Whispering_Jack

Thanks for the heads up. I'm always looking for ways to further my acting career which hitherto has been limited. My highlight was playing the soothsayer in a school production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar which ranks just ahead of being a witch in Macbeth. It was all a long time ago now but I do remember we won the flag the year I wandered around the stage in a froth screaming "beware the ides of March". I had no idea what the hell was going on but the director was happy. Anyhow, one can only hope for a career revival.

It's a go but Andy needs time to set it up - his boss is an ogre who insists on him doing his job first.

Redleg. Please read my post again. That's exactly what I said (google Geotge Santayana).

All I can say to that is that a man sees what he wants to see and disregards the rest. My views on looking forward and the past are in my post above. I personally would be horrified if the board of my club was predominantly interested in looking back instead of forward. I think the club went from being a power to one of the competition's weak links in the first place by resting on its laurels and looking back at the triumphs of the 50s-60s. Now, of all times, we need to look forward and do so aggressively (subject to the George Santayana principle).

Happy with what you say and in particular the fact that we need to look forward but with one caveat that I've mentioned on a number of occasions - that we need to remember the mistakes of our past in order that we don't repeat them*. I hope that message is understood by those charged with leading our club for the very reason that the past 47 years are littered with stories of boards and committees that made the same mistakes and as a consequence, we first lost our status as the competition's pre-eminent club and then failed to fully recover to this very day. * more or less based on a saying by George Santayana

There was no prohibition on asking questions about the past, rather it was expressed by Russell Howcroft who took Q & A that the Board would prefer to look forward rather than back. As it was, there were only a handful of questions in the Q & A. Howcroft interviewed Mitch Clark then asked Neil Craig some questions first about what interested him in coming to the club and after that, questions were taken from the floor. I think the very first of those questions came from a member and it was about the culture of the club and the very events of last year that some are alleging were banned from discussion. Don McLardy answered that question and did not, at any stage indicate he wouldn't accept it because reference was made to past events. I thought he responded to the question well.

I also came away with a feeling that the AGM was flat as a tack but then perhaps it's us who are flat because, with the spread of tools such as the Internet and the pages of discussion we have here on Demonland and elsewhere, by the time we get to the AGM we've heard most of it all before. There used to be some mystique about going to these things. Back in the real old days, you would often first get to hear your new coach or discover the names of your new recruits but these days we've seen it all on You Tube and read the daily reports on supporter sites. Even the big story of the night about Jimmy stepping down had been covered, discussed and digested for hours. Perhaps that's why some were hanging out for news about the new front of guernsey sponsor. It's one of the few unknowns we didn't get to find out about on the night but I accept Cameron Schwab's explanation. It will come. My own experience of dealing with the Chinese is that they are very meticulous when putting together a deal. Everything, including the timing, must be and feel right. The important thing is once the decision is made it is always honoured. The new system hasn't made it's way into Chinese culture yet and we need to understand this and be patient. I think the flatness was felt also because there was no fire in the questioning. The one about the culture was better answered (by Don McLardy) than it was asked. The real question should have been about our history (since 1965) of imploding at the wrong time - a history that started with the tensions that led to the dismissal of Norm Smith and have continued from time to time all the way to 186. Again, Don headed off that question by calling for us to look forward. We're so tired of what transpired last year that nobody questioned reports that were shelved, the extension of Cam Schwab's contract by 12 months when the papers said he was gone and a raft of other questions that might have been asked back in the old days. Truth be told, we're tired of the politics and we want only the footy and thirst for the success on the field that we fully expected to happen last year. The highlight to me then was the introduction of the new players - the first time I'd seen most of them - and the common theme was their size. There's no doubt that Neeld is impressing his own particular stamp on the team and in that respect, he's a breath of fresh air after the last four years of struggle and ultimately defeat. I heard Brad Scott interviewed on radio earlier in the day and was impressed by him (particularly his dismissal of the "window of opportunity" theory). I think Neeld is on that wave length too and we're finally going to see some positive achievements on the field. Scott said in answer to a question about Ryan Bastinac possibly leaving North at the end of the year that what was important was creating the right atmosphere at clubs for a player to want to stay but those that didn't were of no use to the club anyway. In that respect another highlight of the AGM and one of the reasons why I don't mind about its "flatness" was the absence of any mention of Voldemort - a sure sign that the club is over him and that we're looking forward which, at the club level, is as it should be.

Russell Howcroft then interviewed newcomer Mitch Clark and then welcomed Neil Craig for Q & A. I'll leave this to others for later on.

Mark Neeld - challenged the players requesting an elite work ethic and elite compliance. The reality is we're one of 18 clubs doing the same thing. We will by round 1 have done enough work to be able to compete. We've changed the players' footy world. It's a footy university and the players are at different levels. New coaching group, new game plan. Mark Neeld can't guarantee where we'll be but we won't die wondering. Leadership group selection process is difficult, tough and thorough. We'll pick the leadership group prior to the commencement of the NAB Cup. Introduces the new players - starting with Mitch Clark. Neeld has a specific role as a key forward. Tom Couch - strong inside midfielder. James Magner - big arms. James Sellar - tall, big, mature age. Jai Sheehan - went to the same school. Rory Taggert - great first impression at draft camp - inside mid. Josh Tynan - has made a big impact. Fairly hard at it - needs to work on his hairstyle. Leigh Williams - strong aggressive forward line player.

Next up Mark Neeld

Nice speech from Cameron - he deserves more credit than what he's given. Also thanked Jim and acknowledged we need to take some important steps forward after a disappointing year on the field. Our integrity was questioned and we took the opportunity to rebuild the football department with a new coach and others who we have attracted. The playing group has significant potential and we have great determination as demonstrated by our president. We've ridden a few bumps and that's part of life in our competition. We wanted to be the first club to appoint our coach and appoint a team around him - Neil Craig and the other new appointments to give our players the best chance to build great careers and our team to be judged by its results.

That's it for the AGM. Everybody who contributed in the past was recognised and wished well including Dean Bailey, the players off the list, the doctors and others who have left the club. Meeting closed but don't go away folks because there is another meeting to come concerning the footy part so it's inevitable we're going to get some more of Cam Schwab's shpiel on the red and blue print.

Don McLardy paid tribute to past boards for the Bentleigh club initiatives and the Casey move.

Stuart Grimshaw now presenting the annual report - is nervous because it's the fifth time he's gotten up from a warm seat with a piece of paper in his hand. The rest is all financial stuff and the reports are somewhere on the website if you're interested.

Volunteer Award - Lorainne Beaman - cheer squad coordinator.

Just arrived. Don McLardy paying tribute to Jim who gets a standing ovation. Jim had another operation today and specifically wanted to announce that he's stepping down tonight to fight his own battle. He told Don to let everybody know that he would see us all in round 1. Russell Howcroft announced Don will be elected as President at a board meeting after the AGM. Guy Jelland & Peter Spargo are the VPs. Greg Healy will be the new football director.

It's no mystery. The frontrunners for the captaincy according to Caroline Wilson are standouts for the leadership in a large group of mostly immature footballers. Voldemort might have been an early contender but stories of his aloofness while at Melbourne and his public performance during those "dark cloud" days hardly indicate the qualities of credibility and integrity one expects of a leader. The only attribute he has that might commend him for the position is a modicum of ability and an abundance of coin for the toss at the start of each game.

Based on this tipster's past record it might be a good idea to avoid both like the plague.

I had a look at Talking Carlton which has a dedicated board for players and it seems to run reasonably well, albeit with the usual criticism of players and occasional bagging. I'm happy to give the idea a try and will check with Andy (Demonland) to see if he can set it up on a trial basis. Melbourne past and present players only with the usual rules applying. Of course, if things get out of hand, we'll have to press the Moron button on offenders and abandon the project.

Folks I hope nobody minds but this thread has degenerated into a whinge session on a player that transcends its original intention and has become repetitious and boring. I think everyone gets the message that some people have decided, fairly or unfairly (unfairly IMO) that we now have a new whipping boy despite the first NAB CUp game being almost a month away. I believe there's another training session tomorrow but for the time being, I'm applying the Morton button on this subject and closing the thread.

Quite, but I doubt whether Virender's people are into the driving back infidels thing.

Nothing's made of it because Grgic was gone well before the Moloney trade was done. Roughly, we traded Moloney for a first round draft pick which we got from Adelaide for Scott Thompson. We can argue the merits of that all day but in the circumstances, we got a reasonable deal but no triumph. I think most clubs understand that this is what trading is about although some supporters want to see their clubs achieving a coup over their opposition every time they trade.

Yeah, I loved the bit where the Indian apparatchik (didn't catch his name but he must surely be a distant relative of Baghdad Bob) said there would be no further comments on the matter of impending player retirements and Sehwag followed that up by adding a comment. It demonstrated how that the spin doctoring among the Indian team was about as well organised as many of its field placements.

I think he's the 18 year old that SA tried to poach for their Shield team at the start of the season along with a batsman named Handscomb who is very promising with some tipping him as a future test batsman.

You can say that again Smithy. At last year's Foundation Dinner, I put in a bid for Aussie's jumper and won it. Shortly afterwards, he did his ankle on comeback at Casey and didn't play another game in the red and blue. I sponsor Big Maxy and the day after I send the payment to the club, he does an ACL (sorry Max). I was a bit worried about these extraordinary powers of mine until last week when I took out a player sponsorship at GWS for Tom Scully.