Lord Nev

Interesting to see the reaction of the usually uninvolved Cyril to Jeff's comments. I'm assuming the quality of his comments wouldn't have come as a surprise to Cyril given his rocky history with his former President.

Ok then I'll rephrase if you prefer: What is the basis of your 'suspicion' that AIG Security are employing Indian students to work at Marvel Stadium?

Not that "a poster" isn't always the best source of information, but as far as I know the security contract for Marvel Stadium is AIG Security who are based in Fairfield, VIC. What exactly are you basing your assertion on that all the security staff are 'Indian students'?

No he didn't. He assumed as such by making generalisations about the appearance of the few security people he's seen, and was caught out doing so. To quote: Neil Mitchell: What, you mean they appear to be of ethnic background? Mr Kennett: Well, they’re new arrivals to Australia, it appears. Neil Mitchell: We don’t know that. Mr Kennett: We don’t know that and they could be born here. But of course, I wouldn't have thought you would know the facts given your disdain for the media. I wonder how you even heard about it?

Probably need a sample size bigger than 1 game before judging it myself, but you're entitled to your opinion.

Apologies, was not meant to come across as a dig at you in the slightest, and didn't mean it to imply you were being selective or anything of the like. Was merely trying to add to your post with a quote from the interview which I personally found appalling.

For full clarity though, let's remember the full trade scenario ended up being: OUT: Hogan, Pick 65 (which they didn't use) IN: May, Kolodjashnij, Sparrow

You've been quite kind to Jeff in what you've quoted too, thought this particular exchange was appalling from a club president: Neil Mitchell: What, you mean they appear to be of ethnic background? Mr Kennett: Well, they’re new arrivals to Australia, it appears. Neil Mitchell: We don’t know that.

Haha ok then champ, thanks for your life story, have a great week.

Michael Gleeson, whom I respect greatly as a footy journo, put it really well in this section of his article this evening: "Fans are thus now better prepared to accept the word of the thrown-out loudmouth when they protest (very quickly on social media replete with videos of the incident and just as quickly on talkback radio) that they did nothing, than they are to accept the assurances of the officials that the person deserved to be thrown out. The loud and ejected have been allowed to be turned into the victims because the AFL has allowed itself to be cast as the aloof bureaucracy trying to take the game away from the people. If you are going to do it, be honest and tell people why. People want to be condescended to by officials about as much as they want to sit near an offensive supporter behaving badly." 4 Points: How the AFL alienated its fans

I reckon we would agree on a lot mate, and I love that you're still up and about for this season even if it's maybe more motivated by rage (which I can relate to). Let's just both hope that the steps being taken behind the scenes now will end up being effective for us and we can use the rest of this year to launch into a successful 2020, even if you and I disagree a bit on the launch process. Cheers!

Mate, I love your passion, but I'm not sure how many more ways I can explain it. Of course there's reasons for coming into a season underprepared. Our surgery and fitness report clearly explained that. It's not an excuse, it's the reality of our preparation. It's not about putting the cue in the rack. Putting the cue in the rack would be continuing to do the same thing for the rest of the season. 'Toughen up' is out of touch talk. Is that how you'd handle injuries? Just tell them to 'toughen up'? Again, it's just simply not reality. I guess we have different priorities. I won't us to be best prepared for a shot at a flag, you seem to want 22 unfit tough guys with a terrible game plan running out there every week like it's some kind of catharsis rather than a complicated game with many different facets that effect success.

Sure, but the reality is we came into this season underprepared due to running the players down, which was worth it to make a prelim, but not worth it to possibly finish 10th instead of 12th, which could be the case this year. Reality is we have players who are nowhere near 100% fitness and we are far better off getting them physically right for a year that matters than setting ourselves back again for next year. Reality is we have massive game plan and structure issues that we can start working on during proper games and try to get it fine tuned by preseason, or we can just keep doing the same old (which is costing us games btw) and then try to teach the players something new in the short time span of one preseason. Let's deal in reality and not cliches.

I don't think I made my point clear enough mate. I was having a crack at the players and coaches by saying it looks like they already pulled the pin. Either way, I've tried to explain that my suggestion isn't 'pulling the pin', it's putting a value on an effective preseason rather than destroying another preseason by riding players into the ground and not adjusting/innovating our game plan(s) and structures.

Yep agreed, and that's what i think is important about the Nicholls case. If that supporter was yelling it out from the crowd after a poor decision it's pretty standard stuff, but hanging over the race screaming it in his face as he's walking out is not ok IMO.

To be fair though, ANB has had at least 2 games cut short with injury, not that that would make a difference of 14 marks of course.

The pin was pulled a few rounds in judging by onfield performance. This isn't about conceding the season, it is about doing what is best for the future without sacrificing the ability to properly prepare for it. It's a shift in planning, not a shift in what the goal is, which is winning games and ultimately a premiership.

Absolutely, I'm 100% with you on that, I'm not into 'alternate scoreboards'. We should be building more of a structure that relies less on talent to be effective and then we'll get that balance you speak of right IMO. I believe we've got the competitive stuff and plenty of the 'hurt', but we are just a bit dumb and unskilled. We get such a small window in between seasons to work on things, let's just start it now and launch into 2020 at full speed.

I'm not talking about tanking, the ultimate goal of winning games remains otherwise you destroy any culture we've built, but playing fit players takes precedence over rushing in underdone or sore players, despite talent. Get TMac, Viney, Gus or anyone else that appears to be playing under duress off to the surgeon or into the 'off legs' program rather than riding them into the ground and impacting their preseason. Build up more of a portfolio of game plans and get the onfield leaders versed in reading the state of the game and implementing them. We seem to only have the 1 strategy, despite the momentum of the game. If we can get a focus on that, spend time in game working on it, it will hold us in good stead for the future I believe.

Be better not to now in my opinion. Similar to the Swans in 2017, I think we'd use up all our tickets getting there and it would end up a pointless endeavor. We'd then be starting behind again, just like last preseason, with worn down players needing surgery/rehab and we'd be staring down the barrel of an underprepared 2020. I personally think we should treat the rest of 2019 as a preseason for 2020. Get the surgeries done now, be extra conservative with rehab and fitness, workshop our game plan and structures, and make some hard decisions about senior players who may need to be dropped to work on weak areas of their games. All about 2020 now. Get a head start so we can have clear air going into preseason.

Source: https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/tr-melbourne-demons?year=2019&rt=TT&st=MA

So your solution to your perceived over-policing of abuse is more abuse? Good luck with that.

Is that really what you want? People doing their jobs to be physically attacked? And then you wonder why they have these people there in the first place...

Those poor victim fans. Obviously security is not needed at all... "Video footage posted to social media showed Victoria Police getting between fans who were fighting each other after the siren, with one throwing a right hand over the top of an officer in an attempt to strike another man. An unknown fan then pours what appears to be beer on the police and the offending fans from the stand above." https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/carlton-and-western-bulldogs-fans-fight-each-other-as-police-intervene/news-story/66b8edd91361c37a0450dcf11cefcd6a?fbclid=IwAR323m6TuglcI11h-BYzUcq3j4GrE6y5LhIrAEYTDDP24hBGDnhjfIxAzjA

Have a look at the ones who are telling you they're picking on the 'harmless loud fool' though, it's generally the 'harmless loud fool' themselves. 'Bald headed [censored]' guy was hanging over the race screaming it (and by fans reports, various other things) directly at Nicholls as he was walking out. It wasn't a 'harmless loud' comment during the game after a decision he disagreed with when the umpire was hundreds of metres away on the ground, it was directly at him from close proximity and not during game time. The Carlton bloke who has played the victim has a bunch of social media posts from before his 15 minutes of fame where he is absolutely abusing people with foul language in a way that would threaten most families at a game. You honestly believe he was just innocently barracking when kicked out? Find it strange that for such a (generally) sceptical site, so many are getting sucked in by the media outrage agenda so easily.