18 months and will continue to do so.... Very impressive for Central Districts this season.... And we are all forgetting one important thing..... His name is JACK.... It's a lock!

Brief discussion only, some points of interest; ■ Question 1 asked to Neeld was about the Collingwood profit; ■ Much research (Craig / Mission) went into the decision to go to Darwin for Heat/Humidity training Vs High Altitude training; ■ Heat/Humidity training will be part of an ongoing preseason regime, must be 2-3year at least to get the benefits; ■ Was asked about the recovery time after the trip to Darwin, as players generally struggle the following week to play after such a trip. My favourite part of the whole interview was Neeld's response to this question "Everything is planned to 1cm of its life" ■ Boys in much better shape than this time last year; ■ Dawes to play deep in forward 50, mentioned Pedersen, Fitzy and Mitch as Forward/Ruck options.

If nothing else, Clackline is a ripping name for a town.

No silly. They are talking about the game that we deliberately forfeited. You know, the one where we were ahead at the final siren?? Do I have to spell it out....

Two things really annoy me about this lingering joke of an investigation: 1. The reputational harm the MFC continue to suffer due to its ongoing nature; and 2. The ludicrous amount of money and resources that have likely been spent by the AFL to date (and continue to be spent) conducting it. Money that could have been better spent in countless other worthy ways.

Harridan's accurate (thanks Ben Hur, that ones going into the vocabulary), but if you're calling her a "bike" then that's simply not appropriate Roger.

Not strictly on topic - but you might note that the highly discreet Mr Brock McLean has come out today and suggested that Chris Judd should resign as captain to concentrate on his own game. Knows his place, doesn't he Brock? After all a lot of players on one year contracts who have spent the past few years in the reserves make public comments on the standing of their captains? Back to the vindictive lady - just had to refer to "the investigation into Melbourne's deliberate forfeiture of games" in her article on Adrian Anderson today didn't she? Not sure how you can say that a game lost after the siren was deliberately forfeited, Ms Wilson!!

Btw the new banner looks fantastic, great job.

To correct a few assertions already made in this thread: - The NRL have just appointed a CEO, a bloke named David Smith who is a banking executive from Wales. He professed not to know who Aussie league skipper Cameron Smith was. Agree with Left Field that John Grant has not distinguished himself after 12 months as ARLC chairman, nor is he likely to do so in future. - AA was once considered the likely successor to Demetriou, but that is clearly now Gillon McLachlan after AD's endorsement of him following the NRL's pursuit. - I get why people might not like Anderson but the idea that the League dumped its footy operations manager in the wake of senior operations official Rod Austin quitting, and the recent departure of two other members of the AFL executive doesn't bear up to scrutiny. FWIW, I am inclined to take Anderson's comments at the presser at face value. Time for a new challenge, which I reckon will likely be at Arden Street as CEO.

My point is if you can get past the mini double header, and get further exposure, rather than playing out at Mt Isa or Alice Springs in the weeks that follow in front of 98 people, it can mean something. And result in 'something' positive. ie. Memberships, exposure, momentum. A one off win against Collingwood means little if you don't follow it up with further wins. I knew we'd agree to disagree.

Off the field they are a light year ahead and off field they are $7 million ahead I guess that is the benefit of having 40 years of sustained success versus 40 years of sustained failure. WE have a very long way to go to just survive let alone win flags. Winning games is vital from now on the more we win the greater the chance of increased revenue. Increased revenue equals increased chance of winning games equals increased revenue equals -----

Bit tragic that Collingwood increased their (already huge) FD spend by 1.7 mill AND posted a profit of over 7 mill. We've still got a way to go. At least we're heading in the right direction.

Your comparison of Collingwood and Melbourne is a hyperbole. It is not an accurate comparison as you are comparing the most profitable team against one of the least profitable team. Sure we opperate in the same industry but there are stark contrasts in assets, liabilities, expenditure, turnover, profit and every other accounting figure and ratio under the sun and differences at membership levels and on field performance - all of which you have conveniently failed to mention. If "our lack of financial resources inhibits our ability to compete" then why has Collingwood only beaten us by an average of 30 points over the past 4 games? They made 101 times our profit, dont you think this margin should be bigger? For example, Geelong made only 4 times more profit than us (tiny compared to Collingwood), but they beat us once by 186 points. Our on poor field performance isnt down to our finances, its down to our players. Stop tying to draw correlations between the two, stop using hyperboles, and stop trying to compare turnover and profit. Got it? Simple.

I would feel nothing. I am numb to this bloke, I really am. That's not great to read but he is the epitome of one step forward and two steps backward. Not the saying - the imbalanced movement, staggering out of Crown...

I see quite a difference between the crows affair and Us. With Adelaide they clearly broke a rule. everyone can see it, not just the transgression but you can read up and find the rule broken. Its a cinch. With us there is no rule. With the whole tanking fiasco what there essentially is , is a situation whereby the Boss ( Vlad ) has upteen times categorically denied it exists and hes also stated on numerous occasions that he and the AFL are fine with the position that Melbourne has taken. what we then have is a league of very ordinary folk attempting to work their own agenda and get Vlad to recind his original stance. This just aint going to happen. Demetriou just doesnt back down, he doesnt change his mind. What he does and has done is to then visit the items in question and subtlely change things so as not to allow such instances to revisit him. He needs to stay in control and I cant see for one minute hes going to allow the likes of trollop Wilson or twoface healy run his game. Whether the AFL is up to something or not Mclardy is doing the wise thing by showing the armour and battle flags. Its an old staging trick. it of itself doesnt mean Vlad is actually up to something it just postulates for all that we ( MFC ) wont be taking any sh!t from anyone anytime soon. This is as much a flying the flag to rout the like of Wilson and co as it is anything. This for mine is an elaborate charade being played out by the AFL to have it look like its back in control etc. The ONLY finding possible that can be tabled is that there were circumstances prevailing that allowed impressions to be had that things werent all kosher, not that it wasnt ( cough ) but it might have appeared to be so the league has taken steps to prevent this type of interpretation from arising again. Amen , the End

Got any suggestions for the board or you just like pouring [censored] all over others to make yourself feel tough ?Any profit after last year is a bonus. If you know your onions make some positive suggestions .

????????? Had a dog called Herpes once. It wouldn't heal.

With the crud of a year we had to get 700k out of the FH is outstanding. You don't throw up that coin unless you believe in the direction of the board,coach,club and players. The board and FH should be congratulated for this.

If you have a membership that cares enough and has the resources to support the club surely that is a strength and not a weakness. Is it not part of the board's job to extract the dollars from it's membership and corporate supporters? It's a credit to the board and those who support the club.

Thats perfectly describes Johnny Farnham.

Maybe we could play Carlton and Essendon as home games at the G for a change. That'd tip another 250000 into the coffers. The whole game is bent to push money to the rich. It's the same model all corporates use whilst bemoaning handouts to the poor. The worlds a wacky place.

Another #%#*^ profit!!! I blame all of this on Schwab. Never used to happen in the good old days.

Can someone confirm if NMMNG is Range Rover the former King of starting threads. FFS while we are at it how about we start a thread on the 2016 draft period. 4 months to go before First Bounce

As the biggest witch hunt in AFL history drags on ( how many months has it been now?). Surely they either have enough evidence to charge us and if not they should stop the investigation. They've reinterviewed people, done forensic examinations, if they haven't got sufficient evidence now they never will have!

Ha, trust us to waste 8 long years putting up with his crap, only for him to finally play to his potential and [censored] off for cash. That would be ironic. And sad. And totally not unexpected.

This thread comes up every year,when will Col explode? In the 8 or so years he has played AFL,he has been a just average footballer with a couple of spike games a year,a la Daniel Wells and Kozi. Below is how Col's season pans out every year,from 1 to 10. 3,3,4,3,5,4,8,4,5,3,6,4,5,8,3,5,4,3,7,2,4,5 Stop thinking he can/will produce the 8's week in,week out!!!! Guys,he's a 5 out of 10 footballer and has 8 or so seasons as proof.

Out of contract and unrestricted free agrent - if he's ever going to have a "breakout year" it's this year.

Naturally. I have also imposed an Amish style "shunning".

I have long since given up predicting that 'Col will have a breakout year', but a flicker of hope lingers somewhere in the back of my mind that suggests that Mark Neeld might know which buttons to push to get more out of Col. IMO Col will never have the desire or commitment to deliver on his potential, but if Neeldy can transform him from 'perennial teaser' to 'reliable trooper' he will have succeeded where all his predecessors have failed. Here' hoping!

Rams baby! Doing what we should have done a few weeks ago. Defence was nasty, special teams was awesome and Sam made some plays with his legs to get it to overtime. Suck it Whiners