Dr. Gonzo

Didn't even have to read it, saw it was a Murdoch rag and new what the gist would be - " all this government spending is unsustainable, we have to think about the economy!! So what if a few old people die, they're almost dead anyway and will help the issue of funding the aged pension" Something like that

I watched the start of the 1993 round 11 game vs Collingwood last night. We towelled them up, Jakovich put on a show kicking 8 or 9 goals including a soccer style celebration pulling his jumper over his head and we smashed the Pies from the first bounce kicking the first 6 or so goals. And amongst all that an obscure Demon Scott Simister was making his debut

Checking AFLtables.com Lamprill also had one kick for one goal that day. I can't remember if he actually kicked the winning goal but I do remember the goal it was a snap from the boundary line about 40 out. Great goal. I always thought I remembered Tingays game winning goal as a snap from the boundary about 40 out in the members side pocket at the Punt Road end but watching a copy of the replay a couple of years ago it was a slight snap directly in front about 35 out at the City End! Maybe I was getting it confused with the Lamprill goal all this time? (I was only 7 in 1989)

Lamprill kicked the winning goal on debut vs Geelong in round 2 1992 in the game that opened the Great Southern Stand from memory. Another player who kicked a winning goal on debut was Stephen Tingay in round 1 1989 vs Fitzroy.

Rod Keogh wore the famous 31 for a minute in 1990(?) Darren Cuthbertson kicked 7 goals in back to back games vs North and the Pies in 1991

I don't see a way that the AFL is able to complete a 2020 season. First time in the competitions history the season will be suspended and no premier awarded.

I just watched a Saturday night replay of the round 7 1988 game Melbourne vs Hawthorn. Albeit a condensed version that game would crap on anything from the last 10 years. There were hardly any ballups around the ground and the skills on display were quite good. No chipping the ball around, no flooding, no scrums, great marks, great tackles, great goals, one on one play around the ground and players on their last legs in the last quarter.

Even if it comes back by Queen's Birthday (which is extremely unlikely) there won't be any supporters allowed in negating the benefits of hosting it.

People might also find themselves in the dole queue now when 6 months ago they wouldn't have ever foreseen that. To not be understanding that circumstances have changed considerably for everyone, not just the AFL and clubs, is extremely ignorant. I haven't been impacted (yet) and hopefully I won't be - but I'm not going to guilt trip others who may be experiencing extremely tough times at the moment.

Kayo was the first thing that got cancelled

Sure - and maybe the players can take a bigger whack as well to share some of the burden. I'm not talking those on minimum wage - those who are earning $300k plus a year should be foregoing everything above that in the interests of ensuring the ongoing financial viability of the competition.

I won't be seeking a refund either - at this stage. But if someone has lost their jobs or stood down without pay and pay for memberships for husband, wife and kids I can understand why $1000-$2000 might be seen as more important spent on groceries and bills instead of season tickets for games that won't happen.

That interview had two purposes. 1) Eddie wanted to let people know there would no automatic refunds of everyone's membership fees and 2) tune in to Footy Classified! They would've set it up before hand, classic face/heel promo work.

A lot of those up there is highly recommend especially The Coach, Football Ltd and Time and Space Id add Urge To Merge by Ian Ridley The Grand Old Flag by Lynda Carroll Grand Finals Vol 1, 2 and 3 (2 is the best ) The Phoenix Rises by Ross Oakley (hire it from the library or get it at a 2nd hand shop tho) A Game of Our Own by Geoffrey Blainey The Last Quarter by Martin Flanagan - includes his book about the 1970 GF, Souther Sky, Western Oval and The Game in Time of War Also Every Game Ever Played, I have the 1992 edition that covers up to the 1991 season (probably no longer in print but was the bible for me as a kid)

So they're looking to recommence the season around about the time the virus is expected to peak? Rocket surgeons running this competition (assuming Maher is actually on the money of course)

You need to explain how relocating/merging or killing off any clubs is going to lead to a better bottom line. In the 80s/90s I could see the argument. But these days with the size of the tv rights contracts that rely just as much on volume of games as quality and with each Victorian club having a minimum of 35k paying members (most at least 40k) the financial argument to get rid of Vic clubs does not make sense. Ifyou merge 2 Vic clubs with 40k members each you're not going to all of a sudden have a club with 80k - a lot of those supporters will be lost to footy.

After the Fitzroy debacle if the AFL white-anted another club into relocating/merging they would lose a lot of their support from the wider footy community, especially if they continued to prop up wastelands like the Gold Coast. Any Demons supporter should be extremely wary of these kinds of moves - once (if) North goes we won't be far from the front of the queue to be next on the chopping block.

The only ones pushing for mergers will be the non-Vic clubs - they will want to shift the balance of power outside Victoria so they can drive their agendas such as moving the Grand Final away from the MCG NB - we clearly CAN support 10 teams in Melbourne, we have been doing so for almost 100 years. If the AFL didn't hamstring clubs with biased fixturing and stadium deals or implemented a revenue sharing arrangement like exists in competitions such as the NFL clubs would easily be able to stand on their own. The AFL looks after the AFL's bottom line at the expense of the clubs. Clubs should be pocketing the majority of AFL revenue however when the AFL hands out a million dollars here or there they act as if they are doing the clubs a favour! They should never have been withholding that money in the first place.

It's just the AFL/Media pulling out every trick in their kitbag to try and stay relevant and in the news while there are no games being played. Anything to generate discussion. Mergers? Private ownership? Wildcard Round? Best of 3 Grand Final Series? Night Grand Final? Christmas Day Grand Final? Well at least that's a new one!

Private ownership is the one big thing I hate about US sports. I just don't get it. We would no longer be members but season ticket holders. If you get saddled with a bad owner (like Woody Johnson and his sons for my NY Jets) or one who thinks he can dictate to the coach and GM like Jerry Jones at the Cowboys you're absolutely screwed and there's nothing the supporters can do about it. Not only that but they'll be looking at more and more ways to gouge money from supporters, say goodbye to GA tickets.

This should have happened 20 years ago once they began compromising the fixture for tv dollars. If at the end of all this Melbourne ends up merging or dying I'll be lost to the AFL. I don't think that would've been the case in the past but the game on its own is not enough to keep me interested anymore. Without the tribalism of supporting the club I have since I was born, that my family support, footy as it is played in the AFL would hold little interest.

I can't get past the paywall but I'm assuming Dangerfield wants the AFL to make player salaries public...

Land that size in the CBD? Yeah I'm pretty sure it would have some value

The clubs own 1/18th share of Docklands don't they?

Settle down Cam