Application variable initialised in Controller constructor issue
===

Using ASP.NET MVC3.

What I'm trying to do is initialize a Controller field/property with an Application state variable.

I.e. in my Application_Start() method I have

    Application["stats"] = new Stats(); //this is fine

Accessing this via a Controller method, e.g.

    public ActionResult Index()
    {
      return View(HttpContext.Application["stats"]); //this is also fine
    }

works fine too.

    //blows up with a 'Object reference not set to an object' error.
    private Stats stats;
    public HomeController()
    {
        stats= (Stats)(HttpContext.Application["stats"]);
    }

Anyone able to explain what I'm failing to understand + how to go about fixing the problem ? If there's a better way, let me know (and just in case you're wondering, I'm not trying to load up application configuration or anything; just to keep live stats on the state of the website)

Thanks in advance

-Marcin
