rjay

No, it's a key factor in growth but there's a lot more to it than that. Get the wins but place yourself to take advantage of them, that's the way we will grow. North are a great example of a team who weren't able to translate on-field success to support and memberships.

During PJ's time the President and board have pretty much remained in the background. This year they have had to tick off on 3 big calls...selling off poker machine money, selecting a new CEO and developing a new home base. I'm sure many share my trepidation as previous boards/presidents don't imbue me with confidence but with these decisions best of 3 won't win. All 3 must be winners.

Dill's AFL is a little bit flakey for me, I don't put a lot of store in their acumen. For all his short comings AD did have a clue...

There was rumours of a rift between Jackson & Bartlett a year or so back. I just hope Bartlett's ego is not getting the better of him here. Melbourne Presidents don't have a good record of appointments.

Funnily enough he was the first one to come to my mind...didn't mention him at the time though. Thought he was done with footy. I wonder if the Roos connection played any part? a pity the podcast was before the announcement.

I'm hoping this will be a good appointment as I'm sure we all are. For those worried about negative inside mail from Collingwood people, we got the same negative stuff about PJ from the EFC people on his announcement. If Pert is as big a disaster as PJ has been I will be a happy man.

Hey @DeeSpencer, I get your frustration and sometimes I felt the same today. I think we can only hold one of him and Vince from here on in, unfortunately along with Jetta they make us too slow against quick forwards and surging mids. As @Earl Hood says above the big problem today was the mids and I would add lack of defensive pressure from our forwards. Pedders throws out the balance and the kid gets run over too much at the mo. Probably time to get Hunt back in with Garlett, move Smith across to a flank or wing and bring in Petty...

@Macca, this one features Drew Zingg on guitar...very underrated player. Probably the best of the Steely Dan live show players. Donald Fagan did this New York Rock & Soul Revue show that started as kind of a cover band, then added a few 'Dan' songs before it morphed back into a full on Steely Dan reunion after 12 years of separation.

I agree with you on the notion of allegiances carried through from childhood having little to no influence in these days of pro sport. Using the Prestia case when he was ready to move I don't think we were interested any longer. He wasn't going to fill a need, we already had Viney a similar but better player by this stage. I think we are into Gaff, we've identified areas of need and are trying to fix them. I see him as being like Lever from last season and am confident we will get our man. Will the Melbourne factor play a role? Well Melbourne the city will if as reported he wants to move back home. From there it will be money & opportunity and I believe we offer both. I don't think any other club can offer more in the Melbourne, money, opportunity basket so if he want's to leave we are the obvious choice and he gets to play with the team he supported (if that's true).

Like Lever last year I think we are right into Gaff and it's more likely than not he will be with us next season.

It's all part of the mix 'Rocky'... As PJ noted when he arrived, we're in the business of football & I'm sure it's not lost on the club that on field performance is the priority. Things like this give us a bit of profile & after years of being the ugly step sister it's time we stepped out of the shadows & weren't afraid of being relevant in the football world. Who cares what others think. Don't be scared of the exposure, revel in it. Having a strong brand draws sponsors, players & fans.

David Evans biggest mistake was taking poor advice from prominent past player/s and replacing Mathew Knights...it all went down hill from there.

I don't remember this being the case with Geelong... I do remember it with the West Coast in the 90's though. In Geelongs case it seems to be guilt by association...the weapon and bomber.

Would be there perfect addition to our list...

That's not evidence 'binman'... The story or non story (mischief) was not that he had been moved down to the bench. That's all a comm could have said and it would have been a waste of space and time. True or not the story was Macca wasn't happy with the move. What comm would you suggest they should have put out there?

Sorry 'binman' but I don't see what the communication issue is here. You're jumping at shadows. Surely the club don't have to put out a comm on every movement made by anyone within the club. Clubs continually have people moving between the box and bench, sometimes even the senior coach spends more time on the bench. It's only a story if Macca is p....off and leaked it. Then it's a staff issue not a comm issue and needs to be sorted internally. Otherwise it's someone causing trouble about something that's a non issue, again not a comm issue.

According to the CEO of the distributing company the product has been on the market for 70 years so it's been more than fully tested on humans. Just not used in this way until recently.

After hearing the chief of the company involved it seems more like the AFL playing funny buggers here. Everything seems above board on the company end, not sure what the AFL agenda is but he is getting the don't call us routine from Dill... Who would have thought.

Looks like another mess the AFL is involved in... I hope we aren't into this stuff yet. The company says it's approved the AFL chief doc say not. Will the AFL and clubs ever learn? https://smallcaps.com.au/afl-teams-paradigm-biopharma-pain-relieving-medication/ More in the Herald Sun that I don't have access to.

Lehman has done the right thing in stepping down as coach. It's a pity Hird didn't do the same and accept responsibility for what happened on his watch. This whole business would have been done and dusted long ago if he had.

Thirded, for same reasons... The fat lady hasn't sung plus the cricket situation, the cultural implications & how it's being handled is very relevant to the EFC one.

No, it's the same cultural problem. Win at all costs...combined with our guys would never cheat....and if caught use as many weasel words as you can fit in a sentence. This was not a one off, it's systematic in Australian sport and society. News....Australians are as good at cheating as anyone else. It was almost condoned in the EFC situation. It's par for course in politics. This comes from the top down...Coaches and Captain sacked for me if we are serious. I bet they get smashed with all the force of a wet lettuce leaf. My trust in top line sport is at an all time low and it's not too high to start with.

6 disposals 2 goals in a losing team. Weideman in his debut game had 13 disposals 2 goals, was hampered by a corked thigh in the second half and we won... Now let me think a bit before I write a mindless statement. Yep, I got it... Weideman looked good and made an impact.

I hope he has a good start to the year as we are going to need him with Tommy Mac going down. I don't have the faith in Pedders that others have. I think he is a good running ruck but struggles as a key forward. A lot will rest on Trac, Hannan and Fritsch to cover the loss of McDonald.

I found him a bit arrogant and aloof...but each to there own.