PaulRB

I think players like Vandenberg, Petracca, Brayshaw and even Kent and Gartlett who can rotate through the midfield will get priority over additional "second tier" forwards who don't offer that. I'm a big fan of Vandenberg's potential to continue to evolve into a Josh Kennedy (Swans) type. Given he's only played 28 games in his two season, having endured injuries in his second (missing rounds 4-10), he's another who should continue to get better. Its interesting to compare Vandenberg (http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/A/Aaron_Vandenberg.html) to Josh Kennedy - http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/J/Josh_Kennedy1.html

During the recent down years I developed the end of season tradition of feeding my scarf to my dogs to rip apart, which I found quite cathartic, but now we're on the improve, I'm starting to accumulate and keep them again... Would it be too big a stretch for the club to offer members a choice?

More and more FAs are picking where they want to go, so we need to stay focused and improve in 2017, so more like Lewis assess the options they have, and conclude the red & blue offer the best potential of a flag. As it's the promise of a flag tilt that these star players will be chasing more than more dollars.

Wouldn't surprise me if Spencer gets a lot more games with Max next year. To protect Max, free up Watts and because with the teams increased fitness and maturity we should have more minutes available on the bench (ie Clarry and Petracka will have to play more game time...).

I like to hear Stafford is teaching Maxy about handling the additional attention he's bound to get next year. We're going to be a hard team to beat when Max is on fire.

A quick, nimble, mercurial forward who averages 30+goals a season... Highlights from Last year...

I'd have thought that filter if applied to the rest of the team, would also rule out half the team...

How people can leave Garlett out of our best 22 staggers me. After Hogan (1.95), and Watts (1.73) Garlett was our third heaviest scorer (1.71). Took 4th most marks inside 50 after Watts, Gawn and Pedo... Kicked 2 or more goals in 11 or his 17 games...

Cue training montage... he'll be back..! ???

Of course it's his creation. However, elements of it may be beyond his conscious control, hence the struggle and confusion. Us on the sidelines trying to turn it into a right - wrong game to sate our desire to be righteous supporters, misses the subtlety of the situation and blinds us to the insights we can glean from it... and the opportunity to be compassionate to another's suffering.

I think Heritier for most of his career defined himself as an outsider who got his motivation and drive from resisting what he rightly saw as a racist and denegrating culture at Collingwood. His exit speech and various racist nick names he had there, plus the whole name change etc... indicate his struggle to redefine himself, oft by seeing himself as some kind of persecuted righteous warrior (a.k.a Ali). so he arrives at the MFC, is warmly embraced with respect and as a result finds his mojo waning as his normal motivational tools of casting himself as a outsider proving wrong or defeating his real or imagined foes, fails to gain traction. Its an interesting predicament as he'll be torn between a habitual desire/pattern of casting the outside world as his persecutors, and developing a whole new way of defining and motivating himself that comes from within, ie taking full personal responsibility. I wish him well, I suspect it's a tough gig being him at the moment.

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It’s a grand old flag It’s a high flying flag It’s the emblem for me and for you It’s the emblem of the team we love The team of the Red and the Blue Ev’ry heart beats true For the Red and the Blue And we sing this song to you (What do we sing!) Should old acquaintance be forgot Keep your eye on the Red and the Blue

Minus the yellow..?

Any design that wanders from our colours (Red and Blue) is a fail in my book and a mockery of our heritage. Within red and blue its hardly a stretch to create an amazing jumper that doesn't clash.

Like it's 1964...

I reckon we're going to be pleasantly surprised by our fixture for 2017, especially given we're widely seen as now ready to push into finals...

North, Hawks and WC all to fall, with one holding their spot in the 8. Saint will be a mirage. Demons and (I hate to say it) Dons into the 8...

I'd be happy with either team's season being in tatters by 10:30 Friday. Given the Hawks "mini-rebuild" early losses will bite deep...

Would be good to know the TV ratings for these games, attendances are a long second to TV ratings vis-a-vis AFL decision making...

We need to keep building (rebuilding) our membership base and ability to play and win entertaining footy. The AFL tv rights income Mae and AFL HQ will always favour a higher rating game for prime time than one that's less so. PJ needs to continue to build the brand, connect and convert the sleeper supporters to regular and growing audience... he now has a team upon which to run such a campaign.

While I feel for the four men who've been delisted, it's a good sign of our continued improvement when coupled with the several new players (Lewis and Hibbard) we're bringing in...

The Suns will blink.

I have an old labrador (10yrs old +) who was starting to slow down, when we had to mind a young whippet for a year. Initially we were worried she be worn out by the whippet, but she actually sparked up, asserted her dominance and had a second lease of life... Lewis is a proud, professional athlete who's scaled most of the peaks available in the AFL, he'll earn his coin, and some. Be happy, he's gonna give us some sweet glorious moments in the next couple of seasons...