Rhino Richards

Good for us...questionable for them. If they were to do this, why wouldn't they have gone with a Collingwood or major club. Why wouldn't they have done a Mars and sought some collateral publicity in the Tassie bid? MFC seems a poor communication medium for their message.

No. There is nothing substantive to be gained by undertaking one state based parochial sporting team sponsorship by national operations that dominate their market throughout Australia. They dont need brand awareness out there. Everyone knows Woolworths, Safeway and Coles because everyone interacts with them at least once a week. Why would a big brand supermarket want to sponsor a poorly supported, Victorian Club with no exposure when it has a national profile? Makes no sense. This rebranding is national to make Woolworths the sole name. Why would they seek to do such promotion with MFC? If they were to go with an AFL Club why would they go with one that has few supporters, no FTA TV exposure and no regional or community attachment in the areas they are seeking to inform? And if they actually did the promotion properly they might get people calling them "Woolworths" B)

Why?

Different demographic. All people need go to shopping centres and like it or not they perform a quasi community function and therefore there is no need to alienate potential customers by taking up regoinal allegiances that do little to promote the Brand. They will usually stay neutral and look at more general forms of promotion. Its not the case with KFCs and car brands who interact with customers on a different basis and on different terms.

If Australia was due to tour India and/or Sri Lanka sometime in 2009.....do you think the team should go?

Then he is a good chance then if he plays well.

Exactly. Some of the bumph masquerading on this thread as insight is rather self serving. You have been Freak often. Now back to your one hand typing.

And they were encouraging ICC nations to tour Pakistan again...... http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/pakvsl/con...ory/393212.html I think Pakistan will be off the cricket map for some years yet. Shocking incident.

Alienate potential customers which they do not want to do. They market on a more broad based arrangement through other mediums. Also retail is struggling big time with a huge squeeze on margins. Can t see them sponsor a 3rd tier AFL club which has a low supporter base.

McDonald has been chosen as an all rounder. However his batting is not up to standard. Would you pick him as a bowler alone? In most situations no. The benefit of tieing down an end is only of value if you have bowlers at the other end taking the wickets. McDonald bowled tightly in conditions that suit to allow others to break through. He had Mitch, Siddle and Hilf on song. I am not sure he is more a capable on your day bowler. In different conditions, the lack of a capable spinner will crucify Australia as it did back home. If the selectors have an eye to the Ashes, they should be getting McGain playing. I wouldn't bother with Hauritz.

Exactly. That what you want. Nothing puts pressure on batsmen more than if wickets are falling. Run Rate is irrelevant if you are getting 10 wickets before they get the runs. We have a real 4th innings weakness to take wickets. We were lucky the pitch still had something in it for the bowlers. Thats not the case normally. Nevertheless, South Africa's 291 is still a credible score in a run chase.

Either the MFC director has unnecessarily loose lips or he may not be happy to know you have used this forum to spread the news. Utlimately I am not surprised with the outcome. Virgin ---maybe. The others for various reasons ...forget it.

We had a number of elements do very well for us. Johnson and North particularly. However, going in with 3 specialist bowlers was a real gamble. It paid off here. But unless we have similar conditinos to this Test we would be monkeys not to take a fourth specialist (a spinner) into the next Test. We are going to have to play really well the rest of the series to beat Sth Africa . No room for complacency. In McGain Out McDonald. And Hussey needs to get some runs...quick. His form is horrible.

It was Troy Simmonds. Michael Long was reckless not a thug. But I agree with the punishment of violent or reckless acts. I hate the floods but understand why they are being done.

Our game plan revolves around maintaining possession of the ball and using it effectively. We kick or handball based on the correct decision being made. We will kick long where our players have a greater chance of winning the ball rather than kick it short. All teams are putting numbers back behind the ball, controlling possession and running it forward. This will continue this particularly to address the issue of zoning used by Clarkson. Too often on Satruday both Melbourne and Sydney when they did bomb it long, bombed it to residual opposition defenders. It was a waste of the ball but keeps the bomg it long brigade happy. Which game plan does not require highly talented players to succeed? Every game plan needs talented players too succeed. In the case of WCE, Cousins, Kerr and Judd were all effective inside players. Are you saying they were not? Wrong. Bailey inherited a midfield that was slow, largely unaccountable and could not win clearance could not use the ball effectively. Daniher drafted players to address a deficiency in the list at the time 5 years ago. To date the jury is out on the "quality" of all bar McLean. BTW, Yze and Johnston were finished as footballers in Daniher's final season. Green and Bruce are just good average footballers. The need for McLean and Sylvia was to address a chronic weakness in the centre to allow Daniher to effect a corridor kicking plan and the fact that they were taken as the assessed best available players in the draft at no 3 and 5. BTW, when Jones was recruited, ND had changed his game plan and your continual lumping of Jones in this "contested football" fallacy is a misnomer and incorrect So what game plan would have suited the existing unskilled, one paced players we had? Which game plan would be successful in today's football that does not require "skilled pacy players"? We have definitely drafted for both needs and the game plan.

Breach of Trade Practices Act. Be careful. Chris Judd is doing a media apprenticeship at Visy. B) Once again, Trade Practice Act would kill it. And I cant think of another sport where that is done. However, the ability for Judd to earn $$$$$$$$ outside the salary cap with the AFL s knowledge at Vi$yton makes a mockery of the whole system. I am not sure why others have not exploited it before. Or are they and we dont know it yet???

It isnt given he has played alot of football up back and has often scouted the ball outside the F50. And he is far from the worst shot at goal. He's just not an outstanding kick at a goal. He is a limited footballer but in an outmanned forwardline he consistently contests. Its embarrassing watch him work hard and then watching Newton.

At 2/170, he was right to bat on. I always thought 450 would have been the target anyway. Its a pity the middle order did not do likewise. Its going to be an intriguing final day. Does this Test match highlight that Michael Hussey is running out of "lives" at Test Level? After a poor summer in Australia, he needs to fire on this tour. His English experience when in form will be invaluable. Having only 3 specialist bowlers will really test us. I can only hope McDonald and North chip in. But Hilf, Mitch and Siddle must strike in the first hour and the first session. The first session will be vital. If we win it will be one of the most audacious victories Australia has had in a long time. Three debutants, North, Hughes and Hilf. Two others with less than six tests, McDonald and Siddle and Haddin, Johnson and Katich have only really stepped into the Australian side in the past 12 months or so. http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/rsavaus200...ory/392926.html Now Bollinger out...Brett Geeves to replace him in the touring team. Geez, we have had an appalling time with injuries.

North looks composed at 6. Good bye Andrew Symonds. I will be interested to see how Hughes goes today. I hope he get amongst it. Johnson is really developing quickly into an elite cricketer as a bowling all rounder batting 8 in the mould of Hadlee and Imran. There is no excuse for us not playing 4 specialist bowlers. We have been lucky playing 3 specialist plus McDonald and North this time. We have lost 2 hours play and may lose more due to weather. Lets hope we can seal it. Its been a fantastic performance all round given we were 3/38 on a green top. A win is a huge scoring punch against the SA on their home turf.

Agree. For years we have been financially straightened. We have no home base no training facilities. We have crimped on player development in the past and the leading clubs have an administration and operations area twice the size of ours. The impact of this has lmited the opportunities for MFC. You make bottoming seem like it was an alternative. It wasn't. We rolled the dice on its list in 2004 and 2005 to see if it could bring us success. It didn't and the key players behind that drive White, Neitz and Yze all deteriorated as AFL footballers and we had no footballers that came through to replace them. If you did not think bottoming out was inevitable. Why and for what reasons? And given the limited opportunities to trade players what should MFC have done to avoid bottoming out given the list inherited at the end of 2007? Alas we do. So you not unhappy with the W/L record! OK, So you recognise that the Club were evolving its list. No one liked the 100 point blow outs. But we were playing primarily kids in mens roles with a number of revolving injuries to our key players and a circus going on off the the field where we went through 4 CEOs and 2 Boards within the space of 8 months. How would you have done things differently during the year Mo given the circumstances at hand? What game plan should we have been playing to match our list Mo? With the exception of McLean none of the other players were strong midfield types. Bell, by your own estimation is a limited footballer. Sylvia and Moloney have both been crippled by OP and had not been able to get on the park. And as you rate a rookie ahead of Jones . None of them are strong mid field types. The only relevance of where they were drafted is if you want to assess the recruiting and development of MFC players. If you are going to do that I reckon you could add Dunn and Bate to that list. Its make or break for a few players. And if we dont end up with good players from a number of that group then CAC's recruiting record does not look so good. At the moment the jury is at best out on all but McLean and he is one paced. Its not an issue of Bailey adopting the gameplan its the players. Its naive to think a new game plan gets picked up in a pre season, particularly one where less than half the list were ready to train and were then on modified programs. Both Thompson and Clarkson evidence that getting the players to commit and adopt a game plan takes years. Hawthorn were horrible in Clarkson early years. So were the Cats under Thompson.

Doubt it/ Hall is very much like Neitz in 2007. A once very good KPP who has been passed by due to the state and nature of the game. He is a dinosaur with an anger management problem. He is no more than an struggling AFL thug. A 21st Century Andy Goodwin. His hit and follow up bullying of Morton down the ground was cheap big man theatrics from a player that should join Sharman's boxing troup. Goodes is a class act and when he fires our ordinary midfield get shown up for what it is.....ordinary.

Definitely. The stage of career is irrelevant. The absence of football at a time when the game has got quicker in the past two years are. Now Rivers has not done a 3rd year of pre season. Tick tick tick..... Hodge did not miss more than 2 years of football Comparing Rivers with SOS is as absurd as those comparing Valenti with Willliams.

I would a generally agree with that but I thought Sylvia was better than rated. I like Jetta and thought he will be good. Is Spencer our No 1 ruckman at the moment? When he went off and had PJ or Meeson in the middle we just lost the contest. Beside a wonderful smother and a goal, Davey was just going. He has not set a game on fire since mid 2006. He is living off reputation ATM.

Agree. Spark up Col!!!!

Based on the TV game and Visy game this week..... I really worry about our midfield. It is very ordinary and we dont have clearances winners and we dont have players of real class in the middle. And I agree we have naff all options up forward. I reckon our defence is coming together well though. Garland is special. I really like Martin and Frawlwy can run well. Warnock is honest so long as he is not exposed 1 on 1. 12 to 16.