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Former Melbourne great and ex-Melbourne Cricket Club president Steven Smith has emerged as a leading candidate to join the Demons’ board and potentially become their next president. Smith, who is highly respected for his four-year reign as president of the MCC, has strong support within AFL circles to nominate for a board position. Current president Kate Roffey is under significant pressure after a heavily-criticised radio interview about Christian Petracca’s future on Thursday. A successful lawyer, Smith played 203 games and kicked 144 goals for Melbourne and won a best and fairest for the club in 1981. The 68-year-old was previously a Melbourne director between 1990 and 1992 and rose through the ranks at the Melbourne Cricket Club as part of a decorated stint between 1998 and 2019. One of Smith’s proudest achievements was helping the MCG secure the AFL Grand Final until 2057 as part of a landmark deal with the AFL in 2018. Smith continues to have close links to the Demons who are under siege for their on and field struggles since the 2021 premiership. Petracca recommitted to the Demons on Saturday, ensuring he will play at the club next year despite his concerns about the Demons’ culture and standards. Melbourne has been stalled over the past decade trying to establish a new training base, but has zeroed in recently on a site inside Caulfield Racecourse. Any changes to Melbourne’s board would occur before the end of the year at the annual general meeting. Melbourne was contacted for comment. UPDATE 9/9/24

For what it’s worth, my understanding is that there were several ex-players approached for a potential board challenge, with their sights set on the presidency. We may find that Pert also moves on if there are sweeping changes, with another ex-player being sought to fill that role.

I have known Steven Smith since under 16 cricket and let me tell you he was a fearsome fast bowler being so tall at such a young age. A brilliant footballer at Ormond who started his then VFL career at a very young age but was in the early years continually troubled with hamstring problems. A highly respected legal eagle and leader. You do not get to be MCC president unless you have some decent skills and I certainly haven't seen any drop in MCC standards under his watch. He has the credentials to preside over a major sporting organisation. He doesn't need to be an ex-footballer to be president. I want to see the board run by experts in finance, business management, legal expertise, government contacts and project management, communication and an appreciation of the vaguaries of being a member of the AFL. The board has to oversee AFL, VFL & AFLW teams hopefully through a canny CEO and well managed departments who run the football operations for each section I have read a lot about about what people think Pert hasn't done. The board must be satisfied with his performance so far. He has increased revenue, significantly increased the number of sponsors and overseen a club that has missed the final once in the last 4 years. If Kate is to step down I would expect a successor to be an existing board member groomed for the post as part of a succession plan. Board coups often fail, disrupt a club through a lack of cohesion or continuity and can lead to financial difficulty. There isn't a lot wrong with our club but there is certainly room for improvement

See, this is where I have a problem. Not with Morris' per se - he is paid to gin up angst and clicks. But is there really a huge story here? I mean it could all be boiled down to: 'Star player unhappy with how injury managed and concerned premiership wondow is shut wants to get to a more successful Victorian club.' A bog standard story written a million times. All the rest of it, for example the suggestion tracc not happy with how clarry was managed is old, stale news rolled into this one to create a club in crisis narrative. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I'm not going to dance to the tune of peanuts like Morris like some puppet. I posted a joke early in this thread asking for a gif with Morris as the organ grinder and demonland as the monkey. And to be frank, that is what this thread largely feels like. A bunch of adults dancing to the media's tune.

afl.com had an article in the lead up to our game tiltled: Don't dream it's over: what pies need to make finals the final paragraph: 'It technically isn't over yet, but surely not even McRae's miracle workers could pull this off.' McRae's miracle workers? How many times in VFL/AFL history has the premier failed to make the finals the following year? Some miracle workers.

The 40,000 seat $319 million redeveloped Kardinia Park Stadium was nowhere near capacity last night but the strong, noisy contingent of Melbourne supporters led by the DeeArmy journeyed to Geelong to witness a high-quality battle between two of the best teams in AFLW. The Cats entered the arena to the blasting sounds of Zombie Nation and made a hot start kicking the first 2 goals. They brought tremendous forward half pressure, and our newly renovated defensive unit looked shaky. The windy weather windy and drizzling rain made conditions tricky for both teams. Prespakis, Morrison and Amy McDonald were again the stars for the Cats. It was very physical out there. Mick Stinear noted that our practice match form was scratchy. So, it was a relief when the Dees were able to match the Cats intensity, amping up their own pressure. Debutant Grace Beasley was introduced midway through the first quarter and immediately impressed with her deft handballs and physicality. What an encouraging first game! Loz Pearce was outstanding in the ruck all night and took full advantage of Geelong not playing a recognised ruck. Notwithstanding, Kate Darby and Gabbi Featherston were competitive for the Cats. Kate Hore again demonstrated why she is considered one of the best players in the competition. Kate was on fire 🔥 with 2 classy goals to get the Dees back on terms by quarter time and finished the game with 23 possessions and 3 goals. You have to admit she’s getting better all the time. Apart from Grace Beasley, forward Ryleigh Wotherspoon and back Grace Hill also debuted. Both were quieter but did their bit, having some moments from which they can build on. Tayla Harris hurt her shoulder in the first half and then again in the third and was taken from the ground for the duration. She will have scans next week. The drizzling stopped as the second half began but it remained very windy. The new midfield mix worked well: with Liv Purcell recovering from injury and Westy at Hawthorn, Goldrick took on the ball chaser and extractor role brilliantly, supporting Hanksy and Lily Mithen (team high 8 tackles). Sarah Lampard did really well matching up on Amy McDonald, who was the Cats leading contested disposal winner. With Hore at times and debutant Beasley in the middle, Mick was happy with the collective performance. Eliza McNamara was in everything and demonstrated her courage with 13 contested possessions. How Blaithin Mackin transitioned to AFLW with virtually no pre-season, having just finished an injury-interrupted Gaelic Football Season was incredible. Her indefatigable running, reading of the play and passing foot skills under pressure were sublime. She was our leading possession winner plus she kicked a great goal. B you were awesome. The refurbished defence: Paxy has taken over Maddi Gay’s half back sweeper role and looked right at home. Maeve Chaplin has stepped into the Birch role. Our number 13 is a good intercept mark, has deep kicking skills and courage. Chappy impressed on the night, maintaining her practice match form. Tahlia Gillard was Tahlia Gillard. Tahls is becoming one of the best key defenders in the comp. Heathy was fantastic on the night applying pressure everywhere, landing 6 tackles. Gaby Colvin will be better for the run as she, Grace Hill and the backs build connections. Moment of the match: With Dees supporters stressing, wanting the siren to sound in a tensely close match, it was a shock when Geelong won a free kick in the last minute directly in front of goal. Surely it was a charity free! No, Paxy had inadvertently breached a seldom used rule for time-wasting by not handing the ball back directly to the umpire. Ex Dee Jaqui Parry scores and it’s a 2-point game. Supporters were kept on edge for the 46 seconds until Beasley clears the ball and the siren sounds. Dees by 2 points 😎🔥⭐️🥰 Full time: Dees 6.6.42 defeated Cats 6.4.40 The opening weekend of Women’s footy has showcased the improving skill and tackling pressure. It was a really entertaining match to watch, with stats very evenly matched. This away win for the Dees was an important one with the tough draw ahead. We congratulate Daisy Pearce on her first win in her first game as coach of West Coast Eagles. Coaches and next week: Melbourne Coach Mick Stinear said it was a tough, physical game and the Cats had his team on the backfoot at the outset. Really pleased with how his team fought back, they deserved the win. A confidence booster for the playing group. He praised Kate Hore’s game and versatility but ideally, he prefers her to play forward. He highlighted that Sinead Goldrick’s, Grace Beasley and Sarah Lampard’s strong midfield performances allowed Kate to spend more time forward. Geelong coach Dan Lowther referred to his teams shaky practice match form so was pleased with how his side began and their forward half pressure. A strong first half but his side couldn’t quite sustain it in the second half. He gave full credit to Melbourne. He said Kate Hore with 3 goals and 20+ disposals was the difference. The Dees are a great team still. We agree Dan 😊. We head to Casey Fields for the next two weeks. Firstly Brisbane, the reigning premiers, next Saturday morning at 11:05am and then North Melbourne, last year’s runners up. A big fortnight coming up. Happy Father’s Day to all Dee Dads. Enjoy your day and go Dees! MELBOURNE 2.0.12 2.2.14 5.4.34 6.6.42 GEELONG 2.2.14 3.2.20 5.2.32 6.4.40 GOALS MELBOURNE Hore 3 Goldrick B Mackin Zanker GEELONG Parry 2 Bowen Kearns Kenny Morrison BEST MELBOURNE Hore B Mackin Pearce Mithen McNamara Goldrick GEELONG Prespakis Am McDonald Morrison Bowen Webster Parry INJURIES MELBOURNE Harris (shoulder) GEELONG Kearns (chest/rib) CROWD 3,838 at GMHBA Stadium

I did indeed. Is there something wrong with being optimistic? As a betting man, I'd give us better than even money of the things I noted occurring (well, not the flag, neom smith double - the rest) And why not? The club is not in crisis, whatever the media would like people to believe. Mutiple key players have resigned, including our four best young guns (jvr, winsdsor, mcvee and kolt) our best player is suiting up next year and we don't have players like melk with long term injuries. West Coast Eagles- the wealthiest club in the AFL with a 20k wait list to be a member - is in crisis. They just sacked their coach and can't find another one. Have been down the bottom for 6 years and a flag looks minimum 5 years away. It will come down to luck as much as anything. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong this year. We're due some good luck and if it comes in the next 12 months we'll be back playing finals this time next year.

Not too bad for a “small club” who finished 14th….

I'm relieved that Petracca has released a statement - if nothing else than it gets the club out of the bad media spotlight for a bit. However, I did find the statement both interesting and disappointing by what it didn't say. It has been very carefully crafted. For example: He says he loves his footy... but nowhere does he express his love for the club - where he has won a premierships and north smith with many of his closest mates. Usually this type of statement would have something like "I love my footy, I love this club - the players, the staff, the fans..." On his future he "remains committed to the red and blue" but it doesn't say for life or for his contract etc He also says "I voiced my concerns as a leader, wanting better for our club, playing group, and fans." Maybe this is accurate - maybe he was doing the hard thing and trying to generate the change needed. But from the snippets in the media, this seems more revisionist history being written and (until there's reason to think otherwise) the reference to wanting better for the fans seems disingenuous. i guess we'll have to wait to hear what he actually says when he's interviewed about it all.

At this stage I'm happy to wait for him to hand over the captaincy to George.

Whose admission to practice law, was moved in the Supreme Court, by yours truly.

I personally would prefer he goes back to bat at number 4.

It has been rare for reigning premier not to make finals, interestingly it has happened with 3 of last 4 premiers. Exception is us!

He's the only person at the club who has shown any competent leadership in the last 20 odd days and just coming off his 7th All Australian and is our only living Premiership Captain. What an insulting and disrespectful thread to start. When Max says it's time. It's time. Double Facepalm.

What do you feel like for dinner tomorrow night is a conversation, this is blasphemy.

Just came across some YOUTUBE Maynard 'Highlights', my favorite being the Suns Match earlier this year where he received a shove in the chest and 'fell' holding his head. Um, what this piece of E Coli Excrement gets away with match, match out, is unbelievable, and always sanctioned by the Mister Christian himself. In the meantime, Pickett runs into an E Coli Wobbler who has dived at his feet and, hey presto, that's 3 weeks. I hate the AFL more every day. And everything it stands for, including the leeches and cockroaches known as the Footy Media.

Some predictable responses from the “nothing to see here!” types. Which is fine, you’re entitled to your opinion. The fact of the matter, fact, is that Trac has been unhappy for a while. Well before the media got hold of it. It’s also fact that he has caused division within the ranks which will take time and effort to repair. Has he received poor advice? Absolutely. Has he committed to the club to see out the remainder of his contract? Nope. Will his feedback result in changes? Seemingly so. Across the club potentially. Will he get back to the pre injury Trac? He will do everything in his power to get back.

Its a shame all this media took away from Collingwood missing this 8 after being premiers. That's usually an embarrassing achievement that needs to be punished.

I'm happy for Max to stay captain for as long as he wants it. Not only does he speak incredibly well and lead by performance, he consistently gets to every Casey VFL game to support the players in the twos. Was also down in Geelong tonight supporting the Woman's team. If only we had a few more as committed to every aspect of our club as him.

Lol sounds like Smith did a good job bringing the MCC into the 21st century.

There will likely be some distance between this and the incoming, but she’s now facing unrelenting pressure to step down. Can confirm that Steven Smith has been tapped on the shoulder.

For us this draft has to be all about the midfield. We need to try to replicate the 2014/15 drafts.

I think it is a reflection of just how tough footy is anaerobicly now and how critical a good preseason is. Non finalists have essentially an extra six weeks of recovery for players and time to get surgeries done, which sets up things for a good preseason. No coincidence that we missed finals in the year before winning the flag. And no surprise to see the cats top 4 the year after failing to make finals after winning a flag in 2022.

Add they lucked in with 3 wins below a goal and drew one. IMO all of those were from late dubious umpiring decision. By contrast the dees lost 3 by less than a goal.

Financial and other reasons aside, if you don’t renew because of the issues at the club, you can’t throw stones at Trac for considering the same. Clubs are built on members. Don’t bemoan our demise or that we’re not a “big club” if you don’t renew. It’s pretty poor if there are some passionate enough to post on here, but who won’t renew (or only mcc). If you’re doing it to make a statement, that statement will come quicker than expected. It wasn’t long ago we almost faded into oblivion. The club is bigger than the president, ceo, Goodwin or whoever else. If you have the means, sign the f up.

I look forward to reading some book in twenty years that actually tells me what’s been happening at the club for the last three.

So, Christian Petracca who has played football for 10 years, is better than the Melbourne Football Club who has stood proudly for over 150 years, having invented this game, pioneered the women’s league and had countless other champion players, some of the greatest players of all time in fact, because he has a bigger social media following than our club? Can someone turn Demonland off and on again? We need a reboot.

Now maybe the football media can start asking some questions about how the pies, the team every journ seemed to think was miles ahead of every other team last year, and set for a dynasty, missed the finals this year. Drinking their own bathwater? Culture issue? And perhaps ask why they allowed pednles to play with broken ribs foe two weeks Maybe an article about why noble has requested a trade? What about their list management - a third of their best 22 are 30 or over. Perhpas Whately's sanctimony bazooka can be turned on them.

Another topic, another round of media-lity (invented word for my purpose; like trivia-lity), Fresh from 4 weeks of 'that' other topic, and before I jump in to thinking this article is true, complete and meaningful, What are Big Footy's credentials? What do 'has emerged', 'leading', 'candidate' and 'potential' mean? What is the 'strong support' and who are 'AFL circles'? Apart from being in adjacent paragraphs, what connects the claims about Smith with the observations about Roffey? What do 'significant' and 'pressure' mean? From whom? 'Any changes to Melbourne’s board would occur before the end of the year at the annual general meeting.' Drama? Not. 'Melbourne was contacted for comment.' Implies they didn't. However...? Accompanying out-of-context pic of Roffey looking worried. See invented word above.

Bring Steven Smith in yesterday. Was a great player in a poor team. Kept Leigh Mathews kickless in a match then Leigh did what he did in those situations king hit him from behind. Smashed his jaw I believe ( on YouTube). Is smart with a legal background,sensible,passionate about the Dees is a past and very good and popular President of the MCC ….light years ahead of the incumbent. Bring it on …..please.

So we are meant to forgive Maynard for putting one of our best out of that final game (both increasing the chance of a loss) and of the game permanently. In what way is it cringworthy? I would have thought any decent C'wood supporter would be doing the cringing. (But a lot of them cheer him.) As for us finishing 14th - there were a lot of things that caused that. But losing Gus sure didn't help. Pity it wasn't enough to get C'wood into the finals.

Fingers crossed this actually occurs.

Maybe that's what has motivated his desire to leave the state?

Definitely hold on to that pick 5. As Sydney has shown through it's wild academy gains, access to that top end is priceless and far better than having a couple of late 1st-round or 2nd-round picks. If you've got a few serious guns running around it allows you to focus on needs with the rest of your draft/trade strategy. Even Hawthorn, who actually blew a surprising number of their very high picks, show how much difference it makes to have just a few outright top players to provide a focal point for a team. In this draft I don't think it'll make a huge difference to go higher than five. I think the 7 to 5 jump in the very final round has done us a great service, though. It is fun watching people debate who we should go for or hope to have slide when the debate is entirely phrased in 'this one is great in this way, and that one is great in that way'. I approach the draft without fear. After 5, I'm big on a mid first and early second round pairing. One to get our own choice of the cluster of talls in the 15-30 range, and another to get our favourite slider of the group. I hold onto my Whitlock+Whitlock fantasy. Edit: Spent a little time watching some Lalor highlights since a few other people have been getting excited. Seems unafraid to make the bold kick and also doesn't try to rely on perfection - happy to send it to advantage and allow for chaos rather than try to control every outcome. I value that mentality. Has a lot of initiative (the shared feature of our 2019 superdraftees). What I found amazing was that despite having a body shape that reminded me of Nick Sautner, those tree trunks really pumped hard and got him from tussle to tussle at a pace that surprised opponents as much as it did me. He's the fastest Ent in the Moot, to be sure.

I agree with the mids philosophy for this draft. My days of going to champs etc. to scout potential draftees is long gone, so I'm left with youtube videos. Out of Langford, Smillie and Lalor I like Lalor based on admittedly scant viewing. I just like the way he moves, makes decisions and his speed looks good. A nice size at 187cm also. Langford also looks nice, but his and Smillie's speed is a concern, because we're already not blessed with midfield speed. So I keep coming back to Lalor. Others may prefer Murphy and the elusive skinnier types, who'll bulk up in time. I haven't seen enough of those. We need a star mid with a top 5 pick. I haven't seen enough of Lalor to kinow whether he has that potential.

He's been a great pick up. Pay no attention to this "Rising Star" nonsense. For goodness sake, Lewis Taylor beat Bont for it in 2014! Dane Swan, Jonathon Brown and Gary Ablett Jnr never even got nominated. It's a speculative award at best. Windsor will be an absolute star.

The Petracca thing was upsetting and clearly there’s work to do on his side and the clubs side to get the relationship fixed. But a year is a looong tune in footy. Our list is strong, some new assistant coaches, another good draft and another preseason into our young guns and Clayton means we’re undoubtedly better next year. As for the media, let’s just look at the scoreboard. Petty to Adelaide at the end of 2024, Nup Clayton disgruntled and leaving, Nup Viney to Roos, Nup Trac leaving, Nup Kozzie leaving, Nup ANB, no reports until the DAY the club announced it, that’s a Nup. The Media is 0/6 for 2024 for our club. Whatever player manager scuttlebutt and contract play the media picked up on their narratives about us are always worse than the actuality, compare that to talk about culture with Geelong and Stengle and the Pies with Noble etc. Crickets. You think maybe the media already knew the hatchet job they wanted to do on the MFC and just waited 3 years for our on-field to drop off to the extent they could jump on us about anything they could find? Sure looks like it!

Hi Rab. Good points. The club now has time to work on a trade on its terms rather than his next year, if things don't work out. Off field #1 goal next year is minimal bad press from anyone. Hopefully, the public dialogue by both parties stops and if the media start it up next year both club and Christian jointly shut it down. Of course winning will help.

Too prestigious, I live in a tiny country town. It's, like so many other places, over populated and I don't like neighbours 😂

Mackin was very good WCW but I thought Hore was clearly a cut above anyone else on the field. She may be more important to us than any other player is to their team

My takes from this whole imbroglio are: 1. the club leaks like a sieve. Stamp it out now. 2. trac needs better advisors. 3. Kate Roffey needs to prep properly before interviews. And her and Pert need to can the corporate speak. Talk plainly to us members, acknowledge issues and communicate a plan to address 4. Max Gawn is an outstanding leader and communicator. Pert and Roffey take note 5. Stop talking about culture. Demonstrate culture through actions on the field.

This site would be nothing without hyperbole

Not sure if this has already been posted. It gives the perspective of someone who knows the player trade market intimately. Pickering explains how poorly advised Trac has been throughout this process.

We have plenty of problems at the club. Max as captain is not one of them.

He won’t leave now, I was told by the club on Friday that he never asked for a trade, I reckon when Trac, Clarry, Salem, Lever, May and Max are fit we will be bloody hard to beat, we’re as good a chance as anybody to win flag next year.

I reckon we should trade him