Demons' lame-duck excuses

[Remi Moses]

Dees major sponsor Opel pulling out of Australia. AFL will need to bump it to $5,000,000 now.

They'll probably want a priority bloody sponsor

[LostDoggy]

They've already got the AFL as a major sponsor, mother.

They're like a child that keeps coming home after blowing their inheritance.

[Ghost Dog]

I watched the Robbie Flower interview on open Mike recenty. During the 80's their training facilities were on par with ours. Training in the car park and so forth. I'm not exactly sure they have ever been a 'well off club'. It was run as more or less an amateur offshoot of the MCC until Barrassi came along. They've had money, but I don't know if it's been invested into their footy club in any meaningful way. Their administration has been poor.

[Remi Moses]

They had a lot of old money back in the day.
The AFL really should stop feeding the misconception of an " even " playing field.
We're seeing first hand tomorrow, playing a side who have extra salary cap room under the misnoma of "Cost of living allowance". Total fallacy, along with third party agreements, stadium deal farce, TV exposure etc etc.

[bulldogtragic]

I wonder if this result enhances Melbourne being given Boyd. Probably

[LostDoggy]

Melbourne beat by GWS......."Tank you very much, we'll take Tom Boyd".

[LostDoggy]

Melbourne beat by GWS......."Tank you very much, we'll take Tom Boyd".

Sorry, my letter "h" didn't seem to work during that post.

[Remi Moses]

If they do get a priority pick( which is just mind boggling )
They should be made to trade it for a senior player.
Throwing a kid there way isn't going to fix their problems.
They need to get their coaching, teaching and beef up their recruiting dept to improve.

[LostDoggy]

Question begs, will they make it through this next ten year period:

Their saviour and prime mover, Jim Stynes is gone. It took a man on his death bed to give his last few years to Melbourne when nobody else could seemingly do it - before and after.

GWS and to a lesser extent, GC are the AFL's main concern for the next decade.

We'll improve and challenge before they do because we're a proud club that never bottoms out for an extended period.

The AFL will have to fund them now and into the foreseeable future. Do they want too? Do they need too? Have they had their chance ? Should they be made to be the Tasmanian Demons ? Oldest football club in the world, but how long can they hold that candle as their right to survive off everyone else?

[LostDoggy]

Sadly there are two choices that I can see.

Take the club out for a midnight stroll in a dark wood with a gun and a shovel so we can all move on

Give them a priority pick.

I know they have Hogan coming next year but good blimey they are bloody aweful.

If they give them a pick then we want one too and so will the saints so its pretty tricky.

The other issue is GWS have "tanked" their first two years by throwing the kitchen sink at youth. They traded every benefit they were given to build experience into their list for the best youth in the county instead. Which is effectively tanking against the list building rules.

It may be in our best interests to fight for Melbourne to get Boyd instead of GWS as ridiculously stupid as that is.

Man I'm getting sick of the smug, complacent, greedy, disgusting, toffy-nosed a-holes at afl house stuffing up this code.

[Ghost Dog]

They had a lot of old money back in the day.
The AFL really should stop feeding the misconception of an " even " playing field.
We're seeing first hand tomorrow, playing a side who have extra salary cap room under the misnoma of "Cost of living allowance". Total fallacy, along with third party agreements, stadium deal farce, TV exposure etc etc.

Well, not even old money, but new money. Schwab was paid $500,000 dollars a year at Melbourne. But what did their footy department see of the millions made by the 12th most well off club out of the top 30 in Australia?
I think a bunch of leeches, business types have made a bunch of decisions without any eye for development of young people.


Article above written in April in Business review weekly regards Melbourne says exactly that.

[Ghost Dog]

They had a lot of old money back in the day.
The AFL really should stop feeding the misconception of an " even " playing field.
We're seeing first hand tomorrow, playing a side who have extra salary cap room under the misnoma of "Cost of living allowance". Total fallacy, along with third party agreements, stadium deal farce, TV exposure etc etc.

They've had a fair bit of money in the modern era. But they've let economic rationalists try to short cut the process of development.


Article from Business Review Weekly, not exactly a sporting rag, but with some pretty good points.

Top business talent fails to prevent Melbourne Football Club’s capitulation

As the sporting club of choice for Melbourne’s blue bloods and business elite, it is hard to understand how the Melbourne Football Club could become such a den of mismanagement.

Melbourne were ranked 12th on BRW’s inaugural Top 30 Football Clubs list last year.

The top place getter was the Collingwood Football Club, which made a $7.84 million profit on revenue of $69.64 million in 2012.

Football clubs, especially AFL clubs, are becoming big businesses and are highly adept at attracting top business people to their boards.

Melbourne has the added advantage of a close association with the exclusive Melbourne Cricket Club, which counts many top business figures as members.

Melbourne’s board is packed with impressive names. The chief executive of the $3 billion Bank of Queensland Stuart Grimshaw and executive general manager of Network Ten Russell Howcroft both occupy board seats.

Other board members include former legal counsel for James Packer’s Publishing & Broadcasting, Guy Jalland ,and former global managing partner of risk services for accounting giant Deloitte, John Trotter.

Sitting on a football club board can provide a welcome change of pace for a successful business person but there are many cases of smart managers making strange decisions at football clubs.

One club chief executive tells BRW that it is common for successful business people to “check their brains at the door” when they take positions on football club boards.

Link

[Ghost Dog]

Melbourne beat by GWS......."Tank you very much, we'll take Tom Boyd".

Well, if you look at their backs, they were certainly not chasing very hard even in the first quarter.