beelzebub

and that crime would be ?? A little left field but one of the reasons Tanking doesnt /cant exist officially ( and therefore be considered for recriminations ) is there is no actual definition or rule with respect to it. There are no guidelines, no qualifications to it, there isnt anything really. Its an abstract thats coined to describe an attitude/come legitimate tactic with regard to a clubs list. This is essentially why there can be NO repercussions as there isnt a wrong-doing. Garbage and bottom feeding media types may want to see someone raked over the coals ( as it suits them ) but like it or not there hasnt been a rule broken. Therefore no punishment is legitimate. Its on this basis any defence would be based your point : We do not deserve the current investigation as the AFL set up the position that we and a number of teams tried to exploit. is the only real foundation of reference. We worked within the existing climate and guidelines. We didnt make them, we only played WITHIN them.

one can only hope

quite frankly I wish wed traded him a few years back. Bit like Italian sports cars, yeah they look flash, go great sometimes and spend half their life at the mechanics and cost you a fortune.

Golly gosh I do believe the curse is lifted !! Now if the bloke 3rd from the right can only get commitment and ability onto the field that #'s 2,3 ,4 and 5 in that pic had , together with the belief and unrelenting tenacity to the job at hand that the bloke on the left had.. Then we'll be fine !!

I see quite a difference between the crows affair and Us. With Adelaide they clearly broke a rule. everyone can see it, not just the transgression but you can read up and find the rule broken. Its a cinch. With us there is no rule. With the whole tanking fiasco what there essentially is , is a situation whereby the Boss ( Vlad ) has upteen times categorically denied it exists and hes also stated on numerous occasions that he and the AFL are fine with the position that Melbourne has taken. what we then have is a league of very ordinary folk attempting to work their own agenda and get Vlad to recind his original stance. This just aint going to happen. Demetriou just doesnt back down, he doesnt change his mind. What he does and has done is to then visit the items in question and subtlely change things so as not to allow such instances to revisit him. He needs to stay in control and I cant see for one minute hes going to allow the likes of trollop Wilson or twoface healy run his game. Whether the AFL is up to something or not Mclardy is doing the wise thing by showing the armour and battle flags. Its an old staging trick. it of itself doesnt mean Vlad is actually up to something it just postulates for all that we ( MFC ) wont be taking any sh!t from anyone anytime soon. This is as much a flying the flag to rout the like of Wilson and co as it is anything. This for mine is an elaborate charade being played out by the AFL to have it look like its back in control etc. The ONLY finding possible that can be tabled is that there were circumstances prevailing that allowed impressions to be had that things werent all kosher, not that it wasnt ( cough ) but it might have appeared to be so the league has taken steps to prevent this type of interpretation from arising again. Amen , the End

Given that the official mem tally is open til 30th June its fair then to factor in the "resurgence' factor . i.e the effect on the fence sitter when we start playing real footy and winning games again and not just lucking in with them but winning games by merit and application. if you win, they will come

Healey isnt saying anything positive, he wouldnt know how. He is trying to nudge Bill and Ben ( aka Adrian and Andy ) into action. its easy to understand how we WONT be brought before a Commission; they wont have anything to charge us with !!

I agree BBO i reckon the "8* is good value. ive done similar. ( im not backing the Aussies though....well not with money..lol )

Id like to think this...i really would. i just keep returning to Leopards and spots. He could tear games apart. He could, but never has. If he participates he does, if he doesnt ,he doesnt. Ive really gone past caring about this guy. Already wasted way too many words on this bloke. Fortunately there ARE others on the list ( NOW ) who will take his place at a second's opportunity.

yeah but Zorba's kinda catchy infectious almost..lol.....maybe it was just the Ouzo !! lol edit: just had to...sorry !! lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATwO-XbEMms

as it ought to be , i would have thought

Thanks Totally Mad. Welcome to the boards.

I very much doubt it. GWS arent really anything but a collection of TAC cup and post tac cup players...theyre kids in other words. Some are big kids, some are wet behind the ears. Ive mentioned elsewhere that some are 'banked' some are project . Put them against MEn and they wont last 4 qtrs of horrid attention. it will be 5 years before they make any serious inroads.. 3 before theyre off permanent cellar duty. GC. I actually thought theyd be more competitive than they are and this too points to why GWS will take a bit longer than all will think. It simply takes a few years to get your mojo happening and get some size about you. Theyve got a few more older bodies amongst them but as we see even this isnt sufficient to deliver week in week out. Very surprised they didnt adopt a bit of moneyball themselves. I have no fears of these two clubs what soever. Theyll put up a game ...and we will win.

now doesnt that go to the heart of the pain indeed !!

I think OD thats exactly what is taking place now. The league quietly re-assumes control over circumstance of priority picks and then will bin the entire idea in favour of..who knows , but something universally accepted and palatable. Im sure no one really enjoyed the experimenting, though often wasnt necessary as we were just that useless. However, in many respects it was all a games of chess/positional semantics/eye on the bigger prize. Means to an end stuff. I suppose it was most unsavoury for as much as we dont like losing it had become not only the norm but a deliver of benefits. Who wants to lose !!!I dont.

The AFL doesnt wag when Kerro barks. If anything this is a bit of payback . They will all but ignore her. This is simply the too hard basket for the AFL. Mind you they were the ones who weaved the basket in the first place. We, like many other clubs just borrowed the basket. it was after all left out for all and sundry to use. You cant prosecute a driver if the camera is wonky. You cant penalise a club for employing a regimen based upon the Leagues own guidelines.. Salary breaches , the like of the Crows etc are clear and flagrant actions in defiance of clear cut rules. Weve done nothing of the sort. What are the rules weve supposedly broken and how did we explicitly and/or implicitly do so ? Hint...first find the rule. Good luck. To sanction us is to ignite an explosion at the very core of the league and just watch the walls come tumbling down around the Emperor and his senators. Call it what you like: impasse, stalemate, Mexican standoff . CW may well cry 'swindle' but i couldnt give a sh!t !! That kick of Jordan's must really irk her !! lol

The Hag can jump up and down; scream her self senseless ( a short journey id imagine ) and insert our name into every kindergarten pagent and shopping centre pantomime ; it wont matter didly as Andy and Adrian are determined to look the other way lest they espy her and turn to stone. Someone ought to call the pound and taken to the Rspca. Hard on the innocents i concede.

I think a lot of it heat has gone out of it now the draft has come and gone. The whinging 'aged' one was baying and lobbying for us to be hit with sanctions. More to the point in time for this years picking to be dented. It didnt transpire. I think the AFL has its agenda...and its timeline. I cant see us getting whacked now.

9-10 might be the result... 14-15 wins is the aim

Actually theres more to it than this alone.. We have not only added ability but just as importantly I would suggest we have removed inability, we have got rid of ineffectual players., we have moved on some poor decision makers etc. The difference between what we can put on the filed in '13 and what played ( often ) in '12 is so far removed from each other as to be almost unrecognisable in many respects. This is a REALITY. we're not going to be sending out a 'bandage' job in 13 were fielding a half way decent side that needs to cement itself and evolve.

I'm finding elements to this thread to border on the hilarious. The negativity , the pessimism and the seemingly blind indifference to change. it also reminds me of the old adage about a Broom.. Yeah, its still 'original" ...yeah the handle been replaced 5 times and the head 4 , but its still "original" !!! Weve gone from a 1999 model base model clapped out one tonner to a recent model 3 tonner with more than a few handy options !! What we would have struggled with last year we will make a decent fist of in 13. Yes other teams will have changed also but dont expect too much out of the giants as they are still predominantly a bunch of kids and we all know how well that goes. A lot of "potential " there for sure. A team of seasoned MEN will maul them !! simple as. Look for the Giants to trade out and up to more seasoned players over the next few years to address that very shortcoming. Have no doubt they are 'banking ' players to do just that. The Suns will light up the bottom of the ladder again, just watch. For us to go backwards we would have had to remained the same whilst others improved their lists. That simply hasnt been the case. To the nay-sayers show me 1...yep just ONE area we havent addressed and are worse in !! go on.. I'm waiting. Dont give me that crap either about losing Green . Rivers Barty and Moroney ( intentional ). As WJ has already well addressed this in reality wasnt a huge loss and more than ably compensated ( x3 ) by recent additions We wont be flying til about 14/15 but we will be dead set seriously competitive in 13. The list now comprises footy players ( and not namby pamby wannabes and look at me traffic cops ) who WANT to be there, WANT to play Neeldy's game and WANT to win. Could we go backwards...... Only if Hell ices up !!

not a monty fan ?

Its simple; we wont be going backwards because we'll be too busy going forwards !!!

can bananas pine for fjords ?