Far worse players than Bate or Miller have premiership medallions. When you consider that poor players like Hawkins, Lonergan & Nathan Ablett are Premiership players but neither of Nick Riewoldt or Matthew Pavlich are it should give you some perspective.

Following Melbourne for many years has given me plenty of perspective thanks. I'm not talking about Bate, I could see him in our flag team - the hypothetical is that he has left and you ask does that mean we should retain Miller. I agree teams have won flags in spite of some very ordinary players, however I'm pretty sure Miller wont be joining them.

Bate has the attributes to be a good AFL footballer. Reads the play well, good straight line speed, good chest mark, doubles back well and is a thumping kick. He also has some weaknesses in his lateral movement, marking above his head, taking possesion below his knees and his kicking action is quite slow which means under pressure he can't get a kick away before being tackled. It is perhaps a sign of the strength of our list that he is now playing at Casey and presumably working on his deficiencies in much the same way Morton is and Dunn has. Dunn has emerged a far better footballer and I see no reason why Bate and Morton cannot follow his lead. Much like Dunn there is no particular reason why Bate and Morton wil not be a part of MFC PS 13.

Edited August 14, 201015 yr by demoniac

Geez Dappa Dan, you seem to be looking for conversation and all your getting is BS about a totally different topic to the one posted. Maybe try a blog site... hahaha

Also to the guy that started this thread (Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack i think) – Dont worry about the BS your getting from people on this site, if you hear anything else get it on here... People forget that this is a chat forum.

Seriously who cares if there is already a thread about this, or if it is a rumour, or if its true or otherwise?? All that was asked was thoughts on Matthew Bate leaving the club.

As for Matty Bate – He may well not fit into our best 22, that doesn’t mean we can afford to loose him.

Anybody heard of list depth???

The young guys we have wont all of a sudden develop next year, it takes time and luck (injuries, etc).

Bate provides depth in the forward line, and while i haven’t seen him play at Casey would suspect he is playing high with Miller deep.

In saying this the fact DB has said he will be looking to secure a tall forward this draft doesn’t play well for bate...

Pettard is awesome but somewhat injury prone, Jurrah isn’t a key FWD more a tall roving type, Watts will (i hope & pray) develop into a pack buster but that will depend on his physical development...

Also people need to lay off Lynden Dunn. He has been thrown from pillar to post and made to play in every position possible. He is finally being allowed to play in the position he got drafted from – Forward. I also think people on this site forget that he is playing the defensive forward role and is still kicking goals.

People have to start getting used to the fact that for the next few years, we are going to have more than 22 good players. I know... it's scary... but it's the new reality we'll be playing in.

Guys like Bate and Warnock are crucial, because they are genuine quality players who can come in tomorrow and play solid games.

To win a premiership you probably need 28 really good player. That means that some guys will be playing ressies, when in the past they'd be playing in the seniors.

My point is, it's a positive thing. Playeres will have to take their games to a new level to ensure they get a game each week, and if injuries arise, as they always do, we won't lose anything.

Keep Warnock, Keep Bate

As for Matty Bate – He may well not fit into our best 22, that doesn’t mean we can afford to loose him.

Anybody heard of list depth???

The young guys we have wont all of a sudden develop next year, it takes time and luck (injuries, etc).

Bate provides depth in the forward line, and while i haven’t seen him play at Casey would suspect he is playing high with Miller deep.

spot on.