As you said, we can't afford to loose Col.

3 year deal and make this man a Demon for life, I've been impressed with his work rate this season.

Would be a huge boost for the club (and Neeld) if this can get done soon!

After Col our attention can then turn to big Max.

Will be interesting to see what the likes of Grand New Flag will say if Sylvia decides to sign on for another 2 or 3 years... will certainly torpedo his claims to have had the word from his player agent/manager friend who claims Sylvia (and others) will walk because of Neeld.

Disagree and agree at the same time.

They have much more established talent then we do at the moment, but we've got a heap of un-tapped talent.

I don't want to use that dirty P word!

I see it as hidden talent.

So far hidden we will never find it.

Seriously we have about ten players that would make the 22 at our competitors

The rest are not AFL standard.

It is that simple IMO

meh

As for the comparison's with Port, our list does actually have a lot to offer.

Frawley, Garland, McDonald and Watts could rapidly become a truly premium-quality ground of tall, mobile defenders. But right now they are mostly broken for confidence.

Our forwards targets list is hardly shabby, with Clark, Dawes, Howe and Hogan to mix it from. But they are all injured, off-list or trying to assist our midfield.

Jamar has been functionally barely adequate but like so many, clearly is shot for confidence and is capable of much better. Gawn is extremely promising, but is in the ruckman equivalent of adolescence still.

But it is when you get under 190cm, things get very thin. We'd want 12 good players capable of running all day mixing midfield or agile forward/defender roles.

We have...

Sylvia, Jones, Grimes and Trengove and Mckenzie are all she wrote for midfielder's with any semblance of AFL experience. And McKenzie is considered by many to be right on the fringe of AFL vs VFL.

Then, a bunch of 'maybe' or 'probably not' 20-22 year olds and a few long-term kids, Viney and Toumpas.

So there it is - with confidence, our forwards and defenders could very quickly become promising.

But, and here is my endless mantra - we need five more consistently AFL standard midfielders. Five. Ouch.

No wonder there's so much angst about Toumpas and Viney not tearing the world apart in their first half-dozen games!

So from your list LG we have 14 players who are good enough

You need 30 min. We need another 16 not 5

Will be interesting to see what the likes of Grand New Flag will say if Sylvia decides to sign on for another 2 or 3 years... will certainly torpedo his claims to have had the word from his player agent/manager friend who claims Sylvia (and others) will walk because of Neeld.

Col can seriously play and I hope we sign him asap! He is one of the most courageous players in the team and with a bit more focus could be a fantastic leader. In fact he already leads on the field. However, frustration often gets the better of him.

I would hate to see him move on!

Rivers was offered more money to stay but decided he wanted to play in a successful team and look at the result (knee injury aside).

Sylvia will do the same as long as Neeld remains coach.

On a side note, I'd be very happy to lose Silvia and some how work out a way to get Jack Zeibel from Norf.

On a side note, I'd be very happy to lose Silvia and some how work out a way to get Jack Zeibel from Norf.

Haha would be nice but i have a feeling North rate zeibs higher than anyone else on their list, can't see them letting him go anywhere anytime soon

Sylvia's signature will act like a barometer for where the club/FD are at. Sylvia has been at the club for close to a decade but the majority of his mates are gone. Sign him and perhaps satryconhome's rosy pictures are true. He leaves and our club parts way with a quality player that we can ill afford to loose

Why would we want to lose another experienced player, and pick up someone else from another club that no-one else wants? We need to stand up and show our boys a bit of loyalty, if we expect them to show it to us in return. The last few years we have been very disloyal, discarding players for no good reason and then picking rejects to 'replace' them. This must be very disheartening to those that remain - and not very good for their mind set. I know that Col has shown more promise than he has delivered, but I still think we can't afford to lose him. We want to make Melbourne a club people want to stay at, rather than one where they jump before they are pushed.

Col will stay cos we will offer him more money

Pretty sure thats all hes interested in

As for the comparison's with Port, our list does actually have a lot to offer.

Frawley, Garland, McDonald and Watts could rapidly become a truly premium-quality ground of tall, mobile defenders. But right now they are mostly broken for confidence.

Our forwards targets list is hardly shabby, with Clark, Dawes, Howe and Hogan to mix it from. But they are all injured, off-list or trying to assist our midfield.

Jamar has been functionally barely adequate but like so many, clearly is shot for confidence and is capable of much better. Gawn is extremely promising, but is in the ruckman equivalent of adolescence still.

But it is when you get under 190cm, things get very thin. We'd want 12 good players capable of running all day mixing midfield or agile forward/defender roles.

We have...

Sylvia, Jones, Grimes and Trengove and Mckenzie are all she wrote for midfielder's with any semblance of AFL experience. And McKenzie is considered by many to be right on the fringe of AFL vs VFL.

Then, a bunch of 'maybe' or 'probably not' 20-22 year olds and a few long-term kids, Viney and Toumpas.

So there it is - with confidence, our forwards and defenders could very quickly become promising.

But, and here is my endless mantra - we need five more consistently AFL standard midfielders. Five. Ouch.

No wonder there's so much angst about Toumpas and Viney not tearing the world apart in their first half-dozen games!

Totally.

As frustrating as Sylvia can be, we can't afford to lose more senior players. Sign him at all costs, or the disease spreads further. Rivers, Moloney, Bruce etc all walked in recent years, we can't afford others too or it spreads like a plague down the list.

For me Col, frawley and Gawn are the priority, Gawn will be the easiest to convince of all three i imagine but if we could get all three it would be huge, and great for the young players to see blokes aren't just going to jump ship first chance they get.

Col will stay cos we will offer him more money

Pretty sure thats all hes interested in

If he goes, it would be to play with a team that is going to play finals, which i wouldn't begrudge him, but to say the only reason he would stay is for money is pretty average in my opinion. Reckon there could be a couple of other reasons he would stay, such as the mates he still has at the club, or to repay the loyalty the club has shown to him.

Joel Macdonald?

James Sellar?

Jake Spencer?

Who am I missing?

James Sellar? Only one word - dud!

Col can seriously play and I hope we sign him asap! He is one of the most courageous players in the team and with a bit more focus could be a fantastic leader. In fact he already leads on the field. However, frustration often gets the better of him.

I would hate to see him move on!

Sorry but his best is to little often seen! We need week in week out players. I don't think he has a chance in hell of ever being a leader!

Sorry but his best is to little often seen! We need week in week out players. I don't think he has a chance in hell of ever being a leader!

Worse than that, I think he ruins a lot of his teammates' good work by not taking the first option when he gets it. And no, blindly roosting the ball inside our forward 50 is not an "option" in my book.

Sylvia's signature will act like a barometer for where the club/FD are at. Sylvia has been at the club for close to a decade but the majority of his mates are gone. Sign him and perhaps satryconhome's rosy pictures are true. He leaves and our club parts way with a quality player that we can ill afford to loose

Thought that already happened with Rivers and Moloney, who have both bagged out Neeld since leaving....

I agree this signing will potentially speak volumes

I agree this signing will potentially speak volumes

Probably about what's been said about a new coach...

If he walks he is well within his rights to do so but it's vital we replace him with someone of similar experience as it will free up cap room, maybe a Nick Dal Santo

No, he's not within his rights at all. We've persisted with him, based solely on one or two performances a year and his "potential", for almost a decade. He needs to repay that faith.

If he's so talented, maybe we can trade him in a deal to get, say, Zaharakis?

Sylvia and a first round pick might do it.

Or maybe someone should just point out to him that that is how far off 'genuine A-grader' he is and it's nobody's responsibility but his own.

Hang on. What? Zaharakis is worth a first rounder, plus Sylvia? Incredible. Even if Sylvia was tradeable, I'd want more than Zaharakis. Decent B grade mid in an up and about team. Nothing more. Overrated for mine.

Col can seriously play and I hope we sign him asap! He is one of the most courageous players in the team and with a bit more focus could be a fantastic leader. In fact he already leads on the field. However, frustration often gets the better of him.

I would hate to see him move on!

Thanks for that, Colin.

He's frustrating but I would rather keep him than lose him for nothing.