Rodney (Balls) Grinter

I think best 22 is more equivalent to dream side. This thread is Rd 1 team 2019, it's highly unlikely (just per any Rd really) that we wI'll have our best 22 to pick in Rd.1.

If Vanders is fit he plays. Guy is a bull and an absolute asset for breaking sides apart. The more I stew over this, I'm also l'm also thinking how much it will come down to how our forwards/forward line functions in the JLT. If Weid struggles to make much of an impact, Preuss could find a spot in the side to help cover our forward line arial presence or perhaps even someone like Tim Smith, Joel Smith or Keilty might get a gig. Will make for a very interesting JLT series for Demons supporters, which on another note is such a refreshing change for Demons supporters from years gone by. Where previously, we were looking to the preseason comp for signs we would be compeditive for the season comming, at the moment it's more about who has the inside running to make round 1 and what subtle structural changes we might be making to our game style and team setup.

Interesting that unlike many others you have also left Preuss out of the 22 for round 1. A bit like you, I don't think Preuss is nessasrily a walk up start for Rd 1 either. I do wounder if all of Fritsch, Hannan, Garlett, Vanders and Nibbler fit into the same forward line though, which could create the room for big Preuss. Nibbler and Vanders will rotate on-ball, so I'm guessing that it's one of Hannan, Freitch or Garlett doesn't play if we go tall. I'm guessing that it could come down to whether Port look like playing both of Lycett and Ryder. If they do, I think we will match their dual ruck setup.

The big question to talk about is who matches up on Jack Watts? Ooops, I forgot Casey doesn't play in the SANFL!

Harmes on Wines would be a great match-up, but agree it's or only a matter of time until the hunter becomes the huunted with Harmes. Possibly even having good mates Viney and Wines going head to head. The prospect of unleashing a fully fit raring to go Viney Rd 1 is mouth watering.

Have I missed the purpose of this discussion, getting the wrong mail or something, but I keep hearing that Lever won't be ready for selection until around Rd 9 - 12, so I'm having problems understanding why so many here (and in the 'proffesional' media) have got him in their Rd 1 sides for us.

Need to get brother Andrew into a Demons kit sooner rather than later, their poor mum looks confused with all those scarfs on and none of them a MFC one ? All is forgiven: ‘Very fit’ Brayshaw pumped for 2019 https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2019-preseason-no-animosity-towards-andrew-gaff-says-mark-brayshaw/news-story/29f8904833d17e9ca00dc78aa1005ca5

I know of the daily plannet, but not as far as knowing what street it is on! A mate of mine did use to live in a street in the Croydon area which is "The Nook" - there is a brothel on that street too.

It would be a bit of a marketing fail to open a brothel in the area wouldn't it. ...or conversely is that how the area got it's name originally. Along similar lines, there is the locally based business 'Cockburn Cement' - an early version of viagra for when you've had a big night on the nest, but just need to keep powering on! ...perhaps?

As much as I don't hold anything like the same sort of grudge agains Hoges as I do against that little [censored] $cully, I really do hope we smash Freo this game and send a strong message to Hoges for the sake of any others that might want to jump ship. I'd prefer no uncalled for boooing (though I'm sure there will be some), but just for the MFC to turn up and put on a display of force that Jesse will remember and make him think about what he has walked away from over on the East Coast. ...and at the end of the game when Steve May shakes Jesse's hand, he won't just be saying thanks for the game, he will be saying thanks for this opportunity.

Still on ADSL. For the most part it serves our needs ...on a $40 per month plan if I recall correctly. I'm not really that keen on paying any more for Internet if we don't really need the extra bandwidth/speed.

I honestly can't understand why with all the competition from Internet TV streaming services Foxtel prices haven't come down to better compete with them. I hate the infated Foxtel prices, but our internet service isn't that great, thus I like my footy viewing to be independent of something which sometimes either gets choked up with bandwidth or goes on the blink randomly or when it rains or something. We are only on a pretty cheap internet service and could probably get better by paying a few more bucks, but that becomes a bit self defeating. How/why haven't Foxtel dropped their prices a bit more? Is it the price of satellite access or something? Just curious.

I guess it goes to show how in AFL these days players are only a dozen or so games from being a superstar to an ordanary player - at least in the eyes of the media and some supporters (myself included). When he was at his peak, KK was a player that I really thought, gee there's a player I'd like to have at Melbourne, but those few seasons or so of concussion and average form have just put that question mark over him that can he get back to his best. Really looking forward to see what he can do for the MFC.

A [censored] one. I'm just glad that phone cameras and social media were not a thing back in my youth and I recon alot of players back in the 70s, 80s, 90s era that are pretty glad of that too.

I can't say I'd ever watched a full game of reserves footy, but always appreciated getting there from around half time of the ressies onwards for the reasons raised above. It was much easier to casually watch and observe the individual performance of players, in a relaxed way, without getting too worked up about the scores/result. Good to see the young kids developing, how players comming back from injury/poor form were looking for the next week, or to hang it on an out of form nemesis from the opposition who'd been dropped.

Agree with the above and whilst I think local residents views both for and against are important, I've been thinking that one thing that certainly shouldn't be discounted are the view of us MFC supporters as well. As MFC supporters, we are still part of the comunity and pretty important stakeholders regardless of living in the city council/local area or not. Even though I now live interstate, I still feel a real affiliation for the MFC and Yarra Park area and really don't like 'Plan B' options anywhere near as much, because let's face it, they are further from our home the mighty G, further from the range of public transport options and generally inferior. ...and their are over 40,000 MFC members + more non member supporters. This precinct doesn't just belong to the local residents, there is a degree to which it belongs to all of us. I don't want to go as far as saying that the MFC has some kind of 'native title' to this area, because there is nothing like that level of cultural/spiritual equivalence. However, I do also think that the MFC has a significant historical association with this location and that shouldn't count for nothing either when it comes to planning approval considerations.

Surely with all the coin that the AFL have been prepared to throw at the expansion clubs a bit of funding from them would be a reasonable thing. As for some of the others, like Melbourne City Council, the Victorian and National Governments and even the MCC to an extent and surely they need to reconise the cultural and heritage importance and significance of the MFC and that the club really needs a proper permanent facility around the location of it's historical birthplace and namesake to survive and prosper into the future. Some important negioation, politicing and promotion of the MFC cause to be done by Pert, Bartlett and Co to be done over the next few years I think. Melbourne members and supporters can and should be part of that push.

The opposition to the potential MFC training facility at Yarra Park by some of the local residents assioation has been well highlighted in this thread and is certainly something that the club will need to work on/with. However, it was also interesting listening to the Glen Bartlett interview that one of the things he said is that there was actually a shortage of playing feilds in the area. What I'm reading into that is that is that the MFC needs to build support and alliances with some of the local sporting clubs in the area to them behind the proposal. That kind of local community support would help ballance out the disgruntled resident types by demonstrating real mutual comunity benifit. I recon it's a case of watch this space.

I agree with others views such as @binman and @Lucifer's Hero that a meeting place for members/fans/supporters is important. If we segway to the other thread about rebuilding the MFC as a great club again, then great club's are based around people and I think that bringing together all our people and building a sense of belonging is vital to that. I hear the sentiments of those like @Sir Why You Little that not all MCC members are the wealthy toff types and that stereotyping and segregating MFC supporters is not the way to go. Thus a truely universal social facility that brings together MFC & MFC/MCC members under the one roof would be a good outcome. I 've never been an MCC member myself, but for most of my life I've been a MFC member - presently an interstate one. When in my youth a real highlight of our home games going to the footy was attending the 'Demons Club' (I think that's what it use to be called) in one of the function rooms in bouls of the old Northern stand. I recall it having a bit of a mix of MFC and MCC supporters, they put on a good spread of nibbles and it was a great family atmosphere. In my view that's the kind of thing we need to rebuild as a cultural institution of the MFC and it would be good if that could encompass all of the Redleg Club (which I recall as being more of a MCC crowd, but could well be wrong), Demon Army, standard rank and file MFC members together in one spot. Perhaps that's actually the kind of thing which could provide the value to some of the MCC members to join as combined MFC members.

Yeah, ok, kinda makes sense. I was thinking that every club got some allocation of GF tickets regardless of their team playing and that he was after one of those. Personally I'd have little interest in going to a GF and buying another clubs membership just to watch a random GF.

My point is that they are absolute puss at the moment and we are on the up and up. They seemed to really struggle to put bums on seats this season and I would have thought that would also have translated to their membership, but clearly it seems they have a fairly substantial base of welded on members/suporters. I really think it should be possible for us to climb above them, at least temporarily over the next few years, particularly if they stay mired in mediocrity or worse and from there you never know. We really need to get in early as a club, build momentum and translate that finals type attendance/support into memberships early.

It would look to be a fairly real possibility at the moment, but I actually hope GC do survive and go on to bigger and better things. I think there lack of membership numbers at the moment would be related to their poor onfeild performance, but also possibly another hang over from last season, when the didn't play many games at Carrara due to the Comm Games. I do think it would be good for the growth Aussie Rules footy in general in Qld for the Suns to be successful, because living in Brisbane, I know there is a genuinely strong presence of grass roots footy on the Gold Coast, although I also understand that top level teams from different codes have also successively failed and folded there. One differentiator though I think is that the other codes (soccer and rugby league) haven't had either the finacial resources or long term commitment to keep unfinancial teams going there more than a few years. If the AFL can hang in there long enough for the Suns to have some on feild sucess, it could be key to growth and more established presence of Aussie Rules in this part of Queensland, by being the dominant locally present professional team.

Interesting strategy, though I'd rather buy a GC membership myself for several reasons.

Some might be just interstate, 3 game members etc and not every member will want to go to every game (except during finals) but you certainly have a point. The problem of popularity and sucess I guess. The club's might need to look at preallocating particular games between its members, although games against interstate clubs wouldn’t be so bad. Still I'd like us to be in that position, because as some have pointed out, I see it panning out as a bit of an arms race in this respect at the moment, which could result in one of the lesser Vic sides be squeezed out of the,competition and/or being forced to relocate. At the end of the day, being an interstate member, the purpose of my membership these days is more or less altruistic, I just want to see the club do well ...oh and I want to be there when we win a flag, which is why I purchased one of the grand final garentee memberships at the start of this season. I do think that the strategy PJ started of trying to attract the new arrivals to Melbourne to the club is a good idea and an area where the MFC should have a small natural advantage through the name Melbourne. It would be interesting to know how much fruit this campaign might have brought us, but I think it's something that would require quite alot of nurturing of those being brought along to games, because you are not only trying to sell them the club, but also introduce them to the game it's self.

We at least need to get above Carlton. Must say, I'm a little suprised to see GWS now have more members than Brisbane as for a long time GWS had figures more like the Suns. Could easily change if the on-feild fortunes of these sides respectively change. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/afl/afl-membership-ladder-tigers-set-to-reach-100-000-once-again-as-suns-bottom-out-20181207-p50ktp.html MEMBERSHIP LADDER Adelaide (77,504)* Richmond (74,110) Hawthorn (60,007) West Coast (59,800) Essendon (51,011) Fremantle (44,293) Port Adelaide (42,723) Geelong (41,034) Carlton (38,965) Melbourne (30,096) Sydney (29,046) North Melbourne (26,921) Western Bulldogs (26,855) St Kilda (25,500) Greater Western Sydney (13,814) Brisbane (12,974) Gold Coast (5894) * Includes non-financial "We Fly as One" members. ** Collingwood refused to divulge their figures