Whispering_Jack

Not just the message but it would create a dangerous precedent and make the work of anti doping authorities all the more difficult and Dank will end up with Ned Kelly-like hero status among many. WADA is all over this and will ensure that the most thorough process of investigation takes place and results in infraction notices.

Mal Brown: Ultimate DH (Do not open if under 18)

You're very wrong on this Redleg.

Particularly over the past seven seasons, I've envied those clubs that always seem to manage to score the clutch goals that win matches. After all, lately we're not even in the ball park. That goal was really something. Thanks for the memory.

Agree with most that our target should be James Frawley and that we should, if at all possible, complete a deal with him early rather than later. We have enough problems trying to lift the club without having to deal with another Scully fiasco.

... and this is Knightmare's profile on Billy Stretch who is finally in the draft pool:-

True to form, the first of the 2014 phantom drafts is out - Knightmare's 2014 phantom draft. Knightmare has us down as finishing 17th in 2014. From memory, he was equally pessimistic about our fortunes last year. Hopefully, he ends up with egg on his face this time.

Thanks for again proving that it's a matter of belief and peoples' various interpretations of what we observed first hand. If you believe that the decline began with 186 then I can't convince you otherwise. However, you must have failed to observe the disturbing signs earlier in 2011 that led up to that fateful day; the flogging the team received in a single quarter v Hawthorn, the insipid display at Subiaco v West Coast, the disastrous "bruise-free" performance against Carlton and the straw that broke the camel's back on 1 July, 2011 v the Bulldogs that convinced many that we were going backwards under Bailey. After that, the Geelong game was an inevitability. Pity you didn't see it coming. It's admirable that you acknowledge the contribution of Stynes/McLardy in demolishing the debt left behind by their predecessors. After all, we were much closer to death before Stynes came in than we were earlier this year. Thanks to Stynes/McLardy and of course the many who contributed to the cause, our balance sheet is in the black despite the $1.7m loss and we aren't the basket case some might paint us as being. It's on the field where we were a "basket case" but the seeds for that were sown long ago. Our sheer mediocrity on the ground combined with a shocking fixture is what precipitated our financial crisis earlier this year. Years of bungling on the football side was what caused the McLardy/Schwab admin to pay the price but you're kidding yourself if you can't see that the situation came about through a sustained period of incompetent coaching, list management and recruiting over a period of time that included not only their tenure but started long before they took the reins. They failed to get things right and paid the price but it's folly to imagine it started with 186. From my perspective, the neglect and incompetence began many years ago and only time will tell whether we're in better hands now. However, I'm reasonably confident at this point that we are.

A definite Kris Kringle.

True ... and it applies to much of the club's recent history. Let's hope that whoever writes the club's history carries out full and proper research into the events of the time.

Wouldn't bowling Smith, Warner and Clarke at Adelaide inherently mean taking the pressure off?

As I left Wong's the other night, the proprietor Steven handed me a fortune cookie which I forgot about until this morning. I cracked it open to read: "If Campbell Brown doesn't pay, Then Steven May." I've always been confused by this Confucius thing so if there are any experts out there in oriental mysticism, I would appreciate an interpretation.

Nothing new. Our supporters have been into mediation for the past seven years trying to get reality out of their minds and developing inner spirituality and an understanding of the good that comes from being humiliated on a weekly basis throughout the winter months.

The Fairfax organisation dominated the media's Walkeley Awards for journalism during the week mainly for its coverage of the Essendon doping scandal with investigative journalists Baker and McKenzie leading the way and Caro also getting an award for her commentary on the issue. The Murdoch press which by an large was far more sympathetic to the Essendon side of things with Robbo and Whateley, conspicuous for their blind acceptance of the Bombers' interpretation of what ASADA was supposed to have said about the status of AOD9604, must surely be red-faced as a result. I understand that Baker and McKenzie's investigations are far from over. There's much more to come and plenty of dirty water still to flow under the bridge before this story ends.

You often hear it said at auctions that it doesn't matter where you start, it's all about where you finish. In this case, we started in May with a list of top 20 picks; Melbourne drafted two of them and picked up Dom Tyson and Bernie Vince and has Jesse Hogan coming onto the list as well. That should please most of us as we move towards a new season.

The fact of the matter is that for some time, we as a club have been subject to the whim of the AFL and its fixturing. A former board member once described a fixture we were given as "premeditated murder" in that it was impossible for the club to avoid a massive financial loss given the strength (or lack thereof) of the football team. That is what happened when the wheels fell off in the post Daniher and early Bailey period. It happened again this year and unless we drastically improve our on field performance next year, we will lose money again - PJ or no PJ; Roos or no Roos. That is the lot of a club like ours until such time as we have a sustained period of success on the field.

"Gold Coast Suns player Campbell Brown arrived back in Australia on Thursday night, accompanied by club doctor and Steven May, the teammate he is alleged to have struck during an overseas trip." They made the club doctor sit in between the pair all the way home from LA?

Thanks Maldonboy38. If the players are relaxed then so am I.

I'm not suggesting that we should be doing handstands over a $1.7m loss but it would seem that most of it can be attributed to the tanking investigation and our poor on-field performances. Happy that the impact on our long term position has been limited and the club now has the opportunity to move forward.

Does that make Bux Butch Cassidy?

Watch out for this bloke at training. He sounds keen -

Melbourne releases financial result - a $1.7m loss but ... I'm not an accountant but it would seem that for all the bleating and handwringing and despite the poor financial result for YE31/10/13, we are by no means a financial basket case. That's encouraging to know as we move into the future with signs of the football team under repair after what looks potentially like one of our best recruiting period for a long time.Time for true fans to get behind the club ...

Well ... er, everything was fine till it came to paying the bill. Then someone who resembled Campbell Brown turned up.

If you were thinking of heading out Casey way for tomorrow's training DON'T! The MFC has tweeted:

An enjoyable and informative evening but let's not forget the old adage about what goes on at Wong's, stays at Wong's!