torpedo

Yeah its a great effort by the 150 that came up with the first $2.1m and the handful of members that have bothered to donate the remainder. Pretty dissapointed to be honest, I expected at least $1m from the members, thought the dinner might get some momentum going and push it even higher, it seems to have had the opposite effect. Hopefully theres 20,000+ odd members holding off until closer to late August to donate.

Trade value? I'd doubt that. Thats exactly why we will struggle to get a decent pick for anybody we'd be willing to trade, least of all a very low pick.

Talk about stating the obvious. Any team with a top pick will be seriously considering taking any number of players at least up until mid-November if not right up until 29 November. I'd be more concerned if there were rumours floating around that MFC had locked in 'X' when the AIS camp & trade week havent even commenced. I back whoever MFC rate as the best player to take, if that's Rich so be it. I certainly dont subscribe to the 'MFC need CHF = pick Watts' / 'midfielders are a dime a dozen' theories. If there is a player who is head and shoulders above the rest as the best player we must take them.

Excellent. Fremantle getting angry is hardly good for their push to retain him.

The club who sponsors the player gets first dibs on them and can choose to place them either on their primary list or rookie list. The clubs dont have to use any draft picks. There is no bidding system like a Father-Son selection now requires. The only way another club could get a scholarship player is if the player's sponsor club choose not to list them and the player then entered the draft as normal. If the sponsor club wont even offer a rookie list spot to a player they've invested in for several years already it'd make you wonder though... So in short Ranga is going to the Cats and there is nothing we can do about it. From memory Strudwick played early on in the national champs and missed the last couple of games, not sure if it was through injury or form. He has another year in the system yet until we can draft him. Hopefully MFC invest in a couple more of these players with the GC17 concessions coming up.

I agree that Hawkins isnt worth a No 1 pick. Everyone keeps saying 'Hawkins cant crack into Cats team', 'Hawkins cant even have an impact in the VFL', which is all just absolute rubbish... You cant just spout lies to make your point sound better. He HAS dominated at VFL level, his last game before they put him on ice he kicked 6 while carrying an injury! You are wrong. Hawkins is a kid in a mans body who has played a season and a half of footy. If you want to write him off now go right ahead, Im not sure on what basis though, since when were 200cm 19 year olds required to hold a senior spot in a Premiership team to be of any future value? I cant wait for the 'Watts is rubbish' posts next year when he doesnt have an immediate, ongoing impact: 'What sort of a hack 18yo beanpole cant hold down a spot in the AFL!' 'Only kicked 7 in the VFL, cant even dominate!' Moronic.

Where do people come up with this sh*t? Hawkins is NOT an option, he is injured. Of course Lonergan is currently preferred over Hawkins, are you saying you'd play a player who cant walk over a fit player? He is INJURED. NOT PLAYING. UNAVAILABLE Aside from that in his few VFL games this year he kicked bags of 7 & 6 and was named BOG - how is that not dominating?

Everyone keeps saying this and its a load of bollocks. Hawkins played the first 10 or so weeks - ahead of Lonergan, was dropped for a couple of weeks to find some touch - as most 19 year old kids are along the way, and has since been injured for the last couple of months. He has played twice as many games as your average 19 year old KPP prospect. He signed on with the Cats mid year and Bomber came out as recently as a month ago and said they have big plans for him. He will not be going anywhere. That aside I wouldnt trade the No 1 pick for him in a million years, far to one dimensional. I'd consider the PP though.

Good to see Newton get another gig, for better or worse it'll keep the game interesting at least. Our term really has become a dogs breakfast with this late run of injuries. I wonder what Carroll's thinking, didnt think he was our worst last week. Good. A player as talented as Yze picking up 30+ touches in the VFL is meaningless.

"Paul Johnson will delay his season ending surgery for one extra week, and is set to line up this week against West Coast. Johnson was due to have hip surgery this week, but it was decided he should temporarily put that on hold, after it was clear that Jeff White would be forced to miss." In: Mark Jamar, Brad Miller, Michael Newton, Daniel Bell. Out: Lynden Dunn (ill), Chris Johnson (Inj-groin) , Jeff White (Inj – knee), Nathan Carroll (omitted) http://www.melbournefc.com.au/tabid/7415/D...px?newsid=65514

I never said they were 'just lazy on the night', of course thats far too simplistic and of course a lot of the poor play came from above the shoulders, as has been the case all year, even in our wins. The bottom line is there were continuing instances where they did not run hard enough and go in hard enough, come up with as many fancy theories for that as you like, I call it lazy. You cannot just blame being lazy or soft or unaccountable on Geelong's effect on our mindset, that is being far too simplistic. I'll agree with you that their weak mental resolve was a major factor in our pathetic showing, soft, lazy and unaccountable were all prominent features as well though.

Gut running is 99% committment and 1% bullsh*t sports [censored] conditioning. Obviously given the level Geelong's list are at they are going to be able outrun us and have superior aerobic capacity, that is different to running harder than us though, they tried harder, they wanted it more, we wanted it less, we were lazier. Geelong didnt run us off our legs, we simply werent putting in at the level required. We know our team is capable of running at the level required as our 2 only wins against Freo and the Lions were largely due to superior running and ultimately committment. You didnt address the fact that your other 4 points were there in Round 3. How do you explain the 86 point difference? Geelong's superior aerobic capacity?

The only point that was any more evident last Friday night than it was in our Round 3 'honourable' 30 point loss is your 1st point - 'Geelong ran harder than us all night' Whether or not a team runs harder than us is entirely up to us, we can keep up if we want to, by saying 'Geelong ran harder than us all night' you are essentially saying we were lazy.

1. superstar 2. 200 gamer 3. 150 gamer Using the draft to fill positions is destined for failure unless you're talking picks 40+, PSD or rookie draft

You think? Each week I get really excited about heading along to watch the likes of Maric, Morton, Valenti, Wona, etc, at the moment thats what keeps me happily coming back week in week out. Seeing Yze & White run around in any role at all, let alone a ceremonial one, doesnt interest me in the slightest. I go every week regardless, if I was umming and arring though and say Jack Grimes was debuting I'd do everything to be there, whereas if blokes like Yze & White were running around at the expense of youngsters, which will be the case whenever they play, then I'd probably be indifferent to missing the match. Ive shown more than enough appreciation of Yze and White over the last 10+ years. Farewell games are for once in a decade players like Neitz.

Whilst I hear your point about the article I think you'll find most MCC members up until the 70s or 80s were very hard working blue collar supporters. It is just a sporting club, one that brought MFC 12 premierships, you cant blame it for becoming popular.

To an extent I agree with his sentiments that if Schwab is appointed the MFC will be being run by a pack of bum chums. I support Stynes fully, CC has been a great appointment, I do not want Schwab though, his misgivings aside, for the simple fact that we need someone from outside, someone to keep Stynes & Co accountable, we wont get this if another 'mate' is appointed, I dont care what their credentials are.

MARIC IN! Final Ins & Outs: In: McDonald, Maric Out: Wheatley (calf), Wonna (soreness)

Zero motor or speed which are essential, a pity because he definitely has the tenacity and discipline.

If Dunn didnt get the job Bartram would definitely be my next choice. Good grief

We are not relocating home games to Canberra, we are selling them. You cannot compare relocating games to Geelong or selling them to Canberra for a comporable return because no such scenario exists, it would be one or the other for significantly different returns. Im banging my head against a brick wall arent I?

Didnt Dunn play on Pavlich last week and have a shocker? I missed the game, this is just what I remember reading somewhere, would love some opinions on how he did go if it was Pavlich he played on. Dunn on Petrie sounds like a mismatch to me.

I immediately thought they were talking about selling home games as per the Lions deal. Playing games at a boutique stadium and selling home games are different issues. This doesnt sound like its selling anything, its simply playing our home games at Skilled and bearing the risks associated with that. If we fill the place great, if its half empty we're left with a bill to pay. The AFL wouldnt give MFC $400k to play at Skilled, there is nothing in it for them. There are defenite benefits to using a boutique stadium, not Geelong's though, its the Cats home ground and its surrounded by one-eyed Cats fans. Its needs to be somewhere unaligned like Casey where people will come along simply cause its an AFL game in the area and we have the potential to grow a fan base there. At the moment being paid $400k to play in Canberra and still have that potential to grow a supporter base seems like a winner to me. Skilled offers neither of those options.

Its a legitimate point. Is the AFL open to it and if so why? Or it just something SEN made up?

Also where did the 2 games come from? Im fairly sure Stynes came out some time ago and said we would only be persuing 1 home game out of Melbourne if any at all.