Brock McLean has left the building

[Great Sage 101]

Ox just stated on SEN that Davey is very close to signing a 3 year deal with the Dee's. He also added that Melbourne would be very very happy with pick 11 for Brock.

[The Backyard Charizard 1,202]

I as well come back after a little sojourn and..whoa there buddy...are we on the right stage coach here..lol

Well.. its certainly interesting isnt it. Hannibal & Co.. I love this time too ..lol..well if youre not in finals that is.

SO many posters ...so much emotion...so very littel reality or common sense. There is some and I wont embarrass you by naming..you know who you are

Firstly. Thanks Brock for your time at Melbourne... you now join an illustious lot who have defected from Melbourne to Carlton.. and only one do I forgive.. all hail Barrass Still good luck in your endeavors and thanks for the donation.. no really..thanks !!

Dont really care why he's going I simply look at the positives, Still if he left for money...good faustian luck with that. If he left for a run in a possible grand final.. again good luck with that... but we'll win one before that lot will If he left because he didnt really like the way Bailey runs things....then the sooki-la-la queue is >>>>>> way !! :D

Im over it already. Dissapointed in many ways too but more in that he never really quite emulated his better games for nearly long enough.I too thought he would amout to more...but he hassnt. Such is life and on we move.

To garner pick 11 is really pretty good all things considered. As others allude we can now have our cake and eat it too and probably spring for a few frothies while we're at it

Its about the CLUB...about the game...and then the player.

Seems at long last this club is getting its act together and proceeding in that manner.

Well done to all involved at the MFC.. Go Dees

Finally someone has injected some common sense into this thread....

I have moved house over the last week and have just had my broadband re-connected.... First thing I do (after checking emails) is straight onto DL....

Holy $hit Batman!!! I had no idea what had been happening over the last couple of days....

At first I was shocked.... Then I was angry.... Then after a few frothies and a good think, I am actually impressed with the way the club is heading..... Lack of emotion is a serious part of running a successfull business.... This would NEVER have happened in the ND dynasty!

Don't bag DB until he has another season under his belt.... The club is making the tough decisions now.... Something it hasn't done for decades!

Go Dees!

[Carlos Danger 380]

I usually take my time getting out of bed but when I saw my phone this morning with a text saying Brocky is gone and pick #11 is in, well, I think it's the fastest I've ever gotten out of bed.

Disappointing news initially but you have to see the forest from the trees. If he no longer wants to be a Demon, then following Chris Johnson on the path to nowhere is the perfect place for him. Carlton have a great midfield and one full-forward but the rest of the team is well below average - they will never amount to a premiership, definitely not in Brock's time. Pick 11 is great compensation, I am confident we will get much more out of #11 than Carlton will get out of McLean. And with the Scully/Trengove connection coming on board for 2010 and beyond, even the biggest Brock McLean supporters will find it easy to move on. I know I already have.

[sylvinator 96]

A MUST READ!

Now that I have had time to digest the news, I have come to this conclusion... I am reasonably content (though certainly not happy) with this trade.

Why, you ask?

Because I believe the melbourne hierarchy have in their mind the kind of team they want to mould so that we have all areas covered when we finnally make our push. We don't want to end up like Carlton, where our midfield is strong, and our forward/back line [censored] weak. They are constatnly looking to the future for who will make the best compilation of players for our push on the top 4.

Look at our midfield in 3 years--- Scully, Trengove, Grimes, Morton, Davey, Moloney, Jones, Strauss, Blease (Bruce/ Green).

That's a good mix of inside and outside players, class and toughness AND pace.

Having Jones, Moloney and Mclean all in the same midfield has proven to be slow and ineffective. You don't need 3 of the same kind.

The fact is, that looking at that future midfield, Mclean would not be a core player. In fact, he'd probably be the 6th or 7th midfield rotation. Losing him is NOT like losing a core future player like Grimes, Morton, Garland, Frawley or Sylvia.

Pick 11 is also pretty good. There will be a quality tall prospect still available by then- Tahlia, Carlisle, Panos, Vardy, Fitzgerald. We can choose the one we rate hgihest and develop another key forward.

If we use pick 11 well, then this trade will be a DEFINITE victory for MFC.

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

The Bad:

-Lost an injury prone player, whose role in the side is well contested, currently with poor speed and skills, however it is unknown if injury is the reason for that. Is excellent at his best.

-Lost one of very few senior leaders to show the way, and a player who plays with heart.

-Lost a face of the club and a popular player whom we had great plans for, including the captaincy.

-His mere presence at Carlton is disturbing. If he plays well there it will be sickening.

The Good:

-Get a crack at a talented young key forward, which we require, who may or may not become anything. Will be at a better age to be peaking around the other recent recruits

-Have 4 picks in the last free draft, giving us huge leverage to manipulate things if we choose to

-Have appeared to have made a stand and ruthlessly turned over our list with a grander vision in mind

um yeah not sure if i'm happy

[lucifer 119]

I don't post on here very often, but today's events have probably brought everyone out of hiding. After being dissapointed with Brock's decision to leave initially...I'm now resgined to pick 11. Whether or not the kid we get at pick 11 is any good is important but not the be all and end all. Pick 1 & 2 are CLEARLY more important prospects. I understand we are trying to get compensation for losing someone who was touted as being a future captain. But maybe we should look at this as an opportnity for someone like a Colin Sylvia who has shown a lot of improvement this year to really step up and take the spot as our number 1 midfielder. Have a full pre-season and show he can play the position he was initally drafted to play in. Maybe this might be a blessing in disguise.

[Al`s DEMONS 0]

As I have said before, anyone who believes Brook was not pushed is smoking the good stuff.

Well done to DB, BP and the football Department. A perfect trade. We now get the best two classy, quality outside mids (Scully & Trengrove), plus the chance to trade and recrute for another tall KPF to develop with Watts and Jurrah (pick 11) and the opportunity to trade for the likes of Junior Davey or Lovett (pick 18).

Simply outstanding list management!!

Finally someone is running the club with the intellegence, lack of emotion, streagth and realistic attitude to take us to a premiership. This is the what I have longed for and also the first time I have seen it at the MFC in 30 odd years of fruitless supporting.

I could not be happier with the performance of our FD since the turnover in board, CEO and coaching staff.

I am more exited now than at any point since at least 2000.

summed it up beautifully

[Rogue 585]

Isn't that the same as wanting him gone?

How does that equate to a desire to offload him?

[Tony Tea 2,809]

As I have said before, anyone who believes Brook was not pushed is smoking the good stuff.

Well done to DB, BP and the football Department. A perfect trade. We now get the best two classy, quality outside mids (Scully & Trengrove), plus the chance to trade and recrute for another tall KPF to develop with Watts and Jurrah (pick 11) and the opportunity to trade for the likes of Junior Davey or Lovett (pick 18).

Simply outstanding list management!!

Finally someone is running the club with the intellegence, lack of emotion, streagth and realistic attitude to take us to a premiership. This is the what I have longed for and also the first time I have seen it at the MFC in 30 odd years of fruitless supporting.

I could not be happier with the performance of our FD since the turnover in board, CEO and coaching staff.

I am more exited now than at any point since at least 2000.

Correct.

The opposite is to try and build on a flawed list.

Like Wallace did at Richmond.

Patrick Bowden, Graham, Nathan Brown, Symonds, etc.

A waste of time.

[Kiss of Death 755]

Was that a player wearing no. 5 in a blue guernsey on Gaz Lyon's book?

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

Have a full pre-season and show he can play the position he was initally drafted to play in. Maybe this might be a blessing in disguise.

I was thinking of how this would effect both Brock, AND Jones/Moloney/Valenti...

Brock at his new club will probably never again have to deal with a tag. Judd will get one, then after that Gibbs and Murphy will be next in line. Even in a few years time Brock will still be the last thing on their minds. He'll go back to playing how he did in his first few seasons before he was tagged.

As for Jones and Moloney, now they'll have to cope with being the extractors all the time now. Hopefully Scully and Trengove step it up within a few years.

[DaveyJones'sLocker 647]

Say we play carlton mid to early next year

Match up say moloney vs brock

wat will the feeling be ? i get goosebumps thinking about it

[demoniac 1,333]

at least we were winning games in 2000, 7 out of 44, yeah Dean Baileys the man, lets extend his contract.

We are engaged in a full rebuild after the ultimately unsuccessful Daniher era.

Yes, to do that properly in the age of the draft and the salary cap it does take 6 - 8 years to build a strong list with a multi seaon premiership window.

Loving Dean Bailey's list management.

[DemonDan... 77]

Im over it already. Dissapointed in many ways too but more in that he never really quite emulated his better games for nearly long enough.I too thought he would amout to more...but he hassnt. Such is life and on we move.

Ha. Know its a typo, but i near [censored] myself

..but he 'has snot' -lol- bummer, ship him off then..

[QueenC 74]

SO many posters ...so much emotion...so very littel reality or common sense. There is some and I wont embarrass you by naming..you know who you are

Firstly. Thanks Brock for your time at Melbourne... you now join an illustious lot who have defected from Melbourne to Carlton.. and only one do I forgive.. all hail Barrass Still good luck in your endeavors and thanks for the donation.. no really..thanks !!

Dont really care why he's going I simply look at the positives, Still if he left for money...good faustian luck with that. If he left for a run in a possible grand final.. again good luck with that... but we'll win one before that lot will If he left because he didnt really like the way Bailey runs things....then the sooki-la-la queue is >>>>>> way !! :D

Im over it already. Dissapointed in many ways too but more in that he never really quite emulated his better games for nearly long enough.I too thought he would amout to more...but he hassnt. Such is life and on we move.

To garner pick 11 is really pretty good all things considered. As others allude we can now have our cake and eat it too and probably spring for a few frothies while we're at it

Its about the CLUB...about the game...and then the player.

Seems at long last this club is getting its act together and proceeding in that manner.

Well done to all involved at the MFC.. Go Dees

A good solid voice of reason there Bub.....

No-one likes losing a player like Brock, many of us loved his attitude and (up until now) loyalty to the club, which obviously extended beyond the field, but he did have his short comings, which have been painfully pointed out many times over the past thirteen or so pages, and he may well have just seen what some here can, others can't yet, that his days as a first choice mid were possibly numbered. Many can ask why this is, given where we are, but that is not the important part the important part is that it is what it is, and that reality must be dealt with.

And it has been dealt with to the best of all concerned. Another first round pick in today's drafting conditions is nothing to sneeze at, and we shouldn't be crying out that he is worth more either. Many here will scream that he is worth whatever we can get for him, and if Carlton wants to give us their first pick, then complaints really should be at a minimum. The club comes first here.

We all have a tendency of over value our own, because simply they are ours and we always want them to be maybe better than they are. That and we don't want to feel like after years of emotional investment in a player we are getting screwed. But at the end of the day this is a pretty good deal and while I am not happy to lose Brock I am happy with the compensation for losing Brock. We can now only hope that whoever we chose for this bonus draft choice is a great kid with skill and helps us in the future. But that right now is nothing short of a fairy tale.

The unfortunate reality for Brock, despite his well earned fan popularity is that he probably hasn't achieved the heights we wanted him to in his ninety odd games, whether that is because we as a fan base thought too highly of him, or whether he just hasn't come on like he should have is up for endless debate, but this affects his value (and I hate talking like this about people's lives) in the market. The MFC have managed to get ourselves the best deal we could and seriously this is all we can ask from the club at this time of year, to do the best with what you've got.

I wish Brock well for his future, he has been a good servant to this club we love and that should never be forgotten. This deal seems to be a winner (at least on face value) for all parties involved - Brock, the MFC and the CFC. But I do dearly hope that we completely destroy him and his Blues at every available opportunity in the future. Just my opinion !!!

[Dr Jekyl & Mr Hyde 0]

FYI - Brock passed his medical yesterday at Visy Park.

[H_T 3,047]

Isn't it exciting? I've read this from afar -( nice state you've got here mousey - could do without the bloody dust though!), I can see why the parties have come to the decision. Initially disappointed. But now he's a blue and an enemy. If you don't want to play for the red and blue...Ciao. I've said for a while now, that with picks 1 & 2 coming in - that it would be a tight squeeze for one of Moloney, McLean or Jones. As they are all in and under and not fast (to put it politely). Mclean choosing to "walk" has made things easy for the FD and list management. Now our attention turns to ...pick 11.

The deal that has been put forward is Pick #11 for Brock McLean + swap of 3rd rounders.

One of the biggest misconceptions going around footballing circles at the moment - is about how this draft is "weak" from early on.

Pick #11 will net you a player around the Tapscott/Talia region - it is by no means a bad pick.

Its clear that Carlton have identified that they have need for a tough in and under extractor of the pill to their midfielders.

Hadley may be on his way back to Brisbane if the media is to be beleived - and the Carlton forward line being "shallow" fallacy is being corrected with active recruiting of their defensive unit (Spangher, Gibson, Everitt, McGuire).

Come the end of the day - it will all depend on whether Brock wants to move on or not.

Stevens might not be around either...looking after his neck perhaps?

Fark there's a lot of panic merchants on here.

What an embarrassing lot.

From what I've read....13 pages...agree.

I think so too. So those that are winding up the venom... please don't.

All the indicators have pointed to the MFC being totally committed (unlike some other, failing, teams...) to the re-build.

Don't falter now.

Well said.

Hi guys.

Changing my name to Kiss of death from Chooka for Charlie - the explanation is as easy as this.

Every time i select a player name for my forum name, they either run into poor form, get injured, or get traded.

We should be safe from here on in.

Regards.

Ummmmm.................just don't put the kiss of "Death" on the Dees, will you?

Also, I reckon McLean rightly read the writing on the wall. The club asked him to take a paycut. He sees that it's likely we'll get two gun mids with pick 1 and 2. He's no longer a genuine chance to captain the club. He decides on a fresh start.

Happy times.

Tend to agree reading the writing on the wall. Good luck C.Judd handling the next Fev and Brock drinking binge.

[e25 5]

FYI - Brock passed his medical yesterday at Visy Park.

Brilliant. Absolute worst case scenario would be for the deal to be reversed.

[BennytheJet 15]

I was thinking of how this would effect both Brock, AND Jones/Moloney/Valenti...

Brock at his new club will probably never again have to deal with a tag. Judd will get one, then after that Gibbs and Murphy will be next in line. Even in a few years time Brock will still be the last thing on their minds. He'll go back to playing how he did in his first few seasons before he was tagged.

As for Jones and Moloney, now they'll have to cope with being the extractors all the time now. Hopefully Scully and Trengove step it up within a few years.

Opposition taggers must have done backflips whenever they found out they were playing on Brock.. He was absolutely hopeless with any sort of attention. My guess is thats why he was given negating roles - to avoid being tagged himself

Pick 11 is a fantastic coup for the Dees - considering we also get rid of his inflated salary and freed up space in the midfield for the MUCH more damaging and explosive midfielders we have waiting in the wings.

[JACKATTACK 17]

I'm struggling to be enthused by the whole Mclean leaving thing as many seem to be, asume for a second that what we get for pick 11 is a player of Mclean's ability (a big if) , this whole thing is still a disaster whichever way you paint it.

Either

Melbourne didn't want him, so cut his pay and forced him to look elsewhere. Which is a terrible way of treating your better, more passionate players.

OR

Brock, got fed up with the coach, the club or the players and wanted to leave. In which case his sentiments would be shared by others and we're staring down the barrel of DB being fired because he's "lost the players", and other players wanting to move on either now or next year.

[e25 5]

I'm struggling to be enthused by the whole Mclean leaving thing as many seem to be, asume for a second that what we get for pick 11 is a player of Mclean's ability (a big if) , this whole thing is still a disaster whichever way you paint it.

Either

Melbourne didn't want him, so cut his pay and forced him to look elsewhere. Which is a terrible way of treating your better, more passionate players.

OR

Brock, got fed up with the coach, the club or the players and wanted to leave. In which case his sentiments would be shared by others and we're staring down the barrel of DB being fired because he's "lost the players", and other players wanting to move on either now or next year.

If you as a club come to the decision that a player is not performing at the desired standard and is not part of your plans going forward, what exactly do you do?

Keep him because he is passionate about the club?? What if he also wants to leave because he sees his opportunities will be better elsewhere?

The club came to an arrangement where we got probably the best compensation we could possibly get for a player which in all probability, sentiment aside, was not going to be part of our future plans.

We helped him to get exactly where he wanted to go and respect has been maintained between the 2 parties, publicly at least.

It had unfortunately reached the point where Brock was not an integral part of the team and we have reached the best possible outcome. I'll dearly miss him as a player, but this is actually a decent result.

[titan_uranus 25,020]

I'm struggling to be enthused by the whole Mclean leaving thing as many seem to be, asume for a second that what we get for pick 11 is a player of Mclean's ability (a big if) , this whole thing is still a disaster whichever way you paint it.

You reckon McLean's so good that we'll struggle to find someone at pick 11 that is equal/better than him?

I would go the opposite and say that we're more than likely to find someone equal/better. McLean's usefulness was low at Melbourne. Moloney does his role, and does it better.

I doubt we'll draft someone who's slow and stocky.

[rpfc 28,477]

I'm struggling to be enthused by the whole Mclean leaving thing as many seem to be, asume for a second that what we get for pick 11 is a player of Mclean's ability (a big if) , this whole thing is still a disaster whichever way you paint it.

Either

Melbourne didn't want him, so cut his pay and forced him to look elsewhere. Which is a terrible way of treating your better, more passionate players.

OR

Brock, got fed up with the coach, the club or the players and wanted to leave. In which case his sentiments would be shared by others and we're staring down the barrel of DB being fired because he's "lost the players", and other players wanting to move on either now or next year.

A number of us on this board looked at Moloney, Jones, and McLean and wondered whether they could play in the one midfield. Bailey was honest enough to tell McLean that with two mids coming in the draft and Blease, Bennell, Grimes, and Maric he would not play in the role he wanted to.

He saw the writing on the wall, the club facilitated a trade of a player they were willing to give up ahead of Moloney and Jones, and Carlton were eager to tie up a deal before other clubs started circling.

As for the proposed pay cut - Is anyone going to get on here and say that McLean was worth the $1.2m over 3 that we gave him?

[Hannabal 4]

There are a few misconceptions about McLean, imo. He's just as 'outside' as he is 'inside' except he's not elite at either. He's not a 'first dibs' Scotty West, Joel Selwood, or Simon Black type that feeds it out; and he's often too slow to do much damage on the 'outside'. As Wisbey would say, he's 'predatory' by nature.

Brock is a solid meat and potatoes 200 gamer, but he's not an A grader. His "toughness" is also greatly exaggerated. I always thought he'd be as tough as old hobnail boots, but it never eventuated. He 'goes' when he has to, but he's not tough, or intimidating, even though he looks like he should be. Some people think he's our best clearance player. I disagree, in fact, we don't have a good clearance player, but Jones is the best. And when McLean does get first disposal how often is it clean ? He usually just does a quick blaze away gaining some metreage for advantage. He doesn't have good hands in close. (Scully is a clearance star.)

I accept that injuries have restricted him and that he'll play good footy for Carlton. I'm now far more interested in what might fall our way at 11. I don't know how many, but there will be some very good players picked after 11 in this draft. Obviously we need to back BP to draft well.

Edited September 25, 2009 by Hannibal

[e25 5]

Best appraisal I've read so far, H.

I can only concur.