The decision to cut Junior (at the time), was the right one. He's body was beginning to fail him and I was worried about him pushing on again. In addition, his departure meant an extra spot on the veterans list which was supposed to be for Cam Bruce. However, obviously Cam decided to walk and had we known that before, Junior may have retained his place.

Easy to say we should've retained Junior after playing one good game following a year off AFL. However, I just wish we knew Cam Bruce was going to be a nob a little sooner.

You are right here....it still made me feel very ill seeing him run around in that orange thing....particularly with Jim's passing..and the picture of Aaron & Junior holding the 37 Jumper...

I just hope Junior returns to the club soon....he is an asset to our club.

If he plays well after a year off, that doesn't mean he would have played well last year. With time to get over his injuries, he's probably healthier than he's been in a good while. I'm just wondering if this might be an opportunity for clubs to take in the future. Delist a senior player but keep him on as a coach, then bring him back for one more year after his body has recovered. It's just an idea, but depending on how Junior goes, it could work.

Unfortunately, I think he will be getting a little holiday.

Nice first test for the MRP.

I haven't looked at it closely (ie whether his feet were on the ground etc) but geez that looked a good hit.

Thats the problem with todays game , the Fat Controller has sanitised it far too much.

As for the MRP , my tip is , due to Vlad & GWS circumstances ...... He'll get off.

And you would rather Junior for one more year than who from the list below:

Melbourne 12. LUCAS COOK (North Ballarat Rebels, 18, 196cm, 81kg) Mobile, marking forward with clean hands and the ability to read the play well. Can head back into defence too. All-Australian 2010. 33. JEREMY HOWE (Hobart, 20, 190cm, 80kg) Tall, marking forward who can take hangers and run: he's posted a level 14 beep test. 50. TROY DAVIS (Geelong Falcons, 18, 192cm, 90kg) A tall defender who played a lot of school football in Geelong this year and really came in in the last half of the year. Strong, and competitive. 53. TOM McDONALD (North Ballarat, 18, 194cm, 88kg) Has grown up playing mostly in the ruck. The Dees are hoping he'll grow a bit more but if not see him as a forward: he has a good leap and can run. 81. JORDIE McKENZIE (promoted rookie) 96. JAKE SPENCER (promoted rookie) Read more:

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/2010-afl-national-draft-who-your-club-picked-20101118-17zfd.html#ixzz1q6CNKmLp

He was taking the place of a rookie, RL - he was on the vets list.

We should have done a 180 on Junior when Bruce decided to chase a flag. We lacked leaders in 2011 and I would have swallowed my pride and demanded he come back.

If he plays well after a year off, that doesn't mean he would have played well last year. With time to get over his injuries, he's probably healthier than he's been in a good while. I'm just wondering if this might be an opportunity for clubs to take in the future. Delist a senior player but keep him on as a coach, then bring him back for one more year after his body has recovered. It's just an idea, but depending on how Junior goes, it could work.

Timmy Watson .

It must be a really slow slow slow week.......this is history, close the thread and move on, discussing somebody who is not even a Melbourne player any more.....can't wait for Saturday, then some posters will have somebody from the coaching staff or players to criticise.

I haven't looked at it closely (ie whether his feet were on the ground etc) but geez that looked a good hit.

Thats the problem with todays game , the Fat Controller has sanitised it far too much.

As for the MRP , my tip is , due to Vlad & GWS circumstances ...... He'll get off.

Looked like he collected the head, no longer allowed. Players now have a duty of care to not collect other players for better or worse.

I don't think we made a mistake letting him go when we did. The error was in the way it was handled. He should have been aware from the outset that it was going to be his last season with us, and with the plan to transition him into coaching clearly spelled out. Instead, you had a guy who played a pretty good season and thought he'd done enough to be kept on when the non-playing part of the club had already stamped his papers.

At the start of the season the club did not know that it would take McDonald 6 weeks to get over a 1-2 week injury.

Cutting McDonald was the right thing to do, and the way it was done was fine by me. The only time that the club has done the wrong thing is when they came out and said that they would have handled it differently. They should have stood by their decision instead of opening the door for all this re-writing of history.

At the start of the season the club did not know that it would take McDonald 6 weeks to get over a 1-2 week injury.

Cutting McDonald was the right thing to do, and the way it was done was fine by me. The only time that the club has done the wrong thing is when they came out and said that they would have handled it differently. They should have stood by their decision instead of opening the door for all this re-writing of history.

I have to say - this is a strange stand.

The only thing the club did wrong was admitting they did wrong?

Players now have a duty of care to not collect other players for better or worse.

For worse .

Most players think they can keep playing, if you play 10+ years in the AFL you are a competitive beast and can play. James played well on the week end and good luck to him, if we had our time again we would of kept James and shipped of Bruce which happened anyway. It was the right decision at the time handled poorly but as mentioned if we knew Cam Bruce wanted to leave it would be a different story.

At the start of the season the club did not know that it would take McDonald 6 weeks to get over a 1-2 week injury.

Cutting McDonald was the right thing to do, and the way it was done was fine by me. The only time that the club has done the wrong thing is when they came out and said that they would have handled it differently. They should have stood by their decision instead of opening the door for all this re-writing of history.

I think this 6 weeks vs 1-2 weeks recover argument is too conveniently overstated

Such injuries can vary a lot in severity and whether there is also collateral injury

I also don't think it was the (or one of main) reason they moved him on

I agree with rpfc that we couldn't afford to lose the experience of both Bruce and Jnr and weren't expecting Bruce to go

Having experience in a side can sometimes also be as important to development as pumping games into raw players

I have to say - this is a strange stand.

The only thing the club did wrong was admitting they did wrong?

It was the case that the club didn't convey to Junior that he wouldn't play on in 2011. That was the only error. They were right to retire him.

He was apparently genuinely surprised when told it was over but I'm not sure he should have been based on what was going on. Certainly Cam Bruce wasn't waiting around to see the clubs future direction!

On another Tangent .

Interesting the difference in mindset for Mcdonald since listening to the aggressive Sheedy for a pre-season .

In spite of being on the MRP over the last year, McDonald though a strong tackler with us, ran past the ball to make heavy high contact with an opposition player .

Can't remember him delivering too many hits of that calibre while running around in red & blue.

Wasn't Junior on the MRP which gave JT a three-week holiday last season ? See-ya-later alligator..

The way Melbourne dealt with him was shameful. I hope he has a stellar season.

I object to this idea that we "owe" a player contract extensions - same goes for Ponting, Thorpe anyone. The team comes first. If players were giving their time pro bono ...

...If players were giving their time pro bono ...

Don't tell me he's now jumping on McDonald as a cause célèbre.

At the start of the season the club did not know that it would take McDonald 6 weeks to get over a 1-2 week injury.

Cutting McDonald was the right thing to do, and the way it was done was fine by me. The only time that the club has done the wrong thing is when they came out and said that they would have handled it differently. They should have stood by their decision instead of opening the door for all this re-writing of history.

I see.

Honesty is the wrong thing, Right. Got it.

So the Skunk was right all along to go then.

Edited March 26, 201213 yr by dee-luded

Objected to it at the time and my stance hasn't changed. Shameful treatement of a Captain. We will still be recovering from it this year IMO.

I see.

Honesty is the wrong thing, Right. Got it.

So the Skunk was right all along to go then.

No, if the club made a decision they should stand by it. It was the right decision to make at the time. If they felt that McDonald needed some sort of apology, give it to him privately, there was no need to go to the media with it. It looked unprofessional and added to the pressure on the club and players.

When Bailey came in everyone on here wanted the club to be more ruthless, they were, and there is no need to apologise for it.

Edited March 26, 201213 yr by Thomo

He's gone. If it weren't for a new Western Sydney frontier, he'd still be sitting on the MRP.

I wish him the best, and I wish all our new kids god speed in development. Bring it on this week. Please.

For worse .

I should have said "duty of care not to collect the head".

My opinion is not too sure about for worse Forky. I have been a proponent of the "it's now too soft" talk but after the details of our own Daniel Bell, Sidney Crosby (NHL), Dave Duerson (NFL) and many more I am now tending to agree with the stance on head high contact. While I still think the "bump" should still be part of our game, it is something that sets it apart from most others; deliberate head high contact needs to be taken out of it but this is heading off topic.

It was sad to see him in another jumper, but good on him. He played well and you cant begrudge him or GWS for taking the punt

Junior gets 2 weeks according to tweet from Martin Blake.

Edit: Confirmed in tweet from AFL

Edited March 26, 201213 yr by hardtack

Can't believe the AFL is confirming by Tweet now .