diesel

I reckon they would bemoan the fact they didn't get that game at the MCG as their home game. Would have got a much better return from the gate.

Didn't stop him from putting a bump on in his first contest instead of the smother he should have made! Must have been his good shoulder. Very poot game but he wasn't alone there.

No wind to speak of. It is 25 deg and calm, perfect. Weather would be having no impact

You are a dead set clown Mrs X. Ask away sunshine, start by asking why Collingwood enticed Ball to nominate them as his preferred destination then hung him out to dry during trade week? Not the first time they have done this either, ask Nick Stevens? So what if Eddie had cuddles with Jolly! Jolly is journeyman, gun for hire, mr fixit. etc and Collingwood will hope he can do the job Fraser and Wood can't. The cost was high though! Remember Jack Grimes was the sum of Woods' move to the Lexus Centre. BTW, when are Collingwood chnaging their name to the "Lexus Centre Magpies". They haven't been near Collingwood since Nicky Winmar escaped a lynching.

Keep in mind that they are compensating for the fact that they are otherwise bored shirtless for 90 minutes (less any goals or faked injuries). I went to a Victory game once and spent more time watching the clowns behind the goal. And there is no trademark issue, we have a 140 plus year start on them and that is why they are called Melbourne Victory FC and we are Melbourne FC.

Did he really? Last time I heard a Carlton supporter get that far ahead of themselves was the qualifying final against us in 2000 and we know what happened after 3/4 time that day. Carlton, we know your chokers!

I think its the 3,2,1 Brownlow style voting system that makes it rubbish. There is no scope to reward all nominees throughout the year as all the scribes vote like sheep especially when there is a standout like Rich. They should have to vote 10 to 1.

It's a slap to Jamar who has shown huge improvement and Meesen who showed something in some of his outings this year as well. I don't reckon our rucks are anywhere near as bad as many people believe. Certyainly not bad enough to give up pick 2. Surely ox was having a jest, FCS we are building a side not making a play for a premiership.

Just exposing Hawthorns' lack of depth and bench on the day.

mmmm, this stuff gets reviewed at the end of every year. As to what action? No doubt we have blokes who COULD play. Collingwood have only 2 injuries going into the finals, this is where we need to be when we are challenging.

If you look back Wheats had his best year in 2008. The reality is that this year he has had injuries and that situation is unlikely to reverse at 28 with 10 years of senior footy under his belt. Nothing to do with possies but they are moot points regarding developing others and senitimentality, i.e. the realties of proffessional sport.

It is hard to believe that a bloke with such a blinkered view of a situation (and it is not the only example, he is blinkered in nearly everything he has an opinion on) is also charged with managing the laws of the game. He reminds me of rabid dog when he opines on this and many other issues.

Nasher, I usually enjoy your comments but I think you are way off the mark accusing us of "chucking games" or "manipulating the system". The system is what it is and was established by the AFL, not us. It is designed to move clubs up and down the ladder in cycles and when you are at the bottom and out of finals contention you have to develop what you have for the future, not the right now. The predicament we are in now leaves the club open to questions but why is Miller in the centre square seen as "tanking", whereas Merrett in Brisbanes forward line is a "good set up, structurally " and Hawkins in the ruck is seen as a way to "give him confidence" as two examples from recent weekends. I will feel no guilt in a few years if we are flying (or loosing) and Ricky Petterd is asked to play in the middle or Grimes forward because I will know that in 2009 they were tried in these postions and will have the confidence and ability to play in them again.

Two things you can do to address this situation. 1. Complain to the store manager and ask him to pass on your feedback to their buyers and distributors. It will help if you say you are going to get your gear somewhere else (i.e Big W) 2. Tell the club. I know they we have a good following out in this part of the city and they would be disappointed to hear this. Ultimately as others have said buy your own gear direct from the club (they can post it out to you) but I do take your point about potential new supporters. I am sure there are kids for whom a decision on support is made, based on what is available.

Good work CD. Glad your kids and others enjoyed it. Would have loved the convienience of having these close to my home. I hope the good folk around Casey appreciate how lucky they are and how visionary their council have been.

OK

That was Nichols I think. He had a 'mare'. Worst call was the report and free against Petterd after he failed to see Petterds opponent jumping on him while he was of the ground, the ball was a mile away. His holding the ball and in the back interpretations are RS. Incidental contact or holding a tackle while an opponent throws themselves forward IS NOT a push in the back.

Spot on. Absolute tool of a post unless it can be backed up by some statement of facts or evidence. IMO grandstanding of the worst kind (i.e. anonymous internet) Good luck Don. As was the case with Jim all hands on deck here. You say, we'll do!

If we went this way our ongoing development would suffer becasue we would have to pick blokes only in positions they were good at. Surely this is a basic "footy philosiphies" and how you develop a list?

Has anyone seen the author of this thread? Still waiting to find out what it is that Damian Hardwick "has" that "we need". This thread has not legitimacy and is simply turning into a vehicle for people who can't put up with a few years of list re-alignment and development pain.

Proof read your posts. For gods sake! BTW, you haven't articulated one reason why Hardwick (in your opinion) would be better? In fact it reads like you think we should get Mick.

Less than 5 wins and the PP is the important one. As we well know win more than that and its picks 3 or maybe 4 only. I won't be heartbroken if we show sufficient improvement that we win 3 more and get picks 1 & 3 or 1 & 4. Games against WC and Richmond loom as a danger!

It would be interesting to run a poll to see how many posters believe Bailey is a failure on the basis that: a] He doesn't deliver a winning % ratio comparable to say Ratten or Clarkson after two years b] He doesn't deliver picks 1 & 2 in this years draft Dee-luded's cake & eat analogy is accurate. Personally I think had this loss (our worst in 9 months) not occured in the QB game then we would not see all this hand wringing. And I am still waiting for the author of this thread to detail somthing credible to back up his/her views?

The cult of youth? Mick Malthouse is sucking the collective brain cell of Collingwood supporters into building the image of him moulding his young list. Pretty soon after it becomes evident he still hasn't got the cattle to challenge Geelong, StKilda and Hawthorn he will role out the next 5 year plan. He is an aging coach in a footy world obsessed with youth. Soon he'll be telling us how he loves working with kids and how it keeps him young. He's a Grandpa now and feels insecure with Buckley breathing down his neck. I don't blame him for making the most of the opportunity to make subjective comparisons his list with Melbournes after yesterday. The comparison would be lost on analysts with half a brain though because quite simply Collingwood and Melbourne lists are at completely different stages of their development.

I seriously cannot believe that people here are saying they either didn't know there was an aftermatch, where it was or how to get there. As Toot said many of the people at the function were interstaters and none of them had trouble finding it! Stop blaming the club for your own poor efforts. Incidentally one of the questions thrown up for Cameron Scwabb related to a social club (after match gathering facility) within the MCG. This is something they are working on as part of the re-alignment. I trust we all know our way around the MCG?