Dr. Gonzo

I've been dreaming about next year since 2007.

Garry Lyon should either commit or F off - no way he should just waltz in and pick the coach for us EVER AGAIN!!!

Yeah fair enough but I can't be arsed wasting my weekends on this utter tripe any more. Wake me when we're good and I'll bother coming back to watch them play again.

Like everything else off-field the situation we have with the affiliation with Casey puts us at a disadvantage compared to clubs fielding stand alone sides. The success or otherwise of Casey is irrelevant. It's a neverending football arms race. It's why we upgraded our facilities. It's why we invested in our FD and hired more line & development coaches. And it's why we need to field a stand-alone VFL or reserves side.

Do people really think we are all of a sudden going to get a heap of kids/families supporting us because we train every so often at Casey and have a few players in their VFL side each week? If Collingwood started training down the road from me as a kid it probably wouldn't change anything except that I'd probably head down every so often to throw rocks at them. What is the demographic of Casey? In my head it's a relatively white suburban demographic with few immigrants/new residents moving there, though I could be wrong as I have never been there. If this is the case though then I don't think we have much hope of recruiting new supporters who probably already have a family allegiance to a club. I'm disappointed that the MFC doesn't do more to engage/recruit immigrants to the country particularly the wave of immigrants from China/India but also those from the Mid-East & Africa. They've done a couple of token things like throwing out some free passes to international students once a year but other than that haven't done much to target these key growth demographics.

False logic. The success of the solo VFL side is measured by where the AFL sides sit on the ladder, not where the VFL sides sit. If even Footscray are now separating it can't be too far off where everyone has their own reserve sides. MFC needs to get on to this quick smart however considering our 30-year agreement with Casey who knows what effect this will have.

I understand what you're saying - rather than "I can't envision a society where it is acceptable" I should have said I don't accept "culture" or "tradition" as excuses for this type of violence in the modern world. There are clearly extenuating circumstances and I know very little of the indigenous communities in Australia, but what has been alleged to have happened doesn't sound like tribal justice but rather alcohol fuelled revenge. There are other countries in the world where horrific human rights abuses are justified in the name of "culture" and "tradition". I don't accept that a persons culture or tradition gives them the right to stone a girl to death because she was raped and I don't accept a persons culture or tradition gives them the right to assault someone with a machete to the head in an act of "tribal justice". If you allow it for one you have to allow it for all and where does it stop? Should I be allowed to take justice in my own hands if a member of my family is sexually assaulted or attacked? As much as I would like to personally you can't let that happen in the modern world where we have a formal justice system that tries each person/case on their merits and gives them the right to be innocent until proven guilty, the same right those here are rightly demanding Liam is provided. It is not a black and white situation and the imposition of a culture/tradition/morality on the indigenous peoples makes it an even more difficult subject but I don't think we can start allowing citizens to take justice into their own hands no matter who they are because once you do where does it stop?

Not really, I stated at the end that he is only alleged to have done these things and made a comment on what I thought the repercussions should be if he is in fact found guilty of these allegations. If it was not Liam but someone unknown I would think the same thing. He is innocent until proven guilty, but if he (or anyone else for that matter) is found guilty of the allegations then they need to be held accountable under the law, just as any other citizen should be.

I agree there are plenty of issues that need to be addressed, particularly regarding the imposition if white culture/way of life on indigenous communities and then completely neglecting those communities. However I don't envision any society where getting drunk and attacking someone with a machete or other weapon/object as a means of extracting some kind of revenge could be seen as acceptable. I appreciate Liam's position must be very difficult with regards to being caught between the two feuding sides and this would only be exacerbated by his isolation from his community. However as a leader or elder of his community he should have done a better job in setting an example to his community rather than getting drunk and involved in a wild brawl with deadly weapons which he is alleged to have done.

Why should the thread be locked? It's pretty relevant and I haven't seen any particularly bad or inflammatory comments so far.

Please. I appreciate the problems there but can't excuse drunkenly bashing someone in the head with a machete as has been alleged. Culture is no excuse just as it is no excuse for the neanderthals who stone teenage girls to death in the middle east.

I agree mate 100% - I went out to watch the new Batman flick last night rather than watch the Demons. I of course recorded the game on IQ and chucked it on when I got home. The movie was great but I should have gone to bed when I got home. I didn't even get angry or frustrated just couldn't help but laugh in contempt at how utterly rubbish we are and ended up fast-forwarding through half the game out of sheer boredom. How long Lord, how long must we suffer?

Yeah there's no reason why we couldn't play there the week after Queens Birthday and then have the following week off. Not sure why Demetriou would be so against that although they would have to factor in the Dogs/Port game as well I guess. Yeah I agree.

That was great, it was actually 1990 and I have the game on DVD. Loved Darren Bennett using "Van Der Haar as a step ladder" as Sandy Roberts (I think?) said. I think Essendon finished the game with only 16 or 17 fit players as well. Unfortunately I wasn't at the game that day as my dad decided not to go for some reason so I had to suffer through Richmond getting belted by Hawthorn at the G with my Richmond supporting cousin and uncle.

That's all we seem to have left.

One game a year there is OK but we should push to have it the week before the bye. Two or three games a year is a step too far and I would be extremely [censored] off if we agreed to that. RE: Richmond running away and no serious contenders playing home games there, is just Darwin or home games interstate in general? Because it looks like Hawthorn has done alright out of it and North should too.

From the persepctive of a Melbourne supporter I hope he gets off but if he bashed someone in the head with a machete (or a nulla nulla) then he deserves whatever anyone else in that situation would get. Those type of assaults in particular can't be condoned no matter who did it.

He's a rookie listed player.

So by "working together as a team" you mean blame the new guy for all our historical ills?

I agree, we may have been able to package him in with a mid first round pick to land Boak.

No.

I hope so.

I've been saying for over a year that we should trade either Jamar or Martin. Jamar has been with us for about a decade and has had one great season and a bunch of average ones. His only strength is winning the hitouts but since 2010 the amount that have gone to advantage are negligible. He is pretty rubbish around the ground other than being a chopout for the long kick down the line from kickouts. He doesn't drop back to fill a hole, he doesn't push forward to kick goals and when he does take a mark around the ground he always dishes off a handball usually to a teammate under pressure. Martin I am not convinced on. I think he plays better as a first ruck and not the back-up but I'm not convinced he can play KPF/KPD. His value was sky-high at the end of last year and we may have been able to get something more than he was worth in a trade. We can't and shouldn't get rid of both but with Gawn, Spencer and Fitzpatrick as cheaper/younger back-ups I think our list would/would've benefited from trading one out last year or this year. Obviously Jamar is now signed for 3 years which I think was a mistake, give him 2 max but not 3. He could be finished after enxt year and then we're stuck with a one dimensional ruck on our list for another 2 years (on decent money too you would assume).

So what's your answer? Do you think we shod sack Neeld? Doing that would only prove that we are an absolute basketcase with no right to compete in a professional competition. If you think our list is good l, as good as Sydney's, and dint even take into account the injuries we've had or the fact Neeld is in his first season and has inherited some longstanding problems within the club then I can't really help you. I'd say what I really thought but I don't want to get banned for poster abuse.

The club is clearly bluffing but I am happy for them to do so and I hope it works. GWS seem to not believe it but if we can put any doubt in their minds whatsoever it may be enough, Of course we may end up 17th or 18th (although unlikely) which would make it even more interesting or conversely redundant.