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He needs to learn how to allow others to get the footy instead of him in transition but his tank and competitive nature is a weapon. He is a good player already and will get better.

Maybe I am just no that concerned with the situation - I don't know why this doesn't bother me. LeBron James has an opt-out clause he can use in a few weeks and he has steadfastly decided not to talk about it. Just because Frawley is not smart enough to give the old 'no comment' doesn't mean I damn him for it. If he stays, he stays. Great. If he goes, we will move on. But unless he has already signed a contract elsewhere like Scully, this just doesn't bother me. If I was in charge of the FA rules I would make it a rule that you can't re-sign until the FA period begins. Just do not see it as a failure of leadership; clubs do it to players all the time and then the club turns around and demands everything of those players they nearly spurned.

Can you please explain to me why 'leaders' at a club have to sign mid-season?

We need a presence! A money losing presence!

I don't think he should 'wait for the ultimate', I think he should wait until Roos has been able to completely imprint his imprimatur on the Football Department before bothering with a 'catch all' PR related piece in The Age. Flag changes on the website, invite discussion there, some of the designs for the future are obvious - I have done a couple of surveys myself related to the emblem and my own personal story of following Melbourne - they are obviously keen to change and focus the messaging. And that is ironic because suddenly throwing out this Yankees vision and inevitable comparison is a failure of messaging and many fans have misinterpreted it or felt it premature and not thought through - such as myself and quite a number in this thread. And that leads me to these particular statements - he has 'a clear plan' that is yet to be 'really investigated'? I think you agree with me more than you think. And 'growing the brand' isn't a plan. It's what should eventuate from the plan. My point is that you can't sell me something you aren't entirely on top of yourself, and GB should have held off on the selling until he has a solid idea of what he is selling (The Plan), and people are willing to listen (we are winning).

46 would be close to Casey if there was a ready replacement in form but there isn't. And 31 was pretty bloody solid back there on Monday.

Terrible, small forward line. And robbing the backline of Dunn, please... And the desire to drop Dawes is an utter rejection of what your eyes have seen in the last 6 weeks since he has returned. He has straightened us up immeasurably and as a forward myself I can tell you, the way we have been kicking to him is the only pathetic aspect of our game at the minute. Defenders are hanging off him and hitting his body late from behind and our mids are letting them do it by kicking it on top of his head. Deliver the ball better and then complain about his output.

What work? He hasn't done any of it. The aspect of the club that has been concentrated on is the football side of things. Jackson said we stood for everything but football, and thankfully Jackson and Bartlett and the AFL were able to get Paul Roos and his team to help us concentrate on footy. We are 10 weeks into that and I think we should keep concentrating on that for the time being... The mish-mash of various idea isn't the troubling aspect Billy. We all have our thoughts on commercial awareness and the Casey initiative. The issue is that he throws this out, via Caroline Wilson, as a series of random thought bubbles that resemble the Footy Board here at Demonland. He puts pressure on himself and the club with a reference to his vision of the MFC being an attraction akin to the Yankees in NY, and if; 'Melbourne' is in the song, and the Demons VFL team plays out of a revamped Goschs, and there is an expensive Merch shop in Collins St, and there is a billboard at Swanston St. ...it won't mean it is a strategic plan or even a solid business case for the costs involved. I don't want to hear vague devices like the above. I want to hear what their long term plan is to realise this vision, how much it is going to cost, how we can afford it, and why Casey is being spurned for this well-conceived and thought through plan. Keep your mouth shut until you have got something of substance to announce, defend, and put into practice.

How many Inside 50s did we have? And how slow did we move the footy?

I don't think there is a forward playing today that could have broken that game our way. It was the mids of Collingwood that stole a few inches and got them the win. Gamebreakers are in the middle.

We should target one of the following: Dangerfield, Redden, Rockliff, Sidebottom, Beams, Hannebery, Steven, Fyfe, and Josh Kennedy (Swans). Game breakers are required to win games like the one we strangled on Monday. The bolded are certainly those. The others would be fantastic help for Jones to take that next step.

Yes, their fans won't take us seriously but at least their coaching staff are at least. I agree about the Carlton nonsense - I doubt we will see that from any side this year and hopefully the near-to-medium-term future. If you want to beat Melbourne - you better play your full strength team and you better be ready to win the footy. I didn't think I would be saying that this soon.

I would argue that promising kids are always a part of your 'depth' in any given year. But you are right about what we need, we can't wait to see how Toumpas, Kent, Salem and JKH turn out. We need to get some more help for Jones, Tyson and Viney. Vince and Cross are fantastic but Cross will slow down soon. Tyson and Viney will be young again next year and we shouldn't just assume they will continue as they are going either. I would be targeting a 25 year old midfielder who can come straight into the starting 18 and give us some power running and boldness. But it is going to cost us...

They were promising but their output can be replaced by Riley, McKenzie, Kent, Michie, and maybe even Blease, Tapscott, and Strauss. Especially their output on Monday. I think it is time to reward some form and let Salem and JKH earn their way back.

I think a couple of the kids are stuffed. I am hoping Tyson was just done by McAffer and will be back to his form next week but Salem needs a break and JKH might need one too.

Tyson came back to earth with an almighty thud. McAffer is one hell of a tagger. We will help him out when Viney and Salem are a bit older and running through there they will be smart and tough enough to provide a block and some space. They are a good team and we looked like we were waiting for them to make mistakes with their men committed forward so we could take it through the other wing in some space. But good teams don't let you have too many freebies and they were clinical with their ball use in the second half. Kicking 3 goals doesn't worry me - they only had 2 more to 3 qtr time - it was that sort of game. On to Essendon! I am tipping us!

Couldn't have said it better myself...

Read the article, not just the headline. The Yankees are an attraction in and of themselves when you go to NY. That's what he is talking about.

Success won't build us into a powerhouse, but it will consolidate what we have and stop the bleeding. What will not make a dent is worrying about the logo and the song and having more of a presence in Collins St... I want to see tangible ideas and plans for the future. If that means getting 'Melbourne' front and centre then great - but what does that involve? What is the return? If Casey isn't where we should be searching for members, then where? And how? This was a mistake this 'interview' with Wilson. He should leave it to Jackson - who was the one, by the way, that said that the MFC should stick to football. Allowing Wilson to throw all this out there into the ether just puts pressure on himself and the club - remember Neeld grandiose statement? Well, here is another... And the thing is - you can't get anyone to begin to follow you unless, you guessed it - you start winning games of footy.

It was cruel. You have been watching too much GoT. The Roos let Tigers fans think they had a good team for a quarter and then the Roos quartered them. It was sadistic.

He played a half for Casey so he could play tomorrow if someone is a late withdrawal.

Win footy games. That is what I would say to anyone from the club who is thinking along the same lines as Bartlett here. That story just had a mish-mash of different image devices that don't do anything bar scratch the surface of our issues; no region to call our own, a dwindling and aging supporter base, and, up to two months ago, a terrible outlook for the foreseeable future. The emblem is a distraction. If you are going to change it, do it, don't talk about how it signifies a change in anything other than the letterhead on press releases. The song featuring the word 'Melbourne' is such an interesting aside but any money and time spent on this in our current predicament is bordering on insane. Let Demonland start a thread and work the word in - save you a few hundred thousand dollars... The desire for a presence in Collins St brings a word to bear - why? Hardly anyone lives there. I won't discuss this any further as 'presence' could mean anything from where he wants the boardroom to where he wants a billboard... The statement that Casey 'is not our heartland' is ironic, well it would be if it weren't so sad, we have no heartland - that's the point; we grew out of a stadium. We have shed so many supporters in the last 49 years. We have no 'heartland.' We are trying to build one out east. If we are not going to bother with Casey anymore the players will be happy they don't have to trek out there but they better have a bloody good business case. Nothing in that impressed me. Winning footy games will impress me, and it might impress a few others - if you really want to be the New York Yankees - you better win.

I think it would be pre-determined.

Neil Craig would not have been there. It sounds a hell of a lot like Todd Viney from what I know of him. But its all just speculation. What isn't is the honest truths that were given to Cam that let him know 'where he stood' as BB excellently referenced from Moneyball above. He has done the hard work and Roos and co. have given him some confidence but there is nothing wrong with some honesty. I have heard that Roos was very honest up in Sydney. Very honest. Having played and captained and now coached teams - all blokes want is an honest appraisal and their self belief intact. It's a balance, and it is a part of what makes some coaches better than others.

It looks like the club has rewarded him for his selfless act of playing injured. And I don't think the club forces anyone to play injured. It's that kind of team first attitude that Roos has instilled and rewards.