Insight is on in the background and Clint Bartram popped up to talk about his degenerative knee condition and stem cell treatment. I was only half concentrating but really took not when he said his knee was at the point that he couldn't stand up for half an hour without pain and swelling. He indicated that the treatment has improved his comfort and mobility in day to day life but not to a level to return to elite sport.

I really liked the way Clint went about his football. He is probably a great example of the sort of 24-28 year old clubman type that our club has really missed. He was rarely beaten, and while many on here bemoan his kicking, I thought he really grew as a player particularly in his last season. I remember his awesome boundary goal v Essendon (I think) in the 2012 season. I also think that the way we have handled players in recent years - Jurrah, Bartram, Clark - is something that us supporters should be very proud to support a club like Melbourne.

i know him personally. Absolute stand up guy. Wasn't a great kick but tried bloody hard. Could have shown a few how to "have a crack" last Saturday, that's for sure.

i know him personally. Absolute stand up guy. Wasn't a great kick but tried bloody hard. Could have shown a few how to "have a crack" last Saturday, that's for sure.

Would not have helped our disposal efficiency much though...

Would not have helped our disposal efficiency much though...

Gotta get the ball to at least have the opportunity to dispose of it poorly.

Need all to have his heart and endeavour. Very good player for the dees

There is no formula. Clarkson came from nowhere. Experienced Malthouse would have been a disaster. Likewise Sheedy. Favourite sons like Voss, Hird , Buckley don't seem to work out. No name types that have been around for years seem to be the flavour of the month e.g Hinkley - however there aren't many left. Only Leigh Tudor comes to mind. Highly rated assistants such as Neeld, Bailey and Watters can't step up to the plate.

Roos made a success of the apprenticeship model with Horse so it seems to work for him. Probably because he has nothing to prove and doesn't need his ego massaged. As long as he gives it enough time to train his acolyte and is in the background afterwards it seems to be the way to go. I trust his instincts to pick the right successor and we should be happy to go with that. If it's Kirk, Ling or Hayes I don't really care. From a distance there is no way of any of us knowing.

Having said that I will be surprised if Kirk isn't the man with Ling in an assistants role. I think all will be revealed at the end of the finals. I'm sure everything is in place now.

There is no formula. Clarkson came from nowhere. Experienced Malthouse would have been a disaster. Likewise Sheedy. Favourite sons like Voss, Hird , Buckley don't seem to work out. No name types that have been around for years seem to be the flavour of the month e.g Hinkley - however there aren't many left. Only Leigh Tudor comes to mind. Highly rated assistants such as Neeld, Bailey and Watters can't step up to the plate.

Roos made a success of the apprenticeship model with Horse so it seems to work for him. Probably because he has nothing to prove and doesn't need his ego massaged. As long as he gives it enough time to train his acolyte and is in the background afterwards it seems to be the way to go. I trust his instincts to pick the right successor and we should be happy to go with that. If it's Kirk, Ling or Hayes I don't really care. From a distance there is no way of any of us knowing.

Having said that I will be surprised if Kirk isn't the man with Ling in an assistants role. I think all will be revealed at the end of the finals. I'm sure everything is in place now.

Wrong thread sorry. Something went wrong with the quote button. I don't know how to relocate it. Again apologies to Clint fans ( and I'm one)

There is no formula. Clarkson came from nowhere. Experienced Malthouse would have been a disaster. Likewise Sheedy. Favourite sons like Voss, Hird , Buckley don't seem to work out. No name types that have been around for years seem to be the flavour of the month e.g Hinkley - however there aren't many left. Only Leigh Tudor comes to mind. Highly rated assistants such as Neeld, Bailey and Watters can't step up to the plate.

Roos made a success of the apprenticeship model with Horse so it seems to work for him. Probably because he has nothing to prove and doesn't need his ego massaged. As long as he gives it enough time to train his acolyte and is in the background afterwards it seems to be the way to go. I trust his instincts to pick the right successor and we should be happy to go with that. If it's Kirk, Ling or Hayes I don't really care. From a distance there is no way of any of us knowing.

Having said that I will be surprised if Kirk isn't the man with Ling in an assistants role. I think all will be revealed at the end of the finals. I'm sure everything is in place now.

I think a huge part of it is the list, would Horse, Buckley or Chris Scott have been able to do anything with our list?

Would Neeld, Bailey and Watters faired better if they were hired by Geelong or Sydney when Horse and Scott took over?

it's always a big gamble, I think more and more coaches are going to become hesitant to apply for jobs at lower teams

Loved Barty, got the most out of himself but unfortunately let down by his body in the end. Had reinvented himself into a handy tagger and dogged determination was to be admired.

2006 seems so long ago when we had some quality older players and young Barty, Jones, Bate and Dunn all coming through looking good with the older wiser heads to support them. This was a formula we should have stayed with in 2010 instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water

Very handy player, seemed to be playing the best footy of his career before he was struck down.

Loved Barty, got the most out of himself but unfortunately let down by his body in the end. Had reinvented himself into a handy tagger and dogged determination was to be admired.

2006 seems so long ago when we had some quality older players and young Barty, Jones, Bate and Dunn all coming through looking good with the older wiser heads to support them. This was a formula we should have stayed with in 2010 instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water

Some rose coloured glasses here. The quality, older players who were respected leaders were....................?

Tried his heart out

I remember when it came out how bad his degenerative knee condition was that all the doctors and physios were talking about was quality of life after football. That's when it hit home that this wasn't just an injury, it was an issue that he would live with the rest of his life for a relatively short AFL career.

I always admired they way he went about it and I reckon with a clean run he could've been quite a handy player for us. I remember there was a time that he was very rarely beaten by a small forward, I'd look at the opposition and think "we've got the small forward covered" all because of Barty.

i know him personally. Absolute stand up guy. Wasn't a great kick but tried bloody hard. Could have shown a few how to "have a crack" last Saturday, that's for sure.

I'll have 18 bartrams in my team, before one morton or bennell.. memo wattsy, take a leaf mate... & one day you might just make it to barts level.

Some rose coloured glasses here. The quality, older players who were respected leaders were....................?

Neitz, Junior and don't underestimate Millers leadership qualities off field. The problem was it was left to too few and as for rose coloured glasses if you review my posts over the years you will see my criticism of Danners for failing to turn the list over enough and relying on those who let him down so often when they needed to stand up.

The comment was more made as to amplify the importance of older wiser players to assist younger players. It's why the younger players at the Cats, Hawks and Swans look so polished

Insight is on in the background and Clint Bartram popped up to talk about his degenerative knee condition and stem cell treatment. I was only half concentrating but really took not when he said his knee was at the point that he couldn't stand up for half an hour without pain and swelling. He indicated that the treatment has improved his comfort and mobility in day to day life but not to a level to return to elite sport.

I really liked the way Clint went about his football. He is probably a great example of the sort of 24-28 year old clubman type that our club has really missed. He was rarely beaten, and while many on here bemoan his kicking, I thought he really grew as a player particularly in his last season. I remember his awesome boundary goal v Essendon (I think) in the 2012 season. I also think that the way we have handled players in recent years - Jurrah, Bartram, Clark - is something that us supporters should be very proud to support a club like Melbourne.

Reminds me that despite some bad mismanagement we've also had some pretty bad luck.

Freak knee injury to Bartram that leaves him with a truly degenerative knee and forced to retire. Clark the same, some bad injuries that no doubt affected his mental state. Jurrah, well we gave it our best shot with him and ok in hindsight you do more but you can't do it for him. Troy Broadbridge RIP.

I know every club has some bad luck and has players retiring or unable to reach their potential due to injury.

Maybe Bartram's kicking eventually lets him down too often and he doesn't make it. But he had the rare combination of speed, endurance and hardness. And if you have all 3 of those you almost don't have to worry about kicking as you can do so much else. You can be a shut down defender, a tagging mid, defensive forward or even if you have some class and work on your skills you can be a Rory Sloane type midfielder who uses the ball smartly enough without being a brilliant kick.

Edited July 15, 201411 yr by Georgiou R.R. Martin

 

Neitz, Junior and don't underestimate Millers leadership qualities off field. The problem was it was left to too few and as for rose coloured glasses if you review my posts over the years you will see my criticism of Danners for failing to turn the list over enough and relying on those who let him down so often when they needed to stand up.

The comment was more made as to amplify the importance of older wiser players to assist younger players. It's why the younger players at the Cats, Hawks and Swans look so polished

 

So true and evident with a real need for fit 28 + types like Cross and Bernie being recruited , I think we may go for another player of this type in the off season. we got way way ahead of ourselves letting a guy like Miller go.

he might've been yet another player unable to hit targets, but my god he put in effort and showed desire to compete 100% of the time.

was gutted when he had to retire.

And junior macdonald

Did Bartram's degenerative knee contribute at all to his poor kicking? I don't know which knee (or is it both) had the problem - but both legs are integral to the kicking action anyway.

I guess the only way to know is whether he was considered to be a good kick at junior level. Anyone know?

Did Bartram's degenerative knee contribute at all to his poor kicking? I don't know which knee (or is it both) had the problem - but both legs are integral to the kicking action anyway.

I guess the only way to know is whether he was considered to be a good kick at junior level. Anyone know?

Think there was always questions over his kicking, which was a contributor to his going so late in the draft.

I always thought he and the team played pretty well within his limitations, especially at his best. I think as our team improves, it'll surprise some people how all the poor kicks suddenly don't seem so bad.

was looking good till right at the end

was looking good till right at the end

Yeah, sad and pathetic. Just like our footy club. FM, I'm over how [censored] we are!

If only the many wearing the jumper could emulate this blokes endeavour.

Walk well Barty