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This is from someone that attended the B & F. Some want to hear this, some don’t. No biggie. The below was sent to me. I said “Please Clarrie, tell me you’re not leaving us.” He just smiled. I was drunk as it was but then the anger kicked in. I said, “This is messed up. Why are you doing this?!” He said, “Remember what I’ve told you before? The only way I’d leave the club is if they booted me out, otherwise I’m not going anywhere. That still stands and always will.” I said, “If Pert or whoever dares to offload you, I’ll burn down the MCG.” He said, “Don’t believe everything you read.”

That's not an MFC top he's wearing !!!! He's gone !

Windsor Tholstrup Rivers McVee JVR Jefferson Turner Kozzie This is where the improvement comes from

Nothing more cringe then a drunk fan annoying an AFL player..

Harley Reid turned 19 and really let himself go.

FWIW - the following is a response from the club to an email i sent last week to Brad Green. Thank you for your email. We recognise that this has been a challenging time, and we truly appreciate the support of all our members. As a club, we are continually seeking ways to improve, and your feedback plays a vital role in that process. External experts have been engaged as part of both the Board and Football Department reviews. As previously communicated, the ambition of both review processes is to strive for excellence and to ensure, that as our game demands, we evolve to achieve sustained success. The reviews of both the AFL program and the Board will be completed in October and the priorities identified will be communicated to members. In relation to the AFL Trade Period, we encourage you to only listen to direct club sources for your information. AFL List Manager Tim Lamb addressed media on Monday and made it abundantly clear that Clayton won't be going anywhere. You can have a watch of his interview here. In addition, during his address at Friday night's AFL Best and Fairest, President Brad Green reinforced his excitement of seeing Clayton as part of our midfield in 2025. This speech can be viewed here. With an increase in speculation and rumour, we know this time of year can be unsettling for our members and supporters. We encourage you to keep an eye on our club website for official updates. We thank you again for reaching out to share your feedback. We truly value your thoughts and will be sure to relay them to the appropriate team.

I am bewildered that someone would ask this question. Tim Lamb and the members of the recruitment team have done an outstanding job for many years. We cannot be critical of the strategy the club has developed. It is simple, trade up the draft board to pick up the best talent available. This strategy appears to work to renew the team. The 2024 year, has not in any way been a consequence of the recruitment strategy. You simply can not forecast, that you will lose three of the best midfielders in the AFL and the club's history within six months. You cannot forecast what their behaviour will be after serious injuries, both physical and psychological. They are not machines as the media would suggest (looking at Tracc's Instagram, I may be corrected). We and more importantly the media have a two-minute cycle of dredge and a poor memory. Oxygen is free! Let Tim and the football department do their job.

BP5 didn’t make the top 10? 😂

Such a high ranking seems rather off-brand for MFC

We didn't, our star player did.

Goldy was great again in her 50th. Always has a dip

sorry, back for another crack at this post. Can I just flip some of your words.... and in doing so they are still 100% as accurate as yours. Humour me. "At no point in time has Oliver actually come out and said that he is leaving. As it stands today, Oliver is a Dees player." Oliver does not have to say anything, and nor should he. Tim Lamb and Brad Green publicly have said he isn't going anywhere. Technically as it stands today, that is the ONLY definitive statement about Oliver that has been made. Should I believe them? not definitively, but I trust them more than Barrett, McClure and the others that are bored because nothing is happening.

Hello, Sam McMorris Barrett here, head AFL writer for yahoo sports From my article today: 'It is expected that Harley Reid will stay at West Coast in the immediate future. However, earlier this year Reid admitted his 19th birthday was the worst he's ever had due to him being away from his family in Victoria'. Sources tell me Reid wants out of the Eagles and wants to come home to mummy. My sources suggest that in an ironic twist, the Dees, who lost the Unicorn to the the world's most boring city and his mummy, is Harley's preferred destination.

Jeepers- maybe my wife is right - i have bought too much merchandise 🤣

8th overall for combined AFL/NRL brand value... not bad!

Because internet experts are not real experts. Every year there are players that jump up the order and everyone is surprised. Usually these are players that have low stats but show traits that will translate well into AFL. Windsor was one of those. Tholstrup was one of those. Tauru is another that has popped up late this year. There are a few players that I think will do the same this year that people are barely speaking about. It happens every single year that internet experts overrate players that get a lot of the ball over players that exhibit AFL level traits at lower volume. But internet experts are not real experts.

I didn’t sign him, currently that sits outside my remit.

Keep an eye out for the name Tye Hourigan from Traralgon Football Club 23 year old smokey defender in the same mould as Tom Stewart and we have strong interest in him. One to watch.

Awesome - a player putting up with a drunk fan Sounds legit

Missing out on Houston is a blessing in disguise. He may be a dual AA, but so was Grundy. Neither was/is what we need right now. We need to regenerate our list with quality youth, rather than topping up with a player who doesn't move the needle for us. If it was Butters or Rozee, then you'd do it.

A bit of perspective. 1) what part of the reporting has the media actually got right? Clarry last year? Nup. Petty last year? Nup. Kozzy last year? Nup. Trac? Nup. Viney? Kozzy? Nup. Clarry? Nup. Meanwhile the club has either re-signed or extended the contracts of Gawny, Viney, Howes, Turner, Tholstrup, Windsor, McVee, Langdon, Petty, McDonald, Melksham, Bowey, Seston, Verrall, Moniz-Wakefield and Brown this year alone. 17 players. And only one officially requesting a trade, one who does love the club, and is going home for family necessity. A club with genuine culture problems would not be able to do that. And these players were so happy on Friday at the B&F. 2) Barrett made himself look like a dill when yesterday he claimed the Oliver trade is still open. Even though it's been shut down by Melbourne and Geelong. What does that tell you? As Clarry said in the podcast last week, the media are full of [censored].

I’m quietly glad Houston passed on us. Good player, but not worth Pick 5.

And learnings. Don't forget learnings.

The club website 😂😂😂😂😂

The Brand will likely shake his hand…..sorry couldn’t help myself.

Few of the young boys are over in America doing their training as well.

You seem to have done very little except make excuses for the current administration & blame everything on the media or supporters asking serious questions. You & a group of other posters continue to enable & reward poor performance & accountability.

.......OR!. No trades since day one and they have nothing else to talk about. Graeme Wright as CEO was the most exciting thing that happened on trade radio,.... not sure if Collingwood gets a future president in return.

Unfortunately the fact that this rumour hasn’t been put to bed usually means that there is a strong possibility that Oliver will be traded. At no point in time has Oliver actually come out and said that he is staying. As it stands today, Oliver is out the door.

The media want us all to believe that trades are the main things that allow you to improve. They want trades linked directly to hope. But what lets you improve is really careful list management, player development, footy strategy, injury management, luck and all sorts of other things. Yes, trades are a part of list management, but so is drafting, maintaining a good balance in areas like position, age and experience, developing depth and so on.

Hi everyone I’m the author of the letter that The Age published. I’ve just come across this thread and wanted to clarify and elaborate on some points raised here. The Age's Publication I was as surprised as anyone that The Age decided to publish my letter. My intention was simply to copy them in and present it as an open letter to encourage the club to acknowledge my concerns—which I still firmly believe are entirely valid. Cancelling Membership I’ve held my consecutive years of membership as a badge of honour and hate the idea of losing it. Taking this step was the only action I felt could bring about meaningful change. To those calling me a ‘nuffy’ for threatening to cancel my membership: I welcome your suggestions on how someone with limited resources can effectively drive much-needed change. Sadly, even after my letter got published, the only response I received from the MFC was from the membership department, asking if I had any feedback and embarrassingly copying in The Age on their email. Clearly they didn’t even read the letter. For what it’s worth, my frustrations have little to do with on-field performances—I’ve stood by the club through far worse periods. My fundamental issue lies with a group of insiders running the club, sweeping their mistakes under the rug instead of taking accountability. This process has made it abundantly clear that the club doesn’t genuinely care about its members. Independent Review is Essential I’m not part of any inner circle and have no insight into the club’s administration. It’s not my place to dictate who should be hired or fired and whether Pert, Green, Goodwin or anyone else is the best person for the job. However, common sense dictates that if the club decides a review is necessary, those who have overseen decisions should be excluded from that process. Having the review conducted by someone who has received previous contracts from the administration is a clear conflict of interest, as is involving the CEO in assessing his own performance. I haven’t heard any arguments suggesting otherwise, which speaks volumes. Support The Cause For anyone who supports what I’m trying to achieve, please sign the petition I’ve put together - www.change.org/MFC_review. I’d love to reach 1,000 signatures so this can be formally presented to the club and further pressure can be put on the administration to do the right thing. I’ve written more than I intended here but please know my sole motivation with all of this is to make the Melbourne Football Club the best it can be – both on and off the field. Bringing negative media to the club is far from ideal, but so is having unaccountable leadership running an organisation we help fund. If anyone has any questions or concerns, I’m happy to try and address them. Note: Please don’t waste your money paying to promote the petition on the Change.org platform. I can see the stats and don’t think it will achieve anything. Please just encourage other supporters who are disenchanted with the way the review is being conducted to sign instead.

Way too articulate to be Clazz I'm afraid

Really gives you some sympathy for those players going on post-B&F benders.

I don't think we can blame Lamb and his recruiting team as they operate on a just-in-need situation whilst endeavouring to look forward to upcoming future needs, BUT my point is that current needs at the time are the first to set in place. Lamb continues to be our best person for the job I believe. As for the current benchmark - we need a supportive Ruck for the aging Gawn plus we need forward driving power in the mid-size range. Overall, we have a good up-and-coming crop. Look for improvement in Jefferson.

the resemblance to Barrett is uncanny

Ironically, today’s Herald Sun carries an article by Scott Gullan entitled “AFL ‘AUSTRALIAN FESTIVAL OF LIES’ IN TRADE SEASON Clubs ‘hoodwink’ fans”. No need to guess who the major hoodwinker happens to be.

Exactly. Get best people in and stop whinging about where they're from or conspiracy theories.

You can say that about all journalism these days. Just propaganda and mushroom farming whether it’s sports, geo politics, identity, left or right, there’s bull for every demographic. 90% one reads or sees in MSM is pure bull and hype. MSM doesn’t make money from traditional sources anymore like advertising, direct sales or subscriptions like it used to. Once it could keep a modicum of independence because it could generate its own finances. Now it relies on shilling for vested interests that now pay the bills.

Great to see Tracca doing some heavy lifting at the Red Bull centre, we need him back to his very best in 2025. ❤️💙👍💕

https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/ranked-what-the-top-10-afl-and-nrl-team-brands-are-worth-20241008-p5kgm0 Australian Football League’s Collingwood is the most valuable sports club in Australia and is $30 million ahead of its nearest rival in a ranking of football teams by the worth of their brand. The Brisbane Broncos are the most valuable National Rugby League team. Despite struggling to make the finals series this year after winning the premiership in 2023, the Magpies brand is worth $145 million, consultancy Brand Finance Australia said in a report. Carlton was the next best in the AFL at $115 million. The NRL’s Broncos, Penrith Panthers and South Sydney Rabbitohs were among the top 10 brands across the two football competitions. Seven AFL clubs, all based in Victoria, make up the rest of the list. The report also showed a high crossover of fans who follow both Australian rules and rugby league. On-field success does not necessarily translate to brand value. The NRL’s Wests Tigers, for instance, are eleventh in the rankings (worth $42 million) despite coming last for the past three seasons. This year’s AFL grand finalists, the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Lions, sit 10th and 11th in their competition’s brand value rankings, worth $66 million and $64 million respectively. But the best way for sports clubs to improve their brand value and strength was to win more matches, said Brand Finance managing director Mark Crowe. The most lucrative brands have either a rich heritage or are operating in fast-growing markets, he said. “Collingwood is generating significant commercial revenues, match day revenues, as clearly evidenced by the drawing capacity of nearly all the Melbourne clubs,” Mr Crowe said. “It’s the history and the heritage of the club. “The Broncos have really benefited from the fact they were essentially a one-team town in Brisbane for most of its history. They had that benefit of being a very strong brand in a very strong market for rugby league. “They’re very resilient and can continue to maintain their strength and value with less reliance on-field performance.” How to measure a team’s brand value Brand Finance has valued international sports brands for more than a decade, but the current report was the first time it has focused on Australian clubs. It ranked them based on two factors – brand value and brand strength. Value looks at how much of a company’s profits are attributable to its “brand”. It is a combination of the strength score, how much it would cost to license the brand’s assets and the company’s forecast revenue. It includes a valuation of the trade name, trademarks and logo. A brand’s strength is scored out of 100, measuring attributes such as marketing investment, financial performance and sustainability. Collingwood, which had more members than any other AFL club in 2024, topped the brand strength list with 81.4 points. The Broncos were top of the NRL’s list and second when including AFL clubs, with 80.9 points. The total brand value of the 35 clubs in the two codes combined was $2.3 billion – about $1.3 billion represented by the 18 AFL clubs and $1 billion from the 17 NRL teams. Melbourne-based clubs – including NRL’s Melbourne Storm – contributed $878 million to the total figure. Other clubs to feature near the top of the list include Carlton and Richmond, while West Coast is the most valuable non-Victorian AFL brand, worth $68 million. “When you look at the most valuable clubs, they’re not necessarily reflecting the competition ladder order,” Mr Crowe said. “That goes to the heart of a brand and its strength.” The Broncos, who finished 12th before parting with coach Kevin Walters, are worth $124 million, the richest in rugby league. It is slightly ahead of recent four-time premiership winners the Penrith Panthers, worth $108 million. One of the abnormalities in the NRL list is the Redcliffe Dolphins, a club that entered the top-tier competition in 2023. The Dolphins team is in ninth spot on the NRL brand value ranking list, ahead of teams such as the Newcastle Knights, the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. “[The Dolphins] really demonstrate the opportunity in that south-east Queensland market. There’s … no real evidence the Dolphins have had a negative impact on the Broncos. In fact, it could be argued they’ve had a positive impact now there’s this [local] rivalry that didn’t exist before.“ The sports Australians follow Australian rules football was the country’s most followed sport, Brand Finance found, with 76.3 per cent of more than 1000 people surveyed claiming to watch the game and 10.7 per cent declaring it their favourite. Nearly 70 per cent of respondents said they followed rugby league and 10.4 per cent listed it as the preferred sport. Forty-six per cent of respondents said they followed both codes. “The AFL and NRL are just in such a commanding position because they’re offering content 40 weeks a year, which is just manna for media rights because you’ve just got that consistent offering,” Mr Crowe said. Other popular sports in 2024 included the Olympics (73.4 per cent), cricket (62.6 per cent) and soccer (57.7 per cent). Tennis, Formula 1 and basketball also made the list, but rugby union was notably absent. “You’re certainly seeing in the NRL the resurgence of two brands – Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the St George Illawarra Dragons. If they can continue to improve in terms of on-field performance, they are likely to strengthen considerably,” Mr Crowe said. But there will always be some teams that struggle, particularly for newer clubs in competitive geographic areas. “The Gold Coast Suns and the GWS Giants are operating in nontraditional markets for the AFL where they’ve got two rival brands doing very well – the Swans and the Lions were in the grand final this year. “They need to win, but even that alone is not proving to be necessarily of major short-term significance.”

The meeting, from my reading, was organised by his manager. His motivation would have been money in his (the manager's) pocket. The Cats would be an easy sell: your own hectare or ten of land (in your parents' name), new cars courtesy of [dealer's name withheld] motors for all family members, sensational training facility a short drive from your farm, 40k lunatic fans cheering for you in our stadium every second week etc. As I've reported, I know how the club operates. I know the legacy that Frank has left.

Amazing that getting thumped by Collingwood in the final round dropped us from this p9 to our current p5. I don't want to trade down the order as we're in the prime spot at p5 imv. However, an Essendon death ride would be epic fun for 2025

He can train at NASA for all I care. Following such a serious injury, his onfield performance will be dictated by what is between his ears not how much weight he can lift or how many kilometres he gets into his legs.

Absolute rubbish this comment.

Damian Barrett is so pro-Geelong it is embarrassing. That he should be in the AFL website - which should be objective- is a joke. He is all about how great "Jezza", "Danger" or Scott is, and also, if he can get half a chance to slag off Melbourne he jumps at it. He clearly has an agenda: to destabilise Melbourne and Oliver and thus get Oliver to Geelong. And BTW, if Clarry is past it and out of date in his style, why is everyone so interested in pursuing him? I hope and believe he will be at Melbourne next year, hopefully on his way to his THIRD AFLCA medal.

personally liked way Lamb handled today ie no mind games and not afraid to say we never shopped him — a def msg in that for mine.