John Dee

I would have said ad nauseam.

I got a bit sunburnt at the North game too. I usually take enough hats for all to cater for sun in the eyes; my PC kids do not normally wear hats. There used to be a really bad corona effect over the top of the old members stand that made things difficult late in the season, but the new Members stand has fixed that.

The kids and I are in the Southern stand reserved area, by preference. We prefer to be protected by the stand from the weather and to be in the winter sun.

A great player; I would take him. The question is what would we have to give up? Surely Freo would be asking for plenty in compensation, and at this moment in time we would not be prepared to give up overly much. So, yes, I would take him, but only in the PSD; and that is not likely.

Wheelan was limping after playing a half; not good. Cheeney did not play.

I caught both games, and am grateful that the normal sou'wester was absent; it was still pretty cold. The reserves were never really in the game and got towelled up by 40 points or so. Wheelan was going half rat power, but still doing ok. I would think that he came into the game with an injury and did not appear after half time. I love Wheels; very sad. Healey did ok despite the heavy strapping on his knee. Not disgraced by any measure. Watts looked a bit at sea early, but worked into the game. Played mostly deep forward, but came out to CHF for periods and up as far as the wing on occassions. Kicked a couple, gave a couple off. Good performance for the first game with a new team; he would have met at least half of them for the first time. No problems here, the kid will be a beaut. Hughes ws the best forward on the ground, should progress to seniors next week. He provided the highlight of the match with a huge speccy. The seniors was a scrappy game, Casey kept coming back, but could never get the lead and went down by 4 points. If you look at the scores you might think it was a real wet and windy night at Casey, but that wasn't the case. The lights aren't top-notch and there was, strangely, no wind. Casey missed a few shots they should have got and will rue a couple of short passes deep in defence that resulted in interceptions and Port goals. Valenti was BOG for mine. The game suited him and he lapped it up. He would not be disgraced at AFL level; he would at least have a go. Grimes was excellent. Very classy; neat and clean. Played accross half-back for thr most part, but snuck forward for a nice mark and goal. This was the first time I had seen him play live, and I see what all the fuss is about. The trick is going to be - can he back up next week, and the next ... Jurrah; not really his night. The delivery into the forward line was atrocious, but he tried hard, very quick. McKenzie did ok, hard runner and breaks the lines. Roberston was the premier forward on the ground and played very well. Will be in the AFL sooner rather than later. Spencer is coming along nicely. Did ok in the ruck and much better around the ground. Learning to play a kick behind the play; and that's the sort of thing that wins Brownlow medals. Maric is ready for the step up to AFL; did you hear that Colin? Zomer played deep in defence for the most part, took the ruck ocassionally. Not startling. McNamara, I was really interested to see this kid; he is into his second year on the list and I had never seen him play until yesterday. He is a medium sized defender who shows a touch of class. He is yet to turn 19 and needs to fill out a bit more, but looks a chance.

Mate, bypass Cranbourne - Stay on the Monash, do not take the South Gippsland Freeway exit. Stay on the Monash for a fair while until you come to the exit for C407, labelled Berwick Cranbourne exit, it is the one after you go under the Princes Highway. Trun right and take that until you come to a roundabout with a sign saying Cranbourne is to the right. If you look to your right you will see the spindly light towers of Casey Fields, a K or so up that road.

Tennis doesn't start until after ANZAC day, so I will be able to make it for the early game; I'll stay for the Seniors as well. Since I like to sit in the open, I will dress warm. I will give a report on all of the Melbourne players. Your MFC membership gets you free entry.

I have seen Jurrah running around Jells Park; he is deceptively tall, always seems to be slightlly hunched over, and joeboy is right on the mark with the crack about ostrich legs.

Garland complained of soreness after the round one match; subsequent scans revealed a stress fracture of a navicular bone. The fact that this news came out during the week does not qualify it to be represented in this thread.

I own up to a vested interest here; I play tennis on Saturdays. Sundays are perfect for me; I have just had a look at the tennis fixture and I only need to miss one match this coming season.

Gold Coast do not get any picks in the draft this year. The only change to this years draft is that the draft age has gone up by some four months; Gold Coast can earmark some (20?) of these 17 year-olds. Gold Coast will make out like bandits in 2010, West Sydney a couple of years later. Any club that is bottomming out in the next five to six years is stuffed; we have just made it by the skin of out teeth.

I saw the entire gane on a typical Casey day; strong freshening sou-wester, rain squalls and occasional sunshine. Casey set up the game in the first quarter when they kicked three goals into the wind (one from a Robbo speccy) to Coburg's four with it. Casey hit their straps in the second quarter to lead well by half time. Coburg did well with the wind in the third, but there was only going to be one winner. Valenti BOG for mine; the conditions were made for him. Robertson - Great return, played the whole first half and portions of both the third and fourth quarters; took a couple of 'Robbos'; kicked one, gave Newton one. All things considered, he couldn't have done any more. Jurrah - Conditions didn't suit. He ran the game out well, but needs to bulk up a bit more. A serious talent. Valenti - Always at the bottom of the pack; important link work; BOG. Maric - Good game. Played through the midfield and on the forward line; coming along well. Meeson - I am warming to him, best ruckman on the ground and starting to do better around the ground. McKenzie - An earnest goer. Conditions suited. Bail - Best game I have seen him play; another that I am warming to. Took a number of good marks, particularly at the defensive end; seems to know where the ball is going to go, a great talent to have. Newton - Better. It was interesting to see him in the ruck for a few spells. Zomer - Played in a key defensive pots for most of the game; not disgraced. Dunn - Has an AFL body. Pleasing game. Kicked a couple of goals and riled up a few Coburg players.. Based purely on the fact that he is fit to play, I would say that he would be the only one that I can see coming into the side to go to Adelaide.

6. Warnock 5. Davey 4. Green 3. Miller 2. Moloney 1. Morton

Tom MvNamara actually playing a dame; I'd like to see that!

There is no immediate impact here, but that is not the point; it is all about getting the image across that we are a strong vibrant club which embraces its past and looks towards a bright future. Changing perceptions is a long slow process; and that is what this is all about. The benefits will be substantial, in the longer term. Jimma has just one of his four big anouncements to go. They were supposed to be made by round one, but who cares, so long as they get done. The missing one is the announcement of the agreement with Casey, which may well have been dependent upon the MCC announcement. Everybody seems to be assuming that the deal is done, MFC are saying we are at Casey for the long run, Casey are saying that we are there; just get the deal done.

Another forward step; keep it going Jimma! The MCC has always helped us in many ways. I saw an interview with Tony Dodamaide during the Shield final. It was very wide ranging and TD outlined the plans that Cricket Victoria have once MFC move to Olympic Park/Casey and he mentioned that the lease to Junction Oval was currently owned by the MCC who have agreed to hand it over to Cricket Victoria. I assume that we get the use of Junction Oval for a pittance. We will need administrative offices in the Southern Stand as there is not enough space in the new rectangular stadium; we will. I think. use gym and other like facilities in the rectangulr stadium. I would imagine that we need to take up the option in the rectangular stadium to gain access to Gosch's paddock. We would not be averse to being 'reluctantly' forced out of the new rectangular stadium should a rugby team take up residence.

Maric will not be back this week. He missed the preseason and only played three quarters on Saturday. Additionally he was looking for petrol tickets a few times in the third quarter. A class act, but fitness is an issue.

I have calmed down. If I had replied to this thread yesterday, I would have ripped into you. Miller is the only forward that we have who can take a mark. He has his deficiencies, but he his a better than average league footballer. He runs hard, leads well and provides a strong physical presence; kicking is an issue; I saw the Casey game on Saturday and I'll check out the one this Sunday; Casey is easy for me to get to. There is nothing there that will replace Miller, nothing. Jurrah will be good, but he is as thin as a rake. Maric will be good, but I am as tall as him and that is not saying much. Newton is going backwards at 100MPH. Zomer was being tried down back and in the ruck and got a pass mark at best.

6. Moloney 5. Petterd 4. Cheney 3. Warnock 2. Jones 1. Bartram

I saw the entire game; shame I couldn't have delayed my arrival by about 40 minutes and missed the first quarter. Any side that plays a quarter like that does not deserve to win the game. The umpiring was somewhat strange; we got some we lost some and overall I would say we came out just on the wrong side of the ledger. Jurrah looks the goods; fitness still an issue as he struggled to run out the game. Class is evident. Speed to burn and can kick a goal. Newton; where to start. At the Footscray game a couple of weeks age, I was speaking to another Melbourne supporter who was opining about Newton's prodigous talent. Well, talent is as talent does. If Peter German does not play Newton in Casey's reserve team next week, then he should grow a pair! In the last quarter Sylvia ran to the 50 and kicked the ball to Newton; I was right behind the flight of the ball. It was a good kick, not a perfect kick, Newton had his work cut out. Newton literally stood there and let the defender half a step behind him take an uncontested mark. I know the difference between literally and figuratively; I repeat, he literally stood there and let the defender half a step behind him take an uncontested mark. There is zero urgency; that negates any talent he may possess. Bail, looks allright. Maric, class. Lack of a pre-season showing as he was looking for petrol tickets in the third quarter. Zomer, floated in and out, played forward, back and in the ruck. Sylvia; if he played the first quarter, I didn't notice. Worked into the game and was a class above anybody on the field in the second half. Valenti, same old, same old. Doesn't know how to play a bad game. McKenzie; this looks his level. Martin; Frankston didn't really provid a matchup for him and he struggled to exert any real influence on the game. Looked good in the ruck, kicking lets him down. Meeson was channeling Newton in the first quarter. Casey only looked to have a chance of staunching the bleeding when Martin took over in the ruck. To be fair, Meeson worked his way back into the game and was probably the best ruckman on the field over the course of the day.

Mate, an extra $90K for each game is far better for us than for the Filth. It is like raising the basic wage as opposed to a percentage rise across the board. If, say, the MCC gave each club an extra $2 per person, then the Filth would get a lot more out of it than us. Raising the floor with a set increase advantages the poorer drawing clubs, and can be seen to actually disadvantage the clubs drawing the bigger crowds.

We are in a bit of a cleft stick here. We are getting closer aligned with the MCC and we are an integral member of the AFL. I heard Stephen Gough on SEN last night and the chairman of the MCG trustees, John Wylie. They both said that the offer from the MCG was pretty much their bottom line and that the AFL, and the clubs, had not as yet officially rejected it. The main thing here is that the MCG trustees are appointed by the State Government and, as such, the MCG Trust is a quasi Government body. That they have broken ranks and made an offer to the AFL indicates that the Government has some sympathy with the AFL stance and creates more pressure on the Dump.

I will check the weather. If there is any chance of rain, I'm not going; I'm not getting wet two weeks in a row.

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