montasaurus

well said rouge. - Have just edited original post I think we are both going down the same path i.e,. All of us can do something to help the club, but not all can purchase an extra membership. Agree - move on... But...... I think you may have missed my point a little - re sterotyping those who can/cannot help the club. - Every individual circumstance is different. Surely your not going to argue that point?

Totally agree, but I think confidence in the midfield group should go a long way to assit him improving. Stay tuned in 09.......... He was the one light in the midfield group last year for me. Hopefully he can develop and take the next step this year! I don't have the stats to back me up but would suggest the games we played well (may not have won) buckley generally had good games. More importantly I see him as a player that will put guys like grimes, strauss, blease into space to finish his good work.

Great post hillie. I have felt exactly the same way except that we are the lucky ones. If we have a bad year in 09 i.e., <4 wins we will clean up at draft time. What is the worst thing for us is if we win 5-8 games. So lets assume that we have rebuilt enough the last 2 yrs and 09 will just be a top up with us finising 7th-11th. We will only get better from there. Nth Melb and Stkilda. Nth is the biggest concern. They have had many good years now and are due for a bad one or two. If this comes b/w 2010-2012 they are in big trouble. i suspect the last board suspected this and combined with poor off field performance - thats why they were looking at GC as they are just not viable. to have money issues when you are going ok has to set alarm bells. Stkilda as well has had many years of "sucess" and with a few of the old guard retiring they too could be looking at some lean years ahead. Who knows by 2011-12 MFC could well be a force in the leauge again! My tip is the kanga's may well be playing a lot of home games if not all out of tassie by 2020.

Just to get off the ruck debate for a minute...... I'm interested to see what people think re Daniel Bell. Surely with CJ leaving this has opened a window. At his best (and not injured) I think certainly for the short term (3yrs) there is a spot in the 18 for bell. The problem I see with bell is the gap between his best and worst.

1stly read the whole post before reacting to one line........... [post edited] Everybody's individual circumstances are different. You cannot generalize that a Lawyer is in a position to help ahead of a worker who has just been retrenched. let me explain....... A lawyer could well have had all of his disposable income tied up in the markets etc and may have just lost upto 70-80% of their wealth and earning capacity. They could well have business investments such as realestate etc that all require loan servicing just like people like myself who are paying off their 1st house. There are also those who work for a pittance in legal aid. Now from the other side of the fence the "car worker" you speak of could well have paid of his/her property in the 30yrs they have been working, living a comfortable life and have just received a big severence allowing them to retire in a more cumfortable position then many and could well be in a significantly stronger financil position then many others at this point in time. This type of generalisation is just as rediculas as your comment - therefore no one "type" of person is more able to do their bit, rather as the post suggests we all need to do what we can. If you can afford a 2nd membership good, if not do what you can.

This is exciting news, I thought brock was still in the rehab group?

I think one point to note with buckley is he tends to win the ball in traffic. An interesting stat would be # of unforced errors vs # errors from pressure. One thing I did notice last year was buckley was very good at handpasses through traffic to space where a player should be, unfortunately they were not. Therefore finishes like strauss, Blease, CM, Grimes, etc + co could do better in the future as the gain experience and game time together. So I would suggest a high percentage of buckleys clangers are due to lack of support from a midfield that struggled to do the hard work last year (negative running etc). I think Buckley is a big chance to take a step over the next couple of years to become a very good player for us. I was talking him up just last night to a friend and i summed him up as the only bloke in our squad that has the ability to wrong foot players ala judd+ablett. Apologies to Davey who I think uses his pace more of the time to get around players.

SIDDLE YOU STAR!

I don't think it has for a couple of years now

Cant quite work out how this relates to Blease and Strauss?

I just looked into it.... 21/feb/09 16:10 kick off local time. cheap fairs over with any of the 3 (virgin, jetstar, tiger) sat morning. But there is nothing back that night????? The latest flights are 4.30-5pm. Also last time I went there the ground is a fair distance from the airport so with all this being the case - are there any supporter packages available? If one has to stay over I would rather do it through the club or a supporter group. I'm starting to think TV might be the best option for this game.

great post, but with all the positives that have come out since oct 08 surely we have to be a little optimistic at this point!

Last year I only received my membership, and that was after nearly 2-3 months of waiting! The year before, sent to the wrong address. For the 2-3 years prior reserved seats at TD stuffed up.... and i could keep going....... at the end of the day though who cares-there's nothing better then to watch the greatest football club in the world! But it does seem like they have finally got their act together. its a great feeling waking up to a good read on the door step over the weekend!

I have been a member for many years. This is the 1st year that I had seen this from the club. Our marketing at times in the past has been nothing short of a joke. I'm not suprised that i am not the only one who is now a 1st year subscriber to the age.

Fair call but the fact we have no major sponsor for me is still a major concern. Also we are still relyant on hand outs to survive be it AFL, MCC or debt demolition. As soon as these issues can be resolved we will be in a much healthier position.

how could have this been left out... http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=RRko41u5NwE Here is the freo highlights as well if anyone is interested.. http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=lA110Y3TS2Y&...feature=related Great start to the new year having a look at these!

The best moments have already been well covered, - Jimmy taking the presidency would also have to be well up there. for me the best thing I took away from 08 was nov-dec. Suddenly, almost overnight the club turned around poor off field performance. We signed a living legend as a coach. Drafted as well as we could have done so and suddenly there seems to be a real belief around the place. Debt demolition would also have to be right up there, with out this we may not have had a club. The single moment though - PJ how could you go past that. The worst for me would have been our performance off field. At times more embarrising then any of our performances. Also add all the injuries sustained early in the year. Best moment in 09 - Jurriah to kick one after the siren to beat the filth and knock them out of the 8. Worst in 09 - no major sponser?

Thats a fair point, but what I find more exciting is the quality, be it based on the reports at this stage for some, of the midfield group coming through. I can't remember ever being as excited about a group of players as the young bregade in the middle of which CM is a big part. lets remember Lyon, Schwartz, Jakovich, Pike, Charles etc in this era were only as good as the blokes sending it down to them. Viney, Lovett(s), Tingays etc. I am so excited we may in a few years have a midfield that rivals or is better then this era........ then hopefully our forward line develops as well and we will once again be a power in the comp.

Casey Scorp you are talking real sense. I can't understand in this day and age how a club can operate like we do let alone could be looking at having seperate training and admin facilities for the long term. Take aside the financials for a minute. It makes sense to have all facilities football club requires under one roof. I can't think of another side in the AFL that has/had this setup except for fitzroy. Anyone suggesting - be it by the club or other wanting to have admin etc at our spiritual home at the g and training facilities elsewhere is talking nosense IMO. We as a club need to come to the realisation that the MCG is no longer our home, spiritual home yes but operation home no. The sooner the MFC sign up to casey as a perm training facility the better, why they are not looking at basing the whole show out there is beyond me and talking about the MCG. So from an operational reason there is no sense not making this move, further to this there would financil reasons not only the ongoing lease costs but having all admin and support staff under 1 roof can lead to effeciency/productivity improvements that will translate into bottom line cost reductions. I believe if we take a long term deal with the MCC and splinter the club for the future a big step backward will have been taken.

Yeah, depleted side playing with no confidence or "momentum" this was always going to happen. My point is this can be traced to late 07. Plus the conditions that night did not help a side with no confidence. if one was to substitute this years oct-jan in last years development the nab cub/challenge games + early season games may well have been a different outcome. I'm not suggesting we would have turned 100pt thrashings into wins but the "competitiveness" that DB kept talking about last year would have been much more apparent. Hence at this stage I believe we have every right to feel optimistic about the 1st 1/4 of next year. Who knows a couple of confidence building wins preseason in what ever format it is in may well build the momentum and translate into some real suprises early in the season proper. Young players will continue to develop and hopefully a couple of real exciting 1st year players to come through as well. It's 09 tomorrow and time to really start looking forward........ Here a quick check list of where I see us ATM to expand on my last points. Current 1/ Oct - Off Field - Progressing well (el president, coach, operations etc) - minus sponsor though.. plus membership up! 2/ Nov - List Management - Excellent group and mix of talent 3/ Dec - Team bonding - Excellent, by all reports 4/ Dec - Fitness base - excellent by reports 5/ Jan - Injuries - OK only a sml part of the main group and all are on track by reports 6/ Jan - Confidence/Game plan - Looks to be growing at this stage 7/ Feb - Confidence/Momentum - Turn confidence in each other on the track into wins preseason + carry "momentum" into rd 1 8/ Mar - Beat nth rd 1 in a "big" upset! Compair this with where we were this time last year 1/ Oct - Off Field - New coach, unsettled start with much upheaval 2/ Nov - List Management - aging group with many retirements/delistings, ground floor rebuild 3/ Dec - Team bonding - off field issues, leadership group unstable (dec-feb) 4/ Dec - Fitness base - avg refer point 5 5/ Jan 08- Injuries - many players in rehab well behind in preseason 6/ Jan 08- Confidence/Game plan - new game plan, coaching style etc 7/ Feb 08- Confidence/Momentum - no wins preseason, not much to get excited about as a group refer point 5+6 8/ Mar 08- Smashed in rd 1 = no confidence/momentum. this continued for weeks adding to this extra injuries to "key players" So a very simple equation can be drawn from this. new coach + off field issues + Injuries + no wins preseason = no Confidence+no Momentum Whereas now... Core group + better list + reduced injuries + Confidence = likely preseason wins = confidence/momentum into rd 1 In all honesty we were a rabble this time last year, a lot to do with bad luck as much as anything but again theres a lot to like with exactly where we are at as a whole ATM

You have hit the nail on the head Grazman. Rebuilding time is here. I have actually come up with an idea that that for some reason does not appear very often in cricket circles. Its nothing new but.... Rotation! Once upon a time aspiring test cricketers were blooded in the one day form, but for the last 5-10yrs the 1 day side has become a specialists ground likewise 20-20 and I for one really believe there is a big difference b/w a test batsman and a gun 1day/20-20 bat unless they are something special - eg Gilly. Therefore what I have noticed over the last 3 years is that as soon as somebody is out of form, injured or personal issues there is no ready replacement. Why? no game time. India was the perfect example. It took an injury for siddle to get a chance and now its an injury for another "untried" bowler to get a chance in sydney. Imagine if for the last 18 months the Aust side had a simple rotation basis that allowed players of the like of lee, Hayden, symonds etc always to have a forced rest in the series. There is a chance we may not have won as many tests but we would have been in a much stronger position now with players ready to step in. Hodge has been in the top few top order batsman for years but has little experience. What happens if clark and/or pointing go down with a long term injury? I'm sure someone will take an opportunity, but they should not have to- They should already be blooded. Games against the minnows like NZ, Srilanka, Bangladesh, and even england etc that we seem to play close to 1/yr is the perfect opportunity. Smashing these sides by 400 runs and sometime days does nothing for us. keep the AA players fit and rested while developing the next A-AA players. Trying players against the top side in the world after you have already lost 2 nil is a bit late in my book. Look at most other professional team sports and this is a common practice "resting/rotating players", especially David Hussey - No Opportunity Cameron White - Almost No Opportunity Brad Hodge - Little opportunity Mcdonald - No opportunity Siddle - opportunity only through injury Outcome - for the recent time the Vics have been the bench mark, why? no rotation in the Aust side. there also seem to be less "tour games" when the sides are O/S giving the squad even less experience in conditions they are not used to. I really believe out of this group there should have been close to 15 tests played in the last 12 months (or any similar group). Glad to see the squad named today. Hopefully haydens fairwell test. I can't believe he has not come out and retired, some people just don't know when it is time.

Careful, I won't bother quoting any of the articles but.... He was offered 1yr + extra year on performance based = 2yrs if he was good enough, not 1yr. Also he was not thrown up as trade bait, it was stated clubs asked about him during trade week. That does not mean we were trying to off load him, if we were I would suspect we would have taken anything we could have gotten for him but we didn't, we held firm that he was a required player. Still interested to hear how the situation would have been handled better? (I'm sure a few others are as well )

I can't understand why white is currently behind our current spinner let alone in as an allrounder. Maybe he needs to do KFC adds and go fishing a bit more often! He could well be a future captain as well due to his leadership at state level!

One interesting thing that may come out of 09 is the "crack down" on tagging that is around the corner. This could well see the game change in the middle with the importance of a tap ruckman to advantage potentially becoming more important leading to more open, free flowing through the middle? we can only hope.

Bailey yelled to him again: "I want you to tell all your teammates that you no longer want to play for the Melbourne Football Club!" If I was in the playing group the above statement would only reinforce baileys position with me - A leader of the club going forward. If you not with us, your against us. I think your drawing a very, very long bow on this one. If the MFC could offer a client of his a better deal next year previous history would be unlikely to impact on any negotiations. its not like DB came out and said i'm glad CJ is going he is the most over rated footballer I have ever seen, quite the opporsite - "Bailey, intent on letting the Melbourne members know it did everything it could to convince Johnson to remain, was quoted on the club's website late on Friday. "There are no personal problems between myself and Chris, but we want players on our list who want to play for our jumper, and on this occasion Chris did not fit the bill," Bailey said. " - Play for the jumper and not the $$$, thats a novel idea? Maybe the group at Visy and princess park can have a look at that. The club stated he was a required player, -Also as I have already stated I really rated CJ's improvement in 09 and was sad to see him go - so fringe or not he was clearly good enough to have a 2 yr contract offered by both parties. Thats what makes this debate so hard to swallow, clearly it was the terms not the club. Therefore in cases like this there is clearly bad blood and fair enough. he has made his bed and can now sleep in it. A similar instance would have been mal michael when he went from Bris to Ess, very similar under the table crap from another club that is notorious for it and bris was less then polite about that situation. Had have it been carl-ess or coll-ess it would have been in the papers for months, So I would suggest that the MFC as a whole have actually been overly nice about the situation and have handled it extreemly well. I would also suggest for CJ he is lucky he is AJ's son otherwise a bit more might have been made about this. Sour Grapes - Absolutely