WELCOME TO THE MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB - SHANNON BYRNES

[Pates 9,562]

Jay Clark reported after the football tonight that he's likely to be heading to Melbourne. I'll be fairly happy about that, premiership player with experience.

He's also a free agent (not sure if he's restricted or not)

[Moonshadow 16,635]

Gonna be a very interesting trade period for us. Usually they are pretty dull (Clark trade excepted) and the anticipation outweighs the reality.

Byrnes eh, interesting to find out the qualities he has that Neeld wants.

[Wiseblood 24,636]

While he is certainly no world beater he would come cheap and come from a winning culture. Plus he fills a void we have for a zippy player around goals. Can fill a role for a few years and bring plenty of GOOD experience with him. No drama if he comes over for nothing.

[Mono 454]

Byrnes is 29 in April; 108 games in 9 years at Geelong. 175cm.

No thanks; why would he want to come to MFC anyway. He might be cheap, but we have [censored] loads of salary cap to fill.

We don't need NQR players from anywhere.

[45HG 1,539]

Will this season never end!?!

[titan_uranus 23,253]

On the fence with this one.

On the one hand, he has goal-kicking nous, seems to pop up whenever he plays.

On the other hand...he hardly plays.

Also, Jay Clark doesn't seem to be the most reputable source, having apparently said that Monfries was coming here on a four-year deal, only for his very paper, the HUN, to report the next day that Monfries was looking at Port.

[Striker475 696]

Byrnes is 29 in April; 108 games in 9 years at Geelong. 175cm.

No thanks; why would he want to come to MFC anyway. He might be cheap, but we have [censored] loads of salary cap to fill.

We don't need NQR players from anywhere.

As a 2-year job until we develop one we draft late this year? I'd be fine with it...

[The Big Ticket 94]

While he is certainly no world beater he would come cheap and come from a winning culture. Plus he fills a void we have for a zippy player around goals. Can fill a role for a few years and bring plenty of GOOD experience with him. No drama if he comes over for nothing.

Agreed. I wouldn't think he'd play many games.

[1858 274]

So many players are dropping from our list it is getting to the point where we have to get someone. As long as we draft well, try our best to jag a big name player or seasoned mid (or two) then I have no problem with picking up a game-starved senior player who could add some value for a couple of years and set an example. Just as long as we don't get carried away with this player type.

[Deez 298]

Byrnes is 29 in April; 108 games in 9 years at Geelong. 175cm.

No thanks; why would he want to come to MFC anyway. He might be cheap, but we have [censored] loads of salary cap to fill.

We don't need NQR players from anywhere.

NQR? i understand he is getting on, but lets be serious, the guy will probably be better than most of the current players on our list.

got pace, can play mid or fwd, pretty good skills.

If thats the deal, I'm happy to have byrnes at melb

[What 18,810]

Byrnes is 29 in April; 108 games in 9 years at Geelong. 175cm.

No thanks; why would he want to come to MFC anyway. He might be cheap, but we have [censored] loads of salary cap to fill.

We don't need NQR players from anywhere.

Wrong. Makes me laugh when a Demon supporter thumbs their nose at any player, let alone a guy that kicked a combined 67 goals in 2009 and 2010 for the dominant Cats.

He will bring with him elite training principles and a winning culture. He is more accomplished than anyone on our list. He has played in many big games in September.

Not to mention this club has not had a small forward for 7 years. He will be a welcome addition to the MFC for a couple of years while the youngsters develop.

[Wiseblood 24,636]

Wrong. Makes me laugh when a Demon supporter thumbs their nose at any player, let alone a guy that kicked a combined 67 goals in 2009 and 2010 for the dominant Cats.

He will bring with him elite training principles and a winning culture. He is more accomplished than anyone on our list. He has played in many big games in September.

Not to mention this club has not had a small forward for 7 years. He will be a welcome addition to the MFC for a couple of years while the youngsters develop.

Perfectly put Hogan. Getting Byrnes means getting a guy who brings a wealth of experience that he can share and model for many of the players at our club. He can run around in the forward half putting on some pressure, which he does well, and snagging a few goals. His experiences at Geelong will be invaluable for our young squad and if he fills his role for 2 years while others develop, and we basically get him for nothing, then it's nothing but a good thing for us going forward.

[pantaloons 2,019]

No thanks; why would he want to come to MFC anyway.

With Geelong's small forwards, his career there is likely over. At Melbourne, he gets a chance to continue his career for another couple of years at a club which currently possesses exactly zero small forwards.

[jamurp 3]

Jay Clarke also said Chris Knights would be coming to Melbourne at the same time last week. He also tweeted, then later deleted that same tweet, about Angus Monfries coming to us. Not exactly the most reliable source.

[Deez 298]

Jay Clarke also said Chris Knights would be coming to Melbourne at the same time last week. He also tweeted, then later deleted that same tweet, about Angus Monfries coming to us. Not exactly the most reliable source.

Your right, we could be getting our nickers in a bunch over nothing,

But this one does seem a little more likely.

Byrnes won't get games at geelong anymore, they have no use for playing older guys when they have younger guys to develop.

We have a need for some experience and room in our salary cap, probably a lot of room.

Im not going to lie, I am keen as mustard to see what mfc pulls together this year.

[Glenn Molloy 494]

Hardly doing cartwheels but if we do get him, it shows that the FD at least recognise that we badly need good foot skills and pace. Byrnes has both in abundance, and with most of our experienced blokes gone (Green, Moloney, possibly Davey) he'd be a good get.

[Biffen 12,567]

Jay Clarke also said Chris Knights would be coming to Melbourne at the same time last week. He also tweeted, then later deleted that same tweet, about Angus Monfries coming to us. Not exactly the most reliable source.

He also tweeted that the world would end in mid 2012 but retracted it.

[stuie 7,374]

Why would we go after a senior player like Byrnes when we have guys like Moloney, Green, and Davey.... Oh wait....

[Biffen 12,567]

We dont want guys that can kick a football accurately.They wont fit in wtih the playing group.

[Whispering_Jack 28,128]

The disappointment I sense around this thread is that people feel Byrnes is a relatively small fish in the overall scheme of things which is true.

Assuming the report is correct then we need to remember that this would only be the first signing and possibly only one out of four or five players with AFL experience brought in to help fill part of the void and cover short term needs while we are, at the same time, building our stocks of young players with talent to develop through the draft.

The "void" I'm talking about will be the result of turning over pretty close to a quarter of our list by the end of the calendar year. This will entail their replacement by a mix of free agents, trades and draftees.

I hope to expand on this view at some time in the future but I believe the exercise involved in reaching our 2013 playing list will not be a zero sum game and that we will have a substantially better list at the end of the process than we have now.

I mean no offence to those who are/will be leaving the club but in pure and unemotional terms only and based on their individual contributions in 2012 alone, it is likely that we will be giving away nothing much* and whatever we get will be a positive.

The future input of some of the incoming players might not be significant while others will most certainly make a difference. I believe the overall result will be a plus for the Melbourne Football Club with the results evident immediately if our remaining players stay healthy and improve with the additional benefits of another pre season under the current regime.

Whatever you might think of our first recruiting selection of the off season, it will be the overall picture that matters in the end.

* to test this theory, make up your own list of the players likely to exit the club over the next 2 - 3 months by retirement, trade and delisting and ask yourself what contribution each made to the club in 2012 on a scale of 0 to 10 (in fact you can go into negative territory). For e.g., I would be giving Brad Green +3, Brent Moloney + 2, Liam Jurrah -3 and Kelvin Lawrence 0 of the currently known departures.

[MadAsHell 4,089]

While he is certainly no world beater he would come cheap and come from a winning culture. Plus he fills a void we have for a zippy player around goals. Can fill a role for a few years and bring plenty of GOOD experience with him. No drama if he comes over for nothing.

Couldn't agree more Wiseblood.

Exactly the type of player we need. Only reason he can't get a game with the Cats at the moment is because with Chapman, Stokes, Varcoe, Motlop and Christensen to compete with, he's got some stiff competition!

If we can squeeze 30-50 games out of Byrnes before he passes the bat onto someone like Kennedy or Garlett if we were to draft one of them then it works out perfectly. Effectively the same scenario some people want, to be signing Q-Lynch as a free agent for 2 years and Hogan in the MD to take over after Lynch departs.

Being mentioned by Jay Clarke however I'll wait till Melbourne's formal media conference before I take it as fact.

[az_tec 41]

Might need him just for some experience alone

Next year we'll only have about 5 or so players over 100 games

[Dee_Flower 53]

Beggars can't be choosers. The only relevant question is whether he would improve the side at reasonable cost.

[ILLDieADemon 804]

We literally have no forward line other the Clarky.

Take what Evers out there.

[McQueen 17,864]

Amusing that if Byrnes was discussed as a potential FA a month ago the general consensus would've said, no thanks.

But now, on the back of a journos tweet, people are climbing on board and rating him.

I reckon he's soft.

I reckon Chris Scott does too..