rpfc

Yes, who the hell would tell a player what a loud 10% of the supporter base was thinking and an infinitesimal percentage was posting on a supporter forum about them? Why?

You are talking out both sides of your mouth here. For months you were saying everything was fine and that the players were frustrated about not bringing their training 'form' into games and you admit that it may have been a company line that you took at face value. But now you also contend that the players told you things you couldn't repeat - are you intimating they took you in their confidence about how bad things had become under Neeld? My question is not why you didn't allude to that on here but rather - why did you argue the exact opposite - that all was well? I think you simply get platitudes from the players that any fan would get and you should have learned from the facade that was put up by the players infront of you last year, that you repeated on here.

I 'shot him down'? I gave information, the source of which I will not disclose but am very comfortable with, and made a larger point about the Rookie List. S-home then said that he had talked to Stark and had only divulged he was frustrated with his injuries - as if that was the end of it. Again, players are not going to divulge the same information to fans at training that they would to their own family and friends. If s-home wants to continue to question me on this he absolutely can, but the inference that he knows what is going on because he talks to the plaeyrs at training would be laughable if it wasn't for the disaster that 2013 was that occurred while s-home contended vociferiously that 'he spoke to the players' and all was well, and that everyone was just frustrated 'that they didn't take their training form out into games.' In a weeks time we are going to get 4 more rookies and I want the MFC to treat them like the other 40 players on the list. You can take this as warning or myth but know that I feel so strongly about this and am so sure of the information that I will be emailing the club prior to the Rookie Draft.

I learn from bitter experience. And when Webjet and Opel came on board we were about to start the 2012 season. They were a beacon in the night. I think we will finish it here, just let people enjoy the stability attained.

With respect to Ryan, we would not care if Pick 9 is ready to go, we will pick who we think will become the better player down the track because that is the point of all this.

Everyone over 25.

You admonished me for not providing the numbers for both companies. I provide the numbers for both companies, go back 3 years for both, and you are having a go at me for providing the numbers. And how is this frothing: You must see me as a passionless automaton if that is frothing. The point is they are on a sounder financial footing than any major sponsor we have had for a while and that is why Jackson mentioned the point of fact that they are in the ASX200. And why I am more comfortable with them than with EnergyWatch, Opel, and Webjet. According to their respective annual reports - AHG made a net profit after tax 10 times that of Webjet. How is that not comforting to you? And how can you sit there and judge our relief so sardonically?

I bothered to bring it up to highlight that Rookies get treated differently to those on the Primary List and it happened at the MFC and I was not happy about it, I have bit my tongue for months but thought I would share my views as we were discussing the Rookie List with regard to Jetta. I hadn't wanted to jeopardise any chances that Stark had to retain his spot, should any poor soul at the club read this site. I gave 'some level of detail' when I said the source is impeccable.

The inference that he is a supporter at training and will get equivalent information as a 'good source,' and if you trust me you will take it as impeccable, is ridiculous.

http://hfgapps.hubb.com/asxtools/Charts.aspx?asxCode=AHE&compare=comp_index&indicies=0&pma1=0&pma2=0&volumeInd=9&vma=0&TimeFrame=M3 http://hfgapps.hubb.com/asxtools/Charts.aspx?asxCode=WEB&compare=comp_index&indicies=0&pma1=0&pma2=0&volumeInd=9&vma=0&TimeFrame=M3 3 year trends. Do you want to be on the one going up or the one going down? And leave the patronisation to those who can pull it off...

Of course we can respectfully discuss the past. We can discuss the failures of the past few years without being Kings of Hindsight. My god man, what do you do when things turn to shite? You find out what went wrong and try to improve. It's like the discussion about Schwab and the previous Board - you can respectfully discuss and dissect the failures. And depsite "how well they trained" the failures of man-management under Neeld went beyond 'too much running.' Others claimed knowledge of Frawley being unhappy, I know that Rookies were not treated the same as those on the Primary List (and another level again when one of the 'more important players' were involved) - surely the fact that what you reported on here under Neeld being completely torn apart by reality has given you food for thought?

The failure of Schwab is his record. The failure of the Board was to continue to employ him. A failed hiring or re-hiring is on the employer, not the employee. That's my very small point. And, as Stynes said in his book, the Board should have removed both in 2011. But they had an option for one more year of Schwab and they chose to trigger the option. That is an understandable mistake, the less understandable one was the three year contract given in 2012 when it would have been prudent to move on then and there.

What about if your club had a sponsor that dissolved after one Facebook scandal, another that has pulled out of the country entirely, and one that has lost nearly half it's value on the ASX in the past four months?

Difference to what? I am not following you. And while I am not going to reveal where I got this information - it is not about his delisting, it is about the year he spent on the Rookie List at Melbourne. It was a story I found unacceptable as a fan of the MFC and the AFL and a lot of it can be relieved by removing the Rookie List. The remainder is up to what culture Roos instills amongst the club. You are the one that wants to go in the alley and measure sources - you need not bother - I am certain of the information. I don't want to go into it further as the kid is no longer at the club.

It's the Board's mistake for offering that extension, not Schwab's ego for taking even while he was not offered it the day before. But remember, that was a contractual 'option' for one year. The worse extension though was the three year extension he was given in 2012 after that year. And he wanted to fix our mess, when do we ever think rationally when we are involved in something that is a passion?

I understand where you are coming from but that extension was not forced upon us by Schwab - the Board gave him that, and they should have moved on. And I don't read malice into Schwab's failure; he was far too invovled in the footy side of things, and far too distracted with small things that a CEO should rarely bother with, and made the fateful decision to employ the mini-disaster Neeld as coach. He wanted to fix the mess, that's why he stayed on - he is a Demon and loves the club - we know from the way he wouldn't shut up about past glories at the club... People, and these Demons, failed with the best of intentions.

Don't get so defensive. I am telling you that a supporter at training may not get the whole truth - hardly groundbreaking. And I can confirm that is the case with Stark. And what have I said in the past that was unfounded? I rarely claim inside knowledge, and I am struggling to think of such an instance that was so erroneous.

They could have got rid of it already if they put a priority on it.

Well, let me attempt to say this delicately - the players are unlikely to spill to a stranger at training are they? I was quite impressed that with all the disharmony with Neeld - the players never publicly let there feelings known. It helped to not have to deal with that during this awful year. Nathan had to endure some issues that I hope can be rectified, but I don't think they will be fully rectified until the Rookie List is abolished.

Jackson mentioned the ASX200 - a group which Webjet is certainly not a member of. That's one whistle or bell that impressed me...

I have my own answers about what happened to Nathan and from what I have heard it stinks. Suffice it to say, those on the rookie list are treated like the underclass of the playing group and if you have the misfortune to be injured then you are ignored almost entirely. The system has more to answer for than the club, but I hope Roos helps build a culture that is more inclusive. And get rid of the Rookie List - any kid that gets taken in the ND gets an automatic 2 year contract, any rookie can end up like Stark - oft injured, and cast off after a year.

Not the backline. High half forward with stints in the middle for 2014. I would love to see what he can do in the middle. The forward line is destined to be his for a decade but while he is being groomed for that - I really think it would be exciting for us, er, him, to be put in the midfield.

He has 5 years. He is less speculative than other would be rookies. What about Nathan Stark? Should be standing up for him to be re-rookied. One year, plagued by injuries, delisted. I hate the rookie list.

Godwin's Law in full flight. It got there quickly. Your allowed to expose your nervousness and others are allowed to admonish without being called a Nazi surely?

The Syndrome or taking the [censored]?