FRANKSTON DEAL NOT DONE YET

[saintbrat]

cRackers has been reading ss again

Saints can’t find way home

St Kilda has apparently had a gutful of local councils. First Kingston Council stuffed it around over poker machines and the rede­velopment of Moorabbin. Then Frankston Council welcomed the club with open arms before cost blowouts put the Frankston Oval development in doubt. Don’t be sur­prised if the wrecker’s ball starts swinging at Moorabbin and something ends up happen­ing at the old Linton Street Oval. Personally I don’t know why the Saints don’t develop something at the Trevor Barker Oval in Sandringham. Clear out the old building, cre­ate a modern facility with million-dollar views

CRACKERS KEENAN


both Cranbourne leader and Frankston leader have articles on the Demons and saints situation

the Cranbourne elader also ahd word on' divisions' in their council regarding the possible arrangement for melbourne.

[Saints in 20??]

Isn't belvedere the name of the bulldog in the Warner Bros cartoon?
coz this mess has us looking like we have a cartoon adminisrartion.

[SAINTLY73]

Cartoon! Give it a few weeks and no one will be laughing.

[bobmurray]

Much prefer Casey to Sandringham,the alignment at Casey is just beginning to look like it's working and working well........but i guess where St Kilda is concerned,thats a good reason to go elsewhere.....

An alignment with Sandringham,a training base at Frankston ,albeit looking more likely the facilities will be in a couple of Atco Huts due to cost ,a social club at Moorabbin and home games at the Dome .They seem to be clutching at any opportunity that rears it's head,no matter how ridiculous it's becoming.

If StKilda's plans were discussed in any other AFL boardroom i feel they would be laughing harder and longer than a bunch of inexperienced dope smokers.......

[casey scorp]

CaseyScorp,
I must be a little 'slow' on the uptake.
I realize it's only semantics, but how come you seem to 'lay the blame' on th Saints for the breaking up of the Saints/Scorpions alliance whan it would appear that they were not the instigators in this?

I would have thought the logical conclusion anybody would come to when faced with the following set of circumstances:-

Saints announce the Frankston Deal
MFC publcly announce they are going to build some sort of 'Summer Training Base' at Casey
MFC tells Sandriungham they will be 'breaking' their alliance with them.
Sandringham tells Saints that MFC are going to try an alliance with Scorpions.

is that the Saints should/would form an alliance with Sandringham.

Did you really expect that they would stay alligned with Scorpions once MFC announced they were coming to Casey?
It is one thing to share your facilitiles with an unaligned VFL Club (Dolphins) but it is a totally different scenario to have a competing AFL Club sharing faciliities with your own affiliated VFL Club.

Surely the Scorpions would have known that their alliance with the Saints was on truly shaky ground once the MFC made their decision and public announcement about Casey Fields? Unless you're suggesting that the Scorpions were unaware of what the City Of Casey were doing?

By all means have a go at the Club for apparently 'stuffing up' the negotiations, but to automatically lay the blame at their doorstep for this is taking it a bit far, IMHO

It’s not so much a matter of blaming St Kilda for shafting the alignment (which is the case), as an issue of prudent management by St Kilda (particularly given the emerging debacle at Frankston).

The AFL team is always the senior partner in the AFL/VFL alliances. It is most unusual that a VFL team will break an alliance, although it did happen with Port Melbourne giving the Kanagroos the heave-ho a few years ago. However Port has exceptional circumstances, with sufficient revenue to be able to do so, and good luck to them.

So the question is, why did St Kilda give Casey the flick. The announcement of the move to Frankston was a given, but your next points are:

• MFC announces they’re setting up a base at Casey Fields
• MFC tells Sandy they will be breaking their alignment
• Sandy tells Saints that MFC will be aligning with the Scorps.

You would think, though, that St Kilda might just question some of those basic “factsâ€

[casey scorp]

It's hotting up at Frankston Council, with the Mayor saying that a $3 million contribution from Council is still the limit:


From the Frankston Leader this week:

FRANKSTON Council will resist any move to increase its $3 million contribution to St Kilda Football Club's relocation.

This is Mayor Alistair Wardle's prediction which comes a week after the Saints revealed plans for administration and training facilities at Frankston Park had been costed at $5 million over budget.

Frankston's advantages and St Kilda's ability to pull off the project, originally touted at $10.25 million, stirred arguments among fans on talk-back radio and online after the Leader website broke news of the blow-out on June 19.

The club is also looking at alternate Frankston sites, such as Belvedere Park or Jubilee Park.

Cr Wardle said: "We are very keen to see a deal, already brokered, go ahead.

"There would be a lot of reluctance to put in anything extra."

Asked if council was pushed to save the project, Cr Wardle said: "I don't think we would put more money into it, perhaps consider some input into the redevelopment of the grandstand (destroyed in January).

"There might be a possibility of more money going into development only if it were at Frankston Park and if it were for general benefit, not one club's benefit."

Cr Wardle said he was "still confident" St Kilda would move to Frankston but "not as confident".

"They say they are still coming and we are taking them at face value and in good faith," he said. "The proposal of another venue being used is new to us and certainly would not be our preferred option, but we would not rule it out."

St Kilda chief executive officer Archie Fraser said the club was "still working through" the project costs.

Council chief executive officer George Modrich said he had not lost confidence in St Kilda and awaited a final proposal.

http://www.frankstonleader.com.au/artic ... _news.html

[Mr Magic]

I'm sorry CaseyScorp but I'm having some difficulty in understanding your points about Saints/MFC/Casy/Sandringham.

What am I missing?

MFC publicly announce that they are moving to Casey for a summer training base. Tha wasn't Sandringham telling the Saints - that was a public fanfare from MFC.

MFC tells Sandringham they are breaking their 'alliance' with them and moving their summer training base to Casey. That has nothing to do with the Saints.

Sandringham runs to the Saints and tells them that MFC has terminated their 'alliance' because they are moving to Casey for their summer training base.

Even if the Saints should have rung around to check this out (and I don't know that they didn't?), what would/should have been the prudent thing to do.

It was already public knowledge that MFC were moving to Casey. That fact alone , IMO, was enough to cause tremendous problems for the Saints and their 'alignment' with Scorpions.
That fact in iteslf, IMO, was enough to cause the Saints to look elsewhere for a VFL 'alignment'.

Take off your 'Casey hat' and have a clear look at this from the Saints perspective. Could you entertain the possibility that your 'affiliated VFL Club' was sharing facilities with an opposition AFL Club?
Of course not.
I cannot think of any valid reason why you (Saints) would allow MFC access to any 'inside knowledge' that would be gained by them sharing facilities with your 'affiliate' The Scorpions.

Again, IMO, the instant that MFC publicly announced their move to Casey was the deathknell of the Saints/Scorpions 'alignment'.

That MFC precipitated the availability of Sandringham for 'alignment' was serendipitous and quite probably the absolute best outcome for the Saints.

Yes, it would appear that the Scorpions are left like 'a shag on a rock' with no alternative but to make the best deal they can with MFC, but that is not the Saints responsibility.

The Saints have only 1 responsiblity and that is to the St Kilda Football Club.

Anybody who thinks they 'owe' anything (in terms of responsibility) to Casy Scorpions has seriously misunderstood the relationship of the 'allianace'.

The dog wags the tail and not vica-versa.

[GrumpyOne]

I hope that Saintly73's predictions are spot on, because at the moment it seems that we have short passed to the opposition straight in front of goal.

[spert]

Maybe write to Archie Fraser or the Presso and ask for an official update for members.

[evertonfc]

Maybe write to Archie Fraser or the Presso and ask for an official update for members.

"I swear it's St Kilda's only choice, put up your hands and raise your voice..."

[casey scorp]

I'm sorry CaseyScorp but I'm having some difficulty in understanding your points about Saints/MFC/Casy/Sandringham.

What am I missing?

MFC publicly announce that they are moving to Casey for a summer training base. Tha wasn't Sandringham telling the Saints - that was a public fanfare from MFC.

MFC tells Sandringham they are breaking their 'alliance' with them and moving their summer training base to Casey. That has nothing to do with the Saints.

Sandringham runs to the Saints and tells them that MFC has terminated their 'alliance' because they are moving to Casey for their summer training base.

Even if the Saints should have rung around to check this out (and I don't know that they didn't?), what would/should have been the prudent thing to do.

It was already public knowledge that MFC were moving to Casey. That fact alone , IMO, was enough to cause tremendous problems for the Saints and their 'alignment' with Scorpions.
That fact in iteslf, IMO, was enough to cause the Saints to look elsewhere for a VFL 'alignment'.

Take off your 'Casey hat' and have a clear look at this from the Saints perspective. Could you entertain the possibility that your 'affiliated VFL Club' was sharing facilities with an opposition AFL Club?
Of course not.
I cannot think of any valid reason why you (Saints) would allow MFC access to any 'inside knowledge' that would be gained by them sharing facilities with your 'affiliate' The Scorpions.

Again, IMO, the instant that MFC publicly announced their move to Casey was the deathknell of the Saints/Scorpions 'alignment'.

That MFC precipitated the availability of Sandringham for 'alignment' was serendipitous and quite probably the absolute best outcome for the Saints.

Yes, it would appear that the Scorpions are left like 'a shag on a rock' with no alternative but to make the best deal they can with MFC, but that is not the Saints responsibility.

The Saints have only 1 responsiblity and that is to the St Kilda Football Club.

Anybody who thinks they 'owe' anything (in terms of responsibility) to Casy Scorpions has seriously misunderstood the relationship of the 'allianace'.

The dog wags the tail and not vica-versa.

Firstly, the alignment between Sandy and St Kilda could leave the Scorps as a standalone VFL team. They’d struggle, but others already operate in this way. MFC, however, simply cannot operate without a VFL team to run its reserves players in. So in fact it isn’t the Scorps who must “make the best deal they can with MFCâ€

[casey scorp]

Cartoon! Give it a few weeks and no one will be laughing.

I think SAINTLY73 will be “supremelyâ€

[Mr Magic]

CaseyScorp,
Nothing you have posted about the StKFC/MFC/Casey/Sandringham leads me to believe that your perspective is not solely from the Casey side.

We are both looking at the same set of circumastances but from opposite perspectives.
From your Casey perspective nothing other than 100% benefit for Casey would be acceptable.
From my StKFC perspective whatever is best for StKFC comes first.

WHatever you think the benefits of having the Saints in Casey are, obviously the Saints didn't share your opinion.
They have decided, for whatever reasons, not to pursue what you feel they should.

I understand you are disappointed at the Saints decision not to come to Casey, but are you first and foremost a Saints fan or a Casey fan?

[RBnW]

Casey Scorps and Sainter 73
both of you guys have such an axe to grind, you really must get a life, move on and accept that the club is not coming to Casey ever again after this year and that the club is out of Moorabbin.
Sandy is our new VFL alignment for at least 5 years and I think every one knows its a good thing except both of you, move on
The club will build its base in Frankston and you know that will be done on budget in 2010 I hear that it can and will be done within the budget, more bad news for you two
And a deal of some sort will take place at Moorabbin that makes the council and the club happy Sainter 73 deep down you know that too, dont' you go on admit it, go on:roll:
I know this is not what you want, but its all coming together and you both know this too, it must be heart breaking for both of you that we are not far off having the whole Bayside area from Frankston through Sandy through to Telstra Dome all developed as Saints Land....
Without having to be at Casey or Moorabbin
The fact that the club has had the foresight to secure the Bayside corridor with one of the fastest growing and wealthy real estate and business areas in the country with the 3 locations as 3 seperate bases is something that many other clubs would be envious of, surely this is a good long term thing for the club, even you must agree with this

So why dont you crawl back into your respective bourgh's and come back out in the summer time when everything will be good, have a great sleep through winter and springtime.....

[casey scorp]

are you first and foremost a Saints fan or a Casey fan?

Saints for almost 50 years. It's easy to tell, because when there's a clash I go to the Saints matches. I'm passionate and go to almost every game whether they be in Melbourne or interstate.

However, I have become a little disillusioned in the off-field performance (like a few others it seems).

The decision to go to Frankston was obviously flawed from the outset, and it became apparent very soon after the announcement. I do have a concern about the basis of some of the decision making around that choice - for example I don't think where the players could go for a coffee is all that high a criteria when it comes to the longterm best interests of our club.

Melbourne FC will maybe grasp the opportunity that St Kilda let slip. If they work it well they will reap massive dividends.

As far as the Scorps go, I live in Casey and thought it was fantastic and our aligned team moved to Casey Fields. I've now also embraced the Scorps, and I won't be letting that go even though St Kilda has moved alignments to Sandy. I go to every Scorps game I can (off to Willy tomorrow). It is great to have a local team playing at that level - something that has now disappeared from the AFL landscape.

I think the Scorps have been poorly treated over the years through the alignment. My support of St Kilda doesn't translate into a blind allegiance, and a belief that they can do no wrong. Through the Thomas years there was an inherent disregard for the Scorps. It has changed dramatically and the alignment is working fantastically with Hutchy as coach and assistant coach at St Kilda. The players are working well together and it is going swimmingly. For another couple of months! Hopefully they can, together, do really well in the VFL finals this year.

From a non-football point of view, the decision to dump the Scorps was handled poorly by St Kilda - they weren't told and found out about it on the football grapevine. It's not only good manners and business practice to tell your partner what's happening, but it affects St Kilda's reputation as well. If you're not concerned about our club's reputation, because you think that the club should just do what's best for the club, I can assure you that for the long term sustainability and performance of any business reputation is paramount. Other businesses will deal with St Kilda in the knowledge of its performance and reputation, whether that be other clubs, the AFL or potential major sponsors.

Yes, I am a passionate Saints supporter. But one with open eyes.

[casey scorp]

Casey Scorps and Sainter 73
both of you guys have such an axe to grind, you really must get a life, move on and accept that the club is not coming to Casey ever again after this year and that the club is out of Moorabbin.

..............

The club will build its base in Frankston and you know that will be done on budget in 2010 I hear that it can and will be done within the budget, more bad news for you two

Haven't you worked out that SAINTLY73 wants St Kilda out of Moorabbin? He's cheering at the moment, and about to get "supreme" satisfaction.

And I've accepted long ago that St Kilda isn't coming to Casey Fields.

But the new Saints facility won't be built by 2010 within budget at Frankston. If you believe that you are off with the fairies.

[RBnW]

are you first and foremost a Saints fan or a Casey fan?

Scorp the part about Casey finding out through the footy grapevine is b***s**t and you know that.
Melbourne were talking to Casey openly about alignment and Sandy were told a deal would be done, do you think that it would have been better for the club to sit back and wait for Melbourne and Casey to announce something and then the club was left to pick up the pieces.....cleraly the club did the right thing and did an alignment with Sandy, within the club heartland and the Trevor Barker oval, which is where the club should have been 10 years ago.
The Casey option is not a good option for any club, if it was why hasn't one of the clubs snapped it up, they cant throw enough money at anyone to go and anyone who goes out their comes back with the same impression........mate you cant give it away, face the facts, even if Melbourne go they will be out of there as fast as they can as soon as their city base is finished....

[Mr Magic]

are you first and foremost a Saints fan or a Casey fan?

Saints for almost 50 years. It's easy to tell, because when there's a clash I go to the Saints matches. I'm passionate and go to almost every game whether they be in Melbourne or interstate.

However, I have become a little disillusioned in the off-field performance (like a few others it seems).

The decision to go to Frankston was obviously flawed from the outset, and it became apparent very soon after the announcement. I do have a concern about the basis of some of the decision making around that choice - for example I don't think where the players could go for a coffee is all that high a criteria when it comes to the longterm best interests of our club.

Melbourne FC will maybe grasp the opportunity that St Kilda let slip. If they work it well they will reap massive dividends.

As far as the Scorps go, I live in Casey and thought it was fantastic and our aligned team moved to Casey Fields. I've now also embraced the Scorps, and I won't be letting that go even though St Kilda has moved alignments to Sandy. I go to every Scorps game I can (off to Willy tomorrow). It is great to have a local team playing at that level - something that has now disappeared from the AFL landscape.

I think the Scorps have been poorly treated over the years through the alignment. My support of St Kilda doesn't translate into a blind allegiance, and a belief that they can do no wrong. Through the Thomas years there was an inherent disregard for the Scorps. It has changed dramatically and the alignment is working fantastically with Hutchy as coach and assistant coach at St Kilda. The players are working well together and it is going swimmingly. For another couple of months! Hopefully they can, together, do really well in the VFL finals this year.

From a non-football point of view, the decision to dump the Scorps was handled poorly by St Kilda - they weren't told and found out about it on the football grapevine. It's not only good manners and business practice to tell your partner what's happening, but it affects St Kilda's reputation as well. If you're not concerned about our club's reputation, because you think that the club should just do what's best for the club, I can assure you that for the long term sustainability and performance of any business reputation is paramount. Other businesses will deal with St Kilda in the knowledge of its performance and reputation, whether that be other clubs, the AFL or potential major sponsors.

Yes, I am a passionate Saints supporter. But one with open eyes.

Why does it always come down to an either/or?

Just because I don't share your opinion on this you have an 'open eye' and I don't?

No AFL Club acts in the way you have described as 'good manners and business practice'. Does anybody deal differently with Collingwood after the fiasco they perpetrated at Victoria Park on the Collingwood Council?
Of course not.
Business will do whatever they need to do to get the best deal for themselves. If you think that business in the main will disadvantage themselves in contract negotiations for teh sake of their 'business reputation' then you are seriously mistaken.
It's a wonderful notion to believe in but in reality it doesn't happen all too often.

And as for the MFC coming to Casey. If you think they are going to 'roll-over' and give the City of Casey whatever they want then you are in for a bitter diappointment. They, quite correctly, will do the best deal they can for the MFC.

It's pleasing to learn that you are a Saints man first but I must say your posts on this matter don't give that impression.

[bobmurray]

The original Casey deal with StKilda didn't include any land ownership offers
which meant StKilda didn't have an asset to borrow against which was one of the main reasons Casey was rejected.Casey knew their quest to get an AFL
club based at Casey Fields was doomed unless they included the land freehold sought by AFL clubs.This was subsequently included in the Melbourne offer which basically means the offers made to StKilda and then Melbourne
are poles apart and the latter offer should have been the one offered to StKilda.....

I seriously doubt any AFL club will be envious of StKildas proposed spread
of the various parts of it's operation........

[casey scorp]

I seriously doubt any AFL club will be envious of StKildas proposed spread
of the various parts of it's operation........

.... or St Kilda's current quandry about getting an elite training facility even planned, let alone built and occupied. Other AFL clubs are having a bit of a chuckle at our expense.

[casey scorp]

Just because I don't share your opinion on this you have an 'open eye' and I don't?

No AFL Club acts in the way you have described as 'good manners and business practice'. Does anybody deal differently with Collingwood after the fiasco they perpetrated at Victoria Park on the Collingwood Council?
Of course not.
Business will do whatever they need to do to get the best deal for themselves. If you think that business in the main will disadvantage themselves in contract negotiations for teh sake of their 'business reputation' then you are seriously mistaken.
It's a wonderful notion to believe in but in reality it doesn't happen all too often.

And as for the MFC coming to Casey. If you think they are going to 'roll-over' and give the City of Casey whatever they want then you are in for a bitter diappointment. They, quite correctly, will do the best deal they can for the MFC.

It's pleasing to learn that you are a Saints man first but I must say your posts on this matter don't give that impression.

My comment about the open eyes was not about the relocation issue – it was only a small part of a wider issue about practices at the club. There are quite a few posters who seem concerned about various aspects of club operations. If you’re one-eyed, there’s no problem. But if the one eye is closed, you’re in trouble.

As far as business reputation goes, I think you are wrong. Any major corporation is concerned about maintaining integrity and reputation. While there’s a matter of maximising $ today, the ability to maximise $ into the future is also critical. If you’ve blown your reputation, you will be compromised into the future. If you think business reputation isn’t important, just do a google search.

As far as MFC and the Casey Council is concerned, the Casey Council doesn’t seem to be breaking its neck to secure MFC – rather it is MFC that has been making all the noise about going to Casey Fields. I see in the local papers that the Council has committed some funds in the new budget to the project, but it’s small bikkies compared to what would have been on offer to St Kilda, and it reflects the fact that MFC’s fulltime presence is only temporary before heading back into the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium when it’s completed in 2010.

[casey scorp]

Scorp the part about Casey finding out through the footy grapevine is b***s**t and you know that.

I know for a fact that is exactly what happened.

If someone tells you something else, they're either spinning you a line, or they genuinely believe that it happened because someone was supposed to do it (but didn't). I think that St Kilda probably did mean to tell the Scorps but, in the excitement of getting everything together, it probably fell through the cracks. Not good enough by the club if so, but perhaps an explanation for it.

Melbourne were talking to Casey openly about alignment and Sandy were told a deal would be done, do you think that it would have been better for the club to sit back and wait for Melbourne and Casey to announce something and then the club was left to pick up the pieces.....cleraly the club did the right thing and did an alignment with Sandy, within the club heartland and the Trevor Barker oval, which is where the club should have been 10 years ago.
The Casey option is not a good option for any club, if it was why hasn't one of the clubs snapped it up, they cant throw enough money at anyone to go and anyone who goes out their comes back with the same impression........mate you cant give it away, face the facts, even if Melbourne go they will be out of there as fast as they can as soon as their city base is finished....

Earlier in the year MFC was talking to anyone who’d listen about moving to Casey, aligning with the Scorps etc. But it was talk.

Can’t you see that such talk in March was premature, given that it is now July and still nothing has been signed up?

As far as the Scorps were concerned, they didn’t want detailed discussions about alignments at that time that would prejudice the alignment with St Kilda. However, if MFC got to the stage of relocation to Casey Fields, it would have been a different story and the Scorps obviously would have had to get involved in discussions about alignment issues with MFC.

The announcement by St Kilda/Sandy has obviously changed that, and the Scorpions and MFC are talking regarding alignment issues. That discussion is separate to whether MFC moves to Casey Fields, because MFC needs a VFL team for its non-1sts players to play matches.

I’m happy to have a difference of opinion with you about whether Casey Fields is not a good option for an AFL club. The reality is that it will never be tested though, because there aren’t that many footloose clubs – Kangas, St Kilda and MFC were the three possibilities and:

• the Kangaroos are staying in North Melbourne
• MFC is going to the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
• St Kilda is going who knows where, but it won’t be Casey Fields.

[ausfatcat]

Didn't want to start a new tread but a Heraldsun article about Linton St


http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/ ... 62,00.html

ST Kilda Football Club claims a council is trying to bully it out of its traditional Moorabbin home before its move to Frankston next year.

The club has asked the Supreme Court to overturn a City of Kingston emergency order that it refurbish Linton St oval buildings.

The council claims they are a danger to public safety but the club claims the council is trying to bully it into leaving early. The order includes removing graffiti and painting squash court lines and the club says much of the work is the responsibility of the council.

St Kilda spokesman Matt Schmidt said the council should value the club's contribution to the area instead of pursuing a vendetta.

"It is incredibly disappointing that the council is employing bullying tactics . . . to force the club to move early," he said.

Kingston Council denied it was bullying the club, saying the order was made after a fire brigade report.

St Kilda's Frankston move follows the collapse of redevelopment talks with Kingston Council.

Frankston City says the move will generate $40 million a year in benefits to its area.

It's a fire hazard to have faded squash court lines??

[zebraman]

FACT...The Casey Scorpions were notified by Sandy that the alignment with St Kikda was happeneing.....that is not the "grapevine"....

FACT...Melbourne and Sandy had a number of meetings re extending the alignmnet...Melbourne advised Sandy to look for another club as they were looking to locate themselves at Casey...and by making a commitment to the area they needed to align with he Scorpions..

FACT..sandy did not "dump" Melbourne......Melbourne would not commit to an extension of the alignment...

FACT..Once Melbourne had advised Sandy that they were not going to continue the alignment Sandy approached St Kilda to gauge if they were interested in forming an alignment...

St Kilda obviously saw something in Sandy and agreed to a 5 year deal...

ASSUMPTION....I assume St Kilda would have kept the Casey Scorpions up to date with what was happening

I would have thought that once the rumblings from Melbourne were coming to light then the Casey Scorpions would/should have been doing their best to find out what was happening...Sandy were simply being pro-active...

Casey Scorp...I think you are obviously peed off that St Kilda have aligned with Sandy...St Kilda and Melbourne are both aiming to do what they consider best for their clubs and the VFL clubs are at the mercy of the AFL clubs in that regard...As far as I was concerned Sandy had a good alignment with Melbourne...Melbourne obviously thought otherwise...you obviously thought that St.Kilda and Casey had a good alignment as well...

Move on...I'm now looking forward to the alignment with St.Kilda and you could do a lot worse than look forward to a possible alignment with Melbourne..

Times and circumstances change...whether we like it or not

This years draft will be of even more interest to Sandy and Scorpion supporters as what happens there has a huge impact on the fortunes of both clubs

ASSUMPTION and GUESS....Melbourne and the Casey Scorpions will align...

If that doesn't happen.....then the dtaft will have no impact for the Scorpions as they will have to be stand alone...

Go Zebras..

[casey scorp]

FACT...The Casey Scorpions were notified by Sandy that the alignment with St Kikda was happeneing.....that is not the "grapevine"....

That may well be correct that Sandy told Casey what was going on - I don't know. But they are hardly in a position to "notify" - the relationship was between St Kilda and the Scorps. And the Saints didn't notify their aligned partner.

FACT..sandy did not "dump" Melbourne......Melbourne would not commit to an extension of the alignment...

I don't think I've said Sandy dumped MFC - I've said that St Kilda dumped the Scorps.

ASSUMPTION....I assume St Kilda would have kept the Casey Scorpions up to date with what was happening

Wrong assumption, and that is my major criticism (in relation to this issue - I've got a couple of others about relocation, but you mightn't have picked those up)

As far as I was concerned Sandy had a good alignment with Melbourne

Most productive alignment in recent years!

you obviously thought that St.Kilda and Casey had a good alignment as well...

Crap alignment until the new coaching regime. GT disregarded the value of the alignment. Now it's firing.

Move on...I'm now looking forward to the alignment with St.Kilda and you could do a lot worse than look forward to a possible alignment with Melbourne...

I agree - I hope it comes off between MFC and the Scorps.

ASSUMPTION and GUESS....Melbourne and the Casey Scorpions will align...

Pretty likely I would say, as the Scorps can stand alone but MFC can't.