42 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

I don't mind players changing clubs for whatever reason. 

What i will always object to is those same players "going easy" during the last year of a contract. 

Moloney, $cully, Howe all did it

the same way Patrick Dangerfield DIDN'T!!!

Moloney certainly cracked the sads in the last year of his contract.

Scully had an injury for a long stretch of his last year ...hmmmm 

Unfair on Howe - he was patchy for most of his career and last year was no exception.

7 hours ago, nutbean said:

Moloney certainly cracked the sads in the last year of his contract.

Scully had an injury for a long stretch of his last year ...hmmmm 

Unfair on Howe - he was patchy for most of his career and last year was no exception.

Forgot to mention Frawley

he certainly coasted!!!

On 12/15/2015 at 0:24 PM, billy2803 said:

Wow, Rivers has gone to a club, that used to highlight his weaknesses as a defender, as a backline coach.  I find that quite amusing.  As the old saying goes, "if you can't do it, teach it". 

While I can't speak on behalf of our players, I'm effed if I understand why Howe moved on.  Was getting games (a number of which were undoubtedly gifted), was playing under one of the best coaches of modern times, was no doubt being financially rewarded for his output.  Totally different story to the bloke we got in return.

I think it's pretty obvious Howe was pushed. He was told his contract and game time would be limited. The only reason he was played when he shouldn't have been last season was to ensure we didn't tarnish his trade value. People can argue all they like about that, but Roos did it with Frawley as well.

13 hours ago, Chris said:

We would have had Judd, Pendles, and Prestia though!

Weren't we on "homesick" Judd's shortlist but Mr Pratt's Environment Spokesman found our facilities not up to standard !

On ‎14‎/‎12‎/‎2015 at 9:03 AM, Clint Bizkit said:

Nathan Jones has cankles.

Cruel comment.........I have too much class to also draw attention to his knobbly knees .

7 hours ago, dee-eee said:

Cruel comment.........I have too much class to also draw attention to his knobbly knees .

What about Thalves?

It's interesting to contemplate what one would do - growing up a rabid Dee's supporter, then at 18 finding yourself drafted to another club... A couple (or more) years later an opportunity arises to play for your childhood team, do you take that opportunity? 

I would. 

Howe did.

And we're all hoping Prestia will.

13 hours ago, AdamFarr said:

I think it's pretty obvious Howe was pushed. He was told his contract and game time would be limited. The only reason he was played when he shouldn't have been last season was to ensure we didn't tarnish his trade value. People can argue all they like about that, but Roos did it with Frawley as well.

Adam, I said well before the start of this season that Howe had the greatest trade value on our list, especially when considering the output we were receiving from him.  We just had to move him on to improve our list, and I'm in no doubt Roos felt the same.

The alleged contract we gave him probably just helped him make the decision that he wanted to change clubs, which was obviously the plan all along from our FD.

I think the career of Howe at Melbourne was/is pretty easy to read.  In his first season/s, he played as a high HF, doing as he pleased.  Roos saw that we needed him across HB, and Howe sulked.  This season, we kept him there because he could actually play the position quite well (when he wanted to), but he was also used forward at times to show his "versatility", thus maintaining his trade value for us.

It may have been a lucky guess, but I'm certain that Howe's departure was a cleverly planned ploy by Roos for the 18 months leading up to his departure.

2 hours ago, billy2803 said:

It may have been a lucky guess, but I'm certain that Howe's departure was a cleverly planned ploy by Roos for the 18 months leading up to his departure.

Methinks you are overthinking this.

I think Roos gives you the chance to play football his way - if you don't and he doesn't see the value in you, you are gone.

I think Roos played him because he was ok and there was no one knocking the door down for his spot.

Interesting that we were lining up a replacement half back in Melksham, 6 months ago...

1 hour ago, nutbean said:

Methinks you are overthinking this.

I think Roos gives you the chance to play football his way - if you don't and he doesn't see the value in you, you are gone.

I think Roos played him because he was ok and there was no one knocking the door down for his spot.

An example of that or small glimpse of Howe is when he took the Mark Of The Year (I think) in Sydney season before last. Absolute screamer. Went to ground, handballed immediately to a player under the pump. Turnover. The next screen shot was of Roos losing his marbles - as most Melbourne supporters were too, I know I did at the time. Frustrating....besides the fact he was indeed a good exciting mark of the footy.

 

34 minutes ago, PaulRB said:

Interesting that we were lining up a replacement half back in Melksham, 6 months ago...

I would prefer Howe to Melksham.     It will be interesting to see how they both go at their new clubs..

10 minutes ago, Bossdog said:

I would prefer Howe to Melksham.     It will be interesting to see how they both go at their new clubs..

I don't know enough about him but my few Essendon friends are none to complimentary.

I will watch with interest.

36 minutes ago, Bossdog said:

I would prefer Howe to Melksham.     It will be interesting to see how they both go at their new clubs..

Well there ya go. I'd prefer Melksham to Howe.

4 hours ago, PaulRB said:

It's interesting to contemplate what one would do - growing up a rabid Dee's supporter, then at 18 finding yourself drafted to another club... A couple (or more) years later an opportunity arises to play for your childhood team, do you take that opportunity? 

I would. 

Howe did.

And we're all hoping Prestia will.

Exactly.. The irony in this thread when Prestia (hopefully) becomes a demon will be fun to watch.

 

 

17 hours ago, H_T said:

An example of that or small glimpse of Howe is when he took the Mark Of The Year (I think) in Sydney season before last. Absolute screamer. Went to ground, handballed immediately to a player under the pump. Turnover. The next screen shot was of Roos losing his marbles - as most Melbourne supporters were too, I know I did at the time. Frustrating....besides the fact he was indeed a good exciting mark of the footy.

 

Roos wasn't coach then was he?  The MOTY in Sydney was back in 2012 (unless you are talking about a different mark that he took, which is forgivable given the frequency of them!).

11 minutes ago, billy2803 said:

Roos wasn't coach then was he?  The MOTY in Sydney was back in 2012 (unless you are talking about a different mark that he took, which is forgivable given the frequency of them!).

Yep, it was definitely under Neeld. 

Howe was never going to be part of our future though. Doesn't fit the mould of a competitor IMO.

1 hour ago, Good Times Grimes said:

Yep, it was definitely under Neeld. 

Howe was never going to be part of our future though. Doesn't fit the mould of a competitor IMO.

Top ten in our best and fairest for the past 4 years......Took the most intercept marks for the club.   He had his faults but so does Jessie Hogan

I loved his screamers and will miss him playing for us.     I guess I will watch C'wood more this year because of them.

8 minutes ago, Bossdog said:

Top ten in our best and fairest for the past 4 years......Took the most intercept marks for the club.   He had his faults but so does Jessie Hogan

I loved his screamers and will miss him playing for us.     I guess I will watch C'wood more this year because of them.

incorrect

1 minute ago, Curry & Beer said:

incorrect

Ha Ha......Ask the coaching panel.

37 minutes ago, Bossdog said:

Top ten in our best and fairest for the past 4 years......Took the most intercept marks for the club.   He had his faults but so does Jessie Hogan

I loved his screamers and will miss him playing for us.     I guess I will watch C'wood more this year because of them.

Spot on Bossdog. People can twist perceptions on players once they leave. Both Howe and Frawley were finishing in our B&F Top 10 every year for their

last few seasons, yet people accuse them of 'coasting'. What does that say about the other players below them if they werent trying. Both were and are still

good players.

2 hours ago, DemonDave said:

Spot on Bossdog. People can twist perceptions on players once they leave. Both Howe and Frawley were finishing in our B&F Top 10 every year for their

last few seasons, yet people accuse them of 'coasting'. What does that say about the other players below them if they werent trying. Both were and are still

good players.

You don't think it's possible that the coaches tampered with B&F ratings slightly to increase players' trade values? Much easier to snare a second rounder for a player that finished top-10 than a player that finished 18th. 

Even if B&F voting wasn't adjusted at all, Howe went missing far too often and I can only really remember a couple of games in which he played well for four quarters. 

3 minutes ago, Good Times Grimes said:

You don't think it's possible that the coaches tampered with B&F ratings slightly to increase players' trade values? Much easier to snare a second rounder for a player that finished top-10 than a player that finished 18th. 

Even if B&F voting wasn't adjusted at all, Howe went missing far too often and I can only really remember a couple of games in which he played well for four quarters. 

Sorry Mate.....Do you really think that footy depts. tamper with the B&F results for trade value? .   Good god the conspiracy theory.    I suppose that Tyson (who was 13th) had better watch out.    The games he played were less value than Howe and I know he had his injuries.   Or maybe we tampered with Dunn's to get him in the top 10 to up his value.    I am sorry that Howe is gone, but I'll live with the decision and I'm sure that there were others that did not play well for four quarters.     

1 minute ago, Bossdog said:

Sorry Mate.....Do you really think that footy depts. tamper with the B&F results for trade value? .   Good god the conspiracy theory.    I suppose that Tyson (who was 13th) had better watch out.    The games he played were less value than Howe and I know he had his injuries.   Or maybe we tampered with Dunn's to get him in the top 10 to up his value.    I am sorry that Howe is gone, but I'll live with the decision and I'm sure that there were others that did not play well for four quarters.     

Of course there were others that didn't play well for four quarters...that's why we've been a bottom 6 side for so long. Howe is a downhill skier. He plays well when the rest of the team plays well and almost always goes missing when the heat is on. He was lucky that we didn't have too many decent HBF options waiting in the wings last season, as I think there were several performances that he put in that deserved a run at Casey.

I'll miss his highlights, but not much else. I'm happy to have Melksham take his place. I'll leave it at that.

I thought this thread was going to be a digitally enhanced image of Wiedemann as a 23 year old holding a magpies jumper he's just been given from a grey haired Eddie.