La Dee-vina Comedia

I would have thought there is plenty clubs can do as part of their pre-season which doesn't involve outdoor activity. It could be indoor gym or swimming, those lectures (for want of a better term) explaining the game plan that players always seem to complain about or simply some fun activities which help bonding such as playing table tennis. I believe it's an unnecessary risk to pursue outdoor training before the smoke clears.

I wonder what impact, if any, the smoke has had on the training program? Has the club modified the program? Are players who might be more susceptible to asthma given lighter loads, etc? As a professional organisation I would expect the club to have consulted with its medical team on how to handle these conditions.

I assume the first is misinformation.

Trying to blend in with the rehab crew?

I think our club has been missing an opportunity for years by not making Melbourne v Sydney a blockbuster game.The nation's two largest cities, already in friendly and sometimes not so friendly competition, is a natural. Involving the Lord Mayors of each city plus everyone from the top end of town down should give an annual game significant traction. It should rotate from the MCG to the SCG each year with the city able to claim bragging rights if its club wins. Appropriately marketed it has the opportunity to get residents of greater Melbourne, whether MFC supporters or not, supporting us and may as a consequence generate a few additional long-term supporters as well. If it's successful, it could be extended to Melbourne v Brisbane and Melbourne v Adelaide. If that were to happen, it would replace State of Origin and make Melbourne the de facto team for all Victorians for these particular matches.

Please tell me he didn't say, "There's no 'I' in 'team'". And if he did, I hope someone pointed out that there is 'me'.

You make some very good points. I was initially against the idea, but if the proposed game replaces a pre-season game for the players involved, the injury risk factor - which was my only concern - is neutralised.

I agree with most of what you say about the MFC's poor management from 1965 onwards and the impact that has had. However, I'm curious about the claim that "MFC were a powerhouse". Clearly we were the best perfroming onfield team for a decade through the late 50s and early 60s, but were we also considered to be an off-field "powerhouse" club at the time? To me, the expression today could apply to Hawthorn, Collingwood, Essendon and Richmond meaning that irrespective of where they finish on the ladder, they still have huge followings and influence over AFL and media decision makers. Is that the sort of club we were pre-1965? (I'm too young to remember).

I like your post overall, but question this particular point. I regularly read what our track watchers post and don't recall previous criticism suggesting Hibberd doesn't train hard. Am I mistaken?

We haven't won a Premiership in 55 years. Which "things" over and over that we've done since 1964 would you want to stop doing because they haven't worked? Changing coaches every few years? Changing the playing personnel? Changing the Board?

Every year we see posters assessing captaincy potential by onfield performance. I've always believed captaincy is much, much more than that. The above two posts stand out because they address the broader responsibilities and expectations. And because I don't know everything (or, in fact, anything) that goes on behind the scenes, I have no idea who is best qualified to be captain. I am, however, (and perhaps inconsistently with the rest of this post) a fervent believer in a sole captain.

I know it's just a puff piece to generate column inches, but the writer didn't think having Max Gawn as one of the two clearly best-in-a-generation ruckmen wasn't worth including?

Forget about the top 10 MFC players of the decade. We should have a thread on the top 10 Demonland thread distractors of the decade.

I only opened this thread because I misread the title and thought it said "Top 50 wines of the decade". I was curious - not about the wines themsleves, but why Demonland had diversified. Could have been worse. "Top 50 whines of the decade" would be a thread to behold.

Did you ever find out who was standing behind you?

I think the most important point is that none of the rule changes are to the basis of the game itself. I don't object in principle to rule changes which affect the game, but we've had so many in recent years it's time to let the game evolve within that framework.

Snap!

Good idea. I don't think he's ever fully recovered from Cyril's early retirement.

Any reason given for the sudden retirement? Has he reinjured his ACL, for example? Although, if I recall correctly, didn't he nearly give the game away mid-career?

There was also no larger plastic ziplock bag holding all the contents together. Instead, the membership package came in a cardboard envelope that opened up into a letter. I have made good use of the ziplock bag in the past, but must admit that reducing the total amount of plastic being used is a good idea.

That's a very good question. I'm not sure which of these two options I prefer: that for the next ten years we play finals every year, winning many of them but never winning a Premiership; or in the next ten years we win one Premiership but spend the other nine years in the bottom two or three on the ladder. I suspect I'd prefer the first. That would mean we would be winning more than losing every week, whereas the second option sees nine years of relative misery for one extraordinary year.

Umm, no, we can't. Not even one of them. The proof is all around you for the last 55 years. And that's why I agree with SWYL, get the "winning" bit right first. The rest will follow.

The Gold Coast Suns are the Canadian cricket team. A long way north, irrelevant and many people, even in their own jurisdiction, don't know they exist.

Does anyone know if half time breaks have always been 20 minutes? It would be ironic if the half time break used to be shorter but was extended to 20 minutes under pressure from the TV rights holder who wanted to pack in more ads.

I think mediocrity is about right for the last few years. It's the first half of the decade where we could just dream of reaching the heady heights of mediocrity.