Wiseblood

On Vandenberg - I think he has all the tools of being the guy to come in for Petracca this year. This won't guarantee him any senior games but he has body to stand up to AFL footy and knows how to win the pill. If he can impress early in the season then I could see him knocking on the door of a debut game within the first 6 rounds of the season.

I'm glad that is what he needs to work on - fitness is easier to fix than dodgy skills or an inability to find the footy.

I like how you agree that the lack of memberships etc on the day was strange from the club, then go on to blame the 'minority' for the whinging when you've clearly agreed it's a valid point. For many of the pages the discussion focused on the game, and as more info came to hand in the later part of the thread we discussed other elements of the day. Perfectly fine in anyone's book.

First of all this is an intra club thread big man, so settle down. The discussion IS about the intra club match. Secondly it's a valid point that's been supported by many others here. It's relevant to this thread.

Right now, outside of the Dogs, we are down the bottom of the membership ladder. Even St. Kilda has surpassed us now by signing up more than 3,000 members compared to this time last year. The club missed a huge opportunity to make some more inroads before the season even begins.

Having it at Gosch's isn't necessarily the problem - not taking advantage of a day when people are coming along to watch is. In that regard it is most certainly an opportunity lost.

I'd be interested to see the number as well. I just believe that the market is too competitive to miss out on any form of opportunity. They gave plenty of notice and could have scheduled it on a better day and focused on getting people down there. The club has been terrible for so long, and now that we can actually see some light at the end of the tunnel in god knows how we long, we need to capitalize on that in any way, shape or form.

Typical old dee response. If all supporters were like you we would be a boring, passionless bunch who would simply shrug their shoulders at everything and allow the club to fall behind because we didn't do anything new. I mean, how dare people show some passion and disappointment at Christian Petracca's injury? How dare people show some passion and disappointment at the fact the club missed out on a great early season opportunity to get more members and make a positive impression? Thank goodness you are the minority and not the majority. Go ahead and shrug your shoulders and ignore it, but at this point in time the club needs to get everything right in such a competitive market and we got this one wrong. Even St. Kilda got it right, so that should say something about how much we missed the mark.

And it's for these sorts of reasons that I think the club really missed the boat this year. In this day and age there is always extra interest and scrutiny on the intra club game - even the most fickle and negative supporter can't help but be interested in the game, so why not turn it into one of the first big days on the clubs calender? Get the membership tents there, the mascots, food etc and encourage fans to come along and support the boys through some training and the practice game. As you said, watching Salem look good off half back, Hogan jag a few and Garlett look dangerous would win some memberships and get some of those young kids excited as well - some of those kids might even find themselves a new favourite player and want to go to and watch the real stuff when the season begins. Hopefully the club can see this and look to make amends in 2016.

I would be surprised if you remembered where you lived half the time HH...

After seeing what other clubs have done in terms of their intra club what we did with ours is indefensible. These are professional athletes being trained by professional coaches and fitness staff - surely they have the smarts to alter the plan slightly so the intra club can be played at a time when they get as many people there and make a day out of it. Supporters, and memberships, are the lifeblood of the club. To not put more weight behind that is disappointing from the club.

Cheers Webber, needed a good laugh on a warm Friday afternoon. The one positive to come out of this intra club is the fact that we clearly have a coaching group who are willing to not only take risks but also understand the players as well. Playing Salem off half back is one such example - the kid can kick the footy beautifully and with some coaching and work on his defensive skills he can be a weapon for us going forward, rather than just trying to move into the midfield before he is ready. As long as we can stay as injury free as possible then we should be in good shape come Round 1.

Really well summed up Scoop. How often have we simply needed that one goal to get ourselves back into the game or to create a little space and we just couldn't find it? It's been frustrating to watch us struggle for that goal only to watch the other side pull one out of their back pocket. My fingers are crossed that Garlett brings some of that magic to our forward line week in, week out for the next few years.

So you're clearly not lumping yourself in with those few folk then?

And both have come back from completely different injuries. I get your point, but your comparison doesn't support it at all.

I'd love to see one play up the ground while the other plays at the feet of Hogan/Dawes, and they rotate throughout the game. That's how I see it anyway.

Yep, well put LT. The kid has footy smarts and some class about him, and while he isn't the fastest small forward going around, he knows how to get to the right spots. I'm hopeful he can form a terrific partnership with Jeffy Garlett in the coming seasons.

Summed it well Ron. Seeing the young kids sign on for the future always warms the heart. I'm looking forward to seeing him form a handy small forward combo with Garlett over the next few years.

Schwabby was up a tree and caused it by slingshotting a little marble into his knee from distance. Does that do it for you?

True. We don't really know if he was going to have a terrific year or struggle and spend most of it in the magoos. For the record I've never put too much expectation on the kid and only hoped to see him earn his spot later in the year.

It's to be expected though. It will blow over once the season gets rolling and more realise that he wasn't going to play as much footy as they hoped anyway.

A little harsh C&B. Supporters here have the right to be disappointed by this news. Perspective will come later.

Or Screech. He'll be a ripper.

Cheers rjay, I thought I might have got the injuries around the wrong way. Hammy related problems certainly isn't as bad as an ACL, but it does show that the young fellas have the capacity to come back strong. I'll be watching how Scharenberg fares this yeah with interest.

Nick Malceski is one that comes to mind as well.