Rhino Richards

Thanks Tim. I have no doubt the statement has been widely alleged to have occurred and its good copy for the media but it could well be folklore bandied about or it may well have been true. Its the sort of comment I could well attribute to a Coach as well. Naturally some clubs come to mind before others.

No Clint's right. you missed it. The original poster suggested that membership is important and it definitely is. But it was not the sole and only contributor to the profit. Membership is part of the explanation. The margin to a Club off memberships is less than other forms of revenue (eg corporate sponsorship etc). Its a great result for the Hawks. However the Tasmanian Government and Pokies money assisted greatly. They also received $1.1 million for win the premiership. They have to make hay while the sun shines. How much of the $4 million profit is sustainable longer term? They have an ambitious program to raise $20 million over 4 years to provide business capital. Like a true MFC supporter, I hope they fail. :D

How would you honestly be sure if you dont know the protagonists were? Why you saw the need to unfairly speculate that the statement refers to Hislop or any other player for that matter involving drugs is baffling. Your response to my initial query suggests you dont get it.

They should thank the Tasmanian Govenrment for bank rolling them and their community minded poker machines. Its a nice touch for the renowned family club. Membership certainly helps but there are some other kickers to the bottom line you need to focus on.

So your saying the ridiculous speculation is true now. Gotcha.

If it were the MFC and MCC then it would be u-nited indeed.

Why do you bother posting such rubbish when it has no basis of fact what so ever? And HT, I would expect any AFL captain worth his role(other than the Cuz) to take rather strident and aggressive action to warn/threaten any player who was known to be taking drugs.

This site goes into meltdown for less than that. Hell, Chris Johnson generates 5 pages!!!

If we are going to take the best available footballer with the No 1 draft pick and we choose NikNat then I will share your sentiments.

I am a bit puzzled at that. Correct.

Clearly Bubble dome has issues given we have proposed arrangements for only 45 staff and we have 50 staff presently. Its amazing what we are up against when you find out that WCE have up to 150 on staff!!! Schwab seems to be taking a sensible line through some difficult options.

Good try at it. But I share your concern about the question marks. Lots of C graders (too many) not enough A graders. IMO only a couple look likely. Oh for a good draft.

Nice hissyfit.

There you go again with the hyperbole WUL. The Indians at tea were already 250 in front and Australia were challenging from a weakened position. One wicket still would have left the Indians at least 250 runs in front on a turning crumbling wicket with a superior bowling attack. The Indians had the winning hand since they won the toss on day 1. After tea Ponting bowled the only seemingly reliable wicket taker in the series we had in Krezja who was also bleeding runs at 5 an over. And its not as though we had reliable quicks who were likely to run through the Indians in reserve. Ponting made an error of judgement but to make a mountain out of molehill is self serving. Rogue, I dont think our chance of winning was that strong at tea given the state of the game and the lead to Indian. It was chance but not a winning position.

I agree we were mounting a good challenge at the time. Its different to a winning position. B)

We were in as much in a winning position as the horse that came last on Cup Day. We were still 200+ behind and given the history of 4th innings run chases it would suggest the game was open. But dont mind your hyperbole. Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor both enjoyed having Glenn McGrath, Gillespie and Shane Warne at their peak. They also had the Waugh brothers, Gilchrist and Langer and no real opposition during the period 1994 to 2005. We batted poorly in Day 5 and each batsman should take responsibility for their failures in the 1st and 2nd innings not just the Captain. Yes continue to blame Ponting. And if he does replace your broken radio then could he also replace my broken lawn mower. He did not break it but I will continue to blame him for it. The Bastard.

Firstly we were never in a winning position but we had the chance to push for better advantage which was no certainty. In addition, the way we batted on the final day made us no certainty to win the match anyway And your comparison to Steve Waugh is flawed And why was Steve Waugh so successful??? Because of the arsenal he had throughout his captaincy period. The Australian side that was sent to India has to be the weakest side to have left Australian shores in years with the very real prospect of failing to take 20 wickets in a Test. Steve Waugh would have struggled with this side on the continent. Despite this unfortunate situation, Ponting is a far better choice to lead than Michael Clarke. No need to get the knickers in a knot.

While there are questions that can be asked about Ricky Ponting, how intuitive did Mark Taylor have to be when he had access to McGrath, Warne, Waugh brothers and Healy? With class like that you have the ability to gamble and gamble hard. The quality of opposition that Taylor had to deal with in general was far less competent than Ponting. And why is Australia struggling? We got a pace attack that one paced, pedestrian and lacking the killer strike and we are playing a very competitive side at their home. Lets not forget the Australians have taken a lame squad to India without a recognised spinner at the start of the tour. Thats an observation they were making on the radio. I share your doubts that it was a sole decision. However the Captain is going to carry the can for this. It would not surprise at all if they went for the 8-1 field early

I would love to have been a fly on the wall at tea to determine what gave way on the thinking to bowl the part timers. If anything had Ponting pressed for victory and got it. He may have been suspended but he would have been a hero for it! I expect the India's to bowl a foot outside off stump at 12 overs an hour with a 9-0 field and kill the game in the first session. It really is a pity that a game that should give rise to an exciting final day will have any challenge squeezed out of it. The dullard and negative captaincy is but just one element sending Test Cricket to a grave and its wrong. Despite the colour and pizazz of the limited forms of cricket there is nothing to beat a stirring memorable tight conclusion to a Test match. I hope for the games sake this is a ripper of a final day with both sides actually going for the win.

I think if you look at the 2005 fixture we were on shocking run home of games. Rd 12 we played Collingwood at the G then 4 days break later in Rd 13 play the eventual GFs at the MCG. Great. We then played the following games: Gabba, AAMI, Docklands (Sydney), Subiaco, MCG (StK),AAMI, Skilled. I could not think of a worse draw than the above.

There an old saying of take a mule to water and.........??? If Cousins does not want to play at MFC why recruit a high cost player with a potentially reluctant attitude amongst all the other question marks that surround him? Unfortunately AFL footballers are not plug in play utilities.

No Sleeve sniping is the role you are renowned for. Rather than brag you know someone on the inside to form one of your egocentric little barbs you might have used that as a basis to provide some credible information on Hislop. I guess its beyond you. Good name drop big guy! Didn't realise you were a mover and shaker in AFL circles. Barak Obama called you yet for your draft tips legend.

Junior has been a valiant and underrated warrior at MFC over the years. However towards the end of 2007 and throughout 2008, Junior looked like the game had pushed past him and no matter how hard he tried (and he did) he made little progress. I would expect Junior to perform off the bench cameos in the 2nd half of 2009 then retire. To me there is little value giving captaincy to a player that is going to battle with the speed of AFL going forward All the more reason to put a player who is really going to lead from the front now and into the future.....Take a bow Brock.

They may win the series but are they world champions? No. Unlike the Australians at their best, they cant keep their foot on the opponent's jugular vein. India will be interesting in the future, Kumble and Ganguly have retired. Tendulkar, Laxman and Dravid are sure to follow soon. That's a huge hole in talent and experience and is not easily replaced.

What was Hayden thinking when he took that run? Kreja should be congratulated for his perseverence and performance. 8 wickets on debut. However, at 3/195 he was looking out of his depth and despite the two catches dropped offf rash strokes from Tendulkar, he had been dominated by the bats and got three fortuitous wickets through poor batting. Indeed at 5/404, India will lament they could not and did not put the Australias to the sword. The collapse started by Ganguly and Dhoni was through lazy cricket shots. He may have been pounded at times but was certainly given some lifelines by indiscreet Indian batting. This will surely beg the question "Why wasn't he picked sooner?" Then again if his figures were 3/200+ the question would then be didnt we have anyone better in Australia? Funny game cricket. Best Figures on Debut Best figures in a innings on debut Player Overs Mdns Runs Wkts Econ Team Opposition Ground Match Date Scorecard AE Trott 27.0 10 43 8 1.59 Australia v England Adelaide 11 Jan 1895 Test # 44 RAL Massie 27.2 9 53 8 1.93 Australia v England Lord's 22 Jun 1972 Test # 699 ND Hirwani 18.3 3 61 8 3.29 India v West Indies Chennai 11 Jan 1988 Test # 1089 L Klusener 21.3 4 64 8 2.97 South Africa v India Kolkata 27 Nov 1996 Test # 1341 ND Hirwani 15.2 3 75 8 4.89 India v West Indies Chennai 11 Jan 1988 Test # 1089 RAL Massie 32.5 7 84 8 2.55 Australia v England Lord's 22 Jun 1972 Test # 699 AL Valentine 50.0 14 104 8 2.08 West Indies v England Manchester 8 Jun 1950 Test # 323 JJ Krejza 43.5 1 215 8 4.90 Australia v India Nagpur 6 Nov 2008 Test # 1892