Diamond_Jim

Just got an email from MFC about finals ticket packages. I see they start at $1300. Anybody got some more details on the prices and packages Might be interested if we win the next three

Lindsay Tanner interviewed today on 3AW before the Blues v Essendon game: My two take aways: No attempt to make an apology despite ample opportunity Even the media call it "the affair" and tend to blame the AFL. I am sure that in a few years it will be known as the "CAS corruption scandal" or similar.

good point and as it is a not for profit non taxable entity I'm not even sure they file a return... perhaps they need to do it depending upon the ownership structure of Leighoak etc. We really need to get into a period of year on year increase in membership numbers by around 3% minimum. Will be very interesting to track the Bulldogs figures from say 4 years ago and then for the next 2 as a good lesson for what we should and should not be doing if we are tracking towards the Big One.

ah but there are members and memberships....so many variants. At least they stopped counting pet memberships And then there is of course the dark art of membership arbitrage played by those trying to beat the GF tickets system.

strange thread.... you can disagree but it sounds like whoever was ranting about Tim Watson last week. Anyway couple of season defining games coming up for us again.

Good point... next week sees our best available team on the park ... injuries permitting.

great to maintain the number but we all would have been hoping for around a 5% increase on the basis of anticipated form plus the Anzac eve game being a home game should have helped the fence sitters decide. 50k in 2020 should be an absolute must !!!

Balic has been out for 2 weeks with no notice and now for another 2 weeks.... poor guy.. what is it about our mature draftees. Maynard ... 8 weeks .... almost career ending in reality 11 on the list... that is in excess of 25% of the list.. whether or not they are best 22 it is not good for overall team development... (not sure if resting Flip counts as an injury)

but he plays like an MFC pick 3 Sorry .... couldn't help myself

not a good night for Max and Dan ..... will be interested to see the aftermath. Bottas .. a puncture .... Vettel a wheel lock and... our "favourite man" Hamilton does a Bradbury. Not sure if I will watch the race replay.. the Azerbaijan circuit does however look very beautiful on TV

With this quick turnaround and extended squads plus players being "dropped" at Casey I have lost track of the injuries. Is there an official updated list since the April 10/11 posted above. Thanks

Boy.... 4 odd hours and they only managed the first round .. sounds worse than the Brownlow count ! Was watching a newspaper live update... it seems that a lot of clubs know exactly who they are going to pick but drag it out so they can get a free plug for their club. As if the Browns really needed to think about who they would take as the first pick. O well can't blame em for a little theatre... the boys at AFL house are I am sure taking close notes.

The last sale of world cup tickets started a couple of days ago which won me an email from FIFA. Anyway their ticketing site had an interesting comment about who bought tickets: "1,698,049 tickets have already been allocated to football supporters from all over the world via the official website at FIFA.com/tickets since September 2017. Most of these tickets have been allocated to Russian fans (796,875), followed by fans from the USA (80,161), Brazil (65,863), Colombia (60,199), Germany (55,136), Mexico (51,736), Argentina (44,882), Peru (38,544), China (36,841), Australia (34,628) and England (30,711) – the top-ten countries from abroad." Australia right up there and ahead of England and every European country bar Germany is a surprise. Must say from reading Guardian articles there seems to be a degree of weariness about the WC with many saying that the WC is no longer that exciting etc and stating a preference for the Champions League etc. This is borne out perhaps by the high number of South American countries featuring in the top 10. Those fans are now forced to go to the WC to see their stars play. The venue for the 2026 WC is between Morocco and a joint US, Canada and Mexico bid. One would think it's an open and shut case but who knows how the politics will play out. The vote takes place on 13 June (the day I arrive in Moscow). Suspect that the FIFA delegates might well be at a more upmarket hotel than my Stalinist era digs on Prospekt Leningradsky.

Hi On Saturday night there was a suggestion that Balic had pulled a hamstring. There was also suggestion it might have been cramp. I assume from his absence from the injured list that he is fine. Wouldn't it be a great story if he comes good.

agree.. did not look out of place and did some good things... certainly not disgraced and hopefully the next few weeks rewards both him and us with some good demonstrations of his skills. Wish I could be so sure of young Stretch who we all hope makes it as well.

my God... WSTB must be around 12 at least

A very interesting point OD. The situation you outline has been the norm (percentage wise) for both Adelaide and WCE for several years now. Friends in Adelaide talk about the waiting lists for reserved seats. In those days it was the Crows but I notice that Port now have a waiting list as well. Of course a lot of those 90k Richmond membership numbers are interstate and three game members but even at say 60k worth of home and way members that is a huge number. As Demon supporters we can only dream of having such worries.

Richmond today announced 90,000 members Together with the reserved seat revenue they must be swimming in cash http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-04-12/tigers-smash-alltime-membership-record

My Road to Russia continues.... Late one night recently I check my emails and there is a message from my Kazan airbnb host. In Russian of course so out with handy Google translate and it says he wants to cancel my three week booking as he wishes to increase his price. Having consumed a lovely bottle of red you can imagine how the exchange of emails then went. Quickly onto the airbnb site and of course the only available accommodation is worse and astronomically priced. Fast forward to next morning and I ask him the new price. Answer around double. Well the natural thing to do is yell.. we have a contract etc etc and report him to airbnb... but when you think about the alternatives not to mention the cost of air fares etc saner heads prevail and we agreed a new price which I am sure will pay his rent for the next year at least. And just to round it out I found that one of my two days in Moscow coincides with a public holiday they call Russia day. It apparently is a recent holiday to commemorate the establishment of Russia as distinct form the Soviet Union following the collapse of that wonderful national grouping. In practice it means Red Square partially closed for " celebrations". And Japan sacked their coach ... perhaps we are not so badly off with the flying Dutchman after all.

You are right of course Deanox and it will soon become obvious that sports betting is the same. No longer is it the days of the walk down to the TAB for a few dollars or the occasional visit to the track for a Saturday afternoon flutter. It is a sophisticated 24 hour a day addiction pumped to vulnerable people by means of their umbilical cord otherwise known as their smartphone. Ask yourself why have football betting when there is plenty of racing to bet on. The answer is that it is another market ie. young people who think that it is easy money. I don't object to race betting. It is an industry that has been around for a few hundred years and is here to stay. It is the insidious proliferation of sports betting into all other sports that worries me. O by the way do you think the Diamonds are a good bet in the Netball this Commonwealth games? My grand daughter wants to puts a few dollars of her pocket money on them.

In 2022 Poker machine licence holders are required to pay a premium or licence fee for the next ten years followed by another in 2032. It will not be chicken feed

the cynic in me says that pokies are on the decline as they are a baby boomer entertainment from my limited observation. Sports betting will be the new scourge

Mustn't be many people with the right skills then. Let's face it .... the problem with sports betting is that it is now pervasive among the young (mainly males) following the game. It will soon attract the same criticism that rightly we give to the pokies.

Perhaps the AFL could give up on the jolly for Port to China and the AFLX to Hongkers. Would go a long way to making up the short fall across the clubs. Next challenge is to get off the "teat" of the sports betting agencies.

Fantastic news ..... whatever you say the continued reliance on this form of revenue is unsustainable from a social responsibility aspect