Apparently the contract talks with Dunny and Jmac are going well along with a group of other players.

"discussions on new contracts have progressed well with a number of players who remain on the list, including free agent Lynden Dunn and 28-year-old Joel MacDonald."

Expect resignings soon.

Apparently the contract talks with Dunny and Jmac are going well along with a group of other players.

"discussions on new contracts have progressed well with a number of players who remain on the list, including free agent Lynden Dunn and 28-year-old Joel MacDonald."

Expect resignings soon.

thanks goodness. we may go down in flames for tanking but signing these two will balance it back in our favour.

Geez.

I'm all for Dunn getting another year, but I'm over MacDonald's constant fumbling, bumbling and dropping elementary marks in defense.

I think we've moved on from D graders in MacDonald.

I'm all for Dunn getting another year, but I'm over MacDonald's constant fumbling, bumbling and dropping elementary marks in defense.

I think we've moved on from D graders in MacDonald.

Lolz... Yeah I'm sick of MacDonalds bravery, toughness, and hard work... Why can't we just bring back Morton and his "silky skills"... FFS, catch up to what Neeld values mate.

Not up to it

Lolz... Yeah I'm sick of MacDonalds bravery, toughness, and hard work... Why can't we just bring back Morton and his "silky skills"... FFS, catch up to what Neeld values mate.

Well spoken stuie!

Well spoken stuie!

Agreed! MacDonald is not the most skilled guy going around But he has guts and he tries his heart out. In my mind that puts him above a number of his team mates - although that number is being thinned out.

Acceptable.

Neither exciting nor disappointing.

Good on 'em.

How much talking needs to done for these two? "Hi Joel, Lynden, here is a one year contract on modest pay. Congratulations, you've bought yourself one more year before you need to find a real job. Sign?" "Sign."

Every dark cloud has a silver lining.

Well spoken stuie!

Agree, unfortunately Stuie, some will never see, we are rebuilding our defence, surprising what another season together might bring

Lolz... Yeah I'm sick of MacDonalds bravery, toughness, and hard work... Why can't we just bring back Morton and his "silky skills"... FFS, catch up to what Neeld values mate.

You and your brigade of 'likers' after that comment should relaise that whilst J Mac does possess those admirable attributes you have named, he still absolutely kills us with his kicking and decision making.

J Mac may very well get a contract extension but I sure hope you realise there are plenty of players out there that possess the same hard attributes as well as being able to use the ball extremely well. Birchall, Guera, Hodge, Malceski, Matner, Shaw etc etc..

We haven't unearthed a player to fill J Macs role as of yet, (due to our awesome track record of drafting) but I bet you that as soon as we get it right, the guy will not be playing for Melbourne.

Let's just say if it wasn't for us, he may not be playing AFL football right now.

Edited October 31, 201212 yr by stevethemanjordan

You and your brigade of 'likers' after that comment should relaise that whilst J Mac does possess those admirable attributes you have named, he still absolutely kills us with his kicking and decision making.

J Mac may very well get a contract extension but I sure hope you realise there are plenty of players out there that possess the same hard attributes as well as being able to use the ball extremely well. Birchall, Guera, Hodge, Malceski, Matner, Shaw etc etc..

We haven't unearthed a player to fill J Macs role as of yet, (due to our awesome track record of drafting) but I bet you that as soon as we get it right, the guy will not be playing for Melbourne.

Let's just say if it wasn't for us, he may not be playing AFL football right now.

How does he kill us?

If you look at the stats for last season, the one with the most clangers for last season was Nathan Jones, let's think he won the B&F didn't he

If you must follow the rest of the 'haters', if I am one of the likers, do you want to back it up with some reasons? he kills us

The top few clangers were

Jones

McKenzie

Trengove

Frawley

Howe

Grimes

Bail

Garland

Sylvia

Tommy Mc

Joel Mac

The top possession/disposals were

Jones

Grimes

Trengove

Howe

McKenzie

Tom Mc

Sylvia

Frawley

Joel Mac

Hang on there is something going on here

Edited October 31, 201212 yr by satyricon

How does he kill us?

If you look at the stats for last season, the one with the most clangers for last season was Nathan Jones, let's think he won the B&F didn't he

If you must follow the rest of the 'haters', if I am one of the likers, do you want to back it up with some reasons? he kills us

The top few clangers were

Jones

McKenzie

Trengove

Frawley

Howe

Grimes

Bail

Garland

Sylvia

Tommy Mc

Joel Mac

The top possession/disposals were

Jones

Grimes

Trengove

Howe

McKenzie

Tom Mc

Sylvia

Frawley

Joel Mac

Hang on there is something going on here

Totally guessing, but if you bust it down to clangers per possession, you might get a different picture.

Also, that doesn't measure the scale of some of the abolsute howlers JMac puts in.

Totally guessing, but if you bust it down to clangers per possession, you might get a different picture.

Also, that doesn't measure the scale of some of the abolsute howlers JMac puts in.

The average is about a quarter of the possessions to clangers

My point is Joel Mac seems to be now the object of hate, why do we have one?......do some people need it to cover their own inadequacy.............., I don't see any of the keyboard heroes on here willing to put their body on the line for two hours every weekend........they are sitting in the stands drinking [censored], scoffing pies and shouting abuse at their own players.......

As I have said in many other posts...if it gives you the shits so much....why watch and "support"

Edited October 31, 201212 yr by satyricon

I might be in the minority here, but i actually think MacDonald's disposal improved quite a bit as the season went on. I might need to take off my rose coloured glasses but I think he was far more accurate with his disposal in the second half of the year.

However, the one reason he should be retained is because of his courage in the contest and ability to spoil and make a contest. You can never have to few guys with those attributes.

Thank you for your wonderful well balanced post, didn't attack me personally, wasn't sarcastic or demeaning, a breath of fresh air really, careful you don't fall off your high horse.....

the point I was actually trying to make, is yes Joel Mac dropped a few marks, made a couple of errors, but towards the end of the season he had, and I know you will hate the word, because it doesn't sit well, improved in these areas, mainly because he knew he had to to continue to get a game....but feel free to keep perpetuating the myth

If you have such an outstanding knowledge of what is required to be a premiership team , I assume you are going to apply for the next job that comes up in the Footy Dept

I am not settling for anything, yes I want to see the Club win a premiership, but if I see a player unfairly lambasted then surely I am allowed to say so.....or perhaps not going from the tone of your reply....woe betide anyone that doesn't agree with the majority or who are percieved as soft.....

Yeah I've never caught on to the whole Jmac bashing. I don't think he makes many more mistakes than the rest of them down back. I mean gosh Chippa kicked it straight to an opposition player running towards goals 15 out in one of those last games of the season.

I think Dunn and JMac are never short of putting the hard yards in, yes they're not guns, but they certainly put their contributions in and deserve to be out there over the likes of Cale, who just doesn't give a toss.

Everyone knows my views on Dunn.

I'm holding out hope that he wants too much from us and walks when we don't give it.

Edited October 31, 201212 yr by titan_uranus

Joel Macdonald competes, and he does as he's told. In the long term that's setting the bar low, but at the moment that's where the bar is and like him or not, he cleared it when heaps of other (more talented) players didn't. I'm not a huge fan due to ordinary disposal and his proneness to brain fades (we can only carry one of those players and Garland is far superior), but I'm not surprised he's been offered another year.

Given that we look to be retaining Troy Davis, he's the player that should be looking to push Macdonald (and/or Dunn) out of the side in 2013.

You and your brigade of 'likers' after that comment should relaise that whilst J Mac does possess those admirable attributes you have named, he still absolutely kills us with his kicking and decision making.

Has a better DE% than McDonald, Grimes or Tapscott (and that's just amongst the defenders). Not suggesting he's the best player ever but it's not like they're going to sign him to a five year contract on a million bucks a year - he fills a spot for one or two more years, and unless you've got some delisted FA's to replace him you'd just be throwing another kid to the wolves.

I might be in the minority here, but i actually think MacDonald's disposal improved quite a bit as the season went on. I might need to take off my rose coloured glasses but I think he was far more accurate with his disposal in the second half of the year.

However, the one reason he should be retained is because of his courage in the contest and ability to spoil and make a contest. You can never have to few guys with those attributes.

If you are in the minority, you shouldn't be.

I defy anyone here to re-watch the games of '12, and then try and argue that Joel's disposal (and to a slightly lesser degree, his reliability) didn't dramatically improve throughout the second half of the season.

He's as hard as a cat's head, rarely takes a backward step, works his arse off, and has clearly worked on improving his weaknesses. Any wonder Neeld thinks he's alright?

Sure, he will most likely be overtaken in time, as our youth improve, but for now I'm more than happy to see him on the list. Even if just for depth.

Troy Davis is a monster (his nickname is the Beast), if we have kept him, it is for cover for Chip and Sellar, he will be even bigger and stronger after this pre season...Joel Mac and Dunn will be competing with the likes of Strauss,Tynan,Garland, Nicholson to defend the small to medium fwds, although Dunny is big and mean enough to take some of the bigger fwds

We have removed 11 player from the Primary List and some of you are bitching because of what, exactly?

Mising out on the awesome player at Pick 73?

Some of you just want what is in the box...

"$10k or what is in this box?"

"The box! The box!"

Troy Davis is a monster (his nickname is the Beast), if we have kept him, it is for cover for Chip and Sellar, he will be even bigger and stronger after this pre season...Joel Mac and Dunn will be competing with the likes of Strauss,Tynan,Garland, Nicholson to defend the small to medium fwds, although Dunny is big and mean enough to take some of the bigger fwds

If anyone saw the last couple of games at Casey Davis showed a lot of promise.