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There is one simple fact here. It is the wrong venue. They are tone deaf. Justice must not only be done it must be seen to be done. My view of Bartlett has been sliding for a while. We better have a good year or Goodwin will not be the only heading out the door. PS buy some bigger shirts Glen.

STOP IT PLEASE "OH YOU MAKE MY MOTOR RUN, MY MOTOR RUN MYYYYY SHARONAAAAA! Just cannot get this song outa my head! Why??? Well it was one of the Classic songs playing whilst the players were training today. Booming over the P.A Others were "Working Class Man, "Stop Draggin my heart around", Run to paradise", "Country Road" and timeless classic, Sweet Caroline! Speaking of classic, I witnessed another "Classic" training session today staring... MFC 2021 Here is my report Maintenance group, rehab Ben Brown, Sam Weiderman, Jack Viney and I think Mitch Brown Pleasantly surprised to see Ben Brown doing short 15-25 metre kicks and he looks on track to step up training shortly. Ditto the others On lighter duties running , Hibbo, Melksham Main, Skills, Drills and Maneuvers! DRILL 1 GROUNGHOG DAY SHUFFLE Whole ground utilized which involved players coming out of defence in droves and giving passes by hand or foot to creative space player, then overlapping to recieve back and kick to leading forward option This showcased explosive run and carry of ball carrier and pinpiont precise passing to option, players in orange vests harrasing thus simulating real game pressure DRILL 2 BALANCED OPTION DISH OF This was a beauty, Two teams one in blue one in white On ballers in centre , wings and rest in other half of the ground, Ball was centre bounce contested and depending on whole took posession then dicatted whether those in blue became attackers or defenders dependent on which color got possesion. For example if White got possesion then whites became attackers and Blue team defenders. If Blue got possesion then Whites became defenders. This was intense and replicated the situations which arise in games when to run and create and when to man up and defend. Disposal and chioces again was very good with limited congestions and stoppages DRILL 3 KAMIKAZE GAME SIMULATIONS WHOLE GROUND This again was classic game day simulations which saw two teams chosen Whites vs Blues. Plenty to like regarding intensity and skill levels OVERALL OBSERVATIONS POSITIVES 1 Clayton Oliver. In Drill 2 and 3 he was "PEERLESS" He just could not be stopped, usual crisp desicive handballs , picked out targets with kicks and pace was exilerating. 2 Majak Daw. Well I will be astounded if we do not pick him up. He was good again today and was involved in some excellent ball movement, can clunk a mark and his kicking was precise ,also makes good decisions 3 Ed Langdon, just does not stop running to create options 4 James Harmes thank heavens he is now back where he belongs in the midfield 5 Gus Brayshaw, some pivotal moments in match simulations , his run and carry were excellent 6 Luke Jackson, belongs!!! Just looks ready to blossom 7 Jayden Hunt showed dash and importantly measure in disposals 8 Nev and Chunk, still not quite done as yet 9 Goody, Choco, vocal and involved 10 The invisable man, There was a huge bloke in a grey t shirt who was instructing and moving among the players displaying how to block where to stand, how to execute various maneuvers, He looked vaguely familiar but have no idea who has was!?? OTHER OBS Kye Deglace If he was training I didn't notice him unless he looks like Deakyn Smith who I did notice and who did some good things. Not sure if Kobe Farmer is in the frame at this time, Recruits looking promising Fraser Rosman, Jake Bowey , Bailey Laurie all had moments. Have to say if Training is an indication of match day and is replicated, then team looks very well prepared, Fit, Quicker, and with more Precicity of skills executed. Will leave on this note........ M, M M My SHARONNNAAA,,,, There, I think I've got "THE KNACK "of it!! PF

Paid my wage for 31 years Sunshine You have no idea how hard people work in that building, on shoe string budgets

Whether you think the premise is right or wrong, don't think anyone can disagree it's completely inconsistent by Bartlett. He's gradually being found out IMO.

Exactly. Leaving aside any discussion about the choice the venue by the coterie and whether criticism of the club is valid and/or fair, it is a stupid decision by pert and Bartlett to be involved. Without their involvement its just a fund-raiser by some dees fans. At worst it is highlighted and some comments and jokes are made about typical establishment, rich mfc supporters and reinforcement of stereotypes. Maybe a codabeens song. Basically no blow back on the club at all. But having the CEO AND President means quite rightly the club are seen to endorse the event and venue. Now the club is exposed So again, leaving aside how fair this is, you have to question their thinking - particularly pert who is probably on 200k a year. And particularly in the current environment. Where is the assessment of the reputation risk? They made some noise about 'listening to their female members', so they are seemingly at least alert to the issue (though to be honest those comments were cringe worthy - one they didn't need to say anything, two they ended up sounding paternalistic- l mean you change because you think it's the right thing to do, not coz you are listening to the little ladies). And then they provide the media the opportunity to bring that change up in a negative context (by the by the critics of the abc here is ridiculous. They're not allowed to do what every other news outlet does - write something that gets clicks retweets, attention etc etc?). There is every chance they had no idea of the venue. If so that is simply unprofessional. Again particularly by pert. And if they did know and the reputational risk didn't register then, Houston, we have a problem. A stupid own, goal.

Gee that doesnt sound like the ABC Wow!

Well, that's just a dopey little error. How could any executive or event manager of any public-facing organisation not think to check the venue's reputation. And it is the reputation that counts - while that club has made some 'hey we really like women, some of my best mistresses are women' efforts in recent years, it is symbolically not a good association to have. Unfortunately it also speaks as a little reminder of the snooty upper class conservative side of MFC's own heritage. I wonder how many of the board that sacked Norm Smith for not being a proper pukka sahib were members? It's not smart. It should be tidied up. But football clubs rely on personal connections and networking to drive donations and sponsors and extract favourtism from public offices. The Australian Club is a a club for rich [censored] to hang out at and decide what vanity project they want to use their power for... I mean, ah, discuss their philanthropic contribution to the community. "Sponsor m' footbool club, guv'nor?"

The perpetually offended will be outraged.

Women are absolutely welcome to attend and I'm sure the female coterie members will have no issue with the venue, because the type of people who have joined the Melbourne coterie like nice venues and don't care about ridiculous PC nonsense. Hosting an event at the Australia Club is no different to hosting an event at an RSL, an Italian club, a Church, a private golf club or even in the MCC. Those are all exclusive clubs with restrictions on who can join, but no one would complain if a club held a function at one of those venues.

The ABC is obsessed with the gender wars. Maybe they should have held it at a Womens Only Gym.

I don't know why people are using this as an excuse to attack the ABC. They have reported the fact that the Coterie event is happening at The Melbourne Club, asked MFC for a response (not forthcoming at this stage) and sought (and received) a response from a group called Respect Victoria. Where is all the "outrage"?

The ABC is a pitiful 'news' service. Your tax dollars at work, folks. Hope the lads enjoy the event.

Wow is this the first time in a while that Garry Lyon is attending a MFC event? Have your own opinions about him, but from a Melbourne perspective it's good to have a former great in Gaz back attending a club function.

From what I can tell, most of the outrage is coming from those here on Demonland who seem to be outraged over the outrage.

Next they'll want the vote.

Stupid choice of a venue and completely idiotic of the club's leadership to accept the invitation. We have enough problems without our leaders making such easily avoided mistakes.

I'm glad you were able to speak on their behalf.

Not sure if its MFC sanctioned OD but however you play it it's a bad look.

As long as they're not specifically excluding women I don't see the problem. There are female only coterie groups, what's the difference? https://www.essendonfc.com.au/fans/coteries

We are no different to the racists at Collingwood or the exposed culture of entrenched sexism and misogyny on Capital Hill. Much of society, and by extension, the MFC, is completely blind, and contributing to, the normalisation of the abuse of women. This subtle but pervasive structurally embedded sexism is the personification of male power and control, which of course, is the root cause of gender inequality that manifests as domestic violence, rape, sexual exploitation, unequal pay and a plethora of other abuses. We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated and patriarchal symbols such as the Australian Club are used to raise funds for our beloved club.

Agree it is nothing to die in a ditch over. But for me i have started having some doubts about the judgement of both Pert and Bartlett. The members forum, the agm bartletts comments after the port game and some other eyebrow raisers. And a lapse in judgement in this case just adds to my concerns

Naturally you can question the choice of venue. The common objections have been mentioned. Establishment, old boys club, wealth, privilege, private school, sexist. Perhaps membership and attendance reflect some or all of these characteristics. However, these clubs have all seen better days. The movers and shakers have long deserted these places for more upmarket venues. They represent the past, not the current or the future. In the main, they are sparsely populated by old retired gentleman catching up with their peers. Having attended most of the clubs on the invitation of publishers and interested folk that still read books and descriptive fiction, my main complaint other than the absence of the fairer sex, is the quality of the food. In my experience, it reminds me of boarding school. Those present remind me of elderly gents at the funeral or wake of an old friend. Why anyone would want to spend a few thousand smackers each year to be a member is beyond me. After lunch and bucket loads of post lunch Port, I would want to kill myself. Although food poisoning may knock me off before my 303. However, I did enjoy stumbling down the steps one sunny afternoon with an ex AFL President who was loud and rambunctious. He enjoyed loudly telling a young man carrying a bike frame along William St, that the frame would need wheels to be rideable. Laughing loudly at his own joke as he stumbled away! Now that’s class!

So you prefer Murdoch media platforms Jnrmac for objective, non partisan and informed commentary?

If you were 18 years of age - lots!

You’re probably only ‘guilty’ of making a cubby house that girls didn’t join. If you think that’s a good way to run a football club, business or organisation, then I’d disagree.

The club has multiple coteries including all women coteries, they hold dozens of events in dozens of locations all in order to try to raise money for the club from as many sources as possible. I personally have been to three so far this pre-season and there have been few women, not for lack of invite but I suspect the fact men donating to football clubs vs women is probably a ratio of 100 to 1. This confected outrage is truly pathetic but what we have come to expect from theirABC.

Find the Twitter replies that got this going, I think offended is putting it fairly. I don’t have a strong opinion either way on Bartlett changing his title but if he thought it might increase the talent pool available to the Board then good for him and the club. Life is full of inconsistencies, I treat each case on its merits. If a coterie that has no joining criteria apart from $$$ wants to have a function at a venue that suits the members and is welcoming to all coterie members on the night then that’s fine by me. The club has women’s supporter lunches and lgbt supporter groups that by definition are far more discriminatory than a choice of venue. We all understand the context and have no issues with those certain groups. Crown Casino has a far more negative impact on society than a mens only club. Should the club avoid events hosted there on principle too?

Thread needs more outrage.

Non-issue

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The fact that it has made the papers means it is a tone deaf choice. All of the effort to be community leaders in demonstrating equality through the AFLW etc quickly gets compromised by something small (arguably innocuous) like this. One of two things will happen - they’ll put their hands up and say ‘no harm was intended but we realise it wasn’t the best choice now and will change it’ or they will cry poor and shout ‘the world is going f’n mad’ (Racetrack Ralphy has already done this). I hope they choose the former and show that we have the ability to listen to people.

Bannon has real footy smarts. she paddled the ball and soccered the goal to evade the pressure from the defender. The type of play we haven't seen thus far in the AFLW. Most players would gather the ball and end up getting tackled.

I’m not usually an annoying pedantic person but the article can not infer anything, it can only imply. The inference is made by the individual reading it. sorry, had to get that off my chest carry on

No it doesn’t infer it is being held in a Strip Club. This is where stories can get right out of hand. Top End of Collins St Men Only Clubs are not Goldfingers/Spearmint Rhino nothing in that article infers Strip Club

reckon yr drawing a long bow

in terms of game plan, winning contested football is clearly the dna of our current side, what we need to do to make us a 'winning' side is limit turnovers and make the most of opportunities from my perspective 25 wins or so in a row would do nicely, none where we're less than four goals up for the whole of each and every final quarter; a settled heart and the joy of knowing that you've 'got this' is my favourite part of watching 'winning' football

Remember that it doesn't matter who or what you are, in the spirit of inclusivity it is your social credit score that counts.

Organised chaos and balance are what I think of. You can’t be safe or too cute or you won’t move the ball quick enough to succeed. But at the same time there has to be some organisation to have things work out. 1 up, 1 down. Keeping width for handball receives. Trusting team mates to stick a tackle. Making sure the long kicks down the line go to advantage. If we get all those little things right consistently enough things will be looking better. I think Goodwin has actually been on the right track with the way we spread, change angles on the kicks and move the ball quickly. We’ve just been lacking skills in some areas and lacking organisation as well.

It seems the event is hosted by the Melbourne Coterie not by MFC. It is worth getting more info. Does anyone know if the Coterie allows or bans female coterie members and whether they have been excluded from attending the function, albeit as guests because of the Australia Club rules. And, have female Board members been excluded from attending the function. If any of those apply I would be very concerned, much more concerned than where the function is held. Until we know more I will withhold judgement. What I am concerned about is using the Coterie story as an intro to a piece on violence against women. Its a really important topic but I feel the scribe has drawn a long bow to link it to the Coterie function and mfc.

Well I’m awaiting one of them actually being offended rather than an ABC journalist and a bunch of well wishers

That 50 years ago DC. Surely there is a more recent example.

Who exactly has been offended ? Your comments sound a lot like Chinese Communist Party Press Releases BTW I'm thinking of changing my name to The Jackson 5.5 Is that ok ?

So what.

Never heard of any of those pubs.

Looks like somebody’s been left out. Mutiny committee? ?

I added a thank you but now I've got My Sharona stuck in my head right before trying to go to sleep. To prevent this spreading any further I'm going to stay home, wear a mask, wear earmuffs, get vaccinated. Whatever it takes. Sharona 2021 would just be too much. (Parov Stelar youtube search saved the day) Also, many thanks for another quality report, Trooper Picket.

What a rubbish post. You have no idea what any of their contracts are.

Liam Ryan at 11. Reckon Slobbo had a few wild turkeys when compiling his list.

Outstanding work again, @picket fenceyou have found your calling - footy journo! The fringe benefit being you can continue slurping the turps -m just look at slobbo

I do. Mainly because of our list profile. It's taken a number of years, but we're now the 5th oldest team and from a ''games played'' perspective we're 7th. Importantly, many of our best players are in their 20s and most are 23-25 and finally in their prime. Petracca 25, Oliver 23, Lever 25, Langdon 25, Salem 25, Brayshaw 25, Fritsch 24, Weideman 23 and hopefully an improved Harmes 25. Every one of those players should expect to finish top 10 in the B&F (except for Weideman-delayed start). And May, Gawn, Viney and Ben Brown are still under 30 for all of 2021. That's a healthy core. We've also got 4 of the best 30-40 players in the competition imo, which is nothing to sneeze at. If we can get the added excitement that comes from emerging young players such as Jackson, Bowey, Laurie, Pickett, Petty, and a couple of others, then I don't see why we're not a finals team at a minimum and knocking on the door of the four. I sometimes think supporters just assume other lists are better. But when I look at most of the other top 8 teams, or aspiring top 8 teams, I see plenty of flaws. We really should be good enough to be at the pointy end of the ladder. The reason the media and opposition supporters don't have us there is the same reason you doubt us. They don't trust us. We're a flaky club. And let's be honest, it's pretty hard to argue with. Yes, we have to improve our ball movement, the delivery inside 50 and not relax our intensity during games (maturity). Just about every other club has the same issues to varying degrees. There's also a sameness to the midfield, but I reckon that can be sorted with quality coaching and better ball movement. It's a long journey developing a unit ready to regularly compete in finals. I reckon our list profile is finally perfectly placed to be thereabouts. As long as they believe they're good enough, because that's the one area I'm not privvy to, i.e. their pysche. Choco Williams and Yze couldn't have come along at a better time to help with those belief systems. It's a long season and there'll be stumbles along the way, but Goodwin has no more excuses not to have this group playing finals (barring the standard horror year with injuries).