Jaded No More

The two burning questions of the day 1- is Clarry there? 2- how does Petty’s foot look?

FYI 50% margin is pretty decent for apparel that is not mass produced. You might think Melbourne merchandise is mass produced, but on production scales of apparel it is not. And undoubtedly there are several middleman involved. The club doesn’t have a full time product developer who is dealing direct with factories to make the stuff. There is probably a couple of junior graphic designers at AFL HQ making some designs and sending them to an agent overseas who then sends them out to different factories to produce. I won’t bore you with more information about apparel manufacturing, but I will say that some items will have a higher margin than 50% and some a lower margin. The percentage the AFL takes is basically for the licensing of using the AFL logo. Essentially like Disney for example take a licensing fee if you use one of their characters on your merchandise.

I think these two things don't need to be said in the same paragraph. We know mate, we know

Would we place Melksham on the long term injury list to free up a list spot?

He's saying of those who moved, only a handful moved against the wishes of the club. Including Jackson and Lever, who both left despite their original club throwing everything at them to stay.

He just came back from that intense Red Bull training centre in Austria, so very doubtful.

Kulta

For all the fashionistas out there, yes this yellow logo is visually offensive, but you know what isn't visually offensive? Having a positive bank balance!

Is Sparrow not a genuine mid?

IMO Rivers will end up as an inside mid

I still remember the melts on here when we took Clarry at pick 4. "WHY DIDN'T WE PICK PARISH? WHAT A STUFF UP. WHO IS OLIVER?"

These two are now coming into the peak of their career in terms of age and experience. They certainly won't be around forever though, and both still have significant question marks over them IMO. Probably a good thing Adelaide took Curtin. Takes the heat and desperation away from chasing Petty.

Will take him seamlessly from farm to doing laps on Chapel street

I hope the AFL signs off on him wearing these beauties on the field. Cox style. But better.

Possible that we believe Petty will ask for a trade at the end of 2024 and that will net us a better first round pick than the one we will have ourselves, so its a gamble worth making

Yes that is true, but we are still playing the same number of interstate games as previous years, without the need to also play in Geelong. Not to mention that poor Tassie ground where we seem to sustain serious injuries. And IMO the back to back SA games, while brutal in terms of the 5 day break, can be seen as a single interstate game, if as I suspect we will stay there for the duration of those rounds. Geelong do not worry me either, but Geelong in Geelong will always be no more than a 50/50 proposition simply because they play that ground better than anyone. Whereas at the MCG that game IMO is 70/30 our way. Likewise we have lost to Freo at the MCG frequently. Playing them at Optus doesn't make that game any more difficult beyond the travel itself. And we play Optus extremely well anyway. Also our travel is far better this year in terms of timing. We don't have long blocks of away games and we finally get a home game in the last round of the season, and a proper mid year bye. My biggest gripe is double up games against the other top 4 sides, which should be something only the premiers get lumped with. But having said that, I have no confidence in Port being top 4 again and we match up well against Brisbane especially at the MCG. I think Carlton and Adelaide will be real threats in 2024 so am happy we only play them once.

We play well at Optus and I rather play West Coast than Geelong anytime anywhere

I am sure they will, but a 5 day break between games is hard, even if they are in the same state

You forgot playing West Coast at the MCG. I was negative years old when this last happened.

I suppose you just don't know. Freo, Port and Lions could all dip. Nobody expected Freo to be so poor in 2023 or Port to be so strong either. But on paper this looks a hard draw. At least we get a proper mid year bye and our travel is more evenly spread out, and the two weeks in Adelaide are pretty much going to be one intestate trip from a conditioning perspective as I doubt we will fly back in between games.

Yeah what a bizarre scheduling Why make us have such a short break? I suppose we will stay over in between games, but it's still a big ask to back up against two good sides in such a short time. ON THE PLUS SIDE, NO GEELONG IN GEELONG!!!!

God it would be amazing if they flop again

Amazing. I'll get home at 11:50pm instead of midnight. What. A. Win!

That's nice of him to acknowledge our fantastic supporter base. No doubt we will also be the only one of this 'big four' that ends up playing in Geelong