rpfc

Another issue in the ACT is that Ainslie and Belconnen are loving being in the NEAFL and won't allow the league to move to what would be more beneficial to ACT footy, namely a two-team structure without allegiances - basically a North Canberra and South Canberra or something similar. Ainslie will be trying to get any Canberra licence in the AFL if it is an option... That would be an abortive move. And if people think that Canberrans that like footy aren't going to go for some team simply because it hasn't 'Canberra' in the title, they are misguided. The most supported team here in Canberra in the Swans, so that kind of eats into this notion that people can't go for teams that aren't named after the place they live in. The GWS are the 'second team' for a number of people I know and they put in effort to get folks to care about them. Phil Davis coming from Canberra is a plus. Frankly, 4 games and a bit of attention is all that Canberra should get at this moment. It simply isn't big enough to support an AFL side as a third string behind the Raiders and Brumbies.

The ACT may have history with AFL but it is a small market and I am not sure how it would survive trying to play 11 games at Manuka in front of 15k people. You may think that GWS may not work, but at least it has a chance to succeed - a team called Canberra would need money in perpetuity and all for the attention of a small market. The ACT has 150k less people than Tasmania and have far less AFL fans - if Tasmania is not a viable place for an AFL team in terms of stadia, corporate interest, and potential gate receipts - the ACT is even further behind.

Yeah, more people are going to see a game they like and play than the one they don't like and have little exposure to. There's a shock. Those in charge wanted to grow the game, what would you do if you were in charge?

He was our second best midfielder last year, so how quickly is the progress of others going to happen? And it's a contract extension - it doesn't mean he is guaranteed a spot. If you are right about him then he can be a depth player (I know how much Land loves depth) in the last part of his contract.

But Jordie McKenzie getting games ensures we are bottom 4?

We will still be bottom 4.

I think it is the other way around - you get the contracts doen for those you need to keep, or those desired enough, and then add the easy-to-sign pieces after that. Should Frawley not re-sign before the end of the season we will leave a Frawley sized hole in our TPP. The reason I say 'sign the important players first' is because it may change your opinion on whether to keep (and how long to keep) the other players. If Frawley leaves, do we want to re-sign a Dunn as defensive cover/flexibility, or do we want to use that spot to try and find the next Frawley? Sign your priorities first and move from there.

12 months before the end of their contracts (and 12 months into their contracts) they have been given a further 24 months. They may not be THE priority but with Frawley (RFA), Tapscott, McDonald, Blease, Strauss, Spencer, Bail, Dunn, Byrnes, Barry, Terlich, Cross, Clisby*, Riley*, Nicholson, Harmes ®, King ®, Georgiou ®, and Jetta ® the others out of contract - Kent and Jones would be in the top 4 priorities to re-sign (those bolded would be ahead of them).

Roos and co. must have made these two priorities... Kent looks very good at this early stage and Jones, while unfairly maligned because of his age and pedigree - was our second best midfielder and worked very hard. If he improves, and there seems to be a backer on here for every player bar Jones to improve under Roos, he will continue to be given responsibility and time in the middle.

Stock is a short term 'who cares' issue, but the location of the Demons Shop isn't. Surely the MCC can find us a place above ground? Perhaps the math says that online is where it is at - we are slowly getting better at that.

Yes, and decisions on contract renewals on players like Vince are not made with a year to run. Well not by good clubs...

About 3k ahead of last couple. HT should have a spreadsheet if he was organised? But was he organised?

We had to replace Sylvia, otherwise we would be going backward. More than happy to swap them, even if they share a love of the nightlife, a like to boogie, even if it is around the disco. Oh, yeah. (Sigh) Just terrible.

Money well spent. Merry Christmas!

Elwood - Roos will escape blame and as he should - we know he can coach. The players have always been able to hide behind something at this club. Coaches, admin, turmoil - now they have nothing to hide behind. I still see a large amount of players to be moved on next year and a bit of pain still to come, but don't think that 2014 defines Roos. Roos defines what comes after.

And yet, what colour is the away strip? I choose to own it, I am more than happy to give others reason to, the rest can push uphill if they wish.

I am sorry we spent Pick 4 on Morton, 12 on Cook, 9 on Molan, and 11 on Gysberts. Sore and sorry. Gillies doesn't rate.

It's the song we based our song on. Another tie to white for the MFC. The evidence is building...

Well, the original had three colours in it... One guess what colour (or non-colour)... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You're_a_Grand_Old_Flag

The white one we have now is more MFC than a red jumper with three letters on it.

There is no such thing.

lol Like.

You're right about it not being a small change but let's not overstate the 'deleting of anything Fitzroy had left' - they were the Fitzroy Lions after all...

I agree that we can discuss the mistakes of the past. We don't need to make past employees villians however, and while 'expressing disdain' can be done in a respectful, and yet still forceful manner, it easily becomes crass and vitriolic. Poster should "move on" from that.

I think the original tinkering of their jumper is the 'fiddling while Rome burns,' not this rejection by the members. The jumper looks terrible and why you would change the strip so soon after The Threepeat I will never know. History is not black and white and it can serve many different arguments. Our link to the red and the blue is long and profound, but it doesn't mean white means nothing to us, our club was 70 years old before we were called The Demons but it something that is a vital appendage of the club. The Lions club admin screwed up the jumper, the members have rejected it and have demanded a return to the old one - and that's the end of it. Now they can get back to figuring out why their young players are now in the four corners of the country and not in Brisbane.