45HG

I think keeping White on would be a waste of a spot. If you need him as a leader and a teacher, sign him as a coach. After spending over 4 years on our list, its time Johnson and Jamar took ownership of their own careers. There's nothing White can help them with now, if they haven't learnt it yet they aren't going to learn it in the future. I think Jamar has looked much better in the ruck this year than White anyway, I'd rather see his spot moved on for a younger person who can grow through our new core leadership group, those in the 21-24 range, and build together.

I see the "most improved" player ranking an interesting one, as many players' performance may improve because of added confidence. Someone like CJ and even Garland may fit this category. This year they have backed themselves. Garland will get the nod IMO, but he only played 1(?) game last year, so it's also hard to know where he was at last year. Even in his own words, he's started backing himself this year and rating himself amongst other AFL players, whilst CJ has finally started backing his judgement and movement and as such I don't know if it's "improvement" or just showing how good they are Warnock has gone from dud (IMO) to a pretty decent defender who still has room to improve, but has vastly imporved his game this year when judged against his previous years. I'd have to say Warnock or Buckley, as both have been on our list for a while, but this has been their "breakout" year

Handing out positions is hardly a way to bring toughness back to a club, we must make players fight to not only claim their jumper, but do it proud. I don't want to see it handed out for the sake of it. If Jamar's right, make him ruck a full game, see how he copes with that. Would much rather see Petterd get a game, i think he has class and it sounds like he's been playing well

No, I will not see. I will never see how on the 19th of August the deal between Fox and the MFC was 75% completed. As in he has 20 pages to sign and he's signed 15? What do you mean by this? Who have you heard it from. Whelan should just be everything, and i've heard he's about 45% through contracts to be our next coach/mascot

Mono, you had to question it, now i'm thinking it's back to around 62%. After Rogue had done such good work to get it to 75%

Until you can use hindsight, there is no reason to suggest the Roos team is different to Melbourne of '02, 04-6. North have so far lost to an inept Freo and an out of sorts St Kilda. Even Carlton in their last premiership team of '95 had lost to Sydney and St. Kilda, who hadn't won nearly as many games as Carlton did that year between them. So chosing 2 games in any given year is a rubbish way to "prove" the culture of a club. I ask yet again, how do you think Melbourne can establish this "good culture" you speak of. North had a great list of players and coaches throughout the 90's, and if we'd have converted 2 Premierships (one lucky that Essendon choked) out of 9 attemps you'd probably claim it as have a "bad culture" We've won 12 of 17 Grand Finals (not including the tie), and 12 of our first 15, I could claim our Grand Final culture is the best in the AFL of the original teams, but I don't beause i realise it's not that simple. Will you this time address what you would like to change and how, or will you simply state that we lose games we shouldn't on occassion and other teams have awesome "club culture" without attempting to address the MFC?

So you address one point out of that, and one in which i even used quotation marks to underline how i didn't even believe it, I don't see this conversation going anywhere. The priority pick has been a part of these great club cultures you speak of, the same Carlton team who cheated to win Premierships in the past. All teams have good and bad years, you have made it an impossible task for the MFC to be seen as having a good culture as you've outlined no criteria and no course of action to get there. Other than that you're only sprouting rhetoric about a mythical "good culture"

I heard the Fox deal is 72% done

I'd like to see it as well, but i feel the way you're going about helping it happen will achieve nothing. As supporters we should establish clear goals as to how to get our club where it needs to be, otherwise you are not helping the problem at all. Hawthorn's culture didn't stop it missing finals each year from 01 to 07, going out of it's way to lose and gain priority picks, so each team can have bad years. Melbourne have had bad years, but you've chosen to state they are the result of bad culture after having good years. I'm not sure why we were as "successful" as we were during 04-06, but I know now it was false hope and that our membership/supporter base did not increase to anything near a "power" side Vague references to a "winning culture" that lives inside teams like Hawthorn and Carlton will not instil a fierce, attacking and proud culture at the MFC. Somehow there must be a more direct way we as supporters can help boost our own levels of support, at least helping one part of the puzzle.

I don't want the board making any on field decisions. It's been precisely the problem in the past at the MFC, a lack of distinct boundaries, and I think it is finally being addressed. Let the coaching staff, and footy dept., take control of the on field activities and let the board take care of their own job description, including getting a sponsor. If the board of the Sport's oldest club can't use it's resources to do it's own job, it doesn't matter if we have a youth policy or an elderly policy, we'd be screwed either way

Am I a chance?

Maybe i should just act like you. Bend over and take whatever comes

Our huddle is located in front of the MCC so you want to follow another club, logic...not quite. Do you have any grasp of our history? That if it wasn't for the MCC we wouldn't exist anyway. How in the world have we become elitist when our very own roots are based in one of the more eite clubs in the city. Our club is dying because people buy into the ridiculous stereotype you have put forward, meaningless drivel that serves no purpose, only to highlight the troubles our club faces.

That is what i was replying to

Whelan, Bruce, Robbo and James Mcdonald are all older than Green, and Wheatley is a month younger. Why would he be gone before any of them?

Wouldn't have been surprised if Maric got 3 weeks for "pushing" him into Jamar, like what happened with that Carlton bloke

But that's what i have issue with. I think a lot of the interpretations are wrong and not in the best interests of where the game is heading (IMO)

Bell, Bartram - Reason we're last/reason Rome fell

Jones Mclean Rivers Watts Morton Bruce Green. Who won't be future captain?

If North Melbourne's winning period did not afford them financial security, there is no reason to suggest that we would suddenly have become a powerful team. It has not given their supporters a harder edge, it has not even guaranteed their survival in their home town. Doesn't every team have to pay at least 92.5% of their salaray cap? If Melbourne had players like Simpson, Harvey, Grant, Carey and Archer, I'd expect our team to have been successful of late as well. I'd agree they have an "underdog culture" but winning culture no. And if they did, why did they lose to Freo and Saints around the same time they beat Hawthorn and ran Geelong. Sounds just like the performances of a certain Red and Blue team a few years ago

9 straight prelims and two Premierships didn't get North Melbourne a "winning culture" nor establish them as a feared team. They are another example of how absurd the notion of a "winning culture" is

Fair enough, obviously I hope he proves you wrong as i hope a few other players on our list prove me wrong

Couldn't agree more mate. When the big clubs do it it's always because they "know how to win" and have more "class" than their opponents and as such were always going to get over the top. But when middle-lower clubs do it, it's always a story of luck and how it could've gone either way. Chelsea are the worst "offenders" of the late win/draw

Here we go again, about 28 seconds after the '07-'08 season finished, the '08-'09 season has begun. Tottenham have begun a season that promises much poorly. Arsenal looked less than impressive in their victory, as did Liverpool. Interesting to see how the promoted teams go. Good on Hull! Will Man U. hold on again? Will Chelsea conquer them? Will Liverpool overcome their 18 year drought and claim the title? I hope Torres gets the top scoring award, he's worthy and good enough IMO

Clubs like Carlton bounced back incredibly strongly. 6 years. A "winning culture" does not mean that a team doesn't lose games it shouldn't. Hawthorn, a team with a "winning culture," today for instance. How you can even use Carlton and Hawthorn when defending a need for a "winning culture" is absurd when both teams purposely bottomed out to help speed up the process of winning games of footy. If anything, the Dees wanted to win too much during the 04-07 period and we are paying the price of it now