george_on_the_outer

McGurk becomes AFL first International trade 26 September 2009 In another interesting twist to the McGurk saga, he has been linked with Kerry- the Gaelic Football Champions for 2009. With Taydh Kenneally having completed his childhood dream of an All Ireland Championship, there is speculation that he may head back to the Colonies for a further stint with Sydney. Paul Roos was very keen to offer Kerry something to entice Keneally back to the Australian shores, and McGurk could fill that role. " An Irish heritage, a slightly volatile nature, not to mention the red-hair makes him the all-round package for the Kerrymen" said Roos following his recent trip to Dublin. " Recent developments associated with young Hurley may also have some appeal to McGurk, as there is not known to be an extradition treaty between Australia and the Irish Republic. Something to do with them not wanting back any of those who they sent over here a long time ago..." he further added. All that remains now is for Sydney to come to some suitable draft arrangements with Melbourne or the Gold Coast as compensation. That and some adequate travel arrangements to Ireland- which is being handled by well known Sydney travel agent Mr.B.Trimbole.

Would not touch Butcher based on today's performance. Unless he marks it first time, there is no second effort and a lot of standing on the outside of packs waiting for someone else to do the work. Poor defensively, lost count of the times his opponent ran the ball out of defence. He looks good at this level because he is tall compared to his opponents. Will fit in well at Coburg with the Richmond seconds. Scully on the other hand won the game. Not played on the ball until the last quarter, he had 4 successive clearances which broke the opposition. Lightning fast hands and good decision making combined with relentless running will make him something special for us. We don't have anyone who handles the ball this well. 5 opponent were rotated on him during the day. He just ran them around, even if he wasn't involved in the play. Didn't leave the ground for the whole match. Pity was that it appeared the coach was following instructions to "cotton wool" him. Why wouldn't you put him in the middle for the first 3 quarters? However, when the match needed winning, he was unleashed.

" They'll never see us coming...."

One wonders if some people actually watch us play during the season before they start typing their opinions....... The FD has a lot more inside knowledge of the various abilities of our rucks, but it is astounding that people here are writing off Spencer on the basis of what? 4 games total? Or have we forgotten that he was injured for a considerable part of the season. The guy is a 203cm rookie who has yet to put on any meat on his frame. Of course he will be pushed around. Yet he has some real mongrel about him that has been missing in our rucks since O'Dwyer. Yesterday he destroyed Kruezer in the tap-outs and his second efforts and attack at the man in the middle were what was needed. Hitouts to advantage: Spencer 19% Kruezer 13% Cloke 0%. I would suggest Kruezers successful stint was when Spencer was off the ground. His kicking isn't great...granted. But is Jamar's? As Redleg pointed out to me pre-season, it it because he doesn't drop the ball, but places it onto his boot with his long arms. Yesterday for the first time I saw that he was dropping it, so it is something being worked on. Meesen has positives? I hope so, but again on the basis of what? Again 4 underwhelming games this year from someone picked in the top 10 in the draft. He is certainly not as aggressive as Spencer. I will stick with what the FD thinks, but at the moment the rookie Spencer has shown much more . Jamar and Johnson...well we all know what we get, and we all know there are deficiencies. But consider that Hawthorn has Bailey, Campbell, Taylor, Lowden and Renouf on their list. None of them are world beaters either, but perhaps they are thinking that these days you actually need to have 4+ rucks on the list........especially when they snagged a Premiership using them, however little they contributed.

The lottery ball system suggested by Calabrese Boy works and works well in the NBA,NFL. Vlad and the AFL won't introduce it because it wasn't their idea and no-one tanks in any case do they?

No .....needs to play AFL so that we can convince the Swans that they need him at FF!!!!

The Toiyges really have never done a rebuild. They have continually traded away draft picks to recruit hope, and at the same time keep their rabid supporters pacified. This year it was Cousins. Previous years Brown, McMahon, Kingsley, Johnson, Simmonds, Polak.....How would Callan Ward be in their side today instead of Jordan McMahon? They finish 9th perpetually BECAUSE their supporters don't allow bottoming out. They will never make the finals, leave alone a premiership while this feral relationship persists. The whole thing which does keep US awake is that when the club finally gets the chance to select some really good talent with a top draft pick, then we all hope that it is the right selection. We hope that our top players will be Scully, Watts, Morton, Blease, (Trengove-Butcher-Morabito..), Strauss....because they were the picks when we had, have the chance. We won't know the answer for some time yet. To doubly shaft themselves , the draft for Richmond is littered with the likes of Tambling, Lounder, Banik,Oakley-Nichols. So not only do you have to get good draft picks by bottoming out. You have to be lucky that there is good quality there when you do ( ala last year, but not this year beyond the first 3 or 4...). But finally you have to pick the good ones when they are available....Roughead and Franklin instead of Delidio and Tambling.

If you look at the "ins" for this week, I would suggest that the plan already is in action. The fact that Newton, Bail and Valenti aren't in also suggests that a decision has already been made on their future.

Sorry but Newton is NOT in good form. 27 tackles? well how about getting 27 possessions instead? How about kicking a goal from the goal square instead of show-boating? Not once yesterday but twice. His performance yesterday was nothing short of appalling, and without a gift goal when he slacked off behind play, not chasing his man, yet again, he would have had nothing. Point is that with Watts, Jurrah and Miller, Robertson playing in the forward line there is no place left. He had his chance for the whole of last season, when Neitz and Robertson were injured.....showed nothing. He was given more chances until Robertson returned this year....showed nothing. If he wants to play seniors then kick some goals.

When he performs as well as Bennell, Jurrah, Jetta and Valenti at VFL level, then he might get a game in the seniors. While he continues to do nothing worthy of promotion, he can stay where he is. Meanwhile Watts, Jurrah and others will be filling the spots that were made available to him before. He didn't grasp the opportunity at senior level and now he is doing the same at VFL level.

Tyrone should enjoy doing the same as he did to him in the U18 finals. Nick doesn't like body on body. So once you take away the jump he can generate at centre bounces, which may impress some...he then goes missing. Tyrone knows how to play footy. Nick is not a natural footballer...athlete, but not footballer.

Let's not shoot ourselves in the foot people. I hate the Dome as much as anyone. It is shocking to watch football at, but no more so than watching my club fork out $100K plus to open the MCG when an Interstate team visits. Would be very different if we were competing for a finals berth, but we aren't... Compensate the members and premium supporters with decent seating on level 2. Write out a big check to the MFC for the pain, suffering etc but by season end we will have forgotten all about it. We can be the good guys. Gives us some bargaining power into the future ( maybe) and puts some money into the club instead of taking it out.

7 Rounds in and no 100 point losses. In each and every game we have been competitive. We have been competitive with an injury ravaged list. While every club can claim to have young players, we are actually playing ours. Our first 3 draft picks from last year are yet to show. We haven't thrown the dice yet, and neither do we need to. There is a strategy going on, and it is focussed on the long-term. Not this year. We probably won't win any more games than last year, but it will see us build the strength for the future. Richmond are facing another 5 years in the doldrums. I know who I would prefer running the show..... DB is doing just fine.

We have all seen how proposed mergers don't work. As for Mr Jackson...10 teams in Melbourne does, and probably has a more financially secure base than 2 in Adelaide. North members voted against moving. Brayshaw sold them a lot of air, the stories about Indian billionaires came to nothing, the white knights came to nothing, but all Melbourne supporters can understand and sympathise with the supporters from North. With North's position so perilous, and now that the gun-sights of the AFL have moved off us and onto them, then Tassie will become the only viable option outside folding completely. Vlad has never had to propose a side in the apple isle, because someone will move there instead of face extinction. We have a lot to thank Jimmy and Cameron for ......debt demolition, MCC re-alignment, biggest membership ever, rebuilding relationships within and outside the club. For the first time in a long time the heat is off us. Even though we sit at the bottom of the ladder.

Member services window to left of main entrance. First come first served basis.

This is the Brereton who was quietly removed from the Hawthorn Board when Kennett arrived...... While it is easy for people to suggest there is a "formula" for winning Premierships, I think it was Old55 who noted one day ( forgive me if I am misquoting..) Would Hawthorn have won a Premiership if Richmond had selected Franklin and Roughead at the draft?

* Mr Newton does not have much time up his sleeve....there is a young kid who played in the Casey 2's on the weekend who is looking for a spot in front of goal at the higher levels. Combined with a Koorie kid in the Casey 1's who only needs to acclimatise to the AFL. * He was dragged in the final quarter as his direct opponent ran downfield to set up 2 consecutive Richmond goals. * You don't run out of puff at FF unless you do as much work as Brad Miller. His time remaining may well be measured in weeks. Was the 2 year contract just an insurance until Watts and Jurrah are available, or just that a player with a 2 year contract is tradeable at the end of year 1, instead of being lost without any compensation to the Club???

While we have heard nothing in recent times, there have been 2 major movements in the conditions since this was first talked about. 1. The MFC is now part of the MCC...so things like who pays the bills, who leases buildings etc may have had to be rejigged.. 2. The AFL has mooted a new feeder competition for the East Coast. So what happens to the VFL?. What happens to the relationship between the Scorpions and the MFC into the future? The fact that the MFC is training at Casey and that our players are representing the Scorpions is positive. It's just the business dealings into the future will have had to have been reworked.

Lies, lies and damn statistics...... Do the comparisons first people. North had 6 contested marks for the day. Fairly typical these days. That's the way the game is played. That's the way teams are coached to play...don't kick it to a contest. Result: few contested marks. Uncontested possessions Melbourne 340 North 348. Contested marking has become irrelevant.

I was watching Jake at training one day when Redleg noted why his style "looks so wrong". The kid is such a big unit he has arms which nearly reach the ground. For whatever reason, he doesn't drop the ball from a position in front of his body like most footballers. He actually drops the ball with his arms at about 45 degrees. The result is that the ball falls only a foot or so from hand to boot. It looks really weird, and has a strangely unusual effect. That is he rarely fails to kick the ball accurately. It has little opportunity to be moved by wind or other effects between hand and foot. And with such a short drop, it is rarely off-centre. It seems to take longer to execute, but for such a big bloke, having one who will hit the target consistently is unusual. The other good news about Spencer is that he has a bit of "mongrel" about him. Others who saw him at Sandy last year said he really likes hitting bodies. So while raw at this point, a tough hard at it 203cm giant who can hit a target........

Further on this....there was discussion on this yesterday on SEN with KB. Despite his claims to the contrary it was obvious that for one who is on the Rules of the game committee, that he didn't know about this rule. He was clearly horrified that it was interpreted this way despite it being written in black and white... I would just emphasise the legal point again. Maxwell has not been charged with bumping tackling or whatever, but rough play. And under that clause if contact is made to the head, then the contact is deemed negligent regardless. The only out is if the player had no other option, and he clearly didn't . The tribunal was right. The correct application of the rules as written was applied. This is a case of the law being an ass.

Sorry folks, most of you have got it wrong....the rules were changed in 2007 and I quote from the AFL Tribunal reporting process, available on the AFLPA site: Without limiting the ordinary meaning of the above words, a player shall engage in rough conduct, which in the circumstances is unreasonable, where in bumping an opponent he causes forceful contact to be made to an opponent’s head or neck. Unless intentional or reckless, such conduct shall be deemed to be negligent unless the player did not have a realistic alternative to: (a) contest the ball; (B) tackle; or © shepherd in a manner which was reasonable in the circumstances. In other words everything else ( distance from ball, accidental or not, forceful or not...) means nothing if contact is made with the head. As per the above statement and as per the Tribunal finding, because Maxwell had the opportunity to do something else, and because he made contact to the head (regardless of how ) then he is guilty. If he had not broken his opponents jaw, it is unlikely he would have been charged ( no evidence of contact ) These are the AFL rules and they are a crock.......especially when O'Hailpin can lay 2 haymakers followed by a kick to the goolies and gets a couple of weeks. Whelans bump happened before this rule change, I think.

Because each year the AFL puts far more into the Dogs than they do into us = less of a bill to pay if the Dogs don't have a sponsor than if we don't.

Interesting that he mentioned the story of the Kaditchka men. The Kaditchka man is an initiated member of the tribe whose job is to "cast" the spell which kills someone who has transgressed tribal law. Just the sight of him is enough to kill. They are covered all over with Red Ochre and wear emu feather shoes which leave no track, thereby adding to the mystique. Anyhow the story goes that at Yuendemmu everyone turned up for the footy final, with many travelling hundreds of kilometers from the surrounding district. A couple of Koori fellas drive there, but their car breaks down a few miles out of town. Rather than miss out on the match, they decide to walk the rest of the way into town. Along the red, dusty road. They finally arrive after the game has commenced, but by this time are covered from head to foot in the red bull-dust that they have had to walk through. The crowd spots them coming over the horizon and think they are Kaditchka or Red Ochre men. The spectators literally take to the bush in fear for their lives, and so do many of the players...... With the teams unable to field teams and the spectators long gone, the match is abandoned....

There are some other factors which are in play here as well.... As Casey Scorp has noted, the costs of the Olympic Park proposal is extortionate for what we get. Especially when it couldn't house our current admin staff. So it would seem Jimmy's Board is trying to work out what is best.....perhaps footy dept at OLP and admin at MCG? While I am a convert to the Casey option, it isn't up and running yet. We are to have offices built on site for the footy department and that will take time. So I'm guessing that post summer, we will return to the Junction oval, and then next year....who knows at the moment? The other thing to keep in mind is a sideline that was told to me some time ago. And that is that Journalists are a lazy bunch. They go for the easy story they are all based in the city precinct. So if you were one of them and had to get a story for tomorrows paper or tonights news where would you go?......Gee Collingwood is just down the road, not 5 minutes drive. You can see the problem if we were to move lock, stock and barrel to Casey, no matter how attractive it might seem. Since "air time" and sponsorship are the biggest earners for the club, the importance of this is not to be overlooked.