pringle

8th for me too.

I have already been receiving mine for the last 4 weeks. Had no problems. Sounds strange. But also, I don't think The Age have anything to do with delivery. It would be your local newsagent. I may be wrong, but I think that's generally how it works.

This thread should be locked at the top of the forum for the next few months until the season is underway. Some potential donators who don't look at this site all Summer may not hear about this initiative if this thread disappears.

A week later and I can play. 1st Feb is no good for me. Only weekend I'm working all of Jan and 1st half of Feb.

I too am optimistic, but I have to say that all this talk of not being this excited for years is off the mark for me. In 200 we made the grand final and then collapsed the next year. In 2002 we were only a KPP or 2 shgort of being a real contender for the premiership. In 2004, when Davey and Rivers had breakthrough debut years, Ratten was coaching a dominant midfield and we were near the top of the table mid-year, I was just as optimistic. The following couple of years we should have finished top 4. Remember at one stage we were apparently, according to a former great, the best melbourne team since the 1964 premiership side. And even leading into last year (2007), we were touted as a potential premiership threat. We have not been a basket case for years, nor have we never had such reason to get excited. I'm not saying we shouldn't be right now, I'm just saying that people have pretty short memories. I do think we are on the right track and I am excited. Only I'm not really more excited than I was each of those years. I think the structure we are putting in place is much better than the years I am talking about. But none of it is proven just yet. All of our drafting and planning is still speculative and hopeful and nowhere near as advanced as Daniher's well-performing teams of the earlier part of this decade. Just some food for thought.

John December: D.O.B. 16/12/91 Ht. 193.4cm, Wt. 73kg, KPP Don't know too much about the lad, but from what I've heard, lightly built key position forward with good hands who kicked 75 goals in 16 games with the Timbuctoo Warriors U18's this season. Goodoverhead, but has question marks over his kicking for goal.

No Carroll for StKFC's!!!

Title wrong. He will 'officially be a Demon' when his name is read out. And I, like Diablo, am a bit cheesed off I came on at this ungodly hour of the night to ruin the surprise. But if this is confirmed tomorrow, I will be a very happy man. I haven't commented on any potential draft picks until now, but I am firmly of the opinion that Naitanui will be a dud and would have been a wasted pick. I just couldn't be bothered debating the point. Clearly I have not done the groundwork that the recruiting staff have, but all the athletic ability in the world will not help you if you don't know how to get the footy or how to use it. He is too much of a risk and not what we need at this point. I feel Watts is a safer bet and I look forward to welcoming him tomorrow/today. But I did always expect us to pick one of Watts or Naitanui, so pick 1 has been a bit boring for me. Though I would prefer Watts, I would accept the choice of Naitanui if Prendergast can see something that I don't. My real interest has always been picks 17 and 19. So many players could be selected here that the mystery is much more compelling. The only one who excites me as a prospect is Swift. The rest are all the same to me at the moment. Various people are blowing these kids' trumpets and giving us little tid-bits of information... Good at this, limited here, fast, slow, tall, short, forward, back etc. In the end, my thoughts on the quality of our selections will be influenced by the spin of the on this site who know more than me about these kids than I. I hope all you knowledgeable spin doctors can get me excited...

Yeah understood. But probably no need to be shy. Many people here have posted photos of Summer training without any suspicion from the club (at least I think the club didn't care). I dare say that considering these guys are professional sportsmen, they are probably used to having their photo taken regularly. And posters here love to do the whole "... has bulked up considerably... look at those guns..." etc. But all of us here appreciate anything we can get over the Summer, whether it be words or photos. Once again, good report and big thanks.

Great stuff Melbman. Really good to hear. Any photos???

Congrats Andy and Whispering Jack. Grandchild number 4 for WJ and hopefully plenty more to come!!!

The best publication in terms of actual reading content in a long time. Good communication from the main position-holders in the club and a clear focus on youth in the other articles. The only thing that bothers me a bit is that it clearly takes a fair amount of time from writing the articles to publishing. Some of the information (eg. re injuries) is clearly out of date by the time the mag reaches our mailbox. Also would have been nice to get this after the draft with exciting bits of info about our new recruits, but from memory I think there is a pre-season edition that will cover the newbies. Good effort overall.

I was obsessed with stinga as a youngster. Him and Rod Grinter are my favourite ever Melbourne players. Both hard and tough and with all the qualities that I want in our team today. My current favourite player is, not surprisingly... Brock Mclean.

Yeah I do have way too many brothers but at least it's never too hard to find a willing partner to go to the footy on the weekend. BL3281 would be a great KPP. Carries a few more kg's than in his hey day, but has natural talent. I'll work on him. Dooky has already proven himself in Demonland colours and says he's a good chance to play. The last one is a bit of a p#$$y since he broke his leg 15 years ago. He reckons he was good before it happened... No one believes him. (I hope he reads this :lol: ). But I'll see if he wants to play... his wife may have a say in it though.

Great scott! This is heavy.

Depends how much we had to pay out. We will probably never know. But definitely the right move to get rid of him. Actually I still believe that if he breached the terms of his contract we should not have to pay him at all, but I gather the AFLPA and his manager would never allow that to happen. Maybe the lawyers on this site can clarify this aspect for us. I know it has been discussed before, but I'm still foggy on this one.

I think the fact that this thread has become an English lesson rather than a discussion on football/MFC related issues says it all. Non-issue. Let's move on. An for what it's worth, I always thought an oxymoron was made up of only two words, both of which are seemingly conflicting, but which together have a certain meaning. I'd look it up if I thought it was worthwhile. Edit: Well I thought it was worthwhile and turns out it doesn't have to be only two words.

This is really not even a position in the club that holds any critical importance, so why are we getting worked up. I'm not saying that the proposed new position couldn't be beneficial, but it's not like this appointment is going to be the determining factor in whether we have success or not. I understand the concerns about another possible area of mismanagement by the club, but any reaqsons for the decision reversal are all speculation. I think Redleg's post dealt with the hysterics and doomsayers quite well. Build a bridge people!!!

I think you mean the reverse

And in the catalog on the club website it clearly says "Playing cards - Old MFC logo". So no mystery here. It is clearly not for current or future use.

That's pretty much what I was thinking. Forgive me if I have misunderstood what you said, but the defensive, midfield and forward coaches are there to do the hands-on work with the players at training that the coach can't possibly do by himself. Obviously there are other things that they bring to the table, and coaches would appreciate their expertise in planning match-day strategies, analyzing opposition sides, game-day ideas etc. But in essence, Williams' primary responsibility would be to work with the midfield unit in helping them to implement DB's gameplan as well as developing their skills. He would not be there to create new midfield styles and structures as that is Bailey's job (though Williams' suggestions should be considered by the head coach). If that is the case, then I don't see why Williams could not be an excellent midfield coach. He doesn't have to be a former champion midfielder or even a great strategist. All he needs to do is use his vast bank of knowledge and presumably excellent teaching and communication skills developed over numerous years of successful involvement in football as a player and coach. I can't see why anyone should consider this a negative move by the MFC. He is much more experienced than the likes of Buckley and Harvey in coaching terms, and has been around longer. He may never have come close to their level on the football field, but Alistair Clarkson was nowhere near as good as Tim Watson or Tony Shaw, and look who turned out to be the premiership coach and who were the one year wonders!!!

I would like to know what some of you think about the specialization of coaches in the modern day. In the old days it was just coach and assistant coach/es. Nowadays it's all about forward coach and midfield coach etc. Do people think that these specialized positions are all they are cranked up to be? Ultimately it is the coach that decides how a team plays. How much more do the others add, other than helping the coach to teach the players the game plan and perhaps bringing some additional ideas to the table. I don't really know exactly how involved these specialist coaches are, so I don't have much of an opinion on the matter. But let's assume that these coaches are all specialists in their role. Just like a doctor who specializes, I would want a top ex-midfielder who played at the top level to coach the midfield brigade. Likewise with forward and defensive coaches. There's no point getting a neurosurgeon to do a knee reconstruction is there? On the other hand, if these positions are just fancy titles and these specialist coaches are really only glorified assistant coaches who help with training and come up with the odd game-day idea, then someone like Williams would be a great choice. Has loads of experience, knows a lot about footy and has coached premiership sides. All he would really have to do would be to take the midfielders away during the parts of training when the players split off into groups, and help them to implement Bailey's midfield ideas. So in the end, the wisdom of the decision comes down to what Bailey sees as the specific role of each of the specialist assistant coaches.

I think I might be the stocky number five. I'm trying to lose a few kg's for the Saintsational game in a few weeks. Might make it easer to get out of the jumper at the end of the game. Took me about 5 minutes to extract myself last weekend!!!

Here is a link to some photos. My brother and I are in most of them, but most people will at least be in a photo or two, including the coaching staff. Thanks to Chantal for coming down to support the team and taking the photos on the day. Demonland vs Talking Carlton November 2008

Hope the knee is feeling better Rivvo. It didn't seem like an ACL at the time, so hopefully just a medial ligament strain like I thought on the day. Fingers crossed. Let us know after you've seen the doc. Maybe you should see Dr. Daff from the MFC out at Prahran Sports Medical Center. He's a top bloke.