george_on_the_outer

In 2020 we had 4 players in Langdon, Tomlinson, Pickett and Jackson come into what was essentially a fully fit side for the year. That simply tells us that ( injuries aside) the 2018/9 sides had too many ordinary, fringe, below par players being selected. That two 18 year olds could walk into the side, no matter how talented they are and then hold their spots was more damning. If we want improvement in 2021, we are not addressing the fundamental problem, by seeking improvement from the likes of Oliver, Trac, May, Gawn etc. They are already good with only marginal improvement possible. Even if it happens it won't help the team as much as the improvement required across the board. We simply have to stop being forced to select that group of players who have been around 4,5,6 and longer years, and are still being dropped from the side due to poor performances. ( There are a couple of others who weren't being dropped as well). To put it simply we need talent where currently there is little. And we need it now! There is no point waiting. Gawn is 28. Viney 26 Petracca 24 Lever 24. How many more years are we going to wait, and risking that talented group leaving for greener pastures? The draft this year will be unlikely to produce anything to solve our problems due to NGA picks and what is looking like a raft of compensation picks following FA. This is the year we need to trade heavily to bring in players who can kick and have the talent to stay in the side all year long, replacing those fringe players we currently see week in and week out.

and no Nichols for "free kick Hawthorn"

Mihocek is the one that is gettable. Out of contract, and the Pies have salary cap problems trying to keep DeGoey, Moore and Daicos in the side.

Wow! Dropping Daw when Goldstein is already 32 y.o.! Anyone know a team who might have a backup ruck available?

The Casey facility could be very valuable in terms of preparation for the AFLW side in the Covid era This article outlines the possible hub situation: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/aflw-players-asked-if-they-are-open-to-hubs-20200915-p55vtr.html More importantly is the following from the article ..."But there remain issues, including the sharing of club facilities between male and female players, which was barred by clubs in March as the situation escalated" WIth the Casey development, Melbourne don't have that problem.

Or for a Queen in some foreign country, when it isn't even her birthday....

Brisbane

Not now, she used to when Demetriou was around. Just makes things up...."my sources tell me" type of stuff. Same with this.

How many covid breaches from Richmond and not a peep from Caro?....got to make up stories from elsewhere.....same old stock in trade.

All these changes cost money, so another couple of pineapples donated to keep this great site running.

No aeroplanes! St. Kilda wouldn't appreciate being in Cairns, for starters. More possible flights from BN/MCY/AD to Cairns. Not surprising Sydney went up 2 days early. What would have been better...AS/MCY/CNS with a 3 day stay in MCY or AS/MCY (at 3am) then off to CS the next day?

The weekly "bookmakers form" is out: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/804744/a-chance-to-return-who-s-in-the-frame-for-round-15- so you can lock in Fritsch, Lockhart, Harmes and ANB( although I don't know why for the last 2) Forget about Smith...no mention ( and if Lockhart comes back, he will be taking on Papley) Preuss a possibility if Max isn't fit.

Is there any way of knowing what the available players are in the phantom draft? i.e those not tied to Academy or F/S. There are some mentioned in the Twomey list, but obviously not all....

same here...

26 August 2020 $636,407

The game isn't over yet. North Melbourne for one have given up on a stand-alone side. This opens the door for Port etc... https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/north-melbourne-s-vfl-program-abandoned-after-just-two-seasons-20200730-p55h09.html

Correct. The old swimming stadium ( now Lexus/Holden etc) centre was offered to the Gutnick Board, but not Olympic park. Probably the cost of re-engineering a place with a Heritage overlay would have been too much. Eddie then engineered Althletics Victoria to move to create the training oval for them. It still has a training running track around the perimeter, but the athletes have been fenced out of there during Covid.....will they get a chance to return?

Melksham was 2 to 5 metres over where the mark took place before he started moving sideways. He was called twice to come back, and he didn't.

Because he is horribly out of form, and can't get a sniff of the ball. His spot will be saved by Jones and Sparrow not being there next week.

Scores from turnovers: 59 to 23!!!

There are a couple of other positives outside of the "debt free" thrust of the article. Firstly, the sale of the Leighoak and the Bentleigh club pokie licences has been probably at the most fortuitous time, given the Covid situation. Both closed, with no income. We really picked the right time to sell. Secondly, the generosity of the MFC supporters & sponsors. With only 100 or so wanting their money back , it means the Club has the cash-flow to continue operations during the footy season. And with the sponsors committing to next year, that provides surety to continuing operations. Without that support, we would be on AFL largesse, both this year and next and maybe beyond. The Club has been very forthright about not being under AFL financial control, and so it puts us on equal footing with the larger clubs. For those who think that on-field success and performance is their motivator to join as a member, then they need to listen to "The Merger" : https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-i-was-never-given-a-name-a-43053728/ and see how not taking out memberships nearly bankrupted Hawthorn, after 4 premierships in the previous 10 years! Thirdly, as Redleg has pointed out...we can thank our lucky stars for what the Gutnick/Mann board did in purchasing the Bentleigh Club. It has provided continuous profit to plow back into football operations for 20 years, and now its sale will probably provide the basis for a permanent training facility.

Exactly, but the term "debt free" is a bit of a misnomer in the sense that assets are being sold to pay down the same debt, with a fair bit of that debt associated with the remaining pokies licence fees. From the article: "The sale of the Leighoak gaming venue – following the 2018 decision of president Glen Bartlett's board to withdraw from gaming – had netted more than $10 million, which was used to create a $7.5 million investment portfolio that the club can draw down on." So I would think the other $2.5 M is used to pay down debt. .....voila debt free! Trouble is with the sale of Bentleigh and Leigoak, the revenue bases have/will also disappear. What is going to replace them?

From that video, I can see she will love to be able to tackle in the AFLW.....and yes, has some dash!

$619,842 today....

I am keeping an eye on Geelong's set up at centre bounces. Only noticed it this week against Power. Basically they have 2 players set up either side along the goal to goal line, but 5metres + from the edge of the centre circle. When the ball is bounced they sprint to either side of the circle. The effect is that one of them will hit the ball at full pace, or the opponent if they get the ball first. It also takes 2 of the opposition out of the centre congestion. Port didn't react to it all night, but then Hinckley didn't react to much at all. It was the worst coaching example I have seen. It was pointed out in the match commentary, when he left Clurey ( undersized) on Hawkins for the whole match, but worse still was that he left him 1 on 1. No zone defence, no 3rd man in. Hawkins had a field day. 6 goals mostly from just pushing Clurey aside as the ball came in.