Standing Room Only

This is the first time I've read a comment along these lines and I agree with it completely. Whereas most new draftees always seem happy to be a part of an AFL club Tom never seemed happy at MFC. Constantly gloomy etc. Maybe the comment above is right and he was only ever with us because AFL rules require draftees to receive a 2 year contract. To revisit a quote from the MFC when he walked "A black cloud has moved on". Currently stuck somewhere in the west of Sydney. From another point of view I would love our tax commissioner to come out and advise that they would begin an investigation into tax evasion. I've worked in tax for a long time and income splitting (in respect of income earned from personal excursion, i.e. wages) is highly frowned upon. Now I know the answer is that Snr is being paid as a recruiter. That's like all the spouses of all thoses clients who are paid as administrators but never get near the front door. Plus we keep hearing the AFL and GWS say that the money would have been earned by Tom had they not contracted Phil. I know it's petty but I calculate that the Scully's will short change the Australian public more than $120K over the 6 year contract period, all based on Snr being able to access the various marginal tax rates whereas if the income was returned by Tom he would be taxed on the highest marginal rate for all the income. Petty yes, but it would be lovely to watch.

1. We don't get belted by the Cats. 2. We don't get belted by the Blues 3. We don't get belted by the Eagles 4. Scully decides to announce this week (don't really care on the answer just want it finished) 5. Watts has that game 6. We miss out on finals by %

Changing the player, did anyone see Jetta hit a couple of Saints players on the weekend? Both at the northern end of the ground. The second one was just a little whack to the guts but the first one looked like a pretty good hit off the ball (I think on Winmar as well). Surprises me that it didn't even rate a mention in the MRP report.

I have a mate that works at one of the papers. He told me about this last night before it hit the papers. Apparently a lot more to the story but papers not willing to report yet. Hopefully it all comes out and exposes Nixon for what he is.

Green will most likely get the job (and deservedly so) but if it was my call I would go for Sylvia. Yes I expect dozens of negative comments but the bloke is a gem.

Marin is a terrific writer. He doesn't write like current day journalists, lots of words but no content. He's a story teller and it's great that he wants to help tell the Melbourne story. He's also a wonderful speaker. I remember him reading a passage at the Dawn Service a few years back. The Dawn Service is always emotional but his words added another layer again. I think the last paragraph sums it up best for how I feel about the club at the moment. It' bloody exciting to watch the talent emerge but: "People nowadays talk about ''brands'' and ''franchises''. What I like about Melbourne is that it's become an old-fashioned footy club."

Too hard at this stage of the current 22's development. Would you look at the 2000 GF team at the top of their careers (Schwarz in 1994) or on the state of their careers in 2000? At their top there would be very little argument over Neitz, Schwarz, Robbo, Ingerson, Yze, Farmer, White, Powell. The rest are either too young or you could mount an argument (eg. if Jurrah was around in 2000 he would have played but is he currently better than those that did play? It's arguable. Same goes for a lot of them). And the big question is, will one of the current players be better than one of the former when/if they have the same experience. You're trying to compare our knowledge of say Yze who play 271 games versus say Cale Morton who has played less than 50. I think the other way of looking at it would be how many of the current group, at their current stage of development, may have got a look in if they had been around in 2000. Of the 22 that played against the Swans, minus Green who played in 2000, I would say definites would be Flash (pick any midfielder), Bruce (any one who argues that point can't win as he would have played bar injury), Garland (wouldn't mind seeing him spoiling say Lucas), Sylvia (walk up start), Frawley would replace Nico (much prefer him playing on Hird!), Jamar over Simmonds.

It's not often I get on here but I saw in the big paper today that the Blues want to talk to the umpires boss about the treatment dished out to Judd on the weekend. Perhaps they can also use footage of Carazzo on Davey or any Carlton player who got within an arms length of Watts to prove what lengths these negative types will stoop to. Good on Freo for getting stuck into them.

I don't post often and to be honest didn't want to read all the other posts so if someone has already mentioned this I'm sorry but it's been a long day, I have something to say and then I want beer. Firstly, I'm glad someone started this topic. I read the article at lunchtime and thought "What a load of crap!". Secondly, it hasn't taken Scott long to fall into the Kangaroos "woo betide me" attitude. Thirdly, some stats on the 22 selected so far for each team. Kangas have 6 to 3 top 10 picks (1 of which came from a player they traded), We have 6 to 1 from 10 to 20 (2 of which came from players we traded), We have none in the 20s they have 2, We have 2 in the 30s they have 3, We have 1 in the 40s they have 3, They have 1 in the 50s we have none, We have 2 in the 60s they have 1, They have 1 in the 80s we have none, We have 2 pre-season selections they have none, We have 1 traded player they have none, and finally We have 5 rookies and they have 4. What's all this dribble mean? In my opinion our draft position has nothing to do with the good footy we are playing just as their draft position has had nothing to do with the footy they are (or have been) playing. Going by their top 10 picks they should have been more sucessful before now. Perhaps their previous coach was crap, perhaps the players they selected weren't as good as they had hoped, perhaps their current coach needs to stop making excuses before the match has been run and won. Perhaps it's just the way players develop, you are either lucky or you aren't. Fourthly, and finally, like all of you I can't wait to get there on Saturday. After 3 ordinary years being able to watch competitive footy again is wonderful. Wins are great but at the moment it's not what we are about. Wins will become important in 2012 and onwards. At the moment improvement is important. Last weekend I set myself to watch Frawley and Warnock vs Brown and Fevola. What I saw made me happy.

Captain next season will be James McDonald. Why would we change? Just for the sake of it? Clearly in our best 22. Was one of the few who competed against the Hawks and was excellent on Saturday.

Just found it, thanks.

Did Casey play any practice matches this weekend? If so, how did the MFC players go?

1. Davey - clear stand out 2. Sylvia - was our best for a bunch of matches mid season 3. Green - who says he's soft 4. Rivers - he's a gun and just seems to get the job done, plays well as a link out of defence 5. Morton - get's a lot of it Most improved - Sylvia

Patrick Smith is the foundation member of that club and Caroline Wilson the number 1 female ticket holder.

Thompson had issues with a friend didn't he? I thought that was the reason he wanted to head home and be closer to his family. And regarding captains of the SA u18 team, Nick Smith held that title and we all know what happened there. I don't know much about the individuals other than what everyone has read and heard. I guess I would prefer a stand out KP player behind Scully but if none are available then it would appear Trengrove is leading the race. In saying that Matt Burgan rated both Butcher and Rohan very highly on afl.com.au today. One concern I would have about Rohan is that Burgan says he was previously a full back. I think sometimes "versatile" under age players are found wanting at AFL as they don't play either role extremely well. Another scenario with regard to trade week. Now I wouldn't give up either pick 1 or 2 (if we have both of them) but I would do so with our 3rd pick, likely to be 18. In all likelihood North will end up with pick 3 and Freo 4 or vice versa. Perhaps during trade week we can make it known that we are very keen on Morbiato at 2. I've read that Freo are already super keen (similar to Hill) and would take him even if they had pick 1. After the media gets word that Morbiato is the man meet with Freo and say we'll guarantee we won't take him if you give us something in return. Similar to the good old Veale deal but hopefully we end up with a very promising Victorian U23. Zac Clarke has seemed promising as a 203 cm ruckman. Maybe him and Crowley for 18 and Newton or Bell. And if they say no we pick up whoever we intended on taking with no harm done.

Flight leaves in 2 1/2 hours. Gotta love cheap flights on Tiger. Looking forward to the following: Seeing how MacKenzie goes on debut, have enjoyed what I've seen with Casey. Watching Jurrah live (again). Beer in cans on ice (stubby holder packed). Watching Mickey O one last time (he's belted us a few times). Watching Kirk and Bolton do the hard stuff (wish they played for us). The sun shining (I think we have little chance of this). I think we'll spend tonight at Eastlakes and tomorrow night at the pub up the road (can't remember it's name but did we get smashed last year).

A mate and I are travelling to Canberra next weekend. We went last year and had a great time, even with the loss and missing our flight home on the Monday (those schooners got the better of us). Crowd was great, weather was great, footy wasn't terrible, beer was in cans and on ice. We even saw KRUDD buying the morning papers in Manuka. Does anyone know of any functions being held on either the Saturday or Sunday nights? Last year I contacted both the club and ACT Demons and nothing was organised as the team flew back to Melbourne after the match. Thanks.

Did anyone see the Hankook promotion advertised on the screen at half time against Geelong? I only noticed it at the end and by the time I knew what was going on it had moved on to something else. I need the phone number. Car is in need of tyres and want to look after the club if possible. I sent an email to the club this morning but haven't had a response.

Long time since my last post but I thought I would have a few words after my first trip to Casey. Firstly, depending where you come from, it's a long drive. In saying that, traffic caused most of the issues and had there not been a jam around Bulleen Road I would have made it in about an hour. The good thing to know is that the coach tells us that the players are actually enjoying training there and for most of them the journey isn't substantially more than the previous training venues. Secondly, I'm not going to sit here and tell you what blokes were doing. There's a couple of reasons for this. I got there late for starters and to comment on an individual who may have trained for a couple of hours in total would be unfair when I only watched them for 45 minutes. And secondly there are better track watchers around than I. What I thought I would mention is that Casey seems a good fit. The coach came across at the end of the session and talked to my daughter and I for a little while and my impression is that the players and coaches are loving the new surrounds. That was backed up by earlier watching a very enthusiastic bunch go through their paces. They seemed to be loving it. Also, as many have stated before me, the surface is great. The coach also mentioned that the curator is a Melbourne supporter who contnually asks him if there is something more that he wants. Finally, I would like to say that my first one on one impression with the coach, albeit 15 minutes, was extremely positive. It;s difficult to say why I walked away happy, perhaps it was because he decided to talk to us, but I did. He seems very measured, in control and knows exactly what he wants to get out of his players. And more improtantly when he expects them to get there. The final comment that made me smile was his description of Jake Spencer. He mentioned that he never missed a session and during those barely missed a minute and he was definitely progressing nicely. He didn't talk up skills etc. just his endeavour. As a bloke who's been a try hard sportsman for 20 years I love the blokes who play to their best at every opportunity. Perhaps he won't be good enough for AFL but Spencer will never die wondering. I think that's a great thing.

So is child abuse and paedophilia! The tribunal will decide on the player's guilt but no one one this board, in newspapers or on talk back radio should ever make excuses for the suggested comments. Let's make it clear what Selwood has been alleged to have said. "I f____ her last night.", to which Headland responded "What are you talking about? It's my six year old daughter.", to which Selwood is alleged to have said "Yeah, she's a s___." In my opinion if he said it he got off lightly amd if you make an excuse for those comments then you're just as pathetic as Selwood.

Just to make everyone's night that much more enjoyable the same report also mentioned that Beamer pulled up with groin soreness. If those 2 miss and Sylvia and or Pickett don't get promoted I would say we are short 9 of our best 18 players.

Cracker!

Yes lot's of positive media at this time of year (for all clubs except Carlton) but I think we're pushing the Bohdan Bab?????? line a bit too much. Granted we need to be fitter than we have in the past but if I read another MFC article talking about his training regime! Thankfully this one didn't mention it.