Leaderboard

I got down there today and saw 85% of the session. First off, I can confirm all the posts, positive and negative appear to be accurate from what I saw. I will try to add something to the reporting with small obs. There has been some comment around Gus and work rate at training and the coaching being questioned to correct this. Today I saw indications of Gus not working hard enough and then the coaches getting involved to remedy this. Big tick. Just loved this Trac vs May: Loved this, Trac busting tackles then tries taking May on, big fail, gets up laughing shaking his head like he should known better, then sprints 30m gets involved and wins the ball back!! AVB, don't be mistaken, if he plays all season we will have 23 players out there. It's not just what he brings in aggression but we will have a coach playing as well. I HAVE NOT SEEN THIS MANY PLAYERS IN MATCH SIM AT THIS TIME OF YEAR, EVER!!!! (12 Years). Just realised the above sounded way too positive. Therefore I must say; in greasy conditions there were some players who fumbled and didn't adapt quickly enough to the conditions and some of the known poor disposers did what they do. In a good, well drilled team, I think we can cover for them. There is some real competition for the starting 22 and some very good players might br playing at Casey

Just a quick word on Kozzi; he is light and is susceptible to being pushed off the ball but so was Jeffy. What he does do is get a lot of separation from his opponent. Got to be unsettling for defenders when you don't know where he is. I saw this numerous times during match sim and his movement really catches the eye. This results in a lot of balls being kicked to him. The other effect I can see is; he makes some of our kicking look better because he gets to where the ball is with great pace. I really hope the other small forwards come on because I can see us creating havoc in this area like Rioli and Ryan from WC do.

This is very welcome news, especially for those who might have doubted his dedication. He may not play a game for us, but it seems he is not going to die wondering. Onya bloke.

This gambling business confounds me. Like it or not, it is legal and a matter of personal choice I don’t understand the pressure on sporting clubs to take some sort of high moral ground and opt out of it

I get my 20 year membership this year.... just waiting for the postman. Not bad for someone who has only lived in the country for 21 years.

I’ve never quite understood why so many people feel the need to share images of the membership pack they get in the mail on all of the mfc fb groups. Every member of every club gets the same thing every year. It’s not exactly a surprise. It’s a bit like sharing your monthly gas bill.

Hey Flip flops I went today, my 4th time down there in the last few weeks, on arrival walked past Todd Viney on the boundary, said hello then realised after who it was! watched the new draftees, pickett played one of the match sims, he got lots of it, and seemed to always have lots of time with the ball, made the right decision and always hit the taget beautifully, stating the obvious here but he is very skillful, Jackson, well im sure everyone has seen the video footage of him running out of the ruck contest with a blind turn, well today in the match sim jackson scooped up a ground ball on the wing in heavy traffic then did a blind turn and gave off quick hands, it seemed to confuse everyone lol, he also took a few nice marks and played pretty good,. Rivers running laps on the boundary with the weid and lever didnt looked dissimiliar in hight and build, he is a beast!! Jones was doing run throughs on the boundary, i heard him say hes had enough to one of the coaches, i wreckon he may be carrying a slight injury. bennel doing run throughs and having kick to kicks on the boundary seemed to be enjoying himself. Viney looked good today, hes an animal, very scary, another thing to note, he was jogging the boundary with sparrow and sparrow is a mini Viney only a bit taller, hes a beast too. Jordan Lewis was running with them too. the match sim was fun to watch and from what i could tell there seemed to be an emphisis on kicking as didnt see too many handballs, the last 30 minutes involved lots of running, with 2 groups, one group did 300 meter sprints for about ten sets the other group was running around the boundary hard with short 10 second walks before running again. the play of the day for me was frisk beautful kick in heavy traffic to hit up lead in forward 50 it was a thing of beauty!!

Maybe the postie is still shaken up by the last time he tried to deliver parcels to 'The Manor???

I

I don't like the line being spun about the loss being covered by existing cash reserves. Those reserves are from the sale of the Leighoak. So we lost $900k profit from Leighoak, and are covering a $1.6M loss, from that sale money. Yet we still have a $2M debt ( although that is not as much a problem with current interest rates). Yes we had a rubbish year for revenue as a result of the draw and our on-field performance, but those sort of things can happen again ( we hope not). But we have sold down a major revenue source, and the Darwin game as well in the hope that things will get better. Bentleigh club provided $4.5M of revenue this year, yet gate receipts were only $6.2M. This revenue disappears in 2022 if I remember. How is that going to be covered? It appears we have negotiated a better deal from the MCC, but as SWYL says we have to start winning games, to make that work. Selling assets like Leighoak and Bentleigh club should result in the purchase of new assets,( like a home base) not for recurrent expenditure. Where is the AFL support for exiting gaming? Carlton, Essendon, Richmond, Hawthorn and St.Kilda aren't.: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/five-afl-clubs-awarded-new-20-year-licenses-to-operate-pokies-20181029-p50cl8.html Hawthorn are building a $100M facility in Dingley. Richmond are planning a $60M upgrade to Punt Road.

Had your prostate checked recently?

The second poster in the off season to suggest Melksham isn't good enough to make the best 22. Unless you guys are predicting a sudden downturn in form next year, Melksham would be one of the first picked. Infact, I'd go as far to say Melksham is the best kick at the club. Seen those inside 50 bullets he's capable of and the classy goals he kicks. We sorely missed him last year as we slumped to a 2-8 record without him.

May the God of Calves smile on him and us.

He's also dropped six blokes in training and is looking forward to many more in the real home and away stuff

The business case explained There’s been a lot written here and elsewhere about Goodwin’s contract length and immediate short-term tenure. Here are four facts, and two estimates, that I would suggest will drive the thinking of the Club’s board over the next 12 months. The figures quoted are in the Club’s 2018 Annual Report and are the most recent publicly available. Fact 1 Melbourne’s revenue in 2018 from football related actives was $44.8M. Fact 2 The AFL guarantees to cover player costs and other related expenses regardless of on-field performance. In 2018 this figure was $16.3M Fact 3 Revenue in 2018 from Football related activities that the club has influence over, by dint of its on-field performances, was $27.5M. Here’s the breakdown. Gate receipts $6,180,742 Merchandise $1,081,232 Membership, annual reserved seating and general fundraising $9,009,525 Sponsorship & corporate hospitality $11,287,779 Other revenue $922,363 The financial impact of 2019’s poor on-field performance could well be felt by drops in revenue across four of the line items above (i.e. gate receipts, merchandise, membership/reversed seating/gen fundraising and sponsorship/corporate). Estimate 1 According to reports today, Ross Lyon’s contract in 2019, based on Freemantle’s on-field performance, is worth 600K. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume Goodwin is receiving something similar. Estimate 2 The cost of paying Goodwin out, should the Club move on him in the next 12 moths, would be somewhere between $1.2 and $1.8 million. This estimate assumes that the pay-out would be the equivalent of the contact's balance (assuming base payment). Discussion The Club’s on-field performance directly effects, or puts at risk, part of the $27.5M in revenue (based on 2018 figures). We can assume that a good year may well increase this revenue while a poor year will almost definitely have a negative consequence. By any measure 2019 has been a poor year and it would be reasonable to anticipate that revenue from club related activities will fall. The question is, by what amount? A five per cent fall in 2019 will mean a loss of $1.377M against the 2018 figure, while a 10 per cent fall will mean $2.755M. And this doesn't factor in opportunity costs . . . that is, revenue anticipated over and above the 2018 result that will also be foregone. The problem the Club has is that this is now a ‘sunk-cost’. That is, the money is already gone and removing Goodwin now will not recover the 2019 financial situation. However . . . and presumably this is the Board’s current focus . . . If the Club doesn’t improve its on-field performance in 2020 by a substantial amount, the financial losses seriously mount. Another year where revenue is likely to be seriously down on 2018 levels makes the financial case for removing the coach pretty strong. It simply becomes a business decision. That is, the cost of keeping the coach versus removing him in order to stem the bleeding. For example, if the club has a poor year again in 2020, the potential losses over 2019/20 seasons compared to the 2018 season could well be in excess of $2.7M. It makes the case for removing the coach at a cost of $1.5M (assuming he goes during the bye in 2020) a no-brainer. Conclusion Few people want harm to come to the Club or Goodwin. However, a year like this one in 2020 is going to be traumatic for one party or the other. And that’s fact number four.

Wait until you get to 40 years membership. They send you a nice letter and a small badge showing you have been a loyal member for forty years. It is a great help if you need authentification for phsyciatric hospital care whih is hard to obtain these days.

That is a good decision considering the issues stem a lot from what occurs around the old stomping ground

About 10 years ago, the owner of the Romsey Pub applied for a pokies licence. I believe he planned to transfer licences from another venue he owns. A vocal local group and the council opposed this and, after a convoluted legal fight, successfully thwarted the proposal. The result is that the Romsey Pub has been closed for the last 2 or so years and is unlikely to ever reopen. At least 15 local jobs went with it and the good punters of Romsey continue to spend their money elsewhere. I don't want the MFC to become the AFL's version of the Romsey Pub.

Thank you to all the trackwatchers for your wonderful reports. You’ve set the bar high for future preseason’s. @Baghdad Bob you’ve been BOG making a late dash to pip @kev martin at the post. That’ll teach him to take holidays during the most important time of the year.

Selling off the pokies was idiotic considering our financial history.

The writing is on the wall for pokies if you pay attention to the industry. Sporting clubs are widely exiting, there's cultural shifts in the hospitality industry; and in the last 18 months or so both Coles and Woolworths have divested themselves from that part of their businesses (albeit in differing ways). It's not a matter of what is 'legal', it's a matter of what is ethically sustainable in a socially conscious consumer environment.

Saw most of the session, but best part was the match simulation. VDB played on a wing, mainly against Sparrow, and was BOG by some way in the first game and pretty handy in the next. If his feet hold up he is in. A couple of Dusty don't argue were highlights. He was around the play when Mitch Brown copped a knock to the head and went off, but I cannot say it was anything to do with Vanders. The other player on fire today who has spent most of pre-season with rehab group was 'Tom" Petty. He played as a mobile forward and his marking was impressive and with T-Mac in form as well, it's an impressive looking forward line on paper with versatility that Fritter and Melky and ANB bring. Petty only did half the match sim because they are being careful with him, but like Vanders, he's pretty much in if he's fit. I said last week that the 3, 2, 1 of pre-season work was Fritter, ANB and Lockhart, but the other nice thing happening at the moment is that Trac is in everything playing as a loose midfielder. Tried to take on May though and got sat on his backside, but kept going and made a few nice tackles himself. Jackson played the entire scratch match and with Preuss not there today, he spent plenty of time tracking big Maxy. Jacko is an amazing athlete but he will take time, but I wouldn't rule him out of Rd 1 just yet. He just adds such variety and pace, that they may want to play him early. Kossie played in the first scratch game and he did a couple of things that were very much like Aaron Davey. He doesn't get it much, but neither did Cyril so let's wait and see. I did like seeing Harmes down back - he is such a great professional and combined with Lever and May, we have a talking backline that is taller and quicker than last year. Smith is the third tall back there and Hibbo and Jetta the lockdowns and Salem the smarts. Langdon on a wing is a goer, an ever-ready battery, although his disposal will be crucial. Of the back-ups, Bedford is starting to show signs with his speed and evasiveness, but his disposal needs working on. JJ is a very handy accumulator and will make his debut at some stage this year. Jonesy, Tomlinson, Baker and Hannan were in rehab and I think Bennell made an appearance later in day.

Vanders and Petty were first out doing a gentle walk around the boundary and some stretches, Baker and Hannan not far behind. So over to rehab to start my day (yes @Vagg I'm on the improve!) where Baker, Hannan, Tomlinson and later Jones did their stuff. Baker and Tomlinson are still on gentle runs, Hannan about 75% now and Jones running pretty much flat out. Oscar complained about the cold and Mitch said he was looking forward to stepping it up. The rest of the group had arrived and I was pleased to see TMac with them. He did all the warm up drills before wandering over to rehab where he did a few run throughs. Meanwhile a group in front of me lined up in single file dancing on the spot. The coach would then tell them to break and move 5 yards to the left or right and off they'd go. Poor old Lockhart, who was at the front of the line suddenly found himself 10 yards from the others having moved the wrong way. Laughs all around! They'd broken up into about 4 groups at this stage and spent about 5 minutes in each and rotated through them but then thankfully we went to match sims which concentrated in starting the ball in different areas of the ground, setting up and then "play". It's so much more interesting watching this than the other stuff! Meanwhile there were a few missing. No Neita, no KK and no Preuss. Bennell had made a late appearance and was doing the gentlest of jogs along the boundary. The match sim started and Mitch Brown copped a knock to the head and was taken straight off and was not seen again. Pickett, Jackson and Rivers were involved early but sat out some later ones. Jackson is learning that it's hard work against men. Gawn and Oscar weren't letting him near it much but he was still involved. Pickett is doing his best to get involved but isn't much and Rivers looks the best of the new lads to me. I comment to a friend that whilst we'd love to see the new blokes really do well it's probably good they aren't beating our best 22 players!! Fritsch looked all class and was just clunking the ball in greasy conditions. Harmes was in everything, Oliver finding it with ease, TMac was back on the ground (I was confused at this stage) and taking mark after mark up forward and Langdon doing what Langdon does. May was rock solid down back and Vanders and Dunkley had a good battle on their wing. The standard was a bit lower today because of the conditions and it was difficult for the big blokes to mark. Having said that Petty was very good I thought playing up forward and TMac as well. Running finished the session off with different people doing different things and the session ended at about 11.30.

I have just received the 2020 Membership pack for the MFC in the mail. CARN THE DEMONS for 2020

Didn't the Hawks nearly merge with some other loser club back in 96...

I did the Digital thing - already have a million scarves and not losing the membership card with it on my phone.

If he had to rely on getting a pokies licence the business was doomed.

In view of the above, I shall immediately write to the MFC and give them a jolly severe chastising for not having "The Manor" at Romsey first on their mailing list.

This is fantastic and a great start towards building for a big year. The other thing I hope he's working on (hopefully with the help of any coach other than Jordie Lewis!) is controlling his aggression to use it in a positive way. One of the big frustrations over his career is that he might get into some good form and ruin it with a 2-3 week stint from bumping someone. It's important he stay injury free, it's equally important he doesn't do anything stupid to end up having weeks on the sidelines. Massive year for him.

I’m sure I read somewhere that KK would be ramping things up after the break. I couldn’t find the article but pretty sure there was an update recently on a training article.

Each club can choose. Ess recently renewed their pokie agreement with local councils for the next few decades. Hawthorn are firmly committed to them. Pokies are a significant part of them being financially strong clubs. Look at their mega investments in their 'Taj Mahal' like facilities at Tullamarine and soon to be Dingley sites, while we wallow at the aptly name 'paddock'! mfc and the likes of North can claim the moral high ground but strong clubs get stronger! iirc in the press conf that announced our exit from pokies, Jackson didn't seem to keen. I concluded the exit was board driven.

They truly will be golden calves if they fully recover.

not sure that god approves, it's time (at least the ot one)

We have a new leader in the tipping comp - JV7 has regained the leader (Schillaci always did have that extra kick nearing the finish line!) Leaderboard in the Tipping Comp 12 - JV7 11 - Gorgoroth, Dee Zephyr 10 - Go the Biff, Macca 9 - Layzie, Clintosaurus 8 - Dappa Dan 4 - DeeSpencer Next week we play for 1 point and in week 17 we play for 3 points. All active participants are in a position to win outright or tie for the win ... we don't have a tie-break to decide the winner. Thus, there can be multiple winners. The tallyboard is the closest that I can ever remember too. ESPN Playoff Machine As for today's games the highlight might have been the Bills winning and therefore setting up a showdown with the Pats next week with the AFC East title up for grabs. All over for the Rams you'd imagine (unless they win their last 2 with the Vikings losing their last 2) whilst next week's Dallas/Eagles game will almost certainly decide that division as well. All the big guns secured victory in week 15 except for the costly loss by the 49ers. Still, if the 49ers win their last 2 they'll win the NFC West. But a trip to Seattle awaits (Week 17) It's all happening!

As long as he saves something for that flggg Matheson from Brissie. Surely you couldn't be suspended for giving him a whack.

Well played. He is having a deadly serious crack at his last chance. Can’t do any more than that.

I sometimes think it flies under the radar a little just how healthy a working environment the club have created in recent years. It certainly seems to be helping guys like Maysie get the best out of themselves.

Coleman? if we had decent IQ's, we probably wouldn't be on this site

Gambling. We stepped out this year, benefited from the feel good PR, and banked on being at least half decent to pull in the funds. Instead we were terrible, played away on Queens Birthday and Anzac Eve, and pulled on 30k to each of the corresponding Pies and Tigers matches later in the year, when the same matches 12 months earlier that late in the season would have been 80k+ and a 500k windfall.

Weiderman wins the coleman medal and boots 11 goals on Queens Birthday.

You need to temper your expectations on Pickett, he didn't take part in full match sim, in previous half field drill he had Salem on him and didn't get near it In other drills you can see the natural talent though Another highlight was Petracca taking on May in a one on one in match sim, May buried him, to Trac's 'annoyance' and May's delight. May also buried Bedford Although Petty didn't take part in full match sim, took a couple of strong grabs in half field, including one where he knocked May of the line of the ball, much to May's annoyance this time

Thanks from tassie and rural Victoria for the coming reports. The last few sessions and the varying reports have given those that cannot get there a great insight into the abilities of recruits and how our senior players are travelling. You now have a high ceiling to aspire to and I for one think it’s great. I think if you see a potato, I might see a tomato. All in the eye and position of view of the observer. Keep cool and thanks in advance. Go Dees bring on 2020 !!