pitmaster

Way to go...one leads into the other.

Very interesting observation re training at Casey. The good element of that fact is that no-one can sling off that we only win flags on our home ground which was the old criticism. But when it comes to impact of training venues your point is thought provoking at least. Of course, the football department says Casey is great and training out there is no disadvantage, but to paraphrase Mandy Rice-Davies: "They would say that, wouldn't they?"

I can imagine the envy on our players' faces when they turn up to RSEA Park on Friday for a practice match and they cop a close up view at the facilities the Saints are creating at their home. I was down there a couple of weeks ago and it's damn impressive. You can all take a look on Friday arvo and think about what might have been. Yes I understand confidentiality and stake holder consultations, but the lack of progress is one glaring red dot on our four year strategy. When the result came in I scored two out of three on board appointments. I can't help thinking we missed an opportunity for a fresh approach with the vote tonight. There's a sameness about our board - corporate backgrounds in finance, management, law, accounting...but I don't see anything in government ties and Reed might have been that. I did note (before my feed cut out) that Kate referred to her "friend" Tim Pallas. Perhaps she was trying to tell us something but adding a professional in the field of government liaison would not be a bad thing. The board could do worse than swallow its pride and see what Reed has to offer in some other capacity.

Give it another 26 hours or so.

Like everyone else here, I am happy for anything that might disturb Collingwood’s preparation but those hoping it will derail their season are kidding themselves. Ginnivan is an attention seeking, cheating s&&@head but he’s a small 1-2 goal forward. His impact on the game is nowhere near as great as the attention he gets for being a knee/dropping peroxided brat. There’s nowhere in his game the forward pressure impact that Spargs and Kossie have for us. if he didn’t play for the Pies and cheat so blatantly we wouldn’t know his name.

Footy website themongrelpunt has reviewed Between The Flags and says "this one is the book you want as a die-hard Melbourne supporter". Check out the full review here: https://themongrelpunt.com/footy-history/2023/02/17/mongrel-book-review-between-the-flags-making-sense-of-57-years-of-heartache/

Ah yes, a sweet memory. Thank you for that.

Benny can't help himself but that smirking host should be ashamed of himself for exploiting the poor bugger. Absolute creep. Notice the frequent knowing glances off camera.

Forgive me for venting but I strayed on to Big Footy this morning and found myself reading a thread on the Hawks forum with the headline ‘Why is Hawthorn so great’? As exercises in self delusion it can’t be beaten. I wanted to answer it, but turns out I don’t have reply rights on BF so I am letting rip here. They make a few points but all annoying. Here goes: Anyone alive has seen more Hawthorn premierships than any other (13 - this much is true); the Coodabeens used to have a joke that the Grand Final was the final match of the year when someone played Hawthorn. Elsewhere they bang on about St Kilda having no right to try to establish a stronger presence in the south east because that is Hawthorn territory. Anyone who has read Between The Flags would know how much of this is self-serving BS. Hawthorn’s presence in the south east, and eight of those 13 premierships are in large part due to the introduction of country zoning in 1967. St Kilda was the sole inhabitant of the south east when country zones came in and was counting on being assigned the Mornington Peninsula but the Saints were premiers at the time and Hawthorn, well Hawthorn was rubbish and bumbling about in the bottom third of the ladder, so luckily, or suspiciously, Hawthorn was assigned the talent-rich MP- West Gippsland zone that the Saints had prepared for by moving to Moorabbin. They also boast of having voted - “unlike that other mob” - to have opposed a merger, and again, any who has read Between The Flags knows that is a misreading of what happened. The truth is, we were once like them. Melbourne originally had one great advantage in recruiting, which was the fact we played at the best ground in the state, probably the nation. For a quarter of a century we made the most of it, then times changed. Hawthorn likewise had one great advantage, their amazing country zone and good luck to them, they made the most of it. But its’ infuriating that they think their success is down to their own virtue. I know I made that same mistake about us. On another matter, they also sling off at St Kilda trying to increase its presence in the south east because that is “Hawthorn territory”. See paragraph four above to understand the falseness of that self-delusion. So I’ll pose another question: Why are Hawthorn supporters so full of it? All contributions gratefully accepted.

True. Also, a club needs a headquarters to encompass a Hall of Fame where it can tell is own story on its own terms. Collingwood are regularly changing their foyer displays in order to highlight some part of their history as well as staging permanent displays. Melbourne could have a profound display, for example, to correspond with Anzac Day given the history of Truscott, Ball, Anderson and others. We could also tell the story of the emergence of women's football better than any other club given our pioneering role. The themes are endless. Carlton and Essendon both display 16 premiership cups at their homes, and it looks brilliant. We need something similar whether its 13, 14 or however many cups and the wonderful old pennants from the 1940s and 50s.

Once again an ill-thought-out AFL sponsored rule change triggers unintended consequences and is rapidly scrapped/modified/reinterpreted due to the creative ways of coaches and players. It is both amusing and predictable. It's a sensible change if you want 'stand' to stand, but really, who needed 'stand' in the first instance? Oh, and the protected area rule? I'm with DD. Scrap it.

Yeah but the winners were smashed the next week in the GF so it amounted to nothing in the end.

Phew...once I read passed the headline.

I enjoyed, and became absorbed in a couple of the WC contests this last week and had to admire the fine skills of the best players in the world...their judgement, control and creativity was terrific, but after a while I found myself asking "What's missing here?" and decided it was the variety of skills - especially high marking - and the ability to control an odd shaped ball that renders our game superior. And of course, whenever an Aussie Rules follower says it is the superior game the devoted soccer fan says "world game". Fair enough, but why is it the world game? Perhaps if Australia had colonised South America and Africa our game would be the world game. And there, to me, lies the truth of it. The spread of soccer, as exhilarating and exciting and dull as it can be, is a product of British and European (esp French and German) colonialism. Not so noble after all, eh?

It's pleasing to see the new MCC president Fred Oldfield appears to be a dyed in the wool Demon. On receiving an email about his appointment I went looking for his football allegiance and found it in a real estate article concerning the sale of his (gulp...$10.5 million Malvern) home which included a picture of his sports bar complete with MFC flag, framed Demons jumper and team photo. (Detail attached.) The MCC has not always been well disposed towards us and it was always a comfort when Steve Smith headed the joint but that's a few years back now. Despite our current comfortable position we need all the friends we can find.

Fitting that she sealed it so clinically.

Rode past Glenferrie on the train a few weeks back which was an opportunity to be reminded of what a rubbish venue it was and remains. Suitable for high school footy and not much else.

And now they have Dave Misson so they really are on our track. Good luck to them as long as they don't come up against us finals time.

It was Hunter who got them started in the GF second quarter with two goal assists.

Cannot help but feel some sympathy for Jaegar O'Meara. Once he was flavour of the month, missed two seasons with injury but was still sought after. Too bad his second club was the amazingly ruthless Family Club where the only welcome relatives are the young cousins. Older uncles - like Jaegar - are turfed once they hit 30. O'Meara is a talent and his reward has been to play in one (losing) final in a career of 140-odd games. I was snakey when he went to Hawthorn who at the time had the depth to take a gamble on his rehab. It was a risk we could not afford, but it's all one way with the Hawks in the Clarkson-Mitchell era. So now he is looking at a third club. At least he might see finals again if he lands with Freo. The bigger issue is what it means for the club. This strategy worked out for Clarkson a long time ago but it makes me wonder what it does to internal culture and fan loyalty to have so many respected players discarded seemingly without a moments regret.

Who were the players you would have thought during pre-season that we would have seen more of in 2022...Bedford? Chandler? Laurie? JVR? Turner? the Smiths? And what does your answer say about the potential for improvement in 2023?

Remember when speculation about sponsors occupied multiple pages and threads here, as often we didn't have any? Remember the forlorn, forgotten club hanging out for a lifesaver until a supporter drummed up a certain Russian tech group? Remember Jimmy courting a potential, and not to be named or patronised, sponsor only to have it snatched away at the death? Be grateful those times are past. This I can live with.

Clayton. The bigger question is - will he feel the need to apologise for a "sh$t speech" again, or has he been working on his presentation?

I don't think the issue was that we didn't recruit from other clubs. For mine I'd have liked more senior game time into the young developing players like Chandler, Bowey, Laurie and Turner. It is true of every coach. They have players they trust and those they trust they give extra opportunities to find form and these kids (mostly) haven't been give the opportunity. Petty to move forward and Turner to be the developing third defender with Bowey distributing the ball off half back appeals to me. Obviously JVR is going to come in to senior calculations although like others mentioned it's overdue. Hopefully he stars and we all have to eat our words as the footy department is vindicated by his readiness to compete at the highest level. I'm less keen about Grundy he is not our need but the brains trust knows plenty I don't. Baker has been mentioned here but he has not shown enough to be part of the discussion IMO. It was encouraging to hear Goody talk about changing the game plan. In hindsight we do seem to have been overtaken by several clubs.

This is so mistaken. We routinely did what Geelong did in the first quarter - won contested footy, won clearances, and won inside 50s, but we could not turn it into the sort of domination the Cats had with Hawkins, Stengle, Cameron, Smith all threatening to score. And they did it with Hawkins only 50% effective. Forwards matter and so does efficiency and that's where we have to make up ground.