La Dee-vina Comedia

Typical. Herald Sun cover price goes up 10c just before the Melbourne poster is published. I'm sure it's all Eddie's fault...or maybe Caro's.

Charlie Darwin? That's almost as flippant as the media calling the Brownlow Medal the "Charlie". Mind you, while in recent times our players haven't been within a bulls roar of winning the Brownlow, at least they haven't won any Darwin awards, either.

As this thread shows, diehard supporters can't agree on the emblem. So let's cut the current and past administration some slack on the issue of corporate branding and accept that whatever decisions are made they are done with the best intentions for the good of the club. Round 1 can't come quickly enough.

Webber, surely you know by now that facts aren't welcomed by everyone on Demonland.

I wouldn't have thought so. I'd argue that attendances have fallen because of the introduction of two new teams each without a supporter base and the appalling, virtually unwatchable quality of football played by the oldest team in the competition. For anyone who's interested here's the data so you can make up your own minds.

What sort of insurance is this? Is it the use of insurance to pay out injured players? If so, I've never heard of this before. Can someone confirm whether such a thing exists? (Note: I'm asking a generic question about the use of insurance - not specific to Mitch Clark and whether he will continue to play or not).

I thought the picture of the spade was added to signify the hole some posters had dug themselves into during this discussion.

Well, if I took over the MFC and we were only going to last 6 months, my first course of business would be to cancel your membership. It wouldn't be logical and it certainly wouldn't be fair, but I don't think I'd care.

The idea of making a home team more identifiable is sound, but I don't think refusing to play the away team theme song is the way to go. At Essendon home games they play the air raid siren before the game. That's an effective way of generating a 'home game' feel (playing it's a Grand Old Flag on a trumpet is not). It's a bit like the All Blacks and their haka, although they perform that wherever they play. In short, I think the idea to create a definable 'home game' feel is a good idea, but perhaps it should be done by adding something, not removing a tradition.

Thanks all.

Thanks DW. But why would a player be put on the LTI during pre-season anyway? Where's the advantage to the club?

And the quantity

Does that mean he can't play seniors for the first 8 rounds? And does being on the LTI prevent players from playing in the seconds during that time?

Apart from the issues others have raised about how such a strategy would stop others from wanting to play with the MFC, your logic is also flawed and simplistic. We have to pay a certain amount of dollars to the players as part of the players' Collective Bargaining Agreement. We wouldn't just 'save' $3.2 million by not 'spending' it on Clark. It would have to spent on player payments anyway. In addition, Clark has offered value beyond the games that he's played - why else would he have been voted into the leadership group?

But can you prove it?

I'm not sure about that. While I don't have any evidence to back it up, I suspect more people change religions than change AFL teams.

Wow. I know Dunn is not everyone's favourite player, but this is going a bit far. Sounds more like something Campbell Brown or Tony Lockett might do.

I think their biggest mistake was dumping Ratten and replacing him with Malthouse. I also wonder whether trading for Chris Judd, as good as he's been, has in the end cost them too much by losing a quality KPF (Josh Kennedy) and another high draft pick. I think they were dreaming if they thought they could win a premiership before Judd retires. (Mind you, we wanted him...and we were even further away).

Succession plans are a tried and true formula in business. The only places they don't seem to be used are professional sport, with some exceptions, and politics, with even fewer exceptions. Can anyone recall whether John Longmire was considered to be Paul Roos' successor at Sydney before Roos announced he was to leave? If so, we'd be following the same strategy as Sydney. I'd be happy with such a strategy.

Titus O'Reilly has tweeted: "Melbourne wanting to have a successor in place for Paul Roos by the end of the season, is consistent with their normal timetable."

Yes, in the late 60s and 70s there was a night competition for the teams that didn't make the finals. Games were played under lights at the old Albert Park Ground. My recollection is that the lighting was poor and the standard of play even poorer. But it was the only night football of any description in those days with all games being played on a Saturday afternoon.

Perhaps "weeks" and "years" are interchangeable at MFC. Which makes those "4 to 6" injury reports even more concerning.

Tony You make some good points which makes me less convinced than I was about my own arguments. Nevertheless, you haven't yet got me over the line just yet. On balance, I still believe we have failed to physically develop players to a body shape that matches the needs of current football. And I still believe Frawley is undersized for the job he's asked to do...which make his performances all the more meritorious.

Actually, I don't mind players (and politicians) lying about their own personal decisions. It's their business. As long as it doesn't affect their day job, I couldn't care less if a player is contemplating better offers while denying doing so...or if a US President is cheating on his wife.

Sorry Tony, I disagree. I think Melbourne players in the last 6-8 years have, overall, been physically smaller than other teams. And I'm not just talking about some obvious former players such as Morton and Gysberts. Just look at West Coast and Adelaide players up close and compare them with ours. In comparison, ours seem physically weaker. There are exceptions (Jamar and Tapscott come to mind), but players such as Watts, Strauss, Trengove and even Frawley are relatively skinnier than players of equivalent age and playing in similar positions in other teams.