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Wagner over Tyson? Absolutely ridiculous. I was hoping Goodwin would stop playing games at the selection table after he cost us big time in the last month of last season.

I love that so many people around here believe Goodwin when he says that both will be back in 6-8 weeks, when he has been less than honest (or at best, so very wrong) on this subject in the past. I have zero confidence that Viney will play this year, and am losing faith that we will see McDonald play any meaningful part in our season either. Goodwin should just say "we will take the time to get these injuries fixed, we don't know how long that will take, we will update you when we have something definite to tell you", rather than providing a running commentary and looking like a fool or worse when his deadlines are missed. That said, I do expect him to explain why McDonald played AFLX and JLT.

If stupidity was an Olympic sport, there are a number of employees of the MFC that would be strong favourites to bring home the gold medal in their respective weight divisions. Not only do we allow Jack Viney to destroy his foot by playing him early against all prevailing medical wisdom, we allow Tom McDonald to do the same thing six months later. At least Viney's problems stem from regular season matches - the club was stupid enough to let McDonald play a shitty exhibition game two months out from the season. Given the countless half truths and outright lies spoken by everyone from the coach down since Viney's initial injury, I can only assume that we will spend the next 23 weeks enduring the same regarding McDonald's problem. Time for the club to man up and admit to their errors of judgement and give honest timelines for the returns of both Jack and Tom. PS. Vandenberg - indefinite, McKenna - indefinite. So glad my membership dollars are paying for these two to not play football for the club.

Hopefully writing Herald Sun columns is the extent of Max's media work this year. Just focus on your football, Max.

I was just thinking the other day that what we really need to make our football experience complete is for the classic songs of Carlton, Richmond and Melbourne to sound more like the putrid GC17 and GWS equivalents. Just [censored] off already Dil.

Re: Sam Weideman, I've said it before, but it has nothing to do with the number of marks, kicks and goals he has, at any level, at this stage of his career. It has everything to do with his lack of intensity, physical presence and hunger for the contest. That is something you can't teach, and it is the reason that I doubt he will make it as an AFL footballer. I'm sure Sam will see out his contract, and will probably even get a fifth year if he shows signs of improvement, but there is little doubt that we will be having the same conversation in 2020.

I wish the club would stop making statements on this matter. Since Jack disappeared from sight after round 21 last season they have given us about a dozen updates as to his progress and expected return, and all of them have been proven wrong. They just look foolish and deceitful, particularly Goodwin after his statements that Viney would play round 1.

I don't drive to the MCG, and really don't care whether parking is available or not. But to cite terrorist concerns as the reason behind removing parking is just absurd. Queues to get in and out of Richmond station, to get in and out of the ground itself, and the totally inept and disinterested security staff are far bigger concerns than the car access.

Bumping this back up. We have 8 teams in at present. Would like another 4 if possible. If we can't get Demonlanders on board, happy for friends / family to join as a last resort? As an aside, has anybody had trouble logging in to the site this year? There is a lot of wheel spinning and refreshing required for me to get in.

In all likelihood this charade will continue well beyond round 1. The club has been less than honest from day 1 about this injury, and Jack seems no closer to actually taking the field than he did a month ago.

Double post, sorry.

I would like to join.

I'm a born pessimist, and absolutely scarred by getting my hopes up towards the end of last season. Hence I am not getting too hopeful about this season. That said, if we can keep our better players on the field, and if the players give the required level of effort each week, then I believe we can match it with any team in the competition. Pre season and novelty cup wins are nice (and I absolutely believe this team needs to play to win every game it plays), but they count for nothing if we don't win the games we need to in the regular season.

The ground is virtually empty 45 minutes before a game, so the impact of not having a warm up on the spectators is negligible. I would much rather watch a curtain raiser, particularly one that finishes just before the main game, rather than two hours before.

I understand why we have moved on from Luna Park, but I thought yesterday was a little disappointing by comparison. There were really very few activities for kids, and no rides, and I thought they could have made better use of the players (Jordan Lewis was fantastic interacting with kids in the arts & crafts section, but far too many of them seemed to go missing for large parts of the morning. I get that it is not fun signing your name for two hours straight, but surely it is a small price to pay for making a few kids happy). My suggestions for next year: 1. Have a signing area for the big name players where you only need to line up once, rather having to line up ten different times. 2. More players helping out with the activities, engaging with the kids. It is a great way for the younger kids to become comfortable interacting with fans, in a relaxed environment. 3. More rides / skill activities. Even run a mini clinic or two. 4. Have a bit more space between activities, so that lines are not running into each other. PS. When you advertise something as being at the MCG, I was hoping it would actually be on the MCG.

Salem has been a big disappointment over the past couple of years. There is no doubt he has all the tools to be a very good player, but he needs to get his head right (like a number of his mates). Hopefully this is the year that it starts to happen for him.

McKenna, Vandenberg & Kent - what a waste of list space. Hopefully Tyson and Garlett are on track for the St Kilda game.

Allow plenty of time to get in and out of the ground. There is a heap of parking, but you may have to walk a distance if you turn up close to the start time. It can be easier to enter and exit to the east and travel the back roads back to Melbourne, rather than coming in from Cranbourne (although I've never been down there on a Thursday night). The viewing areas consist of grassed areas on the hill around the ground and a row of metal seats around the boundary. The stand is usually reserved for the clubs / players. It's not a bad idea to bring your own camp chairs and set up at the top of the hill, or around the boundary.

I haven't seen the last couple of games, but the signs were there in the GWS game. We want to play a possession game, but the majority of our players are poor kicks. Far better to boot the ball forward through the middle of the ground, and create a contest down the ground (and we are a very good contested side), rather than chipping backwards and sideways. Our defenders are not great in 1 on 1 contests, and I'm not sure that they read the game particularly well. Can we afford not to have Hickey playing in defence? I feel for our forwards who suffer from slow ball movement and poor delivery. I have concerns about the game style and out ability to play the game on our terms, both of which are a reflection of the coach. Having said that, there is really no excuse for a lack of effort at this point in a short season. If this club fails to make finals this year, with the playing list it has, it would be an absolute disaster and a clear sign that changes are required at the top. I assume the likes of Paxman and O'Dea would be prime recruiting targets as marquee players for the expansion clubs - we desperately need to give them reason to stick around.

Hi Folks, The link to the league is below. Let me know if any issues: http://ultimate-footy.theage.com.au/478373/invitation I'm not sure how much we need to re-customise, so please advise if you see anything that needs to be changed. We also need to set a draft time. Maybe Sunday 18 March?

Sorry folks, I have been out of action for the past week. I will try to get the code out in the next day or so.

We have 12 days between practice matches, so there is no reason not too play our best team in both. I certainly wouldn't be playing anybody who is not a chance to play round 1.

Re: McKenna & Vandenberg, why were either of these players retained when it is crystal clear to most that they won't make it on to the field for most (all?) of the season? They are just a couple of deep fringe players clogging up the list (and the medical rooms) with their constant injuries. Far better to take a couple of rookie picks instead who might amount to something.

It's easy to stick the boots in from afar, not so easy to make useful contributions. How about nominating some people who would do a better job, like perhaps yourself? As an aside, I was near Robbo for much of the GWS game. He did a pretty good job dealing with sound issues, the poor viewing at Casey and looking after his kids.

The coaches only have themselves to blame. I didn't see the debacle on Friday, but 5 goals in a game of football is rubbish and helps nobody. Even on Saturday it took Melbourne until the second half to play a style of football that gave them a decent chance of scoring. Clearly playing on AFL size grounds is not helping the scoring levels or the standard of the games so, aside from playing smaller grounds with less crowd capacity, something else has to give. If that means the use of zones so be it. I think the AFL realise that they only get one chance to get this right, or they set the women's game back a couple of generations. They need to have a product that, in time, people will pay to see. Attendances and TV viewing numbers were significantly down on the corresponding matches last year, and that is largely because the product isn't right yet.