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What do you mean the club doesn't owe Springvale/Casey zilch?! Maybe if MFC went alone and made a solo VFL team the yes, but taking over a club with over 100 years of history doesn't mean you can just do whatever you want with them. And the Club has made it very clear it has a great relationship with Casey and respects the history of Springvale. Not only that but the Casey/Melb alignment has never worked so well and it's doing wonders for the eastern suburbs and young footy development. Why on earth do they need a standalone team when the one they have now is working so god damn well? I'll never understand this argument.

Clarry as well. Or was he sick? I can't recall.

I think Pedo is consistently underrated by many here. He is a solid mark and always provides a contest. His last quarter in the win against Hawthorn was very good - it illustrates what he can do. Whilst he is clearly on borrowed time given the future development of Weideman, he is still a very effective option. Contracts are no longer given to list cloggers by this club.

There was the much needed new desk and let's not forget Whiteboard Wednesday . Also, WyL in his haste to slam poor old CS has forgotten to mention the swanky blazers, the bugle , the appointment of Neeld and I could go on but modesty prevents.

The only fair dinkum saviour I've seen come to a footy club and totally succeed was a guy we employed 3 seasons ago, although many could rightly claim his boss as one too. There may have not been a footy club at all without them. We now have a very strong management team, we are improving financially and have a strong coaching team. On field Hogan, Gawn, Petracca, Brayshaw, McDonald, Watts, Viney, Hunt, Salem and Oliver could all claim to be realistic chances at All Australian jumpers over the next few years. If a Fyffe/Dangerfield/Tom Lynch type choose to come play with us that would be very nice but we don't need saving anymore do we.

And this one's a bit of an oldie but still good for a laugh.

Mebourne has signed a 30 year deal with the City of Casey. Casey had brought Springvale to Casey Fields to 1) bring a VFL team to the area to promote its ongoing football development in the region and 2) revive Springvale from fininacial trouble. Melbourne therefore aligned with Casey to honour there deal with the City. Melbourne has since then lifted Casey to great heights in the VFL for its own development as well as for the good of the region. Now they have strengthened this partnership by renaming Casey from the Scorpions to the Demons, but they recognise the history in which Casey aka Springvale has come from. It would be very rude of them to ignore this history and the Club recognises this, which is why they have made sure the Casey Demons will still honour the Scorpions. Just because it is a VFA club doesn't make it any less special then an VFL/AFL club. In the history of the game, the VFA and VFL/AFL are extremely important in remember where the game came from. So why wouldon't the MFC honour the clubs past?

Draft and development is the only way to build a dynasty. We have invested heavily in these areas and it is just about to pay off. If we can pick up some high end talent and maintain the payment balance in our group over the next few years then fine, but time and time again clubs have tried to pay for a superstar and ended up killing the goose that lays the golden egg. I don't think we want or need to do that.

Was I mistaken opening this thread expecting to read something about our new coach addressing expectations for the 2017 season?

Are you that dim ?

not even H?

Gawn is in NZ. He has run, been to the gym and kicked a ball everyday including Xmas day, he is careful about what he eats and drinks too. His professionalism impresses me.

Although, he might always have been able to realistically claim the 'lack of knowledge' defence.

I grew up in a family that espoused the politics of the Labor Left. The Labor Left as it stands today appears a very different beast, hijacked by peripheral issues that cannot hope to resonate with families wanting to get by. And the parallels with the US Election are clear. You mentioned Trump Biffen but the story for mine of that election was Clinton and her absolute disregard or misreading of the electorate. She ignored rustbelt States, choosing not to campaign at all in a couple of them and thought it would be advantageous to have Jay Z and Katie Perry 'sing' her laurels which appeared to be little more than 'I'm not him, I'm a woman, and it's my turn'. For the UK see Brexit. Meanwhile, in Victoria, Nixon and her predecessor wouldn't release crime figures around ethnicity and violent assaults, those who questioned the wisdom of the immigration policy were branded racists, and the bulk of the community (which also includes lefties like myself) now realise that we're in a pickle. But, of course, I blame the middle aged white man. It's our fault.

I must confess that as a left wing radical youth I opposed men like Dutton. As the labour movement finds transgender transitioning, Refugees and a leader with a pronounced speech impediment to be the way forward I find myself drawn now towards those who speak the truth. Duttons denouncement of the Lebanese families who support terrorism and have caused 70% of the terrorist acts here won me over. Multiculturalism works only when you have a reasonably compatible intake of people. I like Brexit and I'm enthused byTrumps victory . The white colonial has brought with him the rule of law, medicine as we know it, and respectable governance wherever he lives. We hear a lot of criticism of whitey but as far as colonising goes the British and French improved the world. Africa,India and the Middle East would be nowhere without them.A fact that irks many of them but they would still be flogging spice with an abacus if the white colonial devil didn't come proselytising . Waleed Aly will come out and knock Duttons speech in parliament which is his right. Waleed Aly reads co written speeches seeking mass appeal. He is wedged by facts. He speaks of Colonialism as the chief destroyer of the magnificent Ottoman Empire and its revered institutions. Tough luck to the Ottomans. I really don't see an alternative to Western Democracy in a world still under the spell of ancient religion.

I think the point really is the opportunity cost. Do you spend on a big star/saviour or do you spend on building a team. Our previous experience with the saviour approach has turned up nothing but a Brownlow. So far the star/saviour approach hasn't worked for Carlton (Judd), Sydney (Buddy) or Geelong (Danger) and I can't see it changing. Build a team...we've got the makings now and don't need to tip the balance.

Surprised? The MFC club website is seriously one of the most useless in the AFL by a long shot. Some of the players pics are still from 2015. Whoever is running that area needs to be sacked.

While official club training ended a couple of Fridays back on 16 December and the players make their 2017 return to the club on 5 January, don't think that it's all turkey, cakes and beer for them over the Christmas/New Year period. The days of players turning up after the break overweight and bloated are gone as the club's strength and conditioning manager, Rob Jackson makes it clear here - How do AFL players survive the Christmas festivities? While Jackson concedes that it's pointless completely banning the occasional mince tart, the players will nevertheless "be busy calorie-counting and putting in the hard yards at the local footy grounds." When the hard work over the last couple of months came to an end officially, every player on the list underwent a weight and skinfold assessment. That procedure will be repeated when they return on 5 January. Says Jackson:- "If you don't meet your targets, then you won't be able to train when you get back and your teammates are going to know that you've let them down. "As much as you don't want it to, it does happen. It's a mistake that often first and second-year players make and you hope they learn their lesson, but if it happened to a senior player you'd be pretty disappointed because it's more a decision rather than lack of knowledge." From all reports, the players are responding and it will be interesting to see how they shape up in a week and a half's time on their return. Such is the nature of the AFL that the players must maintain a professional approach even during their holiday break to enable their team to be competitive when the real action starts a few months down the track.

You really shouldn't comment/argue on things when you have no idea what you're talking about man. Maybe next year get down to a couple of VFL games, talk to the players and the club members and you'll see for yourself exactly why the Casey and Melbourne alignment is a great benefit to both clubs.

If you Google " Hall of Fame -Geoff Case " you will see a short interview with him .

I think we already have our third tall forward and that is Watts. To my mind he is a perfect fit in that role. He is versatile and reads the play well in both attack and defence. He can run all day, take a mark and has great delivery by foot and hand. he is the hardest in the team for the opposition to get a matchup on. What we need to be looking at is a second forward to work close with Hogan. Hogan is very mobile and a good one on one mark. I personally have a question mark over his possessions when he gets them up the ground as he seems to take an age to make a decision on what to do. That part of his game does not seem to be instinctive as yet. At this stage I would be looking at Pedersen to step up along side Hogan, in the early stages of the season at least. It may well be a case of selecting horses for courses as we have a number of other options. Tim Smith is an interesting addition to the forwards as I think, from the little I have seen of him that he could add an element of defensive pressure that would be a step up. He also can take a mark and kick a goal. There will be teams we will play where that defensive pressure will be a real advantage. Weeds will get a run or 4 in the team and I think he will perform well. I liked what I saw in the Hawthorn game and I like that we do not need to rush him and push him to perform. We are giving him a chance to develop at the right pace. Will Hulett get a run there in 2017? They might give him a taste if they have the opportunity and he is showing something. With the additions and development of players in the middle I think we will get better and more frequent delivery into the forward 50 and we have to make sure we get the structures right at the pointy end to ensure we get the rewards.

Let's also hope CP5 passed on any family games of basketball.

Some observations from the membership tally so far. Although we are substantially ahead of past years most of the substantial leap in memberships happened between late October and late November. Since then the rate of increase through to early Dec and then late Dec has been at the same rates as previous years or even slightly less. So the total may not be as much of a leap as the present numbers are showing as maybe we got a lot more member earlier than in the past probably with direct debits. We seem to usually maintain the rate of increase so that's around 3000 at this point which would put us around 42,500 to 43,000. However, if through the preseason and the early rounds of the season the team shows the improvement we are all hoping for there might be a larger increase. Here's hoping on all counts.

What Bickley has written is fair enough for an outsider..Rounds 22 & 23 of this year are still what we are being judged on even with a wiff of finals Clubs will still expect to Roll us with the right pressure at this stage. It depends how hungry our list is

probably right.... we've dropped the ball ( sic) on this. Hard enough to get it..best not to lose it.. Whilst it's in OUR 50 the chances of scoring go up...up...and UP !! simples !!

Yes I can remember one analyst (can't recall who now) stating that statistics MFC were the 3rd worst for defensive pressure acts when not in possession.

looking forward to a Goodwin Good win !! and many of them

Yes I have...actually it really only evolved around making sure we applied 100% forward defensive pressure..Seems tot hink otherwise we're not so bad. ( my take ) I'd ....actually agree.. we NEED to keep ball inthe 50..best way is not let it out

Drunk I think there are two sides like any coin.. Posiibly the inferences of DC and PF are that the current image/manifestation of Springvale is a bit like a shovel whose handle's been replaced 3 times and blade twice....Still the same shovel eh ? Well yes..in a fashion...and so it might be with the SFC. That said I for one would certainly hope the MFC give the SFC its due recognition. I do agree 100% with you that theres no point ( now ) in having a stand alone. We seem to have adapted/adopted the Hawkers solution. I think that will work fine for us and Casey Go Dees....all of us

I wouldn't want to lose a Hogan/Petracca/Oliver in 2 years time because we overpaid a free agent thats cash grabbing. Free agents should be players who leave their club and want to come to us for a fair value to fill a void/make the team better to achieve a flag. If a free agent wants to come to us for x million over x years then they're not what we're after.

Ravens Texans Seahawks Thanks again for running it Macca, looking forward to the post season comp!

With his fists? Anything was possible with Jacko.

I am absolutely certain that Col Sylvia was just one good preseason from being the greatest player of any team of all time , the ultimate savior ?

Paul Roos was our saviour.

If the rumours on Fyfe are true, he can go to the Saints or Blues, who have apparently offered him bundles of cash. I don't want a "me man", I want us to keep building a great team. We are on the way and I don't think this FD is going to derail that. PS. No guarantee that Fyfe will come back as good as he was, after the broken leg. Dangerfield while obviously having a great year, has probably cost the Cats a few players, because of the salary cap and I wonder if that will hurt the team fabric.

Boxing Day means a lot of things to different people. Some relax after the festivities of Christmas, many head out on holidays, others head off to the big stores hunting for bargains while others still go off to the G and the Test. This day to me will always be associated with the 2004 tsunami which took the lives of a quarter of a million people as the big waves hit shorelines around the Indian Ocean in one of the planet's greatest natural disasters. Among the victims were many Australians included Demon defender Troy Broadbridge who was on his honeymoon at the time. We won't forget him - today, we celebrate his life and memory ...

Ok. He played 70 games for us kicking 50 goals over the years 1983-7. He won the Brownlow in 1984 and we finished 2nd last. During his period with us we finished 5th last, then 2nd last twice, then 4th last and in his final year when he played only 7 games due to injury and had no impact, we started our rise to finals. His Brownlow year as I recall, was cheap possessions, which didn't lift the team at all and we finished 2nd last. Hardly a Dangerfield Brownlow impact. Yes he won a Brownlow, but his impact on the club in his 5 years with us, was at best serviceable. I doubt most would argue with that. It was not about the Brownlow, but the impact this terribly expensive experiment of him and Templeton, had on the club. It was an epic failure.

i don't think most people care, jnr. they just enjoy the shock and outrage. by the time the truth is discovered it will be yesterday's news and no-one will care

Ha. I once pulled up next to the [censored] at the lights at the corner of malvern and orrong roads.... drive off up the road and its traffic and parking chaos so where does the messiah park? The bus stop. He parked at the bus stop. I hope he got a ticket.

If my hopes for the future of Petracca and Oliver in particular are well founded, I don't think we will need to chase "saviours". Keeping the talent together is more important, ala Geelong and Hawthorn in their premiership years. One player however talented, is insufficient, as Carlton (Judd) and Collingwood (Buckley) found out. They eat up salary cap and get surrounded by low priced and low capability players.,

I think we've learned through hard experience that one player will never be the saving of a club. What's needed is good administration, good people who are well looked after in all areas, innovation, hard work and a team all pulling together in one direction. Then if the right player from another club comes along and is available, I'm fine with that as long as you don't regard him as the focal point of the club, but rather as one member of a team.

Lazy reporting bb. A check of North's website (which I did before posting the article) would tell the reporter that North's is The Shinboner Spirit! I reckon retiring Harvey et al has cost them big time in membership numbers, even with Tassie!

...the only problem is it doesn't work. Sorry it's a very poor idea and not well thought through. Max is the number one ruck in the competition. Why would we consider putting a 2nd stringer at best in his place and then playing Max in a position he can't play!!!

The third tallest in the forward line.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Demons "In 2005, to attempt to financially secure its long-term future, the club came to an arrangement with the City of Casey, which had developed the new Casey Fields multi-sports complex in Cranbourne East and was seeking a VFL team to play there. The club moved its training and playing base to Casey Fields in 2006, and changed its name to the Casey Scorpions Football Club " Springvale has been a club since 1903, and has a lot of history. They need to, and are going to, honour the clubs origins.

No move required. That is exactly how he played in 2016. That he sometimes ends up close to goal as a finisher does not alter his role. He knows where to go for maximum benefit and sometimes that can lead him to fill gaps in the forward line. He also fills gaps in the backline. That's what a link player does. Apart from the centre bounce he plays no position. He plays a role.

Mate, for a start, it's the entire left wing agenda that gets my back up, not just one instance. Case in point is the greenie Australia Day thing in Freo. Secondly, the male/female thing? Another leftie jump up about nothing. The teachers name could have been male or female, and they were simply guessing at his/her title, so they didn't need to say he/she throughout the entire story. The age is only worth reading, if I want something to shake my head at in exasperation.

Jeez I wish we'd move on from this need for players to wear Barrasi's number. Let players make their own history rather than constantly trying to relive something that happened 50 years ago. It's embarrassing. Give 31 to a random new player and stop trying to morph all our senior players in to a great of the past.