I am still stunned that the Dogs cut him free. Surely you'd keep him for depth/off field leadership etc.

Absolutely pumped he was though and that he then chose us.

I think it's fairly clear that the Roos philosophy with his team is to develop a culture which engenders respect. Anyone who read the Oracle's piece on Cross and his off the field deeds and the respect within which he was held at the Bulldogs would know that this bloke is a handy person to have at a club, especially one like ours that has lost a lot of respect in the football world over the past six or seven seasons when we went from being the best performed Victorian team to the consistently worst performed.

Naturally, we need blokes who can turn games around off their own boots but that will only come about when your entire team is respected. I think therefore that Cross will be as welcome and as important an addition to the club as Dom Tyson, Bernie Vince, pick # 9 and Paul Roos himself.

Of course, Jesse Hogan's another matter altogether but that's another story ...

I'm ready for the Saints in Round 1. In fact bring on whoever we're due to play in that truncated pre season competition!

...Dal Santo isn't just chasing money, he thinks they could have a real crack...

Agree Dal Santo and Sylvia - similar motivations - success.

...

If the saints wanted to keep Dal Santo they would've and he might have mentored the kids etc. But they traded their first ruck FFS, they signaled their intentions.

Ok I may have been a bit harsh on NDS and maybe he was pushed by the saints bit while cross was clearly pushed the scenario looked like NDS chose to go.

I agree North will be more successful than the saints and will likely play more finals in the short term but my point was more that sylvia has had no success and is trying to find some while NDS has had a good share of success but instead of giving back to his club is now chasing more minor (finals not flags) success; even if not chasing money. I don't believe north are a genuine top 4 side but then I may be wrong.

If NDS had any interest in staying he certainly didn't really show it assist from ofh gosh it was a hard decision", which is expected in our media trained world.

On a different not I think it was disgraceful that the AS FL let them void a contract to allow st Kilda to get FA compo. In return for letting North get him for nothing, North accepted pick 77 for Delany instead of demanding full value.

As far as I'm concerned that is draft tampering. Although it wouldn't surprise me if the AFL allowed it so that they can show how compo is flawed and subsequently scrap it.

I am still stunned that the Dogs cut him free. Surely you'd keep him for depth/off field leadership etc.

Absolutely pumped he was though and that he then chose us.

Yep always enjoyed watching him, absolute workhorse. Underrated because he isn't flashy.

And he is exactly what we need! Of only he was 3 years younger, but I'll take a couple of years from cross as a mentor to our young mids and as a stop gap to help us be competitive.

While all the St kilda stuff has been going on, Cross is now officially a Dee

Woo Hoo welcome Daniel!

Melbourne FC ‏@melbournefc 18h

It's official! 210-game veteran Daniel Cross has joined the Club as a delisted free agent. http://mfcde.es/1dWc1zm

Interview with Burgs.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2013-11-01/cross-joins-demons-from-dogs

Good signing happy with him ... did anyone notice the lack of sponsors on the polo shirt again.

He certainly comes across very well. Level headed with clear vision to his goals and where his participation probably lies.

Looking forward to seeing him play for us

Will walk straight into our leadership group.

No eyebrow raising stuff like we did with Shannon Byrnes..

Will walk straight into our leadership group.

No eyebrow raising stuff like we did with Shannon Byrnes..

You mean what the players did to put Shannon in the LG.

I think a few on here have a reprehensible attitude to a bloke who simply signed a contract and wanted to be a Dee.

At some point, we are going to stop regurgitating all our perceived failures and start moving in a forward direction.

Lets hope he can show that form that he had in r23 against us. Isnt it funny that a year ago neeld was criticised for bringing in older players but no one says anything when roos does it. Im not having a go at roos and I guess the difference is these guys can actually play.

But now our midfield looks a bit tougher and finally jones will get some help.

The positive thing is he has a good attiude and is very hungry to play

What a ripper fella. Great to have him here. Just the sort of person we need.

Lets hope he can show that form that he had in r23 against us. Isnt it funny that a year ago neeld was criticised for bringing in older players but no one says anything when roos does it. Im not having a go at roos and I guess the difference is these guys can actually play.

But now our midfield looks a bit tougher and finally jones will get some help.

The positive thing is he has a good attiude and is very hungry to play

Asked and answered.

Asked and answered.

Moneyball ver 2.15 ( most of the bugs worked out )

Thrilled to have Daniel on board, his ability to hit team mates by hand or foot will impact immediately and if he could play to 33 like Junior he'll prove a very important addition for us.

The encouraging thing is that Cross comes to us after originally being picked up by the Dogs for pick #56. Be great if we drafted a player of similar calibre this year with our pick #57!

Thrilled to have Daniel on board, his ability to hit team mates by hand or foot will impact immediately and if he could play to 33 like Junior he'll prove a very important addition for us.

and a major loss to the Bulldogs

Thrilled to have Daniel on board, his ability to hit team mates by hand or foot will impact immediately and if he could play to 33 like Junior he'll prove a very important addition for us.

Cross isn't that good.

Junior was a battler who came good in his last ever season with us .

Neither are/were good kicks.

They both have hard heads-which is a start.

Interesting to see that he wants to play for another 2 to 3 years and there's no reason why not, could get 50 to 60 games out of him.

Junior was a battler who came good in his last ever season with us .

???

Jr was named in the AA team in '06 and won 2 bluey's.

Great to see Daniel Cross putting his head over the ball, racking up possessions and providing structure and experience out on the field. It is obvious he is not going to waste his time at Melbourne and I am loving his no nonsense approach to it. It is nice to see a midfield working as a unit.

What a leader. This is a brilliant interview. So spot on, and it's great to see another man in the MFC leading by example. I really hope he stays on as a player with us for a few years, and a development coach after.

"We have got to get away from the mentality of it's just another big loss. It has got to really hurt and burn inside each individual and you can't accept it. Every individual has got to make a change," Cross told AFL.com.au. "We can't just expect supporters to say 'at least they tried this week'. Well, no … bugger that. I want to play with players that are just hell bent on winning games and have a mindset of winning games so I need to be pushing guys to think that way."

Glad to hear that spot-on sentiment about supporters is filtering through the playing group. You'd think Roos would be using it as ammunition to rev the boys up.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2014-04-04/dees-must-be-hell-bent-on-winning-cross

What a leader. This is a brilliant interview. So spot on, and it's great to see another man in the MFC leading by example. I really hope he stays on as a player with us for a few years, and a development coach after.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2014-04-04/dees-must-be-hell-bent-on-winning-cross

Agree with him 100%...he is a great pick up for the club and he just doesn't talk a good game he follows through with actions.

What a leader. This is a brilliant interview. So spot on, and it's great to see another man in the MFC leading by example. I really hope he stays on as a player with us for a few years, and a development coach after.

Glad to hear that spot-on sentiment about supporters is filtering through the playing group. You'd think Roos would be using it as ammunition to rev the boys up.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2014-04-04/dees-must-be-hell-bent-on-winning-cross

It really is just the same old, though.

I think it's damning that it even needs to be said that players need a desire to win. They lack it completely.

I know it's tough, but the reality is that this team is literally a pack of losers. They seem to accept rather than lament a big loss, and for man of the guys it's unacceptable. I am just astonishing that guys like Frawley, Jones, that these guys just seem to go through the motions. I love Jones but I feel the last 12 months he is just going through the paces.

In a pack of downhill skiers, it's always a, "Someone else will do it" mentality. Being hell bent on winning is a fundamental, a requirement. Anyone that doesn't have it should be in the VFL.

The game was lost on Sunday before the match even began. You can see it. It's sad.