Go the Biff

You keep throwing this up but the shape of the stadium is meaningless. It's an admin base & there is more to training than the stuff on the ground - recovery, weights, pool, video etc etc. The club will still have ready access to a training ground which, to my understanding, will have dimensions closer to the MCG than the Junction Oval does. You obviously have a barrow to push on the full-time at Casey Fields issue and credit to you, you're doing a good job in terms of persistence. I just don't agree. My view is that moving permanently to Cranny would kill us. The answer is somewhere between the two. We have to have our base near the CBD during the season, to me that's a given. But if we have a summer base at Casey Fields we have to be sure not to neglect the area during the footy season. The club needs to be highly visible. Regularly scheduled training sessions should still take place there, though the bulk of training takes place at Olympic Park. These sessions should be at times where kids can turn up to watch, then have a kick on the ground after training. Hopefully the coaching staff would give the nod for a few (or most) players to join in, chat to the kids, sign autographs, give away some family passes to MFC games. Embrace the local population with a few "Hawthorn style" sausage sizzles after training where they can meet & greet the players. We need an aggressive approach to getting our players into the primary schools to run clinics, hand out some "made in China" red & blue footys (we have to get something out of the China trip). We can pinch Collingwood's idea where they play a "match" against a local primary school. Offer footy "scholarships" in the secondary schools where the winners get to do a week of (modified) training with the club. There is so much more that can be easily & inexpensively be done to generate support in the area & most of it requires our players prescence. We should have players in the schools the day the contract is signed. We are on the bones of our arse & our players, despite the team's appalling form, are our only marketable asset if we are trying to win the hearts & minds of kids. But we can't be seen as being exclusively Casey. If we move there full-time, that's what will happen over time & we can't afford that. As big as Geelong is, they would wither & die if they relied exclusively on the support they get from that city. Their Melbourne based supporters are vital to them. It's a much bigger deal than the shape of the stadium that houses our gym !

Pinched this from Marvin the Crows fan on the Melbourne Bigfooty board. Dunno if he has any clue about footy but at least he'll be unbiased. Forgive the intrusion from another board, but I was at Box Hill today and thought Garland was pretty impressive. I'm stunned Bate wasn't listed as one of Sandringham's best - I thought everything he did was good. Yze used the ball well but I can see why he wont play for the 1s much this year. Sauntner and Poyas were obviously great, but I thought Holland and Newton (in particular) did a lot of really good stuff across half forward and were prepared to sacrifice their games for Sauntner, who was hauling in everything (I think he had 6 or 7 by half time). Newton I thought was really clean with his hands, both marking (one absolutely beautiful one hander in the 3rd term) and dishing off handballs. The disappointment for me was Meesen. As an Adelaide supporter I was keen to see how he went, and he got his hand on it in the middle a fair bit but he seemed to drift around without a real purpose other than that.

I'm interested OMR, thanks for the update. Hope to see old 426 in a couple of weeks. He should do well in the air, my main concern is that his turning circle is wider than some of the grounds he'll be playing on.

Did reasonably well there. Strong, could lead, mark - not many overhead though. Even did the one percenters, tackling defenders. Rubbish kick for goal though. He could never settle on whether to use a drop-punt or torpedo as he had equally bad results with both. Gutsy player though - his groin was stuffed, he had a hernia & at times held his body together with a cut-down wetsuit under his jumper & shorts. Still went out every week & gave his all for some pretty terrible Melbourne teams.

Probably because he played mainly CHF. Headline acts such as Ray Carr occupied the goalsquare when Parke was going round.

Did Godders have a run for Norwood ? If so, how did he go ?

Good thread Chook. I think you got the trifecta. Going back, the best I've seen would be Flower, followed by Schwartz pre-knee. Then you're looking at Alves, Wells, Lyon & Jakovich.

Doesn't have the engine.

Haven't seen the game so my opinion carries little weight but if we structured up like we have for the past 18 months then we are farked. We have the worst forward set-up in the AFL and have had for a fair while. It's less a form & personnel issue than it is where they set-up & what they do when the ball goes out of the forward line. For those bagging Neitz, I'd rather have him on one leg with his arm in a sling than a fully fit Newton. At least a crippled Neitz would try to give a contest.

He just looks like a footy coach *. Loved his response to a question "did you think about shutting down when you were three goals up" No - we were thinking about being four goals up. What was that 16 - 17 minutes into the first quarter ? I make that about 104 minutes to go. No - I wouldn't think about shutting it down then. * - caveat. Once upon a time Stephen Bickford looked like being a footballer. Appearances can be deceiving

I am no fan of Jace Bode. He evokes in me the same feelings I felt watching Luke Williams kick sideways all the time. BUT - last week he was one of the few who tried to work hard both ways. He was one of the few who led towards the ball carrier in an effort to provide them with a target. He is an ordinary player at AFL level IMHO but he is very stiff to be dropped this week.

No disrespect Nugget but you have got the rosiest of rose coloured glasses on. If Yze Magic decides to sub-contract out his previews, you should put your hand up for the gig. 'Twould make very positive reading.

As you said earlier, they won't run. Token efforts to present. The sad reality is that most of these blokes don't want the responsibility of putting their hand up & saying "give it to me, I want the football"! Unfortunately, as the confidence gets further bashed out of them, this aspect is likely to get worse rather than better. Often you have to feel for the poor bugger kicking in. Hard to hit targets when there are none on offer.

Don't know mick but it's a new theory. Fair effort that as plenty have been put forward. Someone should be keeping a list so that no-one doubles up.

Mate, last time I played, dinosaurs still roamed the earth

Strewth, even our posters are carrying dodgy groins ! Hope it comes good - there's a lot of territory to cover on some of those big O&M grounds.

Just taking the [censored] DD. Everything else has been blamed from Paul Gardner's speech to Yze Magic's predictions. Can't have that trumpeter not copping his share as well. Hey, who are you playing footy for this year ? Still at Murray ?

The problems at our club are deep, many & varied. We can't expect an overnight miracle fix but we need to chip away at them. We have turned to shite since that bloody trumpet player set foot on our sacred turf. He must go. While it won't solve our problems nor make a difference to the playing group, still he must go. It's all about doing the one percenters !!! Take out the trumpeter.

Don't think you've read that right & I had a good view. Morton's work was terrific in getting the ball to Robertson but then he stopped. You could see Robertson looking to Morton & I reckon he wanted to pass the ball off to him but the kid was static (then again, passing or handballing to a static team-mate often seemed the orger of the day). Had Cale moved 7 or 8 metres towards goal the pass was on. By the time he did, a Bulldog had moved up from the goalsquare, effectively covering him. I was happy enough with Robertson's work-rate in the first half. Pisses me off when he flies against Neitz though - he should be front & square. Our whole forward structure pisses me off in fact & has for years. I'll save that rant for another time.

Although your username sounds familiar I note a post count of 1. That is a pretty useful first post. Welcome.

As long as you get him home by 1.00 am. Hate to see him suspended after 6 goals & 11 tackles

Two separate issues. Do the deal for a summer training base, for at least the next two years & then review the arrangement when Olympic Park comes on line. It may be in the club's interest to have the summer arrangement ongoing. If the club wants to develop a presence in the area, get out there a few times this year to start it off. Put on a few clinics during the next school holidays. Send players around schools in the region as well. Have training at times where kids can come & watch & maybe, have a kick after training with some of the players. While the area is growing rapidly it's also got more than its fair share of families battling "no deposit" mortgages. If the club wants anything more than a training base from the exercise, the first thing they should be trying to get is the hearts & minds of potential young fans rather than making a quid. As for playing games at Casey, we should steer well clear of any involvment. That's a council / AFL debate which, if it ever gets legs, will escalate to State govt level. It will be all about infrastructure and given that after 150 years we still have none, we should leave the interested parties to it. It will be a money pit.

That's the area we miss Rivers most of all - his ability to read the play & cut off forward thrusts from the opposition. You might not like his "confidence" but Franklin can seriously play. Flashy & can drift in & out of a game but I don't subscribe to the frontrunner view. YM if Franklin were on the "G" in a Melbourne jumper you'd not only change your username but you'd have a crack at yourself til your head caved in.

As I understand it, Casey Fields is being looked at as a summer pre-season training venue rather than hopping from ground to ground. Olympic Park is still on as our home & our training venue during the season.

Slight correction - from what you've said you've been a barracker all your life, not a supporter. Two years considering becoming a member ? FFS, Luke Williams was a better decision maker than you. The sad thing is that there are thousands of pea-hearts with an attitude like yours who will take yesterday as an excuse to decline supporting the club with their finances & their attendance. As if we don't have enough down-hill skiers in this club. When the going gets tough you find out about people. Have a look at yourself Mono, chances are you won't need a full-length mirror. If you want to be a supporter, join up & turn up.