For far too long we have played the safe card and it has got us nowhere.  It is time for us to take a risk and take a punt on two players that we will get for nothing and have massive up side. Harley Bennell and Sam Murray. Ignore the hype, the negativity, the history and just have a crack.

Put them on the rookie list and if it doesn't work what have you lost? Nothing.

Putting people on your list that are [censored] is risky. Very, very risky. I've played and won flags with guys that the team hated, but they had talent. They'd get [censored] after the game and want to fight with teammates. They'd try and poke teammates wives. God I had one bloke that thought it was funny to bite a pot glass and then tell us a bouncer punched him for no reason. Nearly got a bunch of us in an all in. Thank god cooler heads prevailed. A good team can carry one... maybe... but a team like us... nah. We are just asking for an infection doing things like that.

Pass. Let him play out his days being an idiot in the country league

And let us train on the G ya mugs! It's all gone downhill since January the 2rd 1965! Take it away, SWYL!

25 minutes ago, A F said:

And let us train on the G ya mugs! It's all gone downhill since January the 2rd 1965! Take it away, SWYL!

Very good A F

35 minutes ago, A F said:

And let us train on the G ya mugs! It's all gone downhill since January the 2rd 1965! Take it away, SWYL!

About two decades out AF.  We ruled the G (our home base and only club to train there) until 1965 when the toiges became joint tenant.  All downhill from there.

Happy to be corrected, but if i recall we split from the MCC in 1980 and my understanding is (courtesy of OD) that the MCC stopped us from training on it about 1985.

[censored] players that are successful all have one thing in common. That is strong linear progression and consistency despite their faults. They just re bloody good despite themselves and clubs put up with them because their advantages outweighs the negatives. Look at Dustin Martin, Cousins, Toby Greene and others. They have never spent half their careers in the seconds, rehab or jail and generally get along with their peers. Bennell is just a walking disaster and Murrey is a dicquehead that cant break out of the reserves so likely will always be a dicquehead loser. 

4 minutes ago, america de cali said:

Look at Dustin Martin, Cousins, Toby Greene and others. They have never spent half their careers in the seconds, rehab or jail and generally get along with their peers.

Ummmmmm..........

 

Sam Murray I'm all for trying to get as he was in the Pies best before he got done but Harley Bennell I wouldn't even think about, his body is in worse shape than mine.

2 minutes ago, 4_Kent_Watts said:

Sam Murray I'm all for trying to get as he was in the Pies best before he got done but Harley Bennell I wouldn't even think about, his body is in worse shape than mine.

Re Bennell the talk is that they have got to the bottom of his soft tissue problems and they have been rectified and he is now more mature and asking for a chance. We know he has exceptional skills that we don’t possess and that is why some here have suggested he train with us over the preseason to test both his physical and mental resilience before we would take him on. Seems a low risk possible high reward approach to me. 

1 hour ago, inanunda said:

For far too long we have played the safe card and it has got us nowhere.  It is time for us to take a risk and take a punt on two players that we will get for nothing and have massive up side. Harley Bennell and Sam Murrey. Ignore the hype, the negativity, the history and just have a crack.

Put them on the rookie list and if it doesn't work what have you lost? Nothing.

Not quite. You've lost two rookie list spots which could have been used on other players 

10 minutes ago, Earl Hood said:

Re Bennell the talk is that they have got to the bottom of his soft tissue problems and they have been rectified and he is now more mature and asking for a chance. We know he has exceptional skills that we don’t possess and that is why some here have suggested he train with us over the preseason to test both his physical and mental resilience before we would take him on. Seems a low risk possible high reward approach to me. 

Someone will take him in the PSD.

Not us as we already have our own injury trio in AVB, KK and J Smith.

Murray on the other hand could be worth a look but at it's simplest he sounds like another Hunt (fast and eratic) and that isn't looking good. Happy to leave that decision to our wonderful football department.

1 hour ago, 4_Kent_Watts said:

Sam Murray I'm all for trying to get as he was in the Pies best before he got done but Harley Bennell I wouldn't even think about, his body is in worse shape than mine.

What are you like as a small forward?

Edited October 12, 20195 yr by Moonshadow

The Melbourne Football Club has taken a bucket-load of risks even in quite recent memory.

Of course, in hindsight they are all either 'obvious' or 'blunders'.

Ahh, the past. All so boring and predictable.

 

3 hours ago, Rusty Nails said:

About two decades out AF.  We ruled the G (our home base and only club to train there) until 1965 when the toiges became joint tenant.  All downhill from there.

Happy to be corrected, but if i recall we split from the MCC in 1980 and my understanding is (courtesy of OD) that the MCC stopped us from training on it about 1985.

That must be the reason we've been puss since 1964...

3 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Someone will take him in the PSD.

Not us as we already have our own injury trio in AVB, KK and J Smith.

Murray on the other hand could be worth a look but at it's simplest he sounds like another Hunt (fast and eratic) and that isn't looking good. Happy to leave that decision to our wonderful football department.

Would be nice if we can make a call on one of AVB or KK before the PSD and IF one of those two doesn't get through we can take on Bennell, provided he ticks all the boxes.

Regardless of his injury woes (and other issues) I’d take him and back us in to be able to manage him. I agree that we have been the same club, we went against that brain for a short period taking Jurrah and Aussie, while they weren’t long term success stories imagine if we had a Liam Jurrah type now?

That survey the club sent us this year to fill out; one of the questions was does the MCG feel like your home ground?

Well of course it hasn't, we can't even train on our home ground, because we will hurt the grass, give me a break.

Apart from having a tour of the g during the week it sits vacant during the week, with all those rooms empty, what a waste.

There’s taking risks and then there’s taking risks.

For better or worse, the club adopted a no [censored] policy as part of Paul Roos’ plan to improve the culture of the club and that policy has more or less applied since and been successful. 

The question of whether we take players named in despatches as offending against that policy such as Sam Murray or Harley Bennell would depend very much on the assessments of our recruiters and based on a number of factors. I can see us possibly taking Murray based on what I’ve heard and read about him but Bennell seems to be a repeat offender making the risk far too high to warrant a departure from the policy.

There are other risks that may or may not been worth taking. Is it worth taking the short term and immediate route with someone like Josh Jenkins as a third tall on the forward line or do we draft a young key forward who might take a few years to develop if at all?

 The sort of risk taking I like the most is the creative risk like the one Adelaide took when it used a first round pick to draft Patrick Dangerfield, a country schoolboy footballer who was always going to stay in Victoria to complete his schooling in his first year as an AFL player. The comparison this year is Brodie Kemp, a player who could be anything, but will most likely not play in 2020 due to ACL surgery. That’s a risk I would like to see us taking.

You mitigate risk by doing due diligence through interviews and other avenues of investigation.

I would hope the club is doing/has done those things in order to make an informed decision one way or another.

1 hour ago, Whispering_Jack said:

There’s taking risks and then there’s taking risks.

For better or worse, the club adopted a no [censored] policy as part of Paul Roos’ plan to improve the culture of the club and that policy has more or less applied since and been successful. 

The question of whether we take players named in despatches as offending against that policy such as Sam Murray or Harley Bennell would depend very much on the assessments of our recruiters and based on a number of factors. I can see us possibly taking Murray based on what I’ve heard and read about him but Bennell seems to be a repeat offender making the risk far too high to warrant a departure from the policy.

There are other risks that may or may not been worth taking. Is it worth taking the short term and immediate route with someone like Josh Jenkins as a third tall on the forward line or do we draft a young key forward who might take a few years to develop if at all?

 The sort of risk taking I like the most is the creative risk like the one Adelaide took when it used a first round pick to draft Patrick Dangerfield, a country schoolboy footballer who was always going to stay in Victoria to complete his schooling in his first year as an AFL player. The comparison this year is Brodie Kemp, a player who could be anything, but will most likely not play in 2020 due to ACL surgery. That’s a risk I would like to see us taking.

If there's anything we need apart from outside run & finish in 2020 Jack it's an effective / functional forward line that converts more often.  T-Mac as the sole ok to effective KF IF Weid doesn't cut the mustard in the first half of the season?  Season might be shot by QB.

The biggest risk this club could take coming in to 2020 is NOT recruiting a key forward (eg; Bruce or JJ) or at the very least, a quality small to mop up spillage (assuming T-Mac & Weid are both fit a firing/in good form) and/or provide some decent forward pressure a la Jeffy. 

Clunking more marks on it's own will assist the team greatly even if shots aren't converted that often.  In theory taking more shots at goal keeps the ball inside 50 for longer on more occasions allows backs and mids to recover and set up behind the ball vs lose ground ball and watch it sling shot out quickly.

After Elliot there probably isn't many quality small options and we might have to gamble on the mediums picking up their act such as Melk & Hannan and a small coming on somewhat such as Lockhart and/or Chandler.

Not getting either!?....well that's just too big a risk IMHO and may well be our downfall in terms of a potential finals bounce IF we don't.

Still a little ways to go in the draft period...fingers crossed.

Edited October 12, 20195 yr by Rusty Nails

1 hour ago, deebug said:

That survey the club sent us this year to fill out; one of the questions was does the MCG feel like your home ground?

Well of course it hasn't, we can't even train on our home ground, because we will hurt the grass, give me a break.

Apart from having a tour of the g during the week it sits vacant during the week, with all those rooms empty, what a waste.

What teams do get to train on their home ground?

11 minutes ago, Salems Lot said:

What teams do get to train on their home ground?

I’d say very few; Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Geelong, and GWS are the only ones that spring to mind. I don’t think either of the Perth clubs train at the Perth Stadium, likewise for the Adelaide Oval. 

Although I don’t think this is the topic of the thread, in terms of making the G more of a home I really think we should’ve pushed for a social club outside of the MCC area. Perhaps it would be a flexible social club for the home teams game, and each club gives it its own name for their match days. Given the Great Southern Stand is getting a refurb I’d like us to move our shop into the upper part of the ground. It honestly feels like it’s deliberately hidden away down in the bowels of the G. 

15 hours ago, inanunda said:

For far too long we have played the safe card and it has got us nowhere.  It is time for us to take a risk and take a punt on two players that we will get for nothing and have massive up side. Harley Bennell and Sam Murray. Ignore the hype, the negativity, the history and just have a crack.

Put them on the rookie list and if it doesn't work what have you lost? Nothing.

Couldn't agree more, I reckon we;

1. Only recruit d!ckheads with a history of recurring injury. 

2. Initiate a covert off site 'supplements' program. 

3. Find ways to pay players outside of the salary cap without the knowledge or approval from the AFL. 

4. Adopt list management, game style and match day tactics based on advise of Demonland. 

 

4 hours ago, Salems Lot said:

What teams do get to train on their home ground?

None, the only team that were allowed, were the Giants the week of the GF, but apart from that no teams allowed due to messing up the grass.

7 hours ago, Whispering_Jack said:

The comparison this year is Brodie Kemp, a player who could be anything, but will most likely not play in 2020 due to ACL surgery. That’s a risk I would like to see us taking.

With pick 3? Or will he slide right down...