Ricky P

He chased out of the backline up the wing, and then ran all the way back to get on the end of the handball to kick one of the most famous goals in Melbourne history "Wilson...cover yourself in glory!"

Love these old stories! This time we only have to hope the top side wins if we lose!

You've fudged your figures throughout your two posts but this is your central point, and it's correct: Melbourne has pokies machines and some of those machines would be used by problem gamblers. I don't think it's the government's role to be banning things that some people become addicted to. And I know you haven't said that pokies should be banned, but if you think it's inappropriate for a football club to profit off 'broken lives' then surely it's inappropriate for anyone to? Virtually every activity a person can undertake has risk attached and it's up to individuals to assess that risk for themselves. If we're going to ban pokies then we should ban alcohol, smoking, driving, sex, video games...the list goes on and on. By extension, I don't think it's a football club's role to be making calls on something as morally ambiguous as pokies revenue. If the club decided to divert a percentage of their pokies revenue to organisations that address problem gambling then I think that would strike a good balance between being a positive civil society organisation and not throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

No I'm not. Very aware that's an average figure. For many people it's even less. Furthermore, they are the western suburbs figures where the problem is presumably worse based on the fact that the western suburbs was put forward as evidence of a 'crisis'. So the figure would presumably be even less than $25 on average in other parts of Australia. Realistically pokies are a harmless pastime for most and a big problem for a small minority - like many other leisure activities. I wouldn't care if the whole league banned pokies revenue, but if other clubs are doing it, we should be going after it to keep pace with our competitors.

Would hardly call $1300 a year a crisis. That's $25 a week on a leisure activity. How much do you spend a week on leisure activities?

I was at this game too! Was ANZAC Day. Kicked the first goal of the last to 47 points up. Bombers kicked the next 8 straight to win by a point.

Yeah not sure. I don't really think they have any fans - let alone ones that would drive down to Canberra. I'm predicting the ground will be mostly full of neutral Victorian expats. But yeah - you won't be alone in the standing. We will be pretty rowdy haha!

I've got no problem with the club making money out of pokies. For most it's just a harmless pastime, and for the minority that do have a problem, whether or not the machine is owned by a footy club or not won't make a lick of difference.

I'm heading up with a few mates. Didn't realise you could book tickets through the club, so just got them on ticketmaster. GA in the Hill was cheapest so went for those. Prefer standing so hopefully the hill is standing. Should be a ripper!

Just in case there was any doubt, there is absolutely no way we'll be playing a final in Geelong.

We'll smash these losers.

Went to Vic Park as a 7 year old in 92 to see the dees win. Was an amazing experience. Stood on the Gary Ablett terrace in 2015 at Kardinia. Got a bit testy when my bro kept yelling out "you're an effing cheat Selwood". Would love to hear some stories of the old days at Windy Hill etc. Those grounds were being phased out as I started going to the footy - so I only went to Princes Park, Vic Park, Western Oval and Kardinia Park. Missed Moorabbin, Windy Hill and obviously Arden St. Incidentally, going to the see the Dees in Canberra on Sat week for my first interstate game.

I jump on the Upfield line every week!

The other thing about this which no-one's mentioned yet is that a maggot home game will mean the crowd will probably be bigger. This will give the match more credibility in the footy calendar.

People were critical of Viney's form at the start of the year and attributed it to the captaincy. We now know he was affected by Plantar Fascia which doesn't rule you out from playing, but drastically impacts your contribution. I also reckon Jonesy has had a great year, which in my in part be explained by having less of the captaincy duties. One match which that article didn't mention was the game over in Perth. Viney was extraordinary in that game.