Keyser Söze

You have some terrible opinions on things.

Disagree with that. He's not the best kick and is hardly damaging to the opposition. Agree with that. He often surprises me with his ability to win 50/50s. I thought he'd be gone from the list pretty soon as the kids supersede him, but I now think he has at least another year or 2 in him after this one.

Too late. It's already stuck. Goodtimes Grimes.

Junior - CC personally took a lot of credit for the poor handling of that situation. In trying to do it the "right" way, by giving him a send-off match and planning it ahead, they probably did it the "wrong" way. At the time it hadn't properly sunk into McDonald that it was probably his last season, and they hadn't done enough to prepare him for that eventuality. They said something about his hamstring, but I didn't catch it. He was offered a role at the club and they were pretty keen to keep him there, but he wanted to get away from football for a while. He's involved in a meat company (?) that he wants to spend some time working on as well as time with family. The mentor role with GWS is minor. They're very confident Junior will be back at the club in some sort of capacity in the next few years.

Lucas Cook moves and plays a lot like Jack Watts. Has shown a lot so far. Jeremy Howe has a bit more size to him, being a bit older than the other draftees and should be sitting on people's heads in no time.

Tom MacDonald and Troy Davis are about the same size & same hair colour so a few of the guys reckon they are like twins. Davo has missed a bit of time with illness but should be back up to speed soon. Michael Evans was a steal.

Could probably do with it's own thread, but I can't be bothered (and this one needs new legs). We're a few thousand members ahead of where we were last year (but this forum seems to be onto that already). The board budgeted for 35k members this year, but felt we needed to aim higher after reaching that last year and due to our likely further lift in performance. The draw is competitively very very good, but commercially very very tough. We need to keep getting people through the gates & all MCC/MFC members should be entering with their MFC membership, then leaving and going back in through the MCC entry. Sammy Blease looking good and his body is right, but it has probably taken longer for him to be mentally over the injury. Should have a good year. Aussie has a different program sorted out for him by Joel Hocking and the coaches, to get him up to speed after missing training due to his father's funeral, etc. He should be up to speed in 2-3 weeks, maybe 4 at most. Jordie McKenzie and Col Garland came up with the nickname Goodtimes Grimes, because they reckon he is so serious. Grimes and Garland had a good laugh about it and you can see there is plenty of healthy banter between the boys. Jurrah's haircut has been a big talking point, with Daniel Motlop & Jamie Bennell both texting Aussie telling him to check out his hair when be sees him. Aussie got roped into collecting Jurrah & Bennell from the airport after they came back from being with the indigenous all-stars. Jurrah was wearing a hat and Aussie had to whip it off to get a good look. I think he said Jurrah got the original haircut from his cousin a couple of years ago, but the current cut is from a hairdresser in Sydney. Aussie is great to listen to as he tells stories. And Aussie also told of Kelvin Lawrence after a few weeks being incredibly homesick & thinking about chucking it in to go back to WA. He was getting really down & told Ian Flack and Aussie, so Aussie & the other brothers took him out for dinner and made a concerted effort to get around him. Told him that the year goes pretty quick once the footy starts and suddenly the season is over & you get to go back home for a while. Apparently since then Kel is really happy with his decision to stay. That's all I can remember. Obviously a lot of that is paraphrased.

Well, how else could you monitor and enforce it? It's all for show.

No Future Fund event tonight, for you 45? Chris Connolly, Peter Spargo & Don McLardy addressed the Scully situation, among other things. The club has spoken to both Scully and his management. Tom is very very happy at the club and just wants to concentrate on his footy. Negotiations have been put off until the conclusion of the season, at the request of his management so the new tv deal can be factored in. They stressed that it's not just about Tom, but all of our talented you kids. We have a very good group and the club is confident they will all want to stay with their mates for a long period of success.

It's not that complicated. You just leave it as your "official address" and your mailing address. You don't have to actually be there.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/the-davey-train-20110216-1awky.html Good little article about Flash and leadership.

BB, I have a question for you: Why is it so important that the situation is sorted out sooner rather than later? I agree that it is preferable that it is sorted out soon. But I see no issue with waiting all season. Surely it is only the frenzied supporters who see it as necessary.

Scully is much more valuable to us than Moloney or Petterd, for a start. Arguably already a better player too (definitely in my opinion). We do NOT have a surplus of elite mids. We have a surplus of promising talented kids who could potentially play in the midfield. Scully has in one season shown he belongs there as a general. You undersell him terribly. We could get 2 x 1st round picks for him, sure. They could end up being Jarrad Oakley-Nichols and James Sellar. Or Daniel O'Keefe and Beau Dowler. Or Marcus Drum and Adam Thomson. Or John Meesen and Danny Meyer. All 1st round picks. Instead of Scully. The last bolded part is incorrect. It is irrelevant until the end of the season. This is only an issue in the minds of frustrated and frenzied supporters. Get over it. Chances are we won't know until late in the season, at earliest, no matter how much hand-wringing you engage in.

I'll have a crack. He's a second year player who has already has his management release a statement. 2nd year players with limited media experience do not front the media and should not be expected to. Especially when a sufficient statement has been released that says the issue will be decided at the end of the season, and paid no more credence to until then. Of course not. Rumours are just that. If GWS has not signed him as stated, it is in their best interests to spread such rumours. They should be paid no heed. Many AFL players who are already being paid handsomely, who do not place a bit of extra money as their highest priority, when they already have more than they know what to do with. That wasnt the case with Joel MacDonald, nor was it the case with Watts, Grimes, Frawley & Trengove when they re-signed.

Take a bow rpfc. Up ther with AoB's post in the Scully thread.

Neil Balme coming to our defense, or rather to the defense of the integrity of the draft system: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/afls-expansion-rules-not-in-sync/story-e6frf9jf-1226006953324

Surely you are joking?? He is one of the least smart footballers we have on the list. He consistently runs himself into trouble, not just when kicking. Reading the play and taking the game on are not his forte. There is nothing fatally wrong with his kicking action; it is where he chooses to place his kicks. It's why he plays in a BP or as a tagger and isn't relied upon to drive the footy out of defense. He has all the physical capabilities, but it's just not going on upstairs. He needs a simple task, like sticking to an opponent like glue.

What is your agenda here? Why are you constantly trying to build up paranoia of Scully leaving? Some idiot will read your rubbish and boo him at games and chase him out the door, when he has no intention of leaving. You're doing GWS' work for them.

This is the stupidest thread I've seen on demonland. It the equivalent of a mentally deranged hobo yelling at a coke bottle.

That's all well and good, but Bartram's bigger problem has always been identifying and selecting the best option. Until that is sorted, I still worry when the ball is in his hands.

Gubby's number one henchman has lost the plot.

I yelled my guts out at that match. What a match to be at... The elation of breaking a drought like that, is up there with winning a final.

Oh, that would be HEAVEN. Would probably get a better turnout from the Norf supporters too.

Precisely. GWS is hoping Gubby's Henchmen do the job for them.

I'll dispute some of your claims, quite easily. 1. GWS would be interested. 2. GWS will not be able to put a better deal on the table. They are able to offer more MONEY, but in every other aspect they lose out to MFC. Lifestyle, teammates, proximity to family, and childhood mates, finals prospects, home crowds, venue, liveability of the city, training facility, options outside of football. 3. For 99% of people it would not be a done deal. You are basing his decision on what you would do. A lot of people not in the AFL system may agree with you. Not all. Some place quality of life a higher priority over money. A lot of AFL players would and have disagreed with you. Most men that make it to AFL level make it because they are motivated by other things than money. In a professional team environment, you become very close to your teammates. In some cases, Scully would be burning guys that have been his close mates through his formative years. And the choice seems more obvious for us - who wouldn't want an extra $400K? But when you already get $500K... How much money do you really want? Does Scully seem to you the type of kid that wants a posse and a Bentley and penthouse apartments in NY? To me he seems like a simple family-oriented kid that loves playing footy with his mates. I doubt an extra $300K or $400K holds the same appeal for him. He already has his dream job and will be getting paid handsomely to do it. All he'd be doing is bringing negatives into his life in return for money that he probably doesn't even really want. The decision is obvious.