poita

And still waiting.

You'd think $435 would buy you much better entertainment than Mike Brady & G-Flip (whoever that is). Where has the saving on fireworks been allocated?

I understand that entry to the preliminary final is free. I assume no need to book tickets, just rock up at the ground?

My son received this email through his junior league this morning. I was absolutely ropable when I saw it as I had purchased category 3 tickets on Monday. Once again the league screws over loyal fans to benefit once a year attendees.

It is seriously dumb list management to not be turning over a minimum of 5-6 players each year. What is the point of retaining guys like Baker and Chandler when they are clearly not in the coach's plans? Let alone having a guy like Smith spending more time in rehab than on the field each year. Our depth is nowhere near as good as it is made out to be by some, and we need to keep looking for new talent, particularly in the forward line. With so many of our players currently in the 26 - 27 age bracket, we become a very old team very quickly otherwise.

I don't believe these restrictions apply whilst the AFL team is still playing. If the AFL side loses this week, Bowey wouldn't be eligible to play in the VFL Grand Final.

Our slow ball movement is killing us. The delivery inside 50 doesn't have to be perfect, in fact sometimes the rougher the better, but it does need to be quick enough to allow our forwards to compete 1v1. By the time we stuff around on the wing with 6 useless handballs and 3 slow, sideways kicks, the opposition has 16 defenders inside our forward 50. Ideally we should be looking to release Hunt or Hibberd from half back, they run the ball from defensive 50 and kick long inside forward 50. Gawn will take 20 marks one day if we allow him to compete like that. Pickett can sit at his feet and clean up the crumbs.

Three Queensland teams in the preliminary final - can someone remind what the V in VFL stands for again? The biggest threat to Casey winning is Goodwin having a change of heart at the selection table and putting Dunstan and a couple of other Casey guns in the Melbourne side.

Absolutely zero chance of any unforced changes this week. Goodwin has hitched his wagon to this group, and will work them into the ground before changing his mind. I'm also expecting us to err (yet again) on the side of taking unnecessary risks with injured players, rather than taking 22 fit players into this week's game. I'd be happy to see Spargo miss, Melksham take his role across half forward and another tall forward come in (McDonald preferably if fit). I'd also like to see Brayshaw back to the wing and Dunstan into the midfield, particularly if Petracca doesn't play. I don't think Harmes' positioning is good enough to play what is such a specialised role in our setup. Sparrow to miss if Petracca is fit. I could make a very strong case for both Jackson and Salem to be dropped, but the chances of either happening are so miniscule that I won't bother.

30 plus minutes, this is a frigging joke. There won't even be 60K at the game, and I have to spend half my work day waiting to get in.

I got the impression that half of the crowd on Friday night were once a year football attendees. People around us were away from their seats for half the game, going to buy beer every five minutes. When they were sitting they were playing on their phones or talking to their mates. They really had no interest in the game, and made no noise whatsoever. This week's crowd will be smaller, but hopefully more committed.

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1208431/vfl-stars-cleared-for-qualifying-final https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1208391/four-demons-in-vfl-team-of-the-year-squad

Hopefully Stinear has spent the last four months working out how to stop Hatchard and Marinoff. We have more talent across the field, but their best players destroy us every time. Goldrick is a big out, as she was one of our best in the GF. Crows are clearly favourites on past form.

Joel will be 27 by the start of next season and has played 26 career games in 7 years. His potential is irrelevant - his lack of durability and propensity to injury makes him the absolute definition of a list clogger. We are just hoping for something that simply isn't there. Time to move on and find someone who can get on the field most weeks.

The problem with this is twofold. One, buying a membership under a discount offer such as the $13 deal probably costs the club more than they receive. Two, it's amazing how some people are always too busy to attend, until it becomes a big event. I have no issue with all members having access to tickets, but it shouldn't be at the expense of higher category members or those who attend each week. The priority system worked fine in previous years.

As an aside, Jack Crisp up to 185 consecutive games - that streak is starting to get a bit too close to the record for comfort.

That always seemed a bizarre fixture for a Melbourne home game, glad it has been rectified.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/829087/dockers-dominate-as-aflpa-s-22under22-announced

25 minutes to get tickets, pretty [censored]. What happens if we draw Collingwood in the preliminary final? There certainly won't be tickets remaining after 25 minutes. Higher levels of membership should get priority access, rather than competing against 3 game members who haven't been to a game all year.

I can't believe how stupid this is, even 20 minutes difference would clear most of the traffic.

Just long enough for the scalpers to get their tickets.

I love how ticket prices supposedly haven't increased, but the amount of tickets in the more expensive categories is much higher.

I'm okay with Harmes coming in for Jordon, as he and Sparrow have both underperformed for a while. I would love to know the KPIs that lead to Spargo being selected each week, because they clearly don't include disposals, goals, tackles, clearances or defensive accountability. The opposition's best rebounder / intercept mark is going to him at the opening bounce each week, and then basically doing as he pleases for 2 hours. My concern is that Spargo doesn't find enough of his own football to be dangerous, so he is highly reliant on his teammates being able to deliver the football to him in space. That's not our go at the moment, so he is really struggling to get involved.

https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1202262/vfl-stars-come-back-for-top-of-table-clash No love for Casey today? Chandler, Bedford & Jordon all named.