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You can't give any credit for the biggest single donation by any individual to any club. He had his faults but he tried and put his money where his mouth was, stood up to the AFL and presided over a GF in 2000. Not totally hopeless compared to others I would have thought.

Good article on Steve and the third ex Demons player to preside over the running of the MCC. Now, as for Matthews, I believe he's the only player to have been charged by the police with criminal assault while playing football. A nice little millstone around his neck.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sack fisher!!! 4-1 in our div with the niners next week.

It was five and no one could be sure MFC would still exist without that contribution. Like Brian Dixon, it would be good to see him included in the family once again ( never said he was perfect neither - I've read some of the court judgement summaries)

Haha what were they thinking ? Looks like they made a mistake from the vision I saw... Meanwhile can your boys keep going and keep us alive ?

While I agree with you to a certain degree in that he is now not seen as the Messiah, the 23+ pages on this thread plus the number of other threads dedicated to him on this forum indicates that supporters still place him under a microscope and critique every one of his actions. No matter what he or the team does from this point forward, I am confident that he will be heavily scrutinized until the day he retires.

Joe was never one to back away from a battle and it looks like he's going as far as he can with this one. A fascinating character in Melbourne's history. He took the opportunity to lead the fight against the merger in 1996 when approached by Brian Dixon. Whilst the official result voted in favour of the merger many argue there were such anomalies in the count we (Joe) would have challenged it in court had the Hawks not rejected the proposal and saved our bacon. I remember after the vote feeling that Joe had the opportunity to galvanize our club which he did for a time. He appointed Neale Daniher and we had some fantastic times under his leadership but by 2001 with many influential (and normal) supporters and members of his own Board dissatisfied with his leadership it all hit the fan. Joe threatened a spill of the Board mid season but thankfully that was averted and he lost the subsequent election battle with Szondy, who I backed, and who was to turn out to be the worst Chairman in recent times. Joe put a lot of money into the club but sadly his style was confrontational and controversial with his many battles with the AFL doing little to help our cause. He decided to expose our salary cap rorts (overseen by guess who - Cam Schwab) when the AFL had no interest in them causing many to question his motives. He exposed them by getting his own lawyers to audit our payments but the auditors report, as I understand it, was never tabled with the Board and his Board were unaware that he was going to have a news conference exposing the breaches. I think I'm right in saying all this but perhaps either Redleg or WJ would like to comment as I think at the time they were quite close to Joe. Of course it's all water under the bridge but as Whispering Jack has said on so many occasions - if you ignore the lessons of history you are prone to repeat them. I still believe that our greatest failing has been having Chairmen who did not necessarily have MFC as their primary motive for holding the position. Joe arguably led the rest of the field in this respect but he was a larger than life character who certainly made life interesting and promoted our club. Anyway thankfully after many years the AFL has taken control and we have a fantastic CEO and a Board who know their role and I think we can be as confident in our future now as at any time since the AFL was formed.

Lacking the motivation to go to sleep right now, I had a look on a USB I had sitting around and discovered us vs Collingwood on there. Round 18 that is. It's funny looking back and remembering watching it live. I seem to recall commenting on here about it being a stereotypical Melbourne start to the game. There's a dodgy free kick directly in front of Collingwood's goal to open the scoring. Nathan Jones tries to show leadership by playing on blindly and getting into trouble. Grimes takes a little too long with the ball and winds up kicking it out on the full. Fortunately, this is the incarnation of the Demons that was starting to show that they can hold their own in this weight division and rather than dropping their collective bundle they were able to keep their [censored] together and play like footballers after the first few minutes. I'm quite looking forward to the rest of it.

Joe Gutnick loses legal battle

Nice article on Steven Smith, http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/new-mcc-chief-steven-smith-has-some-regrets-over-his-200game-football-career-20150323-1m5vz1.html Terrific player Steve. One of the worst things I've seen on a footy field was Steve being carried off on a stretcher after a smash to the face from Leigh Matthews. Not the only demon to suffer that treatment.

Worth a listen, very funny in general but Melbourne and Jack get a mention. Watch "2035 3AW news bulletin" on YouTube https://youtu.be/qtqZnLk43_o

Not winning any friends or arguments here Stuie. Groundhog Day.

Take 6 : Who's the cat in green? => http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-TBqQ45

Fork Matthews. I loved Smithy though. Just ironed his name and #35 on to my trusty duffel coat when he changed to #1 so .... Thanks for that mate.

Hahaha "he only tipped in $2.75m."! You're a <someone who throws things...> Feel free to name those other MFC President(s) who have contributed more cash?

Thank you Rams!! Now to settle in and cheer on these giants and keep the dream alive

Errrrrr..... He was the President of the club mate. Not saying he was solely responsible, obviously, but he was in charge of the whole place at the time, so probably deserves a little credit hey? Also, your comment about him "not bothering" to attend the game shows you have no actual idea what you're talking about in regards to Gutnick.

Whats that got to do with Joe? If anything its Neale Daniher that deserves that credit. In fact Joe Gutnick didn't bother to attend the 2000 grand final..

Didn't he tip in a couple of mill of his own money? Not a great President, but was there when we needed him, committed to the red and blue, and no worse than most presidents we've had. Why the desire to bring him down? BTW, who was the President who sacked Norm Smith and started "the curse"?

Thanks for that Hardtack.

If we get a flag in 2016, there won't be a better place!

http://demonland.com/forums/topic/39495-how-long-is-the-break-over-xmasnew-year-for-the-playing-group/?do=findComment&comment=1194601

I have emailed the club about the Maroochydore Camp. I realise I won't get a response until the new year but if anyone knows any dates it would be appreciated. If they have been publicised somewhere I can't find them. Last year's open training event was awesome and the only chance we have to connect we the club live and keep the kids interest burning, although the game on the Gold Coast this year will be a welcome addition too. If anyone has any info it would be appreciated so we can save the date. Have an 11 yr old who is dying to get Nat Jones to sign her breast cancer Guernsey with the no 2 on it she got for Xmas.

As a kid I loved Steve Smith..I've always prefered a tough backman over a flashy forward. Matthews.... Great player but a thug. He could have won multliple Brownlows but he was a thug. Some of the thing he did should have seen him in jail. I don't mind biff when 2 guys want to go toe to to toe - happy to do it myself if that is what it takes -, but Matthews was never anything more than a king hit coward

He can buy one with someone else's assets. Money talks. Like Joe had very much at all to do with that Stuie. Can always rely on you to add 2 + 2 and get 5. Not a great idea to edit quotes to reduce context.

No. The day flows from build-up to game to celebration seamlessly as it is. If it changed to a night time slot you would have a heap of drunken clowns at the game.

No

Change for the sake of change seems silly, i see no reason to think it would be an obvious improvement.

Tell me why a night GF will be better to watch? Why will the TV stations get higher ratings in the evenings when the city already stops during the day? I do not care about fireworks... those YES arguements are very flimsy...

Tomorrow, December 26, 2015 is the 11th anniversary of the tsunami which hit the shores abutting the Indian Ocean and took the lives of a quarter of a million people. One of its victims was Melbourne defender Troy Broadbridge, a much loved figure at the club, who perished while on his honeymoon in Thailand. Tomorrow, we celebrate his life and his memory ...

Somebody has been kind enough to upload it to YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIFLsRPlEwo

I said 4 of those 6, so clearly nothing hinges on any 2 of them. Lumumba had a shocker last year, I expect significant improvement this year. Unlike you and others I haven't written Grimes off yet, just like I never gave up on Nev Jetta. Grimes played ok last season, his confidence is still shot though. When he gets the ball his first thought is to not stuff up, so he takes too long looking for the safest option. He needs to think less. I'm not sure he can get over the scars of his career so far but if he does he'll be best 22 for sure.

The first match of the next season against Essendon dedicated to Troy was one of the most emotional and unforgettable in recent times.

What does DAMM stand for?

Far be it from me to comment on other lawyers, but for what he has said and the fact that he keeps commenting on the matter, he comes across as a real d-ckhead.

Rip to Troy and all the other people lost .

Pics show he is moving really well on his left leg...great sign as it was his left acl injured last year!

There would be sadness for Troys family at this time every year. WJs reminder is a wonderful gesture that ensures the MFC community will never forget Troy. I hope our support gives comfort to those closest to him and helps with their healing so they can fully celebrate the festive season. Warmest wishes to all.

Profound at times yes. New low.No. Let your high horse relax in the stable and you might enjoy life more. Merry Christmas to you oh enlightened one. Hoping you have a nicer 2016.

Because the victim refused to make a formal statement. Wonder how that came about.

With Melksham, Bugg, Kennedy, Frost, Petracca and Oliver coming in whilst only really losing Cross and Howe- I'd say Jack is going to find it tougher than he ever has to get games in 2016.

As you know BB, I too backed Szondy but in our defence I think it was more about ousting Gutnick as opposed to supporting Szondy. Gutnick was dangerous and Szondy was hopeless. Sometimes you need to see a well run football club to understand exactly how poor things once were. I can't help but imagine what Daniher and his team might have been capable of with a fully unified and supportive board and chairman.

Yeah that downhill slide that took us to a Grand Final....

I know the point you're making and agree with it, however, it's most unfair on Yze and Robertson to be mentioned in this conversation. Over a 4 year period Yze had the most kicks in the entire AFL, he won a B&F and made AA. He'd occasionally frustrate me, but he had a fine career in anyone's language. And Russell Robertson also won a B&F, should have made AA when he kicked over 70 goals, and was 4 times leading goal kicker. He's also known as one of the games great high marks. For a player who was ultimately demoted and came back through the rookie draft he too milked the most of his God-given talents. Both players achieved 200 game milestones.