Lucifers Hero

Funny how those most able to do something blame some else- A few weeks ago Hird blamed Ess for lack of support Thompson blames Evans for not stopping it all Now Jobe blames Ess - says the club were negligent, which is true. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/watson-whacks-bombers-over-supplements-saga-20180523-p4zh2f.html The more people that were involved go back over it (incl Fitzpatrick, Crameri recently) the more likely the truth will trickle out, especially when someone starts defending their patch.

42,218 15 to go! Tomorrow will be the day to break the record. More than two months ahead of last year...

Yep, 48 to go! Definitely countdown time! At this time last year we had 40,549 members then added 1,684 in the following months to reach the 42,233 record by the end of July. Can we add a similar amount in the next months to get to around 44,000? Given how slow membership renewals were late last year, I reckon the club would be quite pleased with that. Edit: 45 to go with @pineapple dee3 membership renewals tomorrow?

Revenue is important to Clubs but Sponsors and TV Broadcasters care about the Numbers. The more members the better FTA broadcast time slots, more profitable opp at the G, more merchandising, more match attendances and more attractive to sponsors etc etc etc.

Thanks for those figures. We've come a long way since the PJ/Roos era started and added some 10,000 members. But disappointingly we are still at the bottom of the Vic teams. I suspect North is somewhere near the same level. Even, Carlton are now 51,860 Anyway, we are moving along slowly and today we are 42,057. Just 178 to go to beat last years record. But sadly I don't think we will reach any great heights this year. I'm at a loss to understand why our membership is not increasing rapidly. One wonders whether, even if we win a Premiership, we will reach the 'dizzy' heights of 50,000 members let alone the fantasy land 70,000 to 90,000 levels of the big clubs.

Just when Ess thought their season could not get any worse: "My point of view is that it was almost certainly performance enhancing," Fitzpatrick said of the injected substances" https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/retired-afl-chairman-adds-to-bombers-woes-20180515-p4zfb1.html Doesn't get any more damning than! Fitzpatrick would know! The doping saga will haunt them forever and a day!

July 31, Saty

The tally was quietly sitting in the 'Membership' part of the website. I'm thinking it is now writ big on the Home page as the club are confident of breaking the 42,233 record. Perhaps some doubt earlier. Count is 41,803, so 430 to go. Time to start 'countdown' clock?

My bad. I misread an article on FA's. Will go back and edit my post. Cheers,

Up to a point Steve. While Gaff may choose us, WCE can match the offer and force a trade ala Dangerfield from Adelaide. It would probably mean us trading out a top player to WCE (or to some else to get the required pick) as I don't think we can trade the 2019 1st round pick. WCE would make a call once they know where they finish on the ladder. The higher up the more likely to force a trade as their 1st round compensation pick would likely be in the mid to late teens. Saints are touted as being very keen altho can't imagine he would go there. As someone else mentioned Jackson flagged we have the salary cap space to go after an FA but finding the currency might get tricky if we are forced into a trade...who/what would we be prepared to give up? Edit: Reckon WCE would ask for Jesse as Kennedy will be 31 this year. To quote @daisycutter phrase: 'computer says no' on such a deal.

Interesting article. I wonder what Sheedy means with this cryptic comment: "I think the supplements saga at Essendon didn't help him [Thompson], it definitely didn't help James Hird so I think that's going to play out in the next five, six years, particularly with the players that got banned and also with Jobe losing his Brownlow Medal," he said on The Footy Show. "I reckon after 10 years it will be interesting to see what happens there." Law suits? Mental health issues? Medical issues? This has become such a mess of so many lives and it need not have been.

The items in the locked room are reported to have Bomber's DNA on them. The largest item seized during the raid was 839.7 grams of MDMA which reportedly was not in the locked room. Re this item: "Senior Constable Bourke said the 839.7 grams of MDMA was contaminated by the clandestine drug unit so DNA could not be found but police were still investigating a connection between these drugs and the 54-year-old". https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/bomb-tatts-and-bang-bang-police-allege-large-money-exchanges-between-thompson-and-drug-accused-20180502-p4zcwr.html It beggars belief that a specialised group of cops could contaminate evidence but somehow they did...

Now 41,438. About 1,500 ahead of this time last year. And need just 795 to better last year's record of 42,233.? Easily by the end of May...

One of Hird's assistant coaches at the time is now our senior coach...just saying... In the Bigger Boardroom of our State the two highest public office bearers are die hard Essendon supporters. And I recall a shady character 'convincing' witnesses not to show up at the ASADA hearing. And another anonymous character paid Hird's very hefty legal bills/damages. So the tentacles of possible influence extend far and wide.

The Spargo family makes history https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/spargo-family-makes-history-in-charlie-s-impressive-demons-debut-20180430-p4zcfj.html "His debut meant the Spargo family was the first to produce four league footballers - in a direct line - through four successive generations". Terriffic achievement by the family. Liked his dad's advice on presenting Charlie with his demon jumper: play hard for your teammates, play hard for your jumper. He seems like a feisty puppy with a bit of bite, not unlike Jack Viney. I suspect it won't be long before we have a 'Spargo Made Me Cry' thread. ?

He was pushing his luck after the 'Goodwin/camp fiasco' and 'McCartney banished from the coach's box' stories. 'Leaking' the Petracca omission story yesterday was probably the final straw. Let's hope that whoever inside the club is feeding him stories, stops! Or he will still get stuff to write.

Membership is still creeping up: 40,444

Didn't take long for other clubs to come sniffing - "Angus Brayshaw’s non-selection for the first three rounds of the season has also led to seven rival clubs showing various levels of interest in the out-of-contract ball-winner, whose brothers — Hamish and Andrew — live in Perth and play for West Coast and Fremantle respectively....The Dockers are believed to be one of these clubs keeping a close eye on the concussion-plagued Brayshaw. https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/fremantle-poised-to-make-bigmoney-moves-for-jeremy-mcgovern-and-jesse-hogan-with-an-eye-on-angus-brayshaw/news-story/e1b90ef950ed62a9db2ee841a96000c4 The writer does add that "... there is no suggestion Brayshaw wants out but...the lure of consistent opportunities could prove to be a decisive factor in weighing up his future". It was good to see Gus play a really good first up game yesterday. Let's hope the coaches keep playing him to give him some consistency, which he hasn't had for several years for a variety of reasons. Note - I have ignored the speculation about Hogan in that article. It is a repeat of the same stuff year after year and Freo will continue to ask.

od, it is being discussed on this thread

...and the Pies have gone all quiet "The club is the only one in the AFL yet to reveal its numbers publicly this year... Collingwood recorded 75,000 members last year but is now believed to be trailing that by around 10,000 "!! https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/collingwood-may-be-keeping-2018-membership-total-secret-due-to-sliding-numbers-says-garry-lyon/news-story/ee7a5db72ccc18a248217924fcc9f4b2 Not sure Eddie's ego could cope for his club to go from the biggest to the 4th biggest...

Not if we subtract the number of Saints members that have handed back their memberships ...want their money back!

I would like to see Eddie's face when that happens!!!

We have reached the 40,000 mark!! Must have taken the club a few days to process the weekend membership signings. As of this evening the tally is: 40,012 Almost a month ahead of last year. We reached 40,083 on May 7, 2017.

This thread gives a running tally vs prior years. It is pinned to the top of the Forum page The figure at this time last year was 38,554 so we are about 850 up.

Very good chance - the membership queues were quite long before the game today!