DEE fence

Hi Old Dee totally agree as to why we've been toilet water, my comment about supporters was referencing all the drivel (IMHO) I have heard about players from supporters of all clubs, and that I don't think the MFC is particularly afflicted with daft supporters beyond the standard mean. I would say that 'the same passion created by five years in the bottom 6 with two last finishes.' has revealed a surprising level of stoicism and a justified level of cynicism amongst our supporters. That said, I'm on my second marriage, so am a proven optimist, and can add myself to the daft supporter list. Cheers

and Tom Hawkins took how long ? He doesn't get forever, I'd agree with that, but some just take that little longer, I wish he was tearing it apart but the coach is prepared to stick with him I will too for another season. All supporters are ordinary judges of footballers, it's the passion that gets in the way of the judgement, live with it.

Of course the current team could become a premiership side, the margins between best and worst now days seem to be pretty narrow and I agree with all the comments about depth of your list. Geelong and Sydney both had an excellent no DH policy that worked really well for them that gave them an edge in team synergy (had an interesting chat with the Costa family about that), and I think Neeld has the same no DH approach which will work for us. But and its a big but is injuries, so much comes down to injuries and the tribunal, we lost Strawbs before the 88 GF, in 2000 half our guys were shattered Farmer had busted ribs, (and Essendon was on fire), Sydney kept Barry and that worked pretty well for them. That is why if we are top four for a while over the next few years I'd be happy (as long as we stop losing the games we should win in a canter) because there is always a bit of luck in getting up on GF day since the advent of modern footy.

ripper good smile

Stuie "it's just when he gets around the old boys club he goes back into Saturday night at Inflation mode..." gold

Reckon he looks like a Viking, keep it

If they drug tested the legal fraternity...well Vatican 2 would like a card shuffle in a game of snap.

Think 'Gilchrist conquers the world' tsunami benefit match

many thanks for this - always appreciate people who post links

I remember watching my brother kick four goals in the 1st quarter in a GF match up in Sydney, before in the last 30 secs of the 1st quarter, after the whistle had been blown, and he was standing still on the boundary for the throw in, completely defenseless, when his opposition defender has run up behind him and spear tackled him into the ground so that his head bent sideways and he was knocked completely cold. Anyway in the final quarter we were sitting on the bench together (and he was due to retire after the game, in our family we eat our body weight in Voltarin 200mg, his knees were kaput) and he was begging the coach to be on the field so that he had some memory of playing in the game. The coach relented ( my brother is very convincing ) and I was torn terribly (having seen him as a KPF get bashed in the head many time over the years). And I still feel that it was a terrible mistake for him to have gone back onto the pitch. He had an AFL career stolen from him by a thug in Frankston that destroyed his back when he was on St Kilda's list at age 18. It was another 4 years before he was able to play properly again, so we never got to see where he could have really taken his skills, so this GF game really meant something to him. My point is to Rohan Bail's family - get him to get the very best advice from the very best neurosurgeon, he is too precious to you, and it is to hard for someone to train as hard as they do, to get where they are, to give up when they can't see the injury. edit: doing to many thing at once with my own brain trauma - edited for some of the grammar mistakes and typos

If he is 75% of a Jonothan Brown I'd be very stoked, the only drama I have is keeping all my fingers and toes crossed for the next 14 months that nothing happens to him or the other forwards, I really want to see all three on the park at the same time. We will kick some cricket scores.

I agree it could have been worse, it just really feels like we rolled over in the end. I would rather we spent 500K on legal fees than a fine. I guess I'm a supporter that cannot be pleased...sorry.

How is this a brilliantly crafted settlement, it doesn't feel like it. I mean maybe it is but please explain, I honestly feel gutted and very bad for DB. To me it's a case of 'Charge Proven-No conviction donation to the court box'. For ever and a day all that will be remembered and written about is the 500k fine, that's the stain on the cIub I don't like.

Former Melbourne star David Schwarz yesterday told the Herald Sun a negotiated settlement would save the league from significant fallout. "This is such a hard decision for the AFL. This would have gone to court. Melbourne doesn't have to pay for legal representatives, because it has more lawyers than supporters." Am pondering my feelings about being the club of choice for lawyers (please don't take offense WJ)

...shorter i'm guessing

i wonder how this thread would look if we used our real names?

You better shut up now before the Israelites around here start wailing that we have only been crap for the last 40+ years, yeah we all wish there had been a flag or three, but I reckon we've had two periods where we played good footy (and possibly even had a good culture). PS: sorry to hijack your point... and yes might even be off topic...

I always thought this is one of the more unforgivable sins of a footy player and something I've hated about our team. The other bloke might be a better kick than you, but a VFL player can shepherd. One of the things that I hope is fixed about our new beut team is backing each other up. I was so rapt when Watts and Rivers did it on the boundary last season. edit: have no clue how to spell bewt colloquially.

Valid Point - While it throws the credibility into doubt of the accusers if you explain the political nastiness that was going on at the time, I really think we would be better served by sticking fast as a club and presenting a united front, even to those that have left the fold.

This is brilliant news, a fit Davey would be such a blessing as he is not a might/may be a star, he is a star when fit and right, I was sure he is cooked, happy happy joy joy, if he's not done yet.

While I totally agree with Martin Flanagan's comments about US style sports hype having no place in our game, and don't want songs after goals or halftime, I feel the club song should be reserved for a win, to sing it before the game always felt like a jinx. So I wouldn't mind a run out song as long as it is: 1. Australian 2. Not metal (and friends, I respect your love of Slayer et al. but not everyone quite gets it) 3. Not pop, not opera, am sorry but this needs Bass, no Ride of the Valkyries. (I love Paul Kelly, MFTCC etc but its not a run out song) Maybe a PM should be sent to RR to organize a special poll for this. I reckon there have been some ace suggestions, but am with Deeludued and BB59 - Thunderstruck is timeless, I would love the Dropkick Murphys, reckon its a ripper song but not Aussie, same goes for some others like RATM, White Stripes (Icky Thump), so many others As a smoky Midnight Oil has a few good riffs that always get me fired up on a run. Thought about Spiderbait etc but again don't think it would grab enough of the mob (also as much as I like 'fuckin awesome' as a song if we had a poo game... well the puns I can live without)

1990 really killed me when the pies cracked it for another flag, we have been a slow moving target for their crap ever since and I have a list 22 years long that I'm going to get back to when we finally have some of our own success

you have to forgive the poor little fella, he does actually only see in black and white, you need to get a cray fish for red and blue

Has anyone 'cough' bought a membership for their cat/dog, non football loving family members... i might have am just curious I always thought the actuals would be about 90% of what ever figure is garnered, but that's just an opinion

I think Rivers, while a different character, will do a Pike and have a great run at Geelong.