I say yes to "Farren Ray" only at the right price. At the PSD #3, yes otherwise he's 26, a flanker, 2nd tier mid. We have plenty.

God help me.........just come back from holidays and firstly hear:

(1) Dawes

(2) F Ray

Have I landed on another planet?

I'm convinced our footy dept smoking the meth again

God help me.........just come back from holidays and firstly hear:

(1) Dawes

(2) F Ray

Have I landed on another planet?

I'm convinced our footy dept smoking the meth again

God help me.........just come back from holidays and firstly hear:

(1) Dawes

(2) F Ray

Have I landed on another planet?

I'm convinced our footy dept smoking the meth again

At the right price, I'd take both. It's not like our list is overloaded with talent to the point where there is no room for solid contributors like these two.

well i guess if your from mars , yep you have , lol

well i guess if your from mars , yep you have , lol

You a funny monkey Barndee. "Mummy can we keep him?"

I can't believe the disgraceful attitude towards Dawes, by some around here.

Dawes would be in the top 6 players at the club. Only Clark, Jamar, Jones, Sylvia and Frawley are better players than Dawes.

And Farren Ray would be top 10. So is Byrnes.

Do people forget what a shambles of a club we are onfield? Do people forget that our list is in such a bad state at the moment?

I can't believe the disgraceful attitude towards Dawes, by some around here.

Dawes would be in the top 6 players at the club. Only Clark, Jamar, Jones, Sylvia and Frawley are better players than Dawes.

And Farren Ray would be top 10. So is Byrnes.

Do people forget what a shambles of a club we are onfield? Do people forget that our list is in such a bad state at the moment?

Completely agree 'Bring-Back-Powell'. The football department has analysed our list and found some gaping holes: senior leadership, 2nd key forward target, rebounding defender, small forwards & midfielders. Byrnes fills the role of senior leader and small forward. Chris Dawes is a 2nd key forward target. Farren Ray is a rebounding defender who can have stints through the midfield. Regardless of how you saw them perform at their current/previous club (if they come across), if they fill the gaping holes in our list and play their role successfully in our team...isn't that all that matters?

Adding these older players that can play roles for the team also means that players are not forced back into the team before they have earned a game, as happened a few times this year due to injury.

Dawes was clunking nearly everything 2 years ago.

Dawes a solid contributor? Really? He is a [censored].

Admittedly I haven't seen too much of ray so happy to take your advice...someone mentioned Peterson previously and spoke about him being better value.

What a useless contribution this was.

I wonder what opinion you have of most of the MFC players are, if Dawes is a [censored]?

To me, this is just another case of the Better the Devil You Don't Know. You see Dawes out of form and make a judgement - we can do better. And now Pedersen is put on, an alliteration friendly, pedestal because you have rarely seen him.

We have a bad team and while we have as much young talent than most teams - we are not competitive and I applaud the fellas attempts to make 2013 better than 2012.

Had a beer with a footy administrator at the AFL runners up today. He believes Farren Ray will be in a red & blue jumper in 2013, with MFC taking on his contract terms and adding a further year. Hmmm. A good get if he comes at the right price. A PSD # 3, or pick 47 trade with Saints.

Had an indifferent 2012, with only 11 games, and Scott Watters is not a big fan from all reports.

Here is his BIO on the Saints website:

The talented midfielder was traded from the Western Bulldogs in 2008 and has been an impressive addition to the red, white and black. Since joining the Club, Farren has only missed three games for St Kilda, two of these due to a virus during the 2011 season. Farren played 21 games in 2011 and had a stand out 28 possessions in the round 19 win against the Gold Coast Suns. The 26-year-old is an important running player for the Saints and is a proven performer on the big stage, highlighted by his performance in the 2010 drawn Grand Final.Farren signed a new contract heading in to the 2012 season.

We are all picking players based on likes and dislikes, needs and perceived needs. The footy dept has obviously been over the stats and identified our strengths (??) and weaknesses (lots), these are the same things everyone here is stating, midfield, crumbing forwards, 2nd banana big forward, running backs, etc.. While we may not agree with all of their choices we need to acknowledge they are making their choices based on a lot of background work that none of us would have done. This will help them identify and prioritise who can fill those needs, what are the greatest needs and what they need to fill first. For some players we may need to pay overs, for others we may get cheap, but at least there seems to be some analysis going on to get the sort of players Neeld feels he needs as opposed to just getting a whole lot of top draft picks that dont give us a team. We need a balanced team if that means that we take dawes with pick 13 (aaah) then so be it. MFC under Neeld is obviously still a work in progress so he needs to keep an eye on the future i.e. young draft picks against bringing in experienced hard bodies to fill short term needs who can play the sort of fierce football we all want to see the club play. Trade period will help determine how many of these harder bodies we can pick up prior to the draft. For me the expectations of this years draft are probably higher than any previous drafts due to Free Agency and possibly the prospect of picking up JViney and a few other really exciting and talented footballers in the next month or so.

Farren Ray is a step backwards. I can't see what he adds. Never set the world on fire at WB or St Kilda. Nor physical. I think it is a short term decision, if we do it. It would suggest to me that we would be looking to delist a LOT of players!

I do not deny that Ray and Dawes will fill holes in our list. However, you don't turn around an average list by bringing in more average players. I see no point in hunting for solid C-graders. We need to bring in the B and A grade players to make a real difference to our team.

I do not deny that Ray and Dawes will fill holes in our list. However, you don't turn around an average list by bringing in more average players. I see no point in hunting for solid C-graders. We need to bring in the B and A grade players to make a real difference to our team.

Hallelujah. Common sense finally. I don't think there is a hell of a lot wrong with our list, but more so the confidence these young guys have got...like Neeld says "we can match it with most, however our problem is we can't play out the 4 quarters".

It depends what they cost, if you are not giving up the picks that get you A-grade talent then wha does anyone here care that we are getting C and B graders to play roles within the team?

For a bargain basement price, Farren Ray is a solid foot soldier who runs very well and is a really hard worker. He was part of a really good, heavily structured and hard running team in St Kilda. Neeld is clearly after players that can provide a positive example.

Ray can provide that example, and is a very good runner. He lacks skill, but as a player that can help the team develop he should help us.

I do not deny that Ray and Dawes will fill holes in our list.

At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

But are they the best options?

His name, according to certain Bulldogs supporters, should really be 'Sharon Gay'.

It's a no from me.

But are they the best options?

For us, a club NO-ONE of "real" value wants to come to. A club that has had players like Bate, Dunn, Maric, Newton running around for 5+ years, yes. A hundred times yes.

A good get if he comes at the right price. A PSD # 3, or pick 47 trade with Saints.

We could still land some talent at Pick 47 - too high given he's unlikely to have any suitors.

He cant even get a game at St Kilda so would be looking at 60s - 70s

Not to mention another ordinary kick. It'll be like having 2 Rohan Bails on the field

But are they the best options?

People in the know, may think they are the best and only options available.

Not to mention another ordinary kick. It'll be like having 2 Rohan Bails on the field

Ray can't run like Bail.

Ray can't run like Bail.

Farren Ray ran a 15.3 shuttle run at draft camp. His running ability isn't the issue.