Leaderboard

I wish him all the best with his future, hopefully he can be rookied somewhere.

I have said on other threads before that if you watch the current videos, they are just highlights and almost all the players look like magic. So three key factors you have to take into account are: 1) What the kids personality like - only the club can really comment on whether players have already ruled out on the "no [censored]" policy. 2) Where the draft gurus have rated them - this includes club recruiting officers and the Knightmare's and Paige's of the world who watch games far more regularly than any of us - although they can all get it wrong, quite obviously. 3) If players are rated relatively equally, what positional needs do we have. This last one we all can comment on given we watch the Demon games and know our weaknesses. For mine, assuming we take Brayshaw as I'm sure we will, we are assembling a pretty strong inside-mid presence for future with Nat Jones, Viney, Tyson - so why would we take Weller as well? We have four listed ruckmen for 2015 - Jamar, Gawn, Spencer and King - so why would we take Wright for example to make it five? We have just picked up Frost to cover Frawley which gives us four pretty good tall defensive options - Tom Mc, Dunn, Garland, Frost - so why would we go for Lever? We have just recruited outside speed - Garlett, Harry O and Stretch - so why would we go for another classy outside type like Pickett or Laverde? We lack a classy left-foot defender - but Liam Duggan, Harrison Wigg and Corey Eills are all rated between 10-30 in draft so its a big stretch to claim one of them with pick 3. We have just lost Clark and while Pedo made a big improvement we only have two tall genuine forwards - Dawes, Hogan (sorry I don't rate Fitzy) - so why wouldn't we choose McCartin?

Oohh yeah but ghe tried to stop the injecting regime four times apparently. As did Doc Reid... Its all bull tish. They are all claiming they tried to stop the program. If so many at the club were trying to stop the program (which they claim wasn't illegal !) Then why didn't the program stop? Because they were seeking to push the boundaries and according to Hird's emails, the naysayers were roadblocks to go around. Make no mistake, this was highly organised, dodgy and designed to avoid detection. The club should be thrown out of the comp.

AFL ... "If you're a big club with lots of supporters then we're going to give you lots of home fixtures where you can make a great deal of money" "But, if you're a smaller club with not many supporters, don't expect to get the same deal. In fact, we're going to give you as bad a fixture as we can think up and if you don't like it, bad luck" "We're interested in maximising crowds" That's the truth of it and it's been that way for close on 20 years ... the fixture is not necessarily performance based either. When we were playing finals, we continually received the same type of fixture that we've been receiving in recent years. If they ever bring in any sort of fair equalisation measures, we need to be well catered for. However, I'm not expecting that to happen - the equalisation measures probably won't be done properly. But that doesn't mean we should roll over and give up.

is it me or does he look like the Toump?

Really? I'm questioning upgrading from normal membership to something more. Im bloody excited. I live in Geelong and travel up the highway to my 11 games a year i get with my membership, and usually go to more when we play at Etihad or are the away game etc. Whilst the MFC is painful, they also bring me such joy in my life. There would be a massive hole in your heart to fill if you didn't i recon.

Always renew the membership, downgrade if you have to but always renew.

As with Jetta, would happily see him get a chance as a rookie.

I work from the starting point that no coach comes to the club to do it harm - they all come with good intentions. We talk about due diligence. Neeld was a very capable and well respected assistant coach. Bailey the same. I am very glad that neither is coaching the club but I wish no ex coach ill will just because he was a dismal failure. It also doesn't follow IMO that if you were a good assistant and a failed head coach that you can't go back to being a good assistant ( that's you Brendan !!)

Is there another league in the world (in any sport) that has a "deserve" factor when their schedules are released? I've never heard or come across anything that compares with how the AFL manipulates things. EPL ... Crystal Palace, Leicester, Burnley & Hull get to play home games against Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, Newcastle & Chelsea ... Every.Single.Season. The NFL scheduling is about as fair as it comes. Same goes for the NHL, NBA & MLB. All the teams get a fair crack at it with regards to being able to make excellent profits from their home games. We've been getting rubbish fixtures for close on 20 years. When we played finals, the same sort of thing was happening. We're the designated club to play H&A against the interstate clubs whilst the "big" Victorian clubs get to play each other H&A every season. All because of the AFL's manic desire to "maximise" crowds.

What has "deserve" got to with anything? Have people here been so brainwashed that they're now believing the carp that comes from the AFL and the media? The AFL has the most "fixed" fixture in world sport. Fact. If it wasn't for our poker machines, we'd be in all sorts of trouble as a club. Last financial year we made just over 3 million from our home games (which, coincidentally, contained 7 home games against interstate teams. In that same financial year, Collingwood made a clear profit of over 16 million dollars. These are real numbers and as time goes on, we're falling further and further behind. We are severely disadvantaged against with regards to the fixture. Those clubs that are "advantaged" by the fixture are able to grow their club in ways that we can't. Some examples ... We've rarely been able to pay 100% of the salary cap in recent years. We were stuck with substandard training facilities for far too long. Football department spend - often a lot less than the "profitable" clubs. Previously, we haven't had the money to splash on free agents or a top line coach. There are other examples. Money is key in pro sport ... the bygone days are over with.

These are the questions you should have been asking 3 to 4 years ago. There have been radical changes in the past 12 months. You have given 35 years membership and support. Pulling out out now means you have given up and lost all your investment in the club. If you have gone this far, best to stick it out and hopefully the payoff will eventually happen.

A membership is about 50 cups of coffee... hardly worth quibbling over. One thing is certain though... if large numbers of members fail to renew, then the odds of the club wallowing in the mire can only become greater.

No great feat, his legs are about 2 inches long.

I just cannot for the life of me understand how DL is still talking about JT being rookie listed. The forum now talks about it as if its fact. Its bloody fanciful, never going to happen. MFC would be crucified, wake up!!!!

1957? And are you also charming, good looking and a great judge of whisky? Edit: Just checked your profile, 1958, shame, I only befriend people born in premiership years.

Jack was the captain at an informal training session, doing the job expected. No doubt the players there would also do the job expected. Had they been there, Bernie and Daniel would surely have done the same - take their training seriously. One of the many reasons you're not an MFC player, I guess.

? He has every reason to be lying through his teeth. The real question is why he'd tell the truth.

it's the right decision but feel a bit sad about it. Another victim of poor development and injury.

One guy I really wanted to make it. Watched a few Casey games and when he was around the pill he attacked it hard and continually hurt opposition players in the process. My god it was beautiful. Unfortunately couldn't transfer it to the big stage which is sad as I always had high hopes. Still, he has had his time and a lot more of chance than others to make it so its time to churn them through

Bad luck Tappy. Occasionally showed some promise. He was a player I really hoped would do well. ah well

Dr. Reid is still the club doctor. Unbelievable.

No, I cant read

I think given the contracts thread accuracy, there will be plenty out of contract next year. I refuse to believe there are not players available at 40 and 53 who are better than Tapscott, Evans and a non playing JT. I cannot believe the club would not use 2 picks in the 3rd round of a ND when it has only 2 picks before them. I am sure we will see some movement in the next 2 weeks.

There are two separate elements to the fixture: commercial and football. From a commercial perspective its an average fixture, but from a football perspective its a ripper. So the AFL is acknowledging that the football comes first, and gives lowly clubs a hand in two phases, firstly lowly clubs get an easier football draw (and early draft picks), then if clubs can improve their football, the AFL then rewards them with more exposure (Friday nights, blockbusters) which results in a better commercial draw. Its a see-saw, as we rise our football draw will get harder (i.e. playing twice against top 8 teams), but our commercial draw will get better (more friday nights)... I think its a well crafted mechanism that makes sense. The AFL is responsible for promoting the best games played in a season, at the moment we don't put these on reliably enough to push other teams from these slots... in the meanwhile we get the benefit of playing other strugglers.

I wonder if AFLPA have checked whether EssUndone started their injection program before the allowed period? Fair dinkum, what a load of wankers.

I would have thought that the AFL being a business (which it most definitely is) is interested in getting as many bums on seats as possible and so the clubs with the largest memberships and supporter bases are always going to be advantaged. That is simply put, good business sense. As much as it would be welcome to be given the home game against some of these clubs, how fair is it that we reap the benefits of their ability to attract a crowd as opposed to our inability to do same? Now that we have possibly the best coaching panel in recent memory in place at the club, performances should start to improve, and with that improvement, memberships and a "motivated" supporter base (bandwagon jumpers) should start to grow, and with that growth, AFL fixtures in years to come should start to swing in our favour. There is no great conspiracy against our club... we simply do not have the membership or supporter base that is able to make a big enough impact through the turnstyles.

Come Luke....Come to the Bark side !!!

This is another reason why the draft age should be increased so that these players can spend time in state leagues where there is more defensive pressure required.

Witness Shane Charter promised no human use of peptide at Essendon ( The Australian , if yo can get to it..lol ) if not ..... From the teary keyboard of Chip....... "THE Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority’s star witness in the case against 34 current and former Essendon footballers gave a written assurance that no peptides imported from a Chinese biochemical company would be used on people. Vincent Xu, the global sales manager of GL Biochem, one of the world’s largest suppliers of peptides, has revealed to The Australian the details of his dealings with Shane Charter, a self-styled fitness and anti-ageing consultant at the centre of the Essendon supplements saga. Mr Xu said that when Mr Charter came to Shanghai in Nov­ember 2011 to visit his sprawling, biochemical manufacturing plant, he claimed to be the repre­sentative of a pharmaceutical company looking to buy peptides for research work. Mr Xu provided Mr Charter with samples of various peptides, including the banned substance Thymosin Beta 4. When Mr Charter had subsequently placed an order to import a larger quantity of peptides, he was asked to provide a written undertaking that they were not intended for human use." This strikes me as no more than plausible deniability for the shonky Chinese outfit.. Chip continues his sad commentary ..... "In a blow to the defence case of the AFL players, Mr Xu said the only Thymosin peptide supplied by GL Biochem to Mr Charter was Thymosin Beta 4. “The Thymosin we synthesis (sic) and supply always refers to Thymosin Beta 4,’’ he said. “The peptide products (such as Thymosin Beta 4) are for research use only, not for human use. We sold our peptide products to Shane Charter after he signed the non-human-use agreement.’’ I've bolded the TB4.....because it's fun to do that "A copy of Mr Charter’s undertaking to GL Biochem — signed and dated December 8, 2011 — holds Mr Charter responsible for the “improper use’’ of peptides by himself or a third party. “The product outsourced to your company will not be directly applied for usage on human body without appropriate requirements satisfied,’’ the undertaking reads. “And precautionary measures, if applicable, will be adopted to ensure that the product will not be used improperly by third party.’’ Mr Xu said the undertaking was required of all GL Biochem customers to prevent the proliferation of peptides on lucrative black markets around the world. ASADA alleges that the Thymosin Beta 4 bought by Mr Charter from GL Biochem was administered to Essendon players during the 2012 AFL season by sports scientist Stephen Dank. Mr Dank is separately accused by ASADA of administering, possessing and trafficking in a banned substance at Essendon and the Gold Coast and covering up its use. Mr Charter co-operated with ASADA’s probe into Essendon, giving its investigators extensive testimony and documents about his dealings with GL Biochem, Mr Dank and compounding pharmacist Nima Alavi. It is understood Mr Charter is still deciding whether to appear as a witness in the case — and subject himself to cross-examination by lawyers representing the 34 players — when the AFL convenes an anti-doping tribunal to hear and determine the charges. The long-running case could be heard before the end of this year. Mr Charter is due before the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday to answer criminal charges of trafficking in and possessing steroids and possessing human growth hormone and other Schedule 4 poisons. He has previously served two years’ jail for importing a commercial quantify of pseudoephedrine, a precursor to methamphetamine. Mr Charter met his lawyers this week to discuss whether appearing as a witness in the ASADA case would put him at risk of self-incrimination. The current criminal proceedings against him, the result of a sting operation last year by Victoria Police detectives from the anti-gangland Purana taskforce, are not related to the Essendon case. Mr Charter declined on legal advice to respond to questions provided by The Australian. The ASADA case is heavily reliant on Mr Charter, despite him having no direct knowledge or involvement in Essendon’s 2012 season supplements program. According to ASADA’s summary of evidence provided to lawyers acting for the players, Thymosin Beta 4 imported by Mr Charter was compounded by Mr Alavi and provided to Mr Dank. Mr Alavi’s evidence is that, in January 2012, he compounded a Thymosin peptide from raw mater­ials imported by Mr Charter but does not know for certain whether the substance was Thymosin Beta 4 or a permitted form of Thymosin. He told ASADA he gave Mr Dank the Thymosin and a banned peptide, Hexarelin, in 10ml, clear glass vials for testing and did not see the peptides again. What happened next is unclear. Mr Dank has refused to be interviewed by ASADA but maintains that the Thymosin and Hexarelin compounded by Mr Alavi were neither intended for use nor used at Essendon. He told Mr Alavi the peptides were ruined by sun exposure and destroyed." Murky murky murky ........ "ASADA must prove to comfortable satisfaction that Essendon players were administered with Thymosin Beta 4. " You know what Chip...I think it just did !!!!!!!!! "The case is circumstantial, ( Yes Chip.....but that's quite ok and allowable ol' chap ) constructed around four principle elements: Mr Charter’s evidence that he imported raw materials for the banned peptide; correspondence between Mr Charter, Mr Alavi and Mr Dank when Mr Dank was employed at Essendon about how to prepare and administer Thymosin Beta 4; consent forms signed by Essendon players who agreed to be injected with a form of Thymosin; and player testimony about receiving subcutan­eous injections from Mr Dank in the stomach. Essendon insists its players were administered Thymomodulin, a permitted Thymosin peptide, and not Thymosin Beta 4. The players vary greatly in their recollections of what they were administered." Not looking good is it Chip ???? T

Congratulations for editing and therefore taking one comment I made about one team totally out of context. Us being a poor team shouldn't therefore mean we receive a fixture that hurts us financially. Off field effects on field and vice-versa but we shouldn't be conspired against. Anyone who believes we're getting a fair crack at things with regards to the fixture is not looking at things closely enough. We should all want what is best for the club. You and others sound like you want the club and our supporters to be further punished for being a poorly performed team. Isn't being down the bottom of the ladder enough for you?

MFC recruiting plan should simply be, do the homework, work out who they want to pick and then pick the other bloke.

On behalf of the esteemed Supermercado/Demonblog, and the organising committee, it is my immense pleasure to introduce you to Demonbracket 50. Over the course of November, we'll endeavour to find our favourite (important distinction: FAVOURITE, not best) Demon player of the post Premiership era. I won't go into enormous detail here, as all info can be found at http://mfcdemonblog.blogspot.com.au/ However, some quick house keeping..... Tomorrow at 10am, we unveil the draw. No drip feed like the AFL, but will offer one 1st round match up: Graeme Yeats v Andy Lovell. That's a tough one, many others are easier. Details on voting days in the above link. For clarity, we put some rules in place to arrive at the 128 selected. - must have debuted after 1964 (ie no Demon premiership players) - all 2014 listed players excluded (they have their own Demonbracket in February) - ex Melbourne players who are on a 2015 list excluded (Beamer, Brock and Warnock retired/delisted, so have been included). - First 123 players were ordered by games played (we were pretty stoked that player 123 happened to be a controversial full forward with a fat arse) - Last 5 players were wildcards selected by Mercado, myself, Foundation Hero Elliot Swart, and the great Matt Burgan. Our one criteria was a wildcard had to have played at least 30 games. So apologies to fans of Phil Egan, Dannie Seow or Haydn Lamaro. - 16 seeds were initially selected in order of games played. Was decided at the 11th hour that we'd honour Robbie and Jimmy by placing them 1 and 2, ahead of Neitz. the 16th seed was gifted to Jakovich, A. Partly to right the wrongs of the 2008 150 Heroes committee, but mostly because we could. Deal with it! We haven't tasted much (any) success in the past 50 years, but we've had our share of beloved footballers. Please take the opportunity to get involved and vote daily. We're working to get the club on board via Matt Burgan, and we'll be harassing former players on Twitter. Should be heaps of fun. Go Jako, Chook.

We are in a position to pick any two players after the player St Kilda picks. If the club 'reached' and chose Dangerfield over Morton - would this place have gone into meltdown? Yes. Would it have been a ridiculous, pointless, and wrong reaction? Yes.

...in 6 years time.

I keep forgetting about WorkSafe. Maybe they're waiting for all the evidence to be brought to light to make their investigation easier? Surely they too will want to hand down some kind of penalty. They sure as hell would in any other work place.

I will be absolutely stunned if Tapscott and JT and possibly Evans are not delisted with the last two being rookied. To fail to use picks 40 and 53 would be unbelievable IMO. We might not take a DFA or use PSD 2 and so be it, but to fail to use 40 and 53 would be amazing. I am sure we will be using them, as there is still another list lodgement before the ND.

pretty simple really. charter goes to china and gets ingredients for tb4 takes them to chemist in south yarra where it becomes proper tb4 and put into vials and doses etc dank takes it to essendon used on players. the end

The afl penalties two seasons ago were for bad governance. It has no bearing on any penalties for drug use. IMO this is heading to the COAIS (sports court) under the sponsorship of WADA as I don't think any Australian authority will have the courage to hand out the penalty that Hird and Essendon deserve. There are just too many vested interests, particularly economic interests. Either way, Essendon will go for a row.

now there is a big wrap...

According to 3AW's Breakfast Show, the Chjip La Grand article in today's Australian claims that the Thymosin supplier in China only ever gave Charter 'the bad Thymosin' (TB4) on the understanding that it would not be used on humans. It would have killed La Grand to write this. I don't have a subscription to The Oz.

The least they could do is ensure that matchups between teams are fairly split (home and away) over a period of time. Of course, this is never a problem for the teams who always play each other twice a year. Something like Essendon's 9 out of last 10 games against us have been their home games, Carlton is now 4 in a row, Richmond 3, and I think Geelong were 6/7 up until last season

Well...as a Melbourne supporter my interest in the game of football is sustained by Friday night football. Like a lot of us we watch our club but don't get a real payoff from that, it's what we do. Looking at the fixture the only Friday night game that interests me is not until round 21. Collingwood, Richmond and Carlton have a mortgage on Friday night in 2015 and all 3 teams are average at best. As has been pointed out numerous times Mike 'conflicted' Fitzpatrick is a disgrace and brings the game in to disrepute again. Mike 'I leave the room' Fitzpatrick, Mike 'I see no tanking at my old club, Schulz Fitzpatrick. Watch the Friday night ratings drop this year.

seems pick 1's often have flaws !!! Theyre only human

The answer has been and remains 'Mike Fitzpatrick'.

https://soundcloud.com/sen1116/the-run-home-melbournes-josh-mahoneyHe says the shortlist is down to 3-4 at 5.42 then at 6.48 rattles off Brayshaw, Petracca, McCartin and Wright as the four "around the mark". I think that's pretty easy to read between the lines. Unless you think Mahoney is telling porkies (for no good reason) or Lever will magically re-appear on our shortlist before draft day then he won't be a Demon.

I know I'm really showing my age but when I saw the title to this thread the first thing that popped into my mind was....

I like the look of this kid. So expect us to pick him, and for him to float around doing SFA for years and polarising supporters.

Nah from what i've heard, Goodyear is wildly inconsistent. He only saves a game once a year.