“I have been a member of the football club for over 50 years . I had to come to Melbourne on the train from the country so I would be at the ground and line up for game day tickets sometimes hours before the gates open. When it come to final series tickets I unfortunately missed getting tickets to the final series.I understand that with only 250 tickets available then members will miss out but when you get told that those who regularly sit up the front get multiple sets of tickets for family and friends I can only conclude that the ballot system is rigged so I join the with all the other members that call for the ballot to be supervised by others outside outside the cheer squad. Thanks for allowing me to have my say. Disappointed ORCS member.”

“Part 1 . I was elected onto the ORCS committee at the AGM last November. Thankyou to those who voted for me. I had thought that I could have a roll in relieving Troys game day commitments as he did seem to be relied on a lot. I had noticed last year that he appeared to be overworked and that’s no good for anybody. Especially with the games at Marvel and the transportation required to make all that happen. By me being on the committee would allow me to have some of the responsibility. That was the original plan. At the first meeting the chairman went to great lengths to point out that if there is any conversation outside the committee on anything that person would be severally dealt with. I wasn’t to sure about that. The next occasion we all met was at the last AFLW game at punt Road late in November. The day didn’t start well with conflicting views about who was poling the banner that day. There was a few personality clashes initially and that settled down and the game went on. The next day when arrangements were being made for the trip to Adelaide I couldn’t help but notice that half of the committee were taking no noticed of any of my arrangement questions. This is when I noticed a change in the room temperature towards Mandy and I. I was told that any complaints should be heard at the next committee meeting. OK that’s fine by me. Also at this point I’m starting to feel the pain that others had warned me about. Just as well I don’t give up easily. I will go through the meeting in part 2 of this drama. Thanks for listening Ken W.”

“After the game on Saturday and reflecting on discussions I had with a few different CS members that they showed doubt about sharing their experiences on our Your Say forum . I asked them why and the common reason was that over the years they have seen attempts to bring their concerns to the leadership of the CS and in two cases contacted the club and have seen no change or as little as acknowledgment of what their concern s are. They have questioned our ability to be heard. All three people choose now not to sit in the CS area and don’t talk favourably about their experiences. Over the past 3 months I have spoken to at least 12 different people who share similar experiences. All I can do at this stage is try and re assure them that our group will do our best over the coming months to high light the amount bad feeling that exists with in CS members who in most cases are not outspoken and wish to remain anonymous . I will at times bring their concerns to this Your Say column myself which hopefully assists them. Ken W”

“All committee members should have to be re-elected every year.”

“At the last  ORCS Annual General meeting held last November in the Moris Reolli room . The president at one stage prior to the election votes being read out on the night did say that the computer program allowed access for who ever is the administrator to view who is voting and who they are voting for during the voting period (2 weeks I think). Now I am almost certain that neither the club or an independent person/s is the administrator which means some one from the committee is responsible for managing it. This in my way of thinking allows the results to be managed by way of contacting members who haven’t voted and getting them to vote a certain way if there is an unwanted nominee. Now I’m not suggesting this has happened but I think moving forward this part of the election should be carried out independent from the cheer squad.”

“I don’t trust the elections. Who counts the votes? Can anyone see them before they are officially counted?”

“I remember back 10 years ago the Cheer Squad was a fun place to be. Banner night was fun to be at with a lot of different people there. We would go out for dinner after. There would be dinner dance functions during the year. The cheer squad seems to have moved away from that for some reason now and you get the feeling its just a job now for everyone. Maybe its because we have now seen the premierships and the good times have been had. We need new ideas to revitalize the feel. Does anyone else agree with me. Thanks”

“Good on you change is definitely needed, I have my grievances with the CS”

“I have always loved being part of the cheer squad to support the club and players and felt like one big family catching up every week watching the game and catching up on the latest goss but now seems to be a sad time loosing Ken and Mandy off the committee over nothing but crap , so please committee sit down with our fellow brothers and sisters over a coffee and scone and bring back our family please”