The Chazz

Great pics, although it has dampend my optimism sligjhtly. There is a photo of the forward line group, and Ro Bail is in it. Please don't tell me they are going to try him as the small forward? His kicking is in the Top 3 of being the worst on the list - how the bloody hell will he kick crumbing goals for us? Give me Byrnes any day.

Having watched the practice game against the Suns (in the sun!) last year, I will be quite impressed if Toumpas has increased is speed on last year. That practice game I thought Toumpas stood out for his run and his ability to spread and present (which requires a deal of speed). Would it be fair to say his speed from June onwards dropped off gradually as the year got longer for a first year recruit? As I said, I'm buggered if I thought speed was a concern in the Suns practice game.

Interested to know if The Master or Ben Hur will allow us to dress this thread in lycra now that it has trimmed down. On a serious note for the training observers, just interested to know how Bernie Vince is settling in? Interesting article in today's Hun about him. Would like to think he has something to prove to stick it up his former club.

I wish him a strong fight against this dreaded disease. Dean was the coach of the MFC the day that my father and I got to spend our last game together at the MCG before he passed away. That game was "the" game against Sydney, and it was up there with some of the best football I have seen any team play, let alone our team. While Dean obviously didn't pull on the boots and win the game for us, the fact that he had a team play such an exciting game, and the fact that it will always be the last game I went to with my Dad (who, like many on here, is the reason for my red and blue blood), I will never forget it, and will forever be grateful of Bails' role. Fight this thing Bails, and all the best to his family during this process.

So must Neeld have been given 95% of the time our players ran out and played like they were in a different place.

Is that Saty in the last photo, on the right in the yellow tshirt?

Bugger, so it had nothing to do with Sabrina the Teenage Witch? Her cat was called Salem. Ok, so I'm the sad one for knowing that! (Nb. to confirm my sadness, Salem is the city that Days of our Lives is set - aka DOOLs).

The miracles of an AFL preseason Sue. It's when, in a short amount of time, players can lose weight, gain weight, bulk up, get quicker, kick further, handball harder, all in the space of between (in Salem's case) a few days, to a few weeks. Now we can add aging a couple of years to the list! I wish the MFC could rookie me for the next 2 months, I wouldn't mind adding a bit of muscle tone/deifintion for the summer.

If this is because of why I think it is, I don't know what's worse - the fact I cracked your cryptic message (almost immediately I might add), or the fact that you knew to call him that. If Witchy doesn't stick Sabrina, we could always try DOOLs as a nickname...

RP, it will most likely happen, but for me, I'd rather see them play on the wing than HBF. In the years I played football, I always found the HBF the hardest position to play, especially if you are playing against a good HFF. Admittingly I didn't have Garland, Frawley and McDonald helping me out down back, but always found it a tough position to win. (Nb I played everything except ruck!).

For the interests of this thread, I have deleted my posts. In no way were they meant to be of a racist manner, and I apologise if anyone was offended. Welcome to the Melbourne Football Club Jay. If you can turn out to be half the footballer of another small forward, Stephen Milne, we will have a beauty on our hands at a relatively cheap pick. (Nb. I'm talking about onfield results).

Very good post Nutbean. The concern for me will be when the changeover actually happens. For the best part of three decades our players have run the club. Roos will run the place over the next 3 years, but it's the next era after that where I am concerned. Can Roos change in three years what has been happening for three decades? If he signed a 5 year deal I'd be feeling more confident of the longevity of the culture change.

Matches his game day output...

Regardless of the to-ing and fro-ing in this thread, I'm just glad that we have a long-term sponsor in place. The fact that it's a reputable company is fantastic and the most important thing for me. That they are an ASX200 company is a cheery on top, I apologise that I'm neither here or there with cherries. It is great that the current regime are signing these reputable companies for a purpose other than keeping their jobs. I welcome any reputable company to invest in the MFC, whether private, publicly listed, ASX200 companies. As long as they pay and we use their money wisely. I also congratulate GB for using his private networks for the benefit of the MFC. Without him on board, it would be doubtful that we would have the AHG sponsorship, but I'm sure with PJ, it would've been some other reputable company.

Instead of emailing, why don't you just tell Saty, so that he can bring i tup with the appropriate personnel when he is at training next? Either method, your views will be ignored/laughed at/not read/generally dismissed. In all seriousness though RP, it sounds like there needs to be more clarity with the rights and responsibilities of rookie-listed players as well as the club. At a quick look, I would imagine that someone like Magner went above and beyond what was required/expected of a rookie, and he wasn't rewarded. That's not to say the club weren't doing less than what they should. Maybe the rookies felt they deserved more, but maybe according to the minimum requirements of the club, they were doing what was expected? I'm quite sure that if any rookie-listed player were treated less than what was required of the club, that they would be well within their right to discuss the issue with the AFLPA. If anything was out of place, the AFLPA would be emailing the club (which I'm sure carries more weight than your words - no offence). Unless you know otherwise, I think that's where the story ends.

Hey RP, I'm quite sure when Webjet first signed up you didn't rush to check their shareprice. From memory you were right up them, and even signed off your posts for a period of time with their name. You were happy to hold out your hand and accept their money then, even though you had access to 3 year charts, etc. And I just love how you're an expert in hindsight. At the time we didn't see the Energy Watch debacle, again, we were too busy jizzing thinking about the mount they gave us, and then again when Opel came on board. An ASX200 company does offer that comfort of knowing they are financially stable (to some degree, obviously that can change). I think that was my point all along about the presser and PJ's words? That said, it doesn't mean they are bullet proof, and given the state of the world economy, anything can change overnight. For my benefit, given your knowledge of the AHG (AHE) shareprice, can you tell me why back in 2007/2008 their sharprice went from $4.43 to $0.42?

Nasher, Saty told us what Stark had told him, to which RP shot him down, only to follow it up with a comment that we are "meant" to believe that has come from an "impeccable" source, yet he hasn't informed us of any details let alone the source he heard it from. Sure, RP might have information about the treatment of rookies, but I'm sure if he has a little think about it, he can see why some are questioning his posts. Generally I understand that criticism of Saty, but I think this time the poor little bugger has a valid point.

No need to carry on RP, I was stating what the original issue with Saty was about, for those that couldn't be bothered reading through the umpteen nothing posts. But, look where we are coming from - Saty goes to training, volunteers for the club, and would be at the opening of a fridge door if it were a MFC fridge. You live in Canberra. I think some would be excused if they took both opinions with a grain of salt.

Oh dear. I guess, like stats on a footy field, market trends over "x" amount of time can be used to suit any argument. The fact that the Webjet shareprice hasn't performed as well as a totally unrelated company over the past 3 years is an amateur argument from your side. You're getting way off the point anyway. You were frothing about getting an ASX200 company on board, I couldn't give a toss about it, it was proved that a majority of other clubs don't give a toss about it, so then, in true RP fashion, you went for anything to prove you know more (hence bringing up about the shareprice performance of AHG and Webjet - something that has nothing to do with the original points being raised). Your posts are really boring when you get off topic.

To be fair to Saty, he quoted something that Stark said to him. You then challenged that by stating that Stark wouldn't tell an unkown supporter everything. You then claim to know more than Saty about how Stark was treated, then when Stay questioned your source, or why what you have been told is more reliable than what he was told, you've avoided it. He's asking a basic question (albeit in a complicated fashion) - why/what/who is your source and/or what is the information you have, and why is it more factual than what he was told directly from the player in question. It's a fair question to ask, but unfortunately as he didn't get an answer from you, he's carrying on.

They aren't an ASX200 company Froggy, so we won't want to talk to them.

It's quite clear RP, that this was a sales push from PJ to potential members, and reassurance to other members. I'm amazed you don't see that, but you did admit to liking bells and/or whistles. I also find it interesting that you failed to mention that the AHG shareprice dropped over 30% in Q2 2013.

If LDC's comments are correct, and that roughly 14 or so clubs don't have an ASX200 company as their major sponsor, I think it's a case of WGAF?! Without confirming the comments, it appears as though the big 4 Vic clubs (Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon, Richmond) don't care so much - probably gives us an indication as to what the ASX200 title means to most clubs. I think PJ mentioning it in the presser was probably more for our (supporters) benefit. He did make a comment along the lines of knowing that we will have their income for at least the next 3 years, then used that ASX200 line as assurance. More bells and whistles, with the ultimate goal to sell memberships. It'll work, and in no way am I being critical of it, just that the days of me getting excited about receiving MFC showbags is long past. Someone mentioned yesterday (Sue I think it was) how the AFL website had minimal coverage/articles about our new sponsor signing. Watching the presser makes it pretty obvious that outside of the MFC circles, no one gives one. When PJ opened up for questions, there was a pause, then they spent the best part of 10 minutes talking about captains, how the players have come back, Jesse Hogan and who the senior assistant will be. PJ & PR tried to bring the new sponsor in to most replies, but the journo's couldn't care less and changed back to the original question quite quickly.

I was under the impression that Webjet were part of the 200 - my apologies. That said, I've invested in many companies, some that are part of the 200, some that aren't, some that were then they got downgraded. Some companies not in the 200 have outperformed those in it. Bottom line is that while it's a good list to be on, it can change rapidly (especially in today's market). As long as due diligence is done, I'm happy to accept any money that is offered to us. Being part of the ASX200 gives us a level of security/inurance, as opposed to the kn0b that was Ben Polis. I wouldn't be recommending a buy for Webjet at the moment, but I'm far from crying "sell"! For me, WEB is an absolute hold. Tough market they are competing in and holding their own.

Let's not forget that our two major sponsors from 2013 haven't "stuck around" under the new management. Sure, Opel weren't finanically in a situation to go again, but I've not heard why Webjet opted out (can't imagine it's financial issues). It's also interesting that Webjet are in fact a publicly listed company - something PJ was very quick to promote about AHG. I don't disagree about the breath of fresh air, and I'm as excited as anyone about the new regime, but I am also not getting caught up in all the bells and whistles.