Jaded No More

I completely agree with this point. Our marketing is very poor, and when you consider our ex CEO was the editor of one of the largest newspapers in Australia, and our president has an advertising agency, it really is a worry. Lets not get ahead of ourselves here. Most marketing is expensive and time-consuming. TV ads probably don't pay in the long-run, but there are a lot of ways to get free publicity. There is also a huge market out there that we haven't tapped into, and that's Gen Z, or tweens, whatever you like to call them. Kids that age will pretty much buy into anything, and they are huge spenders when you consider they have next to no income. Companies of all kinds and sizes are basing their entire marketing campaigns on this market segment alone. Having been in the wilderness for a long time, it seems reasonable that the older generations who supported this club, could not keep the support going with their kids or their grandkids. As a consequence new support has dried up. Appealing to younger generations could be as simple as running some footy clinics at schools and handing our freebies. Most kids probably won't care whether we win or lose, they're more likely to be attracted to the colours, the song, the demon mascot (RIP?). All in all, the marketing and the incentives for new supporters to come on board are nearly non-existant. On the other hand, you would hope that loyal, long-time members wouldn't need incentives to get on board. It would be fantastic if we had 30,000 fans who signed up every single year, and not just turned up on Queens birthday. I always wonder where the hell these people have been hiding, and why they decide to come out of the woodwork when we play Collingwood... and this is generally irrelevant of our ladder position.

I'm not taking a grandstand, and I'm sorry if that's how it came across. I'm just so frustrated with all the negativity in the media, within the club and now on here. People who post here are all passionate, and they have every right to vent their spleen. I do it all the time. What actually brought this post on, was a conversation I had earlier with a Melbourne supporter. His negative outlook made me so angry, and no matter what I said, he was convinced that there was no hope for the club. "We'll be gone in 5 years time" he kept saying. Then I read through the posts here and people are complaining about pens and telling us they are not buying a membership because some players made mistakes and it only validates my opinion that our supporter base in general is weak and fickle. I would say that, at a stretch, there are about 10,000 loyal supporters who will do whatever they can to keep this club going. That is not enough to sustain an AFL club, not even close. And what worries me is that there is so much negativity coming from outside of the club, that is must be, on some level, affecting the mood inside the club. Empty stands at games, terrible membership numbers, negative media attention... the club really doesn't need all that when they are trying to reposition themselves with a new coach and new administrative department. As I said, we are far from perfect. In fact, we have a lot of really big issues we have to deal with as a club. But if first and foremost you don't have the outside support of your fans, then why bother? The supporters are the bloodlines of all clubs, and at the moment it really feels like we don't have any. It's incredibly frustrating! If you turn up to games, you are financially or otherwise supporting the club. Therefore you are not a 'fair weather' supporter. My point was that everyone who visits this site is generally very passionate about the club, so when such negativity creeps into everything on here, it really is a bad sign. I'm not naive. I understand how business works, and I'm in a business which is just as fickle as football. But have a look at where Carlton or Richmond are at with their membership and their supporters. These two clubs have done a lot less than we have in the past 3-4 years, but they still have a huge supporter base that remains loyal to them. Now I don't know, maybe their supporters are just dumb because they are only guided by their passion. To me, that element has to stay in the game. Value for money is important, sure, but if your perception of value comes down to how many victories you get to see every year, than how can the club rely on your support (I don't mean you in particular)? Our supporter base is not as big as Carlton or Richmond's and it probably won't ever reach their size. But there is no reason why, we couldn't get 30,000 members every single year. 30,000 is a very small number when you consider the 20,000,000+ who live on this continent. That we've set this target, but can't achieve it, is sad. And it's not just the fault of the supporters, it's the club's fault too. There is no sense of urgency, and there is no order. That's a real problem which I hope our new CEO can address. But what it comes down to is not how much money you spend on the club, or how many games you attend each year. What it comes down to is, how much do you actually care about the survival and the fortune of the MFC? I can't fathom losing something that I passionately love, because there are so many people out there who could be contributing and making this club better, but they don't. It would be a tragedy if we ever face a situation where we have to fold, merge or relocated, but if not enough people care, than it's not a question of if, it's a question of when.

I’m sick and tired of the bitching and the moaning that’s been happening here lately. I understand that barracking for this club is difficult. But support cannot be conditional. There is no doubt that we, as a club, have a lot of problems. Our administration is struggling to keep up with a minute number of membership orders, and we are starving for more support. We have little to no money, which means we can’t spend big on advertising campaigns to lure new members. We’ve reached a point where, if I was working as a marketer for the club, I would use fear tactics to get people to buy memberships and turn up to games. Better to beg, than die. While we’re trying to think big with our mission to China, we can’t even get decent numbers to games in Melbourne. We struggle to do the basic things right, our ex- CEO has let 70% of his staff members walk out in the past few years, and we don’t even have a ground to regularly train on during the summer. But our biggest problem, are our pathetic supporters. Melbourne fans are a fickle bunch. Their support is dependent on on-field results, our clash strip and the plastic pen you get with your membership. When things go pear-shaped, you need support more than anything. As individuals, we’ve all been through bad times, and we’ve all looked towards the people in our lives to help us. But if we as supporters can’t be there for the Melbourne Football Club, than what hope have we got of making it to the end of the season, let alone to our 200th birthday? I wish I could get every person in Australia who fancies themselves as a Melbourne supporter in the one room, and give them a serious piece of my mind and a good smack around the ears. But I can’t. What I can do is come to Demonland and find other REAL supporters, who turn up to games, buy memberships, and who love this club like they love their mother/wife/child/dog/shoes... maybe more. It is our responsibility to ensure that this club never loses their fight to survive. We might not win the battle, but as long as we’re still fighting, we’ve got a chance at getting better and stronger. Buy a membership, turn up to games even if you know we won’t win, wear your scarf to games, harass other supporters to sign up and or shut up. And most importantly, don’t give up on the club. Hopefully a new CEO can get the club to fine-tune all the really important, basic, fundamental things. Hopefully our new coach can get us some on-field success. But until that happens, hold tight and don’t let go. If the desperados of Demonland give up hope, we might as well pack up our one training bike and call it a day.

Would the players have suspended him for missing training and breaking curfew if he was at his girlfriend's house the night before, and rang the club up in the morning to let them know he can't come to training? Come on, there is a reason he got not only suspended but also fined. I highly doubt it has anything to do with his relationship breakdown. As was said above, if there were mitigating circumstances he would not have been punished.

No, men are idiots <_< I'm not saying he should have rang DB and cried on the phone. But he should have spoken to someone at the club, explained what had happened and asked to have the morning off. There is no need for a Dr.Phil psychoanalysis! I can just imagine what would have happened to me, if I decided not to turn up to work, not telling anyone, because I broke up with my boyfriend. I'd probably get fired, or at the very least in a lot of trouble. But if I rang my manager and explained the situation, there would be no problem. At the end of the day, I would need to give an explanation for my absence regardless. Doing so ahead of time, means I wouldn't get into strife. It's the difference between showing you care about your job, and being an irresponsible child. Maybe if he rang ahead, he wouldn't have gotten into trouble, and we wouldn't have to go into Round 1 without his services. Unfortunately, when we live in the real world, what we do and how we react to situations impacts people around us. The impact of his actions and decision making, no matter how justified it may seem, have left us a player short come Round 1. So everyone suffer.

It's great if he wasn't out getting [censored], but it gives him an even less plausible excuse for missing training. Do you think the leadership group would have punished him for missing the curfew if he was at his girlfriend's house past 1am? I highly doubt it. I completely sympathise with his situation. Break-ups suck, which is exactly why he should have let someone at the club know if he wasn't feeling emotionally capable of turning up to the recovery session. That would have been the responsible thing to do, and I am sure the club would have given him the time off that he needed. Afterall, we are not dealing with unreasonable people or unreasonable expectations. Nobody expects Sylvia to act like a robot and feel nothing when bad things happen in his life. And this has nothing to do with Brock McLean. Brock got his punishment, and IMO it is far worse being dropped indefinitely from the leadership group, than it is missing one game. It's a harsher penalty in the long run.

I've never heard of a SWOT analysis (well SWO ) being done on a person before! Thanks for the report. Sounds like a really good function to attend, pity they didn't schedule it for Friday. I could have called in sick and skipped work

If he wasn't [censored] and still ended up missing training, that's even worse. It means he was thinking straight and made a conscious decision not to turn up. If he really wasn't feeling in the right state of mind to turn up, he should have at least let the club know. Maybe if he told them the situation, they would have understood and let him have the morning off.

It made me all teary-eyed. Bring on Round 1 indeed.

Cry me a freakin river Yze_Magic! It's weak supporters like yourself that make this club a failure, not the players who go out and do stupid things. And if you don't sign up and if you're not a contributing member, you have no right to moan and [censored] about the club. I give you one victory before you're back on here blowing your load and declaring us premiership favourites. Yawn!

We won't know until the real games start... you know, the ones where results actually matter. I doubt very much that we're going to be playing in the exact same manner in which we were playing last season.

The incidents for which he was reported, were not even reportable to begin with. Both were dismissed. How on earth is that evidence that he is not 100% focused? If he wasn't 100% focused he wouldn't be close enough to the action to get reported. No idea what being a moderator has to do with anything. I do not claim to have superior knowledge on the MFC, but I also don't make claims that I can't back up. People are drawing a very long bow between Robbo's TV committments, and his committment to the club and to his football. There have been no concrete evidence to suggest that his once-a-week TV apperance is hindering his playing ability in any way, shape or form. Until someone can bring in solid evidence to the contrary, this whole argument is completely stupid. For some reason, supporters feel the need to nit-pick and bring the club/players down at every given opportunity. How about some praise for Robbo, for doing something positive and raising money for the Troy Broadbridge Foundation? Robbo never had any thoughts of leaving. He was hurt that the club did not approach him earlier with a contract offer, and it was his right to discuss his future with the Bulldogs, but leaving was not his first choice... it wasn't his second either. He thought the club might not offer him what he wanted, in which case he was prepared to go elsewhere. In the end, he was the one who compromised on a two-year deal with an optional third year. Again, I don't see any element of accurary in anything you have said on this particular topic. So either you know something and you're not telling us, or you're speculating negative things about one of our own.

My post was not directed at you. I appreciate you posting the information. CB, how about we wait to see what game plan we are going to implement during the season before you start your anti-run and carry campaign again?

I never said otherwise. My point was in regards to Hards' comment that McLean should have been suspended after his speeding fine. If you do something stupid and bring the club's image into questioning, you don't deserve to be a leader. That is why he is no longer in the leadership group. But if you choose to not turn up to a recovery session because you've been out on the [censored] the night before, you clearly have little interest in playing football and you should therefore not be eligible for selection come Round 1. Playing for the MFC is a privilege, not a right.

I'm sick of all this negativity. Despite some of the poor off and on field issues that have come to light during the pre-season, I still feel that this has been a very positive summer for the MFC. We finally made a move on the coaching department and we've got a whole new administration with a new CEO to come. We managed to clear our list substantially, got a good trade for an over-rated, lazy senior player, and we'll have nearly a full list to choose from come Round 1. Things could be much, much worse. I would love it if for once, Melbourne supporters weren't so hot and cold. Two months ago everyone was pumped, happy and excited about the season ahead. A couple of footballers behaving like dills and losses in insignificant practice matches, and all of a sudden the sky is falling. How about we reassess our position in the middle of the season, instead of wrist-slashing, and bridge-jumping before the season has even begun. Get behind the club and stop the constant whinging ffs!

McLean has done a lot of stupid stuff, and he deserves the punishment he has received. His incidents, while bringing negative media attention to the club, did not actually impact his body or his ability to play. Not turning up to a recovery session, especially when you've been battling ongoing injuries, has an impact on your ability to compete, an impact on your body and it shows you care very little about your profession and your club. Again, I am not excusing McLean, but at least he doesn't jeopardize his performance by speeding or doing burn-outs in a car park.

So you're saying that being cited for non-incidents two weeks in a row shows that Robbo is not 100% focused on footy, and that that is a result of his commitment to the show? Gees, the crap that gets posted on this forum never ceases to amaze me, and I've been here for about 6 years! We have SO many problems that we have to deal with both on and off the field, and yet people want to nit-pick over something so irrelevant. As Nasher said, storm in a teacup. By the way, if you know what's going on behind the scenes and you have some sort of information, either post it, or don't make reference to it. If you're implying that Robbo's contract states that he is allowed to participate in media activities outside of the club, than that sound very reasonable to me. After all, the club was more than happy to trade him. It was Robbo who wanted to stay, so there is no way the club would have agreed to a contract they weren't pleased with.

He is actually doing very well. It's only embarrassing if you don't know what you're doing... you know, a bit like you commenting on this topic This is the best publicity we've had all summer.

The difference is that McLean did not break team-rules, and he did not miss a training session. He broke the law, and the law punished him. The more I think about this whole Sylvia incident, the angrier I get. What makes someone think he has the right to dismiss team rules? Even worse, what makes a footballer who has done absolutely nothing in his 5-year career make a conscious decision not to turn up to a recovery session... a player who has battled injury his whole career too! I mean either he really wants to be an AFL player, or he figures some stupid club will keep holding on to him in the hope that one day he'll grow a brain-cell or two. All of these incidents point to players who do not respect the club, and who do not care in the least how their actions impact the team. Selfish, stupid and immature!

This topic was discussed a few weeks ago. I rather he sings and raises money for charity in his spare time, than go out drinking till the early mornings. Don't see the connection between two dismissed reports, and his TV commitments. Clutching at straws here. If the club gave him the green light, that's good enough for me.

Oh for the love of god! Not turning up to a recovery session... very professional

MFC rocks my world, and while I wait for the premiership that is on its way, the MFC will continue to rock my world no matter what happens.

Unfortunately we missed the boat with trading Yze, and we gave White too-long a contract. These are all list-management problems, and the people involved are all gone now. Come the end of the season, I think we'll see just as many retirements/delistings as we saw last year. People who complain about the list and where it is at have to put the blame squarely on past administrations and football departments, who showed a lack of bravery when it came to trading 'big name' players with ordinary records. No comment on the pre-season results. Nothing affects me unless it has 4 points/ finals/ premiership cup attached to it.

Is it possible that Bailey is instructing the players to play run and carry during the pre-season to prove to them just how poorly they execute this style, and come Round 1 we'll switch to a whole new, much improved game plan? <_<

What sort of injury did he sustain?