Rogue

It's all on the AFL membership website (and in the brochures, etc) There are ~3,000 seats in an 'AFL reserve' on a wing, level 1. You can reserve a seat or nab one at the box office, subject to availability. If the AFL reserve is full, or you choose to simply scan in at the gate with your membership card, you're entitled to access the general admission area on level 3.

...because you don't like the stadium? I'm pretty sure a 'regular' (Soze? Enforcer?) said he won't attend because it's at ES. I agree that it's a good stadium to watch from, but I also think it's pretty devoid of soul.

They could fork out money based on the number of members who took up seats, rather than a flat rate per member they were offering the entitlement to. Compared to the top deck at the 'G, ES isn't too bad at all. The view's actually pretty good if you're near the front of level 3. That said, I've only sat up there a couple of times, and certainly prefer level 1.

The 16-game memberships (H&A) entitle you to all MFC matches in Melbourne. Hi Brettj34, welcome to Demonland As far as I know, the only general admission areas are on level 3. You might want to nab a reserved seat on level 1 by paying the difference (or something near to it). You should be able to do this on the day. I was under the impression Etihad Stadium don't let you onto level 1 these days without a reserved seat, regardless of what the crowd's like, but another poster has suggested you can. While you can buy into the MCC area at ES, Axcess One only puts aside particular bays for MCC members. As you say, it's not the MCC members that are getting the best deal! Fwiw, you can avoid Ticketmaster handling fees by booking at an outlet.

All Clubs get less supporters to games when they're getting smashed, or when it's going to be a shocking day - and this doesn't just go for AFL fans, either. However, not all Clubs smash their membership record on the back of a horror season, and with not much to look forward to in the immediate future (refer 2009 membership). Why a Melbourne supporter would jump on the bandwagon of painting our supporter base as more prone to apathy or bandwagon behaviour is beyond me, particularly when there's nothing to substantiate that false assertion...it amazes me. PS. Hawthorn's crowds and membership have been pretty good lately. However, didn't they post the lowest MCG crowd in recent history not so long ago? Anyway, no doubt Melbourne are the 'most guilty' of being fairweather fans, right?

Great's debatable, but it certainly would have been big

Odd. IMO, this is a terrible idea. If you and the others who think this is a terrible thread stopped posting, it would simply die. Fwiw, the discussion seems to have improved anyhow. Indeed!

I doubt we'll play a game that had less pressure than the game last week.

If Hannabal's line is correct - and it's not the first time I've seen this on Demonland - ND was hardly going to say 'Sorry fans, we're losing one of our exciting young mids because he doesn't like/respect me'.

Even if you thought they played at around the same level as Dunn, I'd argue that both have more runs on the board than Dunn. ...and Newton.

Yeah, I'm sure those people that signed up for 2009, on the back of the horror year that was 2008, are just weak fans waiting for us to climb up the ladder before bother handing over their cash. They only bothered to hand over their cash in 2009 because they were inspired by our 2008 performances, right? Honestly, the whole keyboard hero act is somewhat understandable, but I don't see how demeaning any Melbourne fan - let alone those that assisted in us breaking our membership record after a pathetic year - is helpful.

I agree.

I agree - there's a long way to go for both.

Yeah, four rounds into a 22 week season - how embarassing for them! By the way, the idea that someone's an X basher because they don't have them in the best 22..? That's hyperbole at its best. As for whether McDonald plays next year, it's not about how he's going now, it's about how he'll be going in 16 months.

As if. I'm sure 4 and 25 respectively would be fine.

In my humble opinion, a player coming across as having a good attitude when speaking to a fan is worth only a little above zero. You're right in that Clubs focus heavily on attitude etc, but that hasn't stopped plenty of guys with attitude problems making it to the AFL. That said, they haven't all had the time and effort put into the decision to draft them that a number one pick warrants.

If it happens it'll be way down the track - it was just an idea tossed up. I think it got some attention after Doyle mentioned the possibility.

A year's a long time in footy, but if we were to keep McDonald the impact on the list is pretty minor. Due to his vet status I believe it means we just have one less rookie spot. Regardless, list spots are even less of an issue given the nature of upcoming drafts, the demographics of our list, and the fact that - IMO - we still have a fair bit of dead wood to cut over the next couple of years.

Yes, yes I would. However, if we only had to trade away PJ & Bell for him, sure (they're a decent chance of getting the chop anyway)! However, I was assuming Adelaide's recruitment and trading decisions weren't being made by a Melbourne supporter trying to undermine his employer. In short, I was assuming we'd have to offer up something realistic in terms of draft picks and/or money, both of which I think can be diverted elsewhere for more benefit. PS. Laycock? Jesus.

Normally players come off the injury list and THEN they play for Casey

Bell's fortunate he only dislocated his shoulder. He'd want to do something this season or I think it's curtains.

I'm sure that Casey was originally mooted as an off-season training venue, and then the 1 day p/wk (fortnight?) stipulation slid in there. I find the in-season stuff odd. It doesn't seem like it's in the team's best interests and IMO you can still build a relationship during the winter without training there every week (school visits, Club events, etc). Is there something we can we do there that we can't do in Melbourne?

Surely Bail wasn't a legit shot - you're not going to get a nom with 13 disposals as a flanker-type unless you've also done something special. I don't even think he was Melbourne's most worthy versus Richmond. If he finds a bit more of the ball and kicks a few goals I wouldn't be shocked to see him nab (geddit?) one later in the year though.

There have been some recent threads on JMac, and I think he's doing a job for us at the moment. I'm not sure whether he'll be good enough to hold down a spot long-term. However, that's a moot point for now.

I've got an out-of-the-box thought on this... Maybe CC is busy working. When you're winning you don't need to have the spruik-o-meter set to 11.