TeamPlayedFine39

I agree. Please prove us wrong Joel; but for a guy who has never played a particularly good game in his entire AFL career, he’s held in very high esteem on demonland.

Isn't that what we have now..?

Yep - the red circle on the right is the VFL ground and the center one if the Reserve.

There is the current Port Melbourne oval, which we could conceivably look to enter into a partnership with. Probably not their preferred option 12 months ago, but as we know, the world is a very different place now. There is JL Murphy reserve in the center. Large green space with ovals, soccer and baseball. However it is missing shared community facilities that football club's PR depts use when entering into a partnership with governments. Blue circle is the Melbourne Grammar Sports Fields, showing that a sports redevelopment of the area is possible. If a high school is able to get it done, we have no excuses. The Fisherman's Bend precinct is 480 hectares and is expected to hold 80,000 residents by 2050. At this stage, much of the vacant and warehouse spaces have not been purchased for residential development and, with the current state of financing, there could be an opportunity there.

I'd say it's because people, including myself, think the board is wrong. It's a discussion of the other possibilities that are out there. If we're looking at what other clubs are doing, they're mostly moving away from over developed areas in search of more space. If we are determined to stay in the MCG precinct, we have zero chance of anything resembling what Essendon, West Coast, Hawthorn, Brisbane, Fremantle, Hawthorn, GWS, Gold Coast and Adelaide have or will soon have built. If we want a mostly symbolic presence, stay at MCG precinct; if we want to grow and build a base that can last for decades to come, drop the symbolism and move.

I'm thinking he might be in line to replace Bedford, who was quite good in Round 1. On talent, Bennell could replace anyone in the team, it's more a matter of whether he is fit and match conditioned.

Thanks Lever08. I understand that Bennell played first half in the reserves and second in the seniors... From what you saw today, do you think he'll play round two, or still a little off?

Just got excited about footy for the first time in a long time (feels like years anyway). Bring on Saturday!

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/701806/who-starts-round-2-pick-your-best-22 Fun little app for selecting your 22.

I’m not sure it really matters... where does the money come from? I don’t know what sort of money he’s on, but where does the $1 million + come from to pay him out? How do we then pay a new coach? Would the AFL give us further assistance if we’re throwing that sort of money away? As is said, I see contracts being honoured as very few clubs will be able to pay anyone out. FWIW I still believe Goody will be a very good AFL coach and we’ll perform well this year, so for me, it’s a moot point.

It’s one thing to bring the knives out, it’s another thing altogether to pay out 2.5 years of his contract in this current financial climate. Id say anyone with a contract is very, very safe to the foreseeable time-being.

I'm quite confident that Jones can make a contribution, especially with shortened quarters/season. He's got some real potential forward of centre with short stints in the middle. Hibberd is a big worry for me and could come under real pressure if they persist with Harmes at half back. It seems that they want Harmes to be playing the role that Hibberd was traded in for. Strong body, accountable and long, accurate kick. Hibberd has been battling for the last two years, but injuries in the back half have kept the pressure off. I too would be surprised if Bennell plays, but could easily see Sparrow, Bedford, AVB or ANB filling that position. Sparrow and Bedford in particular were showing some very promising signs this year.

Couple of weeks out, but what the hay! FB: JETTA. MAY. LEVER. HB: HIBBERD. MCDONALD. SALEM. ?LANGDON. OLIVER. TOMLINSON. HF: BENNELL.MCDONALD.MELKSHAM. FF: FRITSCH. WEIDEMAN. PICKETT. Fol: GAWN. VINEY. PETRACCA. Bench: JONES. HARMES. BRAYSHAW. LOCKHART. EMERGENCIES: ANB, AVB, SPARROW, BEDFORD, SMITH, JACKSON.

Again, it's completely subjective and suseptible to too many variables, especially the rose-colorued glasses. It's very difficult to say that there were more good games, when most games weren't filmed and televised in full. The best look you'd get is Drew Morphett offering highlights on Saturday at 6:30 or the 5 minute reel on the evening news. I don't agree or disagree really. I loved football in the 90s, but who didn't love things when they're reminiscing back to when they were young?

What’s the construction in pic 3?

Watch a selection of the best matches over a 25 year period and yes, you’d probably say football was better ‘back then’. However through the 80s and 90s they wouldn’t even send a film crew to the bad games and there were even plenty of Melbourne matches you couldn’t even listen to on the radio. Just like today, the good matches were good and bad were bad (often very, very bad). If you’re looking to make a like-for-like comparison, you could look at grand finals. We’ve been pleased with some great and very close grand finals in recent years. The 90s grand finals were generally pretty poor spectacles.

Never a better time to be thankful we got rid of the pokies. Patting ourselves on the back whilst we profit from addicts during a recession is hardly what a football should be. We’ll find the money elsewhere.

It's a certainly a big number, but without the context of knowing where other clubs sit, it's very hard to judge. We're being assisted by the AFL, as imagine most clubs will need to be when your revenue basically drops to zero.

#tooShort2Ruck He'll make some 'experts' look very silly over the next decade.

There will be money up for grabs in the next six months for organisations that have projects ready to go. Following the GFC we saw that schools and community groups that already had plans in place were the ones immediately given stimulus funding. This of course meant that the money for projects was not necessarily awarded according to 'need', but rather who could get their projects started the quickest to get people working. I was working at a school at the time that didn't have a pressing need for a new science lab, but they had just so happened to have drawn up renovations specs as part of their ten year plan. That lab was almost immediately funded and built. So, I think there will be an opportunity.

Absolute beast (and still only 18).

Is that Rivers..?

It is becoming more and more common in the AFL for clubs to move away from cities and 'spiritual homes' in order to find space. Six months ago, I didn't love the idea of Casey, but, as we all know, a lot can change in six months. GFC taught us that governments will put money into projects that are ready to go and get people on the tools as quickly as possible... Perhaps instead of viewing diving into a Casey Fields development as a rushed decision, we see it as an opportunity to grab stimulus funding for a growth corridor amongst marginal seats. (whilst also throwing our weight behind the Cranbourne bypass) It is a colossal amount of space with virtually identical dimensions to the MCG, neighbouring running track, swimming pool across the road, plenty of additional ovals...

I think it looks good - one of the few people who can pull that look off. If anything, the long beard and shaved head was probably more showy than this. Max has already proven himself to be a champion player and strong leader. Nothing in these pictures is out of character or would lower the high esteem that he is held in.