All this sledging and abuse toward Clark is all on the assumption that the MFC actually want to keep him. Given all that is coming out of our club is the sound of crickets, it's a very big assumption.

Agree.

I admit to now not having a clue what is going on in the MC situation, even though along with GNF, I was correct in saying he would resume in the AFL and with Melbourne most likely, as looked to be the case,until this all blew up.

One thing though is now crystal clear, despite being given ample opportunity to, the club has not once said we want to keep MC. Does that then suggest we are behind his leaving?

Red you'd have to think there were some distinctly frank discussions at some latter point especially when it started to unfold ( npi ) that Mitch was 'playing loose ' with his condition as it now presents.

I see PJ as ver practical. He would have thought as indeed will Roos and Viney that we werent going to make this horse drink so whats the best plan B. Plan be says keep your powder dry, for the moment, and we are.

Agree.

I admit to now not having a clue what is going on in the MC situation, even though along with GNF, I was correct in saying he would resume in the AFL and with Melbourne most likely, as looked to be the case,until this all blew up.

One thing though is now crystal clear, despite being given ample opportunity to, the club has not once said we want to keep MC. Does that then suggest we are behind his leaving?

I think this regime at the MFC keep their cards close to their chest on all subjects Redleg.

Leaks are rare now and those that happen I suspect are intentional.

Nil comments on Clark, Frawley, Tapscott, Blease Watts etc.

Red you'd have to think there were some distinctly frank discussions at some latter point especially when it started to unfold ( npi ) that Mitch was 'playing loose ' with his condition as it now presents.

I see PJ as ver practical. He would have thought as indeed will Roos and Viney that we werent going to make this horse drink so whats the best plan B. Plan be says keep your powder dry, for the moment, and we are.

Nice change bb!

I would not be surprised if Roos has drawn a line with players that are not or were never a 100% commited to stay with us. Maybe not trying too hard to keep them no matter how good they are or could be. Better with a list that is all on the same page page.

Edited September 24, 201410 yr by america de cali

All this sledging and abuse toward Clark is all on the assumption that the MFC actually want to keep him. Given all that is coming out of our club is the sound of crickets, it's a very big assumption.

Similar to Frawley, although he made his own bed by putting off negotiations and giving us reason to consider the alternative to keeping him around.

Hell its hard to gauge what Roos says half the time even when hes NOT trying to be overly evasive. When he is he just runs interviewers in circles...lol

Hes not giving anything away , either on the couch or at the trade table. Some serious horse haggling coming up

Viney Taylor and Co have been sharpening knives for a while now. The moment will be upon them soon enough. it wont be like any of the players wont see this coming ( not now ) as they will all have been apprised of how things 'really' are.

I sense we may be a little and somewhat pleasantly surprised at the list come the end of the silly season's antics. Flotsam and Jetsam will have been flung back from whence they came.

Agree.

I admit to now not having a clue what is going on in the MC situation, even though along with GNF, I was correct in saying he would resume in the AFL and with Melbourne most likely, as looked to be the case,until this all blew up.

One thing though is now crystal clear, despite being given ample opportunity to, the club has not once said we want to keep MC. Does that then suggest we are behind his leaving?

I really think the most likely scenario is that we put some time and effort into him to help get into shape in order to be able to return and that there was likely some loose understanding if he could get back he would come to us as rookie with perhaps some triggers for putting him on the list (eg 8 good games at VFL level) - a gentleman's agreement if you will.

Lets say that hypothetical is correct the next one is his manager doing some quiet shopping around and being pleasantly surprised other clubs might in fact put him straight him their list and pay him good coin. Which would be tempting however would likely leave MFC aggrieved if indeed there was some verbal agreement. I would also guess the MFC will have lost some respect for MC for the way he gone about this (as have i). I mean the only comment from Clark thus far was that he would love to come back to Melbourne; next thing his manager is talking about his preferred preference being a club in premiership contention, with the idea of returning to the dees not even in the frame. But i agree the feeling is now mutual.

Given the MFC would obviously have the best intel on whatever issues he may have experienced or is experiencing you can assume they are in the best position for assessing the risk versus reward equation and probably figure keeping stum and not fighting for him (certainly not getting involved in any bidding war) is the way to go.

Edited September 24, 201410 yr by binman

If the Hawks are interested in him I'd swap him for Hartung and Sicily.

The truth about whether we want Clark is probably somewhere in the middle of our opinions; we would like to keep him as he has little trade value, but on a small base payment and possibly on the rookie list.

We wanted spare cash to throw at Dangerfield and other premier mids and having $800k tied up in a crocked CHF was not helping.

Roos would want more investment in the midfield and Clark's intentions don't fit well into that.

Good news on Clark lads, have heard (through a player agent) that he is in talks with 6 Victorian Clubs and that 3 have made offers (Collingwood, Essendon not sure of the 3rd, possibly St Kilda), but this would mean that we now have some trade currency. I read also on the Age this morning that the Bombers had made a 1.5 million offer for 3 years, so we will now see a decent player in return. Would not deal with the Bombers, unless it is for picks, but the Pies or Saints would have some talent to exchange. Good result for us, as we have not had a lot of luck and Clark is a risk we should be glad we are not taking.

Good news on Clark lads, have heard (through a player agent) that he is in talks with 6 Victorian Clubs and that 3 have made offers (Collingwood, Essendon not sure of the 3rd, possibly St Kilda), but this would mean that we now have some trade currency. I read also on the Age this morning that the Bombers had made a 1.5 million offer for 3 years, so we will now see a decent player in return. Would not deal with the Bombers, unless it is for picks, but the Pies or Saints would have some talent to exchange. Good result for us, as we have not had a lot of luck and Clark is a risk we should be glad we are not taking.

The third club is Hawthorn, as some media reports suggest.

Good news on Clark lads, have heard (through a player agent) that he is in talks with 6 Victorian Clubs and that 3 have made offers (Collingwood, Essendon not sure of the 3rd, possibly St Kilda), but this would mean that we now have some trade currency. I read also on the Age this morning that the Bombers had made a 1.5 million offer for 3 years, so we will now see a decent player in return. Would not deal with the Bombers, unless it is for picks, but the Pies or Saints would have some talent to exchange. Good result for us, as we have not had a lot of luck and Clark is a risk we should be glad we are not taking.

Aside from a few players I'm not sure what the Saints would have to offer that we want. I'd take a second rounder from them though as we could move it on for something decent.

Agree that we should almost ignore the Bombers unless they offer something ridiculously good for him. Would rather stay away from them at all costs if we can.

Good news on Clark lads, have heard (through a player agent) that he is in talks with 6 Victorian Clubs and that 3 have made offers (Collingwood, Essendon not sure of the 3rd, possibly St Kilda), but this would mean that we now have some trade currency. I read also on the Age this morning that the Bombers had made a 1.5 million offer for 3 years, so we will now see a decent player in return. Would not deal with the Bombers, unless it is for picks, but the Pies or Saints would have some talent to exchange. Good result for us, as we have not had a lot of luck and Clark is a risk we should be glad we are not taking.

As soon as he picks one club, your 'good news' becomes irrelevant.

He could walk in the draft and get to Pick 50 at that club. We have zero bargaining power, the only way we get anything of worth is if the AFL lent heavily on the receiving club.

And, usually in the AFL, the leaning is the other way around...

Lots of talk re Howlett being the mooted Bombers trade.

Leigh Montagna from the saints

rule #1 ...You can't deal with Essendon.

If the Hawks are interested in him I'd swap him for Hartung and Sicily.

Would love someone from Sicily to sort this o

If the Hawks are interested in him I'd swap him for Hartung and Sicily.

Would love someone from Sicily to sort this out for us.

Edited September 25, 201410 yr by chook fowler

The third club is Hawthorn, as some media reports suggest.

If MC goes to the Hawks what we will know for certain is that his foot will be totally cured, his head will be totally cleared and he will have an unbroken run of games in top form, without injury, for the next 3 or 4 seasons!

Given all that is coming out of our club is the sound of crickets, it's a very big assumption.

May I remind you that the club was born as part of the Melbourne Cricket Club and to this day retains a strong connection with that esteemed sporting organisation so it's hardly any wonder that the sounds you are hearing are of that particular breed of insect.

May I remind you that the club was born as part of the Melbourne Cricket Club and to this day retains a strong connection with that esteemed sporting organisation so it's hardly any wonder that the sounds you are hearing are of that particular breed of insect.

And I thought it was Buddy Holly.

May I remind you that the club was born as part of the Melbourne Cricket Club and to this day retains a strong connection with that esteemed sporting organisation so it's hardly any wonder that the sounds you are hearing are of that particular breed of insect.

I'm hearing the same breed of insects after that joke, WJ

I'm still going with the theory that we only offered him a rookie spot given his foot and soft tissue history coupled with a questionable mental illness.

With the vast array of spuds on our senior list, I find it hard to believe we couldn't find room for our "equal best player" on there.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-09-25/clark-meets-with-the-cats

Meeting with the Cats now. What a filthy scumbag.

Surely MC can't be considering the Aint's - not a top 8 contender.