Slartibartfast

Apologies. They were in the other Election thread.

My thoughts on Peter are posted earlier in this thread. But these are my personal views. What happened in the election is just wrong, that's the issue.

Okay, here is what you need to know about the MFC Directors Election recently held. The constitution of the Club gives the Board absolute discretion to determine how elections are run. Board rules were established quite some time ago allowing electioneering so long as materials were cleared by the company secretary. This would allow candidates to state their positions on issues to the membership giving the membership knowledge of candidates and their policies and an ability to make an informed choice. However once Peter Lawrence announced he would run for election the Board issued new rules declaring that there would be no electioneering and that candidates would be limited to 150 words outlining their qualifications and policy positions. Any person who broke these rules would be disqualified from being a Director of the Club. Subsequently in January all members received an email from Glen Bartlett, well in excess of 150 words, outlining his and the Club view on who should be elected. Peter Lawrence was excluded. When I contacted Peter Lawrence (who was the only candidate to supply an email and telephone number in his 150 word bio) to confirm he was the Peter Lawrence I once worked with I received the following reply: “It is me. Hope you’re well. Candidates are precluded from talking about the election- the only communication we can have with members is what is contained in the 150 word election statement. Regards Peter” This situation raises many issues, not least why members were precluded from communicating with Directors, who represent us, to canvas their qualifications and policy positions. This was not a fair and open election but one manipulated by the current Board to achieve their desired outcome. I don’t know any of the current Board members other than one dinner with Brad Green who I voted for and think is an outstanding candidate. What I know is the Board has denied the members the opportunity to fairly evaluate candidates and have orchestrated a situation where only their chosen candidates had a realistic chance of success. These actions by our Board do not sit with the principles of democracy and I for one now have reason to distrust them. What are they hiding? If any Board member reads this and wants to discuss it with me PM me with your mobile number and I’ll provide my identity and give you an opportunity to respond. This behavior by the Board is utterly disgraceful and bitterly disappointing.

But Dazzle if Kobe was pushing for round one then he'd be list anyway wouldn't he regardless of whether Kossie was away or not. You seemed to say that BECAUSE Kossie was away Kobe was an extra chance of being listed. That's just doesn't make sense to me. Kossie not being right for round one wouldn't impact of Kobe's chance of being listed. Kobe being listed will depend on him being good enough. Therefore I can't see a link you suggested was there. Given your understanding of the ability of young players and knowledge of the indigenous community I was just interested if there was something I was missing.

Yes I know, but you seemed to link Kossie's situation with Kobe's possible promotion. I don't get the connection and was wondering what it was.

Dazzle can you explain the link between Kossie being absent and the rumour of Kibe Farmer being offered a spot on the list?

This Thursday’s scratch match?? Tomorrow?? When. Where?. Thanks.

Thanks to all the trackwatchers, great stuff. I've noticed that there has been very little mentioned of Rivers and was wondering how he seemed to be going. I think it was reported that he played in the "B" team last week. Any observations appreciated.

Sorry, quite right, it's right to say they were very impressive PS trainers. I wasn't posting to antagonise but I think most know that.

You wouldn’t understand.

Warning: I've been a consistent track watcher for over 15 years and two of the most impressive PS trainers I've ever seen were Sam Blease and James Strauss. I wish Rosman all the very best and will be thrilled if he is what we all want but like most I've not seen him play and I have no expectations - neither optimistic or pessimistic.

Sage words Ding, I suspect falling on barren ground. But then what would a preseason be without some excitement!

Many thanks, what an effort in that weather! Did Petty play?

A bit like this posts.

Gawn a bit stiff to miss!

Did Jordon play with the Blue team or White team? Thanks for making the effort BBP and for the detailed report.

Fantastic, thanks to all. Really appreciate it.

The record needs to be set straight. JJ's "lack of grit" is a myth. I've watched him at Casey on numerous occasions and haven't once seen him "lack grit", in fact I've seen the opposite on many occasions. The claim by Dr. D is just silly.

Thanks.

I’m surprised nobody has mentioned James McDonald. Captain, All Australian and a much underrated midfielder, Junior deserves to be in this discussion. Yze and Johnstone as well but they were perhaps not the pure midfielders for consideration. I think there is always a tendency to remember players as they were at the end of their careers and hence current players are favoured but McDonald was top shelf. Having said that I think Oliver wins but Petracca will challenge.

Just a quick note of thanks to those who have put together phantom drafts, Goodoil and Gawndog. There is often not much discussion following these but that in just an indication that not many have knowledge of the draft and can't really comment. Hence this thankyou, you are giving us an insight we value. The player descriptions are fantastic because come draft night we will have an instant reference to the type of player we get and what we can look forward to. I'm sure I speak for many when I say we are very appreciative.

Like many here I thought Oscar was better than many rated him but in a sense it's a relief to see him go because I hated the spiteful and unnecessary comment that followed him on here. I met Oscar once at training last year and couldn't have been more impressed. Articulate, thoughtful and intelligent he is in the process of finishing a science degree at Melbourne University. If he wants to be picked up then I hope he is but I suspect he might focus on his career after footy. Good luck Oscar in whatever you do, I wish you every success. You can be very proud of what you achieved, very few play over 50 AFL games. My avatar isn't changing for a while yet.

I know. Thanks.

There's a thousand page thread on Goody (which I haven't read) so I don't want to derail this one. But I'm "big picture". Goody has shot two Bambi's - Watts and Hogan. Both were excellent calls and both took a lot of guts from a young coach. And we've attracted so many good people - Burgess, Richardson, May, Lever, Langdon and others who all had opportunities to go elsewhere. They woundn't have come if they didn't have faith in Goodwin and the rest of the Club. And apart from 2019 our performances have reflected or exceeded our ability. 2019 was understandable if you take the view that players are humans who when injured or unfit or lack match practice won't perform at their peak. Some don't accept this. And this year, while disappointing, was understandable when our draw and travel was compared to others. His performance in 2018 was exceptional and coaches don't get worse with age. And I've met him briefly and he's impressive.

I think this is a classic case of confirmation bias. Here is what I think: we are short of small backs. Jetts is cooked (sadly), Hibbo is very close to the end and beyond that we have Salem and Rivers who are AFL quality small backs and I suspect Rivers may well finish elsewhere. Lockhart is a WIP and I'm struggling to think of other small backs. we have an abundance of mids. Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw, Petracca are all ahead of Harmes for inside mid stuff so the FD decided that they should see how Harmes goes in the HB role. That's not mismanagement. He trained there all PS and appeared to do well. We played him there for most of this season but most would agree it didn't work. If the info from LN is true the FD have recognized this and will move Harmes back to the role he plays best and they will no doubt look to fill the HB role with someone else. I've read this forum for a long time and couldn't count the number of times I've seen posters suggest players play in different position. The FD tried to utilize Harmes more effectively off a HBF and it didn't work. So they change it back. That's damning, not. So where is this Goody's "mismanagement and people skills". I accept that Harmes would probably prefer to play elsewhere but like the vast majority of players he'll willingly go where he's most valuable to the team. So he didn't complain. Goody recognized the experiment didn't work so he's changed it. Good management in my book. LF where have you heard "different rules for different players"? My reading is Goody is pretty ruthless. Hogan and Watts will testify to that. Goodwin's job security relies on success so he is hardly going to play favourites at the expense of team success. How often have I seen on DL "he needs to have five or six weeks to show what he's got" and yet when someone doesn't perform and continues to get a game it's "Goody's favourites". I think the concept of "Goody's favourites" is rot, but it's just a view. I like Goody and so I'll support him here. I can't see he's done much wrong. Mahoney too. 2021 is clearly critical to their futures as a disappointing year will probably mean the end for both but I'm fairly accepting of last year. We just aren't as good as the top teams and we were consistent in our performances against the rest except for Swans and Freo where we were cooked and were dealt a terrible hand by the AFL. And finally on Dr Evil. I've got close contacts at the Club and hear things from time to time. I heard Smith was 100% ours. I think he was until Chris Scott clearly gave him a better offer and Smith changed his mind. It happens. BTW, if I hear something I'm not sharing it on a footy forum. If I do the information I get will dry up and my view is we all find out in the end. I mean really, what does a week matter? We'll know by next Friday what's happened. Having said that I enjoy the rumours and treat all of them as rumours regardless of the "certainty" of the poster. Edit: much of what I've said has been posted as I typed. Apologies for not referencing those before me.