Swooper Northey

I've written to the AFL about the inconsistent clash jumper policy because it's one of my biggest gripes in the current game. After repeated emails to a generic address I eventually got a response from Tessie McManus who is the Match Day Operations Manager at the AFL. Her email address is: [email protected] I'd encourage you to make your thoughts known because even though I appreciated the fact that she responded, she couldn't really provide a sufficient answer to my many queries. These included: 1.) Why did we have to wear a white clash jumper against Port when Adelaide wore it's predominately navy jumper in its away match against the Power? 2.) Why were Carlton and Essendon both permitted to wear their traditional uniforms when they met, yet we had to wear white in our away match against both clubs? 3.) Why did we have to wear hooped socks against Gold Coast at Metricon, yet in the return match at the MCG the Suns made no change to their uniform? 4.) Why is Brisbane allowed to wear its Fitzroy themed red, blue and yellow jumper against us, with predominantly red socks? These are just a handful of examples that I can draw upon which points to the confusion and inconsistency surrounding this issue. There are many more that I could point to.

I notice that the Demon Shop link is now inactive. Regardless I've written to the club this evening outlining my displeasure with the new uniform. I said that the club only needs to look at social media posts and club forums to gauge instant feedback. I've pointed them to Demonland's poll whereby nearly 80 per cent of respondents claim to 'hate it'.

The AFL has a lot to answer for on this issue. For an entity that is so paranoid about protecting its 'brand', the identity of our clubs are being tampered with on an almost weekly basis with a ridiculous distortion of jumpers. It is rare to see two clubs play a match in their traditional jumpers, many of which have stood the test of time. These are uniforms that were identifiable in the era of black and white television yet in today's day and age where most homes have HD television, there is an assumption that we can't tell teams apart. There is no consistency to the clash jumper rule and I've never heard the decision-making explained in detail.

When talking about tough small forwards in the Puopolo mould, don't forget Kent either. Hard-at-it with pace and genuine goal sense. I think we overlook the difference he will make once fit and available for selection.

Brisbane was allowed to wear its red and blue Fitzroy jumper with red socks against us last week and the AFL didn't deem that to be a clash in any way. I can't work out the rules. I'm convinced they make it up as they go.

He's a complete and utter tool. So arrogant. I refuse to listen to 3AW Sports Today for that reason.

The HFC says it wants to leave Waverley because although the facilities were once state-of-the-art, they're now in the bottom four in the league. No thanks.

We need true quality. A lack of class has killed us for years and continues to do so. A couple of players on the periphery at other clubs may be handy pick-ups eg. Ben Newton, but I'm convinced we need to target a couple of true A-graders to make the difference that we need. Otherwise the gains we make (if any) will be incremental rather than substantial. A quality ruckman who can actually kick the ball, a couple of skilled big-bodied midfielders and another strong forward threat are the orders of the day. The time has come. I'm sick of seeing our club bullied by interstate teams on our home ground.

That's just a brilliant photo and my enduring memory of the champ. The crowd would scream ROBBIEEE!!! as he made rivals look like complete duds.

My childhood hero. How we used to pretend to be Robbie, bouncing a plastic footy down the hallway of our house, dodging and weaving and leaving opponents in our wake, just like the famous number two. I'll never forget the joy of screaming "ROBBIEEEE!" as he took yet another screamer or kicked a beautiful goal. He made me proud to support the MFC. Vale Tulip. We will miss you, but never forget you. A champion in every sense of the word.

It worked for a bloke named Cameron Ling.

Should he decide to go to Freo, I wish him luck getting a game behind Sandilands, Clarke, Griffin and Hannath.

I know that Lyon was outstanding the day we beat the Dogs in that '94 semi-final (yep, he kicked 10), but the undoubted highlight was Schwarz. I don't think I've seen any Melbourne player at CHF carve up an opposition like that. It was bloody spectacular.

Brilliant article by Jesse Hogan of The Age (not our emerging forward of the same name). If you watch the video, his narration absolutely captures the essence of what it was like to watch the Dees in '94. It's a great reminder that life watching Melbourne was once a joy.

There's plenty of things on the AFL's agenda to fix, but this needs to be one of them. For the public to better understand these decisions, I'd like the league to be transparent and show how these decisions are made. Richmond aside, try explaining how we clash with Port? We have to wear our clash jumper when facing the highly conflicting colours of black, white and teal.

The AFL simply makes the clash jumper rules up on the run. For some reason, we have to wear our white jumper against Brisbane, yet when they come to Melbourne to play us, they're free to wear their predominately red 'Fitzroy' jumper with red socks. It's bizarre. Add to that, the ridiculous situation when we play St.Kilda, when we adopt a jumper than worsens the clash, and the whole thing is a farce.

Good on you James. A great story. Go get 'em.

Get well soon Dean. We're barracking for you mate.

Had we had the right development program in place when he was drafted, who knows what Cale could have become?

Cross and Vince will ease some of the burden on Jonesy and allow Viney and Toumpas to develop properly without placing undue pressure on them to be overnight superstars. Fantastic stuff.

That was done very quietly...late on grand final eve. These troubles might also explain why Riewoldt is supposedly disolusioned with the club.

Be interesting to see who picks this up... http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-07-06/buddy-will-stay-manager Player managers are about as trustworthy as politicians and used car salesmen.

Pickering strikes me as an uneducated bogan. It surprises me that he's been capable of negotiating such enormous deals for his clients.

Would have Chappy at Melbourne in a heartbeat, even at 31 years of age. A gun.

And thanks to Peter Jackson for giving us hope for 2014.