The Chazz

BRFE - What does the tennis have to do with an AFL club announcing a new sponsor? And, as I continually say, other than MFC members and suporters, who else cares? Are you talking maximum coverage/exposure? Well, the diehard AFL fans will read the AFL section of the papers regardless of what other events are on. If we have more than one announcement, which will obviously happen with the captain to be named, I'd rather we make seperate announcements so that we are in the media for longer, rather than 1 day.

So what if it takes some longer to get over it than others? Most of us on here live and breath the MFC, that's why we read these forums. We all have favourite players, and will all react differently when they come and go. I for one was quite relieved when Jnr Mc got the tap on the shoulder, while others are still going on about it. I had a week of mourning when the Wiz left, and even now I still miss the little fella and hated watching him play against us. But alas, we move on, it's just some things are harded to move on from than others.

The other thing that WYL is forgetting, as well as most others, is the fact that "Nate" is getting married soon, which will stamp out any form of "enjoying your days off"!!! After he completes his long list of household chores, it will be too dark to go for a surf, therefore allowing him more time to concentrate on doing "captain stuff".

Very close to the way I'm thinking too Deeko. This is what mine looks like; FB: Rivers Frawley Bartram HB: Grimes Garland Tapscott C: Jones Moloney Blease HF: Davey Watts Howe FF: Jurrah Clark Martin R: Jamar Trengove McKenzie I/C: Petterd, Green, Bail (Gysberts) Points; * I know my forward line is tall, but as coach, I'm trying to define "cumbing forward". Do they have to be short? Can Jurrah be our crumbing forward? I'd give it a week to see how it worked. * I'm a fan of 2nd ruck playing in the forward line, especially if they are agile like Martin. Frees up a spot on the bench for another runner. * Even if Green were to be named captain (which I'm in favour of), I'd have no hesitation starting him on the bench. He will have ample time to stamp authority on the result, and do the captain things in tight contests. Don't get in to an arguement about his ability to do this - there is a seperate thread for that. * Petterd is on notice for me. Sylvia is back in round 2, we have 3 or 4 players more than capable of playing that half forward role, and I have Howe and Sylvia ahead of Petterd. * I'd even consider swapping Howe and Blease. If Howe has been training the house down like reports suggest, and if his aerobic capacity can cope, he just may be a tough opponent to match up against on a wing.

How did you get that to happen Ben-Hur - I need help?!!! Every time I hear of his name, see a photo of him, or even think about him, it's like I'm staring in to the eyes of a bad man, a very bad man! He was my late father's favourite player (who went to his grave believing that we would all be cheering for $cumbag for years to come), he had the potential to captain our club to a premiership, and give me and my children the opportunity to witness one of the best players to wear the red & blue, but he took the money and ran. He wiped us, he treated us with no respect at a time that from a Club's point of view was one of its darkest hours, and personally, when a few things in my life weren't going to how the book says it will I was clinging to the hope that maybe, just maybe this is the best chance of a premiership that I've seen. I will move on one day, but it may take 5 years, it may take 10 years. My opinion of his football ability has not changed, and god forbid, if he were to reach the levels that I believe he is more than capable of, it will be heartbreaking. The only thing that will mend a broken heart is a MFC premiership, after that I couldn't give a $hit what he does. Until then, he is a big reason that we haven't won one.

Your first point about sinking the boots in has been answered by others. I will pull you up on your "not the captain type" comment. Some argue that we have a leadership problem at the Club, but regardless of that, Jones was voted in to the leadership group in 2011, which I think may have helped his football. He was 23 years old when this happened - not a bad effort for a bloke who isn't a captain-type. So, as he obviously has leadership qualities, what does he now lack that would be against him in earning the captain title? As you follow him on Facebook, you must have a fair idea of how the playing group rates his leadership ability, so if you could give us more insight as to what they think, that would be great. In terms of Frawley, I mentioned his name as I was trying to find out what your thoughts were on who our captain should be. It worked as you said that you are leaning toward Trengove being captain, so I thank you for answering my question. I agree, a number of posters used to (and some still do) give Jones quite a deal of unsubstantiated comments regarding his ability, of which are probably more damming than your comments re captaincy. But, as most are pulling you up on, you're excluding him from being a natural captain because he's a surfer. Richard Branson is a surfer - does that make him not worthy of owning large companies??? Honestly, I haven't got Chunk as a leading candidate for the job. However, I would be more than satisfied with the decision if he were to be named Captain, knowing too well that he would lead by example onfield, and I would have no doubt whatsoever that offield, he would take to role on and be a bloody good skipper. He will be work in progress to some degree, probably less so than Trengove, but like on the football field, you wouldn't be able to knock his endeavour and commitment to the role.

Sorry Memphis, you've lost me on that one! How I see it is that CS has been quoted on a number of topics, and most likely the article been approved by CS before being published, but I don't believe it alludes to the MFC expecting to name a major sponsir out of the various meetings we/he had in China. We are assuming that sourcing a sponosr of any level would've been part of the conversations, and I'm sure Caroline Wilson is thinking the same as a lot of us on here. Surely she is allowed to publish her opinion based on a quote from CS isn't she? The part about how he is hopeful a number of relationships will come out of it. These relationships could be associated with the potential of us doing high altitude training, so we could be looking at building a relationship with flight companies, technology companies (so we have access to stuff already there rather than taking our own stuff), etc, etc. The original point I challenged was your comment about the Club looking bad becuase they talked about getting an Asian-based Major Sponsor, and have't announced one yet. I was just after the quote where CS said "we are getting a major sponsor from our Asian dealings". You haven't been able to provide one, you did provide a link that made the public think that we were getting one, when in actual fact, CS was very noncommital about potential sponsors. While we have been doing a lot of work in China, it is still a very tough market to crack, and as I have said in earlier posts, we cut our teeth with Kaspersky, but that doesn't mean we can expect to get top dollars from bigger companies straight away. If we are seen to be putting back in to the Chinese economy through business relationships (there's that word again) through setting up a long-term higih altitude training base, potential premiership season matches being played, then all of a sudden compaines with bigger dollars will see it as a more solid investment. They will see we're not just in it for the cash grab that some think is readily available, and that we do actually have an interest in how we can help investors in return.

Pretty clearly states that the only comment Schwab made in that article was "I'm hopeful a number of relationships will come of it". One would assume that "a number of relationships" would mean sponsorships, but we, like the journo, are just speculating. From what I beleive Kaspersky is still a sponsor but just at a smaller investment, maintaining that relationship is vital as their $$$ are just as important as yours and mine. If CS came and said "We are likely to land a major sponsor out of this", then I'd understand your sentiments. The part about the altitude training isn't something the Club will rush in to, and if it was Mark Neeld/Neil Craig that initiated it, I think the fact that we have already been in talks with Kunming says a lot about how proactive we are. I would expect a task like this would take a considerable amount of time, and would probably expect an announcement toward the end of this season.

To the club's defence, when did they talk about getting an Asian sponsor? People on here assumed, as CS was in Asia. From memory, that is all.

Or longer if they're coming via New Zealand or Italy...

WYL, what is it, as it currently stands, that you want Jones to do? He is not Captain, and may never achieve that title. But, he is a full time footballer, and like most full time employees, he deserves his time off each week (which is probably less time than what normal employees get). In his spare time, he enjoys surfing. Does that make him less captain-worthy than someone like Grimes? I enjoy fishing on the weekend, does that mean I shouldn't be a manager? The other thing that I find interesting about your posts on this thread is the fact you have not nominated your nearest the pin, yet you've sunk the boots in to one bloke that hasn't put a foot out of line since being drafted. I would love for you to show us all who YOU think should be Captain, and don't hide behind the old "I back the Football Department". Put ém on the line old chap. I'd love for you to throw Frawley up as your number 1 choice...

But HG, Jones isn't needing to Captain stuff at the moment, so does have time to do Player stuff on his days off. There's a fairly good chance that he will but the surfing on hold, or at least go when he isn't doing Captain stuff. But, I guess those boxing camps down at Warrnambool that he & Beamer run each year is more of a surfing trip rather than team bonding/leadership etc. FFS.

Maybe they are jusy waiting for the tennis to finish Deelirious. But then when that finishes, we have a small window until the Terra Australis Great Southern Land Mountain Bike Epic being held between Feb 5 - Feb 11 which will draw the attention of AFL followers all around Australia. As soon as that's finished we have a couple of days until Valentine's Day, so perhaps we could have a campaign where Neeld and Craig are out for a candle-lit dinner and are being waited on by staff of <<insert new sponsor>>. If we miss that massive marketing opportunity, we will be right in the middle of the Sustainable Living Festival at Federation Square, so we will have to wait for that to conclude, which is actually the 26th Feb, the day after our 1st NAB Cup round. It appears to me that for the next 6-8 weeks, there is no "right time" to announce this new sponsor, so all pre-purchased jumpers will not be sent until such announcement. Am I being sarcastic? Abso-bloody-lutely. People still think that the announcement of the new Melbourne sponsor is going to be the biggest news in the AFL and should have is own week of celebration. FFS people, there is 22k-odd members who will be interested, and however many other people that barrack for Melbourne. Outside that, noone gives a toss. If we have one signed up, put it on our website. Regardless of what other events are on, we will get just as much coverage in the media. FWIW, if any other team announces a sponsor, as a diehard opposition supporter, I will often not use that company out of spite. I've never owned a Ford car, never flown Emirates, have gone off eating Mars Bars and flying to Tasmania. Perhaps it's as simple as not being able to get someone to pay what we are asking.

Gee WYL, you're not covering yourself in glory here buddy. You say that it is not the game of Chunk with such certainty. How the bloody hell would you know? Facebook? Twitter? Seriously mate. He goes for a surf on his days off, so what. I'm quite sure that if he had captaincy tasks that he needed to do on his days off that the surfing would take the back seat for a while. What did Green do on his days off in 2011? We have no bloody idea, but I'm quite sure he wasn't sitting by the phone waiting for his next possible leadership commitment. Come to think of it, what did Ablett get up to in 2011 when he had days off? From memory he was every-bloody-where and loving it. The media created a bit of a storm about his leadership role, but I don't recall the Gold Coast outting their foot down.

Won't be far off the mark DeeZee. One thing that I have only just thought of. Neeld first said that the Cpatain would be announced in March, but he has now brought it forward because he basically knows how he wants the whole thing to look and he has a fiar idea of who slots in to where. Reading between the lines (and he may have said it anyway), but someone obviously has stood out basically from the start regarding their leadership, and it didn't take long for Neeld to make up his mind. To me, for a guy (Neeld) to be in the Club for the short time he has, I'm starting to think that there is only one logical choice. Think of it this way, Neeld's first main function that he attended was the Best & Fairest award. Now, before I go on, I don't buy in to this "blank canvas" crap, sure, there'll be some areas that he won't have a preconceived idea about, but leadership? C'mon. Moloney won the B&F, but doesn't have offield leadership qualities. Frawley is the same as Moloney. Rivers, while in the leadership group last year, I can't see how he will be in 2012. Neeld saw first hand what Jared's onfield leadership is like when the going gets tough, and they (Collingwood) no that he is a weak link in our backline. Captain material? No. He would be thinking anout Trengove, but there is so much to Trengove's game that needs developing. All premiership sides have stars, Trengove isn't one yet, we need him to be. If he focuses on football, he has every chance of being our best player. Green, well, Neeld would surely have sat him down and asked WTF happened last year (in terms of how Brad handled the whole situation). Were the areas that he needs to work on enough for Neeld to be quite positive that between the new Football Department, Game Plan, and a new attitude from Brad that he should lead this Club in 2012? I think it is quite possible, but not one of us on here can say anything with a definitive answer. That leaves Grimes. As I mentioned above, one of the first functions Neeld attened was the B&F. Having been at the Club for only days, Neeld would've sat back and saw Jack accept the Leadership Award, having played some 8 games? Surely any new coach would be watching how Jack operates around the Club after that effort. Then not only that, Jack obviously has the commitment of getting his body right - he was seen numerous times at AAMI Park in the gym, etc. He is the ultimate professional, the players obviously respect him, offield he is a very good media performer. I just feel that with Misson and Craig on board, one of their main priorities would be getting Grimes 100%. As I earlier predicted, I can see a potential Green/Grimes co-captaincy, and I think this would be the best way for the Club to go. But I won't be surprised if Grimes gets the gig on his own.

I'm of very similar view to you Hardtack. If Beamer were to be made Captain, I'd be looking at it as a potential 3-5 year thing. But coming off one of his best years, if he were to put in a horror 2012, does that mean we strip him immediately? Would he not "deserve" 2014 to redeem himself? I guess where I'm coming from is that Green has been a very good clubman for many years, has held the captaincy for 22 games, not all of which were below standard, yet some are still wanting his head. I'll throw the question to everyone in this manner, let's assume Grimes or Trengove are made captain in 2012. What happens if Grimes plays 8 games for the year (due to injury) and/or Trengove's form drops off? Do we sack them after 12 months in the job? I think not.

I don't share the same opinion GTG, I think Flash is a long way in front of the field, it's just that because of his 2011, a lot of people have dropped off him (which is warranted!). Aussie was a beautiful kick of the ball, and LJ is easily our best set shot at goal.

Not all players feel the way we think they should feel RPFC. I would imagine if Moloney, regardless of how passionate he is, had the option of either being Captain of the MFC for 12 months or to win a premiership, I know which one he'd take. If he got to the end of his career and had no flags and 12 months Captaincy, yeah sure, he'd feel blessed. A premiership would be his number 1 priority though. If those that think Moloney should be skipper for 12 months and then see one of the Jacks take it over, I'd rather see Moloney not worry about the Captains role and concentrate on teh 1 single thing that ALL footballers play for, a premiership. If he can unoffically lead us to a flag and win a Normy doing it, he'd be blessed at the MFC for ever!

This is the problem with Trengove B59, which I know will get you going due to your stance on the matter. Do we really want a Captain that we have to support and mentor? This is exactly what we will need to do with JT, and possibly have to do it for a couple of seasons. I know it may be like Easter Bunny and Santa, but I want our Captain to be able to do the job in 2012, with only a very minor part of the time being spent in developing (or fune tuning) the leadership qualities. I think with JT he is just too inexperienced and we would have to mentor and support him just too much. In regards to the topic, it's a bloody tough one. I would lean toward Grimes for 2012, and hope that he stays on the park. He did win the Leadership award playing only 8 games or whatever - has to be a big pro in his arguement.

Captain - Jack Green & Jack Grimes V/C - Jack Moloney, Jack Jones (not the Southern Sons lead singer) LG - 4 above + Jack Trengove, Jack Frawley, Jack Jamar I know this is an forum and frredom of speech is encouraged, but those asking for Frawley to be captain would only be making that statement based on onfield performance. Offield, he is not a captain's ring. Edit - Grimes got promoted from LG to co-Captain.

I'm with you there boydie. No disrespect whatsoever, and it was a tragedy that Troy was taken at such an early age, but I don't think he was the player that Daniher was looking for to play a major part in a premiership assault. Rest in piece Troy, but you don't make this list sorry.

This is the bit I don't understand HT - how will it get lost in the media wash? People on here say that we shouldn't announce it during trade week, or during the week leading up the the draft, or whatever other reason they can think of. The only week I could possibly see something getting lost is Grand Final week. Other than that, the most suitable time is when the ink is still moist. Reality is, 90% of the people who care are Melbourne supporters anyway - I couldn't give a toss who sponsors the other 17 Clubs. So, if there was an article in the paper, the people tha tmatter would read it...US! There will also be that handful of d!ckheads that make online comments on the Hun website about our "pathetic club", "blah blah". We will get a 2nd sponsor, we always do, and if we have to wait until February to seal the deal, then providing it's the massive figures people are expecting, I'll be stoked. However, if it's around the mark that I predict, and we could've had someone pre-Christmas, then it'll be a bit disappointing for things like new merchandise. Good for you Jordie_Tackles that you can wait til the NAB Cup, but what about the parents of the 6 year old that only wants a Melbourne Jumper from Santa?

These are 2 very good points - especially the first one. I'd love to know how many people pay to tour the MCG - I would imagine it would be quite high. Other than school kids, how many of those would be Victorian? How many would be Australian? I think this is where we could increase our exposure and selling of merchandise. Let's not forget, these tours are showing the history of our home ground, so why can't we have a Demon store near where the tour is? It would be like going on a tour of Madison Square Gardens in New York - chances are you'd buy either Rangers gear or Knicks gear. They are Madison Square Gardens for sports nuts, just like the Demons are the MCG. FWIW, I couldn't tell you the last time I went to the Demons Shop. I look at their website a bit, but never visited. I know if it were closer to the "main" gates I would go there more often, especially in the odd game I come down to see.

That's the million dollar question (or $2m for some). I personally am not a believer of this "hold the announcement off" theory that some believe in. I think if you've got someone on board (signed and sealed), then announce it to the members so that the company can have access to a different customer base (similar to how it worked out for Energy Watch). The sooner it's named, the better for Club, Business/Company, and members.

At 7-6 they weren't living up to their favourite's status. They were still called Norf back then too (changed as of 1999). If those 3 wishes were granted, we wouldn't be celebrating our 49th anniversary in 2012.