45HG

Umpires is an old excuse for Malthouse now. Perhaps he'll blame the rain?

Wow, that was a thing of pure beauty. Thank you Essendon. Though, of course, it must have been the umpires fault. Can't believe Jetta fluffed that so badly.

Yeah possibly over the top, but I'm not saying ANZAC day does, just the use of ANZAC day for alterior gains

Queen, thanks heaps for that article. Pretty much sums up, much more articulately, what we have been saying. Nothing wrong with one game marking the importance of the day, but please none of this over glorification of war

...?

Read White Noise by Don Delillo if you would like to understand what we're talking about. Simulacra is the idea that the more something is symbolized, the less "real" it becomes and the more difficult it becomes to identify reality.

Eww, people. Nah just joking, I'll be there

JtR, I think the problem for many of us has been the use of the ANZAC "vibe" (the Last Post as an example) in all matches on the weekend. It reeks of marketing from the AFL attempting to build crowds - linking ANZAC day to matches like Freo Sydney, with neither team existing during the war. It was a fantastic initiative that helped build awareness of ANZACs, and has been a great way for people to pay tribute, but it now seems to be going over the top, diluting the message and in a sense lessening the impact of commemoration

I found this to be an insightful and respectful look at those linked to the club who lost their lives

So Pav to the Blues then?

Thanks DD. I think the locals should pick the best place for a gathering and we go with it, just my thinking though. Not thrilled about going with Tiger, especially because these airlines essentially lie about their "cheap flights" - but at least there'll be a lot of Demons on the same flights.

I think we won 6 VFA titles. That leaves 18 over 150 years, roughly 1 in every 8. Freo, 0 every 15 years. Since Freo have come in: Finals appearances Freo: 2 Melb: 6 Semi Final appearances Freo: 1 Melb: 4 Prelim appearances Freo: 1 Melb: 2 Grand Final Appearances Freo: 0 Melb: 1 Finals wins Freo: 1 Melb: 6 (This is off the top of the head so apologies if it's incorrect)

Absolutely. A 14 year old "tradition" that ends up as some overhyped, self indulgent rush of media bs equivocating the "feats of modern day footballers" with the terrors endured by so many young many in the name of honour and country. A truly sad turn of events. Whilst I'm glad in a way the ANZAC day match has brought such recognition to those who lost their lives, it has gone down the path of modern life unfortunately - focussing more on the substance of the event than the heart of it. What should be a day of solemn recognition for those past has turned into a convoluted marketing wankfest.

Our shirts are getting worse and worse. Go back to the mid 90s!

Should be good fun, looking forward to it! We'll have to organise a Saturday night [censored] up, get somewhere where we can chuck an MFC DVD on

I'm sure they signed up last year because they thought we were going to make the finals too

What other club would set consecutive Membership records in two down and out years?

6 of us just booked, always ends up more expensive than you think. Couldn't get us on the morning flight, so we'll be leaving on Saturday arvo

Sydney's last year was about 21,000 wasn't it?

Absolutely Junior. I reckon the Irish pub looks good, though anyone on here from Canberra would know better. Those look like the flights many of us will be getting, so we'll probably all catch up on the plane!

God I love this club, Go the Dees!

Sick. What's Canberra's Saturday nightlife like? Radical, Irish pub located in the "Melbourne Building." Well I'm in, anybody else...

Then again, it is Freo we're talking about :D Traded Away From Freo Matthew Lloyd (compensation pick) Jeff Farmer Andrew Mcleod Peter Bell James Clement Jeff White Brodie Holland Pick 8 and Paul Medhurst for Chris Tarrant Pick One for Trent Croad and Luke Mcpharlin, two years later trading Croad back for pick 10 Jess Sinclair and picks 6, 8 and 37 to get Bell back. Winston Abraham On the upside they traded Kingsley Hunter, on the downside they selected him in the first place. Heath Black Adam Mcphee Leigh Brown Troy Simmonds David Wirrpanda (Compensation pick) Steven King (Compensation pick) Freo trading for players Phil Gilbert for Jeff Farmer Chris Groom for Andrew Mcleod Tony Delaney for pick 4 Des Headland for Mcphee and picks 3 and 19 Kepler Bradley Mark Johnson (a year before he retired). Sorry, any excuse you know

I can only stay for the first half, knowing my luck that'll be the half with the warm sunshine and the loads of Melbourne goals

Melb: In Maric Crows: Out Maric