Dr. Gonzo

Cool, so Satanists will be able to undertake rituals and sacrifices next to Jews, Christians and Moslems? Who knows, some Black Magik might be just the cure for what ails the MFC.

Not really fussed about this, but I just find all religions to be contemptible. How do people living in supposedly enlightened 21st century civilisations still believe this ancient superstitious rubbish? Time to evolve people and that includes evolving your beliefs.

I don't know about that. Throw Shuey & Redden in instead of Bennell, Blease, Bail etc and I think they would perform better.

We should change our mascot from a Demon to Sisyphus.

12. MELBOURNE DYSON HEPPELL Vital information: 18, from Gippsland Power. 189cm, 80. Clean, creative half-back/onballer who plays with urgency and a long left-foot kick. The rationale: Too good to leave sitting there. The Dees will consider any tall options that fall to them, but Heppell is a top talent. Put him at half-back and send Jack Grimes into the midfield. Best-laid plans: If Tom Lynch is there, he'll appeal. So will Jack Darling. Midfield options Shaun Atley and Brodie Smith will tempt them. Where did she have Lucas Cook? No.23 to the Cats.

Yep - the other thing is of course we believe (hope?) we will be better next year and the year after than we are this year so of course we are activating our picks now. Ridiculous premise, ridiculous headline and rubbish article.

Do I think we should deliberately try to lose games? No. Do I think we should refuse to play Green, Moloney, Davey, Jamr etc in the second half of the year if their form doesn't warrant it and we can try our the rest of our list to see who should be retained? Absolutely. I don't know how far we can sink, but I just cannot envisage a situation where we will finish below GWS. Gold Coast? Maybe. So what do we have to gain out of this year? We will not play finals and probably won't win many more games than in 2008. But we could get 2 of the best 3 or so kids in the land, another handy player at pick 13-15 and Viney in the mid-20's. Assuming we can make the most of our picks for a change that could set us up for the next 10 years. It is an absolutely travesty that already after round 3 we are looking forward to our "one day in November" but that is due to the team and where we currently sit not due to any perceived "tanking". Also, who cares whether outsiders refer to us as "tankers" or make allegations of "tanking"? They can say whatever they want but there is no way they could ever prove anything and if the AFL ever tried to come down on us over it (which they wouldn't) we could take them to court (and win).

I agree with what you're saying here that the players/staff and supporters need to reconnect and I don't like Docklands - but Casey might as well be Botswana for all I'm concerned. Never been out that way and never will go there.

Exactly - the supporters are a part/product of and can influence the club culture, but they do not set the culture.

OK so we can argue about who made which mistakes in the past (and whether they in fact were mistakes) but what are we doing to rectify this now? This coming draft will determine how we fare over the next few years considering our multitude of likely high (and other) draft picks so why have we not got a proper full time herad recruiter in to replace Prendergast yet. OK there is the Collingwood guy that has been talked about but is this even likely to occur before this years draft? Will he be able to bring across his "IP"? What if he turns around at the end of the year and says "thanks but no thanks"? Don't point to Viney either because he is only a fill in. We've sorted out most of the FD over summer (except Mahoney & Royal) now we need to get the recruitment department right ASAP before we throw another "super" draft (in terms of talent & picks) down the toilet.

Segregation now, segregation forever?

Are they going to try bringing him back before the court case in May? Or are they just going to try and get his fitness levels up and keep around the club until then as his mind will obviously be focused on other things.

Go after Miller as well he had a dip on the weekend and towelled up Rivers.

Whats the difference between Lake's hit on Ray and Scarlett's hit on Ballantyne? Is it a different outcome because of prior history or because Ballantyne hit the deck like a sack of spuds? EDIT: Haha just say Marc Murphy $900 for an "obscene gesture" as well - as far as I can tell he just fist pumped the crowd after a goal, perhaps stuck a finger up int he air also though it was so quick it was impossible to tell and no way you could say he flipped them off. This competition is so over-governed it is a joke.

Welcome aboard mate. I'll just comment on these points you raised - apparently the senior players were also "lost" last year which was one of the reasons put forth for 186. It wasn't Bailey who lost them but Schwab. So has Neeld made a difference here or are the same issues festering among the playing group. Hell maybe it's still a hangover from 2007-09 when the club axed guys like White, Yze and Robbo when they all thought they had more time left in the game. Is it fear? Well these players are serial under performers so they should be fearing for their careers. In elite sport more than any other job if you fail to perform you will pretty quickly find yourself looking for another job. I'm not sold on the brand of football but Neeld needs to be given every opportunity to succeed and we shouldn't let a thing like under performing senior players get in the way.

I'm not reading anything into any comments by Neeld from now until when he retires. After the first conference and On The Couch appearance I think he's either been told he has to pull his head in or realised it himself. I don't think thats a bad thing as long as these issues are being addressed behind closed doors. You don't air you dirty laundry in public.

Yeah I understand that and I also understand this was obviously extenuating circumstances. However I can't help but feel we keep going back to the same guys who have been around the club for 20-30 years to try and fix the culture when they themselves are products of that culture in the first place.

Getting rid of the old boys club would be a start. These guys never achieved success during their careers but feel they can tell everyone else what they need to do to be successful. For starters we should never go to Lyon for assistance again. He's made his feelings known and if he doesn't want to help the club full-time then thanks but no thanks.

Of course I understand modern football. Of course I understand money = success. What do you want me to do handover $5 million that I don't have to an incompetent footy administration when I struggle just to meet my monthly bills and have a bit left over for savings? What exactly are you trying to say? FWIW we are continuing our "fundraising" now that we have cleared the debt to try and improve our financial position but there is only so many times you can go to that well. Why should supporters be continually told to dig deep only to watch players on 5-10x their salary underperform and show no emotion towards the jumper/club week in, week out and multiple administrations of the club make one bad decision after another? Are you saying it is a sustainable model to rely on handouts and chook raffles so the club can compete with the big boys? How about the CEO and board do their jobs and create a successful and sustainable model for running the club. Seeing as though you seem to clearly have all the answers and I don't, enlighten me; why was the debt caused in the first place? Was that my fault as well?

A good start would be to start from the top. Lead by example and don't let others (the AFL, other clubs, the media) push our club around. Lead by example and show strength from the top down. Stand on our own two feet and stop being reliant on the AFL drip and the Queens Birthday charity match. A perfect example was the Mifsud case. We should have demanded this bloke was sacked yet once again we rolled over like softcocks.

Blah blah blah yet more drivel from you - the only part of your post worthy of discussion is this; North paid for their team to do some altitude training - we wiped our debt which was crippling the club (way more than what the North supporters tipped in and now they are actually going down the debt demolition path also with way less success than the MFC experienced with ours). What relevance does this have to anything? Are you now blaming the supporters for wiping the debt? How about stop talking in circles and actually say what you mean instead of making broad swipes at loyal yet frustrated supporters who have been members for 20+ years.

This game has gone to the dogs.

And what is the club doing about our recruiting department? Who is our head recruiter now that Prendergast is gone? It's not Viney he is just a fill in. Will we ever learn from our mistakes? We need to get an A-grade head recruiter in the job yesterday so that we don't throw away another draft year.

I agree with most of the points you've raised, but how could we possibly have overused the ball and end up with 150 less possessions? How can Howe be the only player over 20 possessions? How can we have 8 players with 10 or less disposals and another 3 with only 11 disposals? That is half the team who had 11 or less disposals. WTF are they doing out there?

Along with Smith & Barassi, a triumverate of decidely "un-Melbourne like" personalities to counter the cucumber sandwiches and glass of wine types in the long room