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One of the things that’s remarkable to me is how blatantly the media ignore the obvious contradictions that are Jack Viney and Max Gawn to the ‘disaster’ culture narrative they’re trying to spin about the MFC (let alone the flurry of re-signings from our young guns). Here are our two greatest leaders, passionately, vocally committed to the club, both of whom drive standards of professionalism that would be the envy of any player, EVER, both just re-signing to make them one club players. Both of whom weathered the pits of this club’s recent history, then drove it to the ultimate success. How does any player not look to them as exemplars of the professionalism in loyalty we fans treasure most? How does Max Gawn’s resolve as the playing group’s leader, (arguably I guess) the best ruckman ever, a SEVEN-time all Australian, become frankly irrelevant in any media discussion about our club. Even more staggering when his media appearances around the CP5 saga were quite brilliant - consistent, empathetic, resolute. If I were a player seeking to model my career on anyone (on or off-field) it would be these two, and as a supporter, I know who I hold in highest regard as true Demons.

Since the Bombers won a final Has there ever been such a fall from grace? The best team in the league to a laughing stock. And they say the Demons culture is no good? Culture and arrogance killed and are continuing to kill this horrible club Heres to another 20!

Because he's not exactly what we need. Our prime targets this off season should be midfield talent and depth. With pick 5 you're getting a potential 12-15 year player instead of a 29 year old half back flanker. He's good, but he's still not worth pick 5 imo and that's exactly what Port will ask for.

Fair dinkum there's some nonsense written. An afl.com puff piece that reads more like a 'we've got yiur back' infomercial for his player management team. Like the media and champion data, player managers are part of the closed shop afl monopoly - can't allow members of the AFL boys club to get criticised. The one example given of why conners et al couldn't possibly have been involved is from 17 years ago for petes sake. For what it's worth I think this has been driven by tracc. But that doesn't absolve conners of all responsibility - a big part of a player managers job is protecting their clients from their own stupidity. They clearlyv failed tracc on that front.

I think their involvement came in the form of: "hey Trac, we tried but we can't get you to Pies or Blues, please stop this nonsense". They are obviously trying to stay as far away from this as possible, because it does not help their credentials one little bit to have lost control of one of their biggest stars.

I don’t think anyone is underestimating Houston the player. But for me there are four factors working against this: his age, his position, the asking price and the club’s direction. 1. He’s 28 next year - basically everything needs to go right for us to maximize his value. We might get 50-75 good “elite level@ games out of him at best. That’s not a lot. 2. He plays HBF which is far from the most important role to fill. He’s an AA player sure but he’s not exactly Zak Butters. 3. Two first rounders or pick 5 and change. Enough said, way overs. 4. Are we really pushing for another flag? We don’t want Houston to be the next Tim Taranto. Much safer taking pick 5 to the draft where we can focus on finding Clarry/Viney/Brand Petracca’s replacement.

I cannot think of any organisation, sporting club, place of employment or even family, where there will some form of dissent, disagreement, disgruntlement, debate or even downright hostility from time to time. Such is the way of the 'body corporate' and the human condition. In fact, some organisational behavior specialists will tell you conflict, if handled constructively, can end up being beneficial to a group. Clearly, Trac has had a traumatic experience, which understandably, has had a significant affect on both his physical and psychological well being. It would appear - at least from the outside - that he has expressed his concerns after suffering such trauma. Surely, no surprise there. However, no one will convince me that similar discontent does not exist within every AFL club from time to time. But generally, such disputes remain in-house and are not subject to the media's glare and editorial licence. The difference in this case is that it seems clear to me that Trac's issue, along with other issues, which according to some, exist within the MFC, have been systematically leaked from within. To me, this is of even greater concern, as the party or parties who may be involved are being destructive, for what would seem to be for their own vested self interest/s. This is what is toxic and needs to be weeded out and therefore, in my view an external review, which is comprehensive, should be undertaken. Any good 'business' would do so, for the sake of their shareholders (us), if for no other reason.

DEES: Hi Chris, It's the MFC. Would you like to Coach us? DEES: Chris! Chris! .... are you still there? .... Chris ... Chris .... I think he hung up.

"Petracca drove this exit plan himself. He was not put up to it by his management firm, Connors Sports Management. In 2021 he and that company ecstatically reached a deal with the Demons through to the end of 2029. In mid-2024, he asked his representatives to explore the market on his behalf. Robbie D’Orazio and Paul Connors can publicly explain their involvement in the Petracca saga if they so wish, but history suggests that when their firm is involved in a trade request from one of its players from a ground-zero beginning, it gets it done. It negotiated the passage of one of the all-time greats in Chris Judd, from West Coast to Carlton, in 2007, without fuss. In contrast to Petracca, Judd never sought to publicly embarrass the club he was seeking to leave. The statement released by Melbourne on Saturday night officially committing to a future with Petracca was a convenient, timely end to a farcical saga. But it is almost certainly merely a temporary halt. The fraying of Petracca-Demons relationships since King’s Birthday simply may not be able to be repaired. Fixture in a resumption of the Petracca trade talk same time next year."

Pert is the bloke who went on SEN boasting about himself overseeing the best culture he's seen in 40 years at the same time as we were having a string of major off field dramas that proved the culture is anything but. He and Goody to some extent as well both lost me the moment they did that. I'm sure he's been a wonderful servant of football for a long time, but you can't go to the media and make outrageous claims, completely fail to back them up and then be commissioned to review the same football department that's fallen into chaos under your watch.

Winning Games will cure everything. That is the challenge for the MFC

I'm not convinced by this. Some players maybe, but others would struggle. It's natural. It's a trust issue. I'm not sure how we go about being a team-first, 2021 style playing group after this. We just have to hope that Goody, the leadership group and hopefully a new head of footy and a new coach or two can scaffold the playing group the right way.

This might be a bit of a hail mary this thread given as it stands, we don't have another first round pick in 2024. However, I wanted to give this guy a thread of his own for discussion. I really like his x factor and physicality. He's a very JT type player IMV. 190cm mid/forward who plays alongside Harvey Langford and Riak Andrew at Dandy Stingrays. To me he's got a bit of Chad Warner's burst of power and physicality from stoppage and even Jack Steven (of St Kilda and Geelong fame), and if I was being really kind, around goal, he's a bit Stevie J-ish. Apparently, we've interviewed him, he's expected to go mid to late first round. Cal's latest phantom form guide has him at 18, so if we can trade up our future first into the first round in 2024, we should be able to nab him. Here are two glimpses of what he can deliver.

With respect: Bowey - lost confidence somewhere and started floating his kicks, making his kicking easier to defend for opposition (I do think he will recover) I felt that after he got a few knocks he was a little like Hunt post that major concussion he had. Fritsch - much the same but he is much better defended by opposition - he needs help from the forward coach to make some space, he has looked good when used as a decoy. Gawn = Goat Langdon = 24 was better that 22+23 Lever = nothing has dropped May = absolutely stoic the way he has worked through injuries. McDonald = better season than the last 3 incl premiership year. We would have been massacred without him down back this year. Trac was top 4 in coaches votes when injured Petty = standards have not dropped but suffered under/returning from injury - confident about 25 Pickett =great improvement in discipline Rivers = continued growth Salem = thought he was getting better but off the boil again - really a shadow of 21 self. needs a big pre season, we are adifferent side when he is playing well. Spargo = lost year Sparrow = happy for someone to argue why I got this wrong but wasn't happy with his season at all, ball watching, minimal contested possessions despite being built like a truck, should watch Butters highlights, if he chooses to carry that much weight he should use it as a weapon. Viney = just friggin awesome, you can see the games he doesn't dominate are only because he's smashed up, elite still, couldn't be more proud.

Are you Pert’s uncle?

I went and read some of the tweets from this account. Safe to say we will be ok 😂

Let’s make sure we keep in touch with her throughout the surgery. As Andy would say “Too soon?”

As each day passes I fear we’re more likely to have the camaraderie of a MAFS dinner table than a premiership side

Robbie Flower taught me how to handball at primary school footy clinic (which were always run by the Dees).

I disagree with what I know of the players at the top end of this year’s draft. In JT I trust. In saying this you may well end up being correct. I’d still prefer we gambled on a 10-12 year elite mid over a 28 year old Houston. Adding players at Houston’s age and likely cost doesn’t excite me with our current list profile

I don’t think so Cripps has not moved Danger would have got more money from Melbourne based club, but there was a desire to be close to Moggs Creek Hodge was like Lewis and Mitchell moved on to other clubs as the Hawks evolved

There is fault on all sides and the media only flavours it. The mental gymnastics on here to absolve the club or to pin it on the media or his advisors is ridiculous . Some of you look like sheep walking on its hind legs.

Barrett has been pretty scathing in his criticism of Petracca's actions the whole time. From the start he was saying he thought it was selfish and ego driven.

ANB is 28.

Looks like good forward planning by someone with the best interests of the club at heart. Fairly disappointing the attitude some supporters (not aimed at WW by the way) take towards a premiership club president, mostly because of a single poor interview.

I have always had trouble splitting my admiration for Christian or Clarry as footballers. Christian is a big occasion player while Clarry, until this season, was so remarkably able to play week in and week out at incredible high standards. Both are champions and if we can get them back to their very best with our evolving youngsters could put us back in the premiership frame. Lets hope so.

Pick 25 is more than fair for ANB, we simply overpaid for mcadam

Steven King? Jeez, that’s a real kick in the teeth! - Jeff White

Indeed. And even tracc, or at least words attributed to him, described the 'culture' issues in the past tense - eg 'previous' issues. The issues tracc has ventilated this season are a mixture of old grievances (eg how clarry was managed in 2023 and previous years, an implication stuff wasn't reined in etc etc) and the fall out from his injury. And the latter stuff is really tracc's problem, not indicative of a club wide issue amongst players. I'm not debating there were issues in 2023 and in previous years - the club acknowledged as such during the 2023/24 off season. I flagged them myself. And perhaps there still are stilll issues (major ones I mean, there are always minor issues at EVERY club at any given point in time). But the evidence simply does not support there being major issues at the club atm. If the environment is as bad as the media, and many on here, make it out to be, it makes no sense that so many players extend their contracts this year, most in the last couple of months, particularly young guns like jvr, kolt and windsor who had no need to extend now Can someone who thinks we are in crisis or have huge culture issues explain why jvr, kolt and Windsor would choose to extend now when all three could wait until next year or the year after? Or why langers, one of our most professional trainers, would choose to extend his contract? And if it was so bad, tracc could have got to a club who had the capital to get a deal done. Ditto koz. I just think there is a risk of conflating issues and having them blend together into a sense of unbroken chaos. Which doesn't equate to me being naive about issues at the club - i have been consistently critical over a number of years about how we manage things, particularly from a comms perspective. One example - i was very critical of the club for not publicly rebuking Clarry for that stupid, immature pre training interview he did when he was just about to come back into the side late in 2023 and his immature behaviour feigning a hammy injury at that same training. (ironically i copped it pretty hard on that thread for being too precious and making a mountain out of a mole hill - ironic because the subtext was this was a continuation of behaviour that I was aware of and felt the club should do more to rein in and manage. Suffice to say i was in no way surprised when the issues came to light at season's end). But at any given time something is always happening at club land - it's just a matter of whether it gets traction in the media and a story that can endure for more than a day can be spun out of it. Take the Stengle story. The Cats are top 4 and only a few weeks out of finals, having played a game in the arvo, Stengel (a bloke who has got well know form in this space) gets so hammered at a night club that he passed out, collapsed and had to be taken to taken to ER in an ambulance. That's incredibly serious. And only happened a few weeks ago. At a club lauded for its culture.

If we paid pick 5 for Houston we’re banking on the big 4, May and Lever playing at close to AA level. Along with that we’re also banking on a revised game plan, the continued growth of our youngsters and the form and fitness of our mid tier group and the continued form of Houston. It’s only if all that happens are we going to push for a flag and for mine that’s the only reason you’d take Houston over pick 5. It’s a massive gamble and I’m not a gambling man. I actually think if all the above happened and pick 5 was a plug and play midfielder we’d be almost as likely to win the flag. So why take Houston at the likely asking price?

I could definitely see DJ Spargs and Disco Turner throwing a weeky Rave at Revolver

!!!

I really, really like what Riv brings to the team. His potential for further growth is a key for us challenging in 2025. I expect that he has been promised a full time midfield role next year. If so, i'm hopeful it'll give him a huge up for a good off-season and massive pre-season. His time on ground %'s dropped in the back half of the year, perhaps showing he didn't quite have the tank required for midfield. I back him to get there and think he could be a huge difference maker for us. A midfield ready Rivers and a fit Oliver - suddenly we have a scary midfield again, and can leave Trac to spend more time forward kicking bags.

Seriously? Without getting into incidents that would get this post deleted - there has been players behaving an ill manner. That is either quietly condoned or not adequately dealt with, but the ultimate evidence is that of our champion player, our only Norm Smith medallist, so disappointed in our dropping standards and professionalism that he made a right pickle of himself to escape This Club Of Great Leaders (c). I don’t want to say these things… I don’t know what to say…we have some things to fix, and some home truths to sacrifice ourselves to.

It's not just because of a single poor interview though. There are problems at the club she has presided over. Facilities are her specialist area and after 10 years there's still no home base. If she has been proactive in seeking out steven Smith then that's to her credit. And she has been very supportive of the AFLW team. She was part of an administration that delivered a flag. But the last few years have not been good. Time for change.

We backed ourselves to get him fit, which I always thought was strange when even Burgess couldn't do that at Adelaide. Ultimately at almost 30, it seems very unlikely that he will ever be able to get his body to a good enough position to play consistent AFL football. If he doesn't have a ripping pre-season, we can say that this trade was a complete bust.

I like the sound of this Dunning-Kruger kid. Could we get him with the pick 25 we get for ANB?

And while those 46 hours of leadership are important, they are not formative, only performative. The evidence of recent experiences does not suggest the off-field leadership of our on-field leaders is very strong.

i worry that we will play them in a final. because on that day they will end the streak

In a similar vein, I found these today at my local op shop. They offered to pay me $20 for the lot if I took them off their hands.

In this sequence, X is the unfounded rumour posited by a "journalist" seeking clicks. 1. What if X is happening? That wouldn't be good. 2. Is X happening? Does anybody have any info? 3. I read that X is happening. It's all over Big Footy as well. 4. People are saying that X is happening. The grapevine is buzzing. 5. Are the rumours about X really true? Sounds that way. 6. It appears that X is happening. It's the logical conclusion. 7. X is is definitely happening. Take it to the bank. 8. No smoke without fire. Told you so. 9. The club needs to make a statement. Why aren't we members being kept informed? 10. This crisis is another typical MFC shemozzle. Pert and Roffey must go.

He doesn’t hate the job though The people who work there - who knows I’m sure there are some that are frustrating but I’d be shocked if he could walk into another AFL club and not find DHs and huge egos it goes with the territory I’m happy to take his grievances on face value that some things needed to change (we all agree on that) - if they do I can’t see why he wouldn’t be happy to see out what is a very lucrative contract If he still sees the grass greener somewhere else in a year or two I’m resigned to the fact he may PO but I want us to work that trade to our best advantage and preferably not to Collingwood or Carlton

His failure to kick from 40 metres out was staggering in his brief appearances with us. I recall he nailed a shot on the boundary at Kardinia Park in 2022 or 2023 where the 50 meets the boundary line. One of the toughest kicks in footy. I'm not giving up hope, but if he's in and out of rehab again all summer, then it will be 2024 all over again.

Appreciate the alternate opinion Mr. Onion. However, considering the decades of abuse we’ve copped from bombers fans I think they deserve a bit back. 😊

Fascinating to see how the media works and how the perspective of journalists changes depending on which club is under discussion. If you ask Bulldog fans and many Bombers supporters about Stringer and how he’s presented at his two clubs they might raise the subject of culture (of which there are a number of elements) differently to how Jon Ralph writes about it on p42 of yesterday’s Herald Sun: “Culture is a funny thing. Stringer didn't jump ship at the Western Bulldogs, he was pushed out through his own mishaps and controversies and found a home at the Dons. “He might be a lovable rogue, but he has often played hurt to his own detriment and reputation.” Could you imagine a player at Melbourne in the recent round of discussions about the club’s “culture” and with the same issues as having experienced “his own mishaps and controversies”, then described as “a lovable rogue”? Laughable.

Say what you want, we got a Premiership which no other administration has ever managed. A full book of sponsors, premiership, we have probably had the most stable administration for decades.

Christ, that’s bad news. If we give up pick 5 for him I’ll be apoplectic.

He was actually very interested in us until his management was told by us and Port. They would not be letting him go unless the offer was to good to refuse and we wouldn’t be meeting Ports asking price of two first rounders. When there is little likelihood of a trade being done, players change their tune

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