Pates

To be honest, i think the club might be looking for something different to the supporters at this stage of the captaincy debate. Most here want the club to show it has balls, and back a player that has great ability but is injury prone, has in the last 12 month been in the papers for off-field problems, and has relatively shown very little to be considered as a captain. We basically all see that he has it in him, but it's not definite yet as to whether he'll get there. Now if they chose Bruce it would be for reasons such as this: - He is one of the hardest trainers, and is very vocal with his teammates during the drills - He has proven media capabilities and keeps his nerve when asked difficult questions - Despite some peoples opinion of him here, he is one of, if not our best player (probably a good reflection of where we're at!) - He has had experience as captain - He works his ass off during the games - He's never been in the news for off-filed issues Now those are just some of the reasons, and if i really thought about it i could come up with plenty more. Just for the record though, i want Brock McLean as captain, My only concern with him is injuries, if he gets that right i have no doubt that he'll be the player we all want him to be. The club is at a crossroads, and putting him up the front as the leader sends a strong message to the competition that we aren't going to take the "safe" route anymore. Unfortunately i think the club will make something like this: C: Bruce Co-VC: McLean Co-VC: Green

Great to hear that each party has been able to get past their differences for the good of the MFC. At this point there really doesn't seem to be any negative news for the Dees, we've got some really exciting talent for the future, the members are signing up in their droves, and now we've just been given $2million for Christmas!

This is all good news, despite the fact that i'm expecting another "down" year i feel i will get plenty of enjoyment out of watching this team that is chock full of talent develop.

I think you might be reading a little too much into it, Freud. The only happy ending was the premiership cup we were holding at the end of the dream!

Randomly staying on the topic of Davey, I had a dream last night that our Flash became most dominant player in the AFL. A good dream indeed! :D

Best of luck to Ooze, he was a great servant of the MFC and given the right circumstances i think he could make a real contribution to an AFL list.

I've never really liked Thomas, but this is a really good article and a completely different perspective. I delves more into Jack as an individual and how he will cope with the pressure that comes with being a no. 1 draft pick.

Dees - Major sponsor Brock - Captaincy Jones - Better disposal Sylvia - Realise potential Moloney - Full Season

Extremely lame, but the first thing i thought when i heard Jack Watts was "doc", as in Bugs Bunny saying, "what's up Doc?" "Doc" Watts is my only contribution! I get what you're saying, but McLean got his because Dogga Brown wanted to call someone "Chooka" and it stuck with Brock. IMO nicknames should give a playful insight into a players character.

Pretty much exactly what i think, co-captains is such a soft option. If it is between these two then so be it but i want them to chose ONE of them. But Brock gets my vote. PS. Good on Green for staying true red and blue!

I asked this question on demonology but didn't get a response, but aren't the funds going into redevelopment of the ground? I didn't think we were getting ANYTHING for this except a roof over our heads and a ground we can train on in the summer. In response we have a heavey community involvement in an effort to gain a foothold in the suburbs. I was under the impression that we come away with no assets. Therefor, the money that they are talking about is not money to the Melbourne Football Club but to Casey Fields.

It's not hopefully, we need to get to 30,000. That what the club has apparently budgeted for. We we can definately do it, those who are on the fence need to get on board, because if they are waiting for the team to become strong before signing up then we may not be around for long enough! Well done to all those in the membership department.

That is good news, I hope the major sponsor is sorted out soon as well.

I really hope so, this'll probably be the best chance we get to have some really positive press about the club and to double it up with an annoucement of our major sponsor. You could scarcely ask for better publicity at this stage of the year.

Believe it or not, i am going to defend the Collingwood cheersquad of 08. I did a documentary for my university Film and TV course, and one of the fans i interviewed was a mad Pies fan. Naturally, he was also a cheersquad member and so i managed to go into the area to get some really amazing footage for during the games. Now, they are every bit as feral as everyone says they are, but they love the club. Most of the those who are in the cheersquad are the ones who do the banner making, and i'll be very interested to hear whether the "new" group gets involved at club level like these guys did. The amazing thing for me is the price, how can they expect the blue collar members to afford $800 every year? So while i'm always happy to see Collingwood make asses of themselves, this sort of thing is not good for the game.

I'm certainly not looking at West as the messiah, but the fact that other clubs were after him and we were the ones that snagged him is nothing but a positive for us. He has a mountain of experience and will no doubt a good source of knowlege for our very young midfield brigade. Now the only coach i have ever seen come to our club and leave his mark is Ratten, he single handedly changed the way our mids went about their game. He was probably the biggest loss of a coach ever.

Those are exactly my sentiments, Bruce as been a hard working individual and sad as it is, consistently our best player out on the ground. He trains hard and he represents the club well. BUT his leadership abilities, that is when the team is looking for someone to be inspired by, he is not the player i want our boys emulating. He is a receiver, he has poor disposal, and does not get the boys moving. Although this contradicts my choice, the player who did that the best this year was Miller. He had the right mixture of aggression and skill, and was instrumental in all of our wins especially the two tight ones. Do i think he should be captain? No. He has only just this year got back to some good form and he needs to show he can replicate that this year before he can be considered in the captaincy role, however i am more than happy to eat humble pie when i was bad mouthing his inclusion in the leadership group for 08. For McLean it's a different kettle of fish, he has made some mistakes off-field which has hurt his image and the club's reputation. The thing i really like about him is that he isn't making excuses, he recognises what he did was wrong and is willing to make amends. He has had offers from other clubs but he has turned them down, he had a season ending foot injury and was in a huge amount of pain but he went out onto the ground because we needed inspiration, he donated 10k to the club because we are in financial disarray, the equivalent to what the entire team donated. If that is not a captain, then i don't know what is.

Brock's the one i want, anyone else would feel like a soft option. He projects exactly image we want the footballing world to see going forward.

Bloody brilliant, i had so much admiration for him. He just constantly worked his butt off every time he went out onto the ground and i think it's fair to say he got every inch he could out of the talent given to him. It'll be great to have our young guns learning from him at Casey.

I think Brock has always been more valuable than Jones, he's smarter and better skilled than Jones but Jones should not be discounted. A lot of people have been getting into him and bagging him this year, it's been a tough one for him but you've got to remember that for about half the year he would've been taking the first tag. This is a 20 year old we're talking about for crying out loud! I see him as our new Jmac type player for the next 10 years, he will always go out there and throw his body in at the contest and give 100% every time. Skills will improve and although he will never be Speedy Gonzales, he just needs to get a bit more awareness when receiving and disposing of the ball. Brock is our best midfielder, and i can't believe that's ever been in contention in the last 12 months. EDIT: in bold!

I wouldn't mind us nabbing him, although it's a bit of a risk it'd be a chance to have some positive publicity for the club and he is known for his training regime. My feeling is that we have already counted ourselves out of it and we won't go back on that.

Glad to hear it, i'm a local to Bayside and have absolutely loved being able to support both the MFC and Sandy. I too wish you all the best with your new arrangement with the Saints and i certainly will keep a close watch on the Zebras, i may even continue supporting them i the future.

My parents only got involved in football when my brother and i started dragging them along, you get the kids hooked and the parents follow simply because if the kids want to go then they have to be accompanied by a parent. I like the idea of the free kids membership with a hat or flag, never underestimate how much excitement kids get out of free stuff! The key is we have to make the MFC feel apart of the community, we've never had that and it's hurt us bad.

Who is this guy and should i care what he says? In any case i'm glad that things are working out with us and the City of Casey, but what will happen if this proposed MCG development becomes a reality? Will that just be for during the season and Casey will remain a summer base? And given that it's currently just a summer base, where are we training during the season in '09? Sorry for the inquisition!

Hope that is the new logo, i like it! Very classy.