Straight Sets Simon

All of those sponsors have been there in the past. Nothing new.

Melbourne were sponsored by 13CABS in the past (it may have never stopped).

I would love to know if Melbourne considered my Snickers idea. It would be the sponsorship to end all sponsorships.

A Demonlander sent me a PM to tell me, they were told by the MFC. It's just to keep their sessions private (despite them being open to the public), just in case Hawthorn and Geelong steal some of Melbourne's ideas!

I've just been told no videos of training. Sorry about that.

Sorry if any photos have doubled up. Also, my camera doesn't have the best zoom so they are all long-shots, sorry about that. GOTO have close-ups in the other thread.

I went down to Casey Fields today to have a look, I took a few photos (I felt like a bit of a weirdo doing so) which I will put up later when I get a chance. Watch this space.

Jamar.

I've changed my mind a few times about this and I'm sure that I'll change it again, but here is my Round 1 team at the moment: FB: Whelan Martin Garland HB: Petterd Rivers Grimes C: Morton Moloney Green HF: Sylvia Miller Davey FF: Wonaeamirri Newton Bruce Foll: PJ McLean Jones Int: McDonald Buckley Bate Jamar

The AFL already are very keen to put a "boutique" stadium at Casey Fields.

The City of Casey are very keen to get Melbourne down to Casey Fields and you will find that they are already willing to do a lot to get the team down there.

No need to sell games to Casey, if the long-term deal with the MFC and Casey is signed (which it should be soon) then hopefully a "boutique" stadium can be built there and Melbourne can hold two or three games down there. It's one thing to get as many Melbourne supporters signed up as members, but Melbourne needs more supporters too. I heard an interview with Cameron Schwab on SEN last night and he mentioned that very point. What he didn't mention was that Casey is the perfect opportunity to grow the membership (and supporter) base, especially if home and away games can be played down a Casey Fields.

I hear what you're saying, but a huge problem for Melbourne at the moment is that with their current supporter base they are not sustainable. More worrying is that lack of young supporters and hence the club's research into why young people follow certain teams. If the Casey market can be tapped into successfully it really could a be a significant boost in arm for the club, such a boost may not come by just training down there. Melbourne won't and will never leave the MCG. The idea (which is all it is at the moment) would be to play two, three or maybe four games at a boutique stadium. Moreover, we're talking Cranbourne here and not Tasmania or the Gold Coast so to think that the Melbourne-based supporters will be missing out so much is a bit rich.

No, but it might help you gain a little more perspective about the place.

How old is Jurrah?

Have you been to Casey Fields?

I thought I responded to this last night, it must not have worked for some reason. Anyways, caseyscorp pretty much sums it up.

No. Just because he's a small forward doesn't mean he's aboriginal.

Why? In terms of playing games at Casey it would mean a smaller capacity stadium would need to be built there (around 20,000 capacity). All of the economics indicates the benefits of filling smaller stadiums. There is still a long way to go before any of this would even be considered. Yes, Melbourne are Melbourne but they cannot rely on just being the MCG team. There just aren't enough supporters and teams need these supporters to survive and grow. It gets done to death but Casey is rapidly expanding with an above average level of kids and young people, just the supporters that Melbourne need. On Casey Fields itself it is a new world-class facility with room to grow and expand. Compare it with Punt Road Oval which is in a prime location but is severely limited by space. A lot of Melbourne-based people whinge about having to drive down to Cranbourne, but it's only about 40 minutes from the eastern suburbs with almost no traffic.

If Melbourne do sign the full deal it will be used for one session per week during the season too.

I completely agree Redleg. I have been saying this since I saw the game against North earlier in the year.