Hot as Hell

I agree SWYL. There were better ways of handling this little fiasco both by players and by coaches. This is the outcome of media inexperience at every level of the club. Beyond that, it is an overblown beat up on a no news day by the 1000 strong media throng whose lives depend on reporting something. As for Spud Frawley, the Court Jester and Campbell Brown, an accident without a cause, I would hardly acknowledge them the time of day. Even less, consider their opinions carry any weight.

Surely this one matter could not rank high in the list of factors one considers in deciding to support the football club? None of us like the way this was played out in public, but hopefully we can move on and more importantly so can the club.

At the AGM the senior coach stated he listened to the players' concerns and responded to them. It is not an issue of overruling the coach or the FD. It is about a collective group determining the best strategy to achieving collective goals. We no longer live in the 1950s 60s or 70s where the the authoritative tactics of Smithy, RDB or Hafey could go unchallenged or else. Most of us know those days are behind us for better or worse. This has absolutely nothing to do with winning flags. It has to do with establishing minimum performance standards, psychological and physical endurance, character and cameraderie. I am not saying at all that l like the modern approach or endorse it. I am simply saying player management in the 21st century is built around communication and respect of each person's role. This camp was not a line in the sand, a demarcation of will and won't do. It is or was part if a training program to improve the group.

I disagree totally that this is a MFC issue. Every club has its own issues and they always have. The Cats had hand bags the Toiges ate their own etc etc. A training program that clearly had serious player welfare deficiencies last year has been been abandoned as a result of a lack of support from the playing group and recognition by the FD. The players are no less tough and the FD no less demanding. These guys all have a common goal and they know what it us. For outsiders including the mainstream media, social media and posters here, it is easy to focus on the decision and lose sight of the Club's resolve. I refuse to accept any superficial criticism of the players, the coaches or the footy dept will have any impact on our performance next year. In the end, it is performance that writes history. The rest is noise that so easily distracts the restless mob.

A review process of any kind administered by a panel of 1, is just plain stupid. Criticism or allegations of any biases of the individual can be levelled without any viable basis for a defence. Here we are in the 21st century and to quash the noises of the mob created by freedom of speech we impose an adjudication process governed solely by one interpretation of the laws.

That’s how l pencilled in the event as well LoveMyDees. I thought the turn out for the event was fair and about normal so at no time suspected any failure of the club. Until reading this thread.

And since no one on this site (to my limited knowledge) is one of the 65, can anyone cast a stone, one way or another? I love banter and diversity of opinion, but to be useful, it has to be founded on fact. No one here has any real idea of the issues. We can speculate and posture personal opinion on who runs the show the players or the FD but there will be no right or wrong in this place. As a newbie on this site, having withdrawn from another, the self serving and highly opinionated views here seem more like school ground antics than a fan based forum. Let's see how this plays out in the real world shall we. I expect Goodwin and co will wrest control pretty quickly, for better or worse, unity or division.

Mazer, you don't think the coaches will get their way in training over the next couple of months? It may come to pass that a couple of days of so called boot camp would have been a lot easier than a couple of months of slow torture. It depends just a little, on how much retribution will be demanded for the players' rebuttal.

O with a C has much more to prove than the new O with a K. The jury is still out on both. One becuase he has never played an AFL game and the other because he has!

It seems to me the players would be under no illusion as to what the coach expects of them. The players know that ruling out this boot camp is not a way of getting "off the hook" in hardness training. They will be simply challenged and tested in other ways. Posters would be well advised to remember the players know the their pre-season torture can present itself in many forms. The boot camp proceeding or not, is a non issue.

Not a word, old Dee. Seems the members present may have been treated like mushrooms.

Cannot agree with the Goodwin game plan if it demands players place themselves at unnecessary risk of injury, just to appease the coach. Playing hard is absolutely necessary so long as it is also playing smart. I don't know if the players have adopted the right balance just yet. I think the jury is still out on Goodwin, but he will have or should have his full 2 years to prove he is smarter than the narrow minded "go in hard at any cost" epitomised by this year's on field performance and injury list.

It must be true. My next door neighbour's uncle who knows somebody, that knows someone in the club, confirmed Jesse is gone, Freo is his preferred destination.

For some time I have felt the club list, improved somewhat from last year, is capable of 8 wins. That should be our minimum measure of success. As always, MFC will probably win 2-3 we don't expect to win, and lose a couple that we don't expect to lose. Predicting specific wins/losses is no easily during the season than it is before the season starts. Losing to St Kilda last year in Round 1 was one of the "upsets" that was extremely discouraging (to be polite).

It is a donation to the club since winning is what the side is paid to do anyway. That said, I signed up on day 1 and hope it costs me a packet, though somehow, like last year, I may get out of this deal cheaply.

I saw him play at St Bede's a couple of years back against a nephew of mine. Christian was certainly playing in the forward half but as a bit of a ball magnet, very often drifted to what we'd call a centreman role in the old lingo. He is a very strong/clean mark and stand out leader on the field. But even then, he struggled with his precision disposal skills and in his own flamboyant way, let everyone know. He seems a good young fella. This serious injury seems so cruel.

It is a shame that the many AFL level players of the last 5-10 years whose careers were forever damaged did not get a chance to see you for their rehab.

Good to hear TDI. Trenners will relate to Christian. BTW, if Christian regards himself as a forward, he'd better polish up his kicking. I have seen him goal shooting at the end of 2 training sessions and he would be lucky to be 50/50 at 45 metres under no pressure. I wish him well, and hope that if it is a forward he will be, he will use his time later in the year to practice doing what forwards are paid to do. His junior days as a ruck rover type were how he made his name and missing targets was not such a big deal when you got 35 - 40 possessions a game.

Christian's football career has been seriously thrown into doubt with one of the most serious injuries any mid could get. I hope the club has the right people around him for what will be a long, frustrating year. I don't know how I would deal with this injury and what the prognosis is. Whether he can come back in 2016 and have the confidence in his body needed of a mid, is yet to be seen. Good luck young fella.

Elimination of co-captains strengthens the leadership roles and our captain & vice positions could not be in better hands. Am very pleased to see Dunny recognised and heartened that the group saw so much in H to vote for him after just a pre-season.

Please don't wake me up! This dream will end soon enough on its own.

I'd take Heritier in a heartbeat. Let's not forget we currently have less than 20 AFL level players on our list, each year we get the chance to add 3 or more, Harry (Heritier) would be one, straight up. With some good trades, we could add 5 AFL grade players this year and for the first time in many years, have some reasonable quality depth.

This issue has been reduced to circular and then semantic arguments between posters who actually agree with each other. Sociologists teach this stuff to uni students. Have had my fill of this thread. Over and out.

Hi Nutbean. You may get 100% for maths covering both heads and tails but my suggestion was we should plan forward on the basis that Chip IS NOT playing in Red & Blue after 2014. The likelohood of him changing his mind (or his management) at this late stage is minimal, and our realistic potential to play in finals in the short term is even slimmer. Chip is a good player who is highly sought after by clubs "topping up" for a tilt at the flag. Ultimately, the impulse for on field success, as much as the money, should see him moving on.

Paul, you have thrown up some good arguments for us to throw at the AFL for a PP. As all here have said, it is anyone's guess whether the AFL would even entertain a PP discussion, but if you don't ask you won't get.