Moved Thread AFL To Bail Out The Dees?

[Demonic Ascent]

Well I guess you don't need any help then. The AFL are a joke .. just like middle-class welfare churnimg .. take from the club with one hand and give back with the other (a la Carlton). No wonder the average joe is so cynical about it all.

I agree the AFL is a joke on many levels not least of which is the favouring and strengthening of some clubs over others via the FIXture. I don't see why this means Melbourne should receive the amount of vitriol we have seen in this thread including being told we should merge/relocate/fold.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

I do not buy that the AFL fined a club $500k because a senior official made a joke that could be misconstrued.

Sorry.

Whether you buy it or not is irrelevant unfortunately, those are the facts. A person in a senior position in any company has a level of responsibility and the club has an accountability for the actions of its senior employees. It doesn't really matter what you think happened, the AFL specifically stated MFC were found not guilty of tanking.

 

[ManOfClay]

I have said twice now Melbourne will not die off as a result of them being shit now. Let them sort themselves out, like a real club would have to.

 

[Forward Press]

Whether you buy it or not is irrelevant unfortunately, those are the facts. A person in a senior position in any company has a level of responsibility and the club has an accountability for the actions of its senior employees. It doesn't really matter what you think happened, the AFL specifically stated MFC were found not guilty of tanking.

As someone else alluded to above, OJ Simpson was found not guilty of a double murder but most other people out there don't buy it.

You are of course free to think what you wish, but I think the AFL used those carefully chosen words to basically levy a heavy fine for tanking by citing some other trivial reason (and I suspect many others out there also share this view).

 

[00Stinger]

If your club stopped jeopardizing the very essence of our competition then maybe it would not be so hated.

You are suspected of tanking.

Now you want draft handouts.

This is a competition . Remember that.

And this is the supporters fault, how?

 

[Demonic Ascent]

As someone else alluded to above, OJ Simpson was found not guilty of a double murder but most other people out there don't buy it.

He was cleared by the courts in a fair trial but because he's black people just assume he's guilty.

 

[KnaveyBlue]

this is no excuse for cheating

... nobody said it was?

 

[LordLucifer]

So when Carlton went cap in hand after being found guilty of rorting the salary cap and received an interest free loan from the AFL that was everyone else's fault was it?

We sorted ourselves out via Mr. Pratt's intervention, you on the other hand, have no Mr. Pratt anywhere !!

 

[LeverPuller]

We sorted ourselves out via Mr. Pratt's intervention, you on the other hand, have no Mr. Pratt anywhere !!

So we should be punished for that? For not having someone come in and being willing to bankroll the club?

 

[ManOfClay]

You're not being directly punished for that though. It's not like the AFL is sanctioning you for being shit.

If this happens then Melbourne are no more a football club than GWS or GC. Just sellouts.

 

[The_Reaper]

Don't see why the Bulldogs should be punished (by going down the draft order) for Melbourne's incompetence.

 

[LeverPuller]

You're not being directly punished for that though. It's not like the AFL is sanctioning you for being shit.

If this happens then Melbourne are no more a football club than GWS or GC. Just sellouts.

Look, as I have said the club shouldn't get draft concessions IMO. I don't agree with the idea.

I think the cash is a different thing though. The club would be stuck up shit creek for another year before they could even commence the clearout. It's been documented that the club simply aren't liquid enough to sack Mark Neeld right now, let alone some of his support team. That's what the money seems to be for. If there was no support there, then the club may as well fold, because by mid-next year no one will go to watch the Dees. They're simply that bad now, let alone in another 12 months with the same coaching group. The club will be further into debt (already projected at $1.5mil-$2mil THIS YEAR) and the AFL would be forced to act then due to the TV deal. I think the money suits the AFL's purposes right now.

But the picks? I think the right coaching group will actually turn the players around really quickly. In short, they're overkill.

 

[The_Reaper]

Look, as I have said the club shouldn't get draft concessions IMO. I don't agree with the idea.

I think the cash is a different thing though. The club would be stuck up shit creek for another year before they could even commence the clearout. It's been documented that the club simply aren't liquid enough to sack Mark Neeld right now, let alone some of his support team. That's what the money seems to be for. If there was no support there, then the club may as well fold, because by mid-next year no one will go to watch the Dees. They're simply that bad now, let alone in another 12 months with the same coaching group. The club will be further into debt (already projected at $1.5mil-$2mil THIS YEAR) and the AFL would be forced to act then due to the TV deal. I think the money suits the AFL's purposes right now.

But the picks? I think the right coaching group will actually turn the players around really quickly. In short, they're overkill.

I agree with you.
The money is fine unless it starts becoming the norm.

The picks is unfair. It punishes the other clubs.

 

[LeverPuller]

I agree with you.
The money is fine unless it starts becoming the norm.

The picks is unfair. It punishes the other clubs.

Didn't Port get a bailout a year or two ago?

And I don't think it will. It's only going to go in situations where the AFL genuinely has to prop up a club seemingly. Very few teams find themselves with that massive combination of lack of performance and lack of cash.

 

[Tulip]

What was the fine for then?

Bringing the game into disrepute.

 

[MightyHawks]

So the AFL is looking at giving cash handouts to Melbourne.

What a complete waste of time - they DO NOT DESERVE ANY GIFTS

However why not link the cash handouts directly to something Melbourne supporters can contribute to in 2014 and 2015

1. $1 for every person that attends a Melbourne match in 2014 and 2015 (There's $200,000-$500,000 each year)

2. $10 for every Melbourne Football Club member - including MCC affiliate (There's another $200,000-$300,000 each year)

3. $50 for every Premium or Reserved Seat Melbourne Membership (There's $500,000 each year if they can get 10,000 of them)

4. And the bonus round... If 411169 people (Melbourne's 2010 attendance) attend Melbourne matches in 2014 ONLY then Melbourne get $1 million in COLD HARD CASH

The beauty of it is that if Melbourne do pick up $2 million, not only do they have cash, but the club is more marketable to sponsors

The bonus round offer is available in 2015 as well ONLY if they hit the target in 2014

 

[Admiral Byng]

I reckon the AFL should pay Melbourne $1 for every new thread created in Big Footy about this topic, and $2 if the OP contains random bold and caps-lock.

 

[Eshay187]

So when they fail to meet these numbers what happens? They're left to die?

 

[Underdog]

Bringing the game into disrepute.

The AFL were hardly going to charge Melbourne with tanking and invite legal challenges from outside organisations like betting agencies when they could charge them with bringing the game into disrepute and not risk that.

 

[Wooljay]

I reckon the AFL should pay Melbourne $1 for every new thread created in Big Footy about this topic, and $2 if the OP contains random bold and caps-lock.

$50 for every dymot or Duritz OP, and $3 for every post questioning where Melbourne are at.

They'll be sitting at a million by Tuesday.

 

[Tulip]

The AFL were hardly going to charge Melbourne with tanking and invite legal challenges from outside organisations like betting agencies when they could charge them with bringing the game into disrepute and not risk that.

Not to mention the legal challenge from Melbourne itself.

 

[Damon_3388]

He was cleared by the courts in a fair trial but because he's black people just assume he's guilty.

From Wikipedia:

In the unanimous jury findings of a civil court case in February 1997, Simpson was found liable for the wrongful death of Ronald Goldman and battery of Nicole Brown. Simpson was ordered to pay US$33.5 million in damages.

Obviously didn't get jail time for that, but hardly got off scott-free. Is currently serving 15 year-plus sentence for kidnapping and armed robbery as well.

 

[The_Wookie]

The AFL were hardly going to charge Melbourne with tanking and invite legal challenges from outside organisations like betting agencies when they could charge them with bringing the game into disrepute and not risk that.

this. its the AFLs catchall charge that basically says "we know what you did, you know what you did, but we cant say it for legal reasons"

 

[MightyHawks]

So when they fail to meet these numbers what happens? They're left to die?

Melbourne fans would be struggling not to get $600,000+ each year from those figures

Don Scott said in 1996 that if 8000 people didn't care enough about Hawthorn to give $100ea then the club wasn't worth saving and shouldn't be saved

Hawthorn supporters were shown that their club would be taken away from them if they didn't do something about it. Membership went from 12000 to 27000 in one season

Something like this model puts the onus back onto the supporters themselves

 

[Bluelegs]

Are you trying to say that because of our poor attendances at games the club/AFL should start charging a PREMIUM to attend Melbourne games?