Mega Thread 2024 Media & Miscellaneous Thread

[Freo Big Fella]

Just a short bit of what went on.
We were promised the same concessions the EAgles were when they entered.After Fremantle signed the seal, the AFL in their wisdom with drew a large numnber of the concession, including the numberm of 17 years olds we could have as protected so no other club could select them From memory, the EAgles had five that were protected, we were given one.
We were elected to supposedly dilute to power that the EAgles were having on the competition. Thier winning the falgs in 92/94, cost us dearly.
What they received was if you look, basically the same as what the Suns and Giants received.
A person at the head of the FDFC told me in our first year after I said we came in five years too early, "would you prefer to have our own club in our own colours, or a failed bankrupt Melbourne based club. A club that would have just been in colours only because none of the players wanted to come to WA when the club folded or was shoved out by the AFL" This is the same club the AFL WOULD NOT give a send off to. It turned out that Fremantle were the only club to acknowledge the demise of the club by making a big day for them.Fremantle as a new club paid to fly so many of their legends to be part of a parade to recognise them as individuals and as a club.
We were not wanted by the WAFL because it meant a large drain on the WAFL competition.The WAFC didn't want us because they were afraid that we were going to kill the goose that layed the golden egg,WCEs.
The AFL didn't want us other than to take away the Egles power.
If you get a chance and are interested enough to find out more mon our history and how were born find the history of WA football. A book titled "Behind the play, a history of football in Western Australia from 1968.
A full history of WA football up until and just after the Dockers entry.It gives the troubles between South and East Fremantle in trying to come together to form a team with both clubs involved. The dislike in each other and pride stopped it from happening.
Yep, as a club we have been dudded. Even to the point where we were $8 mil in the red, due to mismanagement.The AFL with Demetriou and Anderson threatening to remove us from the competition. But thanks to a few, we were out of the red and into the balck within three years.
And a huge bonus for Fremantle is that we have NEVER put our hand out to the AFL for money to keep us going, unlike Melbourne based clubs like Melbopurne, Norths, Footscray, Saints, Hawthorn.
OHHH and not to forget the mob from up the road, they sponged allegedly arounf $15 mil from the State government because they were going broke.
Sorry for the long post, but you did ask.

s_wd6 - this pretty much nails it, but the only thing I'd add is that the WAFC (which, lest we forget only really exists because the Eagles and WAFL needed a taxpayer-funded bailout at the time) was reluctant to spend money on anything that wasn't the Eagles or WAFL. Hence we were set up on the smell of an oily rag re facilities, coaching and recruitment and just about everything else - a direct through line to the early wilderness years.

Some of that history bleeds into the present day Commission admin's reluctance to challenge the basket case at West Coast today - protecting the Eagles is in their foundational DNA.

 

[E Shed]

s_wd6 - this pretty much nails it, but the only thing I'd add is that the WAFC (which, lest we forget only really exists because the Eagles and WAFL needed a taxpayer-funded bailout at the time) was reluctant to spend money on anything that wasn't the Eagles or WAFL. Hence we were set up on the smell of an oily rag re facilities, coaching and recruitment and just about everything else - a direct through line to the early wilderness years.

Some of that history bleeds into the present day Commission admin's reluctance to challenge the basket case at West Coast today - protecting the Eagles is in their foundational DNA.

Exactly. And it’s the old guard mafia who have run football in the state since the Eagles bailout that are desperate to hang on to their jobs & power now despite having turned the Eagles into a basket case.
Going to be very interesting watching them try to dynamite Nisbett & his cronies out of the joint so they can start fresh.

 

[Dockeroo]

s_wd6 you should try get a copy of this clever little book I found in a second hand bookstore in freo recently.
It was written in 2003 and is kinda a lighthearted look at the FFC in the early years (gosh we made some blunders) but also gives good insight into why the club evolved in the way it did.
From the outside it does seem some FFC people early on were so obsessed with being different to the eagles that they deliberately made poor choices in certain areas just to be different from the eagles which were rather indefensible in hindsight.
There is some great anecdotes in this book I’ve really enjoyed it actually.

 

[Dockeroo]

The Chris Mainwaring farts line is brilliant

 

[s_wd6]

This is a good read but it's a fair time investment.

Wayback Machine

Just a short bit of what went on.
We were promised the same concessions the Eagles were when they entered.After Fremantle signed the deal, the AFL in their wisdom withdrew a large number of the concession, including the number of 17 years olds we could have as protected so no other club could select them From memory, the Eagles had five that were protected, we were given one.
We were elected to supposedly dilute to power that the Eagles were having on the competition. Their winning the flags in 92/94, cost us dearly.
What they received was if you look, basically the same as what the Suns and Giants received.
A person at the head of the FDFC told me in our first year after I said we came in five years too early, "would you prefer to have our own club in our own colours, or a failed bankrupt Melbourne based club. A club that would have just been in colours only because none of the players wanted to come to WA when the club folded or was shoved out by the AFL" This is the same club the AFL WOULD NOT give a send off to. It turned out that Fremantle were the only club to acknowledge the demise of the club by making a big day for them.Fremantle as a new club paid to fly so many of their legends to be part of a parade to recognise them as individuals and as a club.
We were not wanted by the WAFL because it meant a large drain on the WAFL competition.The WAFC didn't want us because they were afraid that we were going to kill the goose that layed the golden egg,WCEs.
The AFL didn't want us other than to take away the Eagles power.
If you get a chance and are interested enough to find out more mon our history and how were born find the history of WA football. A book titled "Behind the play, a history of football in Western Australia from 1968.
A full history of WA football up until and just after the Dockers entry.It gives the troubles between South and East Fremantle in trying to come together to form a team with both clubs involved. The dislike in each other and pride stopped it from happening.
Yep, as a club we have been dudded. Even to the point where we were $8 mil in the red, due to mismanagement.The AFL with Demetriou and Anderson threatening to remove us from the competition. But thanks to a few, we were out of the red and into the balck within three years.
And a huge bonus for Fremantle is that we have NEVER put our hand out to the AFL for money to keep us going, unlike Melbourne based clubs like Melbopurne, Norths, Footscray, Saints, Hawthorn.
OHHH and not to forget the mob from up the road, they sponged allegedly around $15 mil from the State government because they were going broke.
Sorry for the long post, but you did ask.

s_wd6 - this pretty much nails it, but the only thing I'd add is that the WAFC (which, lest we forget only really exists because the Eagles and WAFL needed a taxpayer-funded bailout at the time) was reluctant to spend money on anything that wasn't the Eagles or WAFL. Hence we were set up on the smell of an oily rag re facilities, coaching and recruitment and just about everything else - a direct through line to the early wilderness years.

Some of that history bleeds into the present day Commission admin's reluctance to challenge the basket case at West Coast today - protecting the Eagles is in their foundational DNA.

s_wd6 you should try get a copy of this clever little book I found in a second hand bookstore in freo recently.
It was written in 2003 and is kinda a lighthearted look at the FFC in the early years (gosh we made some blunders) but also gives good insight into why the club evolved in the way it did.
From the outside it does seem some FFC people early on were so obsessed with being different to the eagles that they deliberately made poor choices in certain areas just to be different from the eagles which were rather indefensible in hindsight.
There is some great anecdotes in this book I’ve really enjoyed it actually.
View attachment 1723666

Cheers guys really appreciate it. Will have to have a sit down and proper read through it all.

 

[masai tu]

I reckon Matt Price has been having a good number of bevies with the “footy gods”. The gods are nudging us in the right direction, and feeding juicy info to the grim reaper in the locality of Lathlain.

Matt is a legend.

 

[Hazelsnuts]

View attachment 1723669View attachment 1723672View attachment 1723673View attachment 1723674
The Chris Mainwaring farts line is brilliant

Vale Matt Price…..
Love this book, makes being a Freo person feel very ‘special’……
We are a strange and loyal breed, ones who delight in self masochism - live with eternal hope and travel the road less travelled.
Wouldn’t have it any other way……

 

[Dockeroo]

I reckon Matt Price has been having a good number of bevies with the “footy gods”. The gods are nudging us in the right direction, and feeding juicy info to the grim reaper in the locality of Lathlain.

Matt is a legend.

He was a talented guy.
Amongst the books stories, two stand out as a monument to how shit we were back then.

• we didn’t win 3 games in a row for our first 8 years in the comp.
• incredibly we paid Daniel Metropolis, a fringe eagles player, $700k per annum for 3 years around 1999 to 2001 to play for the dockers. By all accounts he was pretty shite. For context, that would be like giving Chris Rotham or Tom Cole a 3 year deal worth $1.2 million per annum today. Jesus Christ

 

[girt187]

He was a talented guy.
Amongst the books stories, two stand out as a monument to how s**t we were back then.

• we didn’t win 3 games in a row for our first 8 years in the comp.
• incredibly we paid Daniel Metropolis, a fringe eagles player, $700k per annum for 3 years around 1999 to 2001 to play for the dockers. By all accounts he was pretty shite. For context, that would be like giving Chris Rotham or Tom Cole a 3 year deal worth $1.2 million per annum today. Jesus Christ

Please no more

 

[mattis117]

He was a talented guy.
Amongst the books stories, two stand out as a monument to how s**t we were back then.

• we didn’t win 3 games in a row for our first 8 years in the comp.
• incredibly we paid Daniel Metropolis, a fringe eagles player, $700k per annum for 3 years around 1999 to 2001 to play for the dockers. By all accounts he was pretty shite. For context, that would be like giving Chris Rotham or Tom Cole a 3 year deal worth $1.2 million per annum today. Jesus Christ

Josh Rotham?

 

[King Tenz]

incredibly we paid Daniel Metropolis, a fringe eagles player, $700k per annum for 3 years around 1999 to 2001 to play for the dockers. By all accounts he was pretty shite. For context, that would be like giving Chris Rotham or Tom Cole a 3 year deal worth $1.2 million per annum today. Jesus Christ

God damn that's awful. Bro apparently only ended up playing 6 games for us too.

 

[Dockeroo]

Josh Rotham?

Was trying to think of a modern day equivalent Eagles role-player backman.
Maybe someone like Liam Duggan is a better comparison though I’m not sure metropolis was anywhere near as good as Duggan actually.
It’s the salary we paid him that blew me away. $700k in 2001 is approx $1.27 million in 2023 dollars, adjusted for inflation.
That would have surely made him one of the highest paid players in the AFL back then. I wonder who was the first million dollar a season AFL player? Someone like Carey in the 90s I guess

 

[Paracleet]

Was trying to think of a modern day equivalent Eagles role-player backman.
Maybe someone like Liam Duggan is a better comparison though I’m not sure metropolis was anywhere near as good as Duggan actually.
It’s the salary we paid him that blew me away. $700k in 2001 is approx $1.27 million in 2023 dollars, adjusted for inflation.
That would have surely made him one of the highest paid players in the AFL back then. I wonder who was the first million dollar a season AFL player? Someone like Carey in the 90s I guess

Given the salary cap was about 5 million then I think we can assume it's either not true or the figure has been scaled into today money as well. The club made some strange decisions back in the day but paying Daniel Metropolis 15% of the cap by himself surely wasn't one.

 

[Purple Suit]

Given the salary cap was about 5 million then I think we can assume it's either not true or the figure has been scaled into today money as well. The club made some strange decisions back in the day but paying Daniel Metropolis 15% of the cap by himself surely wasn't one.

I agree, I recon it was more like 300-400 and still outrageous. I think he ended up "retiring" early and becoming the highest paid marketing manager in the AFL by Freo. There were a lot more loop holes in the cap back then but clubs use to get fined all the time too. Lately no one ever gets penalized which just seems dodgier to me as there is no way no one has made an honest mistake in 10-15 years, let alone some rorting.

 

[Dale147]

Barlow

 

[Dockeroo]

Given the salary cap was about 5 million then I think we can assume it's either not true or the figure has been scaled into today money as well. The club made some strange decisions back in the day but paying Daniel Metropolis 15% of the cap by himself surely wasn't one.

Looked back again on the passage in the book and it’s not clear but it seems we were paying him $700k over 3 years so you are right. However, the salary cap in 2000 was $2.5 million according to Ricky Nixon (who boasted about cheating it years later). So we were still paying almost 10% of our cap to Daniel Metropolis which is still quite staggering. It’s the modern day equivalent of paying a guy $1.1m out of todays salary cap of $13m.
I actually fell into a Ricky Nixon shaped rabbit hole into cap rorting at the turn of the century looking up this. He basically cheated to allow Essendon pay Llordo and hird, and north pay Wayne carey large anmounts outside the cap. What a farce.

 

[anchor man]

Vale Matt Price…..
Love this book, makes being a Freo person feel very ‘special’……
We are a strange and loyal breed, ones who delight in self masochism - live with eternal hope and travel the road less travelled.
Wouldn’t have it any other way……

Beautifully put. Well done.
We are so far different from the other mob, but ever so much better.

 

[Dump Truck]

I agree with that list, with one exception. Who the dump truck is Jordan Ridley? Did not notice him.

Edited to make a little more sense.

You rang?

 

[Ge3ks]

You rang?

 

[Dale147]

Training notes

 

[Bigger]

Mefloppyarse did kick four goals with his first four kicks in the AFL.


And then did ****all for the rest of his career.

 

[E Shed]

I couldn’t believe the article from Suma in today’s rag, I read a couple of pages waiting for a coffee today. He was making a case that WC needs Don Pyke with Dean Cox

Dean Cox

Age

43

Ht

203cm

Wt

107kg

Pos.

F/R

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.9

4star

K

8.9

3star

HB

6.9

4star

M

5.3

5star

T

1.5

3star

G

0.6

4star

No current season stats available

D

13.0

4star

K

5.8

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

4.8

5star

T

1.4

4star

G

0.0

1star

as his assistant to replace Simpson.
Fair enough as it goes but he started out by saying that Nisbett should stay & is the right man to oversee the rebuild.
I can’t see how anyone in their right mind could say Nisbett has/is doing a good job. Maybe Suma is sucking up to stay in favor with the WAFC/Eagles mafia.

 

[pK75]

I couldn’t believe the article from Suma in today’s rag, I read a couple of pages waiting for a coffee today. He was making a case that WC needs Don Pyke with Dean Cox as his assistant to replace Simpson.
Fair enough as it goes but he started out by saying that Nisbett should stay & is the right man to oversee the rebuild.
I can’t see how anyone in their right mind could say Nisbett has/is doing a good job. Maybe Suma is sucking up to stay in favor with the WAFC/Eagles mafia.

It wasn’t a news article. It was the cover letter for his job application. Hoping they bring in Cox and Pyke to be his assistants

 

[E Shed]

It wasn’t a news article. It was the cover letter for his job application. Hoping they bring in Cox and Pyke to be his assistants

It did cross my mind that maybe it was a bizarre way of saying I’m here fellas! Pick me!

 

[Purple Suit]

It did cross my mind that maybe it was a bizarre way of saying I’m here fellas! Pick me!

Hey Nissy