george_on_the_outer

...Ain't that the truth! The MCC has the following sporting sections: MFC, bowls, hockey, target shooting, lacrosse, tennis, netball, royal tennis, golf and squash.....and yes they have a football team as well as the MFC! How are these paid for and how are their facilities paid for? Certainly not from cricket. Member fees? Hardly. It is the income from football, ground advertising etc during the football season. The tenant clubs are thrown a few scraps from the table. The MCC has a baseball facility at Box Hill with clubrooms etc, yet the MFC has no permanent base or a proper 21st century training facility after 160years!

That is simply not true. Gosch's paddock is much smaller than the MCG, and the other open areas are occupied by Melbourne Storm, Victory and Rebels as their training grounds. So unless you can move them out of AAMI...... Secondly Goschs is a public area. We cannot not control the grass, surface maintenance. It was un-usable for 6 weeks last year, and training had to be moved to Casey. Lights for training during winter? Won't happen in public parks. It is one of the reasons Hawthorn is moving from Waverley.

If KK was in this position last year we would be looking to add an additional player through the PS supplementary or mid season draft. This year while we have 13 on the sidelines THIS week, that number only includes 3 or 4 who would ordinarily be in the first 22 and are expected to be back fully fit within 2 weeks or so. While I hold no great hopes for KK given he hasn't recovered ( not just played) for nearly 12 months, it is a calculated gamble to keep him on the list...any selection to replace him would be unlikely to get a game this year, so why do it? It is not like last year where Dunkley was slotted in to fill the huge number of gaps we had, and finished playing 5 games. Similar story to Bennell, if he comes good fantastic, if they don't then we have 2 gaps in the EOY draft already.

Maybe you should say "AFLW is not going away!"

...and another one ...Justin Powers.

Not really much to report from the session. I spent most of it with BB, so he will be able to report further... Yes, the injury list looks long, but really, apart from May, Angus, Gawn and VDB, how many would be in the fist 22? Of those 4 Brayshaw is running freely and keeping up his fitness. Max is running freely and strongly, even with a brace. VDB is the unknown and also May. Smith can't be far away, and while he is running freely, he was still kicking the ball left foot only. BB and I cannot work out what sort of foot injury can allow one and not the other? Chandler was also doing repeat 50-100's, but the wrist is something that is only cured by time. Same for Brayshaw and his elbow. The important thing is even with 14 players listed, we still have 30 out there training fully. That included Melksham, Hibberd and Spargo who all participated in the small amount of match practice/simulation. So back to the track....it was very light and not much out of the ordinary apart from Kossi Pickett already having contender for MOTY! Hard to describe as he just came from nowhere in a pack and the next thing you saw was him perched sideways above it with the ball in his grasp. The trackwatchers and players erupted with awe, but the Channel 10 crew behind us were kicking themselves as they weren't set up properly. Still they wanted to know who he was, so hopefully the cat hasn't been let out of the media bag....just yet! There was a mids group near us with Bradtke and Weidemann doing rucking ( given the injuries to Max and Brayden, we may need them). Petracca and Langdon were prolific with their ability to get the ball and clear the pack. Interestingly, Jackson was part of this group, but not as a ruck. He held his own against Oliver, which was no mean feat. Sorry, not much else to say...so over to BB if he can think of anything else..... ⚕️ SATYRICONHOME'S INJURY UPDATE ? BAGHDAD BOB'S TRAINING REPORT

You can add Corey Wagner to the list with a knee. Bandages and iced. Didn’t participate in any activity. Petty apparently groin.

No The Saints ran a $1 membership 2 years ago. They got about 4K "members" who miraculously appeared in their membership total in June of that year. Trouble was their income membership for that year actually dropped. ....but hey good story to tell the sponsors!

The great AFL conference [censored]-up continues.... Melbourne beat North and are outside the 3 for finals contention in their conference, but North are in their top 3. Yes I know it is only round 1, but the same scenario can happen at the season end. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=aflw+ladder#sie=lg;/g/11h5kw1xy3;10;/g/11clhs143n;st;fp;1;;

In a printer?......It is only a bar code,either on your phone or a piece of plastic or paper.

Love watching the girls play, but unfortunately the AFL is destroying it as a spectacle, by bringing in too many teams too early. The quality and skills that were seen in the original Melbourne v Bulldogs exhibitions was first class, but now we have only 4 to 6 genuinely good players in each side. We know how good players like Daisy, Kearney, Harris, Paxman, Vescio are going to perform, because they have been playing the game for a long time, and can kick, mark and handball to the standards we are used to seeing in the mens game. Unfortunately, they have teammates who simply cannot do the basics at the moment. It WILL come, but in the meantime, the spectacle is being trashed.

Membership numbers as of today 7 February....31,519 This is 2808 down on the same day last year. The saints have 36,877 at the moment, while North have 31,910

While I'm in full support of a Tasmanian side, the AFL lost its chance years ago, when they were trying to force North to Queensland. Sadly, for the Tasmanians, the economics still don't stack up. $7-8M from the government? Clubs currently get $1M per game for those games in Shanghai, NT, NZ etc. So double that amount and you might be in the ball park.. Split between North and South? As DeeSpencer has pointed out, spending big bucks on an oval that will be used only for 7-8 games ( if they are lucky) in Hobart means either the stadium won't be built or the games in Launceston won't happen. Still with an election in the next couple of years, there is plenty of opportunity for pork barrelling ( again, and from either side).

With all the discussion about media coverage or lack of it, it seems we are not alone: Red & White Online: Swans Media stories of 11 day old interviews, pictures of new recruits not on the website, fluff articles etc......The Swannies have the same problems as us it seems, and they are sheeting it home to the AFL and Telstra, who own the websites....

But Richmond can now pay extra to other players on their list who would otherwise be pushed out by the salary cap, thus keeping their list intact. Or they can go chasing other players in the mid-season draft that they couldn't because of salary cap pressure, if they have a spot caused through injury..

The Age is reporting that Richmond and Rance have come to an agreement to pay out part of his salary that he would have otherwise been paid. One-sixth of quite a bit: Alex Rance leaves $1.4 million on the table The result is that Richmond now have buckets of $$$'s available under the salary cap for this year and next. If this is allowed by the AFL, then you can be sure that Sydney and Collingwood will exploit the same avenue for their 10 and 7 year signings, when they can't make it to the end of their contracts!

Might have something to do with paying his own bills? Until he is contracted, he is doing this for free. The club really has nothing to lose. It is only a rookie spot for 1 year....and it appears there is no-one else that we have seriously looked at, or they would have been at training. He will only cost us minimal $$'s and if it doesn't work out or we find someone else to fill the Neitschke gap, then there is always the mid-season draft....

You just know that the elevated walkway will be known as "The Magpie way"

“Imagine getting off at Richmond Station, not having to go up and down escalators or anything. Escalators at Richmond station???...shows how often Eddie uses the facility

Best day of the year to go skiing is Superbowl day. Everyone, and I mean everyone is inside in front of the TV, and the slopes are all to yourself...and the few disgruntled towies sitting in the cold!

There are no 2nds any more: https://vfl.com.au/developmentleague/ " With no Development League in 2018, the club structure for those eight clubs affected will move to one similar to that currently used by clubs such as Collingwood, Essendon, Geelong, Footscray, North Ballarat and Richmond, where players not selected at VFL level will play local football. "

That's the truth. We are not going to see the defensive structures and how individuals fit into those structures and the expectations of how they will act in certain scenario's at an open training session. Even more so on Gosch's paddock which is undersized compared to the grounds on which we play in the main season. ( ground size is one of the contributing factors as to why Geelong fail in finals ). Same for the forwards. It is not just Tommy at FF, Weid at HF etc. How they will run their patterns is unknown to us until the first game. One of the reasons for Maroochydore is to get away from prying eyes, or Casey or indoors at MSAC. Wish we were in Essendons situation, who run their sessions inside an aircraft sized hanger, with 2 ovals outside in size equivalent to the MCG and Docklands.

Brown is one of those players that you don't notice, he just does his job and at the end of the game he will have kicked a couple and you would ask when?.....He is training with the forwards and just fits into the scheme of things. He may play as a 3rd tall, but should any of the main forwards get injured he will be into the side post haste. He kicked 21 goals at Essendon last year which was only one less than Petracca, our leading goalkicker. He is tall, and can probably fill a role down back as well, if needed. Very nice pickup for us, and still baffled as to why the Dons got rid of him considering the situation with Daniher and other injuries in their forward line.

Baghdad Bob may report soon, but the internet was down at his home base...and photos to follow from Hardtack and son... In rehab: Tomlinson, Baker, Spargo, May, Oscar with Smith and Petty joining them when the contact stuff in the main group began. No sign of KK, Hannan, VDB, Neitzke, and Chandler. Melksham came out and was doing only kick to kick for a short while, but only on his left, then worked with the physio for an extended period....abdominal? back? impossible to say. May was only walking post surgery, but should be back with the main group and running, very shortly. Bennell had a couple of light runs and was kicking both feet without ever missing, either at goal or to another player in the rehab group. So I counted 32 in full training, but given the ease of movement from Tomlinson, Spargo and Baker in their exercises, they should be back in the very near future. Oscar and Smith and Petty looked to be only a minor step away from the main group today, and joined in the final bit of match simulation with the main group. I'll leave it to others to report on the goings on, but really this was similar to other Wednesdays, with plenty of practice of ball movement and positioning, with lots of "keepings off" in various forms. Not much match type stuff. over to the others......

A proper training base and home for the next 100 years.....not some stopgap measure in a public park!