Little Goffy

A scratch match? Where when, what, huh? Is that at Ainslie Oval again? What time friday? KEEEEEEN to go and I have friday free!

Damn right about players not playing with 'injury clouds'. We all want to see the very best players when they are at their best. We all want to see and test out the kids, who might just turn on Bruce/Green style debut seasons. I don't want to see Robbo at a steadily degrading 80%, 75%, 70%... as he wears out an existing injury game after game. Robertson, Neitz, these guys are gamebreakers at full fitness but 'just another forward' if they're broken down. There are twenty two games in the home and away season, no single game requires a player to make an injury sacrifice, players have to be managed so there is the maximum contibution over all twenty two weeks. And then still be able to play in the finals. Pardon me, raw nerve = rant. Back to the topic - I think the selection of the leadership group is a straight-up statement that having youth and potential is great, but we have strong veteran players and they're in it to win it, NOW.

Right, by my understanding, we're on about 18,000 now (as mentioned by ummmm21) and in about the same ballpark as the Dogs, Tigers and Saints. I've gotta admit I'm surprised that the Kangaroos haven't continued to climb, given the huge surge in memberships following the 'we'll fight on' declaration. I'd worry a little if it turned out that it was simply all the usual members just signing up early, and they don't actually add a big pile to their final tally. Seriously, there are people from other clubs buying a Kangaroos membership just to make a statement, they are in real trouble if they can't get a huge spike in members in this context. As for us, 18,000 at this time of year isn't exciting, but is far from a crisis. A round one smashing of Hawthorn (without Lewis, Hodge and Crawford) should give a sting to the numbers (fingers crossed etc..). Especially with a likely contest in round 2, our first home game, against the Bulldogs. Momentum can build ever so quickly (touch wood, throw salt over shoulder, go outside, turn around three times, curse and spit) It's a shame we don't get to play in Melbourne until at least round 3 of the [censored] cup, even if we win through and avoid some of the exciting trips to Geraldton and Wagga.

Thanks oldfart, absolutely spot on about two things in particular - lots of noise and enthusiasm, more than I remember seeing. Players seemed keener to follow up after a mistake too. - Bate looked superb. No sign of the flat-footed lack of relfex in close, which was my main concern with him last year. Lots of shepherding and backing up. Robbo and Neitz both sat out a chunk, but neither seemed troubled. Robbo in particular stayed interested from the stand - commenting on and shouting advice to the forwards in the drills. Chris Johnson came off with a bit of soreness in the leg, but also didn't seemd upset. Mclean spent the first half of the session talking with someone (an assistant coach, I presume) about all sorts of match-ups and different teams and so on. He did not participate in the drills, but I couldn't see anything actually wrong with him. Rivers and Moloney both fully participated as far as I saw, and afterwards Rivers had just a bit of ice on the 'upper inside thigh', and... believe it or not... Moloney wasn't even iced after the full two hour session. Both these two guys were very involved and looking sharp. My first time seeing Meesen and I gotta say I like him. Showed good agility during 'run and carry' drills. Surprising acceleration. There were two Chinese guys joining in the skills drills, but not the match-simulations. They got a bit of a cheer when they put through a couple of goals. A side note - there were three local young guys just doing a bit of kick-to-kick while the team was getting a post-session talking to. Not too shabby, one in particular really impressed me - I had to figure out which foot was his natural side (right, but used left without missing a beat when it was the appropriate foot). They were obviously planted there to impress... I hope they did because it's been a while since James Hird, Aaron Hamill and Shaun Smith, so Canberra is due for another AFL player. And now for the bombshell... Yze looked fitter, stood up straighter,, and just generally seemed a cut above anything I've seen him do for as long as I've been going to training sessions (since 2005). Make of that what you will.

A scalpel edge?

Involvement in the local community seems more valuable to me than promotions into China. Most of the ethnically Chinese population in Australia maintain close ties with relatives overseas - particularly the trade and professional communities which emigrated during / following the war and revolution. These links actually give us our best angle for involving the Chinese market - there's nothing better than having a family member tell someone to support us! The strongest strategy I can think of at the international level is to encourage Melbourne's locals to get into AFL, through MelbourneFC, and to encourage them to invite visiting relatives to come to games. Ideally, we'd end up with 'going to that strange Australian football' being as standard as 'hugging a koala', with MFC the club people know when they do visit. To emphase the migrant links and the connections between families which migrated - take a look at Australia's list of top ten tourism visitor origins - 5. China, 285,000 6. Singapore, 265,000 8. Malaysia, 165,000 9. Hong Kong, 159,000. It's particularly noticable with Hong Kong - there's no surprise of course that the big visitor numbers are from the fellow ex-British, and heavily English-speaking, territory, with the affluent population and numerous links to overseas Chinese populations. Singapore and Malaysia are also quite affluent and are also major areas for the overseas Chinese population, complete with the complex family ties across countries. It's actually these other locations which I think present the best opportunity, due to the cultural ties which already exist, and the convenient concentration of affluent populations, especially in Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. I'd like to be the first to suggest that we get ourserlves over to Hong Kong for an exhibition match as soon as possible. A similar deal to the Dubai game this year would be great, because it would also boost the game's profile back here, getting it's own weekend and all. It's a better option than, say Tianjin too, because a greater number of expats and the aforementioned cultural links would ensure a decent crowd.

Biglands, Rhett 134 games. Has pinged his knee. Griffin, Jonathon 16 games from debut, 2007. Maric, Ivan 14 games, debut in 2006, played 8 games in '06, then 6 in '07. Moran, Bradley 3 games, Twelve hitouts in his AFL career! Sellar, James 0 games. Listed as ruck / forward. Tippert 0 games. I'm not going to say any of these players are duds or anything, but it's definately a tough situation to be dependent on very inexperienced players to hold together a ruck division for an entire season. Last year, Ben Hudson had 365 HO at 16.5 a game, with Griffen getting 142 and Maric 50, both at about 8 a game. Then fresh air. I don't see any of the Adelaide rucks doubling their output, even with more time on the field. And Hudson wasn't setting the world on fire to start with - White average three more disposals and five more hitouts a game.

Sorry, just a general expletive there. I guess he wouldn't have much influence ye olde land o' the communist infidels, so it's probably not his fault. Though I dare say he's not a Demons fan!

Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony - Friday, August the 8th. Melbourne's ONLY Friday Night game for 2008, at home against the reigning premiers - Friday, August the 8th. How much of a problem will this be? Thankfully the Olympic ceremony will begin at around 10.00pm AEST so there isn't a complete clash, but I imagine a lot of people will stay home rather than go to the footy and come home late for the 'second half' of the ceremony. Best scenario is that our game gets broadcast as a kind of 'curtain raiser' for the Olympics. It's all on seven, yes? Even so we can expect a major drop in ground attendence. Worst case is, the game gets traded to foxtel for a different game that round, seven spends all evening talking about the great anticipation for their marquee event, people stay home to make sure they see it all, and we get totally screwed on what should have been our second biggest earnings & profile match of the season. I'm gonna puke. I don't even like opening ceremonies.

Oh good. What more can I want? Are there any 'Irish Expatriate Day' Honours he could be awarded?

I noticed that the AFL website is running a poll on which 'former champion' should be awarded Australia Day Honours. Riccuito, Hird, Archer, Koutofides, Buckley. Now, I know these are all very recent retirees, and a great selection etc.. etc.. But I haven't really heard of them putting much back into the community, except maybe Archer. So why the hell isn't Jimmy Stynes an option - Champion footballer AND more than a decade of good service raising funds and working directly within (that's the hard bit) community groups. Anyone else know more about what the others have done, or who else they think has been contributing to their community since or even during their football career?

It all makes sense- He got the jumper from us a few years back - then made a series of movies about a character with extraordinary capabilities who has forgotten his past and must strive to defeat his rich, scheming enemies while regaining his skills and rediscovering who he really is. The Mel-Bourne Identity The Mel-Bourne Supremacy The Mel-Bourne Ultimatum

I'm with you. I love PJ. Even though he really hasn;t busted through in any games yet (except for that brilliant but tragically cut short 37 minutes against Sydney... sigh. I've spruiked him before as a kind of 'heavy utility', which I like because it would mean he has his own new kind of position! Certainly he would make the transition from ruck to defender better than Nicholson - PJ is faster, taller, smarter, more skilled and better looking to boot.

He certainly runs rings around the bad guy Lord Vigo from 'Ghostbusters' in the photo there. We'll be safe from transdimensional attacks into our midfield for sure! Will be interesting to watch. I get the impression we're all agreed that he had earnt a Rookie spot but probably has a bit to prove before he gets a real crack at AFL. Another reason this year's pre-season cup will be fascinating.

Brock has built a phenomenal fitness base and has a great deal of body strength as well as initiative and quick thinking. It's only a matter of time before he becomes every taggers most feared assignment.

I've been looking at attendance figure for the last few years and thought people might like to know where we sit. It's a tight ladder in the middle, and there's a clump at the bottom. We are obivously not amongst the 'celler dweller' group. I'd ignore Geelong for this table, given their Kardinia Park arrangements. Average Home game, non-finals attendance per club, over last five years. Collingwood 48,503 Essendon 45,527 Richmond 37,553 St Kilda 35,288 Carlton 34,431 Melbourne 33,239 Hawthorn 29,354 Bulldogs 28,297 Geelong 27,694 Kangaroos 27,290 These figures fluctuate wildy for some clubs and there is a lot of movement from year to year. Others, particularly Essendon, have been relatively stable. St Kilda has barely varied since a step up from 29,000 in 03 to it's current numbers. Melbourne's attendences tell an obvious story - in 2003 and 2007 we failed to pass 30,000, but for the other three years we averaged about 36,000. This is a normal correlation, but still annoying. For anyone being harassed by Collingwood supporters about 'fairweather fans', just point out that in 2004 and 2005 the Pies average crowd numbers dropped by over 20%. Add that, if the 'official' number of Collingwood 'supporters' turned up at the same rate as Melbourne supporters, their crowd average would be about 120,000! So where are they all? Once again, I declare that Collingwood's number are made up by 'yeah, I heard of AFL, my former housemate told me to go for Collingwood once'. You'd expect that Hawthorn will climb a bit further if they continue to succeed, although their attendence for 2007 was already 5000 more than their 5-year average, so a lot of that may already have occured. Carlton are likely to climb, even if they are merely competitive in 08. Hype hype and away! The Blues recorded an even bigger attendence increase in 07 than Hawthorn. The Bulldogs and the Kangaroos really are in the stink. Each passed 30,000 only once in the five years, the Kangaroos only just. And just a final note, I didn't have the patience to track down every home game sold to small regional venues, which obviously skews the figures a bit. Hawthorn, St. Kilda, Melbourne, the Kangaroos and the Bulldogs have each sold at least one game away in this time. How much this affects the results is up for debate - Just what would the crowd be like for Kangaroos vs Port at Telstra Dome? Ps. I was going to do a comparison of finals crowds in the last five years... but there's no sample data for Richmond & Carlton!

The draft camp should at least have some drills to test disposal skills, ball handling and that sort of thing. US Marine's developed the snap shot training ground (cut-out of 'enemy' pops up from behind rock, shoot it, it drops, and so on) and massively improved firing accuracy and more interestingly confidence - people learnt to 'just do' rather than hesitating and overthinking it. Can't over-emphasise how important this drill was - it was the most successful of the new training programs which transformed the Marine Corps from hacks to elite in the space of 18 months during the Second World War. Something like that would be an intersting exercise with kicking, both as a measuring stick and as a training exercise. It's application in football would be to eliminate the second guessing that goes on, and train people to pursue the good option they see, rather than fidgeting with it waiting for something better.

Thank you CAC, I've loved your work, I think there's a list there that you could be very proud of in the next few years. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait for success as Richmond as your Demons lot will forever be a couple of years ahead of what will, I'm sure, be a great Tigers list you put together. All the best, except for a couple of games a year...

HEY! BRUCE MADE IT IN! At least one guy from Canberra got a gig this year. And Go Eastlake! (Demons)

Really? I guess that makes sense. Interesting that he came into that game as his first for the season, and the first thing he did was... Well, I'm glad I haven't overdone the wrath at Baker then. Guerra huh? All this time I thought Brent Guerra's only crime was being Brent Guerra, which is also his punishment, ironically. Dammit. He's so... average to substandard. It's like his mediocrity is a shield against my anger - I try to hate him, but I just look at him and think, who would give a %#^ about you?

It's been a clear drafting strategy, I'd say. Don't know about Newton's endurance test results but he has shown he can run around a fair bit on game day. We're looking at a scary set of marking talls roving from forward to wing, running defenders off their feet. A match-up nightmare for opposition coaches.

Uhhh... why is that? Interestingly, each of the last three years has been below expectations in progress, but at the same time progress has been made every year. Some years better than others I'll underline it - Each year the Melbourne football club is finishing in a better financial position than when it started. We can want more, we can be angry about waste, we can be frustrated by lack of action, but we can also be confident that we're not going to fall in on ourselves, either.

Hang on, is that DUNN in second place, on the right of the picture? Frickin tank! Definately not what I expected. Buckley still looks every bit as big as the training photos from a couple of weks ago suggested, too. Ahh, preseason. So far we've seen Davey, Dunn and Buckley all look like they've added a huge load of upper body strength. Any others?

Daniel Bell, will, in a surprise move, be matched up on Judd in round 5. Singleminded determination, strength and speed will limit Judd's influence (after he has a great start to the year) and the whole AFL world will have to sit up and take notice of Belly, and they'll also notice what a nice, handsome young man he is. The hype will go nuts for Bailey making the seemingly unorthodox move. And all here will smile to themsleves, having known all along that Bell would one day crack the ceiling. The next week, Jack Grimes will be brought in after a few great weeks at Sandringham, will play directly on Travis Johnstone and put so much pressure on him he overcooks his high-risk centering kicks, producing turnovers which rapidly end up in the safe arms of our forwards. And finally, against Essendon in round 18, Cameron Bruce will at last launch back into the scintillating form which we haven't seen since just before Steven 'F-knuckle' Baker deliberately crunched Bruce's shoulding in round 4 2005. Why against Essendon? Because #&%$ them, that's why!

I think we can be free from visible dependency on the AFL. It's almost a semantic issue. It is a realistic prospect that we can be financially strong enough to not need the specific 'competitive balance fund' help. And then everyone will shut up about it.