titan_uranus

i dont think the stadium deal is the biggest problem. i think it is fixturing. how many night games do we get to help get sponsors on board? how many sat arvo at the g games do we get? (they seem to be the games that get the crowds). playing on sundays seem to get us lower crowds anyway. playing interstate games on sundays are even worse. this year we had a reprive but in previous years we have been stuck with interstate teams on mothers day! we get stuck with twilight fixtures and home games at telstra dome, all fixturing elements that kill our crowds, and thus our support. (ps fwiw this is why we get the money from the CBF, because the afl wants to maximise revenue by rigging the fixture and needs to compensate the other clubs, that they are talking about pulling the money should come hand in hand with evening out the draw.)

This is the real issue. There is no way the AFL is going to allow us to use a 'boutique' stadium. There's no money in it. That's why games aren't played at Windy Hill, Arden Street, Glenferrie Oval etc. any more. Also, here we are complaining about how the MFC never gets a decent fixture. Why then would we want to sacrifice the chance to play night games or attract decent sized crowds? Geelong has a 'boutique' stadium because they're Geelong. It's another city. They need to respect both their Geelong and Melbourne members. By the way, unless you live near there, who wants to go to Casey?

Before you get too carried away watch the TIGES, still on only 2 wins @ nearly the halfway mark. Not more than 4 wins will see them get pick 1...

Now they're only 1 win away. And they could have beaten the Dogs and played well against the Cats and Hawks. And they haven't played us yet.

Improvement on our effort in Round 1. By that I mean a win. If not a win then not a 100-point loss.

out of interest, C Johnson, Buckley and Yze are all named on the ground for sandy, while Frawley, Holland, Bode and Valenti are named on the Sandy bench.

I dont know if it counts for anything, but usually the dees pick the starting 18 and the outs come from the extended interchange bench, so i wonder if this could be happening in reverse (ie the sandy defs are named in the sandy 18 and the interchanges could be moved up to afl)...

I used to think that but I'm pretty sure PJ was named on the ground for Sandy last week yet still managed a call up vs Adelaide.

Our defence for this week is not terribly confidence-inspiring. I think Yze has to play this week if only for some experience and leadership down there. Hopefully Frawley keeps his spot, he simply has to keep playing on the good forwards of the league to improve. Maybe Frawley to Roughead?

I don't want him to go, but will Valenti keep his spot? I guess maybe he could make way for CJ's or Bode's last chance. I hope not though.

i am all for curtain raisers...i reckon they should play them their during all day games, no need for them at night matches. if they did id get their at 12, watch the game and then have lunch their. ok i know its expensive, but i get a full days entertainment, not just 2.5 hours. i know the g looks great these games, but o you reckon 1 extra game a week is too much?

I with you deanox, I think curtain raisers are a good thing. They get people to the ground who might not otherwise have come, and then hopefully they stick around afterwards, boosting attendance numbers. Plus maybe they spend more money on food etc. Plus its entertaining.

That is priceless.

I think that you will find that the club can nominate which rookie goes back when Grimes come good. Note that the club did not promote Valenti until they were pretty positive that Nietz would not play again, thus preserving a permanent place for Wonaeamirri.

I hope so. It would make sense though - imagine if Neitz hadn't been on the LTI, and had retired spontaneously. Then the club would have had the choice over any rookie to promote, right? So in effect Melbourne is just choosing any of the 4 rookies to get a spot on the senior list. Well that's the way I hope it is.

My proposed changes are in Holland out Jamar we need a bigger target in the Forward line PJ Should play there and put Holland down back the only problem will be when the Im gunna get better White when he goes forward

Holland shouldn't play down back unless there's a gorilla-forward i.e Rocca, Gehrig. There's no-one in Hawthorn's team that would provide a suitable match up for Holland. If Jamar keeps his spot (which he sholdn't) PJ should play full-forward IMO.

There is a fine line that people like us would do well not to cross, and as most people here have already said, that line separates criticism of a player's football ability or performances from personal criticism. IMO, professional footballers need to be able to take a look at what people may be saying about their football, even if some of the criticism is harsh. As has been said, for every bagger there is usually a defender. Also, I think a lot of the time criticism stems from supporter passion - we all want to see our club win, so we get worked up over what prevents those wins.

Overall boards such as this one are mainly positive, and are nothing more that a place where supporters can share news, ideas and opinions. They are just that. Opinions. Mark Robinson has blown a legimitate topic out of proportion.

Cellar-dwelling Demons seeking $1m life support

Quite an unenviable situation we're in here. We need the money, however if we continue to live off 'life support' we may never establish our own means of creating funds.

Ricky = 426

The curse continues.

Rivers better be fit for this week, or Franklin will break the all time record for most goals kicked by an individual player in a single game!

Two promising players whose development has somewhat been stalled due to injuries. Not fair.

Can someone clarify for me: now that Neitz has retired, does Wonaeamirri get to stay on the senior list for the remainder of the year? May be a dumb question but I've heard conflicting answers.

I say he deserves one more chance to show whether or not he can still play AFL football. Against the Hawks thats not such a bad idea because we're unlikely to do too well anyway, however considering the likely standard of our football vs theirs anyone who plays badly is going to be targeted so I get the feeling that should he play he's a good chance to become a scapegoat and not last another match.

He's training today, straightline short sprints.

Hmm well I can't decide whether to care or not. Hopefully he doesn't just waltz straight into the team, he needs to prove himself at Sandy.

I assume Bruce and McDonald will continue as caretakers until the end of the year.

By the start of 2009 however I'd like to think that McLean would have staked his claim.

My leadership group for 2009:

Brock McLean (Captain)

Jared Rivers

Matthew Bate

Nathan Jones

Ricky Petterd

I wouldn't put Petterd in there until he becomes more of a permanent fixture in the team. I like the rest though.

http://news.theage.com.au/sport/shaun-burg...80520-2g8l.html

Crawford accepted his one match ban, but McGlynn is contesting his 3 week suspension

Clint Bartram said at the Demonland/Demonology function last night that Juice had a slight knee injury and would be back in a week or two.

Does that mean he'll be fit in a week or two, and might go back to Sandy, or he'll be playing for Melbourne in a week or two?

Just did an interview on 3AW - spoke about how the game may have overtaken him but is in good shape for the future.

Remove the #3 from Aussie's jumper

He should keep the 39. Let kids get 39 put on their backs, let him make 39 his own so he can become a fan favourite like Davey kinda was.

Neitz ur a bloody Champion.

Now go off and start breeding.

Hahaha, good idea

The worst one is contested marks - we had 3, they had 13.

People like you with rose coloured glasses never see the other side, you want to go for the man then thats ok by me and I did not base it on last week but if you think our midfield is great then good on you except for one half of football against Freo what have we done, nothing, but I guess thats ok by you, it's people like you that like to put up with sub standard games and still clap them off........

Well what have you based it on? We played a clearly top 4 team and got done by 12 goals, in situations such as this there are always going to be players who have a small influence. Last week it was Jones, why didn't you call for him to be traded? Because they are the future of this club. Did you forget last week? Or the Geelong match where he was best on ground in the first half? The problem isn't McLean, its the fact that we don't have enough players who can take up the slack when one of our better players is tagged out of the game.

OTHER MATCH UPS

Garland v Williams

Bell v Rioli

Bruce v Crawford

Moloney v Mitchell

McDonald v Sewell

Bartram v Bateman

Once Whelan gets in the best at Sandy then he can come in.

If Sylvia is fit he should come back through Sandy.

Wouldn't Garland be too slow for Williams? Ditto Bell on Rioli? I would put Bell on Williams. Maybe Bartram on Rioli, not sure though.

looks like crawf and mcglynn wont be playin

shane out for 1

and mcglynn is lookin at 3

Crawford is likely to go to the tribunal because he can't get off with a guilty plea, so he might play yet. And we can add Guerra to that list thanks to a hamstring injury.

For more info plus a nice summary of his career:

http://melbournefc.com.au/tabid/7415/Defau...px?newsid=59839

Says there's the 'David Neitz Medal' for the club's 300 game players - awesome idea.

Testament to his greatness is the fact that he was never dropped (according to the article)

I spoke to Sean Wellman at the aftermatch function, and he said it was a knock on the hip, and he'd be out 'for a couple', and also that Carroll had a bit

of a hamstring niggle and would miss next week most likely too...

I wonder if what he says about Carroll is true. I was feeling that maybe dropping him was in some way related to his discipline/off-field behaviour. Hopefully he is just injured though, because I was wondering why PJ got the nod over Carroll to replace Rivers

I know! That's why I'm so worried as the where he is!

Our forward line has been our strength for as long as I can remember. Jackovich, Lyon, Schwartz, Farmer, Yze, Neitz, Robertson.

It is now our weakness and there is noone in site who looks like they can step up and be our next great forward. Bate and Miller player the lead up role. Robbo would have maybe 1-2 seasons left, and is past his best. Yze is gone. Davey is being pushed up into the midfield. Dunn is playing as a tagger and going backwards. Wona is ok, but is a crumber and not someone to rely on to kick you bags and take the number 1 defender

So where is Newton?

This draft we must draft a tall forward. Hurley would be nice!

I thought Hurley was a defender. But yeah, you're right. I personally think Newton is not up to it, so maybe that's why Zomer is on the rookie list. Still need to draft a replacement though.