Supermercado

I find it vulgar when people who support/are connected to unsinkable clubs start talking about other people losing theirs, but am also happy that we've escaped the 'next club to cark it' conversation. Eddie loves a badly thought out radical plan (remember when he wanted to give the winner of the pre-season comp a bye to the finals), so I assume he doesn't say anything about the process of dropping a team. If they're not relocating to Tasmania, then it's only going to happen via merger or them just flat-out catching fire and disappearing. A few years ago I thought the AFL would artificially boost Gold Coast by bolting a dying Victorian team to them, but surely other clubs wouldn't go for that after they've had a bunch of top draft picks and highly rated academy players. So to return to 18 you've got to either start World War III by trying to merge them with another Victorian side, or find a way to drive a club that was debt-free a couple of years ago and still made a profit last year completely broke. Losing the Tasmanian money will hurt them but it's not like they're Fitzroy 1996 and one strong breeze away from dying. One potential (but unlikely) scenario is that if AFL decides on 20 teams, with a third in both SA and WA, and North get shafted into becoming one of them. Even then, that's years away so I don't see how anything's going to change in the short term. I think this is just Eddie talking out of his ringpiece again.

Can we not run him out of town under a hail of debris just yet. He's a bloody good defender and May won't be around for ever.

If we get the same payoff at a random ground and Adelaide Oval, I want to play somewhere unique next year. Preferably not at 5.10pm Friday, but if that's what it takes I'll adapt.

I don't mind Collingwood as a team, but they're ruined by cultist fans who have a persecution complex despite following the most popular team. But I'd still have them behind Essendon on my ballot paper.

After we won that game against Gold Coast I over-invested in a miracle run to the finals. Then after doing all the hard work, and North falling to bits in front of us we lost to a dud Carlton side with all sorts of good players missing. Classic Melbourne.

At this rate it'll cost 4k a month soon

Given that we're losing experienced players left, right and centre does anybody who follows the rest of the league closely see interesting names on the delisted free agent list? McKenzie Dowrick (Adelaide, mid-sized forward/defender) Amber Ward (Adelaide, key defender) Chloe Wrigley (Carlton, midfielder) Liv Barber (Collingwood, key forward) Imogen Evans (Collingwood, midfielder) Leah Cutting (Essendon, ruck) Jo Doonan (Essendon, forward) Emmelie Fiedler (Fremantle, ruck) Sarah Wielstra (Fremantle, key forward) Sam Gooden (Geelong, ruck) Ingrid Houtsma (Geelong, utility) Mia Skinner (Geelong, forward) Gabrielle Biedenweg-Webster (Gold Coast, defender) Tess Cattle (GWS, defender) Zara Hamilton (GWS, utility) Grace Hill (GWS, key defender/ruck) Tait Mackrill (GWS, midfielder/forward) Janet Baird (Hawthorn, mid-sized utility) Zoe Barbakos (Hawthorn, forward/midfielder) Sarah Perkins (Hawthorn, key forward) Jordi Ivey (Melbourne, mid-sized forward/defender) Sammie Johnson (Melbourne, midfielder) Laquoiya Cockatoo-Motlap (Port Adelaide, forward) Jade De Melo (Port Adelaide, forward) Jade Halfpenny (Port Adelaide, forward) Maggie MacLachlan (Port Adelaide, defender) Jacqui Yorston (Port Adelaide, midfielder) Jess Hosking (Richmond, mid-sized utility) Steph Williams (Richmond, forward) Rosie Dillon (St Kilda, midfielder) Erin McKinnon (St Kilda, ruck) Deanna Joliffe (St Kilda, utility) Renee Saulitis (St Kilda, small forward) Jayde van Dyk (St Kilda, defender) Jaide Anthony (Sydney, mid-sized forward/defender) Kiara Beesley (Sydney, defender) Sarah Ford (Sydney, forward) Kate Reynolds (Sydney, ruck) Bailey Hunt (Western Bulldogs, defender) Daisy Bateman (Western Bulldogs, small forward)

The only player I've seen us linked to is Lily Johnson of Port Adelaide (no idea), but I'd really like to find a smaller forward who can create goals out of nowhere.

Expected some player movement, but all of Birch, Sherriff and West would be a bit extreme. I don't hate it, assuming they can pick up some good picks and find a couple of experienced players, but our depth was already shallow this season without losing three regulars.

Sometimes you kick. Sometimes you get kicked.

I gave up listening to it religiously years ago but every time I did the sponsors were so two-bit and poxy that it was hard to believe the business could be profitable, especially now that it's operating out of multiple levels of a near-CBD office building rather than the tiny building they used to have on Swan Street. When Hutchy kept buying things and opening new stations I thought he must have cracked the secret to making it all work but it must all have been successful bluff that's catching up with him now. Hope Finey buys it for a dollar and reappoints himself to the Final Siren.

That was a filthy performance, but even if I was a bit surprised that West got dropped I don't know if she'd have helped. I'd bring her back next week but our problem was that North knew exactly where the panic, hack kicks were going to land, so somebody with questionable kicking would have just fed them more chances to counter. What we needed was aerial contests in the forward line, I don't expect them to regularly pull down contested marks but at least bring the ball to ground instead of letting the opposition mark unchallenged and launch the other way. Haven't watched the replay (and won't) after being at the ground so not sure if there's a reason but I hated Harris going in the ruck and Pearce playing out of the square at the start of the second half. She took that great mark but is an awful set shot so you're losing both a good ruck and a prominent (albeit well down on her best) forward for what gain? I'm not writing us off for the year, but interested in the thoughts of better judges about what we can do to get the forward line going again. Aimee Mackin is lively but green as grass, and I don't think Gall is the answer. Is there a change that can free Hore to play longer forward, or something more left-field like using Gay in the Sherriff role? And we really could do with finding a crumber in the trade/draft period.

I'm happy to be conservative and pull up in the late 60s.

I think a suspension is fair (but wouldn't be surprised if JVR spoiling the Gold Coast bloke into oblivion is used as a precedent to let him off) but carrying on like he's the devil is a bit rich. If Brayshaw had KOed Maynard in the same circumstances this board would be full of Zapruder footage style analysis of why it wasn't his fault. He horribly mistimed something, it had serious consequences but not going to hold a lifetime grudge against him over it.

Worried that we're still vulnerable to not kicking big enough scores against good teams. Hopefully Campbell takes the second ruck heat off Harris to give us a permanent marking target inside 50. I'm open to winning more Grand Finals 19-15 but it's a high risk strategy.

Hadn't seen that before @Grapeviney posted, but Ron did put a weird ad in the papers before returning as coach. On that note, I'd love scans of any member comms from the pre-internet era. Alternatively, if you just want to get rid of any old MFC paperwork PM me and I'll take it off your hands!

I remember his massive shank on debut after taking the big mark over Dustin Fletcher. Lucky we already had the game won. That was an enjoyable night the week after the Bruise Free fiasco, Watts took a screamer, Bailey punched the roof of the bench on the siren and the water spraying looked like glass flying everywhere. Cue about three weeks of turning the corner before falling off a cliff.

Thanks @Demonland for the tag. Would certainly be interested in adding to the Demonwiki archive if they are still available.

Putrid idea but now we've got the flag I'm a lot calmer about the structure of the league being unnecessarily changed.

He had a massive go in conditions that didn't suit him, but even as somebody who's been dying to get him back in the side any danger of a late change when you realise it's going to bucket down all day? I'm not confident Spargo or Melksham (if played from the start) would have done much more, but going with the selected lineup in that weather was optimistic.

Got the confirmation email that Redlegs members can just show up and get in. Now the issue of finding one spare seat, and of the corporate boxes right behind being filled with drunken, Pies supporting buffoons.

If eligible I bet it's that random Carlton defender who took a bunch of marks.

Just wondering how the booing worked out.

Booing is embarrassing under any circumstances, but it's the worst kind of theatrics after he played a key role in the flag and left without serious angst. I'm not happy about him leaving but not enough to get excited about it like when Scully snuck out the side door of a flaming wreck in the dead of night. The highlight of the Scully return was mass-abuse being hurled at him, then James McDonald getting a round of applause for his first touch. That was totally classless but I'd say retaliation for Dogs fans booing Hunter first rather than any issue with Baker.

(Thanks to management for letting me reboot this thread to do a plug) After two solid years, The Last Hurrah has reached the end of its life in bookstores but I've grabbed a few of the remaining copies to sell directly at a discount. If you're interested you can order here. If you're looking for multiples DM me and I'll work out the postage. These copies include the text of a bonus chapter about 2021 and the lead-up to the Grand Final, so if you've already got the book and just want to read that DM me your email address and I'll send it over. Appreciate the kind words in this thread, and everyone who supported the book when it was in shops. Due to not having any interest in non-MFC topics my career as a professional author is over, but I'm hoping to do the 1965-1987 story as an amateur in the next couple of years.