Correct me if im wrong here!

But doesnt every team have to be over a certain number in the percentage area each year?

Wouldnt having Robbo, Whelan and Wheatley leave a big whole in the total percentage of the salery cap? meaning we have a lot of dosh we NEED to spend.

Sure we have a developing list but many have not done enough to warrant big contract extensions YET meaning our salary cap expense would be very similar for a year or two needing a big payed player to fill the void?

If there was other big name players that probably fill the void in more needed positions, im sure we would be after them more but it seems Lake might be the only one worth that sort of money to add to the list.

Because he is the only one, maybe we have to get him to stay out of trouble for having an under paid salary cap?

Maybe a 2 year contract? to fill the void till our players develop into the bigger contracts they hopefully deserve?

I could be FULLY wrong here so please dont flame

If that was correct, it would be a good move by the club and someones trade proposal of Warnock and pick 18 or 34 to Carlton for pick 11 would be a desired move which i think we could pull off with yep the brothers and the fact Carlton are screaming for someone like him in their backline but could not possible pay Brian Lake , Lake money?

If so, i think this would be great with basically a swap of Warnock for Lake but we also have another high draft pick to develop!

Makes sense to me and actually a GREAT idea for the club....

I wouldnt be trading Warnock unless he request to go. I rate him very highly. Rivers on the other hand is more injury prone and more of a loose man or third tall. I would trade him for a top 10 pick. Morton to play loose man or half back.

I'm not sure what to make of this. On one hand I can see the logic behind us using the PSD as leverage and maybe trading another backman for picks, but on the other hand Lakes age is a bit of a worry. On the other, other hand the news came from Caro and that could mean that it is something or nothing. Hmmm. If nothing else things will be interesting for the MFC between now and the end of trade week.

Correct me if im wrong here!

But doesnt every team have to be over a certain number in the percentage area each year?

Wouldnt having Robbo, Whelan and Wheatley leave a big whole in the total percentage of the salery cap? meaning we have a lot of dosh we NEED to spend.

We could - and are, according to CC - just front-loading contracts (ie. paying more in earlier years to some players) to get around this.

would be awesome, but i dont see it happening.

nothing wrong with his age imo, key defenders can generally play longer than most positions. look how good scarlett is at 30. presti has also had a great year at 31. also his sick ability to read the ball/play wont go away. anyway isn't he only turning 28 in feb? means he'll be 30 in 2012 season, which seems ok to me. i just dont see him deserting the dogs though.

MFC won't get Lake in the psd.

it will just drive his price up for the Bulldogs.

I can not believe there is people saying we don't want or need him considering we wont have to give anything away to get him. He is still only 27 and only 16 months older than Davey.

He is in the top 2 full backs in the league. Youth is well and good but we are not giving any of our young players away and competition for spots is an excellent motivator.

Adelaide have many top line players years older than Lake and still develop youth and are still in the finals mix.

If we had the choice between an AA forward an AA backman then sure go for the forward. But the choice of a probable AA backman an unproven over looked 18 year old. Some people still want the unproven 18 year old?

Thinking about this logically this could well be a ploy by Lake's management.

Bulldogs won't trade with Lake and have stated that if he goes he can take his chances in the PSD.

Lake says fine then I will deal with the club with pick 1.

That effectively takes that threat out of the equation and puts the onus back on the doggies.

I doubt we would look at Lake seriously, for the same reasons we haven't been dealing with other players of his vintage.

We need to direct the cheque book to a gun fwd or mid.

Not that we'd get Lake anyway...Until we get off the bottom, why would players want to come to Melbourne?

The Age reports that we're one of 3 clubs chasing the speedy Brett Peake from Freo. He'd be a handy recruit if we could trade no more than a 3rd rounder for him, or even via the PSD.

Its not a matter of directing the cheque book. As shown with R Warnock we are not going to enter a bidding war to pay over the odds for a unproven footballer and throw out the contractual relativities of othe MFC players.

Ladder position is only one issue detracting from MFC attracting top players. Mind you I cant think of one top player who has publicly rejected MFC. Dont give me Judd because he was always going to Carlton. Warnock chased the dollar and we werent going to match. And Prismall is hardly giving me regrets at going elsewhere.

Given we are likely to go 2 mids with picks 1 and 2, i dont thikn they will chase a mid.

You wonder about Press articles on player movements. I think most are plants by player/managers to create interest where there is none. There has been enough said on Peake. Pass

If we had the choice between an AA forward an AA backman then sure go for the forward. But the choice of a probable AA backman an unproven over looked 18 year old. Some people still want the unproven 18 year old?

Which people are they? Your choices are not the one's realistically given by others but rather self serving.

Must admit I just happened to catch that 5 mins of FC and was somewhat bemused. Much about this doesnt make any sense.

Melbourne isnt looking to get older players.. ..wheres the upside in 2-3 years , opening our window and hes back out of the door , having cost megabucks ( probably ) and we're short again in defence...Not real win there.

Lake coming into defence would release garland forward.. thats about the only bit that holds water.

I thought no team could make such offers at this time. Yes I know obviously in the Judd deal Carlton must have.. also contravening what Ithought was an AFL protocol.

I too think Carro bought a lemon here.

Great player but i'd be saving up the cap space and throwing it at Roughead when he comes out of contract next year.

Re Peake: I read that article and it seemed to me that CC did no more than not rule out going after him.

It looked as though CC was the only football department manager the writer had been able to get on to - I don't read anything into it.

Even though we are already developing a gun defence, i could see this working out. I say pick him up in the PSD for 1 year, and then trade him off next year for the highest bidder. We solve our salary cap issue for next year, and could potentially pick up another young gun.

Edited September 7, 200916 yr by chief demon

More than happy to have him, he'd be straight into our best 2-3 players, surely we could use that. In 3 years when we seriously challenge he may ne nearing the end but possibly push on ala Crawford for the big one, or Harvey who missed it.

Big bonus that he can swing forward also, would prefer him than a Miller teaching the young boys how to read the pplay, take a contested mark and kick for goal.

Very long shot but have a crack Demons.

Even though we are already developing a gun defence, i could see this working out. I say pick him up in the PSD for 1 year, and then trade him off next year for the highest bidder. We solve our salary cap issue for next year, and could potentially pick up another young gun.

Yeah, that would really work. We'd get nothing at the end of next year, just like we expect the Bulldogs to get nothing now. You don't sign up near-AA full backs for a year. Two or three years would be the minimum needed.

I wouldn't be averse to taking Lake, but only in the PSD. It would give us an opportunity to consolidate the defence and try players like Garland (or Warnock?) forward.

However, the chances are realistically about 5-10%. When the finals are over he'll probably re-sign with the Bulldogs for another two years, and all this hopeful scuttlebutt will go the way of most other web forum trade talk.

a reality is we ( MFC ) will be somehow associated with more than half of any rumours if for no other reason than we hold the trump card..PSD1..

The first pick in the Pre Season has its advantages.......and its disadvantages !! forutnately rumours are just that invariably.

I don't think Melbourne are confident of getting him. More so, they are giving him this massive contract as to push up his price at the Dogs, ensuring they pay more than they wanted, to keep him. It all goes back to the Mission Foods sponsorship.

To totally screw over a club like the Bulldogs, does not sit well with me.

Hello??Are you kidding????

Have you forgotten how they stiffed us on Mission Foods sponsorship? Came over the top of a $2m a year deal and did the deal for $1.5m

IF we can shaft them its great in my book.

Lets see..how many times has Bailey and co reiterated that that their focus is on youth and development. ?? Have we not just let go a handful of older and nearly older types ?? Where is there any logic to this Lake rumour. He , if its all about money will need to look at a club cashed up with a higher salary cap ...a-la Sydney..Maybe even the Lions.... Melbourne.....doesnt compute !! a 27 year old ( 28 by next seasons start ) backman probably looking to cash out his last big contract. I dont really see what the real upside would be for us.

Yes..now there's a sensible club objective..."lets just screw over other clubs " ffs..

I think the key thing here is that there is nothing about it in the papers and they would be all over it if there was any semblance of truth in it...

Then again, it could be an indication that it actually is likely to happen if it isn't being floated by the media

Yeah, that would really work. We'd get nothing at the end of next year, just like we expect the Bulldogs to get nothing now. You don't sign up near-AA full backs for a year. Two or three years would be the minimum needed.

I wouldn't be averse to taking Lake, but only in the PSD. It would give us an opportunity to consolidate the defence and try players like Garland (or Warnock?) forward.

However, the chances are realistically about 5-10%. When the finals are over he'll probably re-sign with the Bulldogs for another two years, and all this hopeful scuttlebutt will go the way of most other web forum trade talk.

If he is available, then why not sign him for the 2 years. After 1 year at the club, surely there will still be some clubs looking for an AA KPD. And if so, trade him off for as much as we can get.

Im not sure why..as generally I rate Carro..but she has a bee in her bonnet about the Dees at times. Im sure that Melbourne at the moment arent saying NO to anything. They will probably just sit back at times and see what floats their ( our ) way. We're in a box seat.

It does however reinforce that we are/will trade for the right results. Doubt very much lake is part of it though.

I can't believe some of the crap coming out of guys on this forum... you don't get the chance to add a top ten player in the AFL to your list very often. Alot of people on here are calling to draft the best available but because our defence is okay (its going good but nothing like Geelongs) we say we shouldn't take him in PSD. We wouldn't have to give up any picks and could still target a foward or midfielder in the trade period.

(for mousey) The club has to pay a minimum of 92.5% of the salary cap. which for 2009 is 7.11. The max is 7,693,750. MFC has paid 92.5 the last couple of years and like you stated we will have three senior players retire this year. If the Bulldogs are offering 450K and stated take it or leave it why wouldn't the MFC ask how much he wants... If he wanted 700K (which I think he would be worth) we have the extra in the cap from the retired players and only paying 92.5%. We would front load his contract over three years and tell him if he went into the PSD with that contract we would agree... It would now be up to the Bulldogs, they could raise his contract or let him go or trade him... This is what being ruthless with the PSD1 is all about and we would be getting a gun player.

The football club has stated (I think it was in the Herald sun article) that the club has the cash to get a big name... this is nothing like Warnock who hasn't proved a thing but an AA player (how many has the MFC had in the past decade). I think his age is a disadvantage but not enough to stop you taking someone like that for free when all be have to give is cash (we will pay market value, the Bulldogs can't afford that) and we have that.

For those that think the age is a major problem he is only 2 years older than warnock and played 110 more games....

Keep Picks one and two. No trading of prospects for a 28 year old.

If Lake is the best OOC player in December then of course we take him.

If he is available, then why not sign him for the 2 years. After 1 year at the club, surely there will still be some clubs looking for an AA KPD. And if so, trade him off for as much as we can get.

You don't sign someone for two years, then just 'trade them off' after one. Especially a player as good as Lake, who could have you over a barrel.

Do you think player contracting and management is a meat market, or are there any ethics involved?