Dr. Gonzo

I would sign up for this if it was only for the footy season (and half price). I cancel kayo as soon as the season is done and re-subscribe when it starts again. Nothing much to interest me over the summer except for NFL and I use their Gamepass for that.

On the one hand who cares? On the other hand it's Collingwood and Ginnivan so throw the book at them. All those acting sanctimonious should remember what Guru Bob would say about those who live in glass houses; everyone can see what you're doing so lay low!

I was reading through the Richmond preseason thread on Big Footy (mainly because I wanted an injury update as apparently they've had 11 players in the rehab group for a big part of the preseason). I shouldn't have been surprised to discover that at least half the posts were dedicated to conspiracies about how hard done they are by the umpires and how having a 4th umpire will only make things worse for them 🤣 ANYWAY what pleased me most was seeing how annoyed a few of them were that they'd passed on JVR for another half bank flanker prospect (can't remember who) - as one of them said "JVR is a beast with tree trunks for legs" - so I now have an added motivation to see JVR rip things up this year, to see the tears of Richmond sooks

Long may it last!

Have they though? Their sense of fashion is to walk around looking like the MCG toilets after a Richmond/Collingwood game.

"What, do we turn out to be Hawthorn supporters or something?"

Because the AFL and the VFL are the same competition which commenced in 1897. Nothing changed in 1990 except for the name, a rebranding of the VFL into the AFL. The corporate governance of the league remained the same. The clubs remained the same. The awards and trophies remained the same. It's like trying to argue the history of the MFC pre-1930s is wiped because we rebranded from the Redlegs/Fuschias to the Demons. The history of the league since its inception has been an evolution, of rules, of governance, of teams. But evolution is not revolution which is why I don't believe wiping the slate clean of all records in 1990 is a good or fair idea. How does this impact things like games played? Do we exclude Coleman and Norm Smith medals won prior to 1990? Does Hawthorns 1989 flag have any less relevance than Collingwood's 1990 flag? History is important and accurate history even moreso. The league we all follow now, the AFL commenced in 1897 as the VFL. The AFL at the time acknowledged this with the league Centenary celebrations and the Gold Premiership Cup in 1996. Why do we think we can go back and rewrite history? Yes it is now an expanded competition but it evolved into that. It could have been a brand new breakaway league incorporating clubs from other states which is what was being pushed for in the early-80s by John Elliott and others. But that is an alternate history that didn't eventuate, the history books state that the AFL is an expanded, rebranded VFL and all records etc continue from 1897.

It's pretty simple I think and I don't really understand the conjecture around it. I have the book and will start reading it shortly and I'm interested to read exactly what arguments he makes. In my mind it seems extremely fanciful. MFC does have 16 premierships, 3 in the pre-VFA/Victorian Rules, 0 VFA and 13 VFL/AFL. My feeling is part of this argument originated (and it has been going on for some time now, back at least 6 or 7 years) to try and set up 2020 as the 150th Season of the VFL, something those who were around for the centenary season in 1996 would find ridiculous. The other part is I think there will be a push to delineate between the three era's of flags in the record books, so for MFC it would be Victorian Rules/VFA (1870-1896) flags 3 VFL (1897-1989) flags 12 AFL (1990-current) flags 1 He would get support from the non-Vic clubs for this who would then try and add their flags into the pre-AFL tallies and distinguish the AFL as a separate competition commencing in 1990. Those of us who were alive at the time know that nothing changed in 1990 other than the leagues name/branding, the competition was continuous and still is since 1897. It would also mean Hawthorn sit atop the AFL flags ladder with 5 and Geelong/West Coast equal 2nd with 4 each instead of Essendon and Carlton with 16 each. So although he is doing this under the guise of "reclaiming" a lost history of the league the end game is to remove the actual history of the league so everything starts fresh in the AFL era, something we should not allow to happen.

Haha should have read the next post! Great minds LH 😝

I'm unfamiliar with the racecourse but I don't understand how a modern training facility could be built in the middle of it. Wouldn't it obscure the other side of the track for racegoers? (Excuse my ignorance, haven't been to the races since I was dragged along to Derby Day circa 2004).

You're unfamiliar with Essendon I take it?

If it weren't for Walsh's injury I would be 100% with you. I think they'll be top 4 too (maybe 85% haha)

Handy depth though. You really need a good squad of 30 to challenge for a flag, he may not play round 1 but he'll get his chance through the year.

Much more important to be able to run 15kms and repeat sprints than kick straight these days unfortunately.

Back on the track after ankle surgery I believe. Played half a game in their match sim yesterday. I assume he'll be back for round 1 as well but potentially underdone.

Even if the club did give him a timeframe we would never know unless he re-signed. So it wouldn't stop the media speculation.

Of course but the thing is those GFG seats have already been sold at the normal price. So what to do?

The name (and the idea for that matter) is terrible but so are most of the other names dreamt up in that brainstorm session. At the risk of cultural appropriation (but hey the AFL already does that anyway) Corroboree Round has a nice ring to it with all the clubs converging on one place like the traditional indigenous corroborees.

WC will rebound this year, no way they are as bad as last year with all the injuries they had. They could barely field a team half the time.

Nah, would rather keep Kozzie every day of the week. Plus who gives us that draft hand? Not Port.

I've been getting emails about renewing on a couple of memberships I didn't rollover for differing reasons so not sure why you haven't received anything. On the reserved seats I wonder if the issue is they've sold out the GFGs so any future reserve seats won't have this add-on thereby reducing the value of the membership. So they may have to reduce the price of those reserve seat memberships? Either that or they're still waiting on people to confirm if they're renewing them or not? Either way seems strange no figures have been released yet.

I don't think a standalone facility is viable but surely we could get something at one of the MCG function rooms for matchdays.

I think 2022 showed just how important he really is for us. His absence and lack of form when returning was a key reason we didn't have the same movement out of our back half as we did in 2021.

Jinxed!! You don't tempt the footy gods like that, what on earth compelled you to do so? Have you learnt nothing in your years following the MFC???