DEE fence

Really a shame Dogs and Hawks played each other 1st up

A different point of view expressed respectfully, thank you.

Thank you Kate, you were president during a period of sustained success. And when tensions arose you were happy to step down with grace, allowing a safety valve for the pressure in the club to be released. There will be others who have responsibility for issues the club is facing, who are not acting with your dignity, in many ways you were on a hiding to nothing. You are a class act. Note that Kate stepping down like this and in this time frame was not picked up by the media so well done club. I wish Brad Green success, personally I was not a fan of the training standards he set when he was captain, a prodigious talent but as a player I felt like he occasionally picked and chooses when he went. Also a touch of FIGJAM and his stuff on COVID didn't strike me as a leader, even though I do support his right to have a different opinion. All that said, I do believe he has Melbourne at heart and hope his better angels seek to guide him to unify the club rather than take a zero sum approach to whatever conflict is going on. Personally I think Kate's most magnificent achievement was backing the coach 100% and ignoring the haters when she did so. We wouldn't have won a flag otherwise.

Considering the media drivel we've recently been torched with, I actually really want Footscray to win. I think that club and especially the coach have had to endure some truly mean and false invective, on a par with us, earlier this season, and the Dogs winning would shove it right in Caro/Cornes/Morris's heartless gobs.

Thanks @goodwindees who made clear it was another club asking, no harm in asking. Just take NO for an answer please. I get we are all on hair triggers ATM. People asking questions drivers perceived value up and as was said, alot more gets talked about than done in this space. There is the perfect video for this btw.

Am glad you clarified that the club is not shopping him around. Out of curiosity does this news come since the ALF announced future picks from 2 years out can be traded?

Fair dinkum, this is the best example of tall poppy syndrome. I don't care how much of a campaigner Danger is, he's an outstanding footballer, like having a go at the All Blacks, you can hate em, but respect for what he's done over the journey. At 34 and a 1/2, he's still above his average for disposals and had an impact on metres gained.

Does Ken even last to the Semi's, this is an epic fail. I am truly staggered at how one sided just tuning in now.

White Ball Ashes coming up, keen to atone for that T20 misstep - was definitely looking forward to some banter with foreign mates, if we had carried the Test championship, retained the Ashes, the Limited Overs AND the T20, a quadrella to stand for a long time. I don't feel like the current team gets quite enough love, in some ways they are still operating under the shadow of the Ponting era - Warne, Gilchrist, Hayden, McGrath etc. We are actually still in a very rich vein of form.

To me standards = effort, and I felt he was impeded by injury, he had a terrible year but I don't see anything wrong with his attitude and I feel like with a fair run he will surprise many.

The entire AFL playing list would run at 80% Scallywag, AFL Media more like 95%. When checking ANZAC spirit, a source of national pride, the characteristics are a perfect synonym for scallywag. Jon Ralph on the other hand comes across as an insidious Colonel Blimp.

With respect: Bowey - lost confidence somewhere and started floating his kicks, making his kicking easier to defend for opposition (I do think he will recover) I felt that after he got a few knocks he was a little like Hunt post that major concussion he had. Fritsch - much the same but he is much better defended by opposition - he needs help from the forward coach to make some space, he has looked good when used as a decoy. Gawn = Goat Langdon = 24 was better that 22+23 Lever = nothing has dropped May = absolutely stoic the way he has worked through injuries. McDonald = better season than the last 3 incl premiership year. We would have been massacred without him down back this year. Trac was top 4 in coaches votes when injured Petty = standards have not dropped but suffered under/returning from injury - confident about 25 Pickett =great improvement in discipline Rivers = continued growth Salem = thought he was getting better but off the boil again - really a shadow of 21 self. needs a big pre season, we are adifferent side when he is playing well. Spargo = lost year Sparrow = happy for someone to argue why I got this wrong but wasn't happy with his season at all, ball watching, minimal contested possessions despite being built like a truck, should watch Butters highlights, if he chooses to carry that much weight he should use it as a weapon. Viney = just friggin awesome, you can see the games he doesn't dominate are only because he's smashed up, elite still, couldn't be more proud.

I stopped using twitter 6m+ ago but for this I reopened my account, really got up my nose too.

I get your point, I have personal knowledge of the West Coast times, and it was like something from Wolf of Wall Street, alarms were being sounded and ignored (definitely because of success) not least by the fat controller Andrew Dillon (excuse Tom d Tank ref. I just broke my own instructions to my kids not to denigrate people on appearance)... hypocrite

It's not even immaturity, everyone talks, it's the reasons spys and journos have jobs, 80% of the internet in Australia (one of humanities' greatest achievements) is dedicated to social networks, (would have thought something else). Expecting footballers and anyone around them to be a Mauna or monk undertaking a vow of silence is unlikely to say the least. Leaking, Gossip etc is always going to be there. That people here buy into it so quickly as definitive information, is Exhibit A in listing MFCSS as a clinical disease in the ICD. The evidence that the MFC is not a bin fire is not as exciting as the gossip, just read a training report and look at the sum total of all our games good and bad in the last 5 years and I say the thing that stands out is the collective endeavour, not the failures.

Rapt for Daisy with the win, will never forget her telling Gill on 360 she's only playing for Melbourne. Hope she has a great season, could definitely see her coaching Men down the track as an assistant, and who knows maybe even as Head Coach, however fully acknowledge that it's unlikely. Would be a spectacular story.

As a peninsula kid, Ringwood was the end of the earth and traffic hell to get there, nothing against the place but boy o boy geographically inconvenient

You haven't said anything ? Give some reasons.

We survived our Dusty moment. There are 3 sports for AFL journalists: 1 Sack a Coach 2 Trade a player 3 Sack a President Via innuendo and deceit. Trac having issues was true I concede that (apologies to @Jaded who had a much better take than me) but the media filth pushed this as hard as they could.

Sorry to quote myself, but wanted to link it to this article in the Age which I think is a really good step forward. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/australia-drive-multimillion-dollar-fund-to-save-test-cricket-20240822-p5k4ef.html

Hear hear. Sad that the off field stuff is distracting, he didn't look his happiest at the function. Liked Robbo's comment that others are too used to him being good. Every positive adjective is appropriate Legend, Elite, GOAT.

Massive congratulations - I desperately want him to get a 9th and another flag, he'll be a AFL legend after that. That's where I think he sits. ( I think he is already, just he'll need those stats to get through the bias against anything Melbourne).

Hamish Blake OAM, would make more sense, we are a comedy worthy of Black Adder. Has a gold logie and is not a lawyer (no offence).

Just No, with great respect to him as a Melbourne footballer and ex captain, and has shown the ability to learn across the journey, (his mea culpa on Racism was fantastic) but he doesn't have the EQ to lead the club. President is an OK job when things are good, but you need to have savant level EQ intelligence for when stuff is bad.

When did Neeld start working with the playing group again????