Diamond_Jim

35-40k is the likely crowd unless we can get some hype around the game. Port supporters aren't known for travelling and the MCC/AFL theatre goers will have better MCG games to attend on the Thursday and Friday night. The last round game against GWS is perhaps a good pointer.... 37k

so we get the relatively dead non FTA TV slot against an interstate team.... Obviously the AFL love the new MFC. Amazing.. little wonder we have some trouble attracting premium sponsors

A bit of puffery from Al Jazeera on the progress of stadiums for the next World Cup in Qatar. The strange thing about Qatar as distinct from previous hosts is that Qatar is effectively a city state with most of the stadiums within a 20km radius of Doha. From an attendance viewpoint it will make the event very different. How they will accommodate the fans has not really been discussed. Qatar is adjacent to the UAE with Abu Dhabi and Dubai around 500 and 650kms away respectively. By road however one has to cross a small part of Saudi Arabia which makes it all the more interesting. Have spent 3 days in Dubai and cannot say it thrilled me. Give me Cairo or Istanbul any day. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/10/qatar-2022-world-cup-stadiums-181025142408471.html

Correct me if I am wrong please but do the interstate teams play the other interstate teams twice each year. Of course they have two "derbies" a year but do they play the other six teams twice? If that is right that is fourteen games of the fixture already allocated. Many thanks

Sound familiar..... “There’s the commercial outcome but it’s also a chance to grow our fanbase,” he said. “There are so many Chinese international students in Melbourne. Monash University, one of our performance partners, has 10,000 Chinese students in its own right. “It starts to differentiate our football club in a very competitive market.” https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/oct/25/st-kilda-replace-gold-coast-for-afl-game-in-china

a big second from me on that post RBG !

In one word .....Kochie... he did a great deal

you bet DZ.... to some extent it's funded by the Federal Government as part of a trade delegation. The Chinese funding comes from a billionaire Chinese property developer who has very very large agricultural holdings in Australia. The AFL also contributes. Gill quoted a figure of around A$4M .. not sure if that was the total cost or the AFL contribution. Peter Gordon said a year or two back that he would want a million dollars (cannot remember if that was plus expenses) to use a home game of the Bulldogs to play in China. Interesting that the Suns gave up as they are effectively an AFL run/funded club. Not a great move by the Saints just like ours in the NT. You take the money but you lose exposure in your home market. BTW anyone who thinks it's about increasing the viewing numbers in China doesn't understand the strategy. It's all about providing a corporate platform to engage Chinese government and business interests. I'm not against it but I would like to see a lot more transparent discussion about the business model. After all AFL money is "our money" in the sense that each dollar they spend lessens the dollars available for lower tier competitions, facilities etc.

The article below suggests the next two weeks: "THE AFL premiership won’t be decided later this month, but we will learn major clues as to who will contend for it. For two straight seasons the team that finished 13th the previous year has gone on to make the Grand Final - first Richmond, and then Collingwood. We’re not saying the Western Bulldogs are guaranteed to be playing off in the flag decider in 2019. But that unique statistical quirk does underline the importance of the weighted fixture. So what is the weighted fixture exactly, and what impact does it have?" https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-fixture-2019-how-weighted-fixture-helped-collingwood-north-melbourne-in-2018-and-who-it-will-impact-most-in-2019/news-story/d61d171a77108a94459b7f31d3efb9f8?nk=34fd14988ab099a0a18aab69e413ab5d-1540258246

He was played by Bell. And next time put in the fall post for context.

Great Derby game between Victory and City. Excellent debut from Honda... controversial penalty and the usual spills and thrills... 2 (City)-1 (Victory) Crowd 40K at Docklands

brilliant run by the riderless horse in the second at Caulfield Couldn't help but be impressed by the way he kicked back in the straight to come again on the line

For that to work you have to decide which of the other Melbourne clubs will make the trip down the highway. I see Carlton played at Kardinia Park this year so they are not available as a "new lamb". Leaves the likes of Richmond, Essendon, Collingwood and Hawthorn as candidates. Understand Geelong had 9 home games at Kardinia Park in 2018 so getting them to play us at "home" at the MCG would be unlikely. The Melbourne based clubs they played at Kardinia Park were us , Carlton and North. Interesting to note that other than a loss to the Swans and that 2 point win over the MFC the winning margin for the other games was in the main over 50 plus points. Perhaps the way to get them would be to design a so called blockbuster... City v Country perhaps (someone already has that... think it's Essendon.) Frankly I'd prefer to just see the Cats wither at their boutique stadium and be denied the MCG games altogether. One less competitor in the metropolitan area for MFC.

that wouldn't help the bank balance but ladder wise would be a great outcome. The home games if they were to eventuate would almost certainly be in NT

The A League kicked off last night. There's one game free to air each week on Saturday night.. Channel 1. Tonight is the Melbourne Derby from Docklands between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City. Kick off is 7:50pm. It sees the debut of Keisuke Honda for Victory. Honda is/was arguably one of the top 10 players out of Asia and Japan's best player. For those who dismiss the game ...Try it.. you may enjoy it... the rest of the world does

will await the fixture. Who we play in the NT is very important. If it's GCS and Freo we can pencil in two wins. If it's Brisbane and Port not so sure. As we saw from last year every game is important when it comes to final positions.

why would you play that game in "dead" television spot

they ran that rumour last year.. didn't happen It was the Pies who were anxious to maximise the gate Not sure the Pies are too worried about who they play in the opening round next year as long as it's a home game for them

must say I tend to agree. I suppose our problem is that the list is comparatively shallow in that there were at best 3-4 players at VFL level that in 2018 pushed for senior selection. After the big delist 2019 may be different.

very interesting... worth a thread of its own over the off season perhaps History says no... play your best 22 etc

Was not his best hour by any stretch. Could we have done better. Probably not. The cards were marked from the moment Bell came on the scene. The trade scenarios are worked months if not more in advance. Bell entering at the last hour disrupted the flow. A pity.. Hogan's trade had the power to consolidate a dynasty but it was not to be. Structurally May improves the team but having someone like Hogan surplus to requirements comes along rarely and we didn't really profit from it. As they say que sera etc and onwards to 2019

PS: Apparently the twist is that if he never plays for the Hawks then nothing goes into the salary cap Fascinating

reality sucks..........

can I make it 400 !! PS YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

there is a formula . When the AFL accepts that the player has a career ending injury (not just getting old) the club can pay a lump sum to settle the remaining contract obligation. The lump sum receives favourable treatment for salary cap purposes. (Not sure of the precise details).