ol' Grimey Knackers

If the price is right he's tradeable. I would certainly prefer he stay however if he's leaving, given the fact this is the last uncomprimised draft coupled with his recent form it is probably a perfect storm vis-a-vis his 'price'. Having said that I rate him. But he's by no means an untouchable.

And Scully could do a Brock and ask to be traded to Cartel. If he's the best available take him.

Yada Yada Yada

Word is that Tom's into older women mate. So I'll have to recast my vote. I'll vote for Stefan.

Scully

When is the ritual human sacrifice? Also this Baileyism you speak of seems to be monotheistic. I'm not sure how that will go down with your fellow brethren. Might need to chuck in another God or two.

Didn't The Life of Brian claim he knew that Judd to MFC was a fait accompli?

Why would THE founding Club be killed? Simple: pure and unadulterated corporate greed. Our brand is meaningless? Well, as other posters have already stated, what exactly are the other clubs ‘brand(s)’ apart from revenue for the AFL? What is Collingw&%$’s brand? What is Richmond’s brand? What is the Dogs or the Roos brand? Cartel was and, without Pratt probably still would be, a basket case. Did the AFL ever summon them to their slaughterhouse because of the meaninglessness of their brand? The conjured ‘clubs’ like Adelfade and the Wiggles stand for nothing vis-à-vis the history of THIS competition. Vlad is on a mission to increase the size of his and his successor’s pay packets. Antecedent cows to the killing floor have dodged the bolt of death. Whilst the sacred cow known as Cartel was spared, Vlad’s greed has decreed that nothing other than a cash cow is sacred. Hence our moment of truth on the killing floor of the AFL’s slaughterhouse. By killing the founding Club, Vlad runs the risk of losing tens of thousands of followers of the game (of which I shall be one). However, by spreading it’s carcass over the Gold Coast or Western Sydney, he is potentially gaining hundreds of thousands of more followers of the game. Hundreds of thousands more followers equals hundreds of millions of dollars more revenue for the AFL and that equals tens of thousands of dollars more for the pay packet of Vlad, his cohorts and their successors. If the AFL actually gave a flying about the history and traditions of our game, the last Club that would be sent to the slaughterhouse would be OUR GREAT CLUB. THE ORIGINAL CLUB AND THE GREATEST CLUB. So the next time you hear some male chicken sucker in the media pleasure themselves over the ‘meaninglessness’ of our brand, you can always find solace in the fact we’ve been summoned to the AFL’s slaughterhouse for the benefit of Vlad’s hip pocket.

(?): Means not sure if they'll retire or can be discharged because of their contrctual status. *: Means not sure we'd get an acceptable exchange but their name may well be put on the table given how they are playing. Retired Neitz Yze Holland JMac(?) White(?) Whelan(?) Discharged Warnock Jamar(?) CJ(?) Bode(?) Moloney(?*) Traded Sylvia(?) Moloney(?*) Davey (I'd put his name on the table as I reckon we'd get a good trade, but he has time on his side at the moment) Dunn(?*) Bruce* Green* Robbo* The list has serious issues. Obviously not everyone listed above can be retired, discharged or traded. Bailey needs time to change the culture of this place.

Cui bono?

Happy b'day Nash. Only 16 years until you can post on 'Ology.

Chris had been somewhat surprised by the quality of our club presentation and strategies, and it was a difficult decision Ok. So he must have been expecting our presentation and strategies to be [censored]? If he was expecting that, why was he talking to us? To waste everyone's time? To confirm his expectations? However the club's training facilities at Junction Oval and the need to train at a variety of grounds over summer was an issue. So what? Judd had to go through the 'quality of our ... presentation' to come to this conclusion? we do have this comparative disadvantage So Judd's decision is the correct one? While it is very disappointing that Chris will be playing elsewhere next year, the club ought to be quietly satisfied that it had got itself from being a rank "no hope" outsider to being very competitive in the pursuit Quietly satisfied? That he told us to go forth and multiply FIRST. How is that competitive? Or did he inform the Dungs at the same time as us yet we were first with the news? If so, out of the four, we finished in the bottom half. Familiar? Thank God we weren't a 'rank "no hope" outsider'. ahead of many clubs who failed to even get his attention Whoopee! They must be spewin'. This outcome will only sharpen the need for the whole club to work together to ensure we have fully competitive facilities and resources. Again, Judd's decision is the correct one? And we know that we have a team very capable of quickly overcoming the 2007 disappointment and getting back into the finals as we were in the three previous years. Could be the mission statement of this Club since '98. WE MADE THE FINALS. With a new coach and new football manager, a healthier playing list and with Pick 4 still in our hand, we have plenty of reasons to look forward to the 150th anniversary year in 2008 Only downside is that our facilities render us a 'comparative disadvantage'. Great. ............................. In short, on the basis of Harris' statement, it appears that either: 1. Judd has involved himself is a sham process and wasted our Clubs time; or 2. We are [censored] and Harris has told us so. Over reaction by me? Probably. Regardless, either Judd's management or Harris spinning [censored]? Absoutely.

*VOMIT* Way too much information. A mankini would have been preferable.

Man I hope that's the case given that the Dungs told him to tell his story walkin'.

The bookies play with our money not theirs. If they know that Judd has chosen the filth, yet the weight of money favours another club, the filth's rank will remain where the money is.

Lets not have a slogan. It only words. We had 'unfinished business' (or whatever the hell it was) a few years back. How about we concerntrate on actions and doing whatever the **** it takes to break the drought?

The favourite doesn't always salute the judge and nor does the late market mover. In this case I'm hoping we do but there's nothing to say the money flowing our way is smart money. I suspect, as you do, that the bloke on the phone hasn't a clue. But I also suspect that most of those who've started rumours (or 'reported' the facts in the media) about Judd haven't a clue either. Hopefully I'm way off in relation to the rumours about us.

It's as reliable as any source I've heard to far. They could be right and they could be wrong.

Down again?

I've got it all sorted. Could have saved these clubs hundreds of thousands in consultants fees. They just need to sort out who will be the first to appoint and the rest will follow. Dees - Voss/Ratten - Ratten most likely. Poos - Voss/Ratten - Voss most likely. Shockers - McKenna/Daniher - McKenna most likely. Dungs - Sheedy/Daniher - Daniher most likely.

Apologies if this has already been done to death on here. I posted this on 'Ology and it got a bit of a response so I thought it would be interesting to see what 'Landers think. An interesting few months ahead for the Club to say the least! The debate around the pro-Voss versus Anti-Voss camps seems to be entirely focused on the fact he hasn’t done any time as an assistant. But to my mind it can’t be that simple so I thought I’d try and put forward why I reckon we should appoint Voss or regret it in the years ahead. During the time I’ve been watching AFL one team stands out above all others as the best I’ve ever seen. I reckon there’s daylight between the Lions team that won three flags in a row and the second best. The captain of that team is the best captain I’ve seen in my time. Not the best player I’ve seen but the best captain. Does any of this guarantee Voss will succeed? Of course not. But what counts to my mind is the way he went about his captaincy. He set the standard. There wasn’t any difference between his words and his actions. He expected everyone to live up to the standard he set. In short, Voss is the best leader of men that I have ever seen on a football field. Not a bad start in my mind. Lack of experience. This is his obvious weakness when others are considered against him for the job. But what does it really amount to? Ever since Watson failed at the Aints it has become an unwritten law in the AFL world that anyone who hasn’t done time as an assistant can’t possibly succeed. Whilst I don’t know what really happened with Watson, if the reports are true that the players set out to undermine him, what chance did he have? How would time as an assistant have helped him? If the reports are true, Watson was doomed no matter what. If, on the other hand, the reports are inaccurate why should the Watson precedent preclude Voss from being appointed? My memory of Watson is a little hazy (particularly in his early years) but whilst he was a champion player he didn’t strike me as a great or natural leader of men. So why should Watson’s failures portend the failure of Voss? I just think it’s too simplistic to say Watson failed therefore all that follow without time as an assistant will fail. Experience. We’ve been down that path with the last two coaching appointments. It doesn’t guarantee success. For every poster that says we shouldn’t appoint Voss because of his lack of experience I say Daniher, Balme, Connolly, etc, etc, etc … Voss. Off the cuff, a true champion of the game retires probably once every three or four years or so(?). Recently we’ve had Carey and Voss and we’ll have Hird, Buckley and Riccuito in the next few. There’s no doubt that a champion player doesn’t equal a champion coach. Watson is a good example although that’s too hard on him if he was undermined. Voss is the only one of the recently, or soon to be, retired champions of the game that I want to take a chance on. There are no guarantees with this stuff. Anyone who thinks there is a formula or set path to success is kidding themselves. We can try and build the Titanic from the ground up but ultimately the human behind the wheel has to navigate the icebergs. If the Voss experiment fails I believe that, by appointing him, the Club will have at least achieved the following: 1) changed it’s culture of backslapping after a win or two; 2) eradicated an unaccountable front-running style of football; 3) regained the on filed respect of other 15 clubs. At best we’ll win a flag. Even the worst case scenario seems to be upside to me. Of the other candidates mentioned so far (McKenna, Longmire, Connolly, O’Donnell etc …) what suggests to people that they are capable of leading us to a flag or at least setting us up to do so? Because they’ve done time as assistants or as a senior coach? Simple as that? I don’t buy it. If it was that easy we wouldn’t have Clubs that have gone 20 years plus without a flag. Besides, the only ones we can really make a judgement about from a distance are those who held a senior position and none of them inspire me. So let’s forget Watson. His failures don’t set a precedent forever. Michael Voss is the best on field leader I have ever seen. I believe that he has the ability, desire and passion to translate his on field success into the box. He is the only retired player of the last 30 years that I want to take a chance on. Sign him up and let him get on with it.

I'm equal second too! Looks like it's Grant Thomas just ahead of me and Ratten. Btw, I have no idea how to set up a pole. I'm useless with my hands.

I know this is harsh on ND at this stage but I thought it would be interesting to get a feel for where popular opinion is at. So vote away: a) Voss B) Sheedy c) Longmire d) McKenna e) Pagan f) G Lyon g) Sumich h Ratten i) N Daniher j) Williams (Sandy) k) Neitz - captain/coach l) Other - name your other Of course the list assumes that some coaches such as Pagan will be available. Anyhow, ND or one of the others? P.S. Sheedy ain't my vote. Can't figure out the little dude with sunnies thing!

So we’re 0-4, decimated by injuries and now, according to some for the first time, Neale’s time is up (actually the first time thing is more a Demonology thing). My position has always been that the coach should be retained whilst he is contracted; if for no other reason than the Club doesn’t have the funds to pay him out. However, I won’t cop out that easily. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE When Neale was reappointed for three years there weren’t too many voices of dissent if I recall correctly (always a dangerous assumption to make!). We had had a reasonable year. Post his reappointment the main gripe seemed to be that he should have been appointed for two years and not three. If that ‘gripe’ had of eventuated his contract would have been up for renewal at the end of last year. What do you all reckon would have happened? Perhaps the planets have finally aligned for the anti-Neale faction. INJURIES AND SACKING NEALE NOW As I said, my position has been that Neale should be retained whilst contracted. Prior to the start of the season I said (on Demonology) that we probably had to finish, at least, inside the top eight for the Club to consider offering Neale a new contract. The only exception that I could envisage, at that stage, was a long injury list. I’m not sure even the most pessimistic or vocal of the anti-Neale squadron could have portended the extent of the injuries we have suffered in the first four rounds. So my position hasn’t changed. Calls to sack Neale now are pointless. What would it achieve? Would a ‘caretaker’ improve anything? I think Neale will, and should, coach out the remainder of the year. WHERE TO FROM HERE? I’m not conceding, yet, that Neale’s MFC epitaph has been cast. We’ve played four matches. Are we in worse position than the start of last year? Yes. Is there less hope we will recover this year like last year? Yes. Neale has 18 matches to, in effect (and in reality), save his job. If, over the next few matches we are competitive (which doesn’t mean win) and, once some injured players come back, we start to win a few games then things, vis-à-vis, Neale’s future may be interesting. Could we make the finals? Unlikely. If we did though, not only would it defy recent history, it would also be one of our finer recent efforts given it would take in our usual interstate road trip. SO WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING KNACKERS? The door is closing on Neale’s tenure as MFC coach but it’s not closed; yet.

Nath is one bloke we would have a lot of trouble replacing if he was injured. On track to be the best fullback since Danny Hughes?