Arthur Dent

It scares me how good Collingwood are looking. I think Jolly may be the final piece in the puzzle which lets Fraser play as 2nd ruck. They should slaughter us if they are on their game. How is it that we ever lost Jolly??

The Northey days were also great because absolutely anyone was let in the rooms after the game. I fondly remember wandering around the players freely getting autographs. Probably ended up getting every players signature 50 times, but it was always a thrill

Exactly, well put. There will be up times and down times, and the down times only make it that much more exciting in the end. I will never forget being a kid in 87. Being at the Western Oval in the last round and not believing we'd finally made the finals, the euphoria of the first 2 finals with the chant of "Robbie" giving us goosebumps, and then the tears and the disappointment of the prelim (and man, did I shed some tears). It's all part of the football experience.

Even taking into account the debacle on the weekend, I reckon we will win 5 or more. It was really really hard to win less than 5 games last year, only a kick in it in the end!

Good on ya mate. Thanks for sharing your story.

Picked up a couple of gems when I was living in the UK. Alan Partridge is brilliantly wrong, and if you like disturbed dark comedy The League of Gentlemen is an unusual experience.

I think you answered the question in the thread title. Has had his chances and didnt take them. Seriously, if he really REALLY wanted it, he would have grabbed the opportunity. We have had next to zero forward options for a couple of years, and someone with hunger would have snaffled the chance by now.

Getting wound up over umpiring is just a waste of energy. I realised a long time ago that if your team is good enough, then you will win the premiership. End of story. Ever notice how the best team doesnt seem to worry about the umpires very much? Very very rarely do umpires affect the result of a game, and even less often can they be blamed on a premiership outcome.

This article was in The Age. All I can say is, I want some of what the journo's having. He's off his brain

I just keep hoping somewhere out there there might be some rich old recluse who no-one knows of, who will donate millions when he drops of the perch. It's amazing what supporting the Dee's does to your brain sometimes

Yeah I agree. Have hated the show for years, but there seemed to be a little less of the lowest common denominator, smutty locker room rubbish and more talk about footy. Long may it continue, but I fully expect it to return to normal service soon.

Used to have number 23. Warren Dean

Its all good and well to say 'lets be ready in 2012' but the longer term implications for the less powerful clubs is profound. Presumable we are on the rise right now, but what then happens when we are down again in later years? How will teams like us, Bulldogs, Nth Melb etc rebuild if we continue to lose players, which we will. Make no mistake, this makes the salary cap irrelevant for the rich clubs. The can now legally grab any player they want, and either give them a job as an 'Environmental Ambasador' or whatever the *&^% they call the under-the-table payments Judd gets, or just simply give them a brown paper bag. Premier League here we come.

Footy Lite - by the Slattery Media Group - has live score updates for the preseason comp and has the fixture with TV details. Another free one is Aussie Rules Live - looks like being a cracker once round 1 comes around (dont seem to be doing the preseason comp)

We get shafted big time regarding free to air games too. Once the real stuff starts we are on Fox for the first 5 rounds (according to an iPhone app I have). Buggered if I am paying for the rubbish on Foxtel - been there, done that before.

I have a feeling the 'Heart' are not going to be much to worry about any way. The phrase "Divide and Conquer" comes to mind. Surely anone who is interested in following a football club are on the Victory bandwagon. Cant see there being much of un untapped market out there. An interesting argument though. I cant see why we should have any right to stop them using Melbourne, Football or Club in their name, given all are fair descriptions of what/where they are

Perhaps if the offer was not taken up it is because the club don't see him being valuable from a coaching perspective. He was a freakishly talented footballer, but coaching is an entirely different game. I haven't been impressed by any insight when I've heard him on the TV/radio to be honest

Absolutely the last bloke I would want on our list. We presumably have a group of young guys who are hungry for success. We don't need a bloke with an application problem who is likely to find it all too hard again in 2 years.

All for the concept in general, but in Casey?? Why would young guys want to spend a week in Casey? Perhaps down by the beach somewhere may be a little more enticing during summer.

Always thought Wheats was underrated. And an absolutely cracking bloke too. Hope he is around the club in future.

Absolutely agree. I had very high hopes for Bucks this year - had him in my supercoach team I love how he tries to break the line. Was getting caught a bit last year, but I could see where he was headed. Not far from being a cracking footballer I reckon. Watch this space - I reckon he will be very important for us over the next few years.

Watching Hutchy's TAC Cup Rising Stars show (so amateur, just like World of Sport from the early 80's). Had a kid on from Oakliegh Chargers called Andrew Gaff who is not yet in the draft, and is a Melbourne fan. Had won an award for best kid not going in the draft this year or some such, from the AFL Life Members committee. As a fan, they asked him who the Dees should be drafting. He nominated Scully as clearly the best player and a great leader, then Trengrove and Morobito. Lets hope we pick this kid up in a year, and get another Dees fan on the list! Every kid's dream.

I beg to differ. In the AFL money does buy you happiness. I would be ecstatic to hang out with 49,999 Melbourne supporters each week if we had that many!

I'd give anything to win a premiership and miss the finals the next year. Can't really see how we can take much joy out of their situation.

Couldnt agree more BRFE, and boy, that is some effort considering some of the posts around here!