Its Time for Another

Does anyone know what happens in 2011. Is 2010 the only year they get all these priorities. If it is only 2010 then I wonder if the same regime is going to apply to West Sydney in 2011 which would be the year before they are due to enter the draft. God help the teams who are bottoming out in the next two years and desperately need top draft picks in 2010 and 2011. They are going to be at least two years behind in rebuilding. Probably more. The Tigers, Nth and Freo probably have the biggest rebuilds to do during these drafts. Port. Also probably Collingwood. I guess Essendon, although they have started the rebuild but still have an old goal to goal line. Lloyd, Luca, Fletcher. Who all like they will be there next year. Maybe not Lucas. The Swans will be in major rebuilding phase by 2011 when the likes of Hall, O'Loughlin, Kirk, Barry plus others are gone. Most of the other teams have probably bottomed and have been rebuilding for a while.

I'm flying down from Sydney and can't wait. I would love one of our 4 wins to be against the filth. Oh what a pleasure.

I love how he is coaching for the future and prepared to take the short term pain. There is no better example of this than playing Maric last week despite the fact that the week before was one of the worst games I have seen an MFC player play. Most other coaches would have dropped a player for such a bad game. The result was a superb game by Maric with 100% disposal efficiency. Unrecognisable as the player from the week before. Great for the player, great for the coach, great for the future. I still think he should do the same with Newton. Give him a solid period to prove himself or bury himself. If after say 4-6 weeks he doesn't cement his place then drop him forever but give him enough games to decide his future.

Does anyone know how the MCC/MFC memberships are counted. There are $50 and $150 memberships. Do they both count. How do they compare to a game day membership for other clubs. Obviously they aren't worth as much, so how does the 30,000 members translate to income for the club compared to other clubs memberships. Anyone know?

What picks are kept and what are traded will depend on who is there to take in the slim draft. If we have 1 & 2 it is a no brainer that we will take Scully and Butcher they fill in two important gaps. After that it depends on whether draftees are better than who we would replace. You wouldn't delist just for the sake of it.

KF's are much harder to get than mid sized midfielders who can run. I'd go Butcher first every time. Look what we achieved with our midfield 3rd and 5th picks in 2004. At this stage you would have to worry that either of them are going to have great careers. Sylvia looks like he doesn't want to continue and Brock has just got very very slow and isn't contributing to the level we had all hoped.

I must say you are making me feel a bit more confident about the thinking behind the move. I can see how a comprehensive Community Program like the one proposed is likely to lead to a development of memberships. It is a big investment if it doesn't generate that though. It's interesting as the MFC has never really been based around a community because it is based at the MCG. So it makes you realise how hard it has been to generate a following without this sort of community involvement. It would be interesting to know how much impact this sort of program has had on the membership development for other clubs. I wonder if that has been a factor in their move to Waverly and the big increase in their membership. Same for Freo where Schwab took their membership from 12-14,000 when he started to something like 46,000 now.

Wow, Casey Scorp you are right on top of this. Thanks so much for that. I will circulate that to a few people I know who are interested. Very interesting that the Council have valued the MFC Community Partnership contribution as $653,000 per year for ten years. I wonder how they have arrived at that sum. Whether that is a $ cost the MFC have to outlay or whether they have put a cost on the value of the MFC players doing community work. The later is ok but the former would be a major issue for the club in it's current financial state which is likely not to materially change over the next few years.

Thanks for the responses guys. Much appreciated. If travel times are limited to that then it makes a lot more sense. Lets get those Casey members happening. I was at the Players Circle event at the "G" last weekend and Schwab spoke briefly. He is very much about getting the right business plan in place. It will be interesting to see what his business plan is and what his view is about Casey. From memory he has said a few positive things about it but if he doesn't like the idea I wonder what will happen. I spoke to someone last week who did their MBA with him and who said he would be a great CEO. That was during the period between him saying he wasn't going to take the job and before he said he would. He said Schwab lives and breaths footy. Was obsessed with it. He said every business scenario he came up with was a footy example. I think he's going to be great. Will be very interesting to see how they set about engaging with the Casey area and how effective they are at generating memberships.

Hi Casey Scorp, I would love to get some info from you. I live in Sydney now and I'm not familiar with what impact the new freeways have had to the travel from the city to Casey. I have a few question marks about the Casey move. How long does it take to get from the City to Casey. I'm just wondering how much travelling the players are going to have to do each day there and back. Are there a lot of tolls involved. I'm also wondering in reverse how long it will take potential new supporters from Casey to get to the MCG for MFC games. Assuming that new membership is one of the key strategic reasons for moving to Casey over the summer I am wondering, in your opinion, as you live out there, how many people with young families would be likely to start commuting to Melbourne to watch MFC games. I just remember how unpopular and difficult the trip out to VFL Park from the city was and this is a much longer trip. My other issue is probably a mute point in the short term but in the long term it seems more teams are looking at going back to having their own reserves teams because it gives them greater control in their players development. For example Newton has had a bad deal at Sandy because Sauntner has been the full forward so his development as a Full Forward has been hampered. Same would have applied to Jack Watts if we get him and had been still affiliated with Sandy. I wonder where it leaves us if in say five years we are up and firing and get our own Reserves team.

The past 11 consecutive an MFC member while living in Sydney and also MCC member. Before that. 1973 to 1982 consecutive MFC. Then 1983 to present MCC member.

The hard thing about Sylvia has been his persistent history of injuries. It's harsh to assess his attitude or achievements so far because of this. He had his first full pre season this year and although injured early in the season he seems to be showing the benefits of being injury free. If he's over his OP then watch this space. It's really time for him to step up and he seems to be starting to do that.

Spot on. Strawb's was the one genuine ruckman out of the three because he had the height. Both Stynes and White are short for ruckmen and had to rely on athleticism. I think White is the better tap ruckman of the two. His leap more than compensated his height. Jimmy was solid without having the leap. But Jimmy was harder at the contest around the ground and I would say definitely more consistent during the game and during the season. Whitey has been very inconsistent over the years and often has periods where he has a slump. Jimmy could impose himself on a game in a way Whitey has rarely done. Without a doubt Jimmy exceeded all expectations and got the maximum out of himself whereas of course White had huge expectations but I wouldn't say he will retire and be able to say he got the absolute maximum out of his talents.

Couldn't agree more. That's where I was standing. That last kick out and passage of play to Buckenara was in sickening slow motion at the time with a horrible feeling of inevitability. I've never got over it. Please talk about anything but. Believe me, you do not want to see this game. I still reckon we would have got smashed by an even greater margin than the following year, if we'd made it. There were massive injuries from that game and the GF was played in a freakish, energy sapping 31oC.

Can't believe you could possibly think you can begin to compare Miller with Hall. Hall is a footballer. Miller is not. Hall knows how to read the play, where to go to get the ball, how to look up and see better options and kick to them. Has become an outstanding kick for goal, especially under pressure, is one of the best in the league at taking contested possessions. Has an engine that very few opponents can match. Miller is just a big worry. No football smarts. He's been given more than a fair opportunity to develop them and he hasn't and won't. Bailey gave him the benefit of the doubt for this season, but he must realise that he has none of Halls ability and is taking the place of others who are footballers. Lynden Dunne, Bate, Newton.

I spoke to a major sponsor who said he had been told by a Carlton Board Member, mid last year, Judd was definitely going there this year.

Also Nathan Grima rookie listed Kangaroo defender. Gone for the season.

If they are responsible for no injuries they aren't genuises they are the messiahs. At least we aren't sharing one of the five players who's season's are over already. None as bad as Eduardo, the soccer player. What a shocking injury.