Dr. Gonzo

Bwahahaha give me a spell hahahaha

The Brisbane game will be lucky to crack 20k if we lose Monday I reckon unless 5k Brisbane supporters show up. Thursday night in the middle of winter is ****house fixturing, thanks AFL

Dogs have played 2 games in Ballarat (10k and 6k attendances). North/Hawks games in Tassie. These obviously impact the average attendance numbers.

I was at the game. I've been to every game in Melbourne this year (including the North game at Docklands which some Melbourne supporters seem to think is played in China). I'm not scolding you. I'm scolding the supporters who weren't there.

Listen to the clip - he is clearly talking specifically about Melbourne supporters.

It's BS. If the positions were reversed and we were languishing in 16th while Essendon were on top after winning last years flag do you think the numbers would be comparable? The amount of justification and finger pointing/deflection by Melbourne supporters is laughable. Christian Petracca has commented on it in a public forum. But sure, just tell him how great our crowds are compared to 1965 and how Essendon crowds aren't as good or how it was Easter Saturday or its a night game or its a day game or it finishes too late or starts too early or its too cold or its too hot or the moon is half full or Jupiter is in Capricorn or or or

Melbourne - reigning premier, 10-2, 1st on the ladder Essendon - a rabble for 20 years, 16th on the ladder, one win for the season Geelong - playing at Kardinia Park during redevelopments - 23k capacity The whataboutism is ridiculous. Just admit the Melbourne crowds this year are anywhere on a scale from disappointing to embarrassing instead of pointing fingers. It is so poor our star player has publicly commented on it.

Punishing the team for an individuals behaviour.

Yeah and in 1901 we only averaged 8k to our games so things are looking rosy all over really 🙄

There are going to be mitigating factors for some but I don't think our supporter base solely resembles the cast of Last of the Summer Wine as some on here would have you believe (cheeky Ricky Gervais reference 😆)

What are you on about? Our crowds have been pathetic this year, it is not really up for debate. The fact one of our own players has now come out and commented on it is an embarrassment. Reigning premier, top of the ladder and sub-20k MFC supporters attending prime time games. It is a disgrace.

I'm fairly certain TV numbers are down as well - it's not just game day attendances.

Firstly, we won a few games with no spectators. There were also no spectators for the opposition. The Grand Final and Prelim were played in front of packed houses. We also performed poorly in a few games without spectators (Hawks and Bulldogs last year). Secondly, if you are denying the players don't feed off the energy of the crowd - especially when one of our own players has just emphatically stated that they do - you are living in denial. Can players play well without crowds? Of course. Do crowds provide greater energy to players/teams when they are up and about? Of course. Anyone who says otherwise plainly doesn't know what they are talking about. It is evident in team sports the world over.

That's great in theory but it's not the reality in any sport around the world. Players feed off the energy of supporters, it is undeniable.

I think it's probably a bit of both.

I wonder if we could see some swings this week? Petty to the forward line, Brayshaw to the midfield?

I'm sorry but this is complete BS. Gawn basically admitted after the Port game last year they'd just finished a block of higher intensity/loading training. It was evident to everyone watching the Pies, Bombers and GWS games last year we were extremely sluggish.

Yep there's more than a couple on here whose only response to any nuanced discussion was " but we lost". Well now we're winning but that's still not good enough!

Ideally I'd like to see more as well but I'm not going to fault the team when they're winning and up on top of the ladder. It would be great to see them play like the Harlem Globetrotters but ultimately that is unrealistic and unsustainable, the primary motive is winning. Let's take Saturday - we were blitzing the Swans in the first quarter, we were up 6 goals to 1 at the start of the 2nd - pretty good footy with a couple of breathtaking efforts from Kossie. The crowd just wasn't making much noise though - yeah there were the cheers and claps after goals but what about in between? I was yelling my lungs out mainly to stave off the cold but also to make up for the lack of noise from many around us.

I was [censored] off on Saturday but after sleeping on it I realise I am more [censored] off with the supporters for not turning up. The club will lose games that is inevitable and out of our control but to turn up 45 minutes before the game and feel like youre at a state league match is bloody frustrating. The players and the club deserve more, they need the stands full and full of voice to push them on.

Would you rather be exciting and lose? FMD.

Collingwood v Hawthorn still got a higher crowd than Melbourne v Hawthorn. I'm a bit sick of the whataboutism, the focus should be on us - I don't care what the other teams are doing. The circumstances are not comparable, WE are the reigning premiers on top of the ladder and it is after 57 years in the wilderness! It is not comparing apples with apples to say "what about Hawthorn, what about Essendon, what about Geelong". What about Melbourne, that's all I care about.

You didn't realise weve been absolute puss for most of those 22 seasons? I would've expected we'd get at least a few hundred more people compared to seasons where we struggled to win more than a handful of games. Carlton/Sydney? Didn't they get 45k a couple of weeks back? Just saw that Petracca clip, wow the MFC supporters staying away should be embarrassed. Someone on here yesterday said it was ludicrous to think the crowd impacts the players - well Petracca just put that to bed not that anyone with half a brain can't see it. Of course the players feed off the energy of the crowd - I've always thought it was part of the reason we struggled in the "should win" games in previous years, players turn up and there is no atmosphere it feels like a kick in the park on a Sunday arvo and the intensity is lacking. We could usually get up for big games though with a big crowd. Whether you think players should be professional and get up no matter what is beside the point - the fact is crowd energy impacts the players performance. Imagine winning the Prelim and flag in front of a relatively rabid mob in Perth and thinking "can't wait to get home and play in front of similar crowds of die hards" and then halfway through the next season you realise noone is bothering to show! It's embarrassing.

If Collingwood or Richmond were 10-0 on top of the ladder after winning the previous years flag you can bet they would've packed out the games against Freo and Sydney. Carlton are getting good crowds and they're only challenging for a top 4 spot. Richmond supporters are off the bandwagon after several years up the top, Essendon supporters are off, Hawks only turn up when they're winning flags - but if these teams were in our position they would not be struggling to draw 20k of their own supporters to games.

yeah I should proof read - replace "November" with "movement" someone mentioned no blocking which can't be done without movement from the forwards.