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There's no doubt our list needs change, but go easy on some of these blokes being delisted at this time of year. It must be a bloody awful feeling for them. A bit of sensitivity wouldn't go astray.

No need for panic!

Gawn just posted on Instagram that no problem with ACL and that he will be back training in 10 weeks

I don't know what it is either, but I'm guessing it's not legal

I'd drop out Tom Libbertore, Jones is second in the comp for disposals, averaging 7 more disposals per game

On the positive side this just adds more credence to our request to the AFL for special assistance, doesn't it?

The good news is that Pedersen wasn't wearing the Rolf Harris outfit.

Thanks 'land...because of this thread I've managed to convince myself Mitch is playing for us next year. Now I'm likely to be shattered.

Thanks guys , best of luck.

Not quite up there with the most offensive things I have ever seen. Moral prudery ,false outrage and indignation seem to be gripping the city in some sort of wowser rennaissance. Yet it's OK for our government to gaol kids seeking asylum indefinitely. It's also OK to run guns to Iraq. Our priorities are all retarded. We are a whitebread nation of fat ,lazy,self satisfied half wits with a reactionary media that plays it's corporate citizens like a fiddle. This country is run only for the benefit the wealthy. There is no more respect in Australia for working people, in fact they are despised. We are truly on the slide. The corporate media,it's beneficiaries and their advertisers are the scum that erode our society daily and make it rubbish. Nobody complained about Rolf Harris till it was too late to defend him and I bet there are some big name pedos in the UK and Australia hoping their victims have already suicided and the media has got it's sacrificial lambs. Any person seriously offended by this should grow a thicker skin.you will need it .

In education we spend a lot of time talking about differentiated teaching to cater for the often large spread of ability in any given class group. The difficulty is always trying to find a balance between developing the lower achieving students, progressing the middle band of capable students and extending the high achievers. It's not easy and, unfortunately, we often end up teaching to the middle and failing the other two groups who really need our time and attention as much as the middle band. I'm seeing Paul Roos taking stock of the situation and focusing his attention on establishing fundamental defensive skills with our group. This seems to be an acceptance that they can't progress without having a solid grasp of the basics. My concern is that in doing this some of our higher achievers have been starved of opportunities to shine. Our middle core group have also been restricted in their progression. The fact that some of brighter lights have been absent, or wagging, for a good part of the year compounds the problem. Overall, an E+. Better effort for some of the year but little real progress towards being a finals contender anytime soon. Hopefully some expulsions and some new enrollments next year will serve to raise the collective ability levels of the group.

Those who believe that we'll get a fairer fixture in terms of revenue if we become successful on the field are ignoring history. Right through the Daniher years when we played finals in 6 different years, we continued to get rubbish fixtures, year in, year out. For proof, go back and have a look at our homes games in those years. We've constantly been locked in as a team to play our home games against the "interstate" teams whilst the bigger drawing clubs like Collingwood, Carlton, Richmond, Geelong, Hawthorn and Essendon have been constantly "drawn" to play each other "home & away", year in, year out. The advantages that these teams have had over a prolonged period of time is enormous. 2007 was a classic example (remembering that we'd played in the finals in the 3 preceding years and had played finals in 6 of the 9 preceding years) 1) Our home games in 2007 were against 5 interstate teams as well as home games against North, the Dogs and St.Kilda. That's 8 home games where it's hard to turn a dollar. 2) This season, on the back of 7 fruitless years, we received 7 home games against interstate teams as well as home games against North & the Dogs. That's 9 home games where it's hard to turn a dollar. Not much difference hey?

Dressing up as the convicted child abuser Rolf Harris and a young girl, presumably meant to represent one of his many tragic victims, represents an appalling error of judgement by Terlich and Georgiou. I also cannot believe that other players, particularly the senior players, who did not take one look at the moronic duo and kick them out of the function. And now I read on Demonland that it is political correctness gone mad to call them out for their moronic and offensive behaviour. Rolf Harris destroyed the lives of many teenage girls. How anyone can find humour in that beggars belief. Tom Potter

Can we please not take every single bit of everyone else's trash.

Best of luck to them. They have done something we have all dream't and thats play a game for the Melbourne Football Club. Best of luck to them in the future and what ever career paths they take. They have both contributed to the club and thats all we ask from them. Ps I was a big fan of clisby....

Bulldust. He had a fantastic season. This oversight doesn't change that one iota.

Brandon Ellis for a start. Statistically he beats him on pretty much every front. I think the guy who is 2nd in the league for disposals and 3rd in the league for clearances deserved a spot in the top 40.

Spot on Dr. And this thread is a perfect example of the attempts of some to impose a view. Look at the powerful group think here - from the get go the subtle tone from the majority of posts is along the lines of - 'don't post your PC rubbish here, don't impose your values and if you do you will be shouted down as a wowser and told to keep you thoughts to yourself'. As i posted earlier. Ironic

Ok. Some quick points. - It's not satire. It's banal 'humour' on the level of giggling about [censored] and bums and Billy Brownless wearing a tutu. Put a line through that pathetic distraction. This, this here, is satire; http://static.squarespace.com/static/51823e8fe4b0cb6af951b0f8/530da11ae4b0b6000571887f/530da905e4b04afdaa6ed542/1393422573858/2012-11-15-Inviolable.jpg?format=300w - There has, as usual, not being an explosion of 'mass moral outrage'. What there has been is various people rolling their eyes and saying 'come on, put some thought into it, try not to be an 4rse'. Once again, apparently without being aware of irony, the "It's political correctness gone mad" police are now well established as the moral panic mongers. - Making out that child rape is something to have a laugh about at the pub is not harmless. I don't believe in valorising trauma, but expecting people to not be upset, to 'make it easier on us all', is not helping to expose pedophiles. It is influencing victims to stay quiet. It directly contributes to victims concluding that they wont be taken seriously, and in turn directly contributes to perpetrators getting away with it, both legally and in their own conscience. Speaking of satire, maybe this will help some people grasp the idea; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snNZkpAgNw4

The stupidity is the lack of foresight. Once they put on those costumes and stupidly posted pictures on instagram - it was never going to have a happy ending. The lack of smarts displayed by footballers never ceases to amaze me.

Blasphemy! You'd never leave us Nash! But seriously, it's a contentious topic. In the thread, not one person would advocate the acts that Harris made, and not one poster wouldn't feel terrible for the victims of his selfish and disgusting crimes. The debate is raging whether the public outcry is justified for boys on their private Mad day out (yes, I realise he posted the photo and made it public but you get my point). I follow Dean and there were 100 likes and 10 comments, he made no mention of what he dressed as, it was an in joke between him and his friends, tasteless yes, but a crime no. It was the media outlets who bought up the names behind the costumes and had they kept their thoughts to themselves, noone would be the wiser and noone would be hurt. There is a lot of good that media does, but times like this, I'm often glad I have no sporting or acting ability and able to live my life completely free of cameras.

Jeez, can't Roosy see that it was just a hilarious joke? Come on Roosy, don't be so PC. Every now and again a thread on Demonland makes me feel sick. This is one of those occasions. I wasn't even that angry at the actions of the players - it was one of those "oh you bloody idiots" moments, but the response on here has me completely incensed. If I'm being brutally honest, it makes me question whether I belong as a member of this community or not.

There isn't necessarily anything wrong with the AFL trying to maximise crowds, but the argument should then be to share gameday revenues. The AFL can either give equal fixtures and let teams stand on their own feet, or continue with gifting better fixtures to the powerful teams and share the revenue.

We have a great new system in the AFL, labelled Free Agency. What it is in simple terms, is the raping of weaker clubs by the stronger ones. A team that is equal top on wins and has won 3 flags in the last 7 years, took our CHB last year and will allegedly take our FB this year. Oh yes, but we will get compo they will say. Yes we will get a ND pick, which if not traded will mean we will get a skinny 18 year old kid, to replace a strong, experienced player, in the peak years of his career.

DL is a lot better when it sticks to footy. When it strays to a subject like this I find the glimpse into people's world view frequently disturbing. Dressing up as a convicted pedophile satire. Right. And what is this business about Harris being made a figure of fun and in fact that's a good thing because it embarrasses him? Lets for the moment ignore how stupid that is and pretend for the sake of argument that it is a position holds some water. How then does a player dressing up as a victim of child abuse fit? Is the victim a figure of fun? Does lampooning a victim of child abuse equate to satire? Forget Rolf Harris. Think about his victims. I doubt they see the humour or satire.

So did Charlie Chaplin. But both understood the difference between what's funny and what's not, satirising a particular version of Hitler. 'Springtime for Hitler' with dancing German troops, fine. 'Springtime for Hitler' with dancing Shoah victims, not fine. Same here: Rolf Harris in prison outfit would have been 'taking the [censored]'. It's the inclusion of a reference to one of Harris's victims that pushes things into the unfunny.

So true. Great post. It's not just free agency, though, it's everything about the creeping corporatization of the game ( ie rigged fixture, expansion clubs) It all supports the clubs who were big when it came in (I suppose if it had happened fifty years ago, we would have been gloating) I'm in complete despair about this. Just see no hope of us ever winning a flag. We'll be like the Bulldogs. Smirking bas&$!s from the big clubs love to see us down there, and have got absolutely no incentive to do anything about it. "Equalisation" is a myth, a bone tossed to the dog so that it doesn't roll over and die. All we provide is cannon fodder. If by chance we do ever get a decent player, he'll be off to Hawthorn etc by the time he's at his peak. Every one of our free agents have left us (think I'm right there) The players are mostly morons who don't understand the passion of those of us who are supporters. Sorry for such a bitter post. Maybe out of bed on the wrong side this morning. Footy's like the wider society; an accelerating division between the haves and the have-nots (as exemplified by the current morons in charge in Canberra - if you're rich, you're laughing, if you aren't, you're stuffed)

I'm beginning to think that the possibility of immediate success might be as much of a lure as big salary. Whatever it is, 'top' clubs continue to become stronger while the lesser lights flounder. Look at Hawthorn in recent years. Key backs were missing so they 'recruit' Gibson and Lake. They were poor in the ruck division they get Hale and McEvoy. They had no early draft selections but they have heaps of appeal to players at unsuccessful clubs. In the mean time we'll get all excited about 3rd grade rejects from other clubs. The AFL needs to fix this up before we become a two tier competition that few of us from 'weaker' clubs will attend.

Having just read through this thread I am surprised and it takes a lot to surprise me these days were the MFC is concerned. Jones has had a reasonable year as the captain of the worst side in the competition. We are a side that had four wins and finished second last. we only missed last becuase we had a couple of percentage points better the Saints. I dont remember Jones getting a best on ground nomination in any of the games this year. He had some good games but also had some ordinary games. He stands out at the MFC because he surrounded by a large number of poor footballers that does not make A Class just makes him the best of a bad lot. The simple fact is that he is not in the AA 40 because he is not in the top 40 players.

You can also throw in we had no rising star winner.

Exactly, I've never understood that. The team bringing in the free agent gets to do so at no penalty or compromise to their draft position, but if the team that loses a player to free agency wants to utilise that system it will dilute the compensation they were fairly awarded for their loss. Blatantly set up to keep the draw cards up the top whilst the little guys walk on the spot. Very unfair

Putting aside "prime time games" which is a largely commercial decision made by ch7 in conjunction with the AFL, the fixture is often designed around maximising crowds. Especially so when it comes to games being played in Victoria. By the time the AFL has matched-up up a lot of the good drawing teams with each other, often the only match-up's leftover are the one's where the less drawing teams are involved. If the "good drawing" teams are also successful on the field, all the better for the AFL. The obsession with maximising crowds is at the forefront of the AFL's thinking but, that obsession extends to the general footy public as well. ... to a point where some people are accepting of the fact that a club like ours needs to win more games to get a better fixture. It's the wrong way of thinking and that way of thinking has no level of fairness attached to it. Even if the mooted system changes to the fixture next year get through, I can still see a situation where we again receive 8 or 9 home games against low drawing teams. We might even have to think about selling another home game off to help balance the books. Meanwhile, the Pies get to play 17/18 games in Melbourne every year ... in 2011, Collingwood played 13 of their first 14 games at either the MCG or at Docklands (mainly the MCG) Last year they made a profit of over 16 million dollars and are currently over 31 million in the black. The fixture suits them just fine.

Typical AFL (Animal Farm Limited) - all clubs are equal, but some clubs are more equal than others. Until you have one set of rules that apply equally to all, these sort of issues will keep cropping up. The home team (Port) wears their home jumper, the away team wears an acceptable, non-clashing jumper. End of story.

They are being scathed for nothing more really than being amateur satirists. i think everyone just needs to get over it

B for me, 4 wins, another 7 ish games we were in front in the last quarter Considering the retirement of Clark and injuries to trengove and Hogan I think it's been pretty good, if we had even one more of our forwards I reckon we'd have 6-8 wins -40 points against per game, no 100 point losses, Keeping in mind where we were last year coming from 2 wins at 52% it's a good result

Well after watching On The Couch and seeing Chris Scott fumble around with questions about Frawley playing for Geelong I'm convinced Chip will be heading down the Princes Highway. Scott has Frawley so much on his mind he even named him (and then quickly corrected himself) as a possible swingman that plays forward. It might've been an honest mistake but I doubt it.

i would rather eat my own guts than watch that game ever again. Don't do it man. Walk away.

Child rape jokes never really seem funny to me. I guess I'm a little odd that way. I'm content to file this under 'idiot boofheads who lack a meaningful grasp of what they're doing'. But it is still important to note that, yeah, that really wasn't ok you dumbarses. Unfortunate because it seems a lot of good effort, and even thought, went into the rest of the gear.

My favourite award. Six of them this year. #2 Nathan Jones continued his trajectory of steady improvement and has developed in to an absolute class player. Not to mention indestructable - he's missed one game in the last five seasons. Incredible effort. #4 Jack Watts cops heaps of criticism from fans and the media alike, but I doubt anyone would argue against the notion that he's close to our most reliable user of the ball, especially by foot. Personally, whenever he had the ball, I have complete faith that it won't go to waste. Roos' repeated public defence of Watts in conjunction with not missing a game makes me think the coach just does not share the view of the average member of the public on Watts.. #12 Dom Tyson has been a revelation. Bull of a midfielder who can go forward and kick goals. Like Vince, was crucial to the improvement of our midfield this year. It's bloody scary to think what we'd have looked like without these two. Man crush. #14 Lynden Dunn had easily the best season of his career. Looked very settled in the back line and seems to have eradicated the silly business from his game, turning in to a reliable defender. He has proven difficult to beat one-on-one, uses the ball well out of the backline, and has developed leadership skills. For me it was a surprising and very pleasing change of fortunes. #23 Bernie Vince added a touch of class which was much needed to our side. Personally I don't think he's reached the heights he did at Adelaide or for us during the preseason, but his recruitment has been vital to improving our side. Very pleased with this astute piece of trading. #38 Jeremy Howe used his marking prowess to good effect in the back line. Strugged early in the year - particularly in the forward line - but looked pretty decent in the latter half of the year I thought, having adjusted to defence and trusting his marking skills down there. He's a very good judge of play and has the best hands I've ever seen. Roos has said he expects Howe to find his way back in to the forward line - it'll be interesting to see whether that happens next year or takes longer than that. I expect all six of these players to feature heavily in this year's B&F along with Ro Bail and Tom McDonald who played 21 of the 22 games. Well done lads.

Love to know what you think ‘the PC brigade’ actually is and who belongs to it. Accusing people of political correctness is itself an attempt to be politically correct. It just engages a different kind of political position and different notion of correctness. Your use of ‘worse’, implying some sort of moral scale that you’re entitled to rely on and impose on others, says exactly that.

There's got to be a push for those 90s red training tops with the MFC in the middle. Alleviates every single clash we have. If the dogs are allowed to do it, why not us?

Not on point - but the highlighted comment reminds me of one of my favourite seasons - 2002 - the one in which we were absolutely cruelled by injury in the semi final against the Crows at the MCG. Geez that was a heart-breaking loss. Despite the draw, we had some great come-from-behind wins that year, even in away games. The Dees had a quick, exciting midfield - TJ and Yze finished in the top 4 in the Brownlow - and then Daniher unwittingly stuffed it up at the end of the season by trading Woey and not giving Powell the additional year he wanted, only for both of them to become top tier players at the Pies and the Saints respectively for the next couple of seasons. We've never recovered from that trade period IMO. Anyway - round 19 of that year - an away game at Subiaco playing West Coast. We won by a goal. TJ had about 58 svelte possessions. One of the truly great wins. Vardy apparently got so hammered on the flight back, he went missing at the baggage carousel at Melbourne Airport. Everyone went looking for him. About 5 minutes later he emerged out of the hole in the wall where the bags come out, lying flat out on his back, completely passed out on the conveyor belt. But everyone was pumped because we were set to play finals. The come from behind victory at the Gabba against a dominant Lions was also sensational that year. Thinking of those games nearly brings a tear to the eye. Roos should show the player group those games in the pre-season. In fact, I think I might watch those games in the pre-season too. There's absolutely no levity in being an MFC supporter anymore - it's like running in mud, day in, day out, in wet, windy conditions with dark grey skies in every direction. It's emotionally draining. I want some blue sky. We bloody well deserve some.

Equalisation is about letting us survive not moving forward, the AFL foolishly believe this will keep us happy hence our fixturing doesn't give us annual home fixtures against a fair few of the big drawing clubs

The only successful first-round draft picks we've had in the decade prior to 2012 have been Nathan Jones and, ironically, James Frawley. All the others have been underachievers relative to their selected position. The two high priority picks we got (Sylvia, Scully) were largely wasted, partly because they were bad drafts anyway (we'd be lamenting Scully like we do Watts if he'd stayed). There's not one single player left from the 2003 ND (and 2011 by the way). There's one left from 2004 (Dunn), 2005 (Jones), 2006 (Garland, if Frawley leaves) and 2007 (Grimes). These were the drafts that should have left us with established, quality, experienced players in the 25-28 age group showing leadership. Talk of cycles is irrelevant when you look at what we've done.

cant lay claim as pinched this idea/image The Tigers sing they are YELLOW and black !! oh we’re from tigerland -YELLOW AND BLACK- oh we’re from tigerland well here you go lads, problem solved. looks Ok i reckon

Thank you, posted my thoughts exactly. Like you I'm happy just to dismiss it as thoughtless stupidity, but I still shake my head that, when faced with literally unlimited choice for costume, you'd choose to make light of a convicted paedophile.

I'm not offended by it but it is so obvious that many would be. Was a stupid idea but we move on.

Way I see the Mitch Clark situation is the club and mitch came to an agreement to announce a "retirement" which effectively has taken any public pressure off him, at least until now "Extended leave" leaves the open a lot more open, and media/fans wouldve been questioning his recovery every 2nd week This time gave him the chance to recover from injuries, and mental recharge and give himself every chance of playing again, and if not then he gave it a crack!! Mitch's interest in football on twitter has shown how well he has been recoving mentally too i think, earlier in the year footy and MFC were never mentioned, now he comments about all the games!!

GrandNewFlag says if Mitch comes back it will only be with the MFC and Grandnewflag is never wrong

Sorry all, I made a mistake in the thread title. I meant to call it "another opportunity to have a crack at Watts". Don't know why I bothered.