Goodvibes

You might want to change your signature then.

Thanks. Wasn't exactly a Demon for Life statement but right now I'll take it.

Some more details would be nice. When and where was this stated? Cheers in advance.

Whoo hoooo. I might crack that Robbie Flower Special Edition Port I've been saving up for a special occasion!

I hear it's a superdraft. Best since McLean, Walker, Sylvia, Ray, Bradley and co . . .

And they did it without two of their senior recruits Bock and Brennan and three of their brightest stars Bennell, Smith and Matera. And they've still got Jack Martin up their sleeve. Scary.

Mark Riley's doing a good job at the Suns . . . .

First Northey now Daniher. Anyone suggested Balme yet?

Hope

How about you float his name and we can tell you if we've heard it?

We've been in to him for 18 months. Don't assume the club get everything wrong.

And you can add Gibson . . .

In: Clark, Pedersen, Sellar, Trengove, Dawes, Byrnes, T McDonald Out: Clarke, Pederson, Seller, Trengrove, Daws, Burns, T MacDonald

It's an absolute drop in the ocean. Most here want the coach sacked and haven't flinched at the potential payout that we'll have to make there yet you're prepared to quibble over a few thousand dollars.

As I said on the other thread regarding women's AFL, I've had a fairly big involvement at a school and club level. At a time when we're all questioning the direction of our footy club it's easy to attack every new club-driven initiative that is brought to our attention. It's incredibly disappointing that 90% of the posts regarding female footy involve sexist jokes or question the thought processes of the club's decision makers at a time when I couldn't be more proud of the role the MFC is taking in promoting women and AFL. It's really quite simple. Women's AFL is clearly a minority sport. It's participation rates are low but steadily increasing. The top 10% of players are very very good but the overall standard is still quite poor. With improving pathways, national championships at senior and under 18 level girls are starting to get a more positive message that the sport they love is being taken seriously. Games like the Demons/Bulldogs curtain raiser are a huge boost to the profile of the sport and further incentive for girls already in the sport to continue and an incredibly important advertising tool in the bid to recruit more players. Imagine the AFL with the top 10% of talent playing on the field with another 40% who would be VFL standard and then another 25% would would be average players in local bush leagues and then another 25% who've never played the game before. That's roughly the demographic of most female footy competitions across the country. Obviously the standard is impacted negatively. When you watch any Women's AFL I urge you to focus on the skills, ability, co-ordination and sheer talent of the top 10% to gain an insight into what is possible. When the existing pathways extend to having a week in week out national competition the quality will improve immensely. I can assure you that the top 10% are just as hard with their attack on the footy and possess just as much talent and potential as their male counterparts. The girls I've coached over the years live for the game. Their passion for footy is enormous. They deserve greater recognition. And on a side note, the Bulldogs will win sadly. And keep an eye out for a little Indigenous girl called Ally Anderson. I'm proud to say I introduced her to the game about 7 years ago and she simply doesn't stop running! She was kicking drop punts right and left foot from the age of 12 without any coaching at all when she put her hand up to play her first game for me. If only Melbourne had picked her!!

Lance Franklin won't come to the MFC even if we pay him 2 million bucks a year but having said that I think people are being a little harsh on the OP. If Franklin was a genuine chance of moving to us (as I said unrealistic to my mind) we'd be crazy to overlook him because of list balance reasons. We are at such a low ebb. If a star of the competition is prepared to come to the current joke of the competition you take him. Structurally we'd obviously have to make changes. Clark could move into the first ruck position (where he made the All Australian squad) and be dangerous when resting forward. Dawes could play deep and Hogan at CHF and Buddy could have complete license to roam the forward line pushing up to the wing as he regularly does now. With Howe floating around we'd have the most exciting forward line of the past 50 years. What Franklin would bring is excitement, renewed enthusiasm, membership, sponsorship and other players. If Franklin announced he was coming here how much easier would it be to convince an Eddie Betts to come and rove off the likes of Franklin, Dawes, Clark and Hogan? How much easier would it be to convince Deon Prestia to come back to Victoria? Snaring Buddy wouldn't necessarily mean we could attract another midfielder or even two. The trickle on effect from Buddy signing could be incredible. Of course the midfield is our weakness but you don't turn your back on one of the biggest names in the competition if you get the opportunity.

How about Simon Black's midfield coach?

"If we can remember to be vigorous and determined" Did he really just end his article with this? I'm proposing a Woewodin-like policy across the entire team whereby everyone writes the word "EFFORT" in big black writing on the back of each hand to remind them to try. Wow. It's hard to stay positive.

I was 3. My daughter's 3 right now and sings the Dees song every day and was singing it at the end of the game yesterday. I'm guessing I was the same back then. Trust me, this is a very carefully considered graph.

I can't remember feeling this low as a supporter of this footy club. My friends marvel at my resilience and ability to bounce back and always be talking about next week, next year or the next six foot recruit from Eaglehawk. Put simply, I'm struggling to see a way out and in all my years following this team, I've always hung on to more than just blind optimism and irrational hope. I've always penned my MFC premiership team (in puzzle-like fashion) with a label some 4 - 6 years in the future. My friends have stopped abusing me, my students pity me and my family probably think twice before calling me. We have surely hit rock bottom. I hate self-pity and often have a crack at other Dees supporters for giving in to the losing culture and exposing the very obvious chip on their shoulder. Now it's time for my self-indulgence. I give you the Goodvibes Graph of Faith/Hope. It's clear proof. We've never been lower.

Seven seasons at the club and he's been a member of winning sides only 22 times. Joel Selwood had notched up 19 wins in his first year alone. Poor bugger. Fronts up to the media and is asked to compare eras of incompetence.

I routinely fall for the pre-season hype. I consider that my perogative as a supporter. Sad to say, this time round I was pretty measured with my expectations. It seems instead that it was the coach that got caught up in the hype surrounding track form. He was genuinely shocked after round 1. The warning bells were ringing.

Everyone here has every right to be absolutely spitting chips but the presser was fine. The two concerns highlighted here (the strength factor compared to GC and the look at the players stuff) are ridiculous. The strength stuff was used as an example of how poor we were and explained why we missed so many bloody tackles and the don't worry about me line was a re-hash of something he said after the Essendon game. He was actually going in to bat for the players suggesting he's big enough and ugly enough to deal with the aftermath of yet another thrashing but feared for the psyche of his young team. The real concern was the three hours that occured before the presser. There's a carcass there that is still warm. Forget the presser.

The beautiful part of that bump was that Fletcher saw him coming and fumbled. Wonder what Robinson thought about that effort.

I spoke to Neeld after the lacklustre Anzac Day training session. He simply stated, "I didn't see that coming".