rpfc

Interesting thoughts. I am sure Batram is made in the mould of JMac, but is that enough when you are not as blessed in the skills dept? Clark is our fiery FF with a lot of pressure on his shoulders. They must really see a leader of men, here, to put him in the LG... Jamar should have already been there. I am glad he has taken the step in this pre-season. Garland is an excellent on-field 'do as I do' leader. You rarely see him be demonstrative, but you rarely see him beaten, and you rarely see him looking at his bootlaces. Moloney is unlucky to have his failings occur in a year of nearly zero leadership from Melbourne players. If you were ever going to get drunk on a sunday in season, don't do it in a year when you are a leader and the whole club is calling for generational change.

4 out of 8 with the captains nearly spot on. I was going to say Garland, I really was... Clark and Batram a surprise, until you realise how they go about their footy.

Enough will be said and written about Trengove and Grimes as leaders but I just want to touch on the far more important role of the Leadership Group. Jamar, Clark, Batram, Jones, Garland, and Frawley make up the LG with the captains. They are imposing personalities in their own way and assuming Jamar's body holds up and Batram finds a niche, they are the future of the footy club for the next decade. I wanted a U/24 LG and this was the best I could have hoped for; the ages will be at the start of the season 28, 24, 24, 24, 23, 23, with the captains 22 and 20. What an excellent platform for our new generation of young players coming through to take the reigns. Discussion points: Moloney, Garland, Batram, Jamar, and Clark.

BUMP These are thoughts of Land 5 months ago... * You don't have to vote. It is rather moot...

Yes, and safe at the same time. What I love is that only Jones and Grimes has survived the absolute leadership debacle that was 2011. Everyone now should realise the issues those at the club saw with Moloney, Rivers, and Davey. I am very surprised with Beamer not being there but this isn't about him, it's about our future as a footy club. And having all 24 or younger save for Jamar - it is about the future.

Not quite true. There are some AFL strongholds just North of the Murray. Good point. I was just using a rhetorical flourish. I guessed as much... Are you trying to create enemies, here? I know you like that. Whatever...

If you like league and nothing else you call it 'footy.' If you like neither or both 'league' and 'union' you call them those monikers. And you call AFL all kinds of names unless you are threatened (rightly or wrongly) by the AFL fan in your presence and you call it 'AFL' and attempt to make some cogent conversation. I hate those conversations: because they are stupid, and they usually revolve around how Adam Goodes is a 'really good player isn't he?' How'd you guess that, you idiot? That is how it is done North of the Murray.

Where are you getting that from?

rpfc is in.

You know, people, there wasn't a great deal of passion for, or talk of, the AGM on this site before the event. And this place is as good a 'pulse take' of the average MFC supporter as any other entity on this green earth. Maybe we should have done some 'spitballing' or some 'brainstorming' over what to ask. Usually we do. We did for Neeld. In fact we had a thread "Questions to ask Mark Neeld" at an earlier event. Why didn't we have something similar? Maybe we knew that the questions would be irrelevant (questions about the previous FD structure? Bailey? etc.), unanswerable (what happened to CS? what is happening to CS? etc), and rhetorical (should we sack a coach by phone? should the board have a active footy director at all times? etc.)...

We have to decide before the season starts.

Which part? I am telling you that a major force behind companies sponsoring clubs (or anything for that matter) is to try to keep their competitors out of the market. It's a double edged sword. It's like if Toyota stopped sponsoring the AFL, the replacement sponsor would most likely be a competitor. Double edged sword.

Ok, I am lost here people. I just find it odd that Perth has a Super XV club when it would be more feasible to call the Reds the Brisbane Reds, the Waratahs the Sydney Waratahs and have another team in one of those states. It's a tangential argument, sorry.

Great. They gave Perth a club! That's what I am saying, and all I am saying. It was a tangent from the argument we were having.

I'm just saying that at some point companies will pony up the cash for reasons that may outweigh good ROI. If there is a company with $2m to spend and they say "hey, we will sponsor two teams!" and then company TRUM and company PED each say "we have $1.5m to spend but we want to keep competitiors out of a certain market - I will offer this team the whole $1.5m," then the original company will be the major sponsor to no-one and one of those companies may be playing around in one of their favourite markets as a competitor. Sponsors rarely get value for money, it's become more about who is not sponsoring a team when a company sponsors a team.

There you go. And what a relevant organisation they have been. And they are neither a state nor a city, they are general region... "We are going to sponsor that general area over there." "What left?" "Depending on which way you are facing, yes." "How much of 'left' are you sponsoring?" "Walk left." "Ok...I have reached the Indian Ocean." "That's where it stops." Inspiring stuff Super XV. Inspiring Stuff. Something to rally around...

What will your title be? Adjunct Moderator?

I get that, but those teams can look at them and say "you can be the major sponsor for two clubs with that money and get exposure, or you can be minor sponsors to 5 clubs and be overlooked by people who only see the two brands that sponsor clubs (at least in AFL)." Again, that is a ROI argument that is valid. These big companies only care about being front and centre.

Although, didn't this argument come out of the Brumbries losing Huawei? I find little in local press on Super XV other than the Brumbies. The Sydney press is entirely focussed on the Waratahs (reason why HSBC is flooding money in there) and the Reds are mentioned twice during the year or whenever Quade Cooper does something stupid/brillant. I find Super XV as parochial as it is set-up to be. An entire state/territory with teams? Except for the Rebels and the..whatever the Perth one is called...

He did the same thing at the Bluey. And he is getting better at it! He hides his uncertainty speaking in front of crowds behind an abrupt and authoritarian tone. That was his attempt at humour and it wasn't bad... And let's face it - those sheets that are given to coaches to talk about at these sorts of meetings are meaningless: please talk about things you cannot talk about in a timeline that won't let you finish a coherent thought.

Ok, so AoB is one vote for the Final Solution. Anyone else? As for rpfc, do I think it's time crack each others heads open and feast on the goo inside? Yes I do.

Paying out? Isn't that what GWS is doing? Boom. Seriously, Freak the kid should* be a gun, but don't tell us he was a gun for the Demons. We lionise Jim Stynes and people jump down throats, if you lionise Tom Scully they will draw and quarter you, or keel-haul you, or...um...waterboard you (to bring that up to modern torture methods). *Knees permitting.

SALARY in 2012: $2.8 million PARENTS SALARY: $100,000 The moment you realise you have to play in Blacktown and Canberra: Priceless. That's an alright effort... Not great.

He's a hero in my eyes. Yes, he has made mistakes. But the best ones do. Thanks and you will be remembered fondly long after you leave us, and, in the end, isn't that a great mark of a human being?

Who did the guy think should be captain?