praha

He still pushes himself under the ball way too often. Twice already.

I don't believe that this was a conscious move by the AFL to push people towards Telstra, more so Telstra taking advantage of an organisation that just doesn't get digital. Fitzpatrick probably wouldn't have seen an issue, although I suspect tablet viewership last season would have been very high. There's a similar issue with Foxtel Play. You can watch the AFL channel on your tablet or phone, but if you try to watch it via Foxtel Play on your desktop or iMac, it's blocked out because the app only has broadcast rights for mobile devices, and because "licensing agreements" restrict what can be shown on the app. The AFL actually has its hands tied here. Without Foxtel and Telstra, the broadcast rights aren't anywhere near as large as they are. The AFL could just create its own service ala NBA League Pass, but this would turn people away from Foxtel. It can't have the best of both worlds. People say that the AFL is "money hungry" but that money gets pumped back into the league and struggling teams (like Melbourne). The double-edged sword is that the arrangements absolutely suck, but that they're necessary atm. So long as Foxtel exists and there isn't a genuine competitors to raise the stakes, it will always be like this.

So many variables that caused that, though. As a club we had poor facilities, poor standards, little accountability both on and off the field. We had coaching stability but a high list turnover and constant stream of injuries throughout each season. Daniher also threw in the towel early in seasons (around half-way) if we weren't going too well. As he did in 1999, 2001, 2003. I think Danners was among the league's first "tankers". He was just too smart to get caught.

I'd like for once for the gameplan to take advice from fans. 1. Man up. 2. Get on 'im. 3. STOP WITH THE FLOOD! 4. Put someone in the middle. 5. Tag whoever is playing well. 6. KICK THE BLOOD THING

It will be tight. Game starts at 3:20 and will finish at 6. You will need to be at the gate by 7:20. If you left at 5:45 you would definitely make it. But battling football traffic right as the game ends might hurt you. I would highly recommend leaving between 5:30 and 5:45. You'll miss most of the last but only way to be safe.

No doubt. What made 94 great was that even with all of our injuries we still managed to slam a second-placed Carlton from 7th and Lyon kicked 10 against the Dogs in front of 80,000 the following week. Up and down season but with Jakovich running rampant for half the season ... just unreal season. Eagles were a sure thing though. 2002 was probably a better chance for us than 2006, up for debate. We were gifted a game against the Crows at the MCG and really stuffed that one up. Before the game we were second favourite to win the flag behind the Lions. That first quarter against the Crows arguably cost us a flag. Confident we would have beaten the Pies had we played as we did against North in the first week. End of the day whether it was 94, 2000, 2002 or 2006, we'd have had to beat sides far better to claim the flag. Geelong, Essendon, Brisbane, West Coast. We were never better than a mid-table side, let's be honest.

2000 was fun but I thought 1998 and 1994 were better seasons. At least in my life time I have more memories from those two seasons than I do from 2000. Think our 1994 had the biggest potential for greatness out of our best sides from the past 20-odd years.

I think you're all looking into this way too much.

We're pretty different teams. They can beat us 100 times in a row. Come finals time we'll destroy them.

The OX unfortunately epitomised the MFC in the professional era. Now of course other clubs have had players go down 2, 3, sometimes 4 times with the same injury, but that we so loosely and casually allowed an absolute superstar to rush back into it not once, but twice, was in hindsight demonstrative of the club's unprofessionalism. Almost 2 decades later we still struggled with player management and only appear to now be entering the professional era. Welcome to the AFL, Melbourne *slow clap*. Don't care what anyone says, we had a premiership team from 1994 until 1998 but we could just never get a full squad on the park, and I think it was more than just bad luck. Ox, Tingay, Charles, Lovett, Lyon, among others who just always seemed to be injured during that period. Throw in Jakovich and... well... time for a beer.

If you're using the internet on your home connection, which has your name, address and details connected to the IP, if someone wants it, they can get it. Complaining about an app from a licensed professional sports team is just silly.

Remember it well. Was sitting in the MCC, right on the edge, near where the Melbourne members area started (where the cheer squad used to sit in the red seats). He did it while we were kicking to the punt road end, near the 50. The crowd roared when it went near him, but then suddenly ... silence. Could hear a pin drop.

Sorry. "YAY WELL DONE GIRLS WOOHOO YOU SHOW 'EM HOW IT'S DONE!"

It's been a very unimpressive start. The coverage has been condescending -- "Look at these women play football! Filled stands! Bravo!" -- while few people outside of neutral fans have had the balls to call it as it is: of a very low quality. Now the AFL is hyperventilating and considering changing venues: I guarantee the hype and excitement and romance of it all will die down VERY quickly, especially once the 100-point beltings start. The AFL rushed into this. Extremely limited talent pool. They should have slowly added one team at a time, maybe every two years, and created a festival or round-robin tournament out of it. 8 weeks will kill these women. I am truly impressed by how dedicated and hard and fit some of them are, but the quality will only get worse from here. Dare I say the AFL has killed Women's football before it even began. Why too optimistic.

Stretch is ahead of Salem imo. Not that they play the same role but similar sort of play and I tend to see Stretch as a more accountable one-on-one player.

It's the most Melbourne injury ever.

We need to be prepared for (another) down year.

You mean with clubs swimming in zero-asset debt, Victorian clubs embroiled in constant merger talks, games played at stadiums falling apart (and clubs losing millions in the process), little to no regional and grassroot support, little to no Indigenous support ... shall I go on? What's your definition of "swimming in cash", and what is "a payoff" to that surplus? The commentators have nothing to do with the AFL. The AFL is limited in who it can sell broadcasting rights to. Foxtel arguably offers the best value and best quality across a diverse broadcasting structure but the problem is that it limits free-to-air access...the AFL is in a corner because Channel 7 invests in the wrong individuals to lead its sports coverage. It's the networks that seem out of touch with the broader public, not the AFL.

This is not an argument. In what ways does Gil's salary adversely affect the functionality and wage distribution throughout the league? SPOILER: It doesn't. +1.

The AFL is actually treated as a seperate entity of the clubs, who pay a license fee to appear in the league. That Gil earns more than the highest-paid players is irrelevant. He manages and oversees the league, its finances, its distribution mechanisms, corporate sponsorships, and broadcasting rights. I do believe players should earn more, but it shouldn't be relative to what AFL executives run. The AFL is a corporate entity, and it's seperate from the ways in which clubs are run, and how people within those clubs are paid. If a club wanted to, it could pay its President more than the highest-paid player on the team. This is a silly thread because it mostly disregards other mechanisms that actually contribute to the ways in which players are paid. Gil might be overpaid relative to his output, but it has zero bearing on what players are paid. Suggesting he shouldn't earn more than the players demonstrates a comical lack of understanding of the AFL and its corporate structure.

What have the Doggies got? I reckon they'll crack 50,000.

55. Don't see him as a huge goal-kicking forward beyond the 50s. I think he's far too talented and has too high a football IQ to be restricted to kicking goals.

Hutchy might actually help bring the show more in line with being, you know, a footy show. He's not much of a joker so he may be more inclined to focus more on football itself. Guaranteed Sam will be the next one to go. They are slowly shifting towards a more focused show with this lot.

How stupid to have any team travel interstate on the eve of the actual season. The final week of the pre-season should be the clubs from WA, SA, QLD and NSW play their cross-town rivals, while Vic teams play each other. I know there is a break beforehand, but it just seems to pointless to go that far for the last pre-season game. Maybe it's just me.

You don't "tag" a bloke like Riewoldt. He rarely plays deep so it's impossible to constantly have a KPP on him. Teams have played him the same way for years: play off him, force him to the flanks, and a force a centred kick. We did that both times we played them this year but being at Etihad we just didn't have the cattle back for the switch.