Jimmy Mac to play for GWS

[jayceebee31 669]

With Junior going up to Sydney ,just shows what a pitiful decision our football department did last year sacking him, Miller and letting Bruce all go at the same time.Pitiful in my opinion.Every team needs experience and we chucked ours out.

[Ouch! 2,034]

Will he play? He's 35 for chrissakes, people in here have been watching him do ok playing in lower leagues down here.

If he plays, it surely won't be more than 3 or 4 games.

Yup I agree, I can't see him playing a lot of games. I hate to say it, but it's actually a smart move by GWS. Target some players on the verge of retirement who also are potentially going to get Asst Coach roles anyway. They have an extended list, and if you can play some of your coaching staff out there on the field (runners can't coach, but players have no such restriction) They also have a larger salary cap, and have to pay the minimum rate. None of the players would be under the illusion of being guaranteed a game, they would all be very clear that they are being picked up to assist develop, protect and apparently coach the younger players whilst out on the field, Junior, Power and Brogan etc would perhaps play a handful of games... it doesn't matter, except they won't stand in the way of developing the list.

GWS is (and I hate to say it) looking quite shrewd in some of the things they are doing in regards to setting up a club from scratch. From the campus at breakfast point to this short term move of playing assistant coaches..... It would almost be admirable if Gubby Allan, and Sheedy weren't smirking so much in public.

I think someone else on the board raised this, but it would be great to know if they are cheating the cap with any of this, are the players staying at this campus paying rent? or is that covered by the club (If we paid for our players rent, food, living expenses I am sure that would have to be declared under the cap) and is any portion of the cash for these assistants being covered in our outside of the cap.

You can also see they are spending the BIG money on players that apparently none of the clubs expected them to, but then topping them up with players who are on the verge of retirement... So they have intentionally NOT focused where the compensation rules were "expected" to assist.

When the Bears were set up they got given a bunch of guys at the end of their careers and hacks that the other clubs didn't want, we hear the AFL didn't want these new clubs to be set up like that. We can see that the GWS have intentionally targeted players at the end of their careers and then spent the big cash on the young stars.

GC appears to have followed the rules moreso in the 'spirit' of how they were supposed to be used. (Players between say 50-150 games.)

Scary that Gubby Allan was on the committee that set this all up isn't it?

Edited September 13, 2011 by Oucher

[nutbean 8,837]

I don't, I blame the club for the way they handled it and the fact they haven't got him at the club in some capacity. On the other hand I would hate to see him look stupid and hope he decides to call it a day if it looks like he's starting to.

Melbourne really gives me the shits the way they handle things at times.

Loved him as a player and the club should have told earlier in the year however the bottom line is that he is a player who wanted to play on and the club didnt - it happens.

Cameron Bruce wants two years we offer him one - it happens.

Brad Miller thinks he has more to offer - it happens

Guerra gets told by two clubs his services arent required - it happens

Heath Scotland wanted more opportunity so he moved to Carlton - it happens

Brogan,Cornes and Power - thanks for the careers and then move to GWS to play some more - it happens.

The club could have told him earlier but the end result would have been no different - he wanted to play on, we didnt want him to. End of story

[Robbie57 1,990]

Good luck to Junior. We mismanged the situation.

That said I think this is a very poor decision on his part and it looks he has been sucked into the media vortex GWS are trying to create.

Assistant coach is a terrific opportunity, playing games is a very bad idea.

Gubby Allen and Sheedy should have a good long hard look at themselves in the mirror.

[Mallee Bull 97]

Good for Junior. Can't blame the guy.

Everyone is bagging GWS for getting together 'Dad's Army', I think they are being very smart. Junior, Power, Cornes won't play all 22 games, but their leadership and knowledge of the game will be invaluable to their kids whilst on the field.

They may have looked at what happens to a club full of kids without any mature leadership and decided to do something about it.

Really hope we can lure Junior back to the club in some capacity when he's done with GWS.

[nutbean 8,837]

With Junior going up to Sydney ,just shows what a pitiful decision our football department did last year sacking him, Miller and letting Bruce all go at the same time.Pitiful in my opinion.Every team needs experience and we chucked ours out.

yup it made a huge difference - we won two wooden spoons with them at the club two years previously, we improved with them last year and did we actually fall away dramatically because they werent at the club ?

We absolutely lack leadership and experience but did Bruce and Miller actually provide that ? I take Junior out of the equation because the major cross on him was that his body was not coping - recurring soft tissue injuries.

Edit - our improvement last year came not because our leaders stepped up but because some of the youth started to provide impetus.

Edited September 13, 2011 by nutbean

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

GWS are drafting from a weak draft pool this year.

GCSuns drafted from a super strong draft pool, and struggled. Probably one or two senior players short.

Sheedy's seen & learnt. He's no fool. The wily old Celt! It'll take him a little longer to develop that team so he's recruiting senior players over a 2 Yr period. He'll be heavily into Pendlebury IMO next year for 2013.

We really dont know how weak or strong a draft pool is for a number of years after the draft. But all indications so far are that 2010 has been a good year. It ludicrious to label a draft "weak" in advance. One football person may express an opinion and it get picked and parrotted ad nauseam on Forum sites that it gains unsubstantitated "common" acceptance as truth.

FWIW, I think GCS has been a major success this year. They were roundly expected to get blown out of the water each and every week. That did not occur in a mix of performance you could expect from a young side. Their older brigade stood up well and contributed after a slow start and their clutch of top 6 young players are indeed exciting to watch.

I am not sure why you are lauding Sheedy at this point. GWS's strategy is looking problematic especially for 2012. To date there biggest fish is Scully. The Scully offer is unbelievable and he needs to be twice as good as MFC hoped to pay the way. Big gamble. They have got Palmer Davis and Ward. I am trembling in fear of that lot. They have Brogan, Cornes,Power and Junior and who else they dig up for senior experience. They have not snared Kruezer, Thomas, Martin, Pendles this year. Their young list needs to be talented because they are going to be exposed worse than GCS.

I have not done the sums but if they have punted on a $800k-1m a year on Scully then Pendles wont come cheap. And they will need far more than that to make an impact.

Ignoring the hoopla, I am not that impressed by GWS signings and their youth needs to be very good to compensate. They are on a hard learning curve

[baysidedave 246]

With Junior going up to Sydney ,just shows what a pitiful decision our football department did last year sacking him, Miller and letting Bruce all go at the same time.Pitiful in my opinion.Every team needs experience and we chucked ours out.

we are doing the right thing, we have to start playing the younger kids and this is what we're doing, its going to take a few more years but we need to clear the decks. Miller wasn't getting a game and Bruce was finished as you can see now.

[rpfc 27,476]

Well this is a kick in the teeth...

Don't know whether to be bemused or horrified.

We should have walked back and kept him when Bruce left - still maintain that.

Oh, well.

(sigh)

[baysidedave 246]

To add to that we are getting good payback for Scully going, I expect over the years we will come out better with Scully going and if you read the Hun today Doc Larkins says Scully's knees have had it already.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

With Junior going up to Sydney ,just shows what a pitiful decision our football department did last year sacking him, Miller and letting Bruce all go at the same time.Pitiful in my opinion.Every team needs experience and we chucked ours out.

That just plain rubbish JCB.

We needed leadership at MFC even when Junior was at MFC. It just does not reside in one person. While a valiant player over his career, Junior's fitness and form waned during 2010. His biggest loss was his leadership impact. But we did risk not having a player whose playing performance was moderate. Junior's exit also allowed MFC to bring on younger players. GWS's selection of a 35yo who has played half a season at OlD Xavs speaks more about playing him in the Sydney league with younger players.

I am not sure what was lost by Miller at MFC this year.A great bloke and strong character but he was not getting a regular at MFC during 2010 and more than likely it would have been the same in 2011. Miller is in the same basket as Dunn and Bate atm. Not good enough to be a ket forward target. We dont have a key forward yet like Riewoldt and even when he played in Jack's shadow his on field contributions were spasmodic.

Cameron Bruce took a mercenary opportunity while his legs held out. In the same leadership calibre as Green. His form was middling in 2010 and was definitely not an on field leader. Clearly was not going to be Captain and once again allowed MFC to bring through Tapscott and like earlier. MFC would have preferred to keep him on a 1 year basis at a far lower rate in 2011 than in past years (overpaid in early years based on performance.

If you are pining for the impact of the leadership of Bruce and Miller doesn't that tell you something about the bigger issue for some time at MFC?

[Jarka 767]

Dad's army.

GWS are getting desperate, the majority of their targets this year turned them down and they were left with four kids, three of which have injury concerns. They also had to pay way over the market for Scully which will have an impact on their cap for the next six years. They know that they're going to get smashed next year so they've brought in anyone they can grab, ie retirees. Cast offs from other clubs. I love Jnr, but in his last year at Melbourne the signs were there, he was beginning to struggle and now after a year out he's making a come back. Modern footy is getting faster all the time, he's going to find it hard.

The other issue is the strength of this year's draft. RR, there are plenty of people in the industry who believe that this year won't be as good as last year, in both depth and top end talent. I am no expert on the subject but some of the people who I talk to I believe are, and they're normally spot on with their insights.

This is a move by a desperate club.

[Bimbo 903]

I really liked Junior.

He was the best available captain. However, it was a weak field to chose from and while he was tried his guts out and apparently is a decent bloke, he was hardly an inspiring leader.

He was however, a far better leader and probably much better bloke than Bruce who was not cut out to be and never tried to present himself as a leader or mentor for the younger players.

I never had any concerns that Brad Miller was having a go, but he was just not consistent enough (or probably not good enough) to command a permanent place in the team.

The only issue in hindsight is that if Junior's body had held up, and it is a big if, he would have taken a lot of stress out of Brad Green's life.

Junior played 2 games in the Old Xav Resies this year and was in the best once. He then played 9 games in the firsts and was in the best on 3 occassions. Hardly inspires confidence that he should have been playing AFL this year.

[Pipefitter 2,016]

Ah J-Mac. I love the guy, but this just shows the makings of a man who doesn't know when to call it quits. The only reason his "retirement" was undignified was because he was unhappy about it. He didnt know the writing was on the wall and the club had to tell him. Now he wants to pull the boots on next year? Come on Jimmy.

[sue 8,433]

Dad's army.

GWS,,,,,,,

This is a move by a desperate club.

I'm starting to speculate that Sheedy is driven too much by his desire for revenge on MFC for the good of GWS (hooray if so). JMac may be a good idea, but the payment to Scully is just plain silly. They can' be that desperate.

It could break any club bar one that the megalomaniacs at the AFL will move heaven and earth to protect. Will we one day see a breakaway league formed at the top level in Aussie rules?....

[Supermercado 2,616]

From twitter: Spyandsource:

GWS presser tomorrow to announce that James McDonald will be coming out of retirement in a playing/coaching role for the next 2 years.

First rumor they've ever gotten right. Lower strike rate than Sports News First.

On their front page they've still got us being almost certain to swap pick 52 for Josh Hill last year.

[Guest Jack Donaghy]

This move has basically killed the major positive that we "retired" him - that we would never see him out on the field like a punch-drunk boxer, having played well beyond his prime.

Of course Gyberts / Tapscott / McKenzie / whoever got more games in the process too.

It's just such a shame that it will be like when Brad Johnson was still playing well past it... but even worse.

[SidVicious 121]

They don't call Kevin Sheedy a genius for nothing.

Thanks to his brilliant strategy of recruiting Junior Mac as a player, he will now have at his disposal one former Demon with two sound knees.

Sheer genius!

[DemonMuzza 16]

I am shattered! Happy for Junior but shattered as a Melbourne supporter. This just proves what we were saying at the time and have been saying all year that moving James on was a gross misjudgment and a spit in the face to a great leader at our club. Especially at a time when they were begging for money and members loyalty where was thiers? Why would Bruce stay after seeing how they treat their champions and Brad Green has to be wondering if the same thing will happen to him.

Hope this move by Junior is a successful one for him and maybe that will cause the Melbourne list managers to think twice before ever doing anything like this again!

[Arthur Dent 2]

GWS sign up a great onfield leader. Have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to see a little of how he operated at MFC, and what a shining example of professionalism he was to some of the prima donnas we have running around. He will be a great coach, teach them how to become proper professionals, and yet again we look like a bunch of incompetent idiots.

[daisycutter 28,557]

Just heard from an impeccable inside sauce at GWS that Sheedy is planning to play himself as the sub for the next 1-2 years to inject more experience into the side

[old dee 22,854]

Just heard from an impeccable inside sauce at GWS that Sheedy is planning to play himself as the sub for the next 1-2 years to inject more experience into the side

DC I have missed your wit over the last month.

Glad to see it is back.

My humour just improved.

[Viney12 196]

Ah J-Mac. I love the guy, but this just shows the makings of a man who doesn't know when to call it quits. The only reason his "retirement" was undignified was because he was unhappy about it. He didnt know the writing was on the wall and the club had to tell him. Now he wants to pull the boots on next year? Come on Jimmy.

Spot on for mine

[Choko 493]

Spot on for mine

Well then you and pipe are just as silly as each other.

Did you hear one bad word about the club from Jimmy? No.

For the slow amongst us who still think Tom Scully is number 31 for Melbourne, the reason the McD situation was bad was because WE STUFFED IT UP. Don't believe me - believe the club, who admitted it.

[s-t-i-n-g-a 439]

If we still had Jr we would not have had room to draft Tom McDonald?