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Hey all No, I’m not dead, although I had severe alcohol poisoning after our GF win and have not logged into to the forum since then. It’s weird but after the win I have felt completely satisfied and without need to post/chat with you legends. What an incredible coincidence to see an MFC Premiership in Perf of all places and believe me it was savoured with great emotion and pride! Big shout out to the other Demonlanders who shared their barcodes with me (you know who you are) so I could take some mates along! To see Eagles and Dockers supporters draped in red and blue was cathartic to say the least and satisfied my most deepest sense of schadenfreude . Anyway, we’re back to footy and I’m really confident we can go back-to-back in 2022. Cheers 🍻🍻

Geez. You'd be worried if the game actually meant anything. Carlton probably have an open top bus down Lygon St organised for tomorrow.

I also have to add it was outstanding to see Sam Docherty get 38 disposals in his return game from cancer treatment

And that's a wrap. FT Casey 13.8.86 Carlton 6.11.47 Sorry I couldn't give much detail, next time I'll pack the binoculars!!

Good news

Bowey could do it no problem if he weren't surrounded by the likes of Smith and Hunt who I wouldn't trust to watch my bike while I nip into the shops for a pie for fear they'd forget what they're doing and wander off home.

The issue with the 50m penalty is that it can never be consistent as it will be ruled according to the individual umpire’s tolerance or mood on the day. I get the feeling there are going to be more than a few games ruined this year by this rule.

IN AN AFL FIRST, Melbourne will honour its loyal members when it unfurls the 2021 AFL premiership flag in two weeks’ time. The surnames of all members from the historic year will feature on its back and will be revealed in a special moment at the MCG in Round 1. A downloadable version of the back of the flag is available below, where you can zoom in to find your surname. Premiers-Flag_Web_V2.pdf

Still don't understand why we pulled Weideman out at half time in the ressies to give him 10minutes in the last quarter. Not exactly setting him up to succeed with that game prep

Woey... 🥰

It's only a practice match, but we need all aspects of our winning machine functioning smoothly. Hence I bring you a practice version of "What they're saying down at ... ". (Lifted from real things they're saying on the bigfooty Carlton forum.) Playing the best side is going to really let us know where we are and test our defences. Dees have been eating their Weetbix in the off-season. They'll come out to make a big statement in this game. I can’t imagine this will be pretty if Melbourne go hard all day. McDonald looks the goods. Only 26, played every game for a prelim final team. 196cm. Very handy pickup I don’t think we lose much from Jones My view is that three blokes won the flag for Melbourne Gawn/Oliver and Pretacca in that order. Cerra and in due course Walsh can handle Vinny and whoever else they have tiptoeing around the midfield - and beat them . So lets see How well the Carlton big boys match up to their Melbourne counterparts - where it matters. Good chance for Omac and Young to prove themselves against a very well structured forward line. We're going in extremely weak against a Melbourne side with only 5 out of their Premiership squad missing. I'm predicting melts, cos this is gonna get ugly. I think you overrate Melbourne and severely underrate us. We were 2 goals on average away from Melbourne the last 3 years. Their side hasn’t changed. And they’re without three of their starting defenders tomorrow I'm not saying we can't win more just saying pressure will be the key thing I will look out for regardless of result. But not sure how we can overrate Melbourne. They were crazy impressive last year and they aren't really an old team. Gawn for me is the best player in the comp and Petracca, Oliver, May, Fritsch, Brown and Lever are elite+++ in their respective positions. Then they have incredible young talent like Jackson, Pickett, Rivers and co which will imo make sure they are a top team for many years to come On paper, we actually match up relatively well against Melb. Clearly Melbourne had the best structure/system last year, and from last week’s viewing, we seem much better placed in that area under Voss. I’m still baffled how our last senior coach just couldn’t get his head around this. So happy to be playing Melbourne tonight. They are the benchmark. A very well drilled side with talent on every line. I'm happy they touched up North last week as it shows they mean business. Going in without Walsh, Stocker, Charlie, Kemp, Weitering and Doc, so we are far from full strength. The Dees were deserving winners last year, but Gawn aside, I really don't think they're that far ahead of us.... trac and Oliver better as a duo than Cripps and Walsh. personally I think terra is better than any of their other mids. Backline they get the chocolates cause of keys. our forward is more talented. Our system is what needs work. Also I think our half backs are more dangerous than theirs but as a unit they are such a well oiled machine

As mentioned, 3 existing board members returned in what looked like a landslide on the bar graph displayed. Pert talked for 20 minutes on Financials. All indicators are promising with 50K crowds at home games listed as 'a challenge'. All the other metrics were going strong. We made 2.6 (I think) million operating profit. Big turnaround from last year and a lot of it due to plebs like me spending $100's on merch post premiership. Was not expected to make this sort of profit given the pandemic. Missing out on Queens Birthday cost us about 2 Million. Bentleigh is still an asset till later this year. The money from that sale will be put into a 'futures fund' rather than being spent on operations or jacking up losses into profits. Richo talked for about 10 minutes on footy related matters. No great revelations. According to our Constitution, we cannot use electronic voting as 'mail vote' means mail vote according to lawyers. It's a bit like the second amendment in the States I suppose. Anyway, that will be looked at but probably one of those things where members have to get ~80% or something to change? The last change to this to enforce mail votes would have been post Hawthorn merger given what happened that night and to stop that happening again. This was before voting electronically on the internet was available. Kate spoke of the facilities for the club at Goshes. While the oval is being re-done to be G length and Docklands wide, negotiations are still being done regarding Admin & training facilities but are progressing 'strongly'. Alas, she cannot say more than that as it's a State Government affected project. Also spoken was MFC commitment to first peoples through various initiatives. Forget the name of that project. The new Oval we built near Alice got flooded and might need more work. Chip in a few dollars if you can when approached.

Yep my hatred for that club is separate from my respect for individual players, and my empathy towards people struggling with mental health issues. He's also a super fun players to watch.

Reminds me of… A soccer fan had three mates over for dinner. His mum brings out the roast chicken and asks the first guy, “who do you barrack for?” He says, “West Ham” so she carves slices of chicken from the right side and serves them to him. “And you?” she asks the second guy. “East Ham” he replies, so she carves the left side for him. “And how about you?” she asks the third guy. “Arsenal” he says, “but I’m not hungry, thanks.”

I am sorry @Mach5 but this thread is the kind of thread that you would eviscerate yourself, to the point of getting a warning. You have allusions to knowledge, a known issue with Pert and the hiring thereof, and multiple posts claiming we are the ostriches with our head in the ground for not listening to the information you won’t divulge… What are we doing here?

I have had a case of MFCSS in the past, or as they call it in my houseold, the O-no-fret-chooks!

How do you 'edit out' questions in a live zoom OD? MFC web & digi team don't work 24 hours a day you may be surprised to hear. Given the AGM was last night, maybe give them at least until COB today to throw something together. Bit of MFCSS coming out in all this I reckon. Just won a flag, financials are great, board is stable, let's not create conspiracies that are not based in fact, we already have certain threads for that.

Things I’ve learnt today 1. Give the umpires an inch and they’ll invade Ukraine with power 2. No May and Salem without Petty and Rivers as backup = no good backline 3. Poor discipline is always costly. We were arrogant and messy especially with setting up in the middle. That’s inexcusable. 4. Nobody got injured. Big win!

I would imagine they'll be told to relax tomorrow. 50m penalty for shaking your head while looking at the ground. What an absolute joke.

I’m sorry but 3 times we didn’t get the 6-6-6 right? What is this amateur hour?

This is embarrassing by the umpires. AFL needs to rectify that before the sesson.

One of the rare times it's come over my side this quarter. Apologies for the low quality, broke one of the lenses in my phone camera so lost the ability to zoom

Hunt is definitely the better like-for-like with his pace / run & carry etc Smith no doubt is very capable in the air & his athleticism is a strength of his... but i do cringe at the thought of seeing him do anything else but spoiling / intercepting Hunt all day for me.

My key takes: Ballot: No change to Board composition Strong position on and off the field, including financials Tracking very well against Strategic Plan, but can’t rest on laurels Emphatic support for Goodwin

I would hope that in the short term we are making the most of sponsorship and revenue opportunities, but I'm convinced that it takes a full generation to turn a low-mid tier club into a sustained powerhouse. Hawthorn's dominance in the late 80s finally bore fruit in the late 00s when those 80s kids started indoctrinating their kids and buying them membership. You could argue that Richmond's premierships in the early 80s gave them a supporter base to ride out 30 years of mediocrity, but those 80s kids and their kids and grandkids were all primed by 2017. We all know Melbourne has an ageing supporter base. The only way this is going to change is by the Melbourne supporting kids of today converting their friends and ultimately their kids in 20 years time.

Hard to get into the groove after 5 months of wallowing in GF glory. Nothing wrong being reminded they are mere mortals again. Party time over. Still the midfield need to be embarrassed for their effort.

How did the umpire know Trac wasn’t angry at himself.

Well to Carlton’s credit they have played much better than us. Want it more. Great tackling Backline embarrassingly bad.

Sometimes posts just don’t age well

Hope they don’t drug test

Shaking your head = 50 Shaking your head and staring at ground = 6 week suspension

This umpire over correction is rubbish. Put them on a pedestal and they’ll milk it for all it’s worth.

Yeah that one was up there but nothing could beat coming back from 40 points down in a pre season game against Carlton at Marvel on a Thursday night in front of 15 people.

I reckon this game is teaching us all a few things. First, a reminder about the importance of a healthy list. At no stage last year did we go into a game with 5 first choice defenders missing. Having one or two second rung players filling in is fine (eg Smith in the late Rounds and early finals last year) but when you need them to all work together with only Lever there to marshall, it shouldn’t surprise that it isn’t going to work as well. Carlton scored from 48% of their inside 50s (we had more, surprise surprise). Secondly, goal kicking accuracy. 12.3 vs 5.6. We lost games last year because we didn’t convert. Third, we are nothing without workrate. Last week vs North I saw an entire side working like they did in the finals. If we’re not at that level tonight, that will explain why we’re behind. And fourth, tonight is a more real game than last week (too many read too much into a genuine scratch match) but it’s also not a real game. Remember, we got belted by the Dogs in this game last year.

five of our premiership back six out but our entire starting midfield not defending doesn't help

Thanks to red beard for truly a fantastic effort in keeping us informed…..THANKYOU

Much appreciated Red - now just submit a match report before you leave.

To be honest both options (media vs coaching) seem like a hard road. Coaching opportunities are often about being in the right place at the right time under the right people, and while there’s a knack to that, success usually comes from stability - so you’re guessing a long way out about how things could pan out. I always think about Dean Solomon who was touted as the next big thing in coaching for years but ultimately never got a shot and is out of the system now. And then there’s the media. The less said about that industry the better. Conniving, back stabbing, smug, self centred egomaniacs - and that’s before you even get on air. If it was me I’d be looking at setting up a junior female academy. Using her name and reputation she could make a real difference, and it’s clear we need better, more diverse pathways to the AFLW.

Fair comments Lord. And your comments about past experiences vis a vis lack of tough questions is valid. Perhaps my observation of lack of transparency is superficial. It was a quick response. My observation simply piggybacked Lucifers comment about (why) attendance at B&F and not AGM. In addition, when there were challenges to the Board. Not such a good look I would have thought and suggests the existing Board trying to control the agenda and avoid questions and conflicts. I would have thought that after a flag and an incredible amount of goodwill, an open AGM would have been appropriate. Surely nothing to be afraid of. The existing President and Board should be out there and proud.

All 3 current Directors were returned overwhelmingly with 85% plus of votes, Peter Lawrence came 4th with 29%.

I hate the Bombers above all others, I like Tippa. I am glad he is back

Hmmm. A cheeky post that will doubtless garner some wisecracks.

So why did you start this time-wasting thread? Thrown some provocative statements out there, not even a general clue to what the issues are to which you allude, despite many queries on here from posters for you to do so. No specifics, just innuendo ..... finsihing up with ' time will tell..' Sheeeesh.

Just relax and enjoy the dream. You are wasting happy days being unhappy. After the journey we have been on, the offseason following our first flag in most of our life times should be enjoyed. No one needs an angry hot headed gremlin picking blues. Not here anyway. Mature conversation is good but mate you come across as unnecessarily antagonistic. No one wants to hear your rubbish. Not now anyway. These 6 months have been nirvana for everyone here. Well, almost everyone

The lack of transparency is disappointing and perhaps a concern.

Seems like a great breakthrough. Recognition that knowledge and ability is not gender specific. Daisy has an abundance of both and is setting benchmarks everywhere. Will be valuable wherever she goes both for personal and organisation development.Only she is aware of her circumstances and I am sure she will make the correct decision. Wish her well whatever she does.Hope she retains her relationships with the Dees.

You're not getting behind this idea, Ethan?

Very close to his family, in particular his brother.

You're right, we'll never lose again. What was I thinking? ... I'd forgotten what a circle jerk it could be in here; apparently pointing out that we had luck and no injuries last year, and that we might not be so lucky again whilst the opposition may improve, is an affront to the psyche of our supporters. I never said we were crap - far from it, rather that sterner tests may be coming. We will get an early (albeit inconsequential) preview tomorrow night with 5 of our premiership 6 defence out of action. Don't be surprised if you don't like what you see. No Salem alone changes our ball movement and setup enormously. 'we won by a lot last year, therefore we will keep winning this year' 'we could do the job even with our 2nd stringers in' 'other teams will improve, but we will of course improve more' Do you realise how ridiculous you sound? In no world are Joel Smith, Hunt, Daw, Weideman, Baker and Chandler walking into the best sides of our closest competition. Dunstan spent half of last year out of a bottom 8 side. Our depth is good - they can't all be stars - but we're one of 18 strong teams and we are not infallible. All that said, I'd love for you to be right and quote the hell out of me after Grand Final Day. We have as good a shot as any team, but it's a long year with a lot needing to go right. That's all I'm saying.

We're not... We're posting about a young man going through a difficult time. He's a joy to watch when he's not playing us. Plays with great flair and spirit, I wish him all the best and hope to see him back out there. ...and if he's not, then at least be in a good place with his life.