Where is Thompson now.

Armstrong and him are doing well, next question?

Thompson is not one of them.

he was injured alot when at the dee's and then he decided he wanted to return home.

Armstrong is definatly one.

Chris Lamb springs to mind.

yep lamb and arma

jolly to a lesser extent

Even if you do believe that Armstrong and Jolly shouldn't have been removed from the club (which I don't), you can't possibly argue that their careers were ruined. They're still playing, and rather successfully, aren't they?

I wouldn't say that their careers have been ruined, Jolly and Armstrong have played in premiership teams, so let's not get too carried away. Perhaps careers destroyed at Melbourne would be a better name for the thread?

Anyway, Armstrong, Jolly, Simmonds, Bishop off the top of my head. Not sure about Lamb, no other club took an interest into him.

In the recent past Spalding, Pike and Heaver are the only three I remember.

Further back, allowing what happened to Stan Alves and Norm Smith is unforgiveable.

The trades that worked - Phil Gilbert (anyone remember him?), Troy Longmuir and Jeff Farmer. Geez, poor Fremantle

Even if you do believe that Armstrong and Jolly shouldn't have been removed from the club (which I don't), you can't possibly argue that their careers were ruined. They're still playing, and rather successfully, aren't they?

Damn Nasher, you beat me to it, you must have posted this just as I started mine

Hayden Lamaro comes to mind.

Armstrong was not playing well in his final year at Melbourne, whether that was a case of a bit of homesickness or just not fitting in with the team structure it doesn't matter. I was glad we traded him, and i'm sure he was as well.

As for Jolly, ND made a HUGE mistake in 2003 when he didn't rest White for the entire year to get his shins fit and use Jolly as the main ruckman. We won 5 games that year, it wouldn't have made any difference to give Jolly more game time. He was one of the players that i think Danners failed miserably on, it was no wonder he wanted to move to Sydney.

Simmonds was a different case, White was just about at the peek of his level when Troy was ready to move up. It was annoying to see him leave, but ultimately the only thing Neil screwed up with there was the fact he didn't play Troy as a forward rather than just having him warm the bench.

Finally, Lamb. In his final year i went down to Sandy to watch him play and frankly, he sucked. There was a good reason why he wasn't getting a game at Melbourne, he didn't deserve one. He tried to get back onto an AFL list but nobody wanted him, his career wasn't ruined, it just wasn't going to happen. (However, i am glad to hear that he's doing well with Sandy)

Armstrong was not playing well in his final year at Melbourne, whether that was a case of a bit of homesickness or just not fitting in with the team structure it doesn't matter. I was glad we traded him, and i'm sure he was as well.

We didn't trade him, he went to West Coke on the rookie list. Think we shopped him around but no takers.

Daniher hasn't destroyed anyone's career, but I wonder how in 10 years he hasn't managed to turn any one of our players into a real star.

Also, players like Wheatley for example have gone nowhere when I believe they would have become very good players at other clubs.

I hope CJ doesn't end up going down the same path.

If i see any more threads about Jolly, Armstrong, Thompson et al, I think I am going to puke. Get over it. We have to move forward with the list we have, rather than worrying about spilt milk, especially when the milk spilt itself.

The reality of these trades were:

Thompson - was treated like a king at the MFC, albeit an injured one. He was our no 1 midfielder in 04 before he broke his foot. It was no suprise that when he went down, we went down too. He wanted to go home, there was nothing we could do.

Jolly - Seeing the current form that Jamar is in, it is an indictment on Jolly that he was overtaken in late 2004 by Jamar. The fact that we picked a raw jamar in the final over the more experienced yet still young Jolly says a lot. At the time we had 3 ruckman, with Jolly 3rd in the pecking order, and with Sydney willing to give up a 1st rounder. At the time who could say no?

Arma - A blossoming career at the MFC was definately impacted by the tragic bombings in Bali. He never recovered and wasn't able to make the most of the opportunities given. He was shopped around but the right price couldn't be found. In the end he was only rookied by WCE and only played last year because Sampi is Sampi and Matera retired. Good luck to arma, he has been through a lot, but he wasn't going to be an important player at the club. As for the 'look at him now kicking goals at WCE' argument, Neitz would kick 150 goals at west coast such is the service their forwards get.

Simmonds - wanted to go to get more game time so he wanted to move on. At the time we got a ready made CHB when we were clearly lacking KPP defenders. it was just our luck that he did his knee at the business end of the season.

Bishop - part of a trade that got us powell, who was very good for us for a few years interspersed with awful injuries. Bishop was never going to make us a premeirship team. Good player no doubt but hardly bookend material.

Farmer - see thompson

I wouldn't say that their careers have been ruined, Jolly and Armstrong have played in premiership teams, so let's not get too carried away. Perhaps careers destroyed at Melbourne would be a better name for the thread?

Anyway, Armstrong, Jolly, Simmonds, Bishop off the top of my head. Not sure about Lamb, no other club took an interest into him.

In the recent past Spalding, Pike and Heaver are the only three I remember.

Further back, allowing what happened to Stan Alves and Norm Smith is unforgiveable.

The trades that worked - Phil Gilbert (anyone remember him?), Troy Longmuir and Jeff Farmer. Geez, poor Fremantle

Armstrong - Went from 0 to hero. Went from a club that gave him few opportunities but good players are thoes that show something after a few games. Players like Bartram, Bate, Pettard, Jones all had good 1st games and have been improving from there. Arma had an OK first game but was never able to show much imporovement and i was glad we got rid of him as i think he wouldnt have gotten any better for us. Like the kid and good to see hes playing well

Jolly is a massive loss but he wanted to leave and u dont want to be in Ports position where they lost Stevens for nothing. I rate Jolly very highly but u win some and u lose some.

Simmonds another handy player and my mates cousin. I would say his career has improved since leaving melbourne and i was for 1 very upset like most that he didnt see much of the GF.

Bishop i cant say much about really. Bassett is another name that has exceeded since leaving melb. He is a very consistant defender and in my opinion one of the best in the AFL.

Jeff Farmer has defenatly lost a lot of spark and consistancy since leaving melb.

Thompson is a great midfielder and to see him leave was gut renching. We got a player for him who is 20% of what thompson is. Moloney was a good pickup but doesent have the skill, indurance, or game winning ability. He doesent have as good a goal kicking chance but its still early times with his injury.

What i would like to know is why do melb get good players and ruin them. Moloney, Sylvia, Bell, Heffernan, Morecroft.

What i would like to know is why do melb get good players and ruin them. Moloney, Sylvia, Bell, Heffernan, Morecroft.

So moloney, sylvia and bell are now ruined players? rubbish. utter tripe

and moorecroft was anygood to begin with?

What i would like to know is why do melb get good players and ruin them. Moloney, Sylvia, Bell, Heffernan, Morecroft

If i see any more threads about Jolly, Armstrong, Thompson et al, I think I am going to puke. Get over it. We have to move forward with the list we have, rather than worrying about spilt milk, especially when the milk spilt itself.

The reality of these trades were:

Thompson - was treated like a king at the MFC, albeit an injured one. He was our no 1 midfielder in 04 before he broke his foot. It was no suprise that when he went down, we went down too. He wanted to go home, there was nothing we could do.

Jolly - Seeing the current form that Jamar is in, it is an indictment on Jolly that he was overtaken in late 2004 by Jamar. The fact that we picked a raw jamar in the final over the more experienced yet still young Jolly says a lot. At the time we had 3 ruckman, with Jolly 3rd in the pecking order, and with Sydney willing to give up a 1st rounder. At the time who could say no?

Arma - A blossoming career at the MFC was definately impacted by the tragic bombings in Bali. He never recovered and wasn't able to make the most of the opportunities given. He was shopped around but the right price couldn't be found. In the end he was only rookied by WCE and only played last year because Sampi is Sampi and Matera retired. Good luck to arma, he has been through a lot, but he wasn't going to be an important player at the club. As for the 'look at him now kicking goals at WCE' argument, Neitz would kick 150 goals at west coast such is the service their forwards get.

Simmonds - wanted to go to get more game time so he wanted to move on. At the time we got a ready made CHB when we were clearly lacking KPP defenders. it was just our luck that he did his knee at the business end of the season.

Bishop - part of a trade that got us powell, who was very good for us for a few years interspersed with awful injuries. Bishop was never going to make us a premeirship team. Good player no doubt but hardly bookend material.

Farmer - see thompson

Spot on Classy Dees

What i would like to know is why do melb get good players and ruin them. Moloney, Sylvia, Bell, Heffernan, Morecroft.

moloney and bell have been two of our best this year. havnt you been watching the games? bell played like a star today, he was fantastic...

sylvia, well he has been discussed in another thread.

and to think you brought up morecroft speaks volumes for your footy understanding...

moloney and bell have been two of our best this year. havnt you been watching the games? bell played like a star today, he was fantastic...

sylvia, well he has been discussed in another thread.

and to think you brought up morecroft speaks volumes for your footy understanding...

Well said