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So, I just purchased my first ever membership. I'm pretty excited about it. Can't wait till the season starts.

If I could just get out of this blasted jacket I would vote Yes

Collingwood has said it will use its entire list of players in the NAB Cup. That is clearly an admission that winning is not the be all and end all. I await the 6 month AFL investigation or an AFL statement that it is fine to do that and that the MFC Inquisition is over without any charges being laid.

We must be insane as we are the only team to win 5 games in a priority pick year and we did it twice. We are also the only team to lose our pirority pick player within 2 years of getting him due to a new AFL rule that wasn't there when we drafted him. Despite almost universal acceptance in the football community that we did what the AFL said was ok and exactly what several other teams have also done, we are also the only team being investigated for tanking. Yep, insanity.

the long term strategy is to play finals and win a premiership when this is achieved our membership will rise from all quarters our short term strategy is to make as much money as possible so we can compete with the big boys playing in darwin for $700K/game seems to be a smart part of the strategy

List management is allowed. Fumbling in the last 3 minutes is not, Neither is NOT playing a 17yo Jack Watts more in his first year Neither is putting Matthew Bate in the midfield, Miller in the fwd line or PJohnston in defence or even have Cale Morton obliterate Adam Goodes as a tagger.

Just got back from the family day, around 300 people turned up to see James Frawley, Dan Nicholson and Tom McDonald. Also present were Chris Connolly, John Northey and Steve Moneghetti. There was a kids clinic and the normal signings and photos and around half an hour was spent with open questioning from Mona, CC and anyone who wanted to chime in. We've all read the reports from training but a couple of points I picked up were: - Dom Barry was 63kg when he arrived and has put on around 5kg already. - They spoke about the repeat effort training they had been doing and the one hr sessions on the watt bikes designed to increase their power and repeat efforts. When asked who was a standout they all said Nathan Jones is an angry man on a watt bike. - When asked how Jack Watts is going, Chip mentioned he has put on around 5kgs and I got the impression all 3 players really like having him in the back half. - Dan Nicholson said he was training for a HBF/wing position and expect to see a lot of players playing through that position. - it was mentioned that all/ most backs are expected to play 100% of game time. - Chip said if you are into Supercoach his smokey is Matt Jones and he would expect him to get a lot of games. - CC reminded us all Tom McDonald is still only 20. All in all it was fantastic to see and talk to the 3 players, they were all very obliging and spent around 3hrs with us, that's a fair effort as it is one of their few day's off. It was great to see Chip still hanging around at the end having a kick to kick with a young group of boys around 6 or 7 years old, one of whom was wearing a #8 jumper.

Channel 7 News reported that the Coaches Association has had secret talks with the AFL in respect to Bailey. Also suggested that Connolly will face allegations that he told MFC staff to tank or be sacked. Not sure if this refers to the " Vault Statement" that Bailey was quoted as saying he thought was clearly a joke and which he never acted upon. Bailey of course has been reported as denying that he or the team ever tanked and this has been supported of course by his Solicitor. If the Coach didn't tank, I fail to see how any charges can then flow.

Unlike Paul Roos before him, Buckley will not claim he was joking. He doesn't have to because the AFL won't take on a power house like Collingwood and the AFL let's Sydney clubs do as they wish.

Maybe the strategy is 2 games by $700k = $1.4m per year plus some extra members as we go along. Anyone else know where we can get $1.4m each year for 2 H & A games?

I am content with it. I don't see membership conversion in the NT being a KPI at this stage.

Lol, your wife would admit to being wrong before the AFL ever would.

If your left calf weighs 70Kg I have one word. Fatso.

RG3 might get on that 'Deer antler spray' and be ready to go in a month! Apparently all you need to do is spray it under the tongue and next minute you've turned into Usain Bolt. The Kiwi's are revolutionising sport with their livestock. Whooda thunk-it ! Maybe Ray overdid it a bit ... (allegedly)

don't go soft on us now nutbeam that's no way to win a flag

I suppose nobody asked CC the obvious question about the T word?

Tanking is only one of AD's worries. The AFL's drug policy is under attack, there are inequities relating to fixturing and a few clubs are under the pump financially. The AFL's pumping millions into Western Sydney but, despite monumental assistance with recruiting, the game doesn't look like attracting the support of the locals while at the same time, the Wanderers, with less time and less money is capturing the hearts of the people in the region and has been an instant success on the field. And a look at the sports pages in both the Age and the Sun tell the story. Soccer and the two rugby codes are making enormous inroads into the Melbourne market at the same time as this iniquitous 6 - 7 month investigation is disrupting and destabilising the original football club. What an absolute disgrace!

The AFL CEO has long held the view that as long as players are not told to lose a game, then whatever the Coach does, is protected by long term goals, under the heading "List Management". Clubs for as long as we have played the game, have at times not worried about winning and experimented for the long term good of the club. I won't list the various experiments as we all know them. The AFL has sanctioned this and especially when referring to the Priority Picks. I don't see any investigation into GWS who rested a dozen of their best players in a game against GC that would decide who got Whitfield. The next week those same players were back in the side. This was not even worth a phone call from AFL headquarters. AFL legend Matthews called for Freo to lose a game to avoid the Cats in their first final, he said that is what he would do. Freo ignored him, won that game and then beat the Cats. I don't recall one word in the media criticising him or any comment from the AFL. So therefore it is ok to actually throw games according to many in the game as long as it is for the club's greater good and you don't get a priority pick as a result. I am just [censored] off at the double standards of the AFL and the media. The worst tankers of all who got the most out of it, have a former champion as the Chairman of the AFL and sleep very soundly as a result. We have gone through hell for 7 months and it still continues. Why couldn't there just have been an investigation into tanking generally, that would have been fair. I am sure if you speak to some disgruntled ex Blues players and coaches you would uncover some amazing material. I do agree with Patrick Smith who said that the first resignation if the Dees are charged, should be that of AD.

I am incredulous that you don't understand what I said. I said we did exactly what several other clubs did and yet we are the only one being investigated. Bailey did nothing different to the Coaches of Hawthorn, Freo, Carlton, Collingwood, StKilda, Richmond etc. Also I am mystified as to what you mean by we didn't tank successfully prior to Bailey, just because we won one extra game. I thought tanking was if you threw a single game.Are you saying tanking only occurs if you get a priority pick as a result of throwing games? Does that mean you believe a team can throw several games but if it wins 5 it is not tanking? BTW Bailey has apparently told the AFL investigators that he never tanked or threw games. His Solicitor has confirmed that. If he in fact said that, why is this farce going on, unless there is absolute proof he did?

We have to play the long game in Darwin. At first we were scheduled to play in Darwin 2 out of every 3 years along with the Tiges and the Bullies as opponents for the Power so we were not even going to be there every year. Now with the Tiges playing the Suns in Cairns we are there every year as long as the AFL deal with the NT Government is in place. And yes the reason we accepted the original deal was because we were a financial basket case for whom a loss on our home game versus the Power was guaranteed. Now we are there every year but a longer term commitment from the NT Government a la Hawks and Tassie would be preferable. The pre season camp in the NT is a positive sign of engagment on our behalf. The longer the term of our commitment to Darwin then the more postive relationships we can build. Will this see a boost in Darwin NT Memberships? We only play one game a year in Darwin compared to the Hawks 4 in Launceston and the Roos 2 in Hobart so the membership 'sell' is obviously more difficult. What do we have to sell but a ticket to one game? Maybe the answer to that is the same as the answer to how we improve our membership. Get the team into the finals and challenge for a flag. Then a ticket to the Dees game in Darwin might become a hot ticket and we might be able to leverage off that. In the meantime there other benefits flowing from Darwin. The AFL is very keen for Aussie Rules to remain the dominant sport in Darwin and the NT, to engage with indigenous Australians and to have AFL games played in every state and territory. Playing AFL games there is important for all of those objectives so there should be a recognition from the AFL for our role in that. The same is true for government generally particularly if we maintain or boost our engagement on indiginous health issues. If you've never been up to Darwin for the game do yourself a favor and join other Dees tragics in jumping on a plane. I've been to all of our Darwin games and the the uninhibited joy of the indigenous kids at the game is something to see. And its warm but not too humid in July. Of course its always better when we win! You'll never never know if you never never go.

hahaha! Crackerjack is a total classic.Frank Wilson & Bill Hunter. What a cast.

No real surprise in the Award winners, or Hall of Fame Inductions announced, all well worthy winners. AP seems to be taking the celebrations in good stride... Less than 24 hours till the big game, nerves are kicking in here, got the couch primed and a mate coming over to watch it. While its been fun, almost 2 weeks on ESPN nightly shows of talking about the one game, even with my team involved, has become somewhat groundhog-day-esque. At least this time every year the sadness of the NFL season ending is knowing that AFL is just about to fire up again!

"And at genuine 1972 prices!" And make sure you respect the Wheel of Cheese.

Yes and the cheap beer psyche.

I think Mick Molloy's "Crackerjack" gives the best insight into the Australian sports psyche.

Excuse me. Tell me why increasing a membership base in the NT should not have been a high priority from day one? Please enlighten me....

I don't know how often this gets thrown up and there is no basis for the statement. First we have not exactly had a great team in the time we have been playing games in Darwin The Dees have found it hard to win two games in a row playing anywhere. Second Good teams win no matter where they play. The WCE and Brisbane travel every other week. When they have had good sides they win numerous games on the trott in any city. When they have poor teams guess what they lose regularly. Brisbane managed to win after travel and in and out of humid condtions in QLD. "its virtually impossible to win the following week". What a load of rubbish!

find oneself?

But have they given up because it is a dead market, or because we have a stronger hold on it? Honestly, I don't see how anyone can expect us to convert a large amount of memberships, when we have been competing with other teams in the market. Until the end of last season, they were still fighting for a share. It's only now that we've just had a preseason camp there, and have solidified our relationship with the NT govt, and don't appear to have any direct competitors, that we can expect to make some inroads in that department. Yet STILL, I don't see membership conversion as a current KPI for our push into Darwin. That comes later, as a byproduct of the work we are doing now.

with a side tute on being a team player.

Biffo you do not have all the facts. He was at a power lifting comp.

Have we won out or have other teams given up on Darwin? I'm happy to play in Darwin for the money we receive but I would have thought we would have established ourselves deeper into the community by now and it would have correlated in more then 160 members. I am just wondering if we are even attempting to have a membership base up there. We may just be up there for the money from the NT government.

I must admit my first thought about AP is hell no he didn't/wouldn't ever EVER take anything. Mainly because of my love for him but when I take out my love for him you can see a logical case to question his recovery and season. I don't know if there is a correlation between recreation and PED's but if a player would for arguments sake take a recreational drug to up his performance their mindset musn't be against any form of PED either. It can be comical sometimes. Alistar Overeem was a fighter in the Pride organisation (Japan) who went from a natural skinny framed Muay Thai fighter to a steroid riddled freak of nature. His argument for years was he ate horse meat everyday. No one believed him and he dodged testing in the states for years by fighting in Japan and Europe. As soon as he joined the UFC in the states he tested positive. If our latest high drafted discard gets on the horse meat it would be sad and comical at the same time.

Really? Cos Port, Richmond and the Bulldogs were all saying the same thing and trying to do the same. We have won out, and now that we have maintained our claim on Darwin, we will build on our relationship with the city, establish it as ours in the eyes of the locals, and the memberships should follow. But like I have said, they won't be the aim at this stage.

Watts is finally looking a lot bigger and if we keeps that beered he might actually intimate the opposition.

Yea was a good day all players were more than happy to sign my 3 month old sons guernsey although I don't think I will get any more signatures on it, chip had a joke asking if I left it in the dryer and they were all really good with the kids

Jack viney doesn't need to recover after Darwin. Darwin needs to recover after Jack Viney. Sorry couldn't help myself.

I hope this is as simple and understandable for others as it was for me.

I'm sure I've heard the same 5 years ago. And what makes you think our push into the NT is all about increasing membership? I think it'll be an eventual added bonus.

I bet you'll never own a lawnmower outright. * apologies to Mark Fine

I reckon this will be his breakout year. Thanks for the photos!

After this investigation is finally over I would love the AFL to man up and admit that their actions which include priority picks that encourage list management caused the game of football damage. Much like my wife I don't think the AFL will ever admit they were wrong.

and we have 160. That's why i am concerned...

Me thinks he made a bad mistake. Whilst the bloated one (thanks for that gem rpfc) was away young angry should have kept the main seat warm & answered the phone taking all messages faithfully. Made coffee and doughnuts for the employees and journos. The fact he engaged a full investigation into a rule that has not been written was not good for his CV. that said i cannot still believe that AD did not put a stop to it,hours after it commenced. Maybe he wanted Angry to go....

straight thru to the keeper

Have set up the very prestigious Whelan League. Code: 273343

WJ never thought I would see the day when I disagree with you, but this is one of the problems about this board now and agan, 2 posters hijacking the topic to discuss a player who is not even with us, I don't care if he wins the Brownllow this season, the only problem with that is I will have to have one of my self imposed exiles as the board fills with vitriol blaming everybody from the CEO to the boot studder for trading him. Must we continually revisit the past...new season...whole new bal game.... As I said in nnother post AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!....there I feel better now

I liked Gysberts, know him through a mutual friend and knew he was working hard and had a MASSIVE amount of talent... But my impression with the Gys/Pedo trade was that it was a very "Neeld" type decision, ie- trade a guy away who is a gamble, might be a superstar might not make it, for a guy who won't be a superstar, but will be a consistent, solid contributor. At the stage we're at now and with what we're trying to do i think it was a smart move albeit a calculated risk.

It's been another interesting few days in the NBA. I haven't heard how bad the injury is but Howard left late in the loss against the Suns with a shoulder injury. Not good new for the Lakers. Rudy Gay has been traded to the Raptors, Jose Calderon finds himself in Detroit (might be a good move for him, I hear real estate is pretty cheap there at the moment) and Tayshuan Prince lands at the Grizzlies (And some other bits and pieces, leaving the Grizzlies under the tax threshold and the Pistons with more cap space). A bit sad to see Prince go, he's been a one team and championship player for the Pistons, but that's the nature of the business I guess. Miami are starting to gain a bit of momentum, they looked a bit shaky earlier in the season but are on a 13-0 run. And an Australia Day tweet from Patty Mills (Is he wearing the women's uniform?)

I am truely amused by a number on here who seem to think that selling sponsorship of the MFC would be easy. I have spent all of my working life in Sales. From my view it would be the hardest job in the AFL. Consider the product Membership in the bottom half dozen clubs, one of the lowest number of supporters outside of members. Poor on field performance for the last 7 years on end. Terrible off field publicity over the last two years. Reputation now of being tankers. Very seldom play gamers in peak viewing times with large numbers of games buried on foxtel. Gee what a great product you have to convince companies to come on board. If you were selling this product on commission you would be broke in 3 months. Now I have little knowledge of the skill level of CS / marketing team but they have one tough job. However there is a way out It is called winning Games. Start stringing together seasons in which we win more than we lose and the game changes. Until then this is one tough gig and any initative that generates leads is well and truely worth it. 2013 is in my opinion going to be a year were we have a number of unfilled sponsorship spots. Not a good result but you would need to be JC to do any better IMO