On 13/05/2021 at 03:56, ManDee said:

Scott Thompson going home was more than 15 years ago, Daniher was coach.

You're right. It was 2005 - 16 years ago. My poor memory has completely invalidated my point. 

  On 13/05/2021 at 03:03, Skuit said:

I left my home-town at the earliest possible opportunity, at about 17 (admittedly, it was Adelaide) and never went back. Is there any other elite sport in the world where fans fret over the origin of their players and some supposed go-home factor? Does it even really exist in the AFL, outside of an excuse to chase dollars? Jackson was on an elite basketball path - that means not even being in Australia. And it's not even clear where Kozzie's home is. They both seem entirely committed to the club for now and into the future, and I trust the club and our 'local' players to make them feel entirely at home chasing a flag together.  

Given the obvious potential of the current team, anybody who is worrying that a respected player at our club - with 18 months to go on his contract - might want to go home, just does not understand how powerful and all encompassing our current “team buy-in commitment” really can be. And this only gets stronger when it’s reinforced by constant winning of games. As such, It wouldn’t surprise me to see Jackson sign a contract extension before the end of this year - right after our premiership.

  On 13/05/2021 at 04:01, Skuit said:

You're right. It was 2005 - 16 years ago. My poor memory has completely invalidated my point. 

It felt like 20 years ago to me. And your point was well made. 

Edited May 13, 20213 yr by ManDee

  On 13/05/2021 at 03:30, Better days ahead said:

Out of interest, does anybody have any information or intel about Dogga wanting to go home. Is there substance to it or just our MFCSS fears getting the better of us?

I wouldn't think so, just the usual guessing or hysteria.

  On 13/05/2021 at 03:37, Skuit said:

I'm concerned you have comprehension problems though if your take-away was that Petracca's signing would lead to long-term issues.

I am not providing evidence or making an argument. I think the Petracca deal will be good value, if in the next 8 years there is an increase in the salary cap. I don't think there is much evidence of that happening at the moment as revenues are not up to pre -covid levels. We have 42 list spots and a range of contract values. The trick is to pay more for the ones we want to keep longer. It also means we need to trade and develop players. Oliver has just signed an extension that will take him to free agency. There are a lot of contracts to juggle and I don't think we have been great at that in the past. I suspect we have too many on too much for too long. 

Bit of peak MFCSS in here.

  On 13/05/2021 at 02:52, Bring-Back-Powell said:

I have a gut feel Jackson won't be with us long term but certainly will be in the short-medium term.

Of course he will. Mental demon's is trolling.

Proof? This comment:

I suspect we are more in need of what Weid offers. 

I mean C'mon. We moved heaven and earth to ensure we could draft LJ. Because of his incredible skill set.

And because we had not a single player who comes close to having his skill set. No other club does.

A generational player.

Weed was on the list when we drafted LJ.

We then recruited a player who very much has what weed offers. Ben Brown. Who, when a spot became available, was selected AHEAD of weed. What does that tell you about weeds relative value?

LJ is with a club that is equal favourite for this year's flag. And has a shot at a sustained period of being a realistic flag contender.

And he is going to want to go home to WA to play with a team on the wane (who may well struggle to make finals this year - certainly not top 4) who has a star ruckman on big coin. A three gun tall forwards?

Or a team in tbe second year of a year's long rebuild that is struggling to improve?

And fly accross the continent every fortnight for the rest of his career?

Right.

Trolling or clueless. Take your pick

  On 13/05/2021 at 04:13, Clintosaurus said:

Bit of peak MFCSS in here.

Peak MFCSS indeed. LJ hurts his finger and suddenly we're freaking out about him being homesick and wanting a trade back to WA. Hilarious 

  On 13/05/2021 at 03:08, Engorged Onion said:

I wonder what Cam Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater would have to say about this matter.

Or Andrew Gaff

Or Matthew Pavlich

Or Patrick Dangerfield

Or Adam Goodes

Or Buddy Franklin

Or Lachie Neale

Point is that there is plenty of evidence that the go home factor is irrelevant, if the culture is what you desire and you have great relationships.

errr Didnt Danger go home to Moggs Creek?

  On 13/05/2021 at 04:30, binman said:

Trolling or clueless. Take your pick

You are an ignorant blind faith fan and I am putting you on ignore. Your opinion is not worth listening to.

Victoria has sun and also surf very close to Melbourne.Whats the big deal about WA ffs.

Ever heard of sharks? They take surfers on a regular basis. Homesick is an absurd excuse.LJ is not a baby. Does he even surf? If yes, go down to Portsea or over to Bells.

  On 13/05/2021 at 04:32, Smokey said:

Peak MFCSS indeed. LJ hurts his finger and suddenly we're freaking out about him being homesick and wanting a trade back to WA. Hilarious 

The post got out of hand when I suggested we give him some days at home during the injury period.

I still think they should encourage him to go home to catch up with families and friends. Good player management is required so as to keep them happy and to know that the MFC have their backs.

  On 13/05/2021 at 03:03, Skuit said:

I left my home-town at the earliest possible opportunity, at about 17 (admittedly, it was Adelaide) and never went back. Is there any other elite sport in the world where fans fret over the origin of their players and some supposed go-home factor? Does it even really exist in the AFL, outside of an excuse to chase dollars? Jackson was on an elite basketball path - that means not even being in Australia. And it's not even clear where Kozzie's home is. They both seem entirely committed to the club for now and into the future, and I trust the club and our 'local' players to make them feel entirely at home chasing a flag together.  

I’m a word no, NRL movement is crazy, it’s a literally free-for-all with players moving mid season to new clubs, being swapped or loaned or signing contracts to new clubs for next season onwards.

I use ice hockey all the time and there is very very minimal mention of go home and only for the superstars (Austin Matthews is from Arizona and plays in Toronto amd it is mentioned occasionally he might move back home when his next contract is done), otherwise everyone is a replaceable part. 

  On 13/05/2021 at 03:14, Skuit said:

I don't know to be honest. Maybe elite sport in Australia is different to global sports? We've been busy trying to build a mature team - I would contend that maturity includes not wanting to go 'home' and play around with high-school friends. Anyone who does desire such - see Hogan perhaps - isn't the right fit to begin with. Let them walk. 

I agree esp your comments on maturity.  I am so over the ' go home'  factor after constant Hogan speculation that I no longer care and consider the issue.  If they go - then they go.

I moved for work reasons, 8 times over 40 years and 15 houses.

Its life and/or reality.

in nba there's usually the 'threat' of a big name player going to a big market from a smaller market team, but the difference is that afl players can refuse trades - e.g. when we wanted howe to go to gc17, they offered him a big money contract, and he still refused to go, then ended up at the pies - whereas when san antonio had a falling out with kawhi leonard they were able to ship him off the year before his free agency to toronto...where he promptly won a championship, before going 'home' to la clips

the likes of giannis are bucking the trend a bit; they get A LOT more money to sign for the club that originally drafted them; plus some players prefer the relative quiet of minneapolis over a metropolis like la or nyc

 

  On 13/05/2021 at 02:39, Mental Demons said:

He has a different skill set to Weid. I suspect we are more in need of what Weid offers. Jackson has value and we could get good picks/players for him. We have done well at the draft in recent times and this is better value for money.

How can you be sure what Weid offers ?

  On 12/05/2021 at 08:28, MurDoc516 said:

T. Mac will surely go ruck and pinch hit around the ground. Considering he's our 2nd best contested mark at the moment wouldn't be a bad thing to sit him infront of McKay

Given the fact that he should be used 'around the ground' due to his aerobic capacity, it would be a waste to plunk him solely on McKay. He could act to take on some of those kick-ins from the fullback kicker ( most probably Salem in the main) that Max was expected to be in position for and snatch the mark, allowing May to bob up unexpectedly in the melee or its coverage and requirement for mongrel defenders.

The overworked Max could not have to cover so much ground, so often, so well; he could stalk the midfield and forward areas at his relative leisure. It would be like a training run for Max - so  easy - and for TMac - backline experience and clearance abilities.

 

  On 13/05/2021 at 04:53, kev martin said:

Good player management is required so as to keep them happy and to know that the MFC have their backs.

Good player management is required so as to keep them happy and to know that the MFC have their backs.

  On 13/05/2021 at 05:09, loges said:

How can you be sure what Weid offers ?

Weid has kicked 14 goals in 3 weeks. He has been successful at AFL level. Weid could make our forward line as hard to match up on as our backline. He could make our team harder to beat. Weid has earned a go. It would seem the FD agree with me according to Goodwin. It may be years before Jackson is as good as Weid as a specialist forward, if ever. If Weid does not work we can try something else. That applies to the whole forward line. We have been very good at developing players through Casey.

  On 13/05/2021 at 03:37, Skuit said:

Thanks for sharing the link. A good read. I'm concerned you have comprehension problems though if your take-away was that Petracca's signing would lead to long-term issues. Exact opposite to the jist of the article you're providing as evidence. 

Indeed.

The title of the article is: Christian Petracca's move into middle strikes gold for Melbourne Demons

The link to article includes the question 'is he worth the seven year contract'  

The article goes into great detail and drills down on very specific evidence to answer that question.

And based on that evidence concludes that the answer is yes, Petracca is worth the seven year contract

And for good measure explores if the deal is likely to create long term salary cap or related issues.

The answer is no.

 In fact it the article notes that 'locking in players' salaries in current dollars has proven to be extremely valuable for clubs' and that 'if the cap rises over the next eight years, it may be a shrewd deal'.

By the by it is an excellent article. And i think the forts by Atkinson and Lawson this year after having done quite few terrific analysis articles last season. I was worried they had been another victims of the cuts to the ABC

 

I watched both those VFL matches where he kicked the 14 goals.  But who was his direct and indirect opponents in those matches?  Were they AFL listed? Were they any good?  Casey won by large amounts; was that because the opponents were so bad, or was it due to Weed kicking loads of goals?  These are all genuine questions, not rhetorical.  I'm not anti-Weed in any way but I wonder whether we have a reliable guide to how in-form he is.  Other than the club being prepared to pick hims this week - which perhaps answers my questions. Though maybe there is also a keep Weed happy element in the decision.

Definitely not the week to drop Max Gawn.

  On 13/05/2021 at 04:53, kev martin said:

I still think they should encourage him to go home to catch up with families and friends.

He can go home during the bye, as I am sure he will.

Edited May 13, 20213 yr by drysdale demon
spelling

  On 13/05/2021 at 05:02, Demon17 said:

I agree esp your comments on maturity.  I am so over the ' go home'  factor after constant Hogan speculation that I no longer care and consider the issue.  If they go - then they go.

I moved for work reasons, 8 times over 40 years and 15 houses.

Its life and/or reality.

Not only that, we get commensurate value. We might quibble that any player is worth a bit more or a bit less (depending if we're trading in or out) but essentially there's a market rate which we get (or pay) for any player. 

  On 13/05/2021 at 06:25, drysdale demon said:

He can go home during the bye, as I am sure he will.

My original post said to bring him back after the bye.

Manage the young man playing against those big bodies. Give him lots of time to refresh, hang out at home and allow the other talls a run at it.

It is a bit of a risk to have him out for that extended period, but I believe he will be better for it come the second half of our year.

The discussion also touched on what to do when he comes back in.

Do we play with an imbalance in the line up?

I thought yes, experiment. Set him up as a midfielder. With Max and Jackson following the ball then it is so easy for Max to drop off fwd or back and know the stoppages are covered. What a headache for the opposition. 

Some thought the imbalance of too many talls would be detrimental, especially when we play in the wet and the big boys start losing their footings and going to ground when contesting.

Edited May 13, 20213 yr by kev martin