torpedo

I would go for a Dawes or White over a Kosi type because the former have the potential to become very good 10 year players for us. Its risk versus reward, we can pay a first round pick for a potential 10 year KPF or we can pay peanuts for a gap fill. Whilst Cook and Fitzpatrick also have the potential to become long term KPFs, you would have to say that Dawes and White are more proven. We cannot keep accumulating first round picks, now that we are armed with three first rounders plus Viney over the next two drafts the time has come to take some calculated trade risks. However, if we cannot land a younger KPF I certainly see the logic in getting a gap fill such as Kosi, provided its low cost.

I think whether or not members may have agreed to being contacted by club sponsors is beside the point, MFC is well aware that its involvement in the betting sector is considered inappropriate by many members so it should know better than to allow cold calling from Deesbet. This is really dissapointing. At the start of his term Jimmy stated with direct reference to potential sponsors and the betting sector that MFC would only seek to align itself with community minded organisations.

Give it to Jordie McKenzie, a tough young player who leads by example both on the field and at the contract table.

It was great to come home from the Darwin game to this email. A few weeks prior to the Darwin game I contacted the membership department to confirm seating arrangements for Premium Members at Marrara only to be told it was not a home game, you had to buy a ticket and that unfortunately the cut off date for arranging tickets through MFC had passed. Apparently all this information was on the Ticketing page of the website. Why would a full membership holder ever need to look at the Ticketing page? I was eventually provided with two complimentary tickets but they still refused to acknowledge that it was a home game, it was like talking to a call centre employee who can no longer distinguish between internal procedure and effing reality. Not a home game? Well then someone forgot to tell the AFL fixture and the MFC team manager.

The old man & I will be there. What is the Saturday night $250 function? Can only see the Pint Club listed at the MFC site.

I wouldn't read too much into what the site says

This suprises me given teams are not even out until 5pm Saturday. Were they doing much? I would expect the team to remain under consideration until after the final session. The main squad is training tomorrow / Saturday. The final session will generally be 2 days before the game, today is essentially Wednesday for the MFC.

Queens Birthday is the one match of our season where all the members areas are heaving, so given you only have access to General Admission seats and you'll want 4 together, I would turn up quite early, no later than 12.30pm, so you can try and get the best seats possible. The GA areas go from the Punt Rd end 50m arc > behind the Punt Rd end goals on Levels 1 and 4. May be enquire with the club if GA members can access any type of reserved seating for a fee. Unless you can access a reserved seat I would skip the Walk to the 'G as you'd then be risking your vantage point for the big game. As for suggestions as to what to do, it really depends on the type of people you are. Young or old? Party or wine and dine? Art gallerys or pubs? Shopping or exploring? It's a long weekend so there will be plenty to do no matter what your tastes.

The irony is that it took you longer to write your post than it did for me to express my dissapointment to Casey... I can't see what harm it can do for people to voice their concerns.

I've just popped my cut up Casey membership card in the Express Post, letting them know I won't be attending my usual handful of Casey games this year as long as Fev is on its list. I urge anybody else who doesn't support the decision to do the same. The deal is not finalised, if enough people express their distaste it may fall over yet.

If you're one Level 2 or 3 it makes no difference, if you think otherwise you're kidding yourself.

If you're on Level 2 there is little difference between sitting on the wing or the flank.

How so? I had an MCC membership for 15 years, I'm comfortable with my understanding of it. If you go to the cricket or non-MFC games more than a few times a year thats certainly a reason to choose MCC over AFL club membership, I've found those people are the minority though, other than that I don't see the value. Everything MCC offers AFL clubs do and more, including guest passes, final tickets and social areas... what are AFL club memberships missing? A waiting list and a pre-historic dress code and alcohol policy?

If you're all about the cash you would can the MCC membership and have an MFC membership. $550 for general admission and no finals guarantee or $400 > $500 for a Level 1 or 2 resevered seat for 17 games and a GF ticket? MFC membership is far superior in value, I think the only reason people hang onto MCC is because of the waiting list and a perception that it is a privelege to have one, I'm glad I saw the light, MFC membership gets you more, thats the bottom line. There is no way any MCC member can justify spending $550 as opposed to $610 for the MCC/MFC membership, its $60 measly bucks on top of a premium only affordable to those who in the grand scheme of things are wealthy people. The only reason one wouldn't pay it is because they are a total tightass.

We are still a long way from having 22 premiership players. I hope we develop a list with depth but I think one of the key differences between our 40 now and our 40 last decade is media hype... nothing more, nothing less. Plenty of the guys we drafted will turn out to be spuds, thats inevitable.

Are you sure? That would mean there would be 30,000+ changeroom passes floating around already, doesn't sound right.

Just upgraded my membership for 2011. I have a 17 game membership, where do premium MFC members sit at the away games?

Yes, I am sure his girlfriends wishes inspire every decision he makes. I'm fairly sure all most 17 year old blokes care about is getting a root, I don't think it matters which state it is in.

Isn't Jack born and bred in Melbourne? I understand Todd is from SA but I thought Jack had lived in Melbourne all his life up until 2 or 3 years ago, when Todd left the Hawks for the Crows. The article and the Crows carry on as if Jack has lived in SA his entire life. I don't think you can compare the Marc Murphy or Ben Cousins situations, they were born and bred in Victoria and WA respectively, with no geographical connection whatsoever to the clubs chasing them.

B&F - raffle between Green, Jamar & Davey. Surprised at the lack of love for Davey, still played 20 games. Most Improved - Frawley or Jamar. Frawley's year was a real step up, particularly the attacking part of his game, 2009 was solid but 2010 was still a huge improvement. Jamar was perhaps our most important player this year, gone from being inconsistent and injury prone to a 22 game player and B&F contender. Dunn's second half of the year has been outstanding but I think coming off a significantly lower base clouds people's judgement here and we also forget how significant Spud and Russian's improvement was, its become their accepted standard after doing it for 22 weeks in succession. Best First Year Player - Scully, easily. Geez his 4th Qtrs are something special for a kid.

In the required order... 1. Fit & healthy list - our injury list was again longer than most for the majority of 2010 2. Our 18-22 age bracket to continue accruing games together, develop a core best 25 and game plans B & C 3. Significantly less turnovers 4. Win at least 50% of our games - the 50% win / loss ratio to apply interstate as well 5. Jimmy Stynes leading us to another successful year off field and enjoying our first finals appearance since 2006 And as far as individual players go, I'd love to see either Jack Fitzpatrick or Stef Martin stay fit and have a regular impact as a second ruckman / forward and I salivate at the thought of Grimesy in the midfield every week. Oh and a Jurrah 10 goal game

This is why stats can be rubbish. Scully did not have 8 clangers. Several times Scully kicked it to the best option but his target didn't have the game sense to run into the space Scully was kicking it to, ie Scully's football brain was moving to quick for his own teammates. What looked like obvious turnovers was often Scully being made to look bad by his teammates not running to the right space or in some cases simply standing flat footed waiting for the ball to come to them. This will change in time when our players have had more experience playing together & a couple of our softer players get weeded out. And I forgot to mention that yes Grimsey's game was excellent on Friday night, his disposal was below average but so was everyones.

They are average players holding their spot in an bottom 8 team. If they had turned the corner they would be in our best each week, they are experienced players amongst kids after all. I wish the best to both of them but I think the best I can say about them is that this year they have been suprisingly serviceable, if it were not for the fact they are both coming off such a low base after successive poor years we'd be expecting a lot more than that. I still don't know where either of them fit in. Normally when you identify a player as having 'turned the corner' their is a position they have nailed to go with it.

I am confused. MFC is moving to the rectangular stadium (isn't this already locked in)? AAMI is sponsoring the rectangular stadium (in which case who cares)? MFC has locked in a new sponsorship with AAMI specific to our rectangular stadium facilities / events?

Entertaining game. Practice games are just that for the seasoned players so I'll only focus my review on the kids & fringe players. Grimes – Schwing. And to think only a couple of weeks ago he was a 'potential' midfielder. Brownlow, Captain... the possibilities are endless. Scully – I actually like that he's been getting caught, he's the ultimate professional and he'll work harder because of it. Has an ability in close well beyond his years, cant wait till he finds his feet. Trengove – suprised he was in our 'best'. Thought he showed potential without being particularly noticeable. Caught in 2 on 1s a couple of times and broke even, definetly a step above most rookies. Morton – looks timid in crunch situations, dont expect him to be the next Glen Archer but would like to see more animal instinct. Like that Bailey is playing him in a more accountable role, geez it really exposes how much he needs it though. Frawley – good game but needs to back himself more, I'd like to see him take the game on & run & carry more, perhaps a result of teammates not allowing him to though. Strauss – still finding his feet, nothing to excite yet. Cant say I noticed the kicking effeciency we've heard so much about. Bennell- similar to Frawley, at his best when takes the first option, not always there though & then gets into trouble. The fact he held his man well shouldnt go unnoticed though, solid base & will only get better. Gysberts - was super clean in close at times, really grabbed my attention early. Maric – involved which was good, still well and truly learning though, would like to see more hunger, seems to wait for things to happen when small forwards need to make their own opportunities. Martin – like the idea of him becoming our , had just as many Leigh Brown-esque moments though. MacDonald – brilliant pick-up, would look a million bucks surrounded by Geelong or St Kilda players. Jordie - hard bastard, look forward to seeing him get more games under his belt. Bail - showed promise in patches, set up some forward plays in second half. Fitzpatrick - learning. Has good size, did some ruck work in our F50. LJ - couldn't handle Fletcher at all, neither could any of our forwards though. Hopefully just warming into form, certainly will have to adjust to more attention this season though. Bell - improved but nothing new to report. Nate Jones - didn't get caught as much as last year, still get caught though. Does any midfielder in the AFL get tackled more than Jonesy? Shame Greeny wasn't playing. Geez I hope he plays forward this year, strong mark & straight kick, would find it baffling if our best utility was used anywhere else other than our weakest line. Not suprising at all, Jamar smashed it last time he played against the Bombers & that was when Hille was in career best form. Fitness & disposal are his issues, not his opponents. He was great in the ruck but his disposal still hurt us several times, he has no confidence in his kicking & he continues to handball to teammates out of position. You want your ruckman dictating play, not giving it off to the first bloke he sees. No point having a marking target if they cannot set up a clean passage of play. I've been ultra critical of his disposal in the past but I've accepted that for the next couple of years at least he is clearly our best ruck option & we need him out there, his decision making has to improve dramatically though. A player of his age & experience should be leading the way, too often he seems to sherk responsibility by giving it off to whoevers closest.