He has a new opportunity with a new coach. It was a strange draft pick but i hope he makes it.

4 hours ago, Robbie On Skates said:

Contracted till the end of next year which i would say is fortunate fo

4 hours ago, Robbie On Skates said:

Worst list management decision ever by us.

33 minutes ago, Cranky Franky said:

Worst list management decision ever by us.

Weed says hi

4 hours ago, Random Task said:

…He's been hard done by in my opinion. Should have had games ahead of Kolt, Spargo and Sharp at various stages throughout the year.

Only got 20min in the awful Alice game where there was zero pressure from the getgo and was the sacrificial lamb there.

Jefferson has played more games this year than Laurie has in two years, while Sharp has played more MFC games than Laurie has in his career. Clearly not rated by Goody. Will be interesting to see if he gets a gig in the last 3 weeks. If not, if any club is interested he should jump at a trade request.

I would hope that they tried Bill in his proper position at some stage in the next three games.

There’s a few players on the list that need to be played.

42 minutes ago, Cranky Franky said:

Worst list management decision ever by us.

John Tilbrook? Kelvin Templeton? Lucas Cook? Brody Grundy? It is a strange decision but many others are ahead of our poor list choices over the years.

In 2025 we have had runs of games put into players without form (Kolt, Spargo etc...) , so I reckon Laurie might have a genuine beef for not being given a run of 5-8 matches in some capacity over the last 5 years.

It's weird treating somebody like an end of year delisting certainty when he's got a year left on his contract. I doubt Laurie will ever going to be a star, but it's harsh that he's only had one quarter out of 80 to prove himself in a dud season.

I can only assume that Laurie's two year contract extension was given because of great attendance or some other intangible, because it surely wasn't based on his football potential.

I don't understand why this club continually rushes into list management decisions that can be held off for another 12 months or more (see Viney's extension for another example).

I do feel sorry for Laurie that he hasn't been given an opportunity this year when others of similar ability have received plenty, but ultimately he is just a very average footballer.

Laurie was given numerous opportunities last season and in previous seasons. Pretty much every time he plays, he doesn't have the composure to execute basic football skills at AFL level.

Given Laurie had the somewhat unjustified luxury of another preseason and year on our list, I'd be against him being given opportunities to prove he's got what it takes at the top level for the remainder of this season. Give those to Adams, Taj and Pup instead as I think they have shown themselves to be far closer to AFL standard when given opportunities than Laurie. Glad that Culley is being given a decent crack. Would even prefer guys like Henderson and Sestan be given opportunities ahead of Laurie.

If Laurie has an outstanding pre-season, then he should get some good gametime during practice matches etc. Honestly though, personally, if we could I'd rather trade him as maybe a change of scenery might do him good; perhaps a change of senior coach might have the same effect for us. I doubt anyone else will be interested though and think he'll end up playing out his career as a solid VFL player.

Read in interesting article quoting Paul Roos earlier this week how seeing Nev Jetta play one of the final games of the season before he took over as coach gave Roosy enough of an impression that Nev was worth persevering with and keeping a list spot (probably just a rookie lost one from memory). But Laurie has shown nothing like what Nev did up to that point.

New coaches often put belief into some fringe players that turn their careers around. Happy to give the new coach a shot at getting him going

The unfortunate thing for Laurie is from my observations he is a very good VFL player, but this has not translated to the AFL side. Even though he has been played as the Sub often when he is given a chance, even in full game opportunities he has gotten, he has failed to have any impact.

Has Laurie played many senior games?

5 minutes ago, defuture15 said:

Has Laurie played many senior games?

Internet is your friend.

8 minutes ago, defuture15 said:

Has Laurie played many senior games?

About 11/12 i think... but only a 6 or 7 full games.

He hasn't had a good run at it imo. He may never ar Melb. I still suspect he might move clubs when the Circus comes to town.

Can a player use being sub as an excuse? I think partly yes BUT even factoring time on ground does he ever look at home in the seniors? I'm happy to be corrected but it always feels like he averages but a few disposals only per quarter (despite fresh legs!)

Another big mistake to extend Laurie for 2025 and 2026! Tim Lamb has been a shocker in list management. Laurie has limited weapons and whilst he’s good at VFL, doesn’t translate into AFL quality.

2 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Another big mistake to extend Laurie for 2025 and 2026! Tim Lamb has been a shocker in list management. Laurie has limited weapons and whilst he’s good at VFL, doesn’t translate into AFL quality.

i have similar thoughts on howes re-signing. he will finish his new deal from this year as a 6 year professional footballer too! for 20-30 games and how many good ones? he should have at best received one more year this year but has fallen back into the side with others out rather than bang the door down and has never performed at afl level. compared to turner who came in and immediately turned games both as a forward and a back, there has to be more turner types out there and we shouold be looking for that rather than rewarding mediocricy

On 07/08/2025 at 20:26, binman said:

Weed says hi

JT trumps all.

15 minutes ago, GS_1905 said:

JT trumps all.

I was enraged when I thought you meant Jack Trengove. Then I realised you must mean Jimmy Toumpas.

I don't think Laurie is an amazing player that is necessarily someone that could be a mainstay of the 23, but I don't think he has been treated fairly when compared to other players that have continually put up mediocre performances but still get retained. He has at least deserved more full game opportunities.

Sometimes a new coach, new voice can bring fringe players out from the shadows.

On 07/08/2025 at 19:53, Cranky Franky said:

Worst list management decision ever by us.

Plenty of other options to challenge that, particularly a recent bad egg being brought in from another club only to get sacked with a year to go on their contract.

21 hours ago, beelzebub said:

About 11/12 i think... but only a 6 or 7 full games.

He hasn't had a good run at it imo. He may never ar Melb. I still suspect he might move clubs when the Circus comes to town.

I think he would struggle finding any takers.

He has had opportunities in other seasons and hasn't quite grabbed them. It's a brutal game, especially for an undersized slowish pocket/flanker and it would be hard to see him getting a spot on any list.

He hasn't had many games because his physical limitations limit his versatility. Where do you play him?

16 hours ago, ANG13 said:

Plenty of other options to challenge that, particularly a recent bad egg being brought in from another club only to get sacked with a year to go on their contract.

Honestly to me us extending Viney, May, and even Gawn for as long as we have is worse than giving Laurie an extra year. Unlikely he's on big coin from an AFL perspective.

5 minutes ago, Pates said:

Honestly to me us extending Viney, May, and even Gawn for as long as we have is worse than giving Laurie an extra year. Unlikely he's on big coin from an AFL perspective.

I’m glad you’re not our list manager

Gawn is a future MFC legend. Viney and May are bloody warriors.

Do you know an unknown symptom of not giving good sized contracts?

they get poached

Just now, DubDee said:

I’m glad you’re not our list manager

Gawn is a future MFC legend. Viney and May are bloody warriors.

Do you know an unknown symptom of not giving good sized contracts?

they get poached

Gawn and Viney are legends and club captains, but they are also past an age of certainty. Gawn I'm less annoyed about, but to me it felt like Viney was holding us over a barrel when we were vulnerable (with the Oliver/Trac issues). We need to stop being sentimental about players and caving to their demands. We have Viney contracted for another 2 years after this season, he's been average with some good performances in there. He's also symptomatic of our issues with ball use. I'm hopeful that a new voice will help extract a new role for him so we can get better balance, but we need to have more of an edge of "you either come with us how we want to do this next phase, or we can trade you to another club that will suit your needs".

They are all warriors, and legends of the club. But did we really need to extend them as far as we did? I don't think so.

I would've been/would be sad to see Jack go, but we need a new mix in the midfield.

I reckon I can name on one hand the players we absolutely can't be without next season, everyone else is a question mark.

EDIT:
Just to add I feel like we are in the position we are more because of our contract decisions, with so many being high money and long term, than because of Goodwin's coaching. It has definitely hampered our ability to bring more quality to the club.

Edited Saturday at 13:282 days by Pates