The Cold Hard Truth

Bartram is a great athelete and plays with good courage and passion for the club but his decision making and skills are not improving and I'd imagine the emerging Petterd, Grimes, C Johnson and Buckley will bump him out of the defence and we won't see much of him in the senior side next year. He can run with any player and can do reasonably ok in that negating role, but has no impact on the game otherwise and can't hurt the opposition (similar to L Dunn).

During the season, i recieve about three emails a week from the club - all just a sanpshot of whats on the MelbourneFC website.

I like the idea of one Canberra game a year vs Sydney on ANZAC day - a game with real merit that can ignite some passion from Vics and NSW. Any more would be just to balance the book as we couldn't hope to 'market' the area like Hawthorn has done with Tasmania.

Agreed. With his injuries, no team will offer what he is worth for him. Keep.

Once (if) a Tasmanian team is introduced, Hawks will loose 90% of their 'converted' supporter base down there. None the less, that could be twenty years away and before that time the Hawks will have reaped millions.

Agreed. A fully fit Jared Rivers is vital to any resurgence up the ladder. With the support of the emerging Garland, Martin & Warnock; Rivers will thrive as a third tall, zoning off and supporting the other defenders. He's tough, he's polished, and he is a real natural player. A player like him deserves persistance despite injuries.

Without intending to spark the 'Green / Bruce; Trade / Keep' debate... IF we put the following two packages out there in trade week; could any club with a top ten pick be interested? Brad Green + pick 17 Cameron Bruce + pick 19

Beyond 2009 I'd imagine: B McLean Capt J Rivers VC And a leadership group consisting of Jones, Miller and Moloney. But for 2008; I can imagine J McDonald captaining in a care-takers type role whilst Brock get a full season under his belt and another year of experience. J McDonald Capt With a mix from: B Green N Jones B McLean B Miller B Moloney J Rivers M Whelan

I've been pretty impressed with what McKinley has achieved this year; but none the less I believe he is not a good fit for us. He is mid-sized foward of which we already have players like Robertson, Sylvia, Bate, Garland (in future?) to fill that role.

Agreed. It's an interesting debate when selecting key position players - you can teach a player to kick, but you can't make them any bigger. Therefore do you lean towards a big player with all the attributes and attempt to develop that potential or do you lean towards a natural footballer despite size. Stefan Martin vs Colin Garland is a perfect example. If you could choose only one who would it be? Stef Martin - great size, good build, good athelete - will have no problems against big bodies but will he turn into a player capable of damaging opposition sides? or Colin Garland - ok size, lean build, great athelete - natural player but will he probably always battle against big bodied fowards? I guess you could argue that they will play different roles; however most of the year they were both given big tasks on key position players.

This design must be hand delivered to the club with a note reminding those in control that we are the team of the Red & the Blue.. I also think the demon logo is fun, but should be used in Pre-Season jumpers which should aim to be more fun & push boundries with jumpers -- but as for jumpers used in the season; they should capture class and tradition like the above option so beautifully does. How Essendon can get away with just a bigger slash and we're forced to an entire white jumper is beyond me.

Love it. Classy and simple. I like the thin white outline around the crest to help define it too. Maybe adding blue neck & arm bands could work as well?

Jeff White will offer a lot to Carlton if he leaves. He will be very good for them not only as a bridging player until Kruezer and Hampson are fully ready, but also as a mentor to the young Carlton ruckmen in their development. That said, Carlton know they won't have to give up much for him despite the value he can give their team knowing how little value he appears to have left at our team. Third round pick at best - Carlton should have a third round pick around 36-40 (However, if they make a play for Kerr they probably won't have a pick in the first three rounds at all to trade with)

I think he is a great size and has the althetic ability of the emerging modern day CHB - can't wait to see what he can produce next year after two years settling into the system and developing his body for AFL footy. As i've outlined above, there proably isn't many other players you would consider getting instead of Frawley at Pick 12.

We have definitely done very well, despite not being able to land that 'superstar' or that CHF/CHB we've been praying for. Another good indication of how well we have done can come down to the other players that we could have got with our picks. Below are a couple of notibale players we could have selected (ie. the players that went after our pick, and before our next pick) Note too that I have included eligible PSD & Rookie drafted players after our last picks in the national draft. 2004: National 13 Matthew Bate Angus Monfries National 15 Lynden Dunn Cameron Wood, Dean Polo, Nathan van Berlo, Brent Prismall National 43 Michael Newton Justin Sherman, Brad Moran, Matthew Egan, Will Thursfield (Rookie), Josh Gibson (Rookie) Rookie 10 Brendan Van Schaik Danyle Pearce, Clinton Young, Dale Morris, Harry O'Brien, John Griffen, Beau Wilkes Rookie 26 Matthew Warnock Ryan Crowley, Aaron Edwards, Josh Drummond 2005: National 12 Nathan Jones Shannon Hurn, Grant Birchall, Garrick Ibbotson National 53 Simon Buckley Joel Patfull National 60 Clint Bartram Mathew Stokes National 68 Heath Neville Jason Porplyzia (PSD), Alan Toovey (Rookie) Rookie 9 Jace Bode Rookie 25 Daniel Hughes Matthew Priddis, Stpehen Gilham, Cameron Howat Rookie 39 Shane Neaves Cheynee Stiller, Ben McGlynn, Kieran Jack, Ed Barlow 2006: National 12 James Frawley Jack Riewoldt, Mitchell Brown, Leroy Jetta, Shaun Grigg, Albert Proud National 30 Ricky Petterd Kurt Tippett, Jarryd Morton, Alwyn Davey, Bachar Houli National 46 Colin Garland Kyle Reimers, Lindsay Thomas, Robert Gray, Josh Hill National 62 Isaac Weetra Tyson Goldsack, Justin Westhoff, Aaron Edwards, David Rodan, Sharrod Wellingham (rookie) Rookie 12 Daniel Hayes Jamie McNamara, Michael Jamison, Jake King, Jarrod Harbrow, Matt Campbell, Martin Clarke, Beau Wilkes I have excluded the 2007 draft as it is too early to call on so many players.

Love the idea of the basic membership with the add on packages. I don't think basic merchandise like stickers, pens etc should become add-ons as I think they're good gifts from the club so you can show your support (i for one love seeing a Demons sticker on the back of a car) and MelbourneFC magazine allows more supporters - who have not been blessed to have stumbled upon the demonland site - to become more involved with the players whats happening. But things like Pet membership (which is already an add on I believe) coud be further developed - I signed up a pet membership and recieved a little melbourne picture frame which was good, but also I got a pen & a lanyard which I don't feel my dog will make great use of... Things like dog or cat (or fish?) tailored memberships with collars would be grreat as their are plenty of members who will enjoy it.

Pretty stiff to get pulled up misspelling Aussie's name... But noted and edited...

Interesting to note too that only 6 of our youngest 22 players are yet to debut (Meesen with Adelaide). Considering 2 of those 6 to debut are rookies and Grimes has been injured, its a fair effort and I wonder where this rates against other clubs. Grimes and Maric might both still debut later this year as the season winds down and more seasoned players head into surgery (or retirement..) as Melbourne exercise good 'list management'

If the youngest 22 players on the current list were to field a side: B....Garland......Frawley......Bode HB..Petterd.......Martin........Bartram C....Buckley......Dunn.........Grimes HF...Morton.......Bate..........Maric F.....Zomer........Newton......Wonaeamirri R.....Meesen......Jones........Valenti Int..Spencer, McNamara, Cheney, Weetra What strikes me is the balance we have with a good mix of young talls (at either end), young smalls (again, at either end), and the versatility of midfield with many such Buckley/Dunn/Petterd/Morton who can play at either end on the flanks or through the middle. Weetra and probably Meesen are the only obvious two I don't think we'll be seeing too much of in the future (at this stage, but if Col Garland has taught us anything, such comments aren't wise these days...!) Will be interesting to see how Spencer and Zomer finish the year. At this stage I hope we see both retained for next season. *Note: McLean, Sylvia & C Johnson are our next three youngest.

But to my understanding, we are already making a loss despite the AFL competitive fund and one game in Canberra. So really, we are looking at another $300,000 for the extra Canberra game, but loose more then that with the reduction of the competitive fund. So we are still going to be worse off next year. 2 games in Canberra is a start, but we need more. "Short term pain for long term gain" is the theme. We really need to sell home games to Brisbane and Sydney to keep our battle alive.

Selling games to Brisbane and Sydney will give them a home ground advantage. If played at Canberra at least we will be playing at a neutral venue. But it doesn't solve our problems of playing interstate teams in Melbourne (or even Bulldogs and Kangaroos for that matter) where our crowd numbers are low and we loose money. Personally, I would sell home games to Sydney and Brisbane as well as playing 3 home games a year at Canberra for games against interstate clubs or low crowd drawing clubs. That means our remaining 6 home games at the MCG will be against Melbourne clubs like Collingwood, Hawthorn, Essendon, Carlton, Richmond or Geelong where we can expect crowds of at least 40,000+. That leaves us with 5 home games sold, which over say a five years can not only eliminate our debt but begin financing a new training base in the city as well for the future home of our club.

Love the idea of a club. Not a seperate the team, the administration and the supporters. One club. Setting up a donation initiative would not only be great financially for the club, but great for the spirit and character for the club as a whole that would rub off on all supporters, administrators and the players. A real sign of our love for the club and for us a real ownership of the clubs success in the future.

Its sad to see us sell more home games but one of the key elements to surviving - sacrifice. We can either battle to survive financially trying to fight for a stronger hold in Melbourne or we can cop it on the chin, loose a little membership, but gain a lot more revenue by selling games not to mention most likely generating bigger crowds when we do play again in Melbourne due to the more limited options supporters will have to see us. Playing a 3-4 games in Canberra, Tasmania or NT (neutral venues) a year for the next say 5 years could be necessary to build weatlh so, as North Melbourne stated, we can 'thrive' and not just 'survive' in the years to come.

With Jamar, Carroll and Whelan named in the Sandringham squad its pretty safe to assume all three have been cut from the extended bench leaving Davey, Morton, Bate and Yze on the interchange for Sunday's game with Richmond.

I agree. Bell so many great attributes of strength and pace and shouldn't be pigeon-holed so early in his career in a defensive post. I would love to see him given time in the midfield (at AFL level or Sandringham) to see what he can do. He is a similar build to a Luke Hodge and unlike Jones and McLean, he offers a lot more pace whilst boasting the same strength and tacking power. It also gives players like C Johnson and Buckley to have good game time at AFL level playing as that medium-defender role which is probably where both their futures lie.