Pates

I couldn't give a rats about CJ, i'm not massively bitter about the way he left. There was a better opportunity for him at Carlton and i don't think many at the Dees rated him, personally i didn't.

Don't you know, every new gun is going to be our next captain! But Grimes really does look the goods. Over the last few years i've heard about so many players who have come to the club injured going to be stars and not delivered, but Grimes just looks a natural! I think i might take those odds for the rising star.

That pretty well summed up. It's always been uneven, we are getting a step closer to an English Premier League situation where there are 4 "big" clubs and the rest just make up the numbers.

Good to hear, i hope he can back it up for the rest of the year.

I wouldn't trade Sylvia because as many people have said here, he has no value. There are some younger players just creeping up on him though, so he needs to put in or he will be dropped. I felt for a while that he should be in there, even when he wasn't performing great, to get him exposure. But we're past that point now, so if he's going to get bugger all of the ball in the game, he needs to at least be able to kick a simple goal. BTW i agree with others here that his role in a team needs to be defined, is he a forward or a midfielder?

His conduct post-game is not the issue for me, all summer i've heard he's been training the house down and is looking good, i would've thought he'd be itching to get out there and hit the ground running. He did not. I will still be happy when he does good things, and i'll congratulate him accordingly, but i'm done waiting.

I'm sure someone here will give a much more thorough rundown of the day's proceedings but this is what i remember: - The day started with the player hanging around and mingling with the supporters, there was a lady roming around taking polaroid photos which was also nice. - Once everyone was settled we watched two video packages, one which was made by the leadership group and given to all the new players. Jimmy spoke about what the day was about and why they're doing it, then Moloney spoke on behalf of the leadership group, and then the players in attendance did a bit of trivia to give some stuff away. - We then broke up into three groups focusing on Website and communication, Image, and Match day, and we basically just started brainstorming. Things that stuck in my mind were: - Website is going to get an overhaul, personalised settings for a members login, more prominant multimedia, and more photo galleries were the major suggestions for that. Plus chat rooms and forums where you can communicate with the players were also strongly looked at. - One of my favourite suggestions of the day was the get kids walking out with the players, much like they do for soccer in England. Probably Auskick kids, the hope is that by getting them wearing the top and assosiating with the players, we may be able to turn their impressionable minds to Melbourne. - The cheersquad split was again brought up today, Jimmy and Watts couldn't believe it. Spoke to Watts, boy he is mature! A really nice guy as well, and he's itching to get out on the G. Also spoke to Rivers and he's confident he'll be playing in the NAB challenge match next week.

I feel i have and many others have been very patient and understanding of Sylvia's horrible run with injuries, and with that the fact that he wasn't able to gain form. But he is now a senior player and senior players must step up to the plate when the game's in the balance, like kick a simple goal.

I wouldn't say that this was a defining game, but this is his first full pre-season, he has prmised a lot over the time we've had him and he litterally had the chance to win the game for us. I've had faith that he could come good for a while, i've been patient and understanding that he has had injuries. But previous injuries do not excuse him from missing such a shot on goal, and for having such an ineffective game against many 1st year players. As i said, there might be a bit of anger in the orriginal post, but he should be better and until he proves himself CONSISTENTLY, then stuff him.

Marked.

Ok, i know what everyone is going to say to me, "it's only NAB cup, chill out", "give the kid a go". But i'm finished with him, since he's got here he's been given every opportunity to shine, but he just hasn't shown me enough. He had the chance to end the game today against the reigning premiers from 25 meters out on a slight angle, but he missed. If he's a midfielder, he didn't get anough of the ball, if he's a forward then that should be bread and butter. We'll keep him in the side practically all year because he was an avenue for goals in 08, but he's become the player where every time he gets the ball i'll be saying, "oh no, not him". So there it is, if he becomes a valuable player then i'll gladly eat humble pie as i did with Miller, but i'm done. PS, shame the whole team threw it away in the last quarter, well done for the effort though.

Yep you can count me in.

I'm not worried about either of them, even Moloney. I'd say the slightest niggle and a player will be omitted, it's pre-season so there's no point in risking anything. Looking forward to seeing Petterd and Grimes in action, hopefully this'll be a break out season for both of them.

With all due respect to the great man, i just don't think our club can survive with that philosophy, i think the important thing to remember that although it is a business it's also a sporting club with a lot of emotional attachments. The fact is that if we were purely a business, we'd probably be dead by now.

Raises the question of how long it will be before the "hip and shoulder" bump is completely outlawed? I understand at this point that the head must be protected, but it's amazing to look at how much the game has changed since i started watching it, and i'm only 21! 2-3 years ago people would've been marveling at what a great bump it was! Remember Matty Whelan's bump of Hird in the final of 2005? He's probably get 4 weeks for that now!

I can sort of see this as an opportunity to market a different line of merchandise, if it's done correctly that is. All the clubs in the EPL have three strips, their home, their away, and an alternate strip, and i imagine they all see like hotcakes (obviously catering to a larger and crazier audience). Personally i prefer the white one, the demon sinks into the background of the red one for my taste. Still i like them a lot more than the silver [censored] we wore last year!

A chance because it's pre-season cup, and we are definitely in better shape than last year, but if Hawthorne play half as well their capable they should take the chocolates.

It appeared as a news item at one stage, and it was sent out via the members email.

I hope the key word there isn't awful! Seriously though i think we're in a much better position in many way than last year, Sylvia getting his first full pre-season is hopefully the key for him and all those kids that were making up 80% of the 22 last year will be more experienced and mature. And the hope that Jack Watts brings us will be good to watch.

I was agreeing with you for a second there, but unfortunately Geelong is playing Adelaide there in the evening. A nice idea but not going to happen. And i couldn't agree with you more, angryfijian, those guys are heroes and every one of them deserves to be applauded.

I think they had some good idea's in terms of initiatives and getting the supporter feeling apart of the club again, but this is the crunch moment. We need a major sponsor, without it the media will be standing there waiting to declare us circling the drain, especially tosspots like Fatrick Smith. Surely the AFL allowing gaming companies to sponsor us can get us what we need. I guess the only thing that's making us look attractive is that any sponsor who takes us on will have a "goodwill" vibe and be seen as a morally good company or something. Something like Mars was for Tassie.

Not at all, i see this as a recognition that we lack representation in the younger age groups and the club is calling on that generation to tell them what makes their heart beat red and blue. I'm 22 so i'll put my name down for this and if i go i'll make a report for everyone here.

Port Adelaide's song is easily the worst, terrible tune and terrible lyrics. Freo's a close second. The GC17 song isn't the worst, but it could definitely be better!

I wanted McLean, but i'm not unhappy with Jmac as captain for 2009. I can't see him going on after this year, though, so it's a clear they have someone in mind to succeed him in one year and they aren't ready yet (I'd just about bet the house that it's Brock). What i am a little dissapointed about is that they didn't name him a VC, even if it was a co-VC. Still it's well deserved by Junior, and once and for all i'm glad it's not co-captains!

Answering the first post, we are certainly still in a very precarious position. I firmly believe that it's so bad that one false venture could prove to be a fatal one. In saying that i see a lot more hope compared to where we were last year, and a lot more supporters are willing to pledged their support financially. There's no doubt that the most important thing we need in the next 2 months is a major sponsor, otherwise we will be severely rationing what little we've got, and that can only lead to more mis-management both on and off the field. The amount of money we lost this year is a very worrying situation, but there were many extraordinary costs that are very unlikely to happen again this year (eg. 2 x CEO Pay-outs, TJ, Carroll etc). Not to mention in the last couple of years we have had a pretty crappy run with injuries, perhaps finally we'll catch a break. Guess what i'm say is that it's OK for you to have these concerns, but if you would like to help in making this club viable it's up to all of us to try to get more members on board then ever before. On Casey vs MCG precinct, i've got to admit i'm torn. I guess at this stage i see this summer movement into Casey as a trail run of sorts, we have already found the area to be MUCH better than what we've had in the past but can we afford to abandon our physical link to the MCG. Of all the things that i love about this club, having the MCG as our home is right up the top of the list and i know you're saying that we'd still play there but still being near it when we train i still see as an important link. However, that is an emotional reasoning, and thinking with the brain and not the heart i actually feel that is quite possible in the not too distant future for us to establish Casey as our permanent base much the same way that Hawthorn have done with Waverly. It makes sense in many ways, and while i don't think it would be popular initially, i get the feeling it might be for the best in the long run. Just one question, is Junction oval to continue being our winter training ground?