Melbourne sign Frawley, Garland, Jones, Petterd, Bate and Newton.

As the Demons launch a vigorous financial fightback in the boardroom, the work has been just as feverish inside the fence as the club secures the young stars it deems critical to its resurgence.

James Frawley, 19, Colin Garland, Nathan Jones and Ricky Petterd, all 20, and Matthew Bate and Michael Newton, both 21, all inked two-year deals.

Melbourne coach Dean Bailey said the six players formed the nucleus of Melbourne's future.

"We've got a really good group of players around that age that we think are going to be the future of the club, and given some experience and opportunity they've all shown pieces of play that suggest there's a really good future," Bailey said.

I thought Juice might only get one year, but the coaching staff are showing a lot of faith in him. I'm glad they've done. The calls around here for him to be delisted were ridiculous. Let's hope he can repay that faith Bails is showing in him. He has the ability to do it.

Great news on the other 5 signings too.

Wow. That's a surprise. No shock about the other 5, but Juice? Perhaps it's just that we aren't swimming in quality KP forwards... And delisting him BEFORE he got the chance to rack up 30-50 games may have been perceived as a bit of a waste.

I thought Juice might only get one year, but the coaching staff are showing a lot of faith in him. I'm glad they've done. The calls around here for him to be delisted were ridiculous. Let's hope he can repay that faith Bails is showing in him. He has the ability to do it.

Great news on the other 5 signings too.

Yea I was of the same thought, he would have got one more year, but it is good to see they have faith in him to go for the 2 years. I love the coaching staff's confidence that they can squeeze the Juice!

Will be interesting to see the next few days then around White.

Controversial re-signing for Juice. Should've been given 1 year under the circumstances. And he's been re-signed on the weekend he gets dropped. hmm

Bate - happy

Garland - great

Jones - fantastic

Petterd - excellent (make sure GC don't get their grubby hands on him)

Frawley- the club obviously sees something in him that I don't.

Petterd - excellent (make sure GC don't get their grubby hands on him)

GC17 enters the AFL the year after his contract expires. If he kicks on as many of us think he will, Petterd will be a prime target for the new club. Let's hope we look after him and he appreciates us for it all.

GC17 enters the AFL the year after his contract expires. If he kicks on as many of us think he will, Petterd will be a prime target for the new club. Let's hope we look after him and he appreciates us for it all.

I'm sure if we show clear signs of building a strong team that will be a strong enough incentive to stay. If things don't go as planned though. you couldn't blame him for trading in Melb for 20 degree June and Julys.

Perhaps with sautner coming to the end of his era it is a good idea to resign juice for a couple!

I'm a bit disappointed. 4 years in the system and hasn't made an impact. Doesn't do any of the team things.

I'm a bit disappointed. 4 years in the system and hasn't made an impact. Doesn't do any of the team things.

That's what I don't like. We've had plenty of duds with next to 0 ability over the years, who made honest footballers through sheer effort and playing the team game. Newton doesn't appear to apply himself more than once a game, and his talent is only modest given that he is absolutely carp beneath his knees. A lucky, lucky boy, who needs to improve his attitude and his football immensely to reward this faith.

That's what I don't like. We've had plenty of duds with next to 0 ability over the years, who made honest footballers through sheer effort and playing the team game. Newton doesn't appear to apply himself more than once a game, and his talent is only modest given that he is absolutely carp beneath his knees. A lucky, lucky boy, who needs to improve his attitude and his football immensely to reward this faith.

Anyone know the status of the two Johnsons?

Anyone know the status of the two Johnsons?

According to Demonology (robbo24) they are both contracted beyond the end of the season. Well, they re-signed post-2007, so presumably they are contracted for another year each.

No signing of Sylvia yet, hmmmm........

No signing of Sylvia yet, hmmmm........

Thats because they are trying to determine how much he owes us per year

:lol:

Why burden ourselves with another unnecessary contract? How often do we see Melbourne unable to delist or suitably trade players because of the length of their contract? I'm assuming Melbourne re-signed Newton for the minimum wage and a packet of chips and felt this was a good deal for a full-forward with potential. His efforts have got to improve 1000% if he's to repay the faith of management though.

Happy with the rest of the signings though.

I know this sounds far fetched, but could Newton still be traded. Maybe they know a team who is looking at him in the PSD, so we could get an early pick for him.

No signing of Sylvia yet, hmmmm........

But the coach admitted some hard decisions on players’ futures will need to be made soon with the remaining five matches crucial.

“There are players who have a clear understanding that in this next period of games they still need to play very, very well and we need to see more improvement,” he said.

“We haven’t really discussed it to any great length at the moment, I think we’ll probably start to discuss those sorts of things next week, and to be fair to those players on our list we need to ensure that the direction we take we let them know as soon as we can.

“We’ll be doing that before the season is finished, when that is will be determined by myself, but I’m certainly not going to tell you when that might be. We need to be fair to those guys so they can actually get on and prepare for their life after football or life with us again next year.”

This quote is from an interview on afl.com.au

No signing of Sylvia yet, hmmmm........

Is he out of contract this year?

I know this sounds far fetched, but could Newton still be traded. Maybe they know a team who is looking at him in the PSD, so we could get an early pick for him.

Think there is some type of 'Heffernan' rule that prohibits trading players within an amount of time after they have signed a contract.

Think there is some type of 'Heffernan' rule that prohibits trading players within an amount of time after they have signed a contract.

Players cannot be traded without their approval within the first year of a contract.

Players cannot be traded without their approval within the first year of a contract.

Which means that if the club works out a trade deal involving such a player and he agreed to it, then it still could be done. Handy to know that!

Great news...............really excited about the future of this team!

GC17 enters the AFL the year after his contract expires. If he kicks on as many of us think he will, Petterd will be a prime target for the new club. Let's hope we look after him and he appreciates us for it all.

Given GC17 will be given several PSD priority picks in the coming years i would have gone out on a limb and signed him for 3.

I would be looking to extend his contract by a year some time next year.

I think this kid has real talent.

Given GC17 will be given several PSD priority picks in the coming years i would have gone out on a limb and signed him for 3.

I would be looking to extend his contract by a year some time next year.

I think this kid has real talent.

Yes, I agree about the talent. BUT, he had that awful injury last year, and only 1 game in the 1's this year.

Club has to be sensible. Bit of a dilemma really.

I momentarily felt sick when I read that Newton had been signed for two years. Our lack of young KP forwards saved his sorry arse.

i thought they couldnt be traded at all in the first year of their contract? because they have to agree to it any time you try and trade them...(thus ferguson said no).

i can't understand why everyone hates juice. he is a young key forward who kicks a few goals and needs more time to develop. we are giving him more time. he has played 14 games. give him a chance.