The Jacks

Whether you rate Warnock highly or not, when one (or god forbid two or all three) of Chip, Rivers and Garland are unavailable, we NEED Warnock, desparately.

F*&king hell, have not read any of this and won't bother. I came in here for a quick check to see if the world had ended after last night's loss in A PRE-SEASON GAME one month away from the first game of the home and away season. It seems it almost has.

Overall I'd say Watts has close to the best kick at the club. Davey is up there with his field kicking, but probably no one else

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

According to Wikipedia (yeah, I know) Jurrah has 41 goals in 17 games... So if he gets close to a full season in, a chance to play week-in, week-out, he can easily kick 50 goals. As you said, he can easily kick 4-5 in a game, so if he played a full season the chances are he could do this plus absolutely go nuts in a game where we thrash someone and could realistically kick 10 goals one day soon. I actually had a sneaky bet with a mate about this time last year that Jurrah would kick 50 goals in 2010. Might have to see if he's up for it in 2011, although I'm guessing the odds will be a little different. 67-1 is worth a fiver, I reckon. Does anyone put out odds for the 2012 season this early? I'd love to put $10 on Sylvia for the 2012 Borwnlow and $10 on Jurrah for the 2012 Coleman before the odds go down massively after they both have big years. A sneaky bet on us for the 2012 flag now might also look good by this time next year...

So exciting to think of the prospect of Davey being there to play with LJ, Aussie, Bennell and the likes of Scully, Trengove, Watts, Grimes and Ferawley for the next 3-5 years and beyond once Davey is no longer playing. Haven't looked forward to a season like this one in... well, never. Not because I think we're a show in for finals, top 4 in 2012 and a flag in 2013. But because we have a genuinely exciting team of young players that a re a joy to watch in full flight. Once these guys get used to playing with each other, understand each other's games a bit better, and we start to play with some consistency (week after week, season after season), we are going to be something special. Davey would have been my choice for captain, obviously that is coming from an outsider. My worry with Green is that when he eventually starts to decline, it will be fast (hopefully not until 2012 at least).

Don't get distracted by the silly free-kicks Davey gives away when he gets frustrated at taggers. Davey is brilliant at picking up possesions no matter what attention he is getting and I think he will continue to have a huge impact on our team as other midfielders like Sylvia, Scully and Trengove start to take their game to another level this season.

Davey Jamar Green Jones Moloney Frawley You do realise that if that happens Jurrah could win the Coleman Medal? If that happens this season we are guaranteed to be playing finals. If Jurrah plays 20+ home & away games then 50 goals is a more realistic aim. 100+ goals from Jurrah, Green and Petterd would be nice!

We're a show in for finals now, after Friday night. Don't get me wrong, had we lost one or both of the games we would be in serious trouble, but we won both games and now we're looking the goods for season 2011...

Even if you've only played the game at an amatuer level you'd know that the players will not be thinking about bullsh1te "hoodos" at certain grounds. Teams change from year-to-year, form goes up and down, teams are not always at their best. And it's the pre-season and win means... not much at all. It's good to see us playing well and winning, but it doesn't really matter. As long as our preparations for the season on relatively on track, then I'd be happy. Who we play, at which ground, all things being equal, means absolutely nothing.

I'll be in Sydney this weekend

The second we let the media influence any decison we make we a re fecked ("we" being the club). Would be nice to see this fire and outrage in the stands during the season, focused on supporting ouyr players and putting the opposition off their game, instead of directing anger at our own players or on these forums.

Two questions: (1) What are the "new" rules (in summary) for this competition? (2) Why would we pick players for this game(s) based on their ability to kick a 9-point-goal if they rule doesn't exist in the games that matter?

I thought MFCSS would have stood for something cleverererer than that. I give you guys way too much credit! That is effing lame.

Rather than trying to be clever and look for omens or something that isn't there, I'm just being logical. Also, I'm not sure what Daniher's team has to do with Bailey's team, either. My guess is that anyone still in our side now that has been through the majority of those losses in Adelaide is a better footballer in 2011 than they were at any stage in the past 10 years. On the field, I don't think a team's approach to away games is that different to home games, other than the obvious (travel and general preparations, size of field, weather conditions). There isn't the same "expectation" to play a certain way that some soccer clubs have when playing in front of their own fans, and there is definitely no "away goals rule". So to do anything other than look at the Melbourne teams from 2001-2010 and compare them to the Adelaide and Port Adelaide teams of the same era would be pointless. Does anyone have a better explanation other than the fact we have either been crap, really crap, or just crap when playing interstate over this period?

For those unsure why we have a bad record at AAMI... I'd stop trying to be clever and just think about this... We've been [****]house for quite a few years. We've been [****]house EVERYWHERE for quite a few years. We've been especially [****]house interstate. Adelaide and Port Adelaide have occassionally been finals contenders in the last 10 years or so that we've been losing there. Even when we've been a finals team we haven't been great interstate and relied on a great record (home and away) at the MCG. In summary, we've lost a lot of games in the last ten years. When we've been bad, we've been really bad interstate. When we've been [****]house we've been even worse interstate. Even when we were pretty good were were pretty bad interstate.

Never understood all the talk about the importance of pre-season games and how much so many fans look into these games. They are nothing but preparations for a long season. I also get annoyed about it all being about round 1. It's about getting ready for the entire season. We'll still be playing in August, and hopefully in September. A win in August will be worth just as much as a win in April. Apparently we were doomed after round 1 last year, but we actually made a fantastic start to the year when looking at the first 5 games. The first month of the home & away season was probably our best month of the year. As for the upcoming competition, as always, I only have two main hopes: (1) No injuries or anything that will have a negative impact on our preparations for the season ahead; and (2) that we look to be on track to improve from last season. It's fine if the AFL want to throw some money at the competition (or make money from the competition), but unless we are desparate for that money then I couldn't care less if we win, lose or draw, as long as numbers (1) and (2), above, are happening. As for the new format... what is the point? Why would teams care about playing a format and with rules that will not be used during the season? They don't, and that makes these games even less significant than they usually are, if that is even possible. Does anyone have a quick description of the format of the games, competition and the major rule changes/differences? Also, what does MFCSS, or whatever it is that people keep repeating? I'm assuming it's Melbourne Football Club SXXXXXXXX Syndrome? Cheers

More Friday night and Sunday games usually suits me as I play footy on Saturdays. But when you throw a wife, a Melbourne Victory game, and watching Liverpool late on the tele into the mix, something usually has to give!

Guy I work with is an MCC member but gives nothing to the MFC. He just mentioned that we made a profit this year, to which I said: "no thanks to you, mate".

Yes. We might have our wires crossed a little...

People with white skin.

Ugh. Wanna-be moderators are the best

That might be your Christmas priority list, mate, if Christmas is all about giving presents. As someone that doesn't celebrate Xmas, there are a few things I really don't get. But what frustrates me most is that mosty people seem to focus on buying people presents as being what Xmas is all about. It's really strange to me. Stories about "those less fortunate" pop up this time of year. But we're apparently supposed to feel for these people because they can't afford to buy presents for loved ones or don't have loved ones to give them presents. What about the rest of the year when they're stuggling to afford to eat or find a roof to sleep under? As long as they get a Xmas present everything will be alright... By the way, I also feel bad for the white people who witnessed those illegal immigrants die while trying to jump the que to get into our country. They'll be scarred for life... well a few weeks at least.

In terms of overall numbers of "supporters", Spurs would smash us, especially given the number of people outside of London and the UK who would say they "support" Tottenham. However, White Heart Lane holds about 36,000, which is probably similar to our average attendance. So if you want to look at it that way, we get around the same amount of supporters going to every (home) game. But from another point of view, we have 11 home games a season, and probably a min. of 16 in Melbourne each year. Three or four big games might get over 50,000 when we're playing well, but just as many games will get around 15-20,000 when we're not doing so well. Spurs will play a min of about 20 home games in a season, and as many as 35 if they make it through the cup competitions. Pretty much all of those will be 90% full, probably closer to 95%. Depends how you want to cut the numbers, but I'd say Spurs have more fans and sell more products than we do, so could therefore be expected to have a better club shop/merchandise. Having said that, we could sell more by having better products and a better range. The new emblem and mascots could help, as could having new balance on board.

What is the story with all the rules about list numbers being broken into veterans, rookies, etc? Why can't teams simply be limited to a certain number of players and that's that?