Diamond_Jim

A flip side and well thought out article about where Sports could not care about politics: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jul/20/russias-olympic-crisis-lays-bare-a-prevailing-political-apathy-in-sport

Travis Johnstone's third quarter in finals against the Crows. Yes we lost but it is probably the best quarter I have ever seen played by a Melbourne player

Geelong and Hawthorn (just to mention two) have some very good players entering the unrestricted free agency window. These guys must be looking at topping up their retirement funds. Time to look at a little pain perhaps for some of our existing list for the benefit of long term gain. In an ideal world we need to add one quality top up player each year for three years. The requirement (hope) is that we get 4years (2X2) out of each player with the idea that they provide a base for our youngsters as we go forward. Cannot see us going far if we just look at players who are on the fringe of existing clubs Time to dream perhaps !!

Agree.... there certainly should be no negativity directed towards the junior players on our list. In Brayshaw's case he has the ability to be a solid if not better contributor for many years. Let's hope he achieves it. The negativity should be saved for the wasted years which have left our senior ranks so bereft of talent

speaking of alternative ladders.......... we are not doing any better on this one http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-season-2016-what-the-ladder-would-look-like-if-teams-had-kicked-straighter-for-goal-20160718-gq8d5t.html

yeah but we stuffed it up the next week or so. 1990 was up for grabs............ and we missed it

Thanks for that.... will look forward to bite or two after I win the lottery !!! " And it’s the flavour of the sea that makes the Curriculum Saporis able to command the exorbitant price of 500 Euros per kilogram: if you think it sounds excessive, you need to keep in mind the way it’s grown and harvested. Obviously the limited land space in which it has to grow plays a big part: of the island’s 550 hectares dedicated to agriculture, the Bonnotte potato occupies only 5%. But the price is so high because of the harvesting method: to guarantee the quality of the product, fragile and delicate as it is, the Bonnotte must be picked one by one, and strictly by hand."

Now that the basketballers have changed their name "The Melbourne Tigers" is an easy merge (hopefully not very soon as their list is not much better than ours.)

The only thing we have going for us is the name Melbourne. We have played so badly that the brand is almost trashed beyond recognition. All you need is for a TV provider to say "we can improve ratings by reducing the number of games each weekend" and we and three others (not hard to guess but let's name them..... Dogs, North and St Kilda ) are set for merger or oblivion. The plus is that the demand for live sport on TV seems to be ever increasing so we may continue. From a branding viewpoint even if all the optimists are correct I cannot see a real recovery until we have had 10 years of success with at least two premierships. And of course Blind Freddy can see some form of draft assistance heading Brisbane's way and perhaps in a few years also some for the Gold Coast.

Lot of truth in that but I'm not sure I can take another rebuild. I despair of how we are ever going to get out of the mess caused by 10 odd years of not developing players. The fact that we have so few senior players (25-28) that give a good game week in week out means that we lack the fundamental building blocks. Most of the other teams bar Brisbane have one or two if not more. Perhaps Watts and Tyson can become those players. I just do not know. Sure we have a half dozen good young players but without a strong base we run the risk of burning them out as well. Like supporters players like to win. The modern player will not put with losing 70% if not more of their games. They get one crack at it. The talk of finals by some on this forum has disguised what has been a mediocre year... again

lucky they missed a few the score line flatters us serious lack of class in our senior players continues to undermine any real improvement

Nah... we have done that a few times on the past I am looking for a little more

An important few weeks for Trengrove coming up. Would be great to see him finish off the season strongly accompanied by a return to the Melbourne side in the remaining rounds.

Have we discussed the possibility of sainthood for this guy or will we move straight to deification a la Roman times

I think you are onto something here drdrake The clinics are in my understanding aimed mainly at the younger children. Time the AFL seriously interacted with the 14-17 year age group at grass roots levels and not only at the elite level.

Is he a chance to be named a legend this year ??? I know we normally wait until they are retired but perhaps a special case for such an all time great player

I do not mind Docklands except for the seating arrangements. When we play there the middle deck which is the best view is almost empty. Yes I know about Medallion club members etc but surely they could work out something so our measly 25.000 fans are not stuck in the Gods or on the ground floor where viewing is a little better but not ideal. Perhaps I am spoilt by the MCG where I am used to a whole bay almost to myself !!

Laughable you are talking about resting players In another thread they are saying no difference to the hawks in tasmania typical MFC.....all over the place.... and yet.... more games in the hell hole !!

Thank the heavens that the game is over !!!!!!!!

Hard game in Darwin Our home game makes so much sense

Talk about this in a few days time Let's not hope we rue this decision.... good luck tonight

Ground holds around 25000 apparently Looked to be half empty at least. Must be Collingwood's lowest crowd in a long time. Considering that GWS were playing for a top two spot it does not say much for their drawing power

Love it

46 spots available on a Friday night plus 8 on a Thursday night Can someone remind me how many appearances MFC has on those nights Our sponsors must laugh at us !!!

Ok... here's one minor equalization goal If we have to play in far away places such as Darwin and NT... why are those games not scheduled as Friday (I'd accept Thursday) night games with national free to air coverage. Could not be any worse than some of the games in those scheduled times this year Small thing but compare it to Port playing in China... no home game loss ( we lose two home games)... a season opener with a big break afterwards and of course mega coverage for their sponsors. As I contend .........some clubs are more equal than others Perhaps the Bulldogs will buck the system but like the Saints my gut feeling is that they will be bridesmaids. The Saints had Riewoldt....one of the greatest players in the last twenty years and yet ?? North, the MFC, Bulldogs, Saints ........... we are all TV fodder to make up the numbers for the Foxtel deals The next set of draft concessions will go to Brisbane (one can feel it)