praha

They have no idea what's going on at the bench. Players running off then back on and shaking their heads. Keeps happening.

10 goal loss by the look of it. Extremely dysfunctional around the ground and off the bench. Players running off then told to go back on. Happened maybe 10 times. Fumbles. Can't react fast enough to pressure. Forwards are flat footed. Backs are fumbling.

What is this song [censored]? How has St KILDA managed to turn a jubilant song into a depressing one?

Dying.

This stadium is the utter pits. No soft drink at the bar. It's about 50 degrees in the stadium. Everyone is melting.

I actually have Demonland open on my phone during games, even when I'm there. I like venting and cheering with the people on here.

Surprise is Spencer and Peterson to play. Heard it here first!

They absolutely destroyed us in Round 17. Watched the highlights. We turned the ball over in the middle under no pressure about 10 times, every time resulted in a Saints score. If they were accurate, could have easily won by 10+ goals. Saints thrive on the corridor clanger. That is where they have beaten us every time we've met them in the past 10 years. Etihad teams are better at countering that because they utilise space so well.

Those ads are glorious.

Saints Nic isn't really a forward anymore. More of a roving wingman.

Leadership is the ability to empower. That's it, really. There's no rule book that says you can only have one leader. Ironically, Jones' handling of this situation embodies what it is that makes a leader a leader: a person that can stand up to scrutiny, face their fears and admit they were wrong. That we're criticising Goodwin for this suggests to me that the mental baggage reportedly hanging over the playing group is now firmly embedded in the minds of the support base. Jones' initial disappoint would suggest he misinterpreted what it is to be a leader and captain. It is not about him. That he came to realise that it can work and that the role is bigger than him individually suggests that the decision to add Viney as co-captain has arguably made Jones a better captain and leader.

It's going to be a tough game. Being round 1 is probably better for us than a few rounds in, or after an NT trip. We might get the Saints in their complacent comfort zone to start the season and pipe them. I doubt it, though. Not because it's Melbourne, just because the teams are similarly placed and one team has a significant ground advantage. I predict a close game and Saints run away with 2-3 quick ones to end the match. Prepare yourselves.

It's akin to appearing in printed or broadcast advertising. What's the problem? If you appear in an ad, you endorse the product. Why would he be embarrassed?

It's a terrible stadium. Half our fanbase is made up of MCC members. Why should they fork out for a ticket to a home game at an away stadium? I think Melbourne members turning away from Etihad is completely justified. It is not our home ground.

Saying "I think they'll make the 8" is very different to "I'm willing to put a large chunk of my company's marketing budget into an unproven sports club I feel will be good but I can't be sure and has about a third of the media exposure of other organisations at almost the same price". Let's not understate how hard it actually is to get sponsors, especially when your brand is synonymous with losing, has low-level exposure, and has a very geographically concentrated following, as Melbourne does. I seriously believe Melbourne would be the toughest sporting club in Australia to land a sponsorship deal for. Much like our on-field performance, the gap between the benefits and risks is huge. You can either get insane exposure sponsoring a club with a really peculiar but refined and classy brand, or you can get close to zero exposure. In both cases we're above and below most other clubs, respectively. It's a really tough sell. The way I see it, PJ and Co. are going all out, selling at a premium price and refusing to compromise. You either go hard or go home. Underselling the club is probably off the table, but overselling is on. I doubt PJ would ever accept a Reach-type sponsorship just for the sake of having a brand on there. That just cheapens the spot. IMO, having it empty boosts exposure of the brand tenfold, more so than selling it cheap just to have someone there. It's a rather fascinating approach. I'm not anywhere near as worried as some of you are.

Oh well as long as he's doing his best!

This is actually the most frustrating because YouTube *could* act as another form of revenue. Check out North's YouTube, which also features a stack of classic match highlights: https://www.youtube.com/user/NMFCOfficial/videos Compare it to ours: https://www.youtube.com/user/DeeTVofficial I do wonder if it's due to being tied up in broadcasting deals and whatnot with Telstra. Bigpond manages and hosts the design and functionality of the sites ... although I don't see how this could hurt the content. I don't mind Burgs but he's not a particularly energetic fellow.

Demonland never disappoints.

Oscar McDonald getting utterly schooled.

Garland seems so out of place. How far this team as come.

It's so easy to predict a top 8 team. Make sure Eagles, Swans, Hawks, Cats and Crows are in there. Add in 1-2 up-and-coming teams. Take one of last year's finalists out and add one team from 9th-12th. No one really takes any risks. It's pointless.

We can fall anywhere between 12th and 4th. League is super tight and competitive and NO team is guaranteed finals spot. Little room for error. Gonna be a great season broadly even if Melbourne doesn't make it. Sydney, Geelong, Hawthorn will be seriously challenged. GWS clear favourites. Melbourne, Saints, Dogs, Power, Tigers, Crows, Bombers all fighting for a spot. Aforementioned giants trying to stay relevant. Dockers are a smokey. Eagles. Suns. North. Hardest year to predict yet. NOTHING is certain. Can't wait

Lloyd and Dunstall are not journalists. They are good for insight into the league, but they are not journalists. There are no good football journalists. Don't Mistake special insight and opinion for journalism. Caro used to be good but she succumbed to the pressure of Fairfax's push towards gotcha jernalisms to help get the company outta the red.

Of course. Can't hold it against them. In hindsight though it would have made more sense if they were already mid-tier. They were bottom of the table and pretty awful. He made them substantially better but nothing more than..a mid-range team. Melbourne dumped Paul McNamee bevause he tried to do the same thing with Jonathon Brown. Probably worked out for the better.

Dare I say the Judd years have hurt Carlton. Too many years as a middle of the road team and not enough talent coming in. They probably needed another 2-3 years at the bottom in 08-2011 to build a team. The Judd years are coming back to hurt them. Shockingly similar to Melbourne circa 2010-2011.