george_on_the_outer

Article in today's little paper ( in fact the only decent one in this rag) from Mick Malthouse: MICK MALTHOUSE’S CHRISTMAS WISH LIST FOR 2020 "Fewer rule changes, less time wasting, no gambling sponsors and more competitive Victorian clubs. Here are 12 gifts Mick Malthouse wants Santa to deliver for the 2020 season." (I can't get up a link without the HS trying to sign me up, but if there are any smarter people on this site that can provide a link.....) In essence, he has articulated probably the most sensible 12 things that fans ( not Gillon) want to see for a fairer competition and game: e.g ..rules that are rules, not interpretations. ....a fairer fixture....a fairer and consistent match review system...a sponsor not involved with gambling or alchohol.... If only Santa were real......

Since people can't leave the religious discussion alone.....locked!

Which other club has a social club? They don't make money and fans don't live in 1 suburb any more like the 1960's. WE need a training base. Gosch's was unusable for 6 weeks last year. But you are right about a financial plan of being successful outcomes on the field. Half the sides in the competition fail every year! You need off-field income for those times.....

No mention of KK unfortunately

Apparently the new licence fees are exhorbitant. Are they still profitable? I don't know, but we had buyers, so someone must think so. The government sold the previous ones too cheaply, so they upped the ante. . However, you are right.....what have we replaced that revenue stream with?

Under a lot of pressure to get this report in from the top...... Well, you would have already seen the reports of who wasn't there today, but make what you may of that. Perhaps an early Christmas, perhaps players on individual programmes, but the stalwarts of the track-watching crew were out there again....rain, hail, shine or in the case of today extreme heat. Even BB is now out of rehab! and we recruited dworship to the team before he disappears back to Ballarat. Naturally, those players who braved the conditions were out on the track a good 45 minutes before the advertised time, but who would blame them? Compared to previous sessions, this was a "light one". Still not unexpected given the temperature, and not every session needs to be as physically gruelling, so that the bodies can recover, and also to avoid injury. BB has given a good run-down on the goings on on the field, so I will only add a couple of observations: Once again Pickett really caught my eye. That's because you have to keep an eye on him before he disappears from view. Dworship made the comment that he has a "turbo button" to go with his normal quick coverage of the ground, which is very reminiscent of a previous owner of the number 36 jumper. Just when opposition players think they can or have avoided him, suddenly he is back for more. The other beautiful sight is his ability to get into space, with his opponent trailing by 10m having been burnt off. In one passage of play he contested for a mark, but it hit the ground and his opponent gathered the ball....until KP tackled him straight away, then sprung up to receive the handball from his team-mate who had gathered the ball. Not just one effort but 3 in succession! Keep and eye out for him, because surely he will be playing very soon. Everyone is watching Jackson, not unexpectedly, but again there was one passage that just makes the watchers ooh and aah!. Flying for a pack mark in the forward line, he decided not to grab it, because he was slightly off line. Instead he leapt up, leaned in and tapped the ball back over his head, but before it had hit the ground, he had recovered it and waltzed into the open goal. The others in the pack were still sprawled on the ground. ......oooh .......aaah! One for DazzleDavey, or one of the juniors observers to have some input.......there was a 17 year old kid, built like the proverbial who participated in a lot of the drills. Apparently one of the Next Generation academy, name of Deakin? Any info on him, because he certainly has the body already for the game, and in his brief outing also has all the basics. So while there is a closed session tomorrow, sometime, somewhere, that is it until the New Year. The overriding message is the numbers which we have on the track at this time of the year, and the obviously higher levels of fitness that come about from having those bodies on the ground. Very few in the rehab group and even then , they cannot be far away. Jones and Tomlinson already have the core strength and miles in their legs from their careers already, so it is just a case of getting them out there to participate with the group.

I don't like the line being spun about the loss being covered by existing cash reserves. Those reserves are from the sale of the Leighoak. So we lost $900k profit from Leighoak, and are covering a $1.6M loss, from that sale money. Yet we still have a $2M debt ( although that is not as much a problem with current interest rates). Yes we had a rubbish year for revenue as a result of the draw and our on-field performance, but those sort of things can happen again ( we hope not). But we have sold down a major revenue source, and the Darwin game as well in the hope that things will get better. Bentleigh club provided $4.5M of revenue this year, yet gate receipts were only $6.2M. This revenue disappears in 2022 if I remember. How is that going to be covered? It appears we have negotiated a better deal from the MCC, but as SWYL says we have to start winning games, to make that work. Selling assets like Leighoak and Bentleigh club should result in the purchase of new assets,( like a home base) not for recurrent expenditure. Where is the AFL support for exiting gaming? Carlton, Essendon, Richmond, Hawthorn and St.Kilda aren't.: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/five-afl-clubs-awarded-new-20-year-licenses-to-operate-pokies-20181029-p50cl8.html Hawthorn are building a $100M facility in Dingley. Richmond are planning a $60M upgrade to Punt Road.

Went along with all the other "retirees" BB, Deepositive, Saty, although some would claim they still work! If there is one thing that we can count on for season 2020 is that this side will be fit. I wonder how many players would be cheering the arrival of Burgess today, because the exercises that he sets test them to the limits of physical endurance. There was little match practice, but all the exercises today were about running with footballs and simulation of match scenarios in terms of fitness e.g touch football for 15 minutes across 1/2 the ground. Then do it again. Then do it again and again. 4 quarters of back and forward. By then end the bodies are wilting. But ( and this is a credit to Burgess), it isn't 50 100's back and forth rather something which retains interest and concentration combined with the agility and game level endurance. The side-line observers just oo'ed and aah'ed at Kickett in these exercises. No-one seemed capable of getting a hand on him as he danced left, right and then around player after player. I hope the crowd gets to see him this year, because he is one exciting fellow to watch in action. After all this, there is no stop. It's straight into the next bit, be that the small match simulation, but then even after that, it's into the next Burgess designed gut buster......5 minutes of wrestling, usually with someone of equal weight/strength/height...but poor Kosi got matched up against Gawn!!! Hardly fair, but you had to admire Kosi, because he just kept at it trying everything to get the big man down. Whistle blows and then the group is put into 3's. Players start on all fours. One rolls sideways to one end. That end player then has to spring over the rolling player to the other end...that player then has to spring over and roll to the other etc. Sounds easy? Try doing it for 10 minutes!! By the finish some players could barely get up enough spring to fall over the rolling player. Again pity those in Kosi's group because he kept springing up and over and up and over. As others have reported the session finished with more running for the various groups. Good to see Jordan leading one of the groups, but Tom Sparrow wasn't far behind. Both have now put on that extra muscle and weight which will only put them in good stead at AFL level, but their fitness will also be a factor for the team in the future. BB and DeeSpencer have reported on other aspects, but to me the most important thing is the number of players on the park, especially in light of the situation at this time last year. It is just great to see the likes of Jetta, May, Lever, TMac and Viney going full tilt instead of in rehab.

Might of went a bit overboard about how many games J. Wagner CAN play this year......

Membership Year 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 1st game 22/3 A 23/3 H 25/3 H 25/3 A 25/3 H 4/4 H 22/3 A 31/3 H 31/3 H 27/3 H Oct week 3 19,068 21 15,211 20 21,980 22 19,026 26 16,654 22 17,625 25 Nov week 3 20,215 21 25,028 22 26,064 18 23,037 26 20,509 26 20,223 25 - 16,287 11,922 Dec week 1 28,005 7 30,096 7 28,354 07 27,914 9 24,402 4 22,433 3 22,105 11 18,217 3 18,747 2 17,541 3 Dec week 3 28,441 21 31,759 21 29,053 22 29,426 23 26,217 22 24,097 23 23,542 25 20,623 20,166 Jan week 3 29,764 21 33,226 21 30,068 19 30,200 20 27,027 19 25,112 23 24,558 21 21,873 22,402 22,396 Feb week 1 31,519 7 34,327 7 30,577 2 31,141 3 28,013 3 25,647 1 25,416 4 22,962 8 23,422 23,457 Feb week 2 32,157 14 35,148 14 31,310 14 31,537 10 28,759 17 26,290 12 26,039 12 23,650 12 21,448 12 Feb week 3 32,735 21 36,070 21 32,075 21 32,137 17 29,217 24 26,639 18 26,641 17 23,650 18 24,195 16 25,253 17 Feb week 4 32,985 28 36,973 28 32,948 28 32,679 24 29,450 26 27,066 26 27,736 26 - 25,277 Mar week 1 35,726 7 37,979 7 34,034 7 33,520 3 30,524 7 27,619 4 28,582 4 24,801 5 26,023 27,806 Mar week 2 36,063 14 39,537 14 34,691 14 35,080 16 32,623 16 29,510 16 30,421 15 26,751 14 26,791 14 28,068 Mar week 3 37,571 21 41,513 21 36,513 21 35,756 21 33,146 21 30,257 21 - - Mar week 4 37,888 28 44,008 28 38,089 28 37,025 28 35,117 26 31,035 26 32,324 28 - 29,588 31,087 Apr week 1 38,115 7 45,537 7 39,402 7 38,554 7 35,535 1 32,001 1 - - 32,235 33,359 Apr week 2 38,246 14 46,133 14 40,160 14 39,005 14 36,157 8 33,301 9 33,175 14 - - 33,753 10 Apr week 3 38,286 21 47,174 21 40,557 21 39,281 21 36,731 20 - 34,548 20 Apr week 4 38,431 28 48,080 28 40,636 28 39,634 28 37,597 30 34,068 29 May week 1 38,521 7 49,837 7 41,640 7 40,083 7 37,766 6 34,352 7 35,205 5 - 34,489 35,205 May week 2 38,591 14 50,107 14 41,825 14 40,380 14 38,102 13 - - - 34,961 May week 3 38,673 21 50,422 21 42,057 21 40,549 21 38,327 23 34,871 20 May week 4 38,673 28 50,520 28 42,352 28 40,749 28 38,479 31 35,017 22 June week 1 38,766 7 51,770 7 43,593 7 40,934 7 38,547 6 Jun Week 2 38,985 14 51,770 14 43,791 14 41,022 14 38,653 14 - - 35,403 Final July 30 39,774 52,405 44,191 42,102 39,211 35,953 35,911 33,177 35,345 36,937 Post 31 July 40,531 52,446 45,178 42,233 2020 Progressive total in Red Actual dates in Blue Date of first game of season Home or Away

Simple answer: Shane Mumford.... https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/mumford-seeks-help-from-umpires-to-fix-free-kick-woes-20190919-p52sy7.html

At 7 Dec 2018 last year we had 30,096, in 2017 28,354 I'll get the full table up again soon. Getting this years numbers may be a problem, at the moment the Club is not publishing them, so if Demonlanders renew, just ask the staff on the day......

as of today: 28,005.

Yes. It would be interesting to see the numbers for the individual umpires. There are at least 2 who never call anything other than "play on" the whole and every game. And if we knew the numbers for the W.A. based umpires I suspect it would show an even more lop sided number in favour of the home sides.

Dropped by for an hour, and gossiped with BB for most of that time...and everything he has reported on is spot on. Viney was just in everything. Previous concerns about his footwear/feet couldn't be justified given his outrageous attack on the ball and his running all over the ground. Vanders, as others have noted, can't be all that far away from joining the main group. The interesting thing about the match simulation is that this year we can actually DO match simulation. We can put 36 players ( and more if needed) on the oval. I wanted to see what all the hype was about Jackson, and now I understand. The kid has the vision of Clarry and the agility and ability to find space that is the trademark of the top echelon of players. Will he play ruck? Will he play forward? With his capabilities he might finish up playing midfield. There has a tendency for increasing height in the mids ( Fyfe, Cripps) and this could be the next step. There was one beautiful piece executed between him and Clarry when I first got there. Jackson took possession in the pack, danced past a couple without being touched, and fired off a handball to Clarry who did exactly the same. All the others were flat-footed as the ball sailed down the other end, without them laying a hand on either. Keep an eye on Harry Petty. The glimpses we saw briefly last year point to a real gem. His hands are first class in the air, and poor Brayden Preuss found that out when Petty outjumped him, to take the grab in a marking contest. No mean feat.

Lindsay Tanner doesn't want to open up the can of worms: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/tanner-rubbishes-drugs-report-shoots-down-senate-inquiry-call-20191205-p53hdz.html Loved this quote from him: "Be a bit careful of what you read on the front of the Herald Sun," Tanner said. Without starting the whole conversation again, people must remember that the investigation was started by the Australian Crime Commission ( now Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission), ....not ASADA!....there is a whole lot more to this than Essendon want exposed.

Apparently we have been hiding him......might be a bit old now, but hey at 1.88 and 102kg : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_James

We can't make too many assumptions until we see the actual accounts, but the statement about the loss being covered by "cash reserves" is something to keep an eye on. Since we sold Leighoak, I assume that is the money in those "cash reserves". Would the profit from not selling Leighoak have produced the same outcome in 2019? Let's see.....

Main points: 1. Loss coming, but covered from cash reserves( I’d check this when financials released) 2. Training facility still being discussed with up to 8 government institutions.( Have heard this multiple times before) 3. Injuries were the reason, not an excuse. Of the mids only Lewis and Jones completed more than 50% of preseason. 4. Board were aware of this prior to season, but hoped to have players returning. We just got more injuries. 5. Coaches aware of lack of outside run. Addressed with Langdon and Tomlinson.. 6. Greg Stafford to take up goal kicking coaching along with rucking. Beat 3 others viewing for the role. 7. Only 3 players had post season surgery compared to 16? last year. All of those last year were classed as essential surgery’s. 8. At round 22 Goodwin had a review with the players to vent their frustrations with the year. Big positive. 9. Plenty of Muppets asking questions after. They should read Demonland if they want to know the latest about all manner of things. Some must live in isolation with their lack of knowledge about players and the club.

Ben is just that much better in his chosen sport....but even Christian wasn't bad when he was at the old alm mater:

We find out tomorrow...hopefully!

I wish Weidemann had put on as much weight/muscle:

So tell us which soft tissue issues we had in 2019? Then compare that with Collingwood for example.

Colvin is a tackling machine, and can kick the ball further than most. Nice pickup.

What makes you think Watson gave the medal back....last time I heard he "couldn't locate it".