demoniac

Anyone at Essendon who over ruled their long time Doc when he raised concerns about the injectionfest is up for a lengthy ban. I wonder who that might have been.

Schwab had become the story. He was a lightning rod for every footy hack in town keen for an easy story. His sackignation is a pragmatic step to stop those stories. Schwab has also polarised Melbourne supporters with quite a few probably placing him on the Grassy Knoll and Cheviot Beach in addition to his other alleged crimes - tanking/sacking Bailey and Junior) so his departure eases those tensions.

I was there that day. My Queensland born and bred Dad was a nominal Fitzroy fan due to the Maroons link. Always get the shivers when I go to The Standard and see the Fitzroy poster commerating that game.

Good work all involved. A great example of 'if it is to be it is up to me'.

Never ever look ashen faced.

Caro's employer Fairfax Media p'haps?

And more on the the topic. I'd give Maxy at least 1 more game at Casey, preferably 2. His infectious nature will of itself be a boost when he comes in Spencer for Jamar. Pederson for Sellars Mckenzie for Rodan Evans, Tapscott, Kent amongst those in contention, plus some defensive run such as Strauss. Oh and the other 'in' will hopefully be a more competiitive performance.

If by administration you mean the board then I hope you have an idea of people of wealth and business experience who are willing to spend 30 hours a week on their board duties and subject themselves to the brutal media scrutiny that will accompany any failings. I've been attending AGMs since 1988 and in terms of business experience this board is by far the best that he have had. I also don't think that your use of the term 'zero return' is a fair one. There have been demonstratable gains such as the elimination of debt, the move from the Junction Oval slums to AAMI Park, the consolidation of the Bentleigh Club into our accounts and a significantly increased footy department spend. The reality is that in footy terms Year 1 for us was 2012 because that was the first time in decades that we were anywhere near compettitive in terms of facilities AND footy spend. There is hope footy wise. A forward line of Clark(200cms/103kg), Hogan (195cm/97kg) and Dawes (193cm/105kg) will test any defence. Having to man up on the mobile and athletic Clark and Hogan will pose a problem for most teams. Both are as comfortable in the midfield as they are in goal square, not many key defenders are. Add Maxy Gawn (208cm/111Kgs) resting forward from time to time and there will be no opposition that will not be stretched. Even bloody Dustin Fletcher would have to man up! I apologise to those offended by a show of optimism!

Range Rover and Why You Little to take over as President and Coach....

Why do people take note of someone like Damian Barrett. To paraphrase Jack Dyer Barrett is a good ordinary journalist and nothing more.

A Packer henchman scared of the AFL?

Or its just a lazy journo needing to fill column inches and not prepared to get off his backside and do any hard work.

I am hoping Strauss plays well for Casey. He is a natural at running the lines and is a great kick. His competitiveness and defensive work have improved and we really need an extra skillful runner in defence. If Strauss, Terlich and Watts can combine that gives us multiple options to use to run the ball out of defence. The other team can sit on one but they can't sit on all 3.

'why you little' do you have a legal background? What is your understanding of the repercussions to the Club if they fought all the way to the Supreme Court and lost? The Director who coordinated our response to the tanking charges is Guy Jalland (profile below). He is an extremely experienced corporate lawyer, has worked for the Packers for 15 years. For mine he and the board did the right thing in reaching a settlement and avoiding a finding of tanking and draft penaltys. Interested in your response. Guy is 51 years of age and holds a Batchelor of Laws degree from Melbourne University. Commencing in 1998, Guy was employed as a senior executive of Consolidated Press Holdings Limited. Between 2004 and 2007 Guy acted as Group Legal Counsel and Company Secretary of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (then 38% owned by CPH). Following the demerger of PBL last year, Guy returned to CPH. Before CPH, Guy Jalland was employed as a senior executive with Village Roadshow Limited; as a partner in a Melbourne law firm; and worked in various positions in Asia and Europe. Guy commutes between Melbourne and Sydney. He is married with 4 children, and is a lifelong Melbourne supporter.

The Bugler obviously is a more important figure than I imagined....

Now thats a long bow.

Jack and Jessie are solid lads and I am sure Dimitri likes a feast so you'd have to be quick to get served.

I have been attending AGMs since 1988. For mine this Board is the most talented board we have had over that duration. Now you may say that is saying both a little and alot. If they were to be kicked out then I would fear for the future of the MFC. Look at the resume of our Directors and offer me some alternatives of similar business standing.

The reality is that the hardest positions to fill on an AFL Club Board are Football Directors. Ideally you need candidates who have a mix of footy and business experience. That automatically narrows the pool. Then they need to have time available to devote to their board responsibilties and a desire to commit that time to their board responsibilties. This is time away from from their responsibilities to their own companys and familes. We saw how hard it was for us to replace Andrew Leoncelli when he stepped down due to work pressures until Sugar Healy was persuaded to step up.

My parents are Queenslanders. Dad moved to England to further his studies in 1949. Mum followed in 1952 and they were married in London. In 1960 they returned to Australia and settled in Camberwell. In the mid 60s my older brother started his schooling at St Dom's in Camberwell. One of the first questions his new classmates asked was what team he supported. My brother asked Dad that night and he said we supported the Wallabies. When my brother told his classmates this he was told there was no team called the Wallabies and sadly he became a Hawthorn supporter. At this point my brother had 3 older sisters and 3 younger sisters and was yet to be blessed by the arrival of a dashing and shurely more discerning younger brother Mum told Sister Nm 3 to pick a team so someone else in the family had an interest in footy. Being a good older sister she deliberately chose a team below the Hawks on the Ladder so her team would not beat her younger brother's team. She chose Melbourne. Sisters Nm 1 & 2 moved out of home when I was about 3 or 4 so Sister Nm 3 babysat me quite often and was in charge of proceedings when Mum and Dad were out. And thus by the mid 70s I was a diehard Dees fan and a Squadron Member. I started at St Dom's in 1976. There were 2 Dees fans in my year. I went on to St Kevin's where there was one fellow Dees fan in my year and Joe and I have been going to see the Dees play together for the last 20 plus years. A few years ago I demanded of Sister Nm 3 that she take out a membership which she did! Names have not been used to protect the Guilty! And yes going to the 88 Granny with my brother was a particularly pleasurable experience.

personally I blame Schwabby...

Or maybe some hard and necessary decisions were made which led to Bailey's sacking and players and others who like Bailey have not got over it.

So you don't think it would be a 'story'. Have you read the sports pages, watched FoxFooty shows or listened to SEN?

I do not think I am the one who needs to be circumspect.

Did you read Colin Garland's own comments a few weeks ago. At the start of the 2012 pre season the players were embarrassed by their fitness levels when Neeld, Craig, Misson compared their numbers to the ones they were used to seeing at Collingwood, Adelaide and St Kilda. The players need to build a bridge like most mature workers would and get on with it.