bing181

I don't know that I would include Bailey in that. He was always going to be in the crosshairs, and probably didn't have much wriggle room. But you would presume that the other two could have pretty well said as much or as little as they wanted, and taken it as far as they wanted. Which, it seems, they did.

Yep, a minor degree - like injuring his hip and basically missing virtually a whole season. And then having to have an operation the following year to fix it, and having a reduced pre-season. Though that was after the shoulder injury. Last year, how about 6 weeks out with a hamstring? etc. etc. It's not his fourth season, or anything like it. He's had a bit here, a bit there, in stops and starts. No way to build fitness, consistency, experience, or confidence. It's bad enough to go writing off 21 year olds under any circumstances, but at least lets see him string together even one pre-season and season before we get out the hatchets.

Though perhaps not spread across two teams ...

I know this keeps being brought up, but what's the evidence for it? Hard to sack people without having at least some of them feel resentment. Let's not forget also, it's a football club, built around a fairly hard, physical, demanding sport, and most of those employed - and sacked - came up through that. They're competitive by nature, and being fired was never going to sit well, at least with some. And perhaps a bit more with Ian Flack.

Pass on what you heard to the club ... can't hurt! [email protected]

.... when the tanking was obvious to all and sundry. The penalties? Bailey's gone, nothing to do with us, but he's fine. CC will be having an all expenses paid holiday for a year, will be receiving Christmas Hampers from most of the board for the rest of his life, and is currently wondering what to do with the increased salary he'll receive when he returns. And the $500K? Carlton are still paying off theirs. Very, very slowly. (and at a very low interest ….) We keep our future draft picks. We keep all our (key) staff, our CEO, and our Board. We're not guilty of anything, legally speaking (cough cough). We (will) keep our gaming licenses. We'll keep our sponsors, we can tell everyone we didn't tank, and we didn't lose any premiership points. In a week this will all be over, as opposed to it dragging through the courts for a year or two, or rearing its ugly head every year when draft time comes round and we don't get a pick until the third round. We didn't land the AFL in the sh*t, and as a result we won't be playing 5 games a year as the new expansion team in Port Morseby. And finally, we didn't lose Hogan, Dawes and Barry, who we got for less than what we pay Aaron Davey each year. Did I miss anything in what could have, and probably should have, happened? We Won.

In regards to all things MFC/Tanking, the jokedetector has been getting a bit of a hammering of late, so may not be functioning as well as it might in calmer times. I don't know when I've seen so many "this can't be serious" posts that are.

Happy to hear. On the other hand, I'm not so sure about the "ordinary leadership" re the AFL. They've been smart. They've done just enough to give everyone a scare, without doing so much that a) we get really shafted and b) they paint themselves into a corner where they have to go opening enquiries every time someone's bench rotations are down.

Good to see things are returning to normal.

OD, we never hear anything specific re load management, so why would that be the case here? Almost the same re injuries. We found out yesterday Rohan Bail had been in the rehab group with concussion for 3 weeks ... You're jumping to conclusions.

Do we presume then it's Flack? ("Jack Watts will/won't be a star" will suffice for yes/no)

... or load management.

Just been catching up on this thread. Wow. Thank god some of you aren't running the club.

Yes, we guessed that from your avatar.

Flack was Player Development Manager in 2009 - 2010. He became Welfare Officer (perhaps the same thing?) in 2011, which is perhaps where the confusion crept in in the original articles. Though doesn't really change what you're saying. Intriguing. Why would Connolly even be talking about match day strategies with them?

And on other fronts, perhaps we're getting closer to having names named: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/melbournes-payout-for-official-chris-connolly-may-come-later/story-e6frf9jf-1226581439004 "He believes four people confirmed his throwaway line about maximising losses late in the 2009 season - two recruiters, a welfare manager and coach Dean Bailey." Two recruiters? BP and ??? Welfare manager I believe was: Ian Flack. Perhaps that's confirming what's hinted at here: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/toxic-culture-blamed-as-the-afls-tanking-probe-into-the-melbourne-demons-deepens/story-e6frf9io-1226507008112 "Bailey, recruiter Barry Prendergast and welfare manager Ian Flack were all pushed aside in the aftermath of the 2010 season." (actually, it was the 2011 season ....) Interesting, because Ian Flack was linked to the Davey/Nield/Mifsud story: "The Demons yesterday maintained the rumours could have derived from a disgruntled former employee, as the club has undergone major change since Neeld arrived. Ian Flack, the former player welfare manager, was one casualty ...." http://www.smh.com.au/afl/afl-news/circle-of-trust-may-claim-mifsud-20120404-1wd8d.html and from another article on the same subject from our friend CW: "A third party emerged in the mess, with the Demons wondering at the role of former welfare officer Ian Flack in the allegations." and .... "Flack ... has told former colleagues he doesn’t know why he was forced out of the club ...." http://www.smh.com.au/afl/afl-news/grand-old-stoush-demons-take-on-afl-20120404-1wd8f.html#ixzz2LN3UyTFE One for Bagdad Bob perhaps ...

And now Parkin weighs in ... with a confession if I'm reading it right: ""They (AFL) set up a competition where it encourages people to do exactly what they are criticising them for doing. I have been tempted and gone down that road, too." http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/penalty-harsh-on-dean-bailey-and-chris-connolly-says-david-parkin/story-e6frf9jf-1226581456101?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HeraldSunAflMelbourne+%28Herald+Sun+%7C+AFL+-+Melbourne%29

How many ex-employees were there in this? So many? I believe the number was 2, but if you have anything to support there being more than that, be good to share it with us. As for there "probably" being email evidence? If you know for a fact there was, once again, why not let us in on it. If you're just guessing, with nothing to support that, why even bring it up? Even when this whole charade is done and dusted, there are still people speculating ...

Guess no-one got down to training this morning?

Well, me too, but don't know how much we're going to learn if we what we see is basically a Casey side, with a few first-teamers thrown in. We have a LOT of available rookies, first-year players etc. - we're even going to play a 17 year old who isn't any of those - and things are bound to get a bit hit and miss at times. Hopefully we'll know more come selection tomorrow night (I believe).

And not forgetting that Garland was played out of position for a goodly portion of last year, and Tappy missed most (all?) of the pre-season.

Sure, but a) it doesn't change anything about what WE have to now address and B) I just don't know that the other clubs have enough people with axes to grind. For example, who at GWS is going to say "we were instructed to try and lose against GC"? Junior Mac? Mark Williams? And even if another club or three cops a $500K fine, suspensions etc. etc. ... how is that going to help us?

I am. You're saying Neeld can't coach or get the best out of players. Well, let's see.

Gawn gone backwards? He was out all year injured, so how can you say which way he's gone. He didn't play a match.

Acknowledged by everyone, but irrelevant now, and not a defense. If there are charges, either we accept them and move on, or we fight them. It's a bit like bad umpiring decisions. Think we should wait to see what exactly the charges are before getting too far into this.