Little Goffy

Nothing to talk about? There'd be a lot of people wanting to know whats going on at their clubs - the practice matches get minimal exposure and people lose track of how the preseason was going. Inside football (even if it is a bit of a rag still finds something to fill it's pages, like interviews with past greats - surely they would go better on television anyway. Nope, Footy show is lazy television now - it would be so easy to have a good footy show, but no, too much trouble for thos egos -what if they tried and failed!?

Yep - the first one is the 'long awaited relief' - everybody pays attention. The second one is the 'Demons really firing up' deal which arrives with a real sense of triumph. Hankook. I can say now I'll remember the name for a long time, since they were there at sch a critical moment.

Yeah, he seems to turn up a lot. I heard a theory that he has a magic jumper where he is invisible to all but idiots.

On match day it's pretty easy to set up dozens of stalls outside and inside the concourse, and there are designated merchandise shopfronts scattered around the ground floor. Beefing these up and making sure they are visble and quality is more important on match day - I'd love to see the figures on exactly how much merchandise gets sold where, but remember that 'packed out' in the Melbourne shop really only means thirty or forty people tops, and it's only for a short period before and after the game. I'm convinced that a presence in the city somewhere relatively visible whould be an important 'hub', it would act as a billboard, a contact point, and an all-week sales point. It wouldn't cost a whole lot either.

Exactly. I think in the long run we've actually done pretty well out of being screwed over by Carlton. Instead of Judd - we have Morton, Grimes and Maric, Instead of R. Warnock - we have Strauss, Instead of C. Johnson - we have Jurrah. We won't know until about three years from now, I guess, but I think the five we got are 'more likely to take us to the top more often' over the years than the three the Blues got. Besides, the Johnson and the Warnock we still have are better anyway

And just to add (and it's separate point so I think it's worth a new post ) It would be great to see the MCC get behind the clubs, tinker with the deals at the 'G just enough to take the edge off, and put all the pressure on Telstra Dome... sorry... S#$thead stadium. Telstra Dome, to me, is a monument to the commercial, TV-driven McFootball element which is creeping around the cellers of our game, so they can cop all the misery they've earnt as far as I'm concerned.

On the one hand, since we actually have to pay out money to the MCC when the crowd is less than 20,000, it would be quite practical to relocate a game just to stick it up them. On the other hand, once we pass the 20,000 mark we actually get a reasonably good deal - up around $10 per head per extra person - so it's not so much that our deal sucks as it is arranged to reward us for when we do get a good crowd in. If we grow the attendences but just 5-10% over the next few years, we actually wouldn't have much to complain about - I daresay our particular deal was originally arranged in anticipation of crowd growth. I'm also not really keen on getting into a bunfight with the MCC right when we seem to have made big progress on refreshing that relationship. The million dollar gift from them would seem to indicate a willingness to work through issues together, no? But for North and the Dogs, not only do they have losses to pay if they get a small crowd, they actually get slightly rotted peanuts even when they do get a large crowd. Dunno what made them sign the deals in the first place, but it needs to be corrected now, especially if there's going to be another one or two interstate teams meaning an extra home game each year getting a very small crowd.

It was Paul Roos' absoulte core philosphy that you don't focus on win or loss results. You focus on playing the game the way you're supposed to, doing the hard work, then watch the results go your way. Does anyone need reminding that in the football equivalent of a blink of an eye he took the Swans straight from second-rate to seven years of consecutive finals? The consequence of thinking too much about win or loss is ... wait for it ... - blowout results once things start going against you, - inconsistent seasons with streaks of wins and streaks of losses driven by confidence levels, - dropping games you should win due to over-confidence, and so on. Winning and losing is, in short, the easiest and most problematic thing you can overthink. In a perfect preparation, it wouldn't come into player's minds until they hear the final siren.

The staidum deals are unfair as they stand. Several clubs, including ours, but most visibly North Melbourne whose deal is appaling, are campaging to change the arangements to something resembling fair deals. To say it is whinging is kind of like saying 'well, you didn't stop global warming twenty years ago, why are you whinging about stopping it now?'. Frankly, weird.

Or perhaps a Stalwarts club, where all the players can come and show proper respect to those who've stood by through the hard times, and get an idea of just how much a new dawn means to them. Maybe also get organsised to welcome back those who have strayed. Given that guys like Lyon, Flower and Barassi and committed to getting involved in the new era, I think it's got legs.

March Champions is usually a derogatory term, but for the Melbourne Football Club March 2009 is going to be a history-making, euqal in long-term significance to the extraordinary changing of the guard and 'Debt Demolition' of the previous July/August. As Whispering Jack pointed out when highlighting Jim Stynes 4 planned announcements (Casey Council, MCC, Sponsor, No.1 Ticket Holder), there is a lot going on right now. This thread is for making a note of all the events and coverage that comes through over the coming month, right up to the match reports from the Round 1 game against North Melbourne on the 29th. Just add your own post when you see a new article or know of a new definate event which has occured, and I'll periodically go through and edit the orgininal post with dates and links. Please include a date, the website/channell/etc that it was on, and about a five word title or description. Sunday the 1st Glenn McFarlane - Herald Sun - "Jack Watts will be worth the wait" Glenn McFarlane - Herald Sun - "Demons ready for new season" Monday the 2nd Sam Edmund - Herald Sun - "Demons must move off last place in 2009" Channel Nine News - Story on Wonaeamirri and Mahoney visiting Tiwi Islands Wednesday the 4th - Matt Burgan - AFL.com.au - "Rivers Ready for first match" Mark Stevens - Herald Sun - "Melbourne President Jim Stynes heralds Joseph Gutnick return" Thursday the 12th - Caroline Wilson - The Age - "Sponsor Joy for Demons" Mark Stevens - Heraldsun - "Demons to sport HANKOOK logo in $2.1million deal" Friday the 13th - Mark Stevens - HeraldSun - "Spencer on verge of call-up" Saturday the 14th - Mark Edmund - HeraldSun - "Dee [Nathan Jones] ramps up ambitions" Monday the 16th - The Age - Mclean draws on past experience for advice to Sylvia David Read - MelbourneFC.com - "Broken thumb for Bell but Davey fit" Tuesday the 17th - Jake Niall - The Age - "Jurrah pushing through the language barier" Melbournefc.com - "Postively Presidential"

Unless the two sponsors really do complement eachother - pies and sauce... VISY and the new season of Underbelly... TabCorp and the Family Crisis Counselling Centre... that sort of thing... I'm so bitter

Anyone see my ears [censored] up then? Got anything more for us Golly, or just the gut feeling? In fact even PM me, if there's more to it. I have my own reasons to be stoked if there's substance behind this speculation.

This is the stuff that turns 'two or three games a year' supporters into 'every home game and I'm bringing in friends' supporters. Keep it coming with the little things done right, you Demons!

Ha! AFL can getted stuffed - bullying clubs about ensuring facility financing and then... AFL complete knobs at stadium financing arrangements And yes, I agree it's a worthy topic of conversation - I was just pointing out that it doesn't affect the MFC directly, as a couple of posts had implications that there was a connection between the facility finances kerfuffle and MFC competitive balance fund.

Uhhh... guys... this particular article has nothing to do with MFC directly. It's about the three clubs which are currently engaging in $10m+ redevelopments, and the AFL getting narky about whether the clubs have genuinely covered those costs (through government, council or sponsor partners) rather than exposing themselves to potentially disasterous debts. In principle, it's right of the AFL to be keeping a close eye on this stuff - let's imagine that the Arden St redevelopment goes $3m over it's $15m plan, or there's a similar shortfall in the funds that actually materialise - that puts that club in a whole heap of debt, the kind that was threatening our immediate future just six months ago. But once again, the AFL seems incapable of doing anything without insisting that everyone else is foolish and blind, but they are forever wise, and making a bunch of implied threats along the way. Anyway, our strategic situation remains as it was - get a solid major sponsor = ok (break even) for 2009. - meaningful but not necessarily dramatic improvement = better fixture, exposure and attendence for 2010. - follow through on commitment to Casey area + new, mobilised culture from the club = begin to see real improvements in underlying support base by 2011 - win 2012 flag.

Oh please, get your hand off it, all of you. It is absolutely normal and common for players immediately after a game to have a chat and a laugh. It blows off nervous energy (ESPECIALLY after a tight game) and helps to make sure there are no lingering poisonous feelings after a rough spoil, or a heated exchange or sledging. May I point out the key words - 'after the game'? Or is that too subtle a distinction. And FFS, it's a pre-season game. Maybe some of us have pumped it up as something big and special, but I'd be dissapointed if it wasn't just a step in preparation for the footy department at Melbourne. We want to peak during the season, yes? Or have you all decided that 'four wins or less' is the way to go and the pre-season is the only time left to actually try to win? I worry sometimes about the enthusiasm on here for knocking the players beyond all proportion.

I can't believe how many people have gone straight to the 'you suck' line when we lose an intense and hard-fouight game against the reigning premiers by a couple of bits of bad luck a a last second goal. Cool it, you look like idiots. Positive number 1 - the following players ALL had disposal efficiency above 80% - Bruce, Davey, Dunn, Jones , Cheney, Bate, Morton, Johnson, Spencer (100%!), Garland, Whelan, McDonald, Martin, Warnock. We've definately found an extra ruckman in Spencer. Jack Grimes has the magic in him. James Frawley has definately taken a step up. Bate played as a genuine forward and was pretty good, with 4 goals. Mclean is on his way back for sure. Cheney looks handy. Clangers were way down on last year. Intensity, for most of the game, was well up on last year. Overall, a very good first hit-out for the new season. I'm looking forward to the real thing, and think we can take North in Round 1. But the key disappointments were - Although Miller worked extremely hard and finished with 11 marks, he clearly didn't have touch. Sylvia clearly hasn't got touch yet for the season. Unlike some, I'm not going to write off the previous signs of progress on the basis of a first pre-season game and an intraclub match. Seriously guys, thats pretty weak. Newton is... our special present to the Casey Scorpions, and then the Gold Coast... for what it's worth, the game game down to Hawthorns freakish accuracy on the day (which was uncharacterstic) and their better capacity to adapt to the slightly weird line markings on the 'windy' wing.

As I understand it, Moloney wasn't isn't quite at 100% speed after a delayed start to full preseason, and will be left out long enough to be at his peak strength when he does come in. Rivers rolled his ankle, it's trivial and in no way related to any previous injury. Not a worry. Hawthorn may be underdone and a little undermanned (not as much as the hype), but we are still playing the premiership team at what is undoubtedly a 'home' ground for them. Don't need to look any further back than round 1 last year to know what can happen. On the other hand, we are certainly in with a shot at this. I'm very keen to see how the second and third year players go, given that they are the ones who will be mostly deciding the extent of our improvement this year. The new draftees, with the exception of Strauss and Bail, look like they are going to be dealt with gently in 2009 - we are after all building for another golden age, so we'll want them all to be properly conditioned for a ten-year run at the top!

Eh? That's a bitter "so's ya motha" isn't it. Grow up a little. Also, no, the club is not required to notify Jacktheripper every time a plan is set for a later date than the day he remembers something that was mentioned at some point...

Ho hum. Another round of 'Its going to change the game forever'. Nick Maxwell ignored a loose ball in order to remove an opponent from play. He chose to hit rather than contest. If someone gets hurt when that happens, take your penalty (cop it on the chin, even) and move on. Probably not four weeks and I have no problem with an appeal, but I'd be about as annoyed with it being zero as with four.

Who Indeed.

Yep, Gold Coast will be in the market for experienced players to come right in, and the relatively value of players tp picks will favour the team trading out the player. The obvious example would be Brad Miller - an experienced player in a key position role, leadership group experience, Queensland local orginally. I don't think we could complain too much about getting pick 11 for him. Meanwhile, keep your fingers crossed that the Gold Coast drafting goes a little something like the following precedents - I'm not saying that ALL of these players are useless (you'd be hard pressed to find a complete dud at pick 1), but to see a team like this line up together for Gold coast would warm the hearts of many a supporter of the clubs who get their 'hard-earned' early picks bumped (read Sydney, North, circa 2010) 1 - Bredan Goddard 2 - Andrew Walker 4 - Luke Livingston 4 - Farren Ray 4 - Tim Walsh 5 - Andrew McDougall 6 - Kepler Bradley 6 - Beau Dowler 6 - Ashley Sampi 7 -Kane Teance 8 - Jarred Oakley-Nicholls 8 - John Meeson 8 - Luke Brennan 9- David Trotter 10 - Ryley Dunn 10 - Christhoper Egan 11- Adam Thompson 12 - Danny Meyer 14- Fergus Watts 15 - Barry Brooks 17 - Cameron Faulkner 18 - Kris Shore

I won't get carried away, but I've not seen any previous arrangements between Hisense and the club, yet there they are in the photo... At the very least there is some kind of communication between the club and Hisense which there wasn't before. It's quite possible that this has been a first little baby step in ongoing cooperation...

New sponsor announced - "Tardis-mart'