Rogue

I also read the 18% figure. I'd previously heard that we had the lowest churn rate in the AFL, although that may have been over the past few years, and not necessarily this year. bb, is there a reason you'd adjust for duplications in this year? Would it be more than any other year, or less than any future years? RR, the point about $40 memberships is a good one. It'd be interesting to have a breakdown of membership types. That said, how much of it is about the money raised by member money, and how much of having a big membership base is about selling your Club to sponsors?

Fwiw, our current member tally is 27,372.

True. I'll try and focus on the core issues next time

I think that'd be a massive part of it for most people.

Nice article. Lets hope Stynes and co. buck the trend.

I tend to agree. However, Fan didn't assert that games in first year was the way to assess youth development - he just rebutted a point about ND blooding 18 year olds for 3 years, rather than play them.

Sorry about that. Back to the hair... Apparently Neitz was the founding member of the hairy chest club down within the Dees. Neitz has tried laser removal of his back hair, but unfortunately it doesn't sound like it was a great success. The arrival of DB at the Club meant that Neitz no longer held the title of hairiest, which pleased the big number 9. NB: You'll want to know that Neitz is very messy, admitting he'd found something from 2002 when he cleaned out his locker after retiring.

If you're going to pay out on footy fans who only manage to get to ~1/2 their Club's home games p/year, you're going to have a fair few in your sights! I think some people lack an understanding for other people's situation etc. You might be able to make every game of the year, but not everyone can/wants to. Particularly given our relatively small supporter base, I'd be trying to embrace all Melbourne fans, rather than deride those who you see as less involved than yourself.

I just replied to this thread on Demonology >_> 'For the right price' everyone's decent in the red and blue, but I doubt we'll get him at the right price for us (given his age and injuries, plus the fact he's quite highly rated).

I think it'd turn off a fair few fans, too.

It's still on now. Nothing too interesting so far. Talking about his hairy back atm. update: Neitz spoke about 'missed chances' in '98 and '04. I remember the '98 finals series, and being at the game where we thrashed Adelaide...and then they went on to win the flag.

Maybe you're right - I hope so.

You're dead right.

A few major issues (in no particular order): * The 'angle' we take in 'selling' Melbourne * Permanent 'home' admin/training facilities + summer training base? * VFL affiliation * Stadium deal / boutique stadium That said, every aspect of how the footy club is run is important.

I think you're probably right re: Dunn being unfairly judged, given it's easier to judge people on what they do with the ball, rather than what they do without it.

If there's a 25% chance of a goal from all inside 50's, the chance of a goal when a player has marked the ball 60m out would be far higher, considering that many inside 50's would be from players who don't have the luxury to take a mark and wait for a target to present. Just something to consider.

It'd hardly be the first time that a Club hadn't provided true and correct info re: a player's injury...

I agree with most of this, but to me it'd be Carroll v Frawley (rather than Martin).

I think you're right, but he's doing well down back and it's probably easier to manufacture goals. Who knows how things will pan out, though

Four wins and bottom of the ladder, please! Haha

Chook In Perth has reported that Moloney is out for the season, as he needs a shoulder reconstruction (source).

I don't know if/why they don't come to 'these sort of things', but I'm pretty sure Tingay was on the list of 150 heroes. Lovell probably was too.

I meant photos that were part of the Age's 'exhibition', which were present on the route to the 'G, not photos of some people walking along PS. Don't MCC reserve gates only open 10 mins before other gates for day games? Should have been there!

I never said everyone needed to be quicker than the opposition, and I never said it was the most important attribute we need to work on. I simply presented an opinion on the OP's summary of positives and negatives: "However, I think a major oversight in your summary is our pace - we might have a TOUGH HARD midfield with that team, but there's not much foot speed there." Considering I never said that pace was more important than a key position forward, and that I in fact shed some doubt on the OP's assertion that we had the 'nucleus' of a forward line - "Given that a 2 KPP forward line seems the norm, we're a long way off!" - your line re: a successful marking forward being much more important seems beside the point when we're talking about the merits of pace and the midfield.

We robbed Davey from our forward line because we needed to inject pace into our midfield. Are we going to do the same with Maric? Wasn't he recruited as a forward, and hasn't he been playing forward for Sandringham? As for Bate, does he cover the ground quicker than our 'one paced' midfield? I wouldn't call Morton a speedster either, but it's reported that he has great endurance and seems to find time to use the footy. I believe Grimes said in an interview that he had never been called quick (refer MFC site).