Diamond_Jim

The existing comp comes out of a meeting between the AFL and the AFL clubs. The Sydney and Brisbane clubs complained that their "reserves" didn't have adequate competition. I'd prefer a relegation system with two divisions of 12 teams. You might see the various teams taking it seriously as they chase promotion or fear relegation. The other view is just scrap it altogether as it's going nowhere but to oblivion as presently structured. BTW... why would a player want to play as a supplement to an AFL aligned club when you know that you will never train as a team and that you could be dropped in favour of an underperforming AFL listed player

Not to worry you OD but a ban on password sharing is almost a certainty in the next two years. Then they will offer a version with ads and another more expensive version relatively ad free. Kayo simply cannot make a profit in Australia given the cost of rights that the AFL and NRL have become used to. In years to come we will look upon Uncle Rupert as a great benefactor by comparison.

Tennis Australia want Gosch's paddock for the tennis. Makes sense... close off that section of Swan Street to vehicles (terminate the trams either side) and suddenly you have a lot more event space. I feel a deal coming our way !!!! With more than 1.3 million people through the gates for this year’s Australian Open, Tiley said the event needed more screens, shade, seats and space. “There’s an oval on the other side of Gosch’s Paddock, AAMI Park, the MCG, these are good pieces of land and property, which we would look at and expand into,” Tiley said. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/tennis/we-need-more-space-tiley-s-radical-plan-to-expand-the-australian-open-20260201-p5nymj.html

There's not enough money. VFL runs at a loss based upon gate receipts. The non aligned clubs rely upon unpaid labour and the modern equivalent of chook raffles. Would be useful if the AFL clubs came clean on what they want from a VFL competition. It was they in conjunction with the AFL who came up with this Frankenstein like model we now call the VFL. Give me a Burra Burger please.

Ah the VFL fixture. So we take extra players to Perth who won't get a run and then have a VFL bye the following week. Such a useful competition. Not as though it's a new occurrence

Does Kayo have VFL games? They used to have them but I haven't noticed them in recent years

Ch 7 have reportedly dropped their VFL coverage. Hopefully the AFL will permit streaming on the TV from the AFL site. Why it's not available now I'll never understand. Same with the WatchAFL website. (Dark Ages)

Remind me please What is the name of our ex basket ball player and how is he going? Many thanks

I went to both of them with an esky complete with fine wine and delicacies from the David Jones Food Hall. Such memories. Like others though I also remember wandering dazed around the Waverley carpark the following week. The silence was eerie. Unlike others I measure our turnaround in the 2021 GF from Hannan's fluffed play on handball at the 13 minute mark. Had he connected and they had goaled things may have been different. The 2021 GF is a thing of beauty but it's getting harder to watch as I realise how we failed in the following years

We've been at Casey now for 17 years and it's not really demonstrated that it adds to the supporter base. The VFL and AFLW attendances are rarely over 2k. Could/Should we do better. Perhaps but financially we're stretched. Bulldogs haven't shown any signs of capturing the massive growth in the Western suburbs so perhaps we're not alone

Was always madness to have this occur. Should have been alternate years. You could do it by phasing the change over across say three years and sharing gate receipts in accordance with a pre-agreed formula. Time to re-visit the Alice game. Either it's promoted by the AFL and Channel 7 as a special event or it's over. Years ago Ch 7 put a lot of effort into promoting the game. It was looking great and now it's buried in a dead time slot on Fox

Will we finish above them and/or will we beat them in the H&A. To improve to say 11th we need to overtake (most likely) Essendon Port and Carlton. Not sure about the Swans. North are still a question mark. Making finals doesn't excite me anymore. Since 1987 (excluding the horror years) we often made finals but rarely did we have a team to win the big one. I'm looking for solid forward progression and evidence of a post Gawn world. (He has two more years at best is my guess). Salem, Melksham and Lever (injury) will also be gone. I think we have May covered with Petty (why he was wasted up forward for two plus years we'll never know).

I feel a "new Event" weekend in the making A bit hard to add another one or two teams and have a play off but with it being pre-season you might just manage On the player payments... are some being paid more than others? Wonder how the pool is divided.

He was a "slow burner" at Casey but he started to impact in the second half of the season. I have no idea whether he can make it but he is the size and build of the modern mid fielder. He also has a strong vertical leap which makes him a nice marking target. Good luck to him.

So how many did we end up with for this game from MFC? IIRC it's three players.... Gawn, Rivers and Pickett. Have I missed anyone? Statistically 3 players seems about right... 3 X18 teams = squad of 54 players

Can we beat and finish above Carlton? Like us they have lost two marquee players and traded in a few "old soldiers"

12th or higher would be nice. No real reason to think we will end much higher. 12th would probably put Essendon below us. Equalling the Bulldogs would be great but I see them around 8-10

Is that the 4k service FND? I wonder what the story is with these club deals. I assume Kayo think these people would have gone after 6 months and therefore they are giving 12 months for the price of 8. If you assume the club gets say $25 for the referral it's a bigger subsidy. IMO Kayo need another killer sport such as EPL

They are certainly reducing the operating loss but it will be a painful road to profitability. We're simply too small a market for ever increasing sports rights fees

$46 a month is a massive 50% price rise since 2024. For a sports service that only has four "big" sports three of which are non exclusive (AFL, NRL and cricket) that's a big ask. F1 is exclusive but given its time zones is it really that big. I always knew Foxtel/Kayo was a loss leader for Rupert but what worries me is that a back of the envelope calculation shows that even at $46 per month with everyone staying for 12 months it's still a loss operation. Next stop... ban password sharing and bring on more ads.

The future fund is an attempt to "future proof" our finances. Spending it on an unsaleable training facility defeats the purpose somewhat. Ask North Melbourne whether their leasehold improvements at Arden Street have any real value. Have a look at Collingwood's future fund if you want to get an idea of a well financed club in the modern era. We really stuffed up leveraging off that 2021 win from a financial viewpoint.

Unlike onfield success, memberships etc the training ground issue is one that is firmly within the bailiwick of the Board. So many wasted years but more damning directionless

Windsor has the goods to take some big steps. Langford perhaps top 50 in the comp. Unfortunately we will still end up around 14th

An aside but how did we miss singing "That's Petracca" while we had him... Fans would sing about players they loved (or hated), things that happened on the pitch (or off it), adapting melodies from popular songs or full chants from other teams while simply tweaking the lyrics to suit the subject. One of many, many such examples: Dean Martin’s That’s Amore became a tribute by Brighton fans to Bobby Zamora. From a great article in the Age about why the Barmy Army are streets ahead of Aussie cricket fans when it comes to match day singing. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/why-don-t-aussie-sporting-crowds-sing-like-the-brits-do-blame-the-beatles-20251229-p5nqh1.html

Soccer is tougher Try a world cup qualifier.... One leg in the cold and then fly for twenty hours before another game in the heat and humidity two days later. African Cup is on at present.... It's serious world class football