Dr. Gonzo

Looking back at Garry Lyon's article previewing the Melbourne/Richmond game as a preview of the 2014 Grand Final seems a bit silly now...

I've signed up

You don't as far as I'm aware. You'll be given access to buy a ticket in the allocated Melbourne members area which could be anywhere from level 1 on the wing to the back of the top deck.

My expectation for this year is 10 wins and % above 90, so will miss out on finals but only just. Anything less than that and I think they've underachieved, all things considered.

King delves into some of the Champion Data stats and tries to analyse the game more than most so for that I'll give him credit - but his analysis is quite rudimentary and if most of us had access to the same stats he did we'd be able to provide far more comprehensive analysis.

At least we'd all be able to get a decent seat

I dunno, that banana from the boundary against the Blues in 2014 was very Jako like

He's coming back from an ACL and reinjured himself (albeit a different injury) while attempting to dunk in his backyard - it's completely unprofessional, it's not about what did happen it's about creating additional risks for yourself. If he'd landed and twisted his knee putting him out for another season do you think the club would pat him on the back and say "geez, hard luck mate". They've invested in him, he is a professional athlete - he was given a warning with it only being a broken toe.

When Docklands is handed over to the AFL it must have already been upgraded as per the contract.

"Melbourne, who began hosting games in Darwin in 2011, is understood to have made about $500,000 a game in the Northern Territory with the past two seasons including a home game in Alice Springs as well as Darwin." http://m.afl.com.au/news/2016-03-17/melbourne-hoping-to-extend-nt-deal-until-2018.mobileapp Is it $500K/year or $500K/game?

Strength of schedule is something that can only be viewed in hindsight. We may appear to have the 4th hardest draw now based on last years placings but by the end of this year things could be a lot different, especially if the Saints, Pies and Suns have poor years which I'm half expecting them to.

Was that on tonight's one? I've recorded them all so far but haven't watched yet, will watch the one featuring us first.

Do it about another club. How many times does Tim Watson make calls about Essendon like that, Dunstall/Brereton about Hawthorn, Eddie about the Pies? Deflect to the other clubs don't put your old club in the [censored].

I agree but if we can't even crack 40K members we have no hope of capitalising on our 100K seat stadium. Maybe in the long term, but not now.

I use to think we should scrap the NT deal and play all games at the G. Now, especially with the ridiculous draw we get every season playing 7/8 of the non-Vic teams at home, I'm starting to think we should play 4 games in the NT. If we can pocket $1m a year from that it will would be great.

Hmmmm - will be interesting to hear/see how the club responds to this.

As with everything in the AFL, they have yet to actually clarify this point, have left it as ambiguous as possible to be able to make a call one way or the other depending one what suits them at the time and will no doubt make a last minute decision which will screw us out of being able to trade out a future pick after having done so last year.

Article in The Age talks about strong interest from Hawks and Saints. If the Hawks land another high profile trade the rest of the comp might as well pack up.

This quote from the article made me laugh

And the duplicate posting issue?

Pretty good assessment overall - I agree, our best 22 is starting to looking pretty strong but injuries will kill us as our depth is still quite poor.

Some people pay attention to teams other than their own - many supporters from other clubs who post on forums like BigFooty would've known those stats, it's not really secretive Demonland-only info.

Number 2 is huge. If Gawn goes down we will be pretty stuffed. Number 4 is a big one too - we need our mids to contribute goals and I think we're heading there especially once Petracca gets on the park. I think we'll see a wider spread of goals this year hopefully with contributions from Watts, Pedersen, Brayshaw, Tyson, Jones, Petracca, Salem etc all getting amongst it.

Oh I agree with you on those points - I just disagree with those trying to downplay the Bulldogs outs and think with the opposition out there we really should have done it far easier. But it's preseason definitely not time for any sky is falling bleating.

I've suggested this a couple of times - not just people in a good mood after a win but people who may be a bit "merry" as well. Set it up outside the MCC/Ponsford area and one on the Southern Stand side to try and catch those who aren't already MFC members.