hardtack

It may be just the NAB cup, but this game was important - just look at the Bomber's reaction - where are the Bailey supporters now?

I'm happy to say that I'm a Bailey supporter. After he managed to get us up and running last season with a marked improvement in the sides performances, I am not prepared to write him off after a NAB cup game.

I am new to this site, so that comment makes little sense. And even before tonight I though we were way of top 4 and not a certainty for finals. We are a young (and exciting) side, but we still have a lot of work to do as a team, especially in terms of development of young players. I am very much looking forward to season, and I only said hibernate as I have no interest in the NAB cup when Melbourne is out.

Just to enlighten you then.. MFCSS = MFC Supporter Syndrome. This is the belief that a loss equates to the footy equivalent of the end of the world. It most commonly manifests itself in the pre-season or early rounds.

The response was to your initial post which didn't illuminate on your belief as to how you already thought we would perform... I for one, believe we are still a good chance to make the finals at the time of the year it matters.

Time to hibernate until Round 1. Got a lot of work to do and for those that said top 4 four us, not gonna happen. Got our work cut out to mark top 8 in my opinion,

Gee it didn't take long for the old MFCSS to kick in.

A little buzz on AFL 360. Melbourne has offered 1.9 million $ for four years to Scully. Didn't hear the full story as was on the phone.

Hope it's true - Hope he takes it!

Not a "little buzz" at all! It was a suggestion from a viewer that was part of their little judging panel where viewers send in suggestions and they score them between 0 - 10 with zero being absolutely no way and 10 being definitely yes. That suggestion got 1's.

Yup.

We may well run it out better, but we've been the lesser side.

I disagree. We have won two of the three quarters played so far and the game has run in ebbs and flows. Sure, they have played the prettier football, but we haven't stayed with them because of their mistakes (they aren't making many) and we haven't had the advantage of more frees (they are ahead on that score as well I would think), we have simply played good football in bursts.

Just watching an interview with Cale Morton and if he wasn't so ugly, he'd get a spot on the Footy Show or whatever. He's comfortable in front of the camera and can make a couple of light-hearted jokes. Doesn't freeze up or anything. Just thought I'd add that.

He actually struck me as being a bit like a rabbit in the headlights. It was a bit awkward when he was answering the questions about injury to various players, and when they asked him "what about Scully", he went straight into the well drilled response regarding whether he will sign or not, when all they wanted to know was how his knee was coming along :-) But in his favour, he did make a good recovery.

Bailey's contract is up at the end of this season. That may (or may not) even contribute.

Don't tell me he's going to GWS as well??!!?

Have you deleted my earlier post about your attacks setting a poor example?

Actually, your post and the post preceding it (that you had commented on and which was a response to my post) have both been removed.

I also think it was a terrible piece of journalism but let's do something about it, rather than limiting to just demonland. May the demon force be with u nutbean!

I agree, which is why I initially placed the comment on the AFL Facebook page that led to the "news" item on the AFL website the other day... I even suggested here that people post their own comments to get the message to the AFL that we weren't happy with Phelan's article and their implicit support of it - unfortunately very few did comment; if only as many had commented there as have commented here...sigh!

And nutbean, if you want any help "editing" your article for them, feel free to pass it by me (despite my often shoddy posts here, I am a technical writer by trade).

Oh, and I had to laugh at their comment "...As with any other it will be edited, but fairly." - does that mean that the Phelan article was edited "fairly"? Makes me wonder what their definition of "fair" might actually be.

Like the confidence of "see him in the semi" from Hardtrack!

I am confident that we will make the semis... however, since I found out the grand final is on Friday 11th I'm less confident about our chances of progressing that far... I was certain we would make it to (and win) the GF simply because I fly out to LA on the morning of the 12th and I thought it was on the night of the 12th. I'm sure that makes sense; I think.

Ha ha no you didnt say that at all.You blamed MFC performances on the lack of TV coverage. Caught you.

To interject for a moment, I would have interpreted WYL's use of the word "floundered" as meaning the membership (hence financial stability of the club) suffered. He has merely given a more detailed explanation later as to why there was so little TV coverage.

still no Scully then?? Last week Bailey said it was minor hamsting soreness and he would be ok for this week.

...

Anyone have anything further on his fitness at the moment?

It was "minor knee soreness" (not hamstring) and according to today's practice report, he was doing some light work with strapping on the knee... so probably simply a case of not wanting to risk aggravating it.

Off topic, but according to Jones, Wona's been training really well, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the semi.

Is Jones likely to play tomorrow night?

According to Chunk's twittering, he is looking forward to playing on Thursday... so I suppose the answer is, Yes.

Thanks guys... I was expecting it to be just a small item hidden away out of sight on the AFL site, but it's at the top of their news items; very surprised. Oh and C&B, are you a Chiaki Kuriyama (aka Gogo Yubari) fan? :-)

The AFL has since posted a response to my comment (see cited topic towards the top of the previous page) inviting comment; it's on the AFL + other part of their Wall on Facebook:

"Here is the article Tim is not happy about: http://afl.to/fY9bXp What do others think? One point that should be made, Tim, is that Jason's views are his own. He wasn't commissioned or pressured by the AFL to write the piece."

Please feel free to go and add your comments to the topic.

Was rather surprised today to find that the AFL website went to the trouble of responding to my comment on their Facebook page, by devoting an entire article (this article), to it.

Reported on Demonology that Chris Connolly at a function last night reported he had spoken to Tom and his Manager and they state they have not had one conversation with GWS.

Good enough for me. Can we please close this thread now?? 1296 posts is enough isn't it??

Really? I have just been looking through all of the posts made today on Demonology that could possibly have referenced a function that occurred last night (not really so many posts to look through) and I cannot find anything at all... could you please provide a link.

Granted and I'm trying to get in back on track. Any problems with that?

No problems with that at all.

This argument has turned into too much about the girl if i may say so myself.

Maybe that had something to do with your first comment that generated this current line of discussion: "I hate that girl"?

Does this girl think she knows what she is doing ? Absolutely. I think her actions and the outcomes show she actually has zero idea.

Exactly right... from 16 on, many kids tend to think they are bullet-proof, but that is a case of belief and reality being two very different things. This girl may well be very smart and will probably do quite well for herself out of this by selling her story etc etc... but the sad thing is that she doesn't seem to realise the long term impact that this is going to have on not only the people she has targeted, but also on her own life.

This is a no-win situation for both the girl and for Nixon... although I do get the feeling she may have a career waiting for her with the A Current Affair team in a few years (and there is no pun intended). As much as we may dislike Nixon's persona and as much as we may accuse him of gross stupidity in this instance, I still can't help but feel some pity for him, as his whole life is unraveling in a very big way; he could end up losing absolutely everything.

Collingwood & Essendon are the 2 richest clubs in Victoria, & they are the only 2 clubs to not have a "Real" clash jumper.

That to me says everything. We the MFC just have to get bigger & fight hard for our heritage.

I certainly hope we wear our Trad jumper on thursday night.

I remember when it was good enough just to wear black or white shorts to denote home or away... blame whoever decided to colour coordinate team outfits.

St Kilda's Bill Stephenson came to my school in 1963... somehow managed to win his autograph and gave it to my mother, who from that day on until she passed away was a Saints supporter. Also in the 60's, my best friends brother-in-law was Hawthorn's Gary Young who was a very good player up until he was badly injured in an on-field incident and never played. again.

that is crazy talk, he is coming 5th as a second year player in a team of stars, he is obviously rated! He is beating FRawley, All-Australian and B+F runner-up last year!

Yeah, you're probably right :-) But my comments were based on a combination of the amount of distress his possible departure was causing and the fact that he was 8th in his first year and could be expected to do a lot better this year with a year and a full pre-season behind him (which is why I picked him in my top 3).

I think you're trying to read between lines that aren't even there

Not really... it was a genuine question. You read the Scully thread on here and 'ology and you would think that the club will sink without him (not that I think he will go), yet no one seems to rate him just yet :-)

This is the one aspect that really hasnt been touched on here. The concept of best for the club vs best for the player. I remember Geelong players two years ago and if memory serves me right, Essendon during their heyday taking paycuts to keep their squad together.

I am hoping that money is not the number one motivating factor and a compromise is available where both player and club are both happy.

One thing that I really don't understand in all of this, and this probably leads me to consider Sylvinator's post appropriating blame to Scully as being unreasonable, and that is, just how much control does a player manager have? Does he have to act on the player's instructions, or does the contract give the manager the power to make decisions regarding when to negotiate and when not to negotiate? Can management contracts muzzle players when it comes to commenting publicly on contract negotiations or quelling media/supporter speculation? I get the feeling that Scully is a pawn in a much bigger game, but I also get the feeling he will stay and that this is all about his manager getting him the best possible deal once the adjusted salary cap resulting from the TV Rights etc (is that right?) is a known factor.