Diamond_Jim

Pass mark is realistically the same I set for last year... namely finals and win one final. Expectations and hope are different but luck is so important. In our two final wins we should have blasted Geelong off the park by half time and against Hawthorn if Gunston had kicked 8:3 instead of 3:8... well. We saved our worst performance for the prelim and it bought back memories of our GF's in 1988 and 2000. I am confident about 2019 simply because in the home and away season we had little if any success against the top 8 teams yet we won well (Saints aside) against the other teams. If we can step up our performance and get some wins against the top teams a 17 or 18 game winning season is not beyond us. Make no mistake the next two to three years as Brayshaw, Oliver etc hit their peaks are the best we will be for quite a while.

doubt that it will happen in 2019 ... but if so I would like a Richmond type win where you get to savour the joy of winning for the last quarter. Too much to hope for perhaps but after fifty plus years one is entitled to be choosy

one of the driest winters on record and we get a wet Cup. Fantastic to have the rain but such a bad day to have it. The race course train station has been closed due to flooding and the trains are stopping at the showgrounds which means a walk of over a kilometre in the rain

Point taken but the article also compares it with amongst others a dead rubber where England had already won the series. Such a bad decision. If you want another comparison look what has happened to cricket in England since it went behind the paywall.

Anyone who needs reminding of the differnecess between FTA and Foxtel ratings have a look at what happened with yesterday's ODI in Perth. On so many fronts an own goal by Cricket Australia and a reason to insist that MFC have decent FTA coverage. "Sunday's coverage of the first One Day International (ODI) in Perth between Australia and South Africa on Foxtel's new Fox Cricket channel attracted an average audience of just 205,000 viewers across the five major cities. To put that in perspective, Foxtel scored higher ratings in recent weeks with its coverage of Gold Coast Supercars (212,000 viewers) and an NRL test between Australia and Tonga (231,000 viewers). The figures represent an almost fourfold drop when contrasted with last season's ODI in Perth between Australia and England on Nine – the fifth game in a series England had wrapped up early – which attracted an average audience of 956,000 viewers for the free-to-air network. For a further comparison, the last time South Africa toured Australia for an ODI was in November 2014, with the opening game, at the time also played in Perth, attracting just over one million viewers for Nine." https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/foxtel-s-first-tilt-at-cricket-takes-massive-ratings-hit-20181105-p50e2r.html

definitely agree. The cricket season has just gone crazy. As I understand it the interstate one day comp has been run and won already. The series against Pakistan was so under the radar that it may as well have been underwater. South Africa are here for some one dayers but because of the new TV deal we won't see any of them on FTA. O well life goes on. I shall continue planning my holiday to Bangladesh... proving to be a slight challenge so far.

not sure that we will yo yo but if the top ten teams are separated only by 2-3 games as they were this year we could end up anywhere between 2 and 10.

makes so much sense on so many fronts. The only people it might upset are the stadium owners but with less games you would probably see a 10% increase in crowds per match is my guess.

you can have two or three split rounds that would extend the season to 20/21 weeks in length. It would also give a little less competition for the prime time TV spots

Collingwood is a bit of an unknown in my opinion. They could easily do an Essendon and finish around 10th. Sidebottom and Pendlebury had great seasons. Can they do it yet again. Forward structure is not quite there and of course Cox could be a star or a bust. In 2018 they were the quiet achievers who had a good September... sound familiar. If your prediction of 6 wins for the bottom team is right the top ten or so will be incredibly tight.

I'm tending to favour the seventeen round draw. Throw in two split rounds (Half the comp get a bye) and you are at a 20 week season. If you have to have the remaining five rounds for $ purposes then a simple random draw for the last five rounds is probably the most logical and fair. The compromised draw has simply become just that... compromised.

According to this article Collingwood played at the MCG 15 times during the home and away season. Of course they weren't all home games. The issue with the MCG contracts is that they are an obligated minimum. Nothing stops a club from playing more. Even if you don't play the minimum as was often the case with the old Docklands arrangements the contract usually has a clause stating the compensation to be paid. https://www.sportingnews.com/au/afl/news/afl-grand-final-tickets-collingwood-mcg-melbourne-west-coast/1cvf8e6du0y1x178dflgtpo52v

Our academy is only for Alice Springs. Every club has an academy now and it has nothing to do with playing there. For example Geelong has East Arnhem Land and Hawthorn has Katherine.

They are the minimum number of contracted games. With the new Thursday night slot there is an ability for an increased number of games at the MCG which they would be happy to host. Out of Docklands and the NT I suspect we know where most would like to play. The damning thing about the NT is that no one else wants to play there. Even Tasmania has North, Hawthorn and formerly St Kilda fighting over Tassie money. It tells you something I suspect. In years gone by we sold our soul to Brisbane and then the NT for the last eight years. It's time to come home.

On the money side of things here is an article from 2016 talking about the extension into 2017 and 2018. The figure quoted is $3.2 million or 800k per match contributed by the NT Government. That is consistent with what Peter Gordon was quoting a year or two back as the least amount ($1M) that the Bulldogs would want to play in China. I know we extended last year but I cannot find the press release as for how long. https://www.ntnews.com.au/sport/afl/melbourne-demons-agree-to-multimillion-dollar-deal-with-nt-government-to-play-two-home-games-annually-in-territory--for-next-two-years/news-story/94d5ee23d8073221ac36931352

Out of interest is there any sense of "belonging" in Tasmania for either the Hawks or North from the general Tasmanian population? Thanks

Pretty good given you have us playing only 21 games while the other teams in the 8 have played 22. Great effort and keep them coming.

Very much agree Redleg and time we had some transparency on this issue. This year we had 37k against GWS at the MCG. We don't need to go to NT on the pure basis of crowd numbers if we can maintain momentum.

Hawks complaining about the fixture. I think the compromised fixture as we know it is in danger simply because there is now way too much manipulation to try and satisfy the various stakeholders while still maintaining some form of competitive integrity. Odds on that there will be a committee formed to look at the fixture. As with the gambling dollar the AFL is so hooked on the TV dollar that in turn is driven by Murdoch's Foxtel it will take strong wills to swim against the ever increasing tide of manipulation.

I think people underestimate the power of FTA television. The Foxtel ratings are almost non existent but the FTA is another matter. Would love to see the FTA appearances club by club for the last five years. Someone mentioned we have 13 FTA matches for 2019. I'll take a punt and say Collingwood have 17 or more.

fantastic book I read it while travelling in India and it allowed me to discuss things with many people I met. A must read and a very easy read.

In the last two years the team who was 13th has gone on to win or challenge for the flag, Guess who was 13 this year.... yep the Bulldogs

Fascinating...as I grow older, I have become very interested in reading histories from alternative aspects and understanding the power of written histories. India under the British from the viewpoint of the Indians is an easily accessible example. A useful piece of trivia.. there are actually three people who could rightly claim to be the "founder" of Singapore. After Raffle's death his widow wrote a book pushing his story forward as the new Clive etc to enhance her chances of getting a pension from the East India Company and as they say "the rest is history." Hopefully the dark lessons of history that came from the EFC drug saga are not lost but I suspect like in many other areas we will repeat it.

Carlton played there last year but I agree Geelong has been allowed to pick and choose it's Karidinia opponents. Time for them to have their MCG opponents rotated between the remaining Melbourne clubs. Let's face it though... the compromised draw has become a monster that has the potential over many years to destroy the competition. I don't have the answer but there has to be a better way or we will end up with an EPL like competition. Luckily MFC has the MCG which gives us some bargaining power... woe be tide the other 3 Melbourne losers ... Saints, Bulldogs and North.

So realistically who are vulnerable in the sliding stakes.... Would not surprise me if Collingwood struggle... they had a good September but without Sidebottom and Pendlebury firing will they be as good? Essendon.. a real unknown... performed maybe two rungs below where they should have ended last year. Could go up or down. Sydney and Hawthorn... down slightly. Who is on the up..... not sure.. perhaps Freo and Brisbane will worry a few more teams thus making them danger games. Cannot get a handle on North. So.... overall it's once again anyone's flag next year with Richmond and WCE deservedly favourites.