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Now that Membrey has become a Saint under DFA, we could have lost Frost in the PSD to them. We made the right call.

I agree there are no direct precedents, but there are plenty of indirect ones. It is just, as far as I know, there are none where there has been such a systematic attempt to cheat through drug taking in a major sporting club at a major sporting code. I go back to the WADA world congress in South Africa last November when John Fahey was still President. They apparently had a half day session on I think the topic was something like "Drug taking in major professional team sports". It turned out to be almost entirely about Essendon and to a lesser extent about Cronulla. As I have said before on this forum, the world is watching Australia on this issue. We have been regarded in the past as having the gold standard when it comes to drug control in sport as well as having the gold standard in our overall excellence in sports performance. In sporting politics, we are a superpower. The sporting world was greatly shocked at the revelations relating to our major football codes as we were previously regarded as probably the least likely to have this sort of thing happen. Now world sports have expectations we will keep our previously high standards in place, and that is exactly the reason why this issue was given such extensive coverage at the peak world anti doping body's world congress. Basically, if we can't clean this up, no-one can, or could reasonably be expected to. We simple can't afford, neither can WADA, to let vested interested bodies like the AFL, or if it comes to that, the Federal government influenced ASADA, drop the ball in this issue. If anything, since that congress, Essendon and the players' association have become even more intransigent. For this reason, it would not surprise me if WADA are thinking a penalty of even greater than two years is in order for the players and a life ban for Hird. Then watch the writs fly. It will break Essendon in its present form, and some directors will go to jail under Workcover rules, The old Essendon brand will be sold into a new entity by the liquidators, and the AFL will wipe their hands of it. It will take "the new Essendon" though years to recover, as it seeks to build a brand new set of players, and to recover financially. The financial fallout though will be felt by a multitude of entities tied up in this for decades to come. Let's hope it doesn't diminish the strength of the code itself though in the face of increasing challenges from Football and changing lifestyle stemming from Social Media and other technological changes.

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

The way the mechanisms work, there is quite a bit to be said for keeping Trengove on the PL as a key to any Rookie upgrade from Rd 1. Essentially, if Trengove was delisted and rookied and we didn't have an LTI to start the season then Harmes or RD2 may not be available for selection. We would have 40 players to choose from. If Trengove was on the LTI, we would immediately have 43 players to choose from. It is not the difference between winning and losing but it is an argument that the club is not worse off for having Trenogve on the PL for 2015.

Pretty much my thoughts. The only other systematic type issues have come from swim teams etc and the east german athletic teams of the 70s. Can't think of too many more of recent times. I keep saying just imagine the global outrage if this was the Chinese swim team at the Olympics. The world would be calling for lifetime disqualification for China from the Olympics. Ess are dreaming if they think can litigate their way out of it. Staggers me the players are sticking with the club and not screaming blue murder about a) their health; and b) their careers that are about to be trashed. As for worksafe Victoria they are a [censored] disgrace. If it was my workplace they would be all over me and my directors would be in jail by now. If it is true they are 'waiting' for ASADA to finish that is appalling. Imagine the cops waiting for someone else to investigate for them...'oh, we aren't investigating that bank robbery yet because the bank are running their own internal investigation. We'll go in after everyone has corroborated their stories and the evidence has been destroyed or tarnished'. Beggars belief like so many aspects of this despicable case.

Anyone that thinks we will de-list a contracted Trengove to rookie him and that managers and players will not look at us with disdain are kidding themselves. He is injured, we have him under contract, the club need to suck it up just like he his. If anything I would be looking to give him the security of another year but renegotiate both years at a much lesser rate than current. The issue as others have raised is why we rushed to contract Terlich mid season when he wasn't getting a game. Barry I can understand as a young and developing player. Also the previous errors of having Evans and McKenzie still in contract.

Six foot under?

Memberships are a funny thing aren't they.. I'm of the 'Ron Barrasi' plastic football boot generation; (remember them?). Longtime supporter, since making the choice in 64. Became a member just before the attempted merger. Terrible time the merger. It was an attempted takeover of course, thats why we voted yes, ...damn you Don Scott!! But we lost and they won... So be it. So I have an MCC membership, and 4 Premium memberships in the Southern stand for me and my 3 boys... They don't come any more but they are 'Melbourne' and will be back, ....in time. When I go I mostly sit in the MCC. But i will keep paying for those 4 seats in the southern stand.... Why? Because of the 'guaranteed GF ticket should Melbourne participate!!!, because of Jim Stynes, because of those finals in the 90's, because of the John Northey era and his players, because of Neil Daniher, because of David Schwarz, .....and because I get a warm inner glow knowing that when we do win the GF one day ... I will be a tiny tiny tiny part of why we got there. Membership becomes like a drug..... Each year, .....just one more hit! Go Dees

I've stated before that there is absolutely nothing wrong with a mutual arrangement between the club and a player like Jake Trengove who is almost certain to miss a large slab if not all of the season recuperating from this latest surgery to be delisted and placed on the rookie list with full pay, total support in his rehab and no pressure on the player or the club about a comeback date. This would contrast well with the Mitch Clark situation from this year with the endless speculation about his return which might have contributed to Clark's breakdown (I'm not suggesting either that JT is in the same situation or head space as Mitch). I see it as a win/win for the player and the club in circumstances where the club has identified a player it needs to fill its list eg a DFA like Ben Newton.In similar vein, Michael Evans played very few AFL games in 2014 and is not likely to feature in early senior team selection and a similar arrangement could be made with him i.e delisting and rookie listing on full pay. He's able bodied and if he "does a Jetta" then it would again be a win/win. Jordie McKenzie deserves to remain on the list, not because he's a good bloke but because he's shown ability and leadership in difficult times. That gives him seniority over Evans and the right to remain on the senior list in his quest for a return to where he was two years ago when he held a regular place in the side. That's how I look at the situation.

Soidee you have to remain true. We will turn the corner When you are lining up for drinks at half time at the Melbourne V Hawthorn Grand Final and there is a sad Hawks supporter complaining that they are 8 goals down because Hogan is giving Frawley a bath and he looks at you and says "you another bloody Melbourne bandwagon supporter? Come out of the woodwork they have". You'll be able to look him in the eye and say "Nah mate, supported them through thick and thin. Been a paid up member for the last 42 years"

These guys will do anything, absolutely anything - playing the man, killing the messenger, getting stuck into the legalities with a fine tooth comb - to avoid facing the reality of what they've done. Not one iota of concession or admission that they might have inflicted great harm upon the game our kids play. Hope you're right, Dees2014.

Lever is an absolute competitive beast. Loves to tackle and hurt blokes when he does it. Lever was set to play in the midfield for the Cannons this year until he did his knee. A big 193cm agile guy running through the midfield is definitely a handy acquisition. Lever also captained Vic Metro under 18s last year as a bottom ager which inluded the likes of Salem, Bontempelli, Boyd, Billings etc.. It is a huge endorsement toward his leadership which is something Paul Roos craves in terms of building a culture. He was also in charge of the rehab group for the AIS overseas due to his boxing experience. Angus Brayshaw has mentioned he flogged the group with his workout. Also did some coaching with the Cannons midfield group this year to help his development out aswell. I know at the start Icompared this bloke to Fyfe when watching the highlights. But the more I see and watch his style through the draft hub I have tk say he is the closest thing to Luke Hodge in terms of leadership and his courage to throw himself back into packs. He is a general and will do the team things that will inspire teamates.

Just an aside - had dinner tonight with friends who know Sam Frost very well. He was very homesick and disliked living out west and he is absolutely thrilled that he was picked up by Melbourne and cant wait to play under Paul Roos. Is trying to convince his mates to buy Melbourne memberships as they all bought GWS memberships when he was there. I didnt think that the older players were supposed to come back for another couple of weeks. Good sign that there seems to be a lot of the boys getting in early. This was the talk at the B&F that they were coming back early If we can just have some good luck with injuries away we go.

Couldn't see why not?

This thread got weird quickly.

MFC TAKE NOTE ... don't be seduced by AFL.COM Paddy McCartin marketing exercise. He is a punt. We don't need to take punts. Laverde has all the requirements to be a STAR. We need his talent, pace, skills and direct style. Too good to miss.

Thanks for the update. And in recent news MFC has just signed Mitch Clark from Brisbane in a 4 year deal. What a coup for the club.

42816 We will be playing for a spot in the finals!

That is a terrible fixture for us in terms of income. We have a home game against Collingwood. We don't have a home game against Carlton, Richmond, Essendon, Hawthorn or Geelong. I [censored] hate the AFL, and everything about it. I hate their transparent and unfair agenda to help certain clubs become successful at the expense of others. Once again we have the worst draw by a country mile, the dogs have home games against Carlton & Collingwood, saints get Carlton, Essendon, Hawthorn, Richmond and Geelong FFS, they [censored] finished last. How the [censored] are we meant to build for the future. If it wasn't for my emotional ties to the MFC I would have walked away from the sport years ago. The AFL can gagf, they are corrupt and continually influence the results to achieve their own agendas.

From a footy point of view the draw aint bad. If Peter Jackson can make a profit next and grow the club he seriously is a genius. Why can we not play Victorian clubs as Home games? FGS Dill At least give the club a chance to get off the floor. Ass holes

It makes no sense to put JT on the rookie list, we risk potentially loosing him for what purpose. If he goes on the LTI list then we can promote one of our rookies, if he goes on the rookie list then we have to nominate who will replace him, so instead of having possibly 4 rookies to choose from by the start of the year will will have chosen someone in a months time. Makes no sense to me..

Its a shame I have the ignore button working but when you guys quote fence it comes up in my feed. Its so nice not to have to read his tripe.

Interstate home game splits: 2015 - 4-7 (WB, NM, St Kilda, Collingwood) 2014 - 4-7 (WB, NM, Geelong, Collingwood) 2013 - 4-7 (WB, NM, Hawthorn, Collingwood) 2012 - 5-6 (WB, Hawthorn, Richmond, St Kilda, Collingwood) 2011 - 4-7 (Carlton, Hawthorn, Richmond, Collingwood) 2010 - 6-5 (WB, NM, Essendon, Hawthorn, Richmond, Collingwood) 2009 - 6-5 (WB, NM, St Kilda, Geelong, Richmond, Collingwood) 2008 - 7-4 (WB, NM, Hawthorn, Geelong, Richmond, Carlton, Collingwood) 2007 - 6-5 (WB, NM, Carlton, Geelong, St Kilda, Collingwood) So in that period (9 seasons), home games tally against the Victorian clubs: Collingwood - 9 WB - 8 NM - 7 Hawthorn - 5 Richmond - 5 Geelong - 4 Carlton - 3 St Kilda - 3 Essendon - 1 So we're essentially not getting Essendon home games, we're running at 1 home game every 3 years for St Kilda (who over this period was a generally successful club) and Carlton, whilst the 5 home games against Richmond were all 2008-2012, during which time Richmond did not play finals once. We've been given some home games against Hawthorn to placate us, as well as QB of course, but otherwise we're being fed a diet of WB and NM. In 2011 we hosted every single interstate club, and six other times in these 9 years we have hosted all but one.

Seriously just delist Evans and pay him out. Forget about rookie him at all he is behind about 8 midfielders on our list. Id rather take a developing key forward or quick mid in the rookie draft then clog it up with Evans.

Interesting that JT said he is happy to "sacrifice" 2015.

No one will take JT with his injury and hefty contract.

Disagree. He is a professional.He knows he will probably not play this year. Possibly not again. He has a substantial contract. We will honour it as we did this year.. Where does it say we have to keep him on the senior list to show loyalty. If we rookie him and pay his contract we show loyalty. We take the pressure off him as well. If he recovers, we upgrade him and new contract. End of story. We are supposed to be a professional football club. A professional club would IMO act as I have outlined. I am pretty sure JT would agree. We are not a creche. How is doing what I said disadvantageous to JT, or the club? He will have our full support during rehab, without the burden of expectation. At the same time another player will be given a chance to have an AFL career.

It is a donation to the club we love. I pay my membership and wear it with pride. I would hate to be seen as a fair weather member. When we are successful I want people to know that I was there in the dark years, I am a true supporter,

I find this thread pretty funny, when I recall how many on Demonland wanted Jones out a few years ago.

Obviously unaware that McDevitt was a former high ranking Policeman. Might find himself getting investigated.

I don't vote in elections so i don't whinge when the country isn't going well. If you don't buy a membership I don't think you are entitled to whinge either, although it wont stop many of you!

Again I noted this Hardie fellow on the news after the bumblers verdict was handed down. The man was wearing a Cronulla Sharks hoodie and went out of his way to try and shield Dank from the media scrum. He has a vested interest in this and I am at a loss to understand why the ABC is using him as a go to on the story.

AFP asked to investigate ASADA head over possible crime Desperate. Risible and the work of legal academic Martin Hardie, an Essendon man who has previously assisted that club in a legal capacity.

Agree Redleg, I think serious questions need to be asked of our list management. There's a lot of "in Roos we trust" going on, but there's been a few strange list management decisions: a) Signing Terlich before we knew what happened during trade week b) Trading for picks 40 and 53 which if we take Newton, we won't be able to use without de-listing a contracted player. Part of the justification of giving up 23 for Frost (which is overs) was that we also got 2 picks back in return.

Port delisted him so he could sign with a club as a DFA...otherwise he would have had to take his chances in the draft.

Well I will pay up again. My husband gets his membership for Christmas and the two pooches get their pet membership. I will never lose hope.

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.

Could be a potential Dee! Demons in pole position to sign former Power midfielder Newton Would be absolutely wrapped with this.

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.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-10-31/dees-cut-another-top-pick MELBOURNE has kept the option open of re-selecting Luke Tapscott in December's rookie draft after it delisted the 23-year-old on Friday.

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?

crickets....

Every time I hear this guys name I think of that baby that was mudered - Jaidyn Leskie. I'm not sure I'm ready for another Jayden to go with Jayden Hunt. I'm getting used to Jay and Jesse. Lynden took a while to get used to. I can handle Aidan and Dean's. Not huge on Jordie's and Billy's. A pair of Jayden's including one with pick 3 in the draft. No thanks.

it depends which camp you are in some use an an before h if h is silent, else use an a in horribly the h is not silent (unless you are cockney)

IMO this would be the last thing any one could say about us Dees supporters buck. We would have to be the mentally toughest of any supporters going around considering the shite we have gone through.

keep up. JR ..lol its Saty reincarnated

AFLPA Amateur Fwits Leading Players Astray !!

It's a pity they aren't so interested in players welfare when it comes to injections.

Perhaps. I also think there's more to "he was told to be a hard arse" than is being acknowledged. I remember an interview with Jimmy where he was saying he wanted Neeld to "toughen them up", and there were similar remarks from Lyon. There may not have been specific instructions, but I think the message was pretty clear - and not just from within the club. Everyone thought that we were soft. In response, and for whatever reason - misjudgement, inexperience, incompetence - Neeld got it wrong. But on the evidence of his previous track record, he also knows how to get it right - albeit in a different role/context.

Hi Mark!