As others have said, given Melksham is contracted I expect he'll be with us next year. Just don't know who else would be interested in him at his age?

Quite a rapid fall from grace he was acting captain for a match in 2020 when Gawn and Viney were injured from memory....just doesn't seem to get involved in the play enough these days, good for a cameo goal or nice pass here and there but spends a lot of the match a non-factor.

2 hours ago, MadAsHell said:

As others have said, given Melksham is contracted I expect he'll be with us next year. Just don't know who else would be interested in him at his age?

you may well be right but the extension of Brown suggests to me that they think Melk might go elsewhere. There's also the issue of where Bedford and Chandler fit in.

We seem to have a surfeit of forwards. Down back though is another story. Cannot see Hibberd playing 22 plus games in 2022.

Hopefully this is another ANB / T Mac situation where he is told to look elsewhere but you are welcome back, and then cements himself in the best 22 and wins a premiership :) 

54 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

you may well be right but the extension of Brown suggests to me that they think Melk might go elsewhere. There's also the issue of where Bedford and Chandler fit in.

We seem to have a surfeit of forwards. Down back though is another story. Cannot see Hibberd playing 22 plus games in 2022.

That is a sound theory given the contract extension to Mitch. I think time will tell.

Bedford and Chandler I see as keeping the heat on Pickett, Spargo and Nibbler. Definitely worth keeping IMO.

And yes I agree, the likelihood of Hibberd playing 22 games is slim. But we have Hunt, Joel Smith and potentially Marty Hore (if he gets extended) as half back depth. Then there's also the potential drafting of Moniz-Wakefield who could play there. I think our list is looking pretty good IMO.

Edited September 28, 20213 yr by MadAsHell

6 hours ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

Melksham, AVB and a fourth rounder to Gold Coast for King. 

Can you put this in a riddle for us mate?

Jake was unlucky not to be in the premiership team. Spargo kept on performing and just held his spot week after week.
 

I think Jake is looking for opportunities and a 3-year contract. Dees probably would cut his dollars in his next contract at the end of 2022. 

I would like to see Dees retain him but understand why he is looking elsewhere.  

35 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Jake was unlucky not to be in the premiership team. Spargo kept on performing and just held his spot week after week.
 

I think Jake is looking for opportunities and a 3-year contract. Dees probably would cut his dollars in his next contract at the end of 2022. 

I would like to see Dees retain him but understand why he is looking elsewhere.  

He was lucky to be in the starting 22 for the second half of 2020.  Has been ordinary for over 12 months. Can't see us extending him after 2022.

Bedford, Chandler and Laurie will all be looking to overtake him, and he wasn't even in the best 22 himself. We won't expect to get anything in terms of draft picks, but it would be useful to have his contract off the books.

Salary cap may be a factor here. You'd imagine he'd be on 550K plus signing a three-year deal before the start of the 2019 season.

In 2018, he was one of our best and most important players.

Dumb comment incoming. But I haven't seen any footage of Melksham in the celebrations, I assume he was in the squad and over there partying still? Prob should've watched a replay (or followed their Instagrams) by now though. 

Edited September 28, 20213 yr by John Demonic

2 minutes ago, John Demonic said:

Dumb comment incoming. But I haven't seen any footage of Melksham in the celebrations, I assume he was in the squad and over there partying still? Prob should've watched a replay (or followed their Instagrams) by now though. 

He hugged Maxy after the game, he was with the squad.

22 minutes ago, Jibroni said:

He hugged Maxy after the game, he was with the squad.

Absolutely.  He was in the premiership celebration, well and truly 

17 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Absolutely.  He was in the premiership celebration, well and truly 

implying... 😉

Melks will not get any more time at the Dees after next year if he stays. Hibbo might struggle past another year as well. We have Fritsch coming up for contract next year as well as others then and the year after. Jacko and Oliver will soak up a bit.

Jones, Jetta and VB will free up a bit of CAP this year. Melks and Hibbo will free up a bit next year.

Having said that the fact we went for Cerra indicates we must have a decent buffer.

We must have built up a bit of a  'stash' during the crap years. I think we will be able to keep the bulk of the team together.

13 minutes ago, manny100 said:

 

Jones, Jetta and VB will free up a bit of CAP this year. Melks and Hibbo will free up a bit next year.

 

TMac on a new deal saves plenty as well.

Not sure there will be any takers but I'd imagine we'd be willing to pay a bit of his 2022 wage if it gets us out of the bulk of it.

We don't really have anyone in the VFL for that mid size forward role though, so he'd always be close to a game but on what he showed this year it's hard to have much confidence in his performance.

Best thing for his career would be to go to another club. He'll struggle to get a game next year unless there's an injury. 

Unfortunately I highly doubt there'll be any takers.

He is supremely fit and highly skilled. He will have plenty of calls. Especially if he is fine to move interstate, he will have no problem getting a 2 year deal. I wonder where his motivation is at though 

3 minutes ago, DubDee said:

He is supremely fit and highly skilled. He will have plenty of calls. Especially if he is fine to move interstate, he will have no problem getting a 2 year deal. I wonder where his motivation is at though 

Interesting take.

7 minutes ago, DubDee said:

He is supremely fit and highly skilled. He will have plenty of calls. Especially if he is fine to move interstate, he will have no problem getting a 2 year deal. I wonder where his motivation is at though 

From what I have seen he hardly pressures the opposition or tackles which is why he might not be consistently in the side. 

8 minutes ago, DubDee said:

He is supremely fit and highly skilled. He will have plenty of calls. Especially if he is fine to move interstate, he will have no problem getting a 2 year deal. I wonder where his motivation is at though 

I agree. Will be a good acquisition for the right side. He’d be handy for our depth aswell.

49 minutes ago, DemonOX said:

From what I have seen he hardly pressures the opposition or tackles which is why he might not be consistently in the side. 

Spot on.

He is no chance of getting selected in the seniors unless he addresses these issues. And it is very hard to see him doing so given he had both an incredible incentive AND the opportunity to do so this season. 

Which is fine in of itself in terms of being depth at Casey. Except for the fact that he is a senior player who should be showing the sort of leadership Jones, Jetts and Mitch brown did playing at Casey. And he is no doubt on pretty good coin.

I think a move and reset would be good outcome for a both parties.

I was thinking the Suns would be a good option. But on reflection they probably have enough highly skilled players with question bale intensity. 

I wonder if the Saints might be a good option. I know they have a number of older players but they need some silk and finishers up forward and he would be un upgrade on Kent and Higgins.

And the Saints might work for Melk as they are a Melbourne based team and will be pushing for finals. 

9 minutes ago, binman said:

I wonder if the Saints might be a good option. I know they have a number of older players but they need some silk and finishers up forward and he would be un upgrade on Kent and Higgins.

Higgins had a bad start to the year but he’s a very good footballer. The Saints gave up the equivalent of a pick right at the start of the second round for him. His finish to the year was very good.

Melkshams lack of tackling and pressure makes him more like a tall forward than competing with a small. And the Saints have King, Membrey, a second ruck and Sharman who really impressed. Plus can’t find room for Battle.

It’s very hard to know who’d want Melksham. Port being keen on Finlayson with Robbie Gray (plays tall) ageing could do with a bit of marking to go with their smalls and he fits their fast flowing ball movement. Melk always plays well against the Eagles and he’d be great with their kick mark game but they probably want to get younger. Freo need to bring in some mature players but aren’t in a rush and I doubt they are keen for a non defensive worker. Brisbane for 10 weeks of Hipwood insurance as the lead up 3rd tall?  

This may seem a bit odd but would Melksham back at Ess work?

They have a very young team with only Hurley over 30.   I don't know their team very well but not sure they have many experienced forwards or forward depth.  Melksham would have less competition for games at Ess than the Dees.

Their rebuild is a few years behind ours so it would be like us bringing in Cross, Vince, Lewis.to support the younger teammates.

At this stage they have picks 11, 48 and 53.  By some accounts they have a bit of sal cap space.  So they might give up a late pick and take over his salary.  Win, win, win.

Just a thought bubble

Edited September 30, 20213 yr by Premiers