diesel

One thing I think we can be guaranteed.. One way or the other, this will be the last year we ask when.

"The Demons and their more rabid supporters keep banging on about the fact that everyone was doing it. No other club seems to have done it quite like this, though, and if Carlton is guilty then the current mood of the AFL indicates that club, too, will be forensically examined and punished." Demons: shock & awful ​I liked that she was able to work "rabid" into a description of Melbourne supporters. Who'd have thought we have passionate supporters? Even 3 months after she went on this rant I can't see on the evidencve presented how what Melbourne did was ANY different to what Carlton, Collingwood, West Coast, etc. did. Regardless of the Melbourne investigation Wilson MUST hold the AFL to account (and we her) to investigate those other teams or we will all know the AFL are a joke.

I assume there must be an economy of scale to this i.e. we share AAMI Park therefore we don't spend as much as other sides running their own facilities who have the advantage of naming rights? I could be completely wrong?

I don't disagree with anything you've said BB. It's too bad ex Melbourne players that have public or media profiles with the exception of Jim have remained at arms length. More that I was ruminating on the irony in relation to the Holden sponsorship. I certainly support some footy socialism and not just because I'm Melbourne supporter either, I've given to other clubs tin-rattling campaigns. I do question the wisdom of Holden throwing in behind behemoths like the NRL and Collingwood though when they are benefiting from hand outs (hand-outs which I also support).

Had the 'opportunity' to listen to MMM this morning with McGuire leveraging his radio position to talk constantly about Holden AND play a jingle apparently building up to an announcement that they'll sponsor Collingw**d. It's ironic that just yesterday I heard Collingwood supporters complaining about 'socialism' in AFL funds distribution are now going to be sponsored by a company being propped up by Tax Payers.

No need for the Prez to say anything else. Now the AFL has our response I expect whatever is in it will be public knowledge within 48 hours....this is how the AFL works!

If we roll over to any sanction (which in all honesty would only be to appease the AFL) I would not want to be a board member at the AGM next month! As mentioned by other posters an adverse finding and our agreement to it will tarnish our brand forever. DON'T DO IT MELBOURNE!

We found out a heap about the nature of the investigation and how what was found out was proposed to be parlayed into possible charges. I reckon the reason we don't hear from Caroline is that her analysis of the whole thing was subjective and horribly wrong. She is probably crossing her fingers that it's all over before she gets back to work.

You reckon? I'd suggests out on the street the actions of one or both would equate to assault and are exactly the type that have resulted in a lot of young lives being ruined/ended. Fortunately this dust up was on the grass. Would expect him to be rubbed out by his club for a couple of games.

Why did you bring up Frawley's contract then? It's an obvious link to your accusation that the tanking discussion is damaging the club. So to does starting rumours about player contracts. And based on his performance last year Chip would be glad he signed for 4.

Why would you post stuff like this and then....... complain about damage being done to the club?

All I got from a snippet on the news was that he won't be seeing him before the first few rounds of the season.

Reading those you will find some balance among the single sentence assessments and vitriol. Those who have identified that we are in a culture shift, not a challenge for finals and assess us accordingly are on the money. I think the under rating of our youth might be where we can surprise some numpty opposition supporters. As far as I'm concerned all the dead wood has gone so they may underrate those who are left and the potential for improvement. What will be interesting is if we avoid 'tanking' sanctions and beat them again or have any sort of success really. That will amplify the dislike and contempt they have for Melbourne which I will really enjoy!

Scoreboard says Hooper, caught Taylor bowled Bevan.......... it doesn't care how

I trust you noticed the highlighted part and obvious difference between none & some? Selective quoting and interpretations around here are getting out of hand. It was fair comment in the context of some of the fretting at the time although in hindsight the deal with Energy Watch was a stinker and black mark on CS's record IMO.

What CS in fact said was, "One thing I can say - I'm glad some of you guys aren't negotiating contracts on our behalf!"

What did you expect? The whole saga around the topic has been a joke and the debate has been misinformed and polluted by agendas.

I think he prefers his rod?

Its worth noting that we are now in this so called FD 'arms race' where supporters are going to be asked to chip in extra year on year. It's got nothing to do with balancing the books. We are millions behind the big membership clubs every year and as you note THEY are going to their members for extra money as well!

Using my 'Journo' interpretive speak skills I would say Neeld may well have been for it in WJ's scenario of on trading the 2nd round pick to the Hawks for Buddy & Cyril.

I think it's acknowledged by most that he may be half right i.e. North wanted Watts for a 2nd rounder. That it didn't happen because they couldn't get a deal done is ONE interpretation of the fact that Watts was NEVER going to be traded for a 2nd round draft pick. If there is one thing the average Melbourne supporter has learnt in the last 12 months it is that there are levels of truth and the way events can be interpreted in Journo speak. Some, such as Denham like to stretch it.

Nah, crap. The Gardner board would have got a hiding in an election. that's why they stepped aside, lets be honest. In hindsight I wish the Stynes ticket had refused to negotiate a handover. They probably did it with the right intentions along the lines of your beliefs of 'demonstrating' unity, saving the club a few $. What in fact happens in such negotiated positions is grievances are allowed to continue to bubble underneath, former board members will feel they have retained some legitimacy and that usurps the authority of the new administration. If there are people who believe they could do a better job than those who are up for re-election they simply need to put their hands up individually for the AGM or put together a ticket.

Why don't we wait to see the upshot of the MFC response? We all realise there is a lot of excitement from the "hang em" camp but it seems to have been exacerbated in the last couple of days by the Connolly leak that he believes he has been conspired against. No doubt his flagging his intention to fight has caused some angst from the disenfranchised but why the hell would we enter into punishment scenarios when so far all we have seen is a pi55 a weak and largely circumstantial and concocted case.

Sure has, ex-president Gardner took a pretty big dump on us. A person who has held that position and is prepared to act in such a manner publicly could be capable of delivering some epic harm privately?

Obviously not. You don't put any stock in the fact that we have been crap since '06 (and up and down before that) through a combination of factors including an under-resourced FD, poor recruiting, lack of professionalism by some players and administrations who were asleep at the wheel, waiting for the next AFL handout. You reckon it's all down to a few blokes and a plan to bottom out. Why then have Collingwood and Hawthorn won flags while we're sputtering? In '09, the season which the AFL focuses on there was a perfect storm of events at the MFC which were the making of some personalities but also to a large extent a result of outside forces. It's folly to suggest that that a few people were responsible and their heads would serve to right everything, in fact it would set us back a number of years. Instead of preaching about perspective (yours is evidently narrow) have a lateral think about where the MFC has been and is now at and who has been pulling the strings in this whole 'tanking' saga.