Why is James Magner on the rookie list?

[What 18,810]

what a dumb management decision by the MFC

the guy has proven to be a ball magnet at AFL level and he goes as hard at the ball as anyone in the league

He would be a walk up start the the Demon midfield if he was actually available to play

Im not saying he is the savior, but he must be [censored] off at the current situation especially when we have spudss like Rodan, Bail, Pederson and Nicholson all getting games in the seniors

The management of this club is disgraceful and we never learn from past mistakes.

[rpfc 28,844]

No-one has a bad injury.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,100]

Because he was drafted as a rookie and had another year to go before we have to take him or cut him.

[The Song Formerly Known As 6,479]

what a dumb management decision by the MFC

the guy has proven to be a ball magnet at AFL level and he goes as hard at the ball as anyone in the league

He would be a walk up start the the Demon midfield if he was actually available to play

Im not saying he is the savior, but he must be [censored] off at the current situation especially when we have spudss like Rodan, Bail, Pederson and Nicholson all getting games in the seniors

The management of this club is disgraceful and we never learn from past mistakes.

Agree with everything except for your opinion on spud players.

Magner deserves to be in the side.

[Nasher 33,617]

In addition to rpfc's and Ralph's posts; because he did not show enough last year to indicate that he was a "must have".

Think between the three of us it's about summed it up.

[DeeSpencer 26,094]

1. Is he really a difference maker? Not is he a nice player to have avialable but a difference maker? His games last year said keep me around I'm a good option and might flourish, but they weren't as good as Sam Gibsons from North.

2. How often is it you don't have a long term injury to start the season?

3. Upgrading Magner would've forced the club to forego one senior list spot and instead have an extra rookie pick, which in could've resulted in us missing Terlich. Or even having Terlich getting 30+ touches in the VFL without being able to play him

4. We brought in Matt Jones as another mature midfielder

5. We brought in Viney as a ready to go inside mid

6. We brought in Rodan as an inside mid.

By the way Port have Kane Mitchell and Collingwood could very well have had Sam Dwyer in similar positions. The rookie rules are stupid if you ask me. But in a way they prevent clubs from leaving players out to dry who they need.

In hindsight I don't think Neeld thought we'd be nearly as bad as we are. Maybe that influenced him retaining Joel Macdonald and getting so many senior guys. Or maybe he knew how bad we were and that's why he brought those guys in.

Either way I'm not at all convinced Magner is the hero we think he is. He plays the right way so would be nice to have in but really he's not actually better than McKenzie and Rodan who played tonight and did next to nothing.

[Swooper Northey 494]

He's got the clearance grunt that we so badly need. Moloney wouldn't have had the picnic he enjoyed today had Magner been in the guts. He'd be giving Jonesy the help he so desparately needs. Given the lack of quality clearance players we have on our list, it defies logic why he's stuck playing for Casey as a rookie.

[Demon Dynasty 17,109]

You'll get the usual posters before this week (and probably still will) who will come back with the line ....."because they're too SLOW!"

But nothing could be slower than what we saw from McKenzie/Trengove and unfortunately Jones in the mid today. And i'm usually a big Jones fan. Yep he tried his guts out as usual but he had a shocker i'm afraid. The 3 of them just played dumb non thinking....sloOOOOOOW Motion 1970's style football. Even without Black and Rich we couldn't contain the Lions mids let alone beat them on the scoreboard (the ultimate judge) in just 1 quarter. That's right folks, against one of the poorest performing clubs in the AFL so far this year, we did not win 1 quarter of football up against a B grade mid field....and B grade is stretching it!!!

Magner and Couch would have been worth a roll into the middle at some point this season even just to provide some grunt and a few extra numbers/AFL size bods to help share the load of the rotations through there. Especially on a hot day at the Gabba. Would have them anytime in this team in preference to Pedo, Bail and Seller. Time for Taggart to get a call up too i would think.

Extremely poor management on behalf of the Coach and FD.

I'm afraid we are a party to witnessing and barracking for one of THE dumbest professional (and i use that term loosely) football clubs ever, both on and off the field, and i'm afraid we've done so for nearly half a century now, excluding about 6 to 8 years of decent competitiveness under Northey/Balme and 2 or 3 under ND.

But then again after witnessing and supporting this club for most of that half century i should no longer be surprised at the depths of dumbness we will plumb.

[Swooper Northey 494]

I would have elevated Magner ahead of Nicholson. We keep hearing Neeld ask who's a competitor and who's not? Well, perhaps the hardest competitor at the MFC isn't eligible to play league footy at the moment...

[Je Roos Salem 661]

Based on his preseason form, I thought he'd be one of our first picked each week. And he hasn't even been able to get picked.

Is it ok to barrack for bad players to get injured?

[Mad_Melbourne 877]

too slow, butchers the pill, and has problems with the spread.

rather be giving games to evans, bail, toumpas, viney, m.jones, jetta, blease, nicho and even taggert, strauss and tynan

[Good Times Grimes 2,396]

I guarantee you that if he were in the side and not a rookie, there would be threads going around about how useless he is. Promoting Magner will not solve our problems.

[PJ_12345 1,098]

what a dumb management decision by the MFC

the guy has proven to be a ball magnet at AFL level and he goes as hard at the ball as anyone in the league

He would be a walk up start the the Demon midfield if he was actually available to play

Im not saying he is the savior, but he must be [censored] off at the current situation especially when we have spudss like Rodan, Bail, Pederson and Nicholson all getting games in the seniors

The management of this club is disgraceful and we never learn from past mistakes.

Nicholson and Evans either needed to be elevated from the rookie list or dropped as they have been on it for two years.

We needed to elevate Nicholson because of the hole left by Rivers and we needed Evans for our midfield (look how thats turned out - one of our best players)

Magner still has one more on the rookie list till we have to either promote him to the senior list or drop him.

He was good last year but its fairly obvious why he wasnt promoted above Nicholson or Evans, gives him an extra year of training and good for our salary cap (rookies get paid a lower rate).

If he keeps it up he will most likely be promoted and a big asset.

Not a dumb management decision by the MFC - a smart, educated, and correct decision.

[titan_uranus 25,058]

Not a dumb management decision by the MFC - a smart, educated, and correct decision.

Correct.

[bluey 1,118]

He is on a two year rookie contract and will be delisted at years end.

Nearly 26 y.o VFL level player with a disposal average of 14.

Still you could argue he is no better or worse than most of the listed players, captains included.

[Jarka 767]

In addition to rpfc's and Ralph's posts; because he did not show enough last year to indicate that he was a "must have".

Think between the three of us it's about summed it up.

I agree Nasher however it's pretty clear that we have a serious problem with the lack of players that can go in the middle. Magner would be handy for our rotations.

But, having said that what's done is done, we can't do anything about it now.

[PJ_12345 1,098]

He is on a two year rookie contract and will be delisted at years end.

Nearly 26 y.o VFL level player with a disposal average of 14.

Still you could argue he is no better or worse than most of the listed players, captains included.

Magner for me always seems to put that extra 10% than most of our listed players.

10% harder when running, 10% harder at attacking the footy/man and 10% more pressure.

Sure he can muck it up sometimes but that's what I'm hoping this year can sort out for him.

I put it down to that he was in the draft 7 times till we picked him up, and trying to earn his keep. Id rather that attitude any day of the week in our list, even if it comes with a bit less skill.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

too slow, butchers the pill, and has problems with the spread.

rather be giving games to evans, bail, toumpas, viney, m.jones, jetta, blease, nicho and even taggert, strauss and tynan

Can you name any of the Melbourne Players that arent slow and don't butcher the pill?

Spread; the players don't even know what that looks like.

[Hatchman 539]

Should be in the team right now.

I agree that the decision to keep him there made good fiscal sense, but the fact of the matter is we suck. Badly, and we need a hardened clearance body like Magner to stem the bleeding.

We will get murdered by the likes of Geelong, Hawks and Collingwood with their midfields and another 100+ point hiding is not good for rebuilding a team - irrespective of where it may or may not be at.

[PJ_12345 1,098]

Should be in the team right now.

I agree that the decision to keep him there made good fiscal sense, but the fact of the matter is we suck. Badly, and we need a hardened clearance body like Magner to stem the bleeding.

We will get murdered by the likes of Geelong, Hawks and Collingwood with their midfields and another 100+ point hiding is not good for rebuilding a team - irrespective of where it may or may not be at.

Not just fiscal sense but common sense period. To elevate Magner off the rookie list we would have had to drop Evans or Nicholson - their limit on the rookie list was up, Magner can still have another year on it.

Evans is better than Magner and the reason we won against GWS.

Nicholson is needed to fill the gap from Rivers and help out/rotate Frawley and McDonald.

So you could either sacrifice a better midfeild player OR sacrifice strengthening our backline for Magner...

There are other ways to fix our mid.

[demon-4-life 467]

Because Dave Misson is too good at his job

[Dr. Mubutu 866]

Nicholson is needed to fill the gap from Rivers and help out/rotate Frawley and McDonald.

I'm not seeing this at all. Rivers provided decent disposal and a big body in the contests. Nicholson does neither.

And as far as rotating goes, aren't Frawley, McDonald and Garland running at about 99% game time this year?

[Benson 254]

what a dumb management decision by the MFC

the guy has proven to be a ball magnet at AFL level and he goes as hard at the ball as anyone in the league

He would be a walk up start the the Demon midfield if he was actually available to play

Im not saying he is the savior, but he must be [censored] off at the current situation especially when we have spudss like Rodan, Bail, Pederson and Nicholson all getting games in the seniors

The management of this club is disgraceful and we never learn from past mistakes.

Evans & Nicholson were both promoted rookies. I can only assume they were both promoted over Magner is due to the amount of years on the list.

It may be Magner & Couch that will be promoted this year, actually, it definitely should be Mangner & Couch.

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

in a parallel universe somewhere, Magner played yesterday and was absolutely shyzen.. and smeone made a thread about how awful the MFC are for recruiting/promoting/selecting him

[rpfc 28,844]

How about this for a scenario:

If Magner was on the list this year, Dean Terlich would not be.

He was the last live pick at the draft for us, and if one of you says "we may have got him in the Rookie Draft!" then you are an idiot because it would mean he wasn't on the list and in the same place as Magner.