Rab D Nesbitt

Well that turned out to be a pleasant afternoon. Found a spot on the gasometer wing next to the Bradke clan. Whereas Maxy has recently shed 10kg Austin has gone the other way and put on 10 kegs. Now in the low 90’s. He loves being at the club and supported us growing up. Just like his dad. Five clubs were into him apparently but only had eyes for the red and blue.

Whenever I come across an Essendon fan I always excuse them. It just seems like the compassionate thing to do.

Friday afternoon off locked in. Going as much out of nostalgia as Arden St was one of my favourite away grounds back in the day.

Certainly not something to be sneezed at.

This inanimate carbon rod.

To witness the lengths this collective unit want to go to in order to make our club successful goes a long way to strengthening the connection between club and supporters I think. It might be my 'go to' piece of footage if I find doubt creeping in at any point during the season and am in need of a pick me up.

How good was the bit with the boys getting around Kozzie down at the beach. That was a great little video. Well done MFC ?

No fruity new age brews for me either GT. Only dark ales. Dutch or Belgian dubbels where I can find them or failing all of the above a cold Guinness.

We’re spoiled for choice when it comes to micro breweries and their craft beers in the inner city suburbs so I for one wouldn’t spend time at an MFC social club that offered the tired old options of CUB or their modern day equivalents. They both belong to a bygone era.

It may have already been mentioned on these threads but instead of building over the Jolimont railyards they could place the tracks underground and we could have a new training facility and office where the old East Melbourne cricket ground used to be.

Is the Gosch’s Paddock area currently within what is known as the MCG Precinct or would this require some creative gerrymandering first?

Just like a 5 year plan but 20% better.

You've got some good structures in place there EO, but what's your Plan B ?

Relax. It's out of our control. Just enjoy the ride.

That's a really good point you've made there Balls. The new horizons that the AFL are looking towards relate to gender and not geography and both sexes will be the long term beneficiaries.

You have to wonder if the game is finally reaching it's zenith commercially. With little prospect of the competition expanding into new markets domestically, two current markets (GWS & GC) being heavily subsidised and seemingly little appeal overseas to viewers and advertisers (relative to other major codes) it's hard to see where they can go next. The NZ and China experiments tend to attract two guys and a dog which isn't totally surprising when they send some of our poorest performing clubs to showcase the game. Is sending GC to Darwin to play another cellar dweller every year really a good advertisement for our code? AFLW is surely just a teeny part of the overall financial picture at the moment.

It's a real bummer for the guy as it looks like he's done a mountain of work to change his physique. I almost didn't recognise him when I turned up at training late last year. The upside is that it has at least happened early enough to work out alternatives during our four practice games. Like Max he's also had an unbroken pre-season to date which everyone say's is important.

AFLGBTQI ?

I have a soft spot for the Shinboners but if they can't make ends meet then they need to relocate to a place where they can flourish or just fold. They're already selling out their own fans to the tune of four home games a year just to keep their heads above water so it's time to [censored] or get off the pot for them in regards to Tasmania. If the concerns about a phoenix club being viable down there are credible then moving lock stock and barrel could see them keep enough of their Melbourne based support to make the difference. I don't want to see them being gifted 'home' games in Melbourne as a sweetener to move however.

These things are always subjective and relative to particular eras but in my time following the club it's clearly Robert Flower.

It hadn't crossed my mind to check if they even have stores over here. I just assumed they were everywhere these days. It's Rab by the way.

Apparently Razor Ray isn't a fan but then he does have Lidl man syndrome.

Will a dropped mark in the corridor now be a spillage in aisle 3?

Quelle surprise ?

Perhaps they could play at Angel Stadium in Anaheim as it has roughly the same pear shaped dimensions at the Gabba did when Hawthorn played Essendon up there in the early nineteen eighties. Gold Coast should be the opposition as it's only fitting that the two Mickey Mouse outfits of the competition fight it out for the four points in the shadow of Disneyland. The AFL could pump it up as the battle of two heavyweights as they yanks will be none the wiser. Any crowd bigger than a Chargers home game would be considered a success.