I'm calling BS on this belief that he doesn't play unless Oscar plays. They are professional athletes and they understand what the expectations are. 

Tom Leaving could end up being the best for both parties, there are times a player loses his mojo and it takes a new environment to be able to get the best out of them. I think the best we could hop to get would be a late 2nd rounder/early 3rd rounder, there's no hiding it that since 2018 he's been hampered by injuries and poor form. Moving him on could also open up some space on the salary cap for a big fish.

That said, if he were to stay maybe JUST MAYBE a strong pre-season and realignment of his mind could get him back to being a player. Even if that is alongside Lever and May in defence.

1 hour ago, dieter said:

It was a friggin boot camp, lowest common denominator mind games, physical torture stuff. Who in his right mind, with any self respect, would allow himself to be dictated to by a psychopath?????Maybe this is your idea of promoting 'conformity' and blind allegiance. Kubrick's film Thin Metal Jacket exposes the mindset you seem to condone. Never mind, the world is made of many compartments, yours is one I respect people for avoiding.

Where is the evidence that this was some form of torture camp? This was not a collective minds camp

12 hours ago, david_neitz_is_my_dad said:

Watch how he was moving in 2018 compared to now

 

 

8 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

Watching his 2018 highlights and yes he was certainly moving better and far less robotic but he was also just full of confidence. Not a care about crashing in to a pack. Didn't run under the ball. Didn't stop and attempt to fend a player off, just grabbed the ball and ran.

The last two years he's played the same was as did as a defender in 2016 and parts of 2017 when he just lost all confidence in his kicking and clearly needed the freshen up of the ruck/forward role in 17 and then full time forward in 18.

All the fumbles, all the double grabbed marks, all the times he's got the ball in congestion and attempt to kick straight in to an opponents on coming smothers. They can't be due to physical problems. 

Cannot believe that any player can regress so far so fast. 
Needs a very detailed physical (injury and general fitness) AND psychological assessment very soon before trade period. 
If injury is his issue, then prognosis needs to be assessed.  If good AND psychology ok then hang in and get him fit. If he could regain 2018 would be a huge gain in the current team structure. 

Looking at some pre covid vision Tom doesn't look as heavy as he did when the season re started a few months later.  His daughter was born in March just before the shutdown.

Pure speculation but maybe Tom didn't/wasn't able to do the fitness/diet etc work needed to stay in top condition.  Being away from the club, a new bub, supporting a new mum etc could be challenging to stick to regimes.

Hopefully, relationships with coaches haven't broken down and if he stays he can become an asset again even if he doesn't recover 2018 form.  Sam could sure do with the help.

7 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Looking at some pre covid vision Tom doesn't look as heavy as he did when the season re started a few months later.  His daughter was born in March just before the shutdown.

Pure speculation but maybe Tom didn't/wasn't able to do the fitness/diet etc work needed to stay in top condition.  Being away from the club, a new bub, supporting a new mum etc could be challenging to stick to regimes.

Hopefully, relationships with coaches haven't broken down and if he stays he can become an asset again even if he doesn't recover 2018 form.  Sam could sure do with the help.

Professional athlete isnt he? Its his Job isnt it?

Has nothing else to do, it is job, just like all of us sometimes there are challenges.If this is the issue with Tom then he has failed at his profession

7 minutes ago, Kent said:

Professional athlete isnt he? Its his Job isnt it?

Has nothing else to do, it is job, just like all of us sometimes there are challenges.If this is the issue with Tom then he has failed at his profession

Tom has been very professional and usually one of our best runners in the preseason. 

Was purely speculating on why his fitness may have fallen away.  Whatever the reason for it I think he can get his fitness back again.  He may not become the 2018 TMac but he could still play a valuable role.

It's weird how we have millions of dollars of coaching and development "talent" on the books but, instead of putting them to work to find out why McDonald and others have regressed in recent seasons, we want to take the easy way out and trade them for peanuts.

There are posters on this forum who have never rated Tom and that's their right, but he was our best defender for several years, then he went forward and kicked more than 50 goals in a season (the only MFC player to do so this decade). The guy can seriously play, and you don't get rid of your better players on the back of one poor season.

Like others I want to know what has happened to Tom this year, and I want the club to fix it. Trading him would be a cop out and a big mistake and I will be furious if we do so.

 

Edited September 23, 20204 yr by Grapeviney
Leave the politics out of it please

Warms my heart to see that we have finally settled on a home-grown replacement for Jack Watts.

Now we can blame Tom for everything.

:)

 

16 minutes ago, ding said:

Warms my heart to see that we have finally settled on a home-grown replacement for Jack Watts.

Now we can blame Tom for everything.

:)

 

Yep But wait we can trade an injured player who has played one good game in two years for a round 1 selection.

Give me strength!!

5 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Tom has been very professional and usually one of our best runners in the preseason. 

Was purely speculating on why his fitness may have fallen away.  Whatever the reason for it I think he can get his fitness back again.  He may not become the 2018 TMac but he could still play a valuable role.

He must be playing in pain, there is no other reason. 
Priority one in the off season to get him right

The reverberations of a CV are going to impact individuals, seasons and competitions for years to come.....

Is that a good argument for scrapping a year that did not really capture my interest, probably.

Definitely worth keeping. We need to sort out whatever is holding him back.

13 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Looking at some pre covid vision Tom doesn't look as heavy as he did when the season re started a few months later.  His daughter was born in March just before the shutdown.

Pure speculation but maybe Tom didn't/wasn't able to do the fitness/diet etc work needed to stay in top condition.  Being away from the club, a new bub, supporting a new mum etc could be challenging to stick to regimes.

Hopefully, relationships with coaches haven't broken down and if he stays he can become an asset again even if he doesn't recover 2018 form.  Sam could sure do with the help.

I significantly doubt that. He's always been super professional and a great runner. 

Guys should add a bit of muscle over summer or lockdown when they aren't copping all the bumps and bruises of games, and especially coming back from a knee injury they would've done a lot of work on Tom's leg strength. 

I reckon the shaved head and tight match day jumper plus the early season muscles on his shoulders and legs might've given him a look of bulk but he never had an ounce of excess weight and the same lean running build. 

If there's anything that the lockdown did it might well be that Tom is the kind of guy who needs a lot of skill work and touch. Usually it's 4 months of it over summer. Covid training in a pair where all you can do is kick to kick or handballs just isn't the same. And even the movement drills would've been different. A lot of straight line running just training with a partner. Instead of 4 months of actual footy movement.

I think he can be better next year. But if he just won't ever move the same as he did in 2018 will he be better enough that he's more value than Jackson, Weid or even Petty? And if there's a way out of his contract (or a chunk of it) and to bring someone else in then does it really matter?

Must keep

For what it’s worth he’s unfollowed the Demons on Instagram. 

Surely we must reassess Tmac and we should see if anyone offers us a trade or a pick for him.  Can’t see him getting back unless he suddenly rediscovers some agility or yard of pace. 

21 minutes ago, pewpewpew said:

For what it’s worth he’s unfollowed the Demons on Instagram. 

Still got MFC in his bio though, odd to have one and not the other

11 hours ago, ding said:

Warms my heart to see that we have finally settled on a home-grown replacement for Jack Watts.

Now we can blame Tom for everything.

:)

 

We’d be extremely lucky to get pick 31 for Tmac. At least Watts had currency and he had foot skills other clubs wanted. Tmac would probably go for a late 3rd or 4th round pick right about now .

Norf want Polec off their books.

We want tmac off ours.

They will need a swingman to help out with their rebuild we need another wingman. 

Seems like a match made in heaven. 

Would even happily hand over p22 as part of it if norf take some of polecs contact (they will need to pay someone to be close to their 95% of the cap) allowing us to go hard for Cameron.

2 minutes ago, GCDee said:

Norf want Polec off their books.

We want tmac off ours.

They will need a swingman to help out with their rebuild we need another wingman. 

Seems like a match made in heaven. 

Would even happily hand over p22 as part of it if norf take some of polecs contact (they will need to pay someone to be close to their 95% of the cap) allowing us to go hard for Cameron.

I’d love for this to happen but I can’t see North letting go of Ben Brown and wanting Tmac when Tmac is substantially worse. 

I think someone like Gold Coast might be interested in Tmac. Someone to help King given that Sam Day isn’t always reliable. 

Just now, At the break of Gawn said:

I’d love for this to happen but I can’t see North letting go of Ben Brown and wanting Tmac when Tmac is substantially worse. 

I think someone like Gold Coast might be interested in Tmac. Someone to help King given that Sam Day isn’t always reliable. 

It's funny I see tmac as a perfect fit for norf. Mainly because he can be played at both ends of the ground where as brown cannot. He would be useful to their young backs and forwards depending on how much they are getting spanked by haha. 

Tmac for Polec? Where do I sign? 

Before our last game, I talked to someone, who is closer than most to the Pies, & he raised Tom’s name. I laughed and said you can have him for a 4th or 5th round pick, and that he obviously doesn’t watch a lot of Dees games. Later on I thought maybe I shouldn’t have said that. He also went on to say how good Dunn had been for them. I know it sounds crazy, with the Pies needing cap space, but this is what I heard.

On 9/22/2020 at 9:09 PM, dieter said:

It was a friggin boot camp, lowest common denominator mind games, physical torture stuff. Who in his right mind, with any self respect, would allow himself to be dictated to by a psychopath?????Maybe this is your idea of promoting 'conformity' and blind allegiance. Kubrick's film Thin Metal Jacket exposes the mindset you seem to condone. Never mind, the world is made of many compartments, yours is one I respect people for avoiding.

Thin Metal Jacket! Was that the slightly less impactful sequel to Full Metal Jacket?

53 minutes ago, Luther said:

Thin Metal Jacket! Was that the slightly less impactful sequel to Full Metal Jacket?

No way: it's meant that the poor players had helmets made of reconstituted wood chips instead of the full metal helmets: was it Salem who knocked himself out because of this???/