praha

1 goal in 4 quarters of football.

If we can't get up today and turn a corner, I'm not sure where else the wins will come from. We need to get over this mob today. On our ground, our home. We haven't beaten them in far too long.

Last week was a [censored] game but a win. Maybe today will be a great game but a loss?

About to notch his 4th flag in his 11th season. In the modern game, that is outstanding. That's probably the equivalent (if not better) than 6 flags in 11 years under Norm Smith.

Well, I like a lot of their posts, Retweet a lot of their tweets, and comment a lot, so I may as well get *something* out of it, even if it is just a poster. I imagine that the more points you have, the more merchandise that is available to you.

Shave your head, buy a Laz-y-boy and...travel the galaxy?

It's integral that teams like Melbourne perform better because playing at the MCG, we do tend to attract good crowds when playing well. We averaged 39,000 per home game in 2005, compared to 26,000 this year. Even in 2008 we averaged 30,000. Imagine if we were a half decent football club the past 10 years? We'd have 50,000 members and average 50,000 a game. Carlton home average has dropped off about 5k-6k since 2008. Collingwood has dropped off 13,000. Bombers have somehow improved by 3,000. Biggest drop off undoubtedly is in Collingwood. Hawthorn does not have as many Melbourne fans as their membership base suggests, with only 40,000 per home game. I put down a drop in Victoria attendance to Collingwood falling off a bit since 2010, and teams like Melbourne being an indictment on the entertainment value of the sport in Victoria. This club has actively turned people away.

I'm on Pluto time.

It's been 51 years since Melbourne won a flag. 50 years since Norm was sacked. We have 5 wins this season. 51 - 50 + 5 = 6 Smith won 6 flags. Illuminati? 6 flags, 8 Grand Finals, 10 straight Finals series. 10 - 8 + 6 = 8 8 - 5 = 3 Half-Life 3 confirmed.

Cross off "beat St Kilda" in the "Embarrassing records" thread.

You know, it's hard to ignore how coincidental it all was. 10 straight finals appearances. 6 flags. Then all of a sudden...wilderness for 50 years. I'm a spiritual man, and maybe there's something greater at play here. I do think the club has deserved this to some degree. Not the fans, we deserve much better, but you can't ignore the cultural shift after his sacking, which literally happened over night. We haven't had a "strict disciplinarian" style of play since Smith. We recaptured it a bit in the Northy years, but we still buckled. I think today the curse has lifted. 50 years is a long time. We will turn a corner soon enough. Good things come to those that wait. I believe that.

Access to the mark is still relative to how successful you are on the field. It always has been. The AFL is misplaced to grant poor-performing clubs high exposure. In doing so this year with Carlton on Fridays, they have significantly hurt the viability of the timeslot and its appeal to broadcasters and advertisers. The audience doesn't trust the Friday night product anymore. Carlton was given those Friday nights on the back of the Malthouse and Judd factor. Both were thrown into the AFL's face. Seven obviously requested more Carlton games because of the Malthouse hysteria. That much was evident early in the season. Both Seven and the AFL will (have) learnt their lesson from that. It won't happen again. We now have a primetime Thursday night slot. Saturday nights weren't relevant until 10 years ago when 10 and 9 demanded it with their broadcasting deal. There are far more opportunities for exposure if you're demanding of it. I completely acknowledge that the 'big clubs' saved the league, but so did expansion. History is very clear in that if you offer a good product, you will get the exposure. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it's chicken and egg scenario: what comes first, on-field success or money? You can't have one without the other. In Melbourne's case, we have 35,000 members. We have two blockbuster fixtures. We have an easy draw. We sell games to make half-a-million profit on each. Once again the foundations are there. You need to turn the corner and take the next step, take risks. Everything has been handed to this club on a silver platter the last 2 years: draft picks, business minds, Roos, a coaching department. I don't see how giving the club a better fixture is going to help it in its progress. Granted, we played each of Essendon and Richmond as away games, but we alternate with Richmond now, and get two games against Collingwood which, from a branding perspective, puts us front and center. We play in NT which offsets the away games against big clubs, because had we played Port and WC in Melbourne, we'd have played the match at the MCG and made a loss. Our destiny is totally in our hands now. We have equal access and the tools in place to rise. I want the club to get their purely on the back of its own hard work from here on in. It's getting there. But at the same time, I don't want the AFL to fixture crap games in primetime slots for the sake of making it "fair".

Melbourne is in the current situation because of poor management. It has nothing to do with the AFL. Hawthorn won premierships and night premierships but ultimately had no fans, no membership and no money in the 90s. Through good drafting, good business decisions, great sponsorship and great development, they have created a powerhouse. They went from nothing to something at the right time. Carlton has been gifted Friday night games this year and everyone hates it. It won't happen next year. Good teams will get it. The Bulldogs will get more Friday night games and rightly so. At the end of the day you can still create a good business and football environment with what's currently available to the clubs. At the worst, it's still good exposure. At the best, it's prime time exposure. If you're in the heartland of AFL and can't build a strong, profitable business, you're doing something wrong. You can blame the AFL all you like. It has gone to great lengths to grand us blockbuster games when we haven't deserved them. We are lucky we still have Queens' Birthday, and ANZAC Eve against Richmond is a godsend. Next season is our how game and it'll be 75,000+. Good clubs establish good models, good branding, and a good working environment. When you make the people involved in the club want to come to work every day, it'll snowball into greatness. But if you create a [censored] environment, then don't be surprised if it turns to [censored]. There is no reason why we couldn't be where Freo or the Hawks are now considering our access to talent over the past 8 years. The problem is that the club has been a career killer through no fault of its own, not because of fixturing. The bigger issue here is bad business people running clubs into the ground. Why else did the AFL get involved in Melbourne? It literally installed its own approved CEO. But hey, keep saying it's fixturing. I'm sick of the clubs at the lower end of the ladder blaming the league for its own ineptness. Carlton is a "powerhouse" that has been run by morons consistently since 1999. No amount of prime time gifting has turned it into a powerhouse, even if it did land it Judd. It's just a bad club and a bad business that sells a [censored] product.

If it's a "case by case" scenario as the AFL suggests, they could very well get one. Their list is horrid, in a worse place than ours was in 2012 and 2013. They have very little young talent and they'll lose Aish and their best ruckman. Christensen and Beams are going through the motions and collecting a paycheck. I wouldn't be surprised if they get it, especially if they lose good players this pre-season (which they will). They could very well go without a win next season.

"Fairness" and "equality"? It's in the league's best interests to offer a good product and appease neutral fans. Melbourne is in the position it's in, not because Collingwood and Hawthorn get blockbuster prime time games, but because it was run by nitwits. This is a competitive league. Hawthorn and Collingwood were riddled by debt in the late '90s and somehow managed to build something out of nothing. More people watch the game now than ever, and fixturing is merely a product of consumer interest. Of course it appeases broadcasters: broadcasters have an audience to serve. It's a chicken and egg scenario: - If you're bad and no one cares about you, you don't get exposure - If you don't get exposure, you don't get money - If you don't get money, you can build your club - If you can't build your club, you become bad - If you're bad, no one cares about you, and you don't get exposure I don't have any major issues with the league's socialistic approach to helping lower clubs, but specifically in Melbourne's case, we're down the bottom with low membership because the club's been run by morons. These morons haven't come cheap and they certainly didn't lack experience. Geelong is facing a few years down the bottom. They could sign Danger and it wouldn't make a difference. 2 years ago everyone was crying about how they're going to be a power for 20 years. Hawthorn will eventually come undone. Collingwood has, but has drafted superbly and has a great culture in place after getting rid of deadwood. WC has jumped up from last to a flag contender in 5 years. Port went from basket case to 60,000 members, full houses and a great young side literally over one pre-season. Each club has the means to make money and build a good club and business model. A good business thrives in a highly competitive environment. Melbourne has failed because it wasn't up to the task. You need good thinkers, innovators, people who can turn something into nothing. I'm sick of people constantly wanting to change the dynamic of the league, its rules, and its brand, because a few clubs have been run into the ground by poor business decisions. Who the [censored] wants to watch Melbourne vs Carlton on a Friday night? Seriously? You can call it "equalisation", but you're just forcing ineptness onto the neutral fan who just wants to watch a good team play.

Is Trengove the missing A+ midfielder we need?

Yawn. When you think someone has potential, how do you "prove" it? Have a little faith. You might not be as grumpy all the time

It's a 4-6 week problem. Dah!

He's no Christiano Ronaldo.

Bigots. Bigots everywhere.

I thought we were following the Hawthorn blueprint in 2008?

I was in LA for work. Turned my laptop on with the footy in the background while we had pre-drinks before heading to a netwroking mixer. Left when we were 24 points down, came home and saw we lost by 2. I almost threw my laptop against the wall. We need to beat this mob this week. Sick of them beating us. Most recent meetings have all been pretty close. I'd love to absolutely smash them this week. Won't happen, though.

How are they different?

I'm meeting Real Madrid players at a press event today. I'll see if Ronaldo is available. LOL I actually put my religion down as Jedi but I acknowledge my Christian roots. I think to be "Christian" and to be "Catholic" means different things to a lot of people. I am not religious but I classify myself as Christian. Anyway, I've taken this off-topic. Sorry.

Mate if you take acid it'll be more than a GF you reach.