I reckon he is ours. The rest is posturing for their fans. It would be a mistake for them to hang on to a disaffected player. I'm not usually a fan of topping up our lst with elderly players but his on field leadership would be invaluable for our young midfielders. Hope it comes off. It says a lot that he has designated us as his prefaced destination. Sounds like this has been brewing for a long time.

Edited October 14, 20168 yr by chook fowler

1 minute ago, chook fowler said:

I reckon he is ours. The rest is posturing for their fans. It would be a mistake for them to hang on a disaffected player. I'm not usually a fan of topping up our lst with elderly players but his on field leadership would be invaluable for our young midfielders. Hope it comes off. It says a lot that he has designated us as his prefaced destination. Sounds like this has been brewing for a long time.

I reckon he would've started seeing the MFC in a new light after the touch up we gave them in round 20.

Funny what winning games of footy can do.

12 minutes ago, ThreeOneSix said:

Either way I dont mind. Lewis is tough and knowledgeable about the Hawthorn way. Good get, no big deal if it falls through.

Regardless, Hawthorn's famous culture  has taken a huge hit this week.

5 minutes ago, TeamPlayedFine39 said:

My wife is also not at all impressed.

One thing this sort of situation does is put a lot of pressure on the new players coming into the club; as she said: "This O'Meara guy better be bloody good."

Probably not music to the ears of a young player looking for a fresh start.

'Diamond Jim' Tilbrook says hi!!

32 minutes ago, picket fence said:

In 1 -2 years we just might do a doggies and pinch a premiership!!!!

Would love it.

18 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

How much "fresh blood" should we get? We already fielded the youngest team almost every week last season. We've had two top 10 picks the last few years. Yeah we still need to keep drafting but getting someone of Lewis' calibre into the list is nothing to sneeze at.

Sooner or later we have to stop working towards a future that never comes and try and win NOW. Lewis on our list next year instantly makes us a better side, have a look at some of the guys who got games for us this year.

Good points.

It is going to be hard to keep a bloke who has won 4 flags with the club, who wants to leave, after being told he will only get his last contract year with the club and won't be there after that.

That would be untenable to keep a bloke in those circumstances.

I'm not a huge fan of some of what Lewis does on the field but he has always been considered a leader at Hawthorn and given he was 2nd in their B&F this year, clearly is still playing quality football.

Given he approached us, I'm also confident we won't be paying overs, assuming this ends up happening. If it doesn't happen, I won't be upset, but if it does I think overall it will be a good thing.

12 hours ago, Fat Tony said:

Lewis is still a very good player but he is slow and not the type of player we need IMO. He is very similar to Dom Tyson and I feel our other inside players are not quick enough to compensate for the lack of pace we would have from playing both Tyson and Lewis. Personally, I think Michael Barlow is a better option if we go down this track, as he is slightly younger and would not command the same salary as Lewis. I also think Barlow is slightly quicker than Lewis and better defensively.

You might be right about Lewis' speed (and whether he's a good fit, as I think it's quite arguable either way) but even if you are, he's a better option than Barlow who, other than being marginally faster than Lewis, is probably inferior in every other aspect.

Personally I think foot speed is overrated and I think Hawthorn's midfield has consistently shown you don't need to have quick midfielders to be successful - they've had Hill and Smith running on the wings but a midfield of Hodge, Mitchell, Lewis, Burgoyne, Shiels, Breust etc. is no quicker than what we have.

3 hours ago, Abe said:

works at the club, he told me Dom Tyson was in talks for a new 3 year deal about 3 months ago @Lucifer's Hero and others will confirm i was well ahead of time with that, he found out because the Hawks made a call. 

same guy has just told me this.

Yep, can confirm this about Abe.  Via pm he has told me that Watts would stay, the Trengove and Tyson deals and a few others.  More recently about the Hogan contract. 

Abe is well connected in the industry.  But you won't see him blurt stuff on forums before they are official.  He just hints at things, so folks need to read between the lines or just trust him.

Edited October 14, 20168 yr by Lucifer's Hero

I have to admit to despising Lewis as a footballer. He always came across as one of those pointing people, always pointing here and there for other players to do stuff. And his thuggery was often blatant, intentional and game changing. However, when he speaks to the media I really like listneing to what he says. He seems to understand all the nuances of what makes indivodual players tick, and was very team-oriented. 

I actually don't  believe we need to import leaders from other clubs anymore, as we did with Daniel Cross which was a true masterstroke. What we need is a major progression from our younger guns like Petracca, Hogan, Hunt, Stretch, Oliver etc...

But I have a deep down gut-feeling that Lewis would be a great addition, and would bring steadiness and leadership  in game changing moments; something we have lacked terribly. I can't believe I am in favour of him coming to our club but it just feels really... right. 

 

I know others have mentioned this already, but it wasn't that long ago we had young upstarts (who had proven nothing) such as Josh Caddy and Taylor Adams refuse to even talk to us when we were begging them to, now an absolute champ who isn't just willing to play for us but actually sounded as out for a contract. I feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Edited October 14, 20168 yr by Sylvia Saint

any truth to the rumour Vandenberg may be heading to the Hawks in the deal?

33 minutes ago, monoccular said:

'Diamond Jim' Tilbrook says hi!!

Saw diamond Jim kick a 75 metre goal from the members wing many years ago, it was glorious, but the only thing he ever did.

J. Lewis says hi !

1 minute ago, Viscount Cardwell said:

Saw diamond Jim kick a 75 metre goal from the members wing many years ago, it was glorious, but the only thing he ever did.

J. Lewis says hi !

Kelvin Templeton also says hi!!

19 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

I'm not a huge fan of some of what Lewis does on the field but he has always been considered a leader at Hawthorn and given he was 2nd in their B&F this year, clearly is still playing quality football.

Given he approached us, I'm also confident we won't be paying overs, assuming this ends up happening. If it doesn't happen, I won't be upset, but if it does I think overall it will be a good thing.

You might be right about Lewis' speed (and whether he's a good fit, as I think it's quite arguable either way) but even if you are, he's a better option than Barlow who, other than being marginally faster than Lewis, is probably inferior in every other aspect.

Personally I think foot speed is overrated and I think Hawthorn's midfield has consistently shown you don't need to have quick midfielders to be successful - they've had Hill and Smith running on the wings but a midfield of Hodge, Mitchell, Lewis, Burgoyne, Shiels, Breust etc. is no quicker than what we have.

I think you can only have one very slow player in the midfield but not two in modern football. (Ideally you would prefer to have none.) Tyson is that player for us at the moment. Both Lewis and Tyson in the middle would just leave us to exposed on the spread and both are pure inside midfielders and both would be in our best 22 on talent.

Barlow produces similar numbers possession wise to Lewis and more tackles. He is not as good a kick or overly penetrating. But his salary would be half that of Lewis, so I just see him as better value if we are going down this track. And he has also shown good ability to play a defensive role on speedy midfielders like Robbie Gray.

I see inside midfielders as our lowest priority need at the moment. And our depth in this area means that we have inside midfielders who have to play on the outside and are not that well suited to it. i.e. Brayshaw on the wing.

 

 

21 minutes ago, Demonetta13 said:

any truth to the rumour Vandenberg may be heading to the Hawks in the deal?

If we get there second rounder and Lewis for him that would a good deal

1 hour ago, chook fowler said:

I reckon he is ours. The rest is posturing for their fans. It would be a mistake for them to hang on to a disaffected player. I'm not usually a fan of topping up our lst with elderly players but his on field leadership would be invaluable for our young midfielders. Hope it comes off. It says a lot that he has designated us as his prefaced destination. Sounds like this has been brewing for a long time.

I cannot remember the last time a player came out like this which was unexpected and nominated us. 

Looks like things are changing slowly. Thank god. 

People who think Lewis is too slow, or finished as a player only have to look at the Dogs for inspiration.

Matty Boyd: 34 years old

Dale Morris: 33 & 9 months

Liam Picken: 30 years old

They didn't think they would win a flag a couple of years ago and could've got rid of these guys. I'm sure they would be pretty happy they didn't! Smart players find a way.

We haven't heard anything about Lewis coaching aspirations, so I wonder if that would form part of the deal. Would also help us next year if we're aiming to lure a player on a big deal. The Eagles will do that with Mitchell, so get in on it too.

Edited October 14, 20168 yr by DominatrixTyson

2 hours ago, Bonkers said:

We played the youngest age profile team in over half of the games this year. I don't think we need to worry about being too old, we have 2 players over 28. As another poster recently commented some people over analyse list management. If you can get a quality player who makes your list better for little cost then you do it. If its at the expense of an equally talented young player then maybe you don't, but you have to ask the question who would he keep out of the side? There's no one banging the door down who is absolute quality that can say they deserve a game over Lewis. Matt Jones still played over 10 games this year, Lewis is an upgrade on him so why wouldn't you do the deal? He will improve our best 22 when we already have a young group. It's a no brainer. 

Let's be honest. He'd be keeping guys like Bugg, Harmes or Vandenberg out of the team. There's no two ways about it. He's a massive, massive upgrade on those guys. Anyone who thinks he isn't, doesn't know football.

What are all you on about? 2nd rounder?? One of the credible AFL journalists said on twitter that Melbourne and Hawks had already discussed trade talks before the backflip and it was for "next to nothing"!!  It will be either a 3rd or 4th round pick

Edited October 14, 20168 yr by DemonLad5

Also players like Harmes and Kennedy don't need to be playing 1s to develop. eg. James Sicily

I didn't expect us to have much movement in the trade period, getting Melksham was pretty much the only thing is was expecting except for maybe a cheap back up ruckman. So Lewis approaching us has definitely thrown a few things out of balance. It raises the questions of what we need to give up for him (because seemingly unlike Mitchell) the Hawks don't want to part with him, and that leads onto the next question of where he would fit into the team? 

Also what was missing from the Hawks that we can provide them with to satisfy a trade?

I'm happy for us to get Lewis but he wasn't on our radar until he came to us, therefore we never saw him as a requirement to our progression. I think we can get 2 good years out of him and anything after that is a bonus. 

2 hours ago, Demon Disciple said:

What he would do, at the very least, is force one of our bottom 6 (of which there is still a few) out of the team.

As already stated, M. Jones played 10 games this year, Trengove 3, Newton 2, ANB 4, Bugg played 18! I consider Lewis to be superior to all these players' and by the length of the Flemington straight.

Lewis replacing a bottom 6 player in the starting 22 both wipes out some red and adds some black at the same time. If we could squeeze 2 years of good footy out of him, it would do wonders whilst our younger brigade develop. He would also provide a chop out for the likes of Viney, Tyson, Clarry, etc.

The positives far outweigh the negatives on this one.

Exactly. All of a sudden our top 4 mids are Jones, Viney, Tyson, Lewis. That's massive. And a very decent starting midfield. Not pacey, but a good mixture of youth and experience. These guys would then be supported by Oliver, Brayshaw and Petracca.

2 hours ago, ThreeOneSix said:

Either way I dont mind. Lewis is tough and knowledgeable about the Hawthorn way. Good get, no big deal if it falls through.

How anyone can say this is beyond me. The single biggest factor in many of our losses in 2016 was a lack of experience. We are talking about adding a 264-game, four-time premiership player, AA and BnF winner with 2 years left. Some Melbourne supporters are never happy.

2 hours ago, Emerald said:

I was talking earlier to some of my Hawthorn supporting family members,they all seem pretty [censored] off with was has transpired.This is the first time in years that I have heard them say anything bad about their club.

And I'm loving it!

If they're anything like a lot of Hawthorn supporters, they might just jump back on the Melbourne bandwagon.

2 hours ago, TeamPlayedFine39 said:

My wife is also not at all impressed.

One thing this sort of situation does is put a lot of pressure on the new players coming into the club; as she said: "This O'Meara guy better be bloody good."

Probably not music to the ears of a young player looking for a fresh start.

And this is a problem our young players used to experience. Pressure on their shoulders to perform immediately. 

When you chuck out two premiership legends for a bag of peanuts before their use-by-date, supporters have a right to expect instant results.

Do we really believe the board stepped in and overruled the footy dept? That's extraordinary if true.