Redleg

From Herald Sun today. President Steven Smith said a new facility remained “a top priority for us” and the club was “really close” to being able to make an announcement on that front. Melbourne has been eyeing a $100 million high-performance and administration facility, which would be built on land within the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve and feature two training ovals. A feasibility study on the site began in December 2023, with a business case now expected to be handed down early in the new year.

What, we make them work on Boxing Day?

I am happy with those two. We can try again for BH next year, but I would be just as happy drafting two more good kids and saving the millions. Another Langford and Lindsay would be a great addition to our revamping list.

Well that could help with getting more sponsorship which will help the bottom line and provide some more money for Caulfield. Btw I have a horse running there on Saturday, so will try and get a bit of info from MRC Committee persons.

It also doesn’t help when you are paying out contracts to ex Coaches, injured players, players who have gone to other clubs, ex Officials and a host of other issues that cost money not to mention decreased revenue due to things like smaller membership, missing finals, less sponsorship etc, etc, etc. Clubs run as businesses and businesses have different financial results, due to a number of factors, some preventable, some not, each year.

Probably/possibly, but we had Kate Roffey on the Board for years, who was the Political guru and Pert who wasn't a football novice and no Training base and how did they both end their time at the MFC? I think the old adage of "you can always do better" applies and that our Board could be improved, but I actually couldn't name 5 Board members today, so I leave it to others who know more about the Directors to comment on the Board.

I think the words about our Vice President learning to deal with Politics says a lot about the slowness of the process. We have been very patient and a bit more patience is needed and to me even the fact we are discounting Waverley for a short term fix, points to not wasting money and effort, when we are close to getting Caulfield for the long term.

Well we did get an update, we are now really close. I agree it was disappointing. It was unbelievable that no one asked a question about it.

Well the President did say "we are really close and we will share more as soon as we are able to." I guess that means that we are not allowed to announce anything yet and I assume that is because one of the stakeholders has told us not to. Caulfield will happen and it will just need a bit more patience before it is officially announced. It is disappointing though that the President couldn't elaborate a bit more, without making an official announcement. I am as frustrated at that as everyone else on here.

I heard the questions and there wasn't one about the Training ground. If all that was said was there was no announcement, that is extremely poor. Surely you can elaborate a bit without breaching any confidential information.

I got on to the live stream during the financial report and missed the earlier bit. Are you saying that all he said was that no announcement was available? Surely he elaborated a bit.

I am not buying into the flags argument, but I think you will agree that injuries early in a game, are different to injured unavailable players for the game. You can at least plan for it and select another fit player. Losing a very good player and on field leader early in the 2023 Q F affected us badly, especially when the result was a 7 point loss. Gus went off very early in the first quarter, after having one kick and one handball and was replaced by Laurie who had one kick for the remaining 3.5 quarters. He was basically ineffective from when he came on. I think Gus was on around 25-30 possessions a game at that time. We lost him and fresh legs at the end of the game, where it might have made a difference. The team was shell shocked and the Pies then jumped us ,until we settled down later in the game. Yes we kicked badly and that didn’t help, but I strongly believe we would have won that game if Gus wasn’t knocked out. I always thought the winner of that game would win the flag and that was how it turned out. No guarantee we win the flag, but our chance to was severely affected by the Gus knockout.

Different roles, but yes maybe he will be helping in the selection process.

In answer to the opening post I guess we are still "pondering."

To me it was a simple decision. Clarry was the biggest player problem in the club, by a mile. His huge salary was for 2021 Clarry, not current Clarry, that was another problem. Where did we finish the last two years with him? We brought in a bunch of new players in the last couple of years, who would be judging us and what we stand for, the culture had to be improved. The locker room is now happier and if you talk to the track watchers, they have seen a happier squad training. Good luck to Clarry, but much better luck to the Dees.

Who not one club or fan would not grab for their AFL team in a micro second.

I would be thrilled if he won the next 5 Brownlows, if we win the next 5 flags.

JT will eventually leave, but probably not to Tassie Devils, as they have Todd Patterson, Derek Hine, Scott Clayton and now Mick Cashion from the Hawks.

On paper we are a fair way off, but of course we don’t play on paper and of course it is just someone’s opinion or guess. I think we now have more unexpected options for midfield rotation.

Hold the presses Kane Cornes is coming. Great news we have secured another building block in our future.

RIP Cheryl. A lovely and talented woman I had the pleasure of meeting several times. Condolences to family and friends.

Obviously not related to Judd the Docker

Tom has been unlucky not to get more games in his AFL career, as he really is a decent ruckman. In one of the finals for Casey this year he was simply unbelievable, just carrying the team to a win.

I just got a migraine.

They are sometimes the hardest prediction. Everyone had Josh Schache in the first few of his draft for example and he went pick 2. There are plenty of examples of key forwards taken early in the draft who didn't go on.