Brownie

2 minutes ago, Ollie fan said:

As always, hindsight is a wonderful thing. He was not in our best 22 last year and very few people thought he was -I still don't see who he would have replaced. So he didn't get a regular game and wanted to try elsewhere. All perfectly fair enough, good luck to him.

He'd probably make a great replacement for ANB now.

I'm not sure why we don't hard tag opposition players, especially when they start to get on top of us.

It's a shame he's gone but wish both the Sydney sides the best this year (can't believe I just typed that)

Agree with others here. Our incomings and outgoings were really terrible last year.

Hope we do better this year.

4 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

Hamish Blake is another prominent Melbourne man who has a big profile, and two of the Sushi Mango trio who are massive on social media. 

Not to mention that our president’s partner is a news presenter for channel 10. 

If we can’t leverage some of these connections to build a platform then we’ve failed. 

What's "channel 10" ?

23 minutes ago, Demonland said:

 

So despite the review results just being released, they're cracking into the club again 

16 hours ago, daisycutter said:

if it really is only 30min drive from cbd, i don't think any melbournian would see that as a problem

It's more like 40 to 45 mins or 35mins with $13 in tolls one way

58 minutes ago, Pinball Wizard said:

Thank you Kate 🙏 

I remember having a chat to her at the aflw Granny up at Springfield (yes it is as bad as Casey from a boondocks point of views)

She was in with the cheer squad from half time onwards and I was really impressed with her and the fact she was in with our supporters and not with the suits.

Thanks for everything Kate.

8 minutes ago, John Lord said:

Our girls were out classed today. But unfortunately this would be the worst umpiring I have seen.  The holding of the ball rule and throwing of the ball appeared to be interpreted differently dependent on what jumper the players were wearing. If you think the press has been anti Melbourne you should have seen the umpiring today

 

Totally agree. Some insane decisions 

On 19/07/2024 at 08:44, Gawn's Beard said:

If you were wanting to have a truly equal fixture, then:

Rounds 1-17, play everyone once

Ladder after round 17 is split into 3, Top 6, Middle 6, Bottom 6

Top 6 guaranteed finals, play each other once to determine top 6 order

Middle 6 play each other once, top 2 then make up final 2 spots in final 8

Bottom 6 play each other for ladder position and determine number of balls for “lottery” draft picks (picks 1-6), with highest getting more, etc. 

Means 22 games plus finals. Devil is in the detail however at least we’d have equal fixture, similar interstate travel, and avoids tanking

That sounds pretty good.

3 hours ago, DeeZone said:

Feel really sorry for Tayla and MFC right now, we can’t get a decent break with injured stars.

2024 continues to be a fiery dumpster.

Hope you're recover well Tay and you're fighting fit for 2025

6 minutes ago, Superunknown said:

I’m with Skuit ⬆️

I'm with Skuit and Superunknown

3 hours ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Sheesh Ralphy, making it sound like we are the lucky ones contracted players want to play for us. 
Sick of eejit reporting 

It really feels like a total MFC pile on by reporters at the moment.

Must be incredibly annoying for the players as well

10 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

and that would explain tracc's handshake and backslap of maynard next game after brayshaw incident. big hug coming up for darcy i'd guess

We'll at least if you play for Collingwood, you never have to worry about being suspended 

4 hours ago, binman said:

And an 11am start next week.

No doubt it's something to do with not clashing with the afl finals, but at an 11am start?

Poor.

Not sure how the AFL expect to build a bigger profile for the game with that.

And then north at 5pm the week after yeah?

8 minutes ago, BoBo said:

‘Current president Kate Roffey is under significant pressure after a heavily-criticised radio interview about Christian Petracca’s future on Thursday.’

 

Is this implying that she’s under significant pressure from board members?

After one interview?

I get the feeling it's just more media drama white anting the club.

Just watched the replay.

We were shaky early on but once we steadied our pressure, tackling and run was really impressive.

Great game of footy and thank god that last free kick didn't decide the game.

Well done Dees. Nice to see a positive result after the last few weeks of poo.

Woohoo

3 hours ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

 

 

Melbourne Football Club: A Critical Reflection on Recent Turmoil

It’s astonishing to see the level of confusion and misplaced blame being directed externally when the reality is much closer to home. The narrative that the Melbourne Football Club (MFC) is a victim of media scrutiny or some external vendetta fails to acknowledge the undeniable truth: we’ve been feeding this beast for at least the last 12 months. Now, as one of the biggest stories in the history of the game unfolds, once again, the Dees find themselves at the centre of it.

Self-Inflicted Wounds

There’s no escaping the fact that much of the chaos surrounding the club is of our own making. The dysfunction within the club, which has been an open secret for some time, has led us to this point. While the premiership win in 2021 and subsequent top-four finishes in 2022 and 2023 gave us a temporary reprieve, they also allowed underlying issues to fester unnoticed. Unfortunately, the goodwill generated by these achievements has now evaporated, leaving us exposed.

The Media’s Role vs. Our Responsibility

It’s easy to point fingers at the media, claiming they’re complicit or exacerbating the situation. However, this deflection only serves to distract from the internal issues that are the real culprits. The truth is, we’ve been getting away with far too much for far too long. The media is merely amplifying the chaos we’ve sown, and we must accept responsibility for our part in this mess.

A Star Fading into Darkness

The star that once shone so brightly in 2021 has faded into the vast reaches of the cosmos. The optimism and hope that followed our premiership win have been replaced with disappointment and frustration. Instead of building on our success, we’ve allowed dysfunction to creep in and undermine everything we’ve achieved. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but we deserve much of the criticism coming our way.

The Final Straw: Leadership and Accountability

And then there’s Kate. Her actions yesterday, whatever they may have been, seem to have poured another gallon of petrol on an already raging fire. The situation has escalated from a mere “dumpster fire” to a full-blown catastrophe. Leadership is about more than just guiding a team on the field; it’s about steering the entire club in the right direction, especially in times of crisis. Unfortunately, it seems we’ve lost our way.

Moving Forward: What Needs to Change

The MFC needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror. Blaming external forces won’t fix what’s broken within. We must address the dysfunction, enforce accountability at all levels, and rebuild the trust and unity that once defined us. It won’t be easy, but it’s the only path forward if we hope to restore the pride and integrity of this club.

In conclusion, while the flames of controversy burn bright around us, we must remember that we are the ones who set the fire. It’s time to stop playing the victim and start taking responsibility for our actions. Only then can we hope to extinguish the flames and rise from the ashes stronger than before.

The truth will set you free.

But first it will really [censored] you off

I've found a solution tonight to the stress of our footy club burning down.

My dad listened to country music a lot while I was a kid and I truly hated it.

I discovered Johnny Cash a decade or so  ago and then Drive by Truckers, The Graveyard Train, Justin Townes Earle etc etc.

While I love garage, punk music etc a lot. Country has a special place in my heart now and Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings are truly one of my favourite artists. The harmonies, the tumbling guitar lines by Dave are beautiful.

I thoroughly recommend listening to their new album while reading the apocalypse on this site.

You are highly likely to just give up the thread, put the phone down and grab a beer or a glass of wine and wrap yourself in their exquisite music.

If I can save a couple of demonlanders from this thread for a few hours, I'll be happy.

Hope a few of you tune in and drop out. 

All the best to you all. Some big messy stuff ahead for our club but there's more to life than footy.

Love Brownie.

2 hours ago, Monbon said:

Just skimming the article, but one glaring aspect stands out: the so-called 'Tribunal' accepts that a player is within the rules to dive at the ball, even if the player diving takes out the legs of the opposition player who, in this case, was clearly 'going for the ball' in an upright position - um, the position I assume most 'football' rules are premised on. In other words, to dive at the feet of someone going for the ball seems to be okay by this 'Court of Law, especially if the diving player wears a black and white striped guernsey.

I love that "he dived at the ball" feet first.

Uneffenbelivable.

We must appeal

7 hours ago, Kiss of Death said:

It’s just infuriating.
 

Blind Freddy can see the outcomes in advance, we are paying good money to have our representatives set up our players to fail. Why oh why is Zita advising that Angry Anderson references ‘bumps’ rather than making a strong point about a ‘contest for a ball’, and unless somebody tells me otherwise I have to feel that there wasn’t even any discussion about how the sliding action undertaken by Moore impacted Kozzie’s legs in an illegal manner and actively caused the contact. At the start when the discussion was about how Koz got low at the contest it looked like for once we were going to focus on something that had a chance, but it went nowhere. Again. 

I would also bet that no discussion was made about at which point the AFL assumed that be needed to apply his additional duty of care when Moore illegally slid into him, and exactly how long he had to respond, and how there was not even time for him to react because he was TRYING TO WIN A CONTEST AND NOT TO BUMP 

once again, Melbourne loses out, we will have all the imbeciles on Twitter calling him a sniper and dirty and a dog and all the names their pea brains can think of, when he honesty did nothing that would not be expected of every single player in the league by contesting that loose ball. 

almost guaranteed some keyboard warrior is going to fire off a racial slur on twitter at him again any minute now, and we will have to cross that bridge again.

Aaaaaaargh. 
 

seriously over it. I’m both angry and disappointed

Exactly.

If it took three hours to deliberate, it was obviously borderline.

If Anderson had just put forward a half decent argument, he'd probably be free to play. 

Why use the word "bump". He was contesting the ball and only had eyes for it.

Moore didn't drop to his knees, he illegally slid in.

Koz is now in our top 4 players and we'll be handicapped at the gates now for the start of the season.

I really feel for the guy.

I think we should all drop a quick line to the club. Get someone better to argue the case

5 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Does Adrian understand that he can raise a rebuttal?

Why oh why do we keep using him?

What is wrong with our football club?

Unforgivable to not argue the sliding in by Moore. 

This is like poo icing on the Tracca cake 

1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

The boys on Fox Footy’s The Tackle mentioned that Trac can go to a grievance tribunal if the MFC refuses to trade him.

I thought the grievance tribunal was demonland?

10 minutes ago, Macca said:

That's one example but each medical emergency is possibly/probably different from the next.  

I'll take the conservative view that I can't see how he can pass a medical before the trade window ends

Besides all that, is he going to be the same player if and when he returns anyway?  

Would we willingly take him if it was roles reversed?  I'd say a majority on this site alone would say no

Most here don't want a fit & firing Houston

But a banged up 29yo who can't even go on a light jog and with what seems like a million issues?  No thanks

Ask your friends and acquaintances about whether they'd want him?  

 

I'm positive that's the card most clubs will play for sure.

"Oh Gee, he's damaged goods, mmmmm can't pass the medical, mmmm oh we'll risk it but he's not worth anywhere what you want for him sorry"

Doesn't mean he won't bounce back. It's just the card they'll play to talk his value down for sure.

I don't think our cards aren't as strong as we think. 

3 minutes ago, Bombay Airconditioning said:

Meaghan & Harry.

Absolute gold @Bombay Airconditioning

8 minutes ago, Young Angus said:

What better way to build the brand...or at least get heaps and heaps of followers, the brand will be in the toilet though.

From Ralph Lauren to Toilet Duck brand ambassador or adult nappies (no more leaks)?

3 hours ago, binman said:

Maybe. Maybe not.

The result is the same.

On conners, if he is not responsible for the strategic backgrounding of morris why has he let this play out like it has?

Why hasn't he backgrounded another journo to at least tamp down the noise 'till after the GF?

I mean, he's tracc's manager after all. And if demonland is any guide, tracc's stocks are falling in terms of his reputation.

That's to say, whilst the initial reporting was favourable towards him (ultra pro unhappy with the 'direction' of a club the media loves to hammer), it's swinging the other way - for example the suggestion his teammates are jack of him.

If I was conners I'd be concerned the idea of tracc as an entitled, prima donna taking hold - Australians are allergic to that idea of stars elevating themselves above their team.

And leaving aside the response by fans, if that perception takes hold amongst players at say the pies or blues how keen will they be about a diva coming to their club (probably instantly the highest paid), with all the attendant palaver.

And how will the big stars at either club feel about having to share the spotlight with tracc? 

Exactly. And how would the new team mates feel seeing one or two of their team mates jettisoned to make room for the diva.

I think they've pushed the "Christian is Unhappy" card too far now and it's starting to go sour.

Good on the club for just staying firm for the moment.

6 hours ago, Adam The God said:

Pert and Roffey need to go. After Trac's last two weeks, I'm fine for him to nick off too.

If Tracc's team are doing all the whiteanting and leaking, in some ways, there's not a lot we can do at this stage but to stay firm for the moment.

Let him look selfish and then pull the best deal we can.

They got him in to talk to the playing group.

They can't really have said much in the last two weeks except "Tracc is staying". They probably know they'll just leak more rubbish reasons why he's unhappy.

Hope he gets sent to the Peptides.

Sook coach with a Sook player.