Choko

I think we are desperate to become competitive, and we can only do that with midfielders. It does seem overs though....

Agree. Great post.

Yeh, Eddie will be amazing when we kick the ball inside 50 for the 2nd time at the 30 minute mark of a quarter....

I actually remember your question. I have a hazy memory that you didn't get an answer, but I do remember the howling and Mr Ridley having trouble hearing.

Well, I haven't read Ridley's book, but if what Vanlo says is correct and Ridley claims in his book that only non-members were locked out, then Ridley is simply lying. Like No Merger, I saw when the line got cut off, and I remember people waving their memberships and shouting out anti-merger slogans. It was a disgraceful act towards members, in whose name the board was acting. And Jarka, your statement that the room was shut because it was full due to legal concerns is a half-statement. It should be no less a legal issue that the place that was chosen by necessity shut out members, and that no other provision was made for members to vote, once they had been shut out. If the club knew that the tennis centre was the correct size, it beggars belief that they would end up at Dallas Brooks Hall. Had Hawthorn not "saved us", to me Ridley would be the greatest villain in the history of what would be the now-defunct Melbourne Football Club. That may be unfair, but hey, it's my opinion.

Entirely agree. The arrogance and pig-headedness of the position taken by the pro-merger crew was disgraceful. I appreciate that Ridley acted in good faith, but he was not listening. The way they stacked proxy votes demonstrates that they were relentlessly pursuing their agenda, rather than having the members vote. I was there at Dallas Brooks, and I saw how many people were locked out of voting. There is no doubt that this was known to those in control, and they let that happen. Now that we have a training and growth venue, as well as financial stability, I wonder how these people can look at themselves. To those who say that it was a takeover, I say there is no such thing. We were going to merge the theme song, the jumper, the colours, the identity and the history. Hawthorn saved itself and us.

It is interesting, because Neeld has made no secret IMO of his opinion of Bailey. It's clear he thinks Bailey provided an armchair for our senior players, was not demanding enough on them physically and basically was not in the modern game. Neeld admits himself that talk is cheap, but he has done a bit of tough talking himself!!! What will be interesting is to see whether he will back it up if blokes like Davey, Watts, etc don't work hard enough. Here's hoping he does.

I don't get it. Is tonight the last night? What time is it on from/till?

Ha! Amen.

Just to get the QB clash in perspective... Collingwood do not "give" us the gate as a matter of generosity. I'm not saying I am not happy to be getting that gate twice as often as we would otherwise get it, but the ONLY reason Coll gives us the gate is because it is in their interests to do so. They do not need the money, so by allocating home games against sides whose home is the MCG, they get 11 home games + all the other games at home. That's the ONLY reason they do it.

I met Garry quite a few years ago, he came to our house when he was captain. He was terrific then. I met him in Perth after the final, and he was arrogant and obnoxious. Not impressed at all.