Jaded No More

Thanks Craig for all of your hard work, honesty and openness that you have displayed over the years, and thank you for being such a great contributer to this website I can certainly understand the need for a fresh challenge, but hopefully if Melbourne wins a flag in the next 2-3 years you'll have a beer for us and realise that you had a lot to do with that success. All the best for the future. P.S.- a special thanks for Brock, Jones, Bell, Rivers and Bartram :D

It's a big endorsement for Barts, giving him the #3 jumper! And Grimes at 16, from everything I've read about the kid, he couldn't be more different than the last player to wear that number.

My dad and I just watched the video and the first thing dad said was "it's Aaron Davey!". I'm most excited about his tackling, which from that short clip looks first rate. He's big, unlike Davey when he first started, so he can bring them down after he chases them too!

Hooray for Valenti! Even if he doesn't make it, it's a good story that he stuck it out and we finally gave him a chance. Can't really comment on the others, given that I can barely even pronounce their names. We know most rookies don't make it.... but being on the Melbourne rookie list definitely increases your chances, so good luck to them all :D

Surprise selection, without a doubt, but very happy we took a chance on someone new and unknown. Sampi is definitely not in any sort of shape, physical or otherwise, to play footy.

My money is on Sampi. I'd rather we took someone who we knew had the hunger and the commitment to play footy, but the club obviously feels his talent and ability cancel out the question marks that hang over his head... or so it seems.

Yes, that would be nice. Saw him last week and he was looking in absolute peak condition... either that, or his shirt was 3 sizes too small. Either way, he has no more excuses, he has to give us something this season. I have a feeling that, if his health is 100%, that Petterd will really make his mark next season and will go close to winning the Rising Star (he's still eligable!). Also Bartram will be hungry after missing a whole season with injuries.

He just needs to play... consistently, uninjured, and with complete focus. We do not have the luxury of arguing what position best suits Sylvia, because we haven't seen the best of him yet. Baby steps people, baby steps.

Good on North Melbourne for not caving in. I would be devastated if the AFL was forcing us to move interstate, as would 26,000 odd members. If the AFL is so desperate for another QLD team (why? Brisbane can barely fill up the Gabba as it is), they should make a new one so they can pump it full of money, steal everyone's best players and give them draft concessions until they win a flag and the AFL feels vindicated that their stubbornness has paid off How on earth can the AFL make its clubs put 42 of its 44 players up for grabs anyways? What about what the players want?

The first thing Miller needs to get back, is his confidence. He has none, and it does not matter how aggressive or talented a player is, if they haven't got confidence they are not worth a dime. Hopefully Bailey and his 'no limitations' policy will help Miller gain that touch of arrogance that he had back when many amongst us (myself included) rated him very highly. I have a soft spot for Miller because he is a really fantastic person and I would love to see him succeed. He isn't the most gifted player on the list, but one thing he does have is a good head on his shoulders. He just needs to start believing that he is an AFL player again.

Would be good if we could get that figure up to 10,000 by the end of this year. With Christmas coming up, it's not unrealistic to sign another 1,200 members this month. We really really need to try to get to 30,000 this year. The poor year we just had will put a lot of people off, but hopefully with a new coach, a new direction, and our big milestone year, our fickle supporters will pull their pennies together and sign up. Every single membership counts!

From what I hear, the players are being worked so hard this pre-season and Bailey is such an uncompromising leader of such a strict regime, that if he does adopt a love child, there is a damn good reason behind it. Bailey ain't taking crap from nobody, and if he sees things in Miller, than that is good enough for me. I expect everyone's aggression to make a comeback in 2008, or even appear for the very first time

Come on now, I'm only looking out for our backline's best interests! Besides, I'm no longer allowed to check out footballers

Thanks for all of your hard work. Can't say I wish Richmond any success, but CAC certainly deserve all of our best regards.

Am I the only one who thinks that Jared has put on a significant amount of upper-body weight? Maybe it's because we haven't seen him in action for a long time, but in picture #7, you can see him on the far right (wearing a cap backwards) and his arms are clearly huge!

Us cool people at M51 all seem to call him Ricky... or maybe I'm just too loud to hear what anyone else calls him :D Ricky is definitely a good name, especially if you used to watch Ricky Lake (and I did... oh the shame! )

I was only kidding before. Besides, taste is a very individual thing, there is no right or wrong. Here are some more. I did one with a different red, which is a bit deeper, since not everyone can wear bright red. Sorry about the poor quality of the illustrations btw, for some reason when I uploaded them to photobucket the quality dropped significantly!

Haha. I knew a lot of people will look at it and go "what the hell". I personally think men's fashion is very boring, you don't have to indulge my rebellion against the usual silhouettes though. I'm sure I can come up with some more 'boring' designs

All official gear is boring and conservative. The way to raise revenue from apparel sales is to create a diffusion line of sorts, or a 'supporter line' if you will. The club needs to create apparel like tops, hoodies, caps etc... which people will actually want to wear, and not just to the MCG. I'm talking fashionable garments, with different graphics but still keeping that red and blue theme and having something on each garment that present Melbourne. Young supporters, who are the future of this club, will be more inclined to buy this sort of gear because it'll be versatile and they'll be able to wear it outside of football games. That means not only more sales, but more exposure. I don't know of any club who currently does this, and IMO it could be a real way of raising extra cash. I've made a couple of examples really quickly. One is a shirt/ t-shirt, the other a cap. Would any of you guys actually wear this stuff? Because obviously nobody is going to wear that horrible red polo. Ugh! P.S.- That shirt was NOT inspired by Ben Cousins

You guys are all class. I bet the girls just can't get enough of you Get back to the topic!

Still waiting for official confirmation...

Michael Newton, Brad Green, Colin Sylvia, Clint Bartram and Aaron Davey were part of an eight-man group that stood off to the side and took part in stationary hand ball drills when the intensity kicked up a notch. I'm sorry to sound so negative, but it seems as though Sylvia will never actually partake in a pre-season from start to finish. He is rivaling the great 426 for time spent on the 'not quite right' list.

Very disappointing news if true. We'll probably never know just why he has decided to leave, but regardless of the circumstances, I'd still like to thank him for all of his hard work and for bringing some absolute gems into the club (especially Brock :D).

You do realise that it takes time to move your entire life to the other side of the country, don't you? I assume one or both of his parents work, they have obligations, probably a house they'll need to sell. So yeah, they might be making the move to Victoria, but they won't be at training tomorrow that's for sure.

Those bastards are sure milking OUR 150th birthday for all it's worth. Would rather see other teams' players get injured thanks.