DemonDave

A leadership group of 8 for a list of 45? Smacks of too many chiefs, not enough indians for mine. If I was Brent Moloney I'd be devastated. Theres no one that does more above and beyond than Beamer with his boxing camps etc, as well as his onfield leadership, clearly his couple of off-field discretions have cost him dearly. I dont buy into the whole argument that because we had a bad season we have to blame the leaders and replace them with new ones. How many years would Robbie Flower have lasted as captain with this kind of thinking? We were on the bottom of the ladder for almost every year he was leader. Not meant a slight on the great man Robbie of course, merely emphasising the 'lets make changes' attitude to accountability doesnt sit well with me at all.

I see it as quite the opposite. I look at Sydney FC in the A-League who have no shirt sponsor where every other club does. Such a big market as Sydney, I look at it more from the perspective of "This must be a woefully run organisation if they cant even organise a major sponsor for their kit"

This was a very flat, and quick, AGM by comparison to most years. Most of what was said has been covered here so no real need to rehash. One of the most interesting items for me was the acquisition of the Bentleigh Club which has as was stated been a loss making proposition on its own over the last few years, but we are also in the final stages of acquiring the gaming licenses for the Club as well, and they expect any revenues that come from the machines to service the 1.8Million debt that we now have with its acquisition. Our net assets went from $300K to 5Mill with its acquisition which was the main aim of the exercise. McClardy made a note of thanking the previous boards, saying this acquisition was 12 years in the making. The touch of having all the premiership cups on pedestals, and an empty one at the end, as you walked into the room was a very nice touch.

I'll be there as usual, ready to ask the question why Chris Lamb has not been given a fair go in the seniors. And as for Big Jim not speaking, see the other thread about him standing down as Prez.

Best of luck with the ongoing health battles big Jim, time to put yourself ahead of the club.

The same Redskins that won just five games all year and finished bottom of their division! Just shows that the Giants were not a real dominant force all through the regular season, merely a slightly better than average team. They just happened to catch form at the right time of year...

After going 0 for 2 last weekend with my tips, I feel this could be the kiss of death! After watching both games, I'm going to pick the Giants. They have form and momentum on their side. Having said that, the Pats are on a decent winning streak too, but I just feel the giants three pronged attack of Nicks, Cruz and Manningham are in top form. The Pats have Gronk, Hernandez, Branch et al, but if that catch in the final 20 seconds hadve been caught, we'd be talking about the Ravens right now. Cant wait, as usual for the Superbowl, got the day off work, plan to get settled on the couch for a huge day!

And from memory the Saints signed a long term agreement, similar to ours with Casey, down Seaford way didnt they?

Of course I'll be picking SF for the win. We beat them mid-year, and despite them almost scoring on the final drive (A timely Justin Smith bat-down put paid to yet another Manning fourth quarter TD drive) I felt we handled them well that day, importantly our defence was pretty effective. Admittedly the Giants are peaking form wise but my heart and head are pointing in the same direction of a win for the team in red and gold. As for the other game, its a tough one. The Ravens havent even been tested in the playoffs, despite the Texans best efforts last week. Ray Lewis is a beast. Ditto Ray Rice. The Pats dismantling of an out of their depth Broncos was predictably clinical. I feel against a stiffer defensive setup that the Ravens present, then the Pats will be beaten. So to a dream matchup in the Superbowl, "the Brothers Harbaugh". What a great promoters dream that would be. Only I dont want to see a repeat of the Thanksgiving massacre, where the Ravens D consistently blitzed, and the Niners O-line fell apart. It was the only time Ive seen it all year done so effectively, theres no reason if this game happens we wont see it again. Smith became nothing more than a punching bag for the Ravens. It was brutal, ugly and highly effective. Still Frank Gore was playing hurt that day, hes back in business now. If this matchup does occur, it will be the top two ranked defences playing off, quite ironic in a year where quarterbacks were smashing historical records all over the place!

I dont know how happy Macca will be today, the Giants, somehow, managed to beat the Packers at Lambeau. I've taped the game so cant comment on how it looked, gee not many people saw that coming though! the Ravens did what they needed to against the Texans, who had their chances in the last quarter. So it sets up an AFC Championship game of Ravens @ Patriots and NFC Championship game of Giants @ 49ers I'm going to go with Patriots in a tight one, Brady was sizzling against Denver, and while the Ravens have the second best defence in the League after the Niners, I think NE have too many targets: Welker, Gronkowski, Hernandez, Branch, Ochochinco et al. I think the Niners can repeat their effort from during the season and beat the Giants at home also. Hakeem Nicks and co will find it a bit tougher against SF's secondary next week. Cant wait!

Whos got it better than us? Nobody! I still cant wipe the grin off my face, that was an unbelievably hectic finish to that game.When Jimmy Graham rumbled for that TD I was sure it was all over. Great final drive by Smith who surely now has to be recognised as a legitimate top grade quarterback. Vernon Davis came up with those two huge catches in that drive. Now, bring on the Packers or Giants!

Well this story doesnt bode well for the short term: "However, lingering groin problem osteitis pubis has continued to bother Viney" - Jack Viney eager to take on next challenge Let's hope he gets the OK from the powers that be to play a season in the VFL this year.

Yeah 16 games in the regular season of NFL, versus 162 regular season games in MLB (zzzz....) or 82 games in the NBA (in a regular, non strike affected year). You can see why all games are so important in football, thats why I love it, the fans rollercoaster of emotions can change so quickly..

Unfortunately for Wing, the most coverage he';s seemingly had on ESPN is for his premature celebration meaning the TD didnt count. Still they have also had a couple of mini features on the "Wing Dance". Lets hope he gets drafted by an NFL side, you can never have too many Aussie Punters in the league! My partner works with a close friend of Matt McBriar, McBriar flew all of his friends and family to Hawaii for his marriage in the last offseason, so clearly the punting wage is pretty good too! Of todays games, I'm only watching the Lions-Saints game now, was kinda hoping the Lions wouldve got up as I fear the Niners having to face a white-hot Bledsoe next week. Houston probably did what was expected against the Bengals today, the Cinci have to be wrapt with the way Andy Dalton's rookie season has panned out. If it wasnt for a certain Carolina Panther, he'd be a shoe in as the pick of the rookie QBs. I expect Baltimore to smother the Texans next week though, that stifling defence of theirs is a game style tailor made for the playoffs. So too is the Niners similar game plan bulit first and foremost on defence, however I think on form of the last 6-7 weeks that the Saints will have the edge, even at Candlestick. Tomorrow mornings Wildcard games (Ive already set the alarm clock!) should see the Steelers crush the out of form at the wrong time of year Broncos (cue endless analysis on Tebows true worth once more!). And I think the Giants with Mannings unnerring ability to orchestrate last quarter comebacks built on long, long scoring drives to be too good for the Falcons, Julio Jones has proven to be an astute draft maoeuvre to get for Atlanta though, hes shown as a rookie he has all the tools to be a great receiver.

Wow! The Colts win their second game of the year, I almost turned this game off, after the first play of the day was a turnover that led to a Texans touchdown within the first minute, I was thinking a route may be on the cards. The game then turned into a bit of a snooze fest, I was that close to pulling the plug, but stuck it out, Orlovsky looked more and more comfortable as the game went on, and thanks to some silly defensive penalties that gifted the Colts succesive first downs in the final drive, they got the W, hitting the lead with only 20 seconds to go, great game! Also stoked at the MNF result, managed to tape it and watch it Monday night, Big Ben was clearly unfit which was kind of disappointing, but the Niners were not. Aldon Smith, the beast, is fast becoming one of my favorite players to watch on defense for the Niners, hes having an outstanding rookie season and justifying his high draft pick position. If we can keep Frank Gore fully fit, and get Braylon Edwards and Patrick Willis back on the field and healthy then i think we can edge the Saints for the #2 seed in the NFC. Still no rushing TDs conceded by the defence this year, clearly the foundation our season has been built on. The battle of New York promises to be the pick of the games this weekend for mine...

A couple of big results today, in a couple of very important divisions. AFC North - The Ravens get smashed by the rejuvenated Chargers, and now leave the door wide open for the Steelers to take the lead in the conference if they can overcome my faltering 49ers in MNF tomorrow (as I expect they will). NFC East - I watched the Cowboys beat the Bucs on Friday they didnt do anything special but just enough to get the job done, and are a now a game clear after the Giants shock loss to Rex Grossman and the Skins. The Eagles are alooking a bit better again with VIck back at the helm but are another game again back, a tough task. The Saints now take the mantle as the most in-form team in the league right now, Breese's streak of touchdown passes in games continues and he is on pace to beat Marinos all time season yardage mark, will he or Rodgers get the MVP? Rodgers is on course to beat a whole swag of Packers franchise records, but for mine it'd be Breese right now. They are marching towards the week off and home field advantage. The Pack lose their first and the Colts actually win one! Lucky I didnt have my multibet this week as those two wouldve been the first two legs I wouldve lost on...

A great read, well done to Sam Edmund for capturing the mood of the training environs, got the blood pumping on the train reading this article. Cant wait for the first intra-club to see all the hard work put into practice!

I found it amusing that St Kildas president copped an absolute pasting in the media a couple of weeks ago when it was revealed you'd have to pay extra for a membership scarf this year. His rationale for the decision was that people 'already had 10 scarves in the wardrobe and dont need another one', clearly the way we went about addressing the same issue was much better handled than theirs.

Donuts! What a GF he had that year... No, no and no.

Massive loss today to the Pats for your boys. And yes if it wasnt already, thats definitely season over put a fork in it. Just finished watching the Bears-Raiders game, the Raiders keep their momentum up, although apart from the last ten minutes it was a fairly dull game. Dont think either of these two teams will be going very deep this season.

Well not at work at the moment, I managed to get onto the coach and turn the phone off the hook, Pack continued their unbeaten record, gee they keep on roling with ease! Ndamukong Suh continues to sully his reputation though, got ejected and will most likely face more discipline. The Cowboys-Dolphins game was an interesting one, Miami had their chances, Dallas seemingly havent hit any heights at all, but are crucially winning. Not good for the GIants and Eagles! Just abut to get to the main event. First time ever two brothers have coached head-to-head in NFL history tonight, and Mon & Pop Harbaugh celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary tomorrow, what a weekend for this family. No Ray Lewis its just been announced which is a big plus for the Niners. If I had one of those foam hats with the drinking straws out of the top of them,. I'd be totally wearing one right now sipping away, this is gonna be a treat!

Great article on the mfc website this morning by the burgatron about our draft overview day, highlighting how all our current recruiting scouts and talent spotters get together with the coaches, psychologists etc.and run through the draft thoroughly. I had no idea ex hawk recruiting man john turnbull was in our camp nowadays, a respected guy such as this can only enhance our knowledge pool. A couple of other great snippets, a quip from barry prendegast on one young young prospects large number of facebook friends "he likes being popular". Neeld asks about some of the potential senior age recruits "could he play for us in round 1?" And also love that he gave a copy of the red fox to two of the vic coaches who have guest chats, a wonderful gift choice gesture. Quality reading.

Only got bog slow net access for a couple of days so apologies can't scan through these threads that quickly, can anyone tell me where big jake spencer is at in terms of his rehab after his knee reco. Running stage yet? I know he won't play a big part for us this year but just curious. Thanks

Yeah sorry daz may have come across a bit too harshly. I collect vintage cigarette cards so only know too well the pitfalls of chasing a rare piece and wanting to pay the right price for it. Sometimes I just bite the bullet and knowingly pay overs based on scarcity. Good luck on the search!

Everyone wanted to be on board our bandwagon in 1987. It was packed like sardines at the western oval in round 22, the crowds grew and grew as the year went on and our momentum built. Some quality ads on those archives, I have a lot of the records and remember the covers well but theyre all safely locked up in the shed! So daz you know most of the weg originals change hands for four figure sums, but are hoping someone unaware of this will sell then to you for way under what theyre worth? Good luck with that project. Check out auction results at leski auctions for a true gauge on what the market thinks they are worth. I have the set of reprints and they look nice.