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Let me predict, that stand-in Head of Recruiting, Todd Viney, will have more success in one year than Prendergast had in his several years. PS: Viney is also not a rat.

2012: THE YEAR THAT WAS by Whispering Jack The great author and social critic Charles Dickens opened his epic novel A Tale of Two Cities in this way: The words ring loud and strong as I sit and ponder over a year whose end is almost upon us. More tough times for the club that founded the game and once ruled it, but has more recently perched uneasily on the tumbril heading for the guillotine while up there, in that far away city whose inhabitants barely care, the usurper reigns. The early optimism ever-present at the dawn of a season seemed justified in the very early days of Mark Neeld's AFL coaching career. On the first Saturday in March, his Demons overcame the Magpies by 9 points at Etihad Stadium. Despite the format and the experimental nature of those games, there was encouragement to be gained from the way they went about things that night but alas, it was short-lived and provided little more than a passing tinge of a promise of better things to come. The illusion was shattered within days when star forward Liam Jurrah, recuperating from a wrist injury, was arrested on charges relating to an alleged machete attack in an encampment in Alice Springs. The case became a complex saga with twists and turns that tormented the player, his community and his football club until he walked out late in the season leaving the beautiful story of his journey from Yuendumu to the big city in tatters. The end was an amicable divorce and in most years, his story would have been a mere distraction but in 2012, it was simply a distraction within a nest of distractions and deep wounds. There was much more to come. Two days after the breaking of the news about Jurrah, on the second Saturday in March, Hawthorn slaughtered Melbourne in the next NAB Cup game. The magical rebirth was over and, less than a week later, they lost in Adelaide to a less than well-respected Port Adelaide combination. The injuries were coming and the form was suddenly worse than poor. On 20 March, the iconic Jim Stynes, who had only recently stood down as club chairman, died at the young age of 45. A week later, he was buried at a state funeral held at St Paul's Cathedral, honoured by thousands including his players proudly wearing their red and blue blazers. On 31 March, the season proper began. At the MCG, a listless Melbourne succumbed in the heat by 41 points to the unfancied Brisbane Lions and suddenly, the club was under attack with the vultures in the media circling. The coach was less than convincing in post-match interviews, the attendance of the players at Stynes' funeral so close to the start of the season was now scoffed at and the stirrers became more and more vicious in their contempt of the club as the defeats came and the performances tended towards the insipid. Now, Melbourne was easy prey; fodder for all manner of opportunists with various agendas, some hidden and others kept deep below the surface. The new coach was falsely accused of discriminating against his indigenous players. The slur was traced to the AFL's community engagement manager Jason Mifsud who apologised to Neeld and offered his resignation but AFL chief Andrew Demetriou refused to accept it. Mifsud remains in his employment to this very day despite clear breaches of trust and dishonesty. The mystery remains as to the true origin of the allegations and as to whether parties other than Mifsud were behind them, for the controversy opened up more doors for the club's detractors who used it to question the manner of Neeld's appointment. Has a young coach ever in the history of the game been exposed more to the media blowtorch, much of it without justification, than this man? Worse was to come with the revelations of racist and sexist posts on the Facebook page of the CEO of the club's major sponsor Energy Watch. The club acted swiftly and decisively to sever ties with Energy Watch but the usual suspects were swifter in sinking more boots into the hapless Demons who admittedly did manage to cover most of the lost ground by securing Webjet and Opel as sponsors. The season dragged on, the injuries, the poor form and the defeats got worse amid a few dim rays of light amid the gloom. Nathan Jones was indefatigable, recruit Mitch Clark a revelation at full forward and some of the youngsters were showing good signs. After nine straight losses, the Demons had a night out at the MCG and finally broke the ice to beat the Bombers but the injury toll continued to mount. Clark's foot surgery was a major blow and the list of players injured never went below a dozen in number during the second half of 2012. The inevitable result was that wins were even harder to come by and the season's total of four victories consisted of three over new franchise teams, GWS and the Gold Coast, as well as that Round 10 upset over Essendon. Then came the thunderbolt known as the "tanking affair" which famously opened with suggestions by former player Brock McLean on the Fox Footy Channel that "you would have to be blind Freddy" not to realise that winning was less of a priority for the Demons than draft picks in his last season so he left to go to Carlton of all clubs. The Blues had three number one draft picks courtesy of the system including Matthew Kreuzer who was secured after a spectacular eleven game end of season losing streak that culminated in the farcical Kreuzer Cup and which is referred to these days in some circles as the "grand slam of tanking" but all this was missed by the panel of three supposedly wise inquisitors who were so lost for words that they failed to ask the glaringly obvious, leaving many suspecting that McLean was a mere patsy set up to embarrass his old club (or more precisely, certain officials of his old club). The politics behind the McLean revelations was also lost on the AFL's (now departed) Adrian Anderson who hastily launched a 5½ month long inquisition which drew to a close late in the year and out of which no charges have been laid to date. The enquiry was discriminatory in that it ignored other clubs whose own activities have been queried on the subject over a period of a decade and was confined to Melbourne and Melbourne alone. Incredibly, one of the club's detractors was former Chairman Paul Gardner who went public with this massive toe poke to the head, "I knew what they were doing and why they were doing it, but I didn't have to watch it any more." Information leaked to the media resulted in a storm of controversy in early November with an inflammatory and damning editorial knitted together by Melbourne Age chief football writer Caroline "Madame Defarge" Wilson and this led to a statement by President Don McLardy that the club would use every resource available to defend the integrity of the Melbourne Football Club. Ray Finkelstein, a prominent QC and former judge was appointed to handle the clubs defence. There have been suggestions that the possibility of a sanction against Melbourne or some of its officials but in the absence of similarly prolonged and through investigations of other clubs also suspected of tanking but not investigated, the AFL's integrity would be left in tatters carrying the smell of corruption. The saga is set to play itself out next month amid suggestions that face-saving deals will be done but I will leave further comment to Herald Sun journalist Warwick Green who recently wrote: The outcome of the enquiry will not be the end of the matter for the Melbourne Football Club. The board which has shown considerable strength and unity over a trying period still needs to deal with the core of the political maelstrom and the antipathy towards it from malcontents and disaffected supporters and from within certain segments of the media. These things are damaging and cannot be easily dealt with but they reflect deep-seated grievances and quarrels that have tracked the club through almost fifty years of disquiet that have destroyed many careers and good people and have held back its resurrection. At the other end of the spectrum, Sydney upset Hawthorn in a memorable grand final and, for the second time in a decade, the premiership cup went north while the oldest football club in the world remained in a state of disarray. We need to aspire to their level of solidarity, calm and experience within our ranks if we are to attain success. It was only when the playing season was over that we could experience some better times. Nathan Jones was a worthy winner of the Keith "Bluey" Truscott Memorial Trophy in recognition of him lifting his game to a point where a little more improvement next year will see him at the level of the elite, Jeremy Howe took Mark of the Year after amassing numerous nominations at the same time demonstrating that he's more than just a spring heeled Jack while the two Jacks, Grimes and Trengove had the most difficult of initiations into the world of AFL captaincy that will hold them in good stead in the years to come. Mitch Clark stuck it right up his critics with aplomb and he will be back while young Tom McDonald showed sufficient quality as a defender to warrant some striking list decisions made by the club in terms of its future defensive structure. The list changes effected in the last quarter of the calendar year was breathtaking in breadth and scope. We saw fifteen players gone including former captain and club stalwart Brad Green, Jared Rivers, Brent Moloney, Matthew Bate and some others who were good servants of the club but it was time for change. They were replaced by an eclectic mix of young and old in a sign that the football department was willing to take the steps necessary to bring about the best of times for an ailing club. The newcomers will be among the trailblazers as the team named for this great city begins its revival. Names like Viney, Dawes, Toumpas and next year Hogan will help change things forever, bringing to mind the theme of resurrection in these words, among the last to come from the unfortunate man who bears the name "Sydney" in Dickens' great tale:

Happy New Year all and lets hope for a better 2013 for the Dees and a safe and happy year for all of us.

2012: THE YEAR THAT WAS by Whispering Jack The great author and social critic Charles Dickens opened his epic novel A Tale of Two Cities in this way: The words ring loud and strong as I sit and ponder over a year whose end is almost upon us. More tough times for the club that founded the game and once ruled it, but has more recently perched uneasily on the tumbril heading for the guillotine while up there, in that far away city whose inhabitants barely care, the usurper reigns. The early optimism ever-present at the dawn of a season seemed justified in the very early days of Mark Neeld's AFL coaching career. On the first Saturday in March, his Demons overcame the Magpies by 9 points at Etihad Stadium. Despite the format and the experimental nature of those games, there was encouragement to be gained from the way they went about things that night but alas, it was short-lived and provided little more than a passing tinge of a promise of better things to come. The illusion was shattered within days when star forward Liam Jurrah, recuperating from a wrist injury, was arrested on charges relating to an alleged machete attack in an encampment in Alice Springs. The case became a complex saga with twists and turns that tormented the player, his community and his football club until he walked out late in the season leaving the beautiful story of his journey from Yuendumu to the big city in tatters. The end was an amicable divorce and in most years, his story would have been a mere distraction but in 2012, it was simply a distraction within a nest of distractions and deep wounds. There was much more to come. Two days after the breaking of the news about Jurrah, on the second Saturday in March, Hawthorn slaughtered Melbourne in the next NAB Cup game. The magical rebirth was over and, less than a week later, they lost in Adelaide to a less than well-respected Port Adelaide combination. The injuries were coming and the form was suddenly worse than poor. On 20 March, the iconic Jim Stynes, who had only recently stood down as club chairman, died at the young age of 45. A week later, he was buried at a state funeral held at St Paul's Cathedral, honoured by thousands including his players proudly wearing their red and blue blazers. On 31 March, the season proper began. At the MCG, a listless Melbourne succumbed in the heat by 41 points to the unfancied Brisbane Lions and suddenly, the club was under attack with the vultures in the media circling. The coach was less than convincing in post-match interviews, the attendance of the players at Stynes' funeral so close to the start of the season was now scoffed at and the stirrers became more and more vicious in their contempt of the club as the defeats came and the performances tended towards the insipid. Now, Melbourne was easy prey; fodder for all manner of opportunists with various agendas, some hidden and others kept deep below the surface. The new coach was falsely accused of discriminating against his indigenous players. The slur was traced to the AFL's community engagement manager Jason Mifsud who apologised to Neeld and offered his resignation but AFL chief Andrew Demetriou refused to accept it. Mifsud remains in his employment to this very day despite clear breaches of trust and dishonesty. The mystery remains as to the true origin of the allegations and as to whether parties other than Mifsud were behind them, for the controversy opened up more doors for the club's detractors who used it to question the manner of Neeld's appointment. Has a young coach ever in the history of the game been exposed more to the media blowtorch, much of it without justification, than this man? Worse was to come with the revelations of racist and sexist posts on the Facebook page of the CEO of the club's major sponsor Energy Watch. The club acted swiftly and decisively to sever ties with Energy Watch but the usual suspects were swifter in sinking more boots into the hapless Demons who admittedly did manage to cover most of the lost ground by securing Webjet and Opel as sponsors. The season dragged on, the injuries, the poor form and the defeats got worse amid a few dim rays of light amid the gloom. Nathan Jones was indefatigable, recruit Mitch Clark a revelation at full forward and some of the youngsters were showing good signs. After nine straight losses, the Demons had a night out at the MCG and finally broke the ice to beat the Bombers but the injury toll continued to mount. Clark's foot surgery was a major blow and the list of players injured never went below a dozen in number during the second half of 2012. The inevitable result was that wins were even harder to come by and the season's total of four victories consisted of three over new franchise teams, GWS and the Gold Coast, as well as that Round 10 upset over Essendon. Then came the thunderbolt known as the "tanking affair" which famously opened with suggestions by former player Brock McLean on the Fox Footy Channel that "you would have to be blind Freddy" not to realise that winning was less of a priority for the Demons than draft picks in his last season so he left to go to Carlton of all clubs. The Blues had three number one draft picks courtesy of the system including Matthew Kreuzer who was secured after a spectacular eleven game end of season losing streak that culminated in the farcical Kreuzer Cup and which is referred to these days in some circles as the "grand slam of tanking" but all this was missed by the panel of three supposedly wise inquisitors who were so lost for words that they failed to ask the glaringly obvious, leaving many suspecting that McLean was a mere patsy set up to embarrass his old club (or more precisely, certain officials of his old club). The politics behind the McLean revelations was also lost on the AFL's (now departed) Adrian Anderson who hastily launched a 5½ month long inquisition which drew to a close late in the year and out of which no charges have been laid to date. The enquiry was discriminatory in that it ignored other clubs whose own activities have been queried on the subject over a period of a decade and was confined to Melbourne and Melbourne alone. Incredibly, one of the club's detractors was former Chairman Paul Gardner who went public with this massive toe poke to the head, "I knew what they were doing and why they were doing it, but I didn't have to watch it any more." Information leaked to the media resulted in a storm of controversy in early November with an inflammatory and damning editorial knitted together by Melbourne Age chief football writer Caroline "Madame Defarge" Wilson and this led to a statement by President Don McLardy that the club would use every resource available to defend the integrity of the Melbourne Football Club. Ray Finkelstein, a prominent QC and former judge was appointed to handle the clubs defence. There have been suggestions that the possibility of a sanction against Melbourne or some of its officials but in the absence of similarly prolonged and through investigations of other clubs also suspected of tanking but not investigated, the AFL's integrity would be left in tatters carrying the smell of corruption. The saga is set to play itself out next month amid suggestions that face-saving deals will be done but I will leave further comment to Herald Sun journalist Warwick Green who recently wrote: The outcome of the enquiry will not be the end of the matter for the Melbourne Football Club. The board which has shown considerable strength and unity over a trying period still needs to deal with the core of the political maelstrom and the antipathy towards it from malcontents and disaffected supporters and from within certain segments of the media. These things are damaging and cannot be easily dealt with but they reflect deep-seated grievances and quarrels that have tracked the club through almost fifty years of disquiet that have destroyed many careers and good people and have held back its resurrection. At the other end of the spectrum, Sydney upset Hawthorn in a memorable grand final and, for the second time in a decade, the premiership cup went north while the oldest football club in the world remained in a state of disarray. We need to aspire to their level of solidarity, calm and experience within our ranks if we are to attain success. It was only when the playing season was over that we could experience some better times. Nathan Jones was a worthy winner of the Keith "Bluey" Truscott Memorial Trophy in recognition of him lifting his game to a point where a little more improvement next year will see him at the level of the elite, Jeremy Howe took Mark of the Year after amassing numerous nominations at the same time demonstrating that he's more than just a spring heeled Jack while the two Jacks, Grimes and Trengove had the most difficult of initiations into the world of AFL captaincy that will hold them in good stead in the years to come. Mitch Clark stuck it right up his critics with aplomb and he will be back while young Tom McDonald showed sufficient quality as a defender to warrant some striking list decisions made by the club in terms of its future defensive structure. The list changes effected in the last quarter of the calendar year was breathtaking in breadth and scope. We saw fifteen players gone including former captain and club stalwart Brad Green, Jared Rivers, Brent Moloney, Matthew Bate and some others who were good servants of the club but it was time for change. They were replaced by an eclectic mix of young and old in a sign that the football department was willing to take the steps necessary to bring about the best of times for an ailing club. The newcomers will be among the trailblazers as the team named for this great city begins its revival. Names like Viney, Dawes, Toumpas and next year Hogan will help change things forever, bringing to mind the theme of resurrection in these words, among the last to come from the unfortunate man who bears the name "Sydney" in Dickens' great tale:

WJ delving back into his own past? A HIGHWAY OF DEMONS by Whispering Jack CHAPTER TEN - SEMPER FIDELIS They were huddled together inside their winter coats on the Saturday afternoon tram that rattled up St. Kilda Road in the direction of the Junction. The two small children listened attentively as the old man in front of them rehearsed his lines, the words bursting out loudly with graceful eloquence and in a strange tongue. The few passengers in the almost empty carriage looked away sheepishly as if they were in the presence of a madman. Had they been equipped with the knowledge that the old man was a famous actor, renowned worldwide as the doyen of the Yiddish language theatre, it would have made little difference. Nor that he was saved from horrors of the Holocaust by an accident that stranded him in this far away land, half a world away from home when the hostilities of war broke out. The war was now a thing of the past for the travellers as the carriage wended its way through the cold mist of a grim wintery day. The American sitting by the door was reading an edition of that day's Sun News Pictorial bearing the date, Saturday 4th July, 1953. The pain of the smashed shoulder, the migraine headaches and the long sleepless nights were almost gone. He stared, then smiled at the actor who looked back at him to answer the question that was asked only through his dark eyes. The explanation that he was minding his granddaughter and a neighbour's son was followed by a nodding of heads and both of them returned to their roles, the American reflecting on the news of the day and the old man losing himself in a world of ancient folk tales and fire and evil spirits from distant lands. They piled on in their numbers at the Junction. The majority were men, most of them half or fully drunk and some of them angry. They were the football crowd coming from nearby Junction Oval where 12,000 had witnessed a close contest. The old actor rolled his eyes when he heard one of the newcomers cursing and swearing to the effect that the Saints had just beaten the Demons by four points. Apparently, errant kicking for goal, weak coaching and poor umpiring were offered as the causes of the defeat but it would all have been different if "that effing young 'un' Barassi would have kicked truly at the end". "Fair go mate. It was really only his first game and he's going to be a player so bugger off you drongo. Fair dinkum, when they were handing out brains, you must have been outside taking a p ..." They were fighting on a crowded tram, fists flying, bodies heaving and the old man grabbing hold of the two small children to keep them out of harm's way. By the time they made their way out of the carriage, he almost wished he would have listened to his daughter-in-law's suggestion about taking them to the afternoon matinee but he was a dramatic actor of quality and didn't want to be involved with "drek like those old Errol Flynn movies or with people dancing around and Singin' In The Rain." As they stood at the tram stop, the old man saw the American who had also alighted, thumbing through a road map and looking confused. The offer of help to find his destination was accepted and, as fate would have it, he was looking for an address in Carre Street, Elsternwick right next door to where the families of the two children lived together in shared accommodation. They walked home and the old man remembered it was American Independence Day. Congratulations were followed by shared wartime experiences. The American had fought with the Marines at Bougainville and then drifted back to the South Pacific and finally to Australia. He was bemused at the fracas they had witnessed on the tram between two supporters of the same football team. "The motto of the United States Marine Corps is 'Semper Fi' and it means 'Always Faithful' or 'Always Loyal'. We succeeded in the end because we were loyal to each other. Those guys should be on the same side. When they learn that, only then will they win." It was a simple philosophy for a time less complex than today. The last they saw of him was when he turned to salute as he took the path towards the door of number 4 while the old man and the two children moved on to number 6. TO BE CONTINUED For the record, Melbourne did play St. Kilda on Saturday, 4 July, 1953 at the Junction Oval and the Demons did lose by 4 points. St. Kilda 6.2.38 7.4.46 9.6.60 11.7.73 Melbourne 2.2.14 4.10.34 5.14.44 8.21.69 Melbourne Goalkickers: Bob McKenzie 3 Ken Albiston 2 Geoff McGivern Maurie Reeves Peter Schofield Ronald Dale Barassi made his real debut after having sat on the bench for four quarters in his 'first' game earlier in the season and had the chance to make a hero of himself in the last quarter but missed a clutch goal. He went on to become the greatest Demon ever and played in six premierships in a decade culminating in a famous victory in his last game for the club on 19 September, 1964. The hallmark of that successful team was the loyalty instilled into the club by the late Norm Smith but things changed in the following year. All that is a story for another time given that WJ has yet to make it to 1964 ...

Would make it quite interesting if it did go to court wouldn't it ! No more hiding behind anonymous quotes for some people

I'm not sure if it all will every come to light but there's definitely more to all this than meets the eyes. Some people with persuasion and influence have got this thing moving when it really ought to have stalled at the line. I keep coming back to the question ....why ? And I keep coming back to the idea its not about Melbourne per se..its all about someone's (s) grudge. If this was really about tanking it would go across teams, but it hasnt. So this is about payback. At some point the motive and the instigators must be outed and dealt with.

That is an interesting point you make. I agree, which game was more shameful, the one in which the players tried their guts out and a kick after the siren beat them or the one in which they lay down and let an opposition run riot. I know which i find more disreputable and a blight on the game. Perhaps we should have a 5 month Inquisition into 186.

Totally agree. If the Demons are guilty of bringing the game into 'disrepute', it wasn't the Richmond game. It would've been the game that took place in round 19, 30 July 2011, at Skilled Stadium.

I have my fingers and toes crossed. It had better work this time because I fear there will not be another chance for the MFC. Swim time guys

Hi guys ending 2012 on a high note. Since I was 5 years old I have wanted my own milk shake machine. The ones with the metal canister etc. Well I got one for Christmas. Sipping on one right now, no prizes for guessing the flavour! One hell of a wait but they say good things come to those who wait. So on that basis I am expecting a much improved performance from the Dees in 2013.

Yet we may look back and consider it the greatest drafting year in our history - Hogan, Viney, Toumpas, Barry, Kent, Terlich. We need it to be.

Hi Folks, The Sri Lankans and the crowds have moved on and I think this thread has run its course. Time to close it down. Cheers

This time last year I predicted Hawthorn would win the premiership and Melbourne would take a giant step forward by making the finals and finishing in eighth place. I was wrong on both counts but that is the way of things in the life of a new age oracle. Like most people these days, we rely far too heavily on modern technology and the result is that it's so easy to make mistakes. It wasn't until well into the 2012 AFL season that I discovered I had overset the forward drive on my reconditioned crystal ball so that all of my predictions were one year ahead of time. This came as a great relief to me on a number of counts, not the least of which was the knowledge that Stella (the name by which my crystal ball is affectionately known) is once again fully operational and I'm able to provide my fearless predictions for the future with some measure of confidence. I was also relieved when I looked through the swirling snow encased in Stella's glass orb into 2013 and beyond that those moronic Mayans got it all wrong about the world ending on 21 December, 2012. Of course, if you knew anything about what those blokes used to smoke back in their day, you wouldn't be surprised that none of their predictions ever worked out right on the button. Not that my own track record has been all that flash lately, but at least when I make my forecasts on big ticket items like the end of the world, I make sure that my research is impeccable and my prognostications are accurate enough to ensure that people listen to me the next time I open my mouth. So much for the Mayans! So looking into my crystal ball recently, I was somewhat taken aback to see Jared Rivers in horizontal navy and white stripes at Simmons Stadium and Ricky Petterd looking positively strange in yeller and black high-fiving a bunch of ferals after booting one through his backside from a pocket. While I'm at it, congratulations to James Frawley, Jeremy Howe and Lynden Dunn for taking their former teammates to Bay 13 to give them an insight into the mindset of the yobbos who will be following them for the remainder of their careers. On the other hand, when I looked to the west, I was truly gobsmacked at the sight of an overblown Cale Morton (fair dinkum, he was well over 105kg) checking into a Perth Weight Watchers clinic after what surely must have been an experiment gone wrong from the chemist who coaches the Weagles. I say it every year but it's a fact. Final eight predictions are always fraught with danger. There are always surprises with some teams unexpectedly dropping out of contention and others rising to the occasion and surprising everybody. This my top eight for 2013:- 1. Hawthorn - Clarkson and the Hawks are smarting about their lost opportunity in the 2012 grand final. They had the Swans on the ropes but some poor kicking for goal let them off the hook and Malceski and Morton (Mitch) turned out to be the unlikely heroes. I still rate Clarkson as the AFL's top coach even if he loses the plot in the coaches box and at under 9 games, and rate the Hawks a shoe in for next year's flag. Stella confirms my opinion. 2. Collingwood - the Pies have managed their list beautifully throughout the free agency/trade and draft period. They managed to trade well to get good draft picks and gained some handy replacements on the cheap through free agency. Having worked the system to perfection, they now have the added depth to make up the leeway between them and last year's grand finalists and I reckon they are going to give the flag a bit of a shake before doing what they always do best. Yes, that's play in losing grand finals. 3. Geelong - the fat lady is far from done with the Cats who utilised 2012 to bring several new faces into the game with good effect. Some critics believe they might struggle but they've still got the hunger and have recruited reasonably strongly in areas where their football department perceived they might have had some weaknesses. Geelong will remain hard to beat in 2013. 4. Fremantle - Ross Lyon managed to rejuvenate the Dockers in his first season out west. He added new steel into the team and whilst the emphasis remained on defence, his team also demonstrated some fantastic attacking capabilities when called upon to do so in the latter stages of the season. 5. Sydney - the reigning premiers didn't exactly slip under the radar in 2012 but they will come under more intense scrutiny from opposition coaches and teams determined to knock of the competition's tallest poppy. Kurt Tippett will add something to the forward division but it will be well into the season before he even appears in the colours at AFL level. I see them slipping because that's what the crystal ball's telling me. 6. West Coast - the Eagles have a classy list but I'm not satisfied that they've done enough to improve their list to the point where they can take the next step up into the top four. I worry about Wellingham and wonder what Morton and Bennell are doing on their list. 7. Carlton - they've really blown it in the past couple of years with a talented but underachieving list. Malthouse comes in with a new/old philosophy that should lift them a few notches and back into the finals but salary cap restrictions as a result of the AFL's ruling on Chris Judd's financial package, have restricted their recruiting. With Judd in his declining years and giving up the captaincy and the likes of Kreuzer and Gibbs looking decidedly shaky, this is probably the Blues last chance of reaping the dividends of their three year tanking spree (2005-7) which the AFL has curiously chosen to pretend never existed. 8. Melbourne - the Demon overhaul is now virtually complete. It's a changed list with a new attitude and every player is prepared to give his all. The squad might be young but with the massive turnover of players, a new work ethic, a high level of motivation and a reasonable draw, they should improve. Mark Neeld wants to have the hardest team to play against and while I don't think they're quite there at the moment, I think they'll be the most surprising team as well as the most unpredictable. My rough guess then is that they will get to eighth spot on the ladder. Finally, I'm sure you all want to find out about the outcome of the AFL tanking enquiry. Well, I can't say much but looking into the swirling drifts of snow, I can just detect the outline of a single object - the scales of justice. Make of that what you will but I can assure you all that whatever happens, it won't be the end of the world. I'll see you all in the future!

A little off track but I was at the gym the other day and they had a history of the NFL on one of the screens, CH 11. The interesting bit was they were talking about Vince Lombardi - Google Him, basically the super-bowl trophy is named after him now. He never had a losing season, but the most interesting part of the interviews of this players, was who he recruited, he took over the green bay packers after their worst season ever. A bit like the Swans approach. Vince did not recruit the "best" or most "Skillful" players in the league. He recruited players that would always give their maximum effort for the team consistently every week and he could count on them to do their "role" within the team. Its about the whole team approach and star players are the cream on top, not the reason for success, as within the team they become successful and stars within the league. *Plus he did work them hard

Yes, it would bring some of the rats out into the public eye. I'll bet none of them work at the club these days and each and every one of them might not have left the club in happy circumstances. Does anyone know if club members will have access to the evidence at some stage? Freedom of Information?

I can understand why certain people may not like CS, family grudges, job losses etc, but what has CC done to anyone, other than try and get the best for the MFC at all times.

At some point in time the instigators of this witchhunt have to be named if only to ensure that they do not use the same tatic down the track. Whoever was feeding Caro information should be first to be named. From my reading the information sourced from ex players, medicos etc will be set out in those papers sent to the Club and from that information the Club will be able to identify those who put the knife in and then twisted it. Caro's source however may not have been interviewed because she would have claimed the need to maintain the identity of her "sources" as confidential. If nothing comes of the investigation or at least there are only minor penalties those turncoats will not be satisfied. The scalps of CS and CC will only satisfy them and to this point I believe that they will endeavour to carry out similar exercise to rid the MFC of CC and CS no matter what enduring harm it will cause in the meantime.

3rd and goal from the 1 yard line in the 4th and Sanchez runs on the field and then into romo who fumbles.

It beggars belief to think that the AFL wants to stick the boots into a club who clearly has not benefited from any alleged tanking of games. What a waste of resources that could have been put to much better use. It's little wonder Anderson has been moved on.

All times AEDT ... Wild-Card Weekend Schedule Sunday Jan 6 - 8.30am - (6) Cincinnati @ (3) Houston Sunday Jan 6 - Noon - (6) Minnesota @ (3) Green Bay Monday Jan 7 - 5.00am - (5) Indianapolis @ (4) Baltimore Monday Jan 7 - 8.30am - (5) Seattle @ (4) Washington Divisional Weekend Schedule Sunday Jan 13 - 8.30am - No. 4/5/6 winner @ (1) Denver Sunday Jan 13 - Noon - No. 3/4/5 NFC winner @ (2) San Francisco Monday Jan 14 - 5.00am - No. 4/5/6 NFC winner @ (1) Atlanta Monday Jan 14 - 8.30AM - No. 3/4/5 AFC winner @ (2) New England: 8.30 a.m.

You can add all the rest of the draftees inc rookies and trades and it does look ok on paper. I suppose the sheer volume of changes gives hope. Then again we have drafted who we thought were good players before and been disappointed. Hopefully this batch give us something and blend well with and add improvement to the current list.

Is that Saddam or Nasser making a comeback or do you have a dodgy spellcheck?

Thanks OD - maybe I came across as too keen to reach the footy date. Of course I'll enjoy the next seven weeks of my life with my family, my friends and my work. Happy New Year

With a stand in Recruiting Manager as well.

We had our very own Vince Lombardi in Norm Smith. Both were larger than life figures who achieved significant results in their coaching careers. Both started at clubs other than those at which they made their names and ended elsewhere as well. Both died relatively young men, of cancer at age 57. Both are honoured by their respective competitions on the biggest day of their sport's year. We have the Norm Smith trophy on grand final day (best player) and they have the Vince Lombardi trophy (winning team at the Super Bowl). In my estimation and in relative terms, Smith was the greater figure. We had the magical combination for well over a decade of Smith as coach and Barassi as the dominant player. Smith imbued all of the essential features of a successful side, hard work, dedication, loyalty and a fierce desire to win while Barassi carried them out on the field with a ferocity that has been virtually unmatched throughout the game's history. When Barassi left for Carlton and Smith was sacked some months later, all of those attributes went from the club's make up and have to this day never re-appeared.

Less of both would be good.....

It's about guys making beer snakes in bay 7 or 11 or 13.Nobody really knows which bay. Anyway ,Jeremy Howe drank 300 beers by himself and then a fight started and the security broke it up and kicked the Demons out . And it's become very important to the future of civilisation as we know it .

I took particular notice of Neeld's comment about the list. "We're not going to shy away and pretend that we don't have a lot of work to do. We certainly do and we are really confident that the group we have got will, over time, deliver sustained success for the club." – coach Mark Neeld. He's obviously happy with the core of the playing group and assured the recent recruiting has been sound. It's a big statement to make after only his first season as coach. He has had two draft/trading periods though and now appears confident the boys can start to deliver.

They were exciting times back then. Six games a week in Melbourne (including Geelong) and you could recruit players from wherever you wanted except that you had an exclusive local zone. No Vlad and the rules stayed the same from year to year and you knew who you were playing every week just by their colours which were constant. Sometimes, I wish ...

I have to disagree I have never known Dees to be nice Comfortable safe and unthreatening It does fit well with GO Dees which can be yelled in a variety of rythms and is a compacted aggressive sound it also can be expressed easily with a number of mouth positions, clenched teeth, subdued whisper, and emphasis can be placed on the first or second word for emphasis changing the context. While DEmons can be similarly used it is only with the emphasis on the two syllabyls(?? spelling) that can alter the feeling. I would never propose abolition of Demons as it also so evocative and redolent of the history and glory and even the hell of promise and despair that I have experienced. I hope to use both as we storm to success and hope you can compromise and join me as we recognise that we are indeed DEMONS and THE DEMONS as we go Go Dees!!!

climate Change. Have you seen how much ice now covers the Northern Ice Cap? Atlantic City says hello. I will refute anything Bolt says. He is paid to stir the pot. If you believe otherwise then you are a lot closer to our early primates than i. The absolute Bottom Line here Mr. Hur is that YOU have absolutely NO Sense of Humour. And that is sad. I pity you.

I too would not like to see this go to court unless we are really screwed. We are always at the AFL's mercy. However, a threat to go to court can help. Some people are saying it doesn't matter that other clubs may have infringed, if we are guilty, we are guilty. Just like if you get pinged for speeding but the car next to you does not. However there is a fundamental difference between the AFL tanking enquiry and speeding fines. Basically, you are not in direct competition with the other car drivers. But the MFC is directly competing with 17 other clubs under the AFL's regime. This is a significant difference. Therefore as a bush lawyer, I would have thought we'd have grounds for raising in court procedural fairness, pointing to the statements by LIb , Fev etc and the lack of resulting AFL action (plus all the other examples of AFL silence on tanking examples which posters have mentioned). The AFL's only response could be, 'Yes, we'll get on with those investigations as soon as this one is finished'. But they won't want to do that. I think this holds even if we have been more negligent than others in hiding our tanking efforts or leaking (which has caused some anger against the club's admin on this forum). Maybe the other clubs have been more discreet. But the AFL would have to show that they have investigated the other cases closely and found them clean. But clearly they have not investigated them closely. They would be torn apart in court if they claimed they had done so. So their only response in court would again be that they'll investigate the other cases next. So if I'm correct about the admissibility of the 'why pick only on us competitive fairness' argument, then the AFL can't allow this to go to court. Therefore they can't penalize us at a level which could tip us into pursuing litigation.

Contacted the Melbfc through their website regarding Jason's whereabouts and received the following reply: "We are expecting an announcement in relation to our recruiting team shortly. Any news will be posted on our website www.melbournefc.com.au, so keep an eye on there for all up-to-date news."

Holy Sh!t check this one out!

I heard the tank ran over her. It didn't want to, it just didn't have enough fuel to go around her.