Frawley aint worth pick 3.

That is assistance in my book.

You have absolutely no idea what that pick 3 will be like. Frawley is a walk up start in just about every side in the AFL. We have had how many top 5 to 10 picks that haven't made the grade? A bird in hand is often worth two....

Disgusted

Not surprised. Spivs, hookers and yellow-bellied con-men in charge everywhere I look. Each man for himself. The poor can eat each other.

What's that quote from Pablo Casals? "The situation is hopeless. We must take the next step."

Clearly that quote by Gill was the circuit breaker we should've heeded. The commission were factoring in "games we lost, and games we could have won."

So obviously the 7 or 8 losses where we led in the last quarter were a factor in their decision.

If Clark walks and we still get nothing, I'll be livid. Until then, I'm still fairly confident the AFL will at least try to help us out in some vague form, just not under the guise of a PP to prevent other clubs from kicking up a stink. They'll dress it up as compensation or something, and will almost definitely give us pick 3 for Frawley.

eddie say no

Wish he was a Melbourne supporter, we'd be flying! There's a reason he has so much influence- earned it through being a ruthless, take no shite kinda guy. We need some of that!

Frawley aint worth pick 3.

That is assistance in my book.

PIgs arse he's not. If the formula says he is then he is. It's not charity, we're losing our best key defender in his prime.

AFL has told Dees the club is in better shape today than last year ...

LOL, and just what shape would that be. Its decision making on populist opions !!!

Clearly that quote by Gill was the circuit breaker we should've heeded. The commission were factoring in "games we lost, and games we could have won."

So obviously the 7 or 8 losses where we led in the last quarter were a factor in their decision.

If Clark walks and we still get nothing, I'll be livid. Until then, I'm still fairly confident the AFL will at least try to help us out in some vague form, just not under the guise of a PP to prevent other clubs from kicking up a stink. They'll dress it up as compensation or something, and will almost definitely give us pick 3 for Frawley.

You are an even greater optimist than I am Lamashtu, and that's saying something!

Then we now go as hard as possible on Clark.

As well we refuse to play most games in anything but our traditional jumper until Richmond, Essendon and Collingwood come up with geniune clash jumpers.

No more Mr. nice guys go for the jugular wherever possible.

And when the tide turns it will be time for revenge.

Remember it is dish best served cold

OD unfortunately we are on AFL welfare so any show of defiance on our part will be dealt with severly as most people expect losers to be treated as in "it's all your own fault". We bent over in that absurd Tanking inquiry because we had little choice, we were blackmailed no doubt.

FRom here it will be just hard freaking work just to stay competitive, let alone win anything. I am expecting the larger clubs to really ramp up the cherry picking of players from the poorer clubs to fill roles for their premiership tilts. They wont be waiting for FA, they will be trying to nab the good kids as soon as they are out of contract.

Shouldn't we be looking to form a voting block amongst the smaller clubs to seriously lobby the AFL for more equalisation measures to be implemented?

OD unfortunately we are on AFL welfare so any show of defiance on our part will be dealt with severly as most people expect losers to be treated as in "it's all your own fault". We bent over in that absurd Tanking inquiry because we had little choice, we were blackmailed no doubt.

FRom here it will be just hard freaking work just to stay competitive, let alone win anything. I am expecting the larger clubs to really ramp up the cherry picking of players from the poorer clubs to fill roles for their premiership tilts. They wont be waiting for FA, they will be trying to nab the good kids as soon as they are out of contract.

Shouldn't we be looking to form a voting block amongst the smaller clubs to seriously lobby the AFL for more equalisation measures to be implemented?

No point when the only teams the AFL bother listening to are the powerful and rich ones.

This makes Clarks decision to walk out on this club even worse if he can't see how bad the MFC club need him right now he is a disgrace. We're walking to the AFL with our hand out because we're in so much crap because we lost our gun forward to depression. Now this low life wants to get to a new environment 20 meters across the road to help that little fat pig Eddie. Disgusting Mitch and I'm sure you loved setting yourself up for life with all our members money. PIG and disgraceful

eddie say no

Well no assistance for us means we are going to play serious hard ball with Mitch trade and Eddie will have to pay big time for him! Can' t have cake and eat it Eddie!!

Even if it means Mitch goes into PSD and St K get him for nicks - I would rather that than Eddie steal Mitch from us!! Time for MFC to show their mettle.

Obviously the "top secret formula" in use by the AFL is just a bunch of compromised old farts making it up as they go based on the politicking of other clubs. So much for being the almighty impartial commission.

Clearly when they say "you still have Mitch Clark to come into your team", then said player not only retires after zero games but walks to another club, that's now magically irrelevant only 12 months later. It should be absolutely plainly clear to us now: priority draft picks will simply never, ever be given to clubs based on poor on field performance.

So good luck to all the other lowly clubs who campaigned against our pick. Let's see how you feel in 5 years when the same 6 teams are in the top 6, and GWS and GCS round out the 8 from their draft concessions. Don't come crying to us because we'll rightly tell you to go get [censored]. Right now we're suffering worst from these 5 years of compromised drafts and the introduction of free agency, but it won't be long before it's your turn.

Well no assistance for us means we are going to play serious hard ball with Mitch trade and Eddie will have to pay big time for him! Can' t have cake and eat it Eddie!!

Even if it means Mitch goes into PSD and St K get him for nicks - I would rather that than Eddie steal Mitch from us!! Time for MFC to show their mettle.

Agreed. Eddie must have been the loudest CAMPAIGNER in the room (in fact, I'm certain the commission meeting all up was 15 seconds long and involved a 14 second phone conversation with Ed asking what to do), despite my original theory. It makes the entire Clark situation that much filthier and makes me that much less inclined to come to the table. If Eddie wants him that badly they can cough up.

Otherwise, good luck St Kilda. He's your problem. Just be aware he's leaving the first chance he gets.

We have to learn to play hard ball. Real hard.

I agree with the Ox.

We are in this position because the place ws run badly.

Now we must fight for our position.

We are the demons. Time to become them

Yep and when we do rise no Fllog from another team can shine about PP's

Its easy to be [censored] off, but I think what hurt us was Mitch Clark.

I think most of our case for assistance was predicated on him not coming back.

He comes back, we win. He doesnt, we get a pick.

His re-emergence made it very unclear, whether he comes to us or not.

It's no longer a sad story, it's a sordid one.

No stairway! Denied!

Maybe they know we have signed Dangerfield... Ha ha

The very day that any priority pick is awarded to any other club, Melbourne should file suit for anti-competitive practices.

I'd speculate that our run of 8 years is worse than any other in the last 30, and our list remains critically defective, regardless of how much effort has gone into setting the administration and culture right again.

tail end of the tanking stink, I reckon.

Not being given the indignity of a priority pick is a blessing if you ask me. We should be focusing on the off-field differences between clubs. Melbourne needs to be on a level playing field structurally and administratively, and until then any on-field concessions we get will have minimal impact.

The sooner the pick is scrapped, the better. It's a humiliating system that encourages dependence. Choosing to go cap in hand for assistance only to be judged unworthy by the league and other clubs is just demeaning.

I admire the intention behind the priority pick, and AFL tried a concrete system (easily rorted) and the airy fairy system at the moment where nobody knows what it takes to grant a priority pick. Just shelve it.

And so another demeanIng chapter closes and we move on.

Hopefully it gets scrapped now, but I think they like having it up their sleeve. For what circumstances is anyone's guess.

Maybe they know we have signed Dangerfield... Ha ha

More likely they'd be filthy if we nabbed a player from their precious Giants, ala Cameron.

I just wish we had some kind of kick starter or I struggle to see how we'll ever get off the bottom of the ladder. Especially with 6 teams very comfortable up top, 4 teams after that looking to pinch a spot, and the Giants and Suns gifted with 5 years of the nation's talent and waiting to roost over the competition for years.

This year's recruitment cannot miss a single beat or we are doomed in an endless spiral of discovering talent then losing it to the top clubs the moment we get some progress. We need a way out of that death spiral.

The pr!ck in me wants the AFL to reveal their secret formula so it can never be applied in the future and not for the upcoming issue where a club might be decimated for a year or two...

But if the club wants to p!zz themselves and back down like we do with the interstate academies, the COLA, and the fixture then that's fine too...

As the old saying goes "If you let them take an inch, then I am sure they will help you out at some point"...