Sir Why You Little

Its sad to think what happens at the end of the season now. These Games Become a Joke-West Coke are Playing Half a side, so are we. WAKE UP AFL and give some incentive to Bottom clubs to play out a full season. People Pay Good Money For a Season Membership, not 12 Games. The Draft System is so wrong. I don't understand how HQ can leave it the way it is year after year. Beyond me

My news is that Primus is G.O.N.E.

Do you mean they are out of business or just deserting the MFC? My Landline is Primus & i could do with a few free calls!

I can just tell this album is going to be bad, Sorry Robbo but i am very particuliar with Music, & Bryan Adams just don't cut it!!!!

would be good to see Allans music on the jumper next year!

HaHa Allans Music! Can you till buy sheet Music for recorder in collins st? Wow that brings back many childhood memories!!!

And we got smashed. Embley ran riot that day. I think that was the start of our 7 game losing streak which sent us from 2nd to 11th. I had high hopes for that game.

Yes that's exactly why the Losing Culture at Melbourne must be addressed. It is definately Baileys Biggest Task. ND tried but i am sure he would agree that Solid Mental attitude he could never fully instill....

Lets be really clear here -

What I would like is for this historic jumper to be located and made available for all sports fans to view, particularly Mebourne Football Club members and supporters.

So contact Ron Personally in private & Find out where it is Rather than airing the story on a public Forum. Ime sure a few Journalists keep there eyes on these Forums to help fill up the daily papers & Blogs. Its possible that if you handed the jumper over to Ron without a written Document that you Forfieted any further rights to it. But Sort it out with Ron, Now. He's getting old so don't waste time. If the jumper no longer has a number on its back it will be harder to trace.

Tanking exists we all know it. The AFL and KB are the only people to deny it. Mark Riley Coached us in Round 22 Last year and a week later was at Carltank with Kriuzer in tow. Would have been a very handy player this year. One day Demetrio will admit that he was WR WR WR WRO WRONG and that the Draft system is a disgrace in its present Form.

Unless the Tigers can produce a remarkable turn around in performance (and gameplan and possibly personnel) you'd have to think they've blown another shot at finals.

Surely if they miss them this year, Wallace would have to be a goner. There's only so many 5 year plans you can have.

Just goes to show how important building a good team culture is.

Why the sudden interest in the fortunes of the Tigers? Those who spit on coaches shall never receive any sympathy from me They still believe they are one of the "Power Clubs" of the AFL, sure didn't look like it last sunday Arvo. Seems to me they are in a far worse position than ourselves, as a good half of that team shall retire within 2-3 years. Finishing 9th again will just make them more average-good. Looking forward to Round 22

Ime sure these matters are top priority at present in conjunction with the Debt Demolition Month. Gaining Sponsorship could be Jimmy's greatest assett. He presents so well in the Community. Testiment to that is now that our membership is just under 30,000

That's right - the jumper was never delivered. There's plenty of evidence regarding authenticity, continuity of ownership and witnesses to B taking possession. So you tell me - who is the big collector? me ? No - I handed it over , as witnessed by many. Where is it? Hearsay - hardly.

Sounds like it may be more difficult for more than one person to face their demons.......

Contact Ron Personally before you take this any further. Ronald Dale was part of six Flags at this club. Tread Carefully where you go, maybe you should have delivered the Jumper to the club personally. Involving a 3rd person always makes things a little more blurry....

I would love to have 2 Aboriginal brothers playing on our forward line. They would have special communication. I remember the Krakour Brothers well, They were awesome. Certainly worth serious consideration if it comes up..

Were we at the same game?

It sure as hell didn't work in the first 4 rounds last year.

I'm not sure what the Cats have done, but i'm sure it has more to do with the 4 years of list building and gameplan management, more than a few players having coffee deciding the direction they want their club to take.

I think off field our club is heading in the right direction. It is forming links with the community, and in a professional manner is becoming more connected with supporters through their functions, emails etc.

As supporters, we need to be more united. Perhaps make it easier, or more enjoyable, to join the cheer squad.

Perhaps have more functions where fans can meet up and decide plans of their own on how to attack the image of our fans. I find that the better your support it, the more likely it is that neutral fans will jump on board. Essendon are a prime example of this, as are the Pies.

If our supporters are seen as strong, and the club fixes off its off field problems, all that needs to happen is the onfield turn around which in all honesty, we know will come eventually.

I agree with you but i think this problem must be addressed and not hought of as negative and swept under the carpet. If our club had a stronger Fabric TJ would have seen a flag. At present why would a young recruit want to play for melbourne. Like when Nathan Buckley spent a year at the bears (coz he had to) but was always heading to collingwood. That's what we have to get to. It's why Judd chose Carlton over us even though melbourne was his team as a kid. That killed me, i actually shed a tear at that press conference. Carlton those lousy stinking cheats will win a flag within 5 years at this rate-IT SHOULD BE US!!!

How Much of Fitzroy lives on through the Brisbane Lions??? Bugger all that's how much. A Dead Fitzroy Carcas was put on the back of a ute & Driven to Brisvegas back in the '90's. If The M.F.C ever was forced to re-locate then it would cease to be the Melbourne Demons Period. And The A.F.L. would never get another cent out of me...K.B i think i disagree with everything that spews from his little righteous mouth. "The one who ith never wrong" i Hated him when he played!!! so much

I never said it was a new problem.

But fear is about perception. We are not a big club, we have not won a premiership in over 40 years, we have a poor membership record, we will not be feared until these things are fixed.

Since i've been watching footy, at various times these teams have been better than us but i have feared them, the Saints, Dogs, Hawks, Roos, Cats. Yet teams like the Bombers, Blues, Pies and to a lesser extent the Tigers always command respect not because of the waythey play footy, but the presence of their brand and supporter group.

Obviously winning a premiership is probably the only way a team can become feared, but it has much more to do with perception than reality. The Magpies can drag 60,000 to away matches and have people think they're a powerful club, yet play mediocre footy, because of their perception.

Richmond have not held any respect since 1982, There position is very similiar to ours (Which is probably what worries me) Wallace has done Bugger all to gain respect in 4 years, and i am sure he has worked hard to try.

Don't think for a moment i am walking away from this club, but Last Friday i spent about $100 getting to & From the Game, Food Drinks etc and i will not accept that effort.

Football is a tough Contact Sport and the players are well paid to cover that. They know what is in store for them.

The Bottom line is "what was said & Done behind closed Doors at Kardinia Park over the off season of 2006-7" whatever it was, it worked

I'd much rather see a thread that makes an attempt to think of ideas on how to fix this cultural problem.

Stating we have a soft culture will not harden the culture amongst the team, or amongst its supporters.

WCE got done by 135 points by the Cats this year, they'll be back. Friday night was atrocious, but there are steps in place to make our team competitive week in week out. You have to be patient. You cannot expect a team of 12 year olds to suddenly change 44 years of soft culture.

How can we, as supporters, develop a strong collective unit of supporters? That's what we should be attempting to do.

And I'll clap my team off whenever they come off the field if I feel our club is headed in the right direction. I feel it's a part of building a strong team, a team that knows it has it's fans onside. A team that knows their supporters won't enjoy the wins against Brisbane, and then ignore them after the embarrassing defeats that echo throughout the whole club

I will clap my team when i know they have given there all for our great Jumper, By applauding that performance last friday you are saying it is acceptable, that i cannot agree with. This is not a new problem.

The First Game of the Demons i watched was Round 1 1971 against South Melbourne, we killed 'em. But in all that time Melbourne have never been Feared. I can cop a loss, like the week before- the Team had a real crack, But not Friday night. That was Prime Time around Australia. Game started at 7.05 white Flags Raised by 7.10

This is not a new Problem at all. Its just never been properly addressed

McLean should be captain or co captain with Miller. Bailey made a big mistake allowing Neitz to hold on to the captaincy he shouldn't make the same mistake again.

Just for the record this was my point, "This must be pointed out, you can't wipe off a whole decade as simply soft.".

And I agree with your reply and what is highlighted. I just want to be clear that in the last decade there has been some exciting footy played by the Dees at various times, and in those times we have been the envy of other clubs in the way we went about our footy at times. Ie 2000.

In the 2000 GF we were totally outclassed and uncompetitive. Sadly that's what other clubs and supporters remember.

1983 Essendon got done by Hawthorn by some 83 points (A huge Margin) but came back to win Back to Back in 84-5. against Hawthorn. They Did not accept losing.

In 2001 we fell in a big hole. Why?

Where did that figure come from? The contract Yze is currently on is incentive based - there was a fair bit of carry-on at the time of signing. I doubt he'd be getting anywhere near $450K.

To be Honest i do not know the exact figure, but i do know that when Carlton were sniffing hard for him a few years back he was put on a very comfy wicket. If my assumption is way off i apologize but my point is that from now on we need to get at least some value for many of our signings, yes it's a contact sport and looking into the Future Crystal Ball is not possible. I wish all players were on no more than 2 year deals-Keep them Hungry & Striving.

Long Contracts make for Fat more lazy cats. Alistair Lynch was an exception not the rule!

Through parts of 2004-06, Mfc were not soft. The first half of these seasons Melbourne earned back respect from playing tough uncompromising footy only to shoot themselves in the foot come the finish of those home and away seasons in losing the double chance before the finals and finishing in positions 6-8.

This must be pointed out, you can't wipe off a whole decade as simply soft. For the record 1998, 2000 and 2002 the Demons weren't too bad either.

I did see yor point, but with all respect i don't agree with it. A football season is for 22 weeks and finals. To get in a winning position and fall over near the line is no way to earn respect.

It's happening to the Bulldogs right now and i don't respect them. They will be out of the Finals in straight sets.

I would have been embarassed to be clapped off after that performance.

Exactly! And the club has been paying 100% of the salary Cap. Adem Yze is being payed 450k to represent Sandy FFS and people wonder why our club is regarded as a joke.

Things Must Change & Fast

Through parts of 2004-06, Mfc were not soft. The first half of these seasons Melbourne earned back respect from playing tough uncompromising footy only to shoot themselves in the foot come the finish of those home and away seasons in losing the double chance before the finals and finishing in positions 6-8.

This must be pointed out, you can't wipe off a whole decade as simply soft. For the record 1998, 2000 and 2002 the Demons weren't too bad either.

2004 Round 18 we were on top of the ladder. What Happenned after that? We Choked and lost everything there on and were out week 1 of the Finals. Not Good Enough.

2006 we lost to Carlton TWICE when they were absolute Crap. That's weak and Not Good enough

Is it our Facilities? Do our Guys do enough weight Training? I like Brad Green but Friday night he got Murdered when it was a perfect time for him to go flat out. He was pushed out of the way like a schoolboy.

It's easy to talk about accepting mediocrity etc, but the fact of the matter is that we were missing almost half our best 22, and after moving on depth players at the end of last year and focussing on youth this year - to the detriment of Holland, Yze, etc - we were always going to have short-term pain.

Can you explain what you mean by your implication that we're accepting something less than winning? How would we go about not accepting the loss last night?

I support the broad direction we're going in terms of list management, and recognise that there will be more low points ahead.

That's my point though. Even our Best 22 still does not have that Win at all costs Culture.

Last Year Round 5 Geelong Found it. After 44 Years of Being "The Hand Bags" Geelong changed.

Whatever they discovered we to must find it

For starters, let's not appoint a captain who has been a party to our soft culture over the last decade especially.

That means no Bruce, JMac or even Green. Let's give it to Brock and let him be the leader of our core young group of players coming through.

We've cleared out the coaches, we are slowly getting rid of those players and now we can take the next step and appoint a new captain who will see us to a new culture at the club.

There were people on level 2 MCC near where i was sitting Clapping the team at the end of the Game. That's what i call accepting mediocraty! I was appalled at that. Friday was unacceptable.

I agree with Brock McLean as Capt after reading he Donated 10 G's of his own cash to the Cause. That is serious committment.

Friday night confirmed what i already know. Yes we have a great History but it is too long ago and holds no relevance to the club at present. The Melbourne Football club do not know the Culture of winning.

For the first four and a half minutes of last fridays game we were competative (I was watching the clock) but as soon as Geelong kicked the First Goal-the game was over, we as a team waved the white Hanky. I have never seen it come out so early.

It's been so long since we have tasted Success that we as a club don't know how to do it. Sure we win the odd game, Have the odd good season (Tease) but when the Heat is really on, and success is on the line-we lose. John Northey was the closest coach to try and instill a "Winning Culture" into the club, But for even he the closest was a 96 point Thrashing in the '88 GF. Hawthorn treated us with Disdain that day, just as Geelong did on friday night.

Sadly at Present we are viewed in the Same way as Fremantle by opposition Supporters, that being NO RESPECT. Just like St.Kilda on Saturday night. Collingwood should have been thrashed with what happened during the week and with the team that played out there. But the Filth have Pride, st.kilda don't and they like us don't know how to win when expected.

How do we get rid of this Mediocre culture?

For us to survive and prosper we need to be playing like North Melbourne. Flying under the radar and winning. Building respect ever so slowly.

Melbourne Sides need to go out onto the grass against anyone and anywhere, expecting to win and accepting nothing less.

We had it 60 years ago can we get that Mojo Back? Can Jim Stynes & Co with Bails do it?