Gus no.

Trac yes.

Our midfield would have to to be the worst combined for disposal efficiency. Brayshaw, Oliver, Viney, Jones are all sub par. Harmes is somewhat better but not elite. One or two have to go. Looking at you captains. Viney, get fit, better and smarter or go. Jones now becoming dead wood. Best to move on and make room for someone new. Our future has better chances with the other three and fresh blood. 

If our forwards had any idea about forward play a lot of Brayshaw's kicks would find targets.

Therefore Brayshaw's kicking efficiency percentage should look a lot better.  And our forwards can't take a contested mark to save themselves either. 

Quick clearances from stoppages requires those playing downfield to play in front.  That doesn't happen either. 

All coming under the banner of a midfield to forward line disconnect but the main issue is the dysfuntional forward line.

It is as bad as I've ever seen it ... reminds of the Alves,  Wells & Flower days where they had no one to kick it to.  We had an all-star centreline but couldn't win games.

So the Gawn,  Oliver,  Brayshaw & Harmes starting midfield is a beauty but wasted.

In a nutshell,  Brayshaw is a keeper.

We do need to make some trades for some decent forwards though.  Are there any KPF free agents available?

Our needs are immediate.

4 hours ago, Lord Nev said:

I think the majority of Dees fans recognize we have weaknesses in midfield skill, outside run/pace and delivery forward, as well as us being in our 'window' as of now. I get that there's other areas we may debate with each other about, but I feel those things are pretty clear. So how do we improve those areas quickly enough that we can make the most of our chances now? This article raises a hypothetical that I scoffed at at first but have wavered a bit since thinking about it more.

Why trading Angus Brayshaw could fix Melbourne's midfield

"But Brayshaw personifies Melbourne's midfield issues - fantastic in the contest, tough as old boots and able to find the pill, but unreliable by foot. He has committed the 11th most turnovers in the league this year, with his disposal efficiency under implied pressure and physical pressure the second-worst and fourth-worst of the league's top 50 ball-winners."

It goes on to suggest trade scenarios which would see us losing Gus, and possibly a pick, to return Lachie Whitfield.

My questions are these:

- Is Gus 'untouchable' given we have Oliver, Harmes & Viney in the same role? Plus, with Sparrow and Dunkley potentially coming through in the same vein, others as depth etc.

- What do we make of Gus' massive form slump this year? You could argue it coincides with him attending less centre bounces, but there's other aspects to that as well such as his concussion history, his lack of accountability this year and of course, our lack of outside run which sees him being used there. Is he injured this year? Unhappy? Something seems up with him.

- Do we need to make such a big move or do we rely purely on tweaks to game plans, roles and structures in the offseason? I guess that boils down to trust in the footy department to fix things, which I imagine is at a low point given our performance this year.

Thoughts?

Thoughts ?? Ill tell you what VINEY needs to be on table before Brayshaw!

Gees and if so then Clarry Choo Choo or anyone else is on the table.Harmes , sheeit lets trade away our next B&F winner,!! Even Big Max yep let's have a fire sale!

So,,,, Humour me.. What would we entertain for these, Trades?????

Nup Brayshaw is the least of our concerns!

Edited June 18, 20196 yr by picket fence

3 hours ago, Little Goffy said:

Nah.

I could argue the point, I even typed it out, but now I've deleted because it is just going to end up being one of those odious back-and-forth threads where gradually people become more irritated and actually pump up their original soft opinions into more extreme versions just to annoy the other person who is annoying them.

So just, nah. Brayshaw good. Better value than what we'd get in a trade. Our inside midfield is not actually that deep, either, so not an area we should talk about trading quality players out of.

Couldn't agree more . . . couldn't agree more.

It was obvious during the JLT that we were in serious trouble this year. I stated such and was howled out of town. 

Goody is sounding more and more like Bolton each week. He just doesn't get it. The opposition has picked us apart like a vulture on roadkill. The game style he built in 2018 to hide the deficiencies on the list have been exposed for what it is . . . dirty deeds done dirt cheap. He has displayed zero ability to adapt. He's now the roadkill and we've got him signed up for three more years. 

In short, sell, sell, sell. 

There are only 3 untouchables on our list right now:

Oliver

Gawn

Lever

The worst thing you can do is panic when things don’t go well. Keep our best core young players together, add players to address our weakness and we will win a flag. 

See the hawks. Got the core inside mids and tall fwds toegether then added outside speed. 

So no to trading one of best young players coz he is having a poor season

No need to dangle anyone out there for trade. 

Go hunting what we need, be it whitfield or others. Once targets are identified and interested then we can negotiate, let clubs come asking after brayshaw** once it is clear we have some interest from their player. Means we are in the position of saying "oh no Brayshaw** is a required player, we couldn't possibly trade him" and keeps there value high. (**insert any player willing to entertain discussing).

Might even mean we pick someone up for a little less than what the article is suggesting.

Personally, I would absolutely keep Brayshaw around, we have traded out some talent in the last few years, and balance or otherwise you need good footballers on your list. Doesn't preclude us from adding another.

7 minutes ago, jumbo returns said:

There are only 3 untouchables on our list right now:

Oliver

Gawn

Lever

… and May

1 hour ago, Matsuo Basho said:

Unfortunately DJ if you have a look at the 2019 FA list and compare it to the 2020 batch the much more enticing group is next year’s. We need the injection of mature talent now.

That said, a club with a 2020 FA might be willing to deal a year early if they think they can get better terms for their contracted player now.

quite happy to wait until 2020.. and add two good draft picks

4 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

 2018 Brownlow Medal full leaderboard

Place	Player	Club	Votes
1	Tom Mitchell	HAW	28
2	Steele Sidebottom	COL	24
3	Angus Brayshaw	MEL	21
4	Patrick Cripps	CAR	20
4	Max Gawn	MEL	20

Yep!

The suggestion we trade Brayshaw is madness

1. He's a gun, he'll bounce back

2. We're no good at trading so we'll end up with a potato

There's a dozen question marks on our best 22 before we get to Brayshaw/Oliver/Viney/Harmes ... etc

No for me. Viney I would trade however.

14 minutes ago, jumbo returns said:

There are only 3 untouchables on our list right now:

Oliver

Gawn

Lever

BFS

Viney, Brayshaw, Harmes, Salem, Melksham, Hibberd, May

We have a cohort of influential players that need to play together and develop rhythm - we must persist 

There will be 8+ list changes this year without worrying about changing this group

14 minutes ago, olisik said:

No for me. Viney I would trade however.

Viney is just so red and blue inside, i think it would kill some team spirit if we got rid of him.

We made that mistake with junior Mac.

57 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Thoughts ?? Ill tell you what VINEY needs to be on table before Brayshaw!

Gees and if so then Clarry Choo Choo or anyone else is on the table.Harmes , sheeit lets trade away our next B&F winner,!! Even Big Max yep let's have a fire sale!

So,,,, Humour me.. What would we entertain for these, Trades?????

Nup Brayshaw is the least of our concerns!

Perhaps read the article linked the post mate. It explains a lot of your questions.

 

Would trade Petracca over Gus. Would get us more in a trade too. 

 

5 hours ago, Clintosaurus said:

No to trading Angus. Kicking can be fixed more easily than being able to find the pill.

Kicking, apparently, cannot be fixed at least at MFC. ?

But I agree 100% re the importance of getting the ball.  

I remember so well the absolute swooning over the likes of Strauss, Maric and even Cale who were “elite users of the ball”: trouble was they rarely ever got their hands on it. ???

Edited June 18, 20196 yr by monoccular

I’d like to know who are the top 10 turn over players.  

52 minutes ago, Cards13 said:

I’d like to know who are the top 10 turn over players.  

For us or the entire AFL?  If MFC then this is the season rankings so far on averages...

 

Same but on recent form, Rnds 10 to 12 (number of games in parentheses....single game players excluded as not an average)...

Edited June 18, 20196 yr by Rusty Nails

Totally knee jerk trading Brayshaw, Viney or Petracca. I would suspect that Brayshaw has been injured this season and that is why he is not playing near his peak. Viney and McDonald are definitely injured and very limited right now.

Edited June 18, 20196 yr by Thehardtackler

5 hours ago, Rusty Nails said:

For us or the entire AFL?  If MFC then this is the season rankings so far on averages...

 

Same but on recent form, Rnds 10 to 12 (number of games in parentheses....single game players excluded as not an average)...

League wide Rusty. 

10 hours ago, olisik said:

No for me. Viney I would trade however.

For what? Pick 100?

I’ve never seen the value in discussing which players we would trade until what the actual trade has been proposed, otherwise how are you supposed to assess how the team would benefit?

I’d theoretically trade any and all players if the net benefit was team improvement. There are some players where no opposing club is ever going to offer enough to make it worthwhile or justify the risks though. I’d say both Brayshaw and Viney belong in that category.

7 minutes ago, Nasher said:

There are some players where no opposing club is ever going to offer enough to make it worthwhile or justify the risks though. I’d say both Brayshaw and Viney belong in that category.

Yep, that's an understandable comment. To clarify, I'm not saying we should trade him, I'm just questioning whether it's a possibility, particularly in the scenario the article raised, and also wondering what's up with him this year form wise and even intent wise.

 

4 hours ago, Cards13 said:

League wide Rusty. 

2019 AFL League Turnovers Per Game Leaders (Minimum 3 Games Played)
Rk	Player	Team	Gm	Stat
1	T. Boak	Power	12	6.58
2	A. Gaff	Eagles	10	6.30
3	D. Heppell	Bombers	12	6.08
4	E. Yeo	Eagles	11	6.00
4	J. Riewoldt	Tigers	3	6.00
6	B. Houli	Tigers	10	5.90
7	T. Cotchin	Tigers	5	5.80
8	D. Swallow	Suns	13	5.77
9	J. Sicily	Hawks	12	5.75
10	D. Shiel	Bombers	11	5.73

 

Gus ranked 22nd after the last round for anyone who's interested.

16 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Viney should go before Brayshaw...

Absolutely Correct!!