hardtack

Yes, I had this image of Eddie as Farmer Hoggett in the film "Babe" calling back the journos after a long week's reporting of the Dees in crisis, telling them "That'll do pigs, that'll do".

So we have roughly halved the deficit? I have the feeling that the turmoil we have experienced as a club over the past few weeks my encourage more lapsed members or people toying with the idea of first time membership, may now sign up... I know I finally took out my membership a few years ago when things were looking very dark for the club, as I thought it was important to get the MFC off its knees.

The problem is that Polis IS EnergyWatch... he is not just the CEO - it is EnergyWatch (Polis Australia P/L).. I have NOT emailed the MFC with regards to this as I trust them to make the correct decision - although I am a bit annoyed that I just spent a bit on a signed St Pat's Day jumper in the auction and have just taken out an additional interstate membership for my youngest son - and as my children are anglo/asian, Polis remaining as a major sponsor does not sit well with me at all. Apologies are not even worth the paper they are written on, as Polis will only be doing it because he has to, not because he wants to; I am pretty certain you will find the club will cut all ties.

So by your comments, I assume that you see some sort of "middle ground"? What might that be then?

yeah, you are probably right DC... I have to admit that I knew nothing of them at all, but that is probably more due to the fact I'm in Sydney and not Melbourne (I don't think they have much of a presence here).

funny... I thought school holidays started tomorrow.

I did... and ignoring it in the hope it will go away is NOT a solution. The press is onto this and if we wish to attract a major FOJ sponsor, then keeping EW as a sponsor will only hinder our chances. Besides, Polis is EW and reading his comments and excuses (he's not a racist because "his cleaner was Asian" and he "once date a girl who was half-Aborigine")... we should not associate our club with him. We see sponsors dump clubs for similar offences, why shouldn't we do likewise? There are plenty of sponsors who like to be associated with brands that are forthright and have rock solid principles... I wouldn't think there are too many who would want to be associated with a club that allows the likes of Polis to remain as a major sponsor after all of the negative publicity he has attracted.

What's your solution then, Einstein?

I would rather a club that is prepared to take a stand against these sorts of neanderthals. If we do what is morally right, that will only enhance our chances of gaining a new sponsor as it will benefit their brand to be associated with an organisation that has sound principles.

+1

And where were all of the critics here last year when EnergyWatch were brought on board as a sponsor? I don't recall any of these issues being brought up on here at that time... hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Huh???

We sometimes hear of sponsors dumping clubs for bringing their brand into disrepute... if it happens and the MFC ditch EnergyWatch, could this be the first time a club has dumped their sponsor for bringing their brand into disrepute?

Was Leigh Williams training with the main group and if so, was he looking sharp? I notice that he will debut at Casey this weekend.

Not sure if it counts as being part of the rebuild (it was DB's first season?), but I would argue that our best win was not that against the Swans, but rather, the come from behind win versus Freemantle (Round 7, May 2008). team was: Bartram Bruce McClean McDonald Wheatley White Green Davey Miller Robertson Moloney Bate Wonna Bell Morton Jamar Garland Warnock Carroll Frawley Rivers Jones Green, Davey. Moloney and Bate were the best of our current crop in terms of possessions.

Dunn on a wing might be a good move? At least if they persist with long bombs to the forwards, he may be able to clear the lot and score.

You singled out Sylvia as using injury as an excuse for his poor performance, when that was clearly not the case according to the article you cited. He was using that as an incentive to improve, and improve he did. I consider your use of "excuse" in that instance to be demeaning of Sylvia and hence my use of the term "rubbishing".

To tell the truth, I didn't even notice Bartram's mark when watching the game :-) As for the Miller mark, yes, that was a great effort... the fact that he missed the resulting shot at goal was raised as a pivotal point in the game on AFL360 by David King; he was saying that if he had slotted that, the Tigers would more than likely have gone on to win the game.

Well, I'm tipping against us in the Tipping Comp... so on that basis, I might go out and have a few dollars on us to win - and that means we should end up with a draw.

Of course it was a reason!! Are you telling me that osteitis pubis would not hinder your development? Are you saying he should make no mention of this in an interview where would have been asked about such things? The main thrust of that article was that he was using those setbacks he cited as motivation to improve himself and he is spot on when he said it was time lost that he wished he could have back - it wasn't an excuse, it was a very honest piece of reflection on his part. As I said, that article is two years old and the past two years have probably seen the biggest improvement in his game - so he was as good as his word. Unfortunately fate has intervened and he has been struck another injury blow... but I suppose you will take the view that he is likely to use that as a reason for any substandard performances he puts in later this year.... sorry, but I really do get sick of all of the unjustified rubbishing that players get on this site.

Thanks for the link (to an almost 2 year old article)... after reading that, I would argue that he was NOT using those early injuries as an excuse at all... he was stating facts and was using that time he had lost as an incentive/motivation to improve himself and indeed it was at about that time that he did start make big steps towards improving his game... osteitis pubis early in his career and more recently interruptions in the form of a broken jaw/cheekbone(?) and now a major back injury are hardly fabrications to be used as excuses - for some they would be almost career ending.

I don't recall Sylvia using early career injury as an excuse... do you have a link to this information?

Either way, we're shot!

Just another forward, but Kurt Tippet's contract is up at the end of this year.

Ok, ok... this is just a distraction, but I woke up this morning with the burning question in my head, "why is a win worth 4 points and a draw 2 points? Why not 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw?" This naturally led me to start thinking (dangerous, I know) but an idea that struck me, and one that I actually think could be worth consideration, would be to have a bonus point for teams that win by a margin of 50 points or more; if for no other reason than to see teams playing the game out and minimising the possibility of those annoying junk time goals. Maybe silly (stupid even), but feel free to discuss if for no other reason than to take a moments respite from the doom and gloom.