praha

Same issues persist.

Same issues persist.

That is holding the ball.

This is actually a standard Melbourne start. We shouldn't be surprised.

Missing handball targets from 5 meters away.

Lol...

lol he's not leaving WA.

Let's not pretend that our Casey relationship has even helped the club establish any sort of sustainable support growth in that area. It's a nice secondary base to have I guess, but it was always a bit of a misplaced initiative. Just because it's a growth area doesn't mean its ripe for the taking. Working class, typically low income area that probably already has high density of AFL support before Melbourne decided to jump it. Being a [censored] club from the time of the relationship's inception to now probably hasn't helped, either.

Melbourne's current situation is due far more to its own ineptness than it is anything conjured up or brought in by the AFL. The club has merely been pushed down harder. But it was in that position anyway through no fault but its own. The club had an opportunity to become great. Fremantle, West Coast, Port, Bulldogs have all been up, down and back up again in the period Melbourne has been down. How have Port and the Bulldogs managed to get back up? Aren't they "bottom feeder" clubs? Isn't Carlton a top 4 club? Richmond? Essendon ain't doing too flash. Melbourne will either thrive in the current system, or it will crumble. And by "thrive", I mean *stability*. Money going out, more money coming in. Winning games. Getting people to matches. Getting on the tele. Which comes first: the chicken or the egg? I know, I know. But really, in the league these days you need to create a business and brand first, and worry about premierships after. Melbourne has had to right the ship, which I think it has. Now onto signing Jesse for 10 year. IMO the club's biggest test for decades. And it will get it done this time.

Jakovich?

Shhhh, don't encourage him

I know it's just spin, but it's positive nonetheless. TBH I don't think his management would be pushing him to leave. Hogan ‘heavily committed’ to Dees: ‘Melbourne is where he wants to be’ This comment in particular is interesting: Hogan is a once-in-a-generation player. You don't leave the media and sport hub just to "go home". I suspect his management is pretty intent on him staying in Melbourne, and it appears he is as well. I think this is very different to Scully or anyone else. It is genuinely in Hogan's best interests to stay in Melbourne.

To be honest I don't think the gulf is as big as the numbers let on. We haven't played finals since 2006, yet have more than or close to the number of members that North, the Saints and Bulldogs have, three teams that have played in many finals and Prelims, and a few Grand Finals in Saints' case. Melbourne has been the worst club over a ten-year period, and one of the worst of all time, yet we still manage to hover around a respectable figure. If we were to make finals this year and say win a final, we would crack 45k easily next year. I'm not sure it can go much higher than that, but what's important for Melbourne is that we have a high ratio of members-to-attendance. That is, we have a lot of members attending matches. I think in that regard we are among the league leaders. That's important because we probably have the highest concentration of support in one city. The club is taking advantage of this by really closing in on its affiliation with MELBOURNE the city. It's probably a decade too late.

Probably Dawes :S I'd say $650-$700k.

He's 27. He should be in his peak physical prime. He'll retire before 30. 100% guaranteed. I can see Pedo being our Dew.

tbh I think the fair thing would be to declare it void. Have history still show that Watson won it but then had it taken off and no official winner for that year.

IMO they'll start well and then drop off around halfway through. Wouldn't be surprised if they beat us round 2 and imo it won't be the end of the world. They'll have a lot of top-up players who will be trying to prove themselves and they'll be up and about. They'll knock off a few mid-range teams in the first half, bookmark it. By round 10-11, though, we'll start seeing some beltings. They're probably still destined for the spoon. I predict 5 wins.

It toe-tally sucks that he'll miss a good chunk of pre-season. I'll let myself out.

BREAKING: Workplace union misdirects criticisms, disregards responsibility

I've taught myself to go in to a season calmly. I'm not excited but I'm looking forward to it, if that makes sense. I've been let down way too much since 2010 and so it's easier to expect is to be mid-range then to set a higher bar for the club.

Pretty sure this was also the case in the 90s, 00s and 2010s.

I'm not [censored] about the injury. I'm [censored] about how he did it. In the US, most athletes aren't allowed to engage in physical activity outside of that approved by the team. When they do, they need a team approved trainer with them. Michael Jordan had the famous "For The Love Of The Game" clause in his contract (that's where the saying comes from) that permitted him to play basketball whenever he wanted under any circumstance. I find it strange that AFL clubs don't already have a "don't mess around and play backyard sport" as part of the contract. Simply telling a 20-year-old that's bouncing off the walls with energy not to play backyard sports over Christmas isn't enough. No doubt that if any club put this in the contract, the AFLPA would breathe fire down their necks.

True, but why not just wait until the club says something? A broken food is pretty significant, sometimes worse than an ACL. A broken pinky toe is really nothing. I'm sure that if it were late in the season and we were in finals contention, he'd get a few jabs and would be playing. Roos looked mad.

A little crack in his picky toe. Everyone needs to calm down. Not ideal, but gee, stop acting like it's major.

Also remember that game well. I was only 10. My dad was sitting undercover with his mates, I went down to sit near the front, ground-level. I'd only be supporting the team for a few years. I'd seen too many horrid belting in such a short period of time. I was breaking down, so much so some random guy consoled me. I remember we kicked the first few goals and we were dominating for a good 5-10 minutes, but then they scored like 16 of the next 17 goals.