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People laughed at Gale when he targeted 75k membership and premierships. Who's laughing now. Dream big, but also do the work required to make it a reality. Happy to see us not content to remain a small club, we were once big and can be again....

can't see it happening 55-60k would be a great outcome and could move us past Carlton

Fourth means nothing to dees.... This means nothing to dees... Sung to the tune of

JKH has broadened his impact, skills and involvements steadily over his time at MFC. He was more effective than ANB against the Tigers... (and for that matter, Spargo) and ANB has already shown he can be effective at this level. I raise this comparison because I think the JKH detractors are stuck in the past. I'm not sure he will make it to best 22 in 2019, but he is very clearly on the fringe and may break through... have a closer look!

Did my bit today by convincing a West Coast supporter who has just moved to Melbourne from Perth to buy MFC membership.

The headline is a tad misleading. Pert says “We’d like to be approaching towards 60,000 members this year and if we are performing well we want to see it tick towards and up near 70,000,” Well, Pert has put in the resources to help make it happen: " It’s understood Melbourne has hired five new faces in its membership department in recent months in a bid to sign new members and re-sign lapsed ones". With that investment 60,000 is doable. For those that follow the 2019 Membership thread we are excited if we click over 50,000. 60,000 would be sensational. 70,000 - the stuff of dreams. Hope Pert can pull it off. How good would it be to be thought of as a Big Melbourne club ala Pies, Carlton, Rich, Ess and Hawks. (Carlton aren't deserving of the label by the way).

All good comments re our potential for Membership growth this season. 1. Dogs increase from 35,000 in 2015 to 47,000 in 2017 was based on the 2016 flag and Ballarat members coming on board (about 3/4,000) from my limited knowledge. We don't have a country boost but I believe a bigger supporter base potentially that cares and is crying out for success as each year passes and performance and success is more believable. 2. Those 90,000 plus fans in both finals were made up of a majority vs Hawks and a 75% mass of Red and Blue. Ie 67,500 est .Many in the Members (MCC) were I suspect either latent Dees fans using their ticket or visitors or guest tickets. Definite potential for new MFC Members (Dogs don't have that base) 3.There is no doubt the viral posts on social media since the 2017 disaster and subsequent Jack Watts media outrage are behind us and the good feel factor and vision is of a Club on the rise (4 years in a row) and football quality on our list sells HOPE and SUCCESS.Those 2 qualities are Huge motivation and therefore can be untapped results in the making. 4. I have enough faith in Gary Pert's goals and aims. Tempering reality with about a normal 10% increase will mean 50,000 in 2019. I sort of think we may get about 55,000 this year or more but perhaps not 60,000. The 70,000 will be a flag based increase or sensational continued performances of consistency over the next 2 seasons. 5. I remembering laughing at Ben Gales 3 -0-75 talk. It happened and has flourished. 5. Let's start by Gary's aims of 40,000 vs Power and I reckon 80,000 is well achievable for Round 3 vs Dons if both Clubs compete well in Rounds 1and 2.Plenty of presale tickets seem to have already commenced with 2/3 of the parts of the ground sold out. GA being one of the only 3/4 areas to be purchased. Good luck to us in 2019 many of us are living our dreams and hopes of decades of disappointment. 6. Don't miss it It's happening before our eyes and IS REAL

One week at a time please Demons. There are some quality sides this year who all have improved lists. The outcome is going to be measured in centimetres possibly even millimetres. As in all cases, you need to have everything going for you and on top of that have a lot of luck. Second half of the season will hold the key in terms of form, injuries and position on the ladder. No swagger for me until we win the big dance. We need to walk the talk.

I compiled the table of historical membership numbers on the membership thread and I follow it each year for trends. To me the membership numbers are the best gauge of the Club's health. On the current membership growth rate compared to other years on the table we are heading towards just under or just over 50,000. We had a pre Christmas jump of about 4000 compared to last year but since then it is increasing at about the same rate. For some reason most of the membership growth year on year seems to happen pre Christmas not around round 1 which is what I would have expected. The Club will have to do something very different to previous years to make a 15,000 to 20,000 jump on last year which would represent a 24% at 60,000 to 35% increase at 70,000. So far the numbers show about an 8% growth which is well ahead of the past few years which is around 5-6% increase.

Fair dinkum where the [censored] are young men's' heads at? How immature do you have to be share videos of your 'conquests' - not to mention being a complete disrespectful [censored] to do so without consent. Happy International Women's Day indeed.

Reading this, I can close my eyes and imagine Bob Hawke on telly after we break the drought recapturing his Australia II celebrations “any boss who fires anybody for not turning up to work today is a bum” (but wearing the Cameron Schwab blazer).

I regretted my comments almost as soon as I posted them. I do not like being unduly negative about players, and I was in the case of JKH. I hope your opinion is correct, i really do. It is always interesting to read a contrary view, without hyperbole. I wholeheartedly agree with the second para. They have a reason to keep him on the list and that's good enough for me.

Disagree with much of this. JKH was dead unlucky to get dropped late last year. Runs and works hard. Is a neat kick and stays in the contest. I actually thought he was one of our better players against the tigers in the JLT game. Most on DL seem to agree that our recruiting team and football department get most things right these days. A view i certainly share. So it is safe to assume the club rate JKH as they saw fit to offer him a one year extension at the end of last year, on the back of what this article notes was a 'strong end to the 2018 season', something they simply would not have done if they 'saw little upside'. https://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-09-28/dee-kennedy-harris-earns-new-deal-after-strong-end-to-year

I don't buy this. My take is playing Preuss in the VFL is actually prioritising his preperation for a potential Rd 1 spot, not straight out demoting him. He plays seniors and gets 25% to 50% time at most in the ruck to further hone his skills and any new ruck strategies, where as in the VFL, you would think he will get more like 75% time in the ruck, whilst still letting Max get one good last chance to blow out any cobwebs and perfect that connection with Gus, Clarry and Harmes. Much smarter move in my book.

In his own words ...

Neville Jetta stumbled through a career of being almost-good enough to just survive for almost twice as long as JKH has so far. Like many on here I have no idea what they see in JKH, but I didn’t with Jetta either. I can only assume they know what they’re doing; hopefully we get a similar pleasant surprise.

So Perts getting paid a fortune for delusional comments like this Fair dinkum, let’s try and get 50k for the first time Bring back PJ

well lets hope they update the tally figure on the web site more frequently

I don’t see it as swagger - more like steely determination and ruthless ambition. Bring it on.

4th is the third loser.

One poor game in 39C heat for a 6ft 9"" goliath and plenty writing him off for the season. Quote from articles on heat stroke " The largest athletes are the most heat-sensitive." Another " Large people have lower surface area to volume ratios than smaller people. Evaporative surface area is relatively small in large folks so they have higher risk of developing heat stroke than smaller people." Not surprised that Preuss was cooked after the first qtr, or TMac had a shocker. Don't jump to conclusions too quickly.

Melbourne has set a bold target of reaching 70,000 members in 2019. Chief executive Gary Pert laid down the challenge to Dees supporters in a one-on-one interview with foxfooty.com.au, declaring the ambition is achievable if performances remain strong.

It’s on now. Steve May speaks so well. Gawn is always a laugh

Mate says the horse is ready to go after those 3 trials but admits he’s up against some above average competition first up. A typical good e/w chance Macca. Good luck to all tomorrow in what’s shaping up as a hectic day’s viewing.

Good betting race is the Fireball Stakes DZ (Race 2 Randwick) Santos' 3 trials have been against some very good company and it should end up racing on the speed tomorrow ... I've included it in an exacta (on top with a couple of others) Some terrific racing coming up at both Randwick & Flemington though - looking forward to the day.

What a great moment that was, never forget it. Straight from the heart capturing the emotion of a nation.

The only reason the MFC is a so called “Small Club” is because we have had lazy administrations for decades. Stop thinking the club is small. It’s GROWTH TIME right now Melbourne will be bigger than Sydney in about 5 years The MFC must ride that wave Pert is the right man to get the ball rolling, after PJ planted seeds and nurtured old soil back to life

Failure is not an option. It was. But not anymore To fail is completely unacceptable, you work hard then harder to achieve the goal.

Wedding Crashers? "Ma, get us some meatballs! Ma...!!"

I’m moving to Perth now that I have you as my wholesale supplier. We could be anything. I’ve got the body- you’ve got the brains. My name is mud over in Victoria. Theres no bridges I haven’t burnt, apart from a couples bluestone jobs. But that’s besides the point. I’ve always liked that Perth cop show on TV. Clear the couch- I’m on my way.

I'll be lucky to walk if we win the big dance, let alone swagger

I would be wrapped if we made it to 70,000. So far, I am working on converting two long-time barrackers into ‘supporters’. I now might have a crack at another two! ?

i doubt he is a contender for a small forward role. It's wing or bust for JKH

More fugazi for your Friday ...

Food for thought, good comments. The season must start - seriously, energetically and powerfully - we are good enough to take all three games to set up the following games.

In that team, JKH is a justified choice and I was thinking, how good it is to see him starting to do a phoenix resurgence from the closely proximal ashes, similar to that of Nev Jetta some years ago. Was impressed with his run and carry in this pre-season ground time. Kicking was improved, as well. Wish him all the best for the season to come.

Let's not forget, we totally dominated them for the 1st quarter when they had their best players on. Did we take the foot off the pedal so that we didn't show all our secrets? Did we allow the scoreline to flatter Richmond? So many "what ifs" that really won't be answered until Round 1.

Best Bet Randwick Race 8 Number 3 All Too Soon $4.60 Win Banking On T. Clark to have a good day tomorrow. He’s also riding Santos on his return in Race 2. Keen to see how it goes. A couple of recent trials recently, winning one and a 5th behind Happy Clapper. Regardless, I’ll probably have a few bucks on him at the $8.

My take as well. I didn't see last week's performance, and I'm not necessarily sold on the combo approach - but Preuss needs to develop his craft and practice playing number one in the event of an injury and Max and the midfield brigade need to get some time in the middle together - with Max also needing the conditioning to play more minutes in the middle should we go with the sole ruck option. Preuss dropping down seems a sensible approach to me rather than a signal. Other than that, I would have liked to have seen Bedford thrown in the deep-end in exchange for JKH - for a number of reasons I won't bother documenting, other than that we need to develop a confidence forward-pocket specialist who can provide real forward pressure alongside U-turn Tomald and fat-Trac, and JKH is unlikely competing for a spot. I also hope Frost is left in, as I imagine he will fair much better in the long-run alongside May, and eventually Lever, rather than having to take one of the accountable defensive roles.

Two weeks ago. All clear.

The field for the Newmarket Hcp is elite ... any number of horses have the class to win and the exotic dividends are sure to be healthy with such quality running around. By contrast the Australian Cup is not so strong as compared to previous years ... we're on Ace High for the place here at ADATR and the horse is sure to run a bold race. Be interesting to see how Rekindling fares after such a long lay off and of course the favourite Avilius will be hard to beat. Up in Sydney there are 2 Group 1's - the Canterbury Stakes has got 4 strong winning chances engaged whilst the Randwick Guineas may well see a match-race between The Autumn Sun & Nakeeta Jane. And James Jordan's (Safari JJ) best bet at Morphettville is Race 6 No.1 Extreme Thrill $5.00

Best Bet Flemington Race 9 No.2 Spanish Reef $4.50 (win)

Finally, the draconian quarantine laws have been lifted for horses racing in HK. That means that horses here can be flown into HK, compete and then return to Australia after a mandatory 2 week period. I'm fairly sure that HK based horses like Beauty Generation, Pakistan Star or Mr Stunning can compete here with the same 2 weeks only quarantine period being applied. Conversely, our top group of sprinter/milers could travel to HK for their big race days (esp in April & December) and then return to Oz soon after. Read more here - Australian and Hong Kong governments end quarantine stand-off

Much stronger defence this week with May, Jetta and Hibberd you’d expect we won’t leak goals as badly as JLT1

This opens the door up for Declan Keilty to get another game to show his wares. Last week they needed to use him as plan B in the ruck. With Max back this week and temperatures a lot milder perhaps he can be played in the forward position he has been training in during the summer and then be used as the relieving ruckman when Max needs a rest.

Possibly cannabis. The stuff we see today, of which a large amount is grown locally by Vietnamese syndicates, is extremely potent and ridiculously sticky. They’re also known to lace it with meth or other dangerous chemicals to make it more addictive. Needless to say, legally grown and prescribed (or sold OTC) cannabis would be much ‘cleaner’ and safer.

Salem is such an honest and silky smooth team member and in our best 22 without a doubt. His left foot precision kicking is a classic and a delight to watch. I wish him all the best as i believe he is ready to do something special. Ready for his breakout season.