Trade Brock McLean?

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

No, you don't get it, Don24.

You are talking about trading Brock. Why? Presumably because you think the club could get a deal which would be in its favour.

Assuming that's what you think (as I can't possibly think of any other reason you would want to trade him), you are wrong.

Brock is a proven ball winner, he has leadership quality in spades, he loves the club, he tackles hard and often, he puts his head over the ball every time, he sticks up for his team mates on the field, he is an unselfish player and he's a fantastic clubman - basically he sets a bloody good example, which is important and I like to see week in week out. It's also especially important given the young list we are developing at the moment.

For the very reasons you've outlined in your initial post, we would never get a player of his value to the club in return. Never.

The best result would be to trade for some unproven kid and, through a sheer fluke of nature, get Brock jnr albeit with a but more pace. Not remotely worth the risk. In short, a stupid, stupid trade.

[Don24 103]

No, you don't get it, Don24.

You are talking about trading Brock. Why? Presumably because you think the club could get a deal which would be in its favour.

Assuming that's what you think (as I can't possibly think of any other reason you would want to trade him), you are wrong.

Brock is a proven ball winner, he has leadership quality in spades, he loves the club, he tackles hard and often, he puts his head over the ball every time, he sticks up for his team mates on the field, he is an unselfish player and he's a fantastic clubman - basically he sets a bloody good example, which is important and I like to see week in week out. It's also especially important given the young list we are developing at the moment.

For the very reasons you've outlined in your initial post, we would never get a player of his value to the club in return. Never.

The best result would be to trade for some unproven kid and, through a sheer fluke of nature, get Brock jnr albeit with a but more pace. Not remotely worth the risk. In short, a stupid, stupid trade.

haha you idiot, how can you say its a stupid trade when you dont know what you are trading for? That is just foolish.

Im not saying give him away for nothing, but its worth exploring, your probably right that we wont get what we want and that young kids are risky when we have a decent player already in brock. But to say the trade is stupid and not even worth considering is idiotic.

id say the only person that is un-tradeable would be Watts.

[Binmans PA 26,492]

Personally, I think what we'd get for him wouldn't warrant letting him go. He'll be a better player at MFC than anywhere else, and has shown tremendous loyalty. Unless it was a first rounder, there'd be no point in letting him go, so he stays.

McLean is one of those in and under players that all sides need. We almost have too many of them, as they sometimes lack leg speed and ours certainly do. BUT, put a star midfielder next to Brock, for example a Judd (our best bet is obviously the unproven Scully) and all of a sudden he becomes a wonderful asset. Brock still needs to work on his disposal and decision making, because he could still let the side down with those traits, even with great players around him. There's also a guy called Morton who could play in and out of the midfield too. We need the Brocks, just as we need the Judd's.

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

Once again, you don't seem to get it, Don.

Simply putting everyone up for trade militates against developing a good club culture. Club culture is very important to sustained success. Thankfully Dean Bailey appears to understand that.

Brock is a required player with a good attitude. He is a club leader. You don't flippantly put those blokes up for trades just to test the water ...

[pitmaster 3,100]

Before we castrate you?

I'm reaching for the gelding irons right now.

You're an idiot and should not be allowed to reproduce.

[Fat Tony 4,533]

I have a few points to make:

1) The draft is expected to be fairly thin this year.

2) Apart from the top few picks in the draft the success rate for first round picks is not very high.

3) All of our players are significantly undervalued by the rest of the competition due to our low ladder position.

4) All the other teams will be overvaluing early draft picks this year even more than usual because of the new teams coming in.

As such, I think the best strategy for us to take is to trade our second round pick for an up and coming player like a Brock McLean (or a Travis Varcoe).

The only players I would look to trade are those who are contracted for next year that we don't think will end up making it. The players I would have on this list are Newton and Meeson. I may also consider trading Bate for the right price.

[beelzebub 22,323]

quite an interesting thread apart from the easily dispensed verbals....

I confess I have always taken the view that the team is greater than the player and as such any player is dipsensable for the right purpose.

What is Brocky's greatest drawback... his speed at present. His leadership, his guile ina contest and normally his disposal arent a question. However at present he does get dacked a few times with his seeming lack of TOTAL fitness.

Ironically GC would/will have plenty of top 20 picks NEXT draft and so if you were to trade him it would be then. The problem ( if such ) is that one of a number of things could change this picture. 1) he resurges to former level and becomes invaluable 2) his form drops a bit further and resultant value in market decreases..or 3) Is named captain for next year and all but becomes untouchable

He isnt the quintisential midfielder a la Judd Kerr Cousins ( and a dozen more ) but he is a rock out there. If given a suitable protege in say Scully I think his mentoring on field would be more than worth his keeping.

Still ..for the right deal and result going forward then he like anyone ought to keep their position at Melbourne purely on that merit

[MadAsHell 4,089]

I have a few points to make:

1) The draft is expected to be fairly thin this year.

2) Apart from the top few picks in the draft the success rate for first round picks is not very high.

3) All of our players are significantly undervalued by the rest of the competition due to our low ladder position.

4) All the other teams will be overvaluing early draft picks this year even more than usual because of the new teams coming in.

As such, I think the best strategy for us to take is to trade our second round pick for an up and coming player like a Brock McLean (or a Travis Varcoe).

The only players I would look to trade are those who are contracted for next year that we don't think will end up making it. The players I would have on this list are Newton and Meeson. I may also consider trading Bate for the right price.

I agree with a lot of your points, however think your being a little harsh on Meesen. While at the start of this year I didn't rate him at all I thought he showed a bit in the 4 games he played and may just be a late developer. Also I doubt we'd get much for him seeing as he's going to miss the rest of the year injured. It will be interesting to see how Melbourne play this coming draft, whether they only use 3 or 4 picks or they continue with their clean out. Like you I don't think this years draft is going to be overly strong and suspect Melbourne may only use 4 picks at most. And that includes any potential priority pick.

[MadAsHell 4,089]

"Trade McLean for what" is the question.

If the trade was to, say, another club for pick #13, I'd say no. He's worth more to us than just a pick in terms of leadership and endeavour. However, if the trade was, say, to another club for #13 which we could then on-trade with #3 to Fremantle for Pavlich, I might consider it more closely.

Why would we give up McLean and pick 3 for someone who has 4 years left tops???? Doesn't make any sense to me, it's not like we're pushing to win a grand final next year!

[MadAsHell 4,089]

Yes he is a great clubman, with a great work ethic. Yes, he is good in the clinches and wins the contested ball but...

1. Far too often he butchers his kicks (and often his handballs as well). Good, consistent disposal is becoming more and more the most valuable skill in football, and too often Brock totally duffs his chances. People moan and whine about forwards (Newton) missing gimme shots at goal and then the same people turn a blind eye when midfielders miss targets by 10 metres. In the last two weeks in particular, Brock has cost us shots at goal because of poor disposal. It is not something that has always been evident in his game (or perhaps his work ethic covered it up?) but it seems to be happening far to often at the moment. Supporters from other clubs are noticing it as much as I am.

2. His leg speed is becoming a real worry. He really labours and almost looks in pain when chasing down the loose ball. I really hope it is an injury and he can rectify it, but it is a real concern.

If both of these things can be sorted out, and return to the level they were 2-3 years ago then he will be a vital piece in what will be a good time for the MFC. If however he continues to struggle with his disposal and can't improve his leg sped, then he may miss the boat.

Trade him? No. His value won't be there if he doesn't regain his mojo. He will be too valuable to us to trade if he does.

Rest him to get his body right, if indeed it is an injury issue? Part of me says yes, because I hate seeing him struggle so much, but for now I think we need him out there for his experience. I wouldn't be surprised to see him finish the season early for surgery though.

I say we give him his rest once we get our 4th win. Make sure he's good to go for the start of next year and give some of our young ones a go. Makes perfect sense if you ask me.

[Don24 103]

Once again, you don't seem to get it, Don.

Simply putting everyone up for trade militates against developing a good club culture. Club culture is very important to sustained success. Thankfully Dean Bailey appears to understand that.

Brock is a required player with a good attitude. He is a club leader. You don't flippantly put those blokes up for trades just to test the water ...

haha how does exploring trade options militate against developing a good club culture? The majority of trade discussions happen without any of the players knowing about it including those who are being discussed. Brock or any other player wouldnt know about what trades are being discussed unless one actually goes ahead so that is a silly point....

[mauriesy 6,859]

Why would we give up McLean and pick 3 for someone who has 4 years left tops???? Doesn't make any sense to me, it's not like we're pushing to win a grand final next year!

The one thing Pavlich would bring would be an attitude to the ball that was hard, and he'd supply us with an instant power forward who could kick goals, or be a tall influence on any part of the ground. He'd teach our young forwards how to play. That might be more valuable than a somewhat plodding inside mid, no matter how loyal, tough and dedicated.

However, it's short term and I hope you noticed that my operative word was might. In reality I doubt I'd pay such a high price, even for Pavlich.

[FlowerPower 3]

Before you all castrate me, we need to think logically here.

For me, Brock is too slow and is too often getting caught and slowing us down in the midfield. I know injuries are not helping but he is still too slow. A premiership midfield can not carry too many of these players and we already have Jones and Moloney that play a similar role. Im not saying he is not good but he would be a valuable asset on the trading block, especially with Gold Coast coming in looking for some hard bodied midfielders to support their young list. A trade to GC could yield us a very high pick, id imagine getting a top 10 at the least for him. Which we could use to get some more class into the midfield.

Its just a though but hard decisions need to be made to get the right midfield mix and Jones Moloney and Brock are too similar. We need more class. Finishers.

Thoughts?

Dear Don, like me you have made few posts but have obviously been around for some time by the date of membership, and like me have read through many a thread, stating that this player is no good and that player is no good and then all of a sudden out of seemingly nowhere, they become the player we needed while we believed they didnt have it in them.

I do not wish to castrate you or be critical, but say this, it is now my belief (because i have made the wrong call on many players myself, and wondered why i could be so wrong) that if a player has showed plenty in the past, but now seems to be a dud the underlying factor seems to be a major injury within the last 18 months and or a limited preseason. I believe Brock is one such player that falls into this category.

Many, myself included, may have thought at the start of the year that Davey's time was up and was no good anymore, when in reality unbeknown to most of us he had many many niggling injuries, and i'm sure there are many more players that i dont know of, or can't think of at the moment in the same situation

I guess my point is it is difficult for each of us, unless we are close to the goings on within the club to make calls as to whether it is time for a player to move on. You may well be right, but i think there are other circumstances for Brock's lack of speed/disposal form and i for one would be very sad to see a young man move on who out of his own pocket put a substantial amount of money to saving the club, and appears to bleed red and blue. If Brock can consistently have uninterrupted preseason's over the next 2 to 3 years, it is my belief he will go to be the best captain of the Dee's since Ronald Dale.

[beelzebub 22,323]

food for thought....

do we want Brocky to hit his straps this year .... or next ??

[Zarate Kid 20 0]

Why not try and trade Green again too?

Yeeehaaaa, first post, and what a post!!!!

[DemonDan... 77]

Again I say he would not make those two sides midfields but everyone is allowed their opinion on the subject and that is fine, and will look tonight but remember just because you sound like a leader it does not make you one!!

sound like more of a leader to you now 3165? does so even MORE for me after seeing that..

[DemonDan... 77]

Read what you have copped, "This is NOT a thread about Brock being too slow to be valuable.." too slow TO BE VALUABLE. I said he is slow which is a negative but he is still a very valuable player because of his strengths in other areas. So in essence he is not too slow to be valuable it, it just takes away from his value some what. The point was can we use him to get someone more valuable to that helps out in areas we are lacking in much more than the areas brock excels in.

And thank you for confirming the stupidity of many posters on this site...

you're the tool mate, straight over your head yeah!

look at what YOU wrote thru the whole thread- BROCK IS TOO SLOW, TOO OFTEN GETTING CAUGHT AND SLOWS DOWN OUR MIDFIELD.. then in the next line say, HES STILL A VALUABLE PLAYER/VALUABLE ON THE MARKET??

You're all over the place like dogs spew, seriously, what is it.. does he destroy our midfield or add value?? I don't think you even know.

You start a pathetic thread about dumping our next potential captain, then as i highlighted in bold, continue to bag out a majority of supporters here..

Own up!.. or keep digging, soon we won't even be able to hear you..

Stay fit Brocky, your our next captain champ!!

[Gorgoroth 12,352]

You're all over the place like dogs spew,

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Gold!!!!!

[demon3165 2,083]

sound like more of a leader to you now 3165? does so even MORE for me after seeing that..

Spoke well I give you that, but I still don't think that he would make a good captain but as I have said before we all have a an opinion neither right or wrong.

[DemonDan... 77]

Spoke well I give you that, but I still don't think that he would make a good captain but as I have said before we all have a an opinion neither right or wrong.

sounds fair to me!

try telling that to some people on this site