Do you reckon he walks into Neelds office and they talk about the good old days at collingwood when they were playing finals, winning and of course the premiership.

Seriously though he is an impressive man and will be great for us. I liked how he spoke up in the press conference and said it wasnt good enough because they didnt win.

He has the head of a 250 game player on his shoulders, i can see exactly why he maybe paid overs to get him to the club now, the post match presser was very impressive.

I wonder if the Club ultimately paid overs for Dawes and Clark in the long term. I suspect it is more like they were effectively paid a front loaded signing bonus for the first couple of years and then the back end of their contracts for the last couple of years will be what they should be paid going forward. If the money was there and there was plenty of room in the salary cap what was there to lose by paying overs in the first year or 2. It meant we got two players we wouldn't have got otherwise. Other teams needed them as much as we did and we beat them to them. Journo's can say what they like but they have no idea of the intricacies of the needs on each list. Dawes value is worth a lot more to MFC at the moment than it would be to other clubs who don't need key position players. So who says we paid overs. I bet Carltank wish they had the salary cap to get him at whatever the cost. He would have been worth even more to them than us.

I'm guessing he kept quiet while not being out on the park and will now say it how it is which is long overdue. Uncompromising leadership. What the club needs.

I think he has been a huge pickup for us. Some genuine, hard leadership. His work rate on the field is first class.

Ok, well, what an odd game for a KPP to have his best game for the club...

Good effort.

Chris Dawes stood up tonight. Well done.

Not only did he stand up o field, but he stood up i the press conference after as well. The guy really impressed me today.

I was not sure if we made the right move with Dawes, I still think we got conned into paying overs but that said the quality of 2 out of his 3 games for us has been good. A Collingwood supporter mate (yes I do have mates who support them) said when we got Dawes that he thought they had made a big mistake, he may well be right. All the hype about Lynch and he is giving them donuts, Dawes is proving a good leader on and off the field.

I was not sure if we made the right move with Dawes, I still think we got conned into paying overs but that said the quality of 2 out of his 3 games for us has been good. A Collingwood supporter mate (yes I do have mates who support them) said when we got Dawes that he thought they had made a big mistake, he may well be right. All the hype about Lynch and he is giving them donuts, Dawes is proving a good leader on and off the field.

I was very confident that Lynch would prove to be a mistake for them and making Dawes make way for him the cherry on top. He was always very lumbering at WC and had probably two seasons of good football while being delivered laces out by Cousins, Judd, and Kerr. Glad we got Dawes instead of him.

I was not sure if we made the right move with Dawes, I still think we got conned into paying overs but that said the quality of 2 out of his 3 games for us has been good. A Collingwood supporter mate (yes I do have mates who support them) said when we got Dawes that he thought they had made a big mistake, he may well be right. All the hype about Lynch and he is giving them donuts, Dawes is proving a good leader on and off the field.

I understand what you are saying about giving up pick 20 but I don't think the equivalent experienced mid would have been 'gettable' with that pick, and the wait on the 'promising teen' at that pick would have been 3/4 years.

That isn't to say we shouldn't back our recruitment of good kids in that area of the draft - just that allowing Clark to get out to CHF/Back Up Ruck is a ripple effect that I find valuable, as is allowing Hogan to get the third tall, and saving him from having balls pumped in on his head.

Hes given us a focal point across CHF we have missed for a long time.

Get him with Hogan, Clarke, Howe next year will be a dangerous forward line.

We just need to ramp up the midfield to double the inside 50's

More opportunities is what we need.

The guy can play!

How do we clone him? We need more of this type of player.

Make him Captain. He will lead. Listen to him...

Grimes & Trengove need to learn.

What a ripper. Neeld looks much better with cd next to him.

Geez I hope pj makes the right decision. I s an heeding splinters from sitting on the fence over this. I hate the press with an all abiding passion and to sack mn to appease people like Wilson and Hutch and healey would make me sick.

Thanks heavens for an external view

Can't wait to see Dawes next to Clark and Hogan... + Watts/Howe

Chris Dawes was magnificent today.

I dont recall him ever playing with that aggression when he was with collingwood

An inspired pickup, if he can continue that form.

Well done today Chris, fantastic LEADERS effort

True, this bloke can lead alright... Would be a worthy captain. When he speaks, you listen

i love this guy, when was the last time a CHF lad 21 possies and 12 marks for the MFC?

No cheap stats either, he was commanding and had a presence.

Salivating at the thought of Dawes, Hogan and Clark rotating between the forward 50.and a high CHF.

Surely coaches will be lining up to get a crack at coaching those 3 guys, it will be a lethal combo.

And he hasn't played a 100 games yet and has just turned 25.

Yet to hit his peak.

His leadership is quality, when Davey kicked to Rodan in the 50 and it was intercepted and the ball went quickly down the other end. Dawes ran over to Davey who had his bead hung low and gave him a slap and talking to that lifted Daveys head back up.

It was good to see.

Happy that we got him on board.

Watching him last year at Collingwood I always felt that even when he was apparently down on form there was never a moment he was doing other than busting a gut and even when a big body like his is not getting the ball himself, he is he is bringing it to ground and also clearing a path for the smaller players.

I cannot remember him ever marking as well as yesterday. It did seem that he was more in a one on one situation rather that other weeks when he appeared sometimes swamped (as Clarke has been). This may have had something to do with his great work-rate.

Clarke must be licking his lips at the thought of now being in that same position where he will be normally one out as Dawes simply cannot be left alone on yesterday's form.

I thought in the NAB cup match against North that the whole forward line functioned better when Dawes was there. Add to the fact that we may now have two big mobile forwards with leadership oozing from them, what a wonderful way for Hogan to be initiated to AFL football next year. I always thought Jack Darling was very luckiy with those he had round him in his first year and if Clarke and Dawes can stay on the park, Hogon could be even better off (if the ball gets down there).

i love this guy, when was the last time a CHF lad 21 possies and 12 marks for the MFC? No cheap stats either, he was commanding and had a presence. Salivating at the thought of Dawes, Hogan and Clark rotating between the forward 50.and a high CHF. Surely coaches will be lining up to get a crack at coaching those 3 guys, it will be a lethal combo.

That would be Brad Miller in the 2006 semi final that we lost against Fremantle. That was Brad's best game for the club.

As for Dawes, he as Clark did last year, exceeded my expectations. I thought he would play a good role for us, but he's looking very dangerous, more of a threat than I ever considered him at Collingwood. With Clark and Hogan next to him, we will have a great forward line, but we need to get the midfield right.

The best part about Dawes giving public sprays about the teams lack of effort means that he has nowhere to hide. He MUST put in 100% himself now that he has, on 3 seperate occasions (2 post game pressers and 1 The Age article), given it to our players.

Well the effort he put in yesterday certainly backs up his mouth. Let's hope he can continue week in week out.

Has definitely become my first pick now at being captain to lead this club out of the misery it sits in.

That would be Brad Miller in the 2006 semi final that we lost against Fremantle. That was Brad's best game for the club.

As for Dawes, he as Clark did last year, exceeded my expectations. I thought he would play a good role for us, but he's looking very dangerous, more of a threat than I ever considered him at Collingwood. With Clark and Hogan next to him, we will have a great forward line, but we need to get the midfield right.

[i was at this game. 40,000 Freo fans against 2,000 MFC supporters. I song "It a grand old flag" so loud that the Freo Supporter in front of me had to cover her ears. They were so soft! /quote]