The Chazz

Is that one "new with tags"?

Here you go JT... http://www.freedomseo.com.au/blog/ " ... Ben Polis, Managing Director of ‘Freedom SEO’ said: “We are delighted to be involved with the Melbourne Football Club. I know it’s one of the oldest clubs in the world, but for me it is also progressive, dynamic and youthful. These are all attributes that we at Freedom SEO can relate to, and it’s the reason why we’ve become involved.” Ben is the Managing Director of Energy Watch too...

Clark's knowledge along with the fact Drummond being out injured should result in a comfortable Demon win then?

I'm pretty sure they were with us last year. And another thing I am led to believe, and am happy to be corrected, but the bloke that owns Energy Watch also owns Freedom SEO.

We could've still had both. Anyone that thinks we are botter off without $cummy are kidding themselves. When 100% fit, he was best 18 by a long way, we're crying out for a superstar mid and this bloke is the closest in the league to becomming that. Sure, would've made our salary cap tight, but we would've managed I'm certain. It seems other top players are sacrificing some big pay days by not going to GW$, and I would imagine that Selwood or Pendle's cotnract wouldn;t be small, but they are still keeping most of their better players at the same time.

Apologies - thought I read somewhere tha this points carried over.

What? I can't agree with that sorry. Aussie Rules is well known in America, I'm not saying well followed, but it is definitely well known, especially amongst the sporting enthusiasts.

I would imagine so. And the fact that he had last year away from AFL would mean that they are "put on hold" if he were ever to return, which he did. Why are we talking about him, he doesn't play for us, and to top it off, he plays for "them".

I'd be quite sure that many international visitors to Melbourne, especially those that are sports nuts, would like to buy an AFL jumper that is Melbourne, rather than one that is Collingwood. Your average American knows about "Australian Rules", so if they were to go back to the USA wearing a red and blue jumper, it would be easier for them to say it's Melbourne. Everyone knows of the city that is Melbourne, they don't know the suburbs so much, so I'm sure the "Melbourne" merchandise would be of interest.

RP, I'm not sure I totally agree re the online ability to access merchandise. The reason I'd like to see something in the CBD is more for brand awareness than merchandise sales. It's about any new Melbournian or any visitors/tourists that come to Melbourne, know exactly who Melbourne is. Same as my thoughts on a Demon Shop/outlet being near the MCG tour stuff. The market I'm targeting is those that will buy on impulse, for example, that tourist/visitor who has just been on the MCG tour, learnt about the MFC's history, and on their way out can buy a Melbourne shirt/jumper/whatever. That market won't be the ones that get on the website and buy merchandise.

BH - Watts has only turned 21. If he comes out and kicks 40 goals this season, he will be up to a career total of 73. He will still be 21 at the end of the year. Not an excuse, just an observation. All this talk about entering his 4th season is 100% correct. Just as the comment that he has played 2 1/2 seasons is 100% correct also. The final thing, while you are not juicing up over his Casey form, what is the bloke supposed to do? He was out of form in the NAB Cup, was told to go back to Casey for a game, came out and had 25-odd disposals and kicked 2 goals. If that were during the normal home and away season, woud it warrant a recall to the seniors? Maybe, or maybe the coach wants him to work on his weaknesses whilst back there. You believe he didn't show great signs of improvement in those areas, so maybe Neeld will feel the same. However, what instructions was he given? Do you know? Sure, he was drafted as a key forward, but do you think Jack started on the wing off his own accord? Maybe the game tha the played on Saturday night was nearly perfectly executed under the instructions he was given. Neeld has come out in the press saying that he is trying to convince himself that he should pick Jack, is this 100% honest? Is it mind games? Who knows? Not me, not you. The above aren't excuses.

A couple of good ideas there Gonz. While I understand wha tyou are saying about the rent costs for a shop in teh CBD, it is more about advertising our brand/getting our brand out there. It would be more considered as marketing rather than trying to generate revenue from merchandise sales. If placed in the right spot - someone would have a better idea than me as I have been out of the CBD loop for a while now, it create great exposure, especially for tourists. I would imagine a place like Federation Square, somewhere that is close to public transport and other major attractions, would be a good start. I also have said previously that the location of the current Demon Shop is terrible. Only Melbourne supporters would go there. I'd be trying to get an area of space, somewhere around where people start/finish the MCG tours. What's more embarrassing - having a shop with no customers in it, or having a shop fully of customers that can't buy the current seasons footy jumper?

Mate, this is the best link I could find - http://www.melbournefc.com.au/tabid/7415/default.aspx?newsid=121645 Shows that they were expecting 1500 international students from Latrobe Uni on that day. The important thing is to throw it open to ALL international students, especially considering I beleive the Indian student population is greater than the Asian one. I could be wrong on this, but I know it would be fairly close. And given the way they, the Indians, celebrate their own national sporting achievements, it would be great to get that sort of atmosphere at a MFC game. Round 19 this year is a Melb v Gold Coast game at the G on a Sunday. We would be budgeting on getting around 25k to the game, it would be great to get another 10k or so of international students from across Victoria, not just Latrobe. Not sure how the club would feel about giving 10,000 tickets away for nothing! But it is something that if we want to establish a market with such students, that we need to do on a regular basis (at least once a season), and promote it.

Was reported in what I can find was early May in 2010. "James McDonald (MELB), striking North Melbourne's Andrew Swallow: assessed as intentional conduct (three points), low impact (one point) and body contact (one point), equaling five activation points, a Level Two offense, 125 demerits, and a one game suspension. His five year good record reduces the penalty 25% to 93.75 demerits. He accepted, reducing the penalty a further 25% to 70.31 demerits. As a result, he comes away with a reprimand with the demerits held over toward his future record."

Didn't they try that a couple of years ago with Indian students? Was definitely international put it that way. The idea of a Demon shop in the CBD is great, and again, I think we discussed that in the past. However, probably would've been a pretty empty shop this year consdiering they aren't selling jumpers. Even when you go to New York, one of the biggest cities in the world, you walk past clothing/sports shops, and you always see Yankees and Knicks gear everywhere. As many say, we own something that no oter team can capitalise on, that is that we are Melbourne, but the issue is that we're not capitalising on it ourselves. We are not the Casey Demons. Does anyone know how we are actually evaluating the success of the Casey relationship? All I hear is that it's a growh corridor and that we are doing some important things out there. I don't go out there, but is there a noticable sea of red and blue impact? Are the kids in the schools out there barracking for the Demons?

How can I not comment about trying to convert the girlfriend in to a swinger?

I feel sorry for McDonald - cops a 2 weeks suspension that'll take him 6 weeks to get over...

I'm quite sure the players trained, the coaches coached, and the admin staff still did their bloody job over the last week. My initial question was would we see an announcement this week, prior to OUR season starting. If we have one locked away, it's probably the only time I agree that timing is appropriate, but I would think that either Wednesday, Thursday or Friday of this week would be more than suitable timing. So, when you start saying that what I'm asking is being insensitive, perhaps look at exactly what I'm asking. It is pretty clear if you read my post again.

Can Magner and Couch at an AFL standard?

Well, you'd have to say Jordie is a tackling machine, and Moloney, providing Jamar is playing well, is our clearance machine? Just my opinion.

How is it insensitive Paul? It's a simple question, and while I am just as upset as the next Melbourne member going around, after tomorrow we move on. It will take a lot of time, some more than others, but the business that is the Australian Football League continues to run. This is in no way disrespectful to Jim or his family, it's just how life is, and as we saw last week, sometimes life just bloody sucks.

So, the 2012 AFL season has "officially" started, and we are still without a FoJ sponsor. We have 5 days until OUR season starts. Will we see an announcement this week of a new sponsor? Or will that announcement be the Club explaining why we are needing to use our back up plan for this Saturday's jumpers? (Thought I'd give Watts a rest by bringing up this ol' chestnut!).

If we can beat Brisbane this week, Neeld will achieve somthing that hasn't been achieved since 2005 - that's coach the Melbourne Football Club to victory in the opening round of the season. Bloody stoked to have the footy back this week. It's been a long preseason (they seem to get longer every year!), with a number of highs and lows, and that's just on Demonland! Go Demons!!!

I think I'd like to see Tynan get a game this weekend, probably has shown enough to warrant it.

In 2008, we thought we needed a carsh and bash key forward. We picked Watts because he was the best in the draft, and was in actual fact a key forward. A lot assumed that he would be that crash and bash type, he isn't, and as a result, the club got Clark to play that role. Jack has the skills and potential to make a significant mark on the game, and I'm hoping that it is still a key forward role. I'm not going to be disappointed with the bloke because he isn't playing the role that we needed. As a matter of fact, from when we picked up Watts, I had been calling for Stef Martin to be that bash/crash forward, because I knew it wasnt the role for Jack. I always saw Jack as the N Riewoldt-type that would run opponents in to the ground, and be that main target going forward, especially in a one-on-one situation. We needed our "Kosi" as that other target, Martin was my call, now it's Clark. Benny, so what if I'm a lightweight? So what if I don't proof-read my posts before putting them up for the world to see? What are you trying to achieve by personal insults? Your constant personal attacks are boring, immature and to be honest, downright disrespectful. You wouldn't speak to me like that face-to-face, so why do it over the internet?