I think 2 years is the right call give him a bit of stability. It be interesting to see who we offload. Baker will be one, Jackson is probably off to Freo maybe the Weid will be traded and maybe Rosman might be delisted to put on the rookie list. I thought Melksham might be delisted but his recent form has surely given him another contract.

Melk turns 31 end of this month and has earned another year.

Hibbo will be 33 in January and is probably going to have to make way for Bowey, Hunt etc to play more.

I would offer him a contract to play and coach with Casey for a year or two.

I think keeping Joel Smith on the list helps maintain links with our heritage. Whilst I know we are in the business of winning footy games, strong culture can be built around embracing the past. It can help foster a sense of connection and loyalty with Melbourne FC that is vital to on field and off field success.

One can see the argument both ways for the one v two year contract.

At a salary cap planning level it makes sense in that you try to avoid having too many outliers in your plan. If we give him one year and he plays say 14 decent games at senior level his value in year 2 goes up a lot. Similarly he's out of contract and open to other offers.

It's a gamble but it makes sense.

For his sake two years injury free would be wonderful

 

Confirmed.

Get him and Kozzy in the same forward line and have a specy-off

I'm really happy for him.  He has overcome so many obstacles and has worked his butt off to make comeback after comeback.

The 'swingman' we don't have, perhaps.  Another string to our bow to tweak our ball movement, maybe.

Edited August 26, 20223 yr by Lucifers Hero

On 8/25/2022 at 10:09 AM, binman said:

Could he also pinch hit in the ruck the way the blues use silvagni?

My thoughts exactly binman. Finlayson type, great leap and obviously very athletic. Its an option i reckon.

The difference between handy depth players that know your systems and ‘list cloggers’ is not perception.

Its ladder position.

The effort required to replace where Smith is at the MFC and the role he plays, or could play, has little return on investment. We are not going to bring in speculative players the next 5 years - we need proven talent or proven role players.