rumpole

What week are we talking about?

Kevin Sheedy is a strong supporter of his VFL team. It wouldn't surprise me if this was his his first public appearance since the axing. Perhaps someone can ask him if he wants the Melbourne job.

If we win four games or less then we get a priority pick at the end of the first round of draft selections. If we win fivwe games there's no priority pick for us. Therefore, if we win two more games, we get no PP. Carlton are in a different boat. Because they won less than four games last year, they're eligible for a priority pick at the beginning of the draft if they win four games or less. Therefore, if they win one more game or even draw, they miss out altogether. That's why the last game is shaping up as a monumental disaster with both clubs possibly not being all that interested in winning. In short, if Carlton loses every game it stands to get picks 1, 3 and 19 but if it wins one game it could get 3, 21 and 37 for its first three picks. If Melbourne loses every game then it gets 2, 19 and 21 but if it wins 2 games it could end up getting 4, 21 and 37. The tanking stakes are enormous if clubs can only keep losing.

3AW didn't give Rex so much of a kick in the pants as they did to Ralph Horowitz his producer who I know is a died in the wool Demon supporter from birth. They also sacked Hutchy who was actually not a bad contributor to the programme. They kept the others including Rex who's responsible for most of the anal humour which caused the station's drop in ratings. Anyhow I don't listen to him any more. Unlike most Demon supporters, I prefer going to the game rather than listening in!

I don't know but I think it was probably because he was [censored].

How silly of me? I thought the current call for Farmer's dismissal was because he drank grog while recovering from an injury, went to Burswood Casino late at night and damaged a car mirror. Those things are of course far more damaging to the image of our sport than drug addiction or consorting with criminals using loaded weapons! Or do you known something we don't?

Cousins doesn't have a partner any more. She told the media that she left him because she couldn't take the mental anguish of living with him in his drug addicted state. Farmer's conviction with regard to his partner happened three years ago and has nothing to do with current calls for him to be dismissed.

You've missed the entire point Jarka. He's specifically saying that it's not an excuse but that the attitude towards Cousins' multiple breaches of the law and community standards have been treated far differently by those in authority to those of Farmer. In Cousins' case it was all a matter of understanding his affliction, how it came about and the necessity to provide a remedy. There's little of that with the Wizard.

Neale Daniher got out early because he felt there was no advantage in prolonging all of the speculation about his future and that of the club in relation to next year's coaching position. It's for this very reason and the stupidity of the above post that I hope that the MFC completes its due process as soon as possible. I'm not necessarily in favour of Connolly above any of the other candidates but neither I nor most of the people who post around here have enough information to make an informed decision about who gets the job. In any event I don't believe anyone has the right to tell the club that they speak on behalf fo posters from Demonland or Demonology.

DEMONS TO GIVE DAVEY PROTECTION: RILEY Talk about shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted? The niggling's been going on for over 12 months. Now that Davey's succumbed to the tactic, lashed back and copped a suspension, the coach instructs his players to stand up for a teammate? Go figure?

No mention of Brad Green returning even though he's supposed to be tested?

According to the Herald Sun, Collingwood has been dealt a significantly easier draw than any other club in the competition and that this is because the "luck has fallen Collingwood's way" http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/com...5E19742,00.html If you believe anything to do with Collingwood's easy draw is luck then you have to believe in Santa Claus too (sorry kiddies). Even Andrew Demetriou admits that the draw is structured to suit the AFL's commercial and business interests i.e. making money and drawing big crowds. This means the Pies travel less to interstate venues and never to Skilled Stadium where they are at greater risk of losing. I etimate this is worth up to 8 premiership points over a season i.e. a significant bonus in an even season like 2007. It's not a level playing field so why do the papers always insist that Collingwood are lucky?

I agree. The Riley honeymoon is over and while perhaps it might be unfair to pick at him in the circumstances, I don't think his coaching aspirations beyond round 22 were given a boost last night.

As much as I admire and love Stan I think the coach has to come from well outside the club and be given virtually carte blanche to put his own stamp on the club's football department and playing list. That starts with the bootstudder, the property steward (groan) and goes all the way up through the ranks including fitness staff. The less familiarity with the personnel at the club the better as far as I'm concerned. We have been an unsuccessful club for far too long and we need someone to instil the ways of winning back into the ranks.

That's because the Zebras seem to play most of their games on Sundays.

I wouldn't be too sure about that proposition. I do however, ask the question whether Carlton would have suspended Fevola if it was the week before the NAB Cup Grand Final?

One door closes and another one opens ...

Has anyone else noticed during the Daniher crisis tht the club sems to be reverting back to the bad old days when everything happening at the club was accurately predicted and reported in the media before it happened?

Not reported in the injured players list. If he was rested for all of the last quarter and part of the third, he wouldn't be that stretched playing off a 5 day break.

He won't be sacked. It's not the Board's style and nor should it be. However, I don't believe we'll hear people advocating that we should reappoint him at a time when our record stands at an abysmal 2/9 as has happened over the past fortnight. Imagine if you will, reappointing him for another three years. We would almost certainly be having this discussion again at some time in 2010. No thanks!

If anyone's annoyed about being misled by this thread then they would be equally annoyed about the information supporters are fed by the club. I had to get up early today for work and I opened this email received overnight:- MELBOURNEfc News Update Neitz to miss Tigers clash MELBOURNE skipper David Neitz will miss Friday night's clash against Richmond at the MCG, after he had surgery to repair a fractured finger, which occurred against Collingwood in round 11. They call that an "update"? Are the selectors and the club media people communicating with each other?

It astonishes me the amount of denial and apathy that exists on this subject. Certainly, some aspects of the survey are lighhearted but it would be folly to dismiss or take lightly a survey which indicates such a drastic loss of supporters.

I was watching the Essendon v West Coast game last night and was thinking after the teams slugged it out how the Bombers have had a good run in tight matches in recent weeks. They've won three close ones against Richmond, Sydney and West Coast and there but for fortune could easily have lost every one. On the other hand, Melbourne lost to Port Adelaide, Bulldogs and Kangaroos by a goal or less. Here's my "what if scenario" if you could reverse those close games. This would be the current ladder: West Coast 9 wins 2 defeats 0 draws 126.7% 36 pts Geelong 7 3 0 155.0 28 Hawthorn 7 3 0 115.3 28 Collingwood 7 3 0 106.8 28 Sydney 6 4 0 114.6 24 Adelaide 6 4 0 108.5 24 Port Adelaide 5 5 0 99.9 20 Kangaroos 5 5 0 98.2 20 ----------------------------- Western Bulldogs 4 5 1 95.7 18 Brisbane 4 5 1 95.0 18 Essendon 4 7 0 104.9 16 Fremantle 4 6 0 97.0 16 St. Kilda 4 6 0 86.3 16 Melbourne 3 6 1 75.7 14 Carlton 3 7 0 82.0 12 Richmond 1 8 1 72.1 6 We'd only be one and a half games out of the eight instead of five. I think it's arguable that given just an average run with injuries instead of our horror run and we might have picked up those extra games. Thinking back on them, we might have picked up the points with a few umpiring decisions going our way as well. The flip side is that this situation would make Melbourne's chances of getting a priority pick in this year's drat almost a mathematical impossibility.

We lose Rivers and Petterd to injury and we go with two players in Ward and Holland who are both pushing 30. Why not give Newton a go?

Perhaps it would be wise if you're going to attack someone for the statements he makes here, that you could provide some reasons why you think it's the most ridiculous statement. As far as I'm concerned the club has had a bad trot with injuries this year but the lack of vision of the entire football department in the preparation of the team for this year including coaching and match day tactics and strategies have been pretty much abysmal. The club needs to do something about this because we're four weeks into the season and we don't have much hope for the next five months the way we're going. A few examples - we look smaller than our opposition. Is this because we spent the pre season fining down so that we could be at peak fitness during the finals series we're not going to make? Why don't we have any big key position players coming through? Where are our ruck stocks to counter the ruckman of the 21st century? We have no ruckmen injured but Jamar gets a game week in week out and barely does a thing. PJ - can he run? Can he take a mark? Where are our improvers? Jumpring is right about the point kick ins too! Watch the replay tonight and consider the difference between the way the Dockers moved the ball out of defence compared to how we stumbled at it. The coaching has a lot to do with what we've seen so far this year - don't kid yourself Mick.