Pates

So the mighty Reds are actually staking their claim this year, so many times over the last 4-5 years i've thought "maybe we'll actually challenge for the premiership" and now we're looking the goods. Winning 2-3 over Man City when they've got the deepest pockets in the sport at their home AND after being 2-0 down is an awesome result and i really think the player have the belief, the key will be whether they can maintain this over the whole season and the games against the like of Chelski, Arsenal, and Man U must yeild points. Torres you are a star!

The thing i like about this jumper is that it isn't trying to be over-the-top in it's design. A lot of clash tops are just so out there from their normal one that it looks horrible and bugs the supporters, this one maintains the historical link to the MFC and the colour link, while moving far enough away from our home strip to appeal to consumers who wish to buy it. Plus i can picture it on the boys and know that they will be playing for the RED AND BLUE!

I wouldn't! We got pick 14 (?) for Travis last year and i'd rate him only a little better than Green! I'd say Green on his own demands a pick between 18-25.

I love that one, but my favourite's still Pick No 1 for Croad and then trading him back like 2 years later for A LOT less.

I'm not too worried about that, but the big thing is that we make sure that Casey remains our training base during the summer and that if/when Melbourne Heart put their base of operations in there they pay for either better facilities that WE can use as well or we make them pay us for the ability to use the facilities that we have pumped money into. Casey is our best chance to get a suburban base of operations and a community alliance (like what Hawthorn have done with Waverly Park), i still think it's important that we maintain our link to the city by having season training in the Olympic Park precinct but the fact is we're not going to gain many supporters and members through the status quo.

I don't know about anyone else, but i belt it out as loud as i can get it!

How about we go after an electronics company such as Sony? Or IBM/Apple? The Kangas just got a big deal with Mazda, we really need a big cash injection from a big sponsor or we'll look quite the fools. (Sorry to state the obvious!)

It's sad to see, he's been one of my favourites for a while and although this season has been very average i think he's been a hard working contributer for us. I'd very much like to see him get a chance at another club but it seems unlikely at the moment.

A non-issue, when it gets to 20+ rushed behinds, talk to me then.

I voted for Brock, we're at a point in our history where we need to make a stand and tell the rest of the football world where we're heading as a football club. He's a risk, we need to be willing to be make big calls or else we will always be viewed as nothing more than a pathetic laughing stock. Miller would be my second option along with Green, anything but that week idea of co-captains (especially with the likes of Bruce in there).

Love the optimism, but it's very unlikely. I'm looking at about 6-8 wins next year, steady improvement but nothing special.

Green © McLean (vc) Miller Junior PJ or Jones We need to have a singular captain, my vote is for either Green and McLean. Green and Junior are the only two "older" generation players in there, this is deliberate to install this playing group as the future of the club. Bruce has been a good servant, but we can no longer have him as the centre of our footy clubs image.

The thing about PJ is that i don't think he can hold down the no. 1 rucking position, that's not to say he'll be ineffectual but it does mean he has to be better around the ground. IMO he's proved he can do that, his skills for a big man are excellent and his pace is deceptive. I see him being a mobile forward/ruckman, I don't think he has the ability to carry the FF position but as a second tall he could become wuite handy. Something that he has really improved on this year is his ability to take a grab, he has woeful at it prior to 2008.

A lot of people here wouldn't agree with you there, especially if we finished 16th again. Way i figure it, i'm not going to get upset about something i can't control. I'll celebrate our wins, and dissect the issues in our losses. I expect marginal improvement, but we're a young side, and that being the case i don't think it'll happen over night.

At the moment, yes that's how i'd rank those two. In terms of where they can get to i think both could be A graders, Buckley has shown something this year but i think will be destined to be a top B-grader. Sylvia, Bate, and Garland could all get to that level, but i just don't know at this point. We got a lot of "maybe's", "could be's", and "potentially's".

Would it be fair to say that on occasions, the missing ingredient we've had for a flag is luck? I mean you look at the Geelong side this year, very few major injuries to key players, and it's something that frustrates the hell out of me. What about the great 2000 Bombers side? They had something like 2-3 changes through the whole season, how would they have done if they lost Lloyd and Hird for the year? We've been effed in the A when it comes to have a chance at a premiership, always cut down when it was just within reach. '98 is a closest i've seen us come in terms of our quality compared with the competition, no way did Adelaide deserve that cup!

Long term PLAYING future is just about all we have to look forward to, because short term is very painful! Interesting that he aims for us to be close to debt free by the start of the 2009 season. We must be living off homebrand all the way!

Right now i sit in the reserve area for all home games, believe me it makes me sick to see the tiny group behind the goals act as our cheer squad. When I go to an away game i try to convince my family to sit with me in the cheersquad section to bring up the numbers, but when we play at Telstra Dome it is THE WORST place to sit at any sporting event. You are looking directly into the sun and you can barely see to the other side of the ground. Having made this thread, Demonizer, i will try to sit in those sections more. As for being vocal, if i was any more vocal i'd lose my voice before the opening bounce! And on the subject of this rebel cheersquad, i have had enough of it. Our club is trying to rebuild itself, but how do we look when our supporters can't even get along. It's time to end the split, for the good of the MFC.

Thank Bazza for all your write ups, it's the end of an era and i'll really miss the relationship the MFC had with the Zebras. Good luck with you affiliation with St Kilda.

The word "duh" comes to mid when i read that article. 1998 we finished 4th on the ladder. I ain't suggesting that will happen, but he's doing what most footy journos do, over-simplifying an issue to write sensationlist crap. I have watched the team this year probably a lot more than he has, i have seen first hand how bad we are, but wtf does he expect? Boys are playing against Men. Add to that the fact that we have had injuries to senior key players, of course it's going to happen. I'm not going to excuse what we dished up last weekend, i'd say 90% of the players that took the field had packed up and left the building after our dismal performance v Port. The big thing that worries me about that is that they seemed content to accept that thumping as just another part of a bad season. Most of our list is young, that imediately puts us behind the rest of the comp, i've accepted that some pain might be following this year, but i remain hopeful that it will turn around at some point. We were bad this year, get over it. I have.

Don't worry i'm not having a go at Brocky (in fact he my favourite player at the club), perhaps my analysis was too simplistic but the only reason i put him in the "gone nowhere" category is because of his injuries. Had he stayed injury free only Green would've stood in his way for the B&F. He put in some excellent performances this year, and once he is complimented with a purely skillful midfield-reciever (Morton?) his job will be made easier and to look better. As you said, it's unfair that our best players always get injured!

I am not as sold on Valenti as others here, and as far as i'm concerned Jones is still way ahead of him on many points. I see this year as the "down" year that Jones had to have, he is not and never will be a player that should take the first tag, but for the most part that's what he's had to endure and at 20 yrs of age no less. [bear in mind i'm only looking at our young brigade] Players that have taken positive steps: Buckley Sylvia PJ CJ Garland Warnock Miller Martin Morton Valenti Aussie Players who have gone nowhere or backwards: Bate Dunn (although he has had a change in playing style, he could be a lot better than he is) McLean Moloney Frawley Bell Rivers Bartram Bode Weetra Petterd (through injury, but boy he was horrible rnd 22) I haven't included Davey in that list as he is now past the borderline of young brigade, next year he needs to take the next step in his development because i can see the midfield working out for him if he truly has the desire to play there. And am i right in saying the Weetra and Bode have been told they are being delisted? Oh and Jumbo, OP or not Rivers will play again and i pray it's for the MFC, because god help me if he goes to another club and gets better!

We've been made to have white as our "clash" colour.

I've just done the math, if we win by more than 15 points tomorrow we'll finish 2nd bottom. I don't know about anyone else but i want to win tomorrow, if we miss out of first pick then so be it, it's not a massive loss, we just need make do with picks 2, 18, 20. Poor us!

Done and dusted at 99 points, wooden spoon might be heading west if we win tomorrow.