Rogue

Doesn't matter what it looked like early on, we ended up with 23,000+, which isn't bad.

Sure you were

I agree. If you're a leader, you'll be a leader, regardless of title. I think it was clear at the start of the year that if you were reasonably old (in footy terms), you'd need to really earn your spot for future seasons. I'd also add McDonald to the list of possible outs, as RR has said. Regarding a White trade, I'm not sure there'd be much value, but there's probably not much value in keeping him either - particularly if we draft of recruit another ruck at the end of the year - as he won't be around too much longer anyway.

How much help to us was White's second half versus Sydney?

Fwiw, the 'Megastore' is the Demons store - all profits to the Club. It's at the 'G on Brunton avenue, street level (below the Southern Stand concourse ~ gate 6).

Yes - nothing new or surprising from where I sit. PS. Not to say it isn't good to hear - I'm supportive of the tack we're taking.

Can't write a response now, so...what Dappa Dan said. Good ins.

I think it's more ambivalent - 'meh' can express disdain, but more often it's indifference.

...and he wasn't the only person with Fitzroy apparel. I still don't know why.

Mini-Chief? I think MMM were referring to Jones by the nickname 'Mini-Chief' for a while there.

Very nice!

I'd say he 'goes for Melbourne' without following the game very closely.

I love your enthusiasm, but...

Fair enough. You didn't mention anything about a live band in your initial post though

I get where you're coming from to an extent, but your assertion re: not impacting on anyone that isn't watching is incorrect. Edit: That's not to say Newman's actions did - or didn't - have an impact on women in the game etc (and lets not go there, it's been done to death already).

Does the trumpeter do the pre-match talk? I can't recall the name, but read it was a media 'personality' who fills in on 3AW.

Ditto Whelan, albeit he didn't fly to TD afaik.

If he's a fan, I hope he talks us up on the Hamish and Andy show.

It's been reported that in return for the 500K we're getting 500K worth of land (realisable asset).

I think Valenti will definitely be an in, straight swap for McDonald. Martin for Frawley is also a like-for-like change. I'm not sure who will survive the cut tomorrow though - it'll be interesting. I wouldn't be surprised to see Bode dropped, and would be happy to see Morton and Buckley back. Not sure we need Carroll, and if it's poor weather we might drop one of the rucks and play Buckley and Morton. Hasn't he had three consecutive games now? He definitely played vs Richmond and Sydney, and I think he played the game before, too. Only because he's definitely debuting and that has been announced, IMHO. Not necessarily in the forward line, nor starting.

On the money issue, we also budgeted strangely high when it came to members - at least 30,000, IIRC. On the back of a terrible season last year, it seemed strange to me (and our new CEO). Definitely June 30 (not today).

We're slow, and Davey's quick. Probably not the first guy we'd be looking to off-load. A top 4 pick is hard to knock back, though. However, I'm not sure how it'd influence on the group dynamics - particularly if Davey is likely to be promoted into the leadership group. Probably a moot point anyway - I'd be pretty unhappy with that trade if I was an Essendon supporter, and that's always a good hint that it's a one-sided trade.

Valenti and Aussie stay. We have three guys with season-ending injuries (Robertson, Neitz, and Moloney), and at least two on the LTI (Neitz and Robertson). I'm sure it will, given Valenti has been in good form at Sandy over consecutive weeks, and was the 'first' emergency last week. I think he'll be in the squad again this week, and hope he gets the nod on Friday night. PS. This thread had a bit of discussion re: Grimes' return.

Indeed.

Could be that we're spending more money on the footy department - someone mentioned this somewhere on here, but I'm not sure whether it's valid. Wouldn't be surprising, though.