Not saying I don't agree with you but, if the identities they are associating with are known criminal identities it will potentially damage the clubs 'brand'. I would assume that it would be a standard clause within the contract that the player must not knowingly damage the clubs (and AFL's) brand.

They do have a lot of fans across the country, not just in Melbourne. I think you'll find whenever they play interstate, there's always a higher crowd than average for the team they're playing against. Plus there's probably a large amount of smaller game memberships.

Either way, that's not hard evidence. It's worth noting that on their membership packages page, Pet Memberships aren't even listed as a package. They're listed under add-ons, alongside merchandise, etc. Hardly seems like something they'd count.

Eagle Murray Newman claims he was scared when he hit man

West Coast Eagles footballer Murray Newman claims he was scared and intimidated by a love rival in the moments before he punched him, breaking his jaw.

Mr Newman is on trial in the Perth District Court accused of causing grievous bodily harm to Brett Marris, then aged 20, in November last year.

Giving evidence to the jury on Tuesday, Mr Newman claimed that on the night of the fight, he did not deliberately seek out Mr Marris to exact revenge for sleeping with his girlfriend when they were on a break.

But he had "brushed shoulders" with Mr Marris as he left the Library nightclub in Northbridge.
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Supported by teammates including Nic Naitanui, Josh Kennedy and Sharrod Wellingham, Mr Newman said he had feared for his own safety from the larger Mr Marris, who was with a friend.

"I felt scared because they could turn against me," Mr Newman said.

According to his evidence, Mr Newman was grabbed around the throat by Mr Marris - which is when he hit out to defend himself.

Defence lawyer David Grace QC told the jury they should question the reliability of Mr Marris' evidence, while saying threatening Facebook messages the footballer had sent the victim before the alleged assault were "immature".

Weeks of threats from Mr Newman on Facebook included messages such as: "start digging a grave".

Mr Newman also called Mr Marris a "little girl" and asked why he did not want to meet "for a crack".

In another message, Mr Newman said: "I won't rest til you ey (sic) hurt."

In his closing address, prosecutor Michael Perrella said Mr Newman's claims of self-defence were a "complete red-herring", and questioned why he not mentioned being grabbed by the throat to the police.

"It is an attempt to portray himself as the victim to take your focus away from the fact that he was the aggressor," Mr Perrella said.

The trial continues.

What exactly is a "stragetic partnership reserve" should they rename that "club bias fund"?

Additional grants to clubs would all be categorised under the "payments to clubs" expense category, which hit $200 mill in 2012, well above basic payment of $10 mill per club.

The strategic partnership reserve could take any number of forms, including private-public partnerships with 3 levels of government to improve infrastructure.

Wouldn't that be covered by the "facilities development reserve"?

the AFL is one of the very, very few sporting bodies which publicly releases its annual report and and audited financial statements each year

That's because it's on eof the very, very few sporting bodies which operates under a salary cap and has all finances declared to it.

The NFL releases one as well. And it makes far more sense than the drivel spreadsheet you posted.

You had to go off-shore to find an equivalent?
Interesting.

This is an interesting article on what Australians were googling the past year:
http://www.news.com.au/technology/what-do-australians-search-for-on-google/story-e6frfrnr-1226786762352

Under 15, there's a comparison of the AFL vs NRL.

This is what it says:

15. BATTLE OF THE BRUTES
Which Australian footy code is officially the most popular? The AFL. By a mile. Before you go off your rocker, soccer fans, even "football" didn't come close. We checked.

Yeah, wouldn't want to put "soccer" and "Football" on that graph and show the inverse relationship to trends in AFL searches.

The FFA releases an annual report as well. I thought you'd already know this, being that you're arguing on a football forum.

so you've got links to the last 9 reports?

I was surprised that 248981 Collingwood fans could afford a computer. Then I realised they probably stole it.

They're paying $7.3m rent for how long exactly?