BBB was on a podcast recently called Four Burners. He's had eight knee surgeries (prior to the latest one) starting with a torn ACL in his teens. 

 

  On 27/01/2024 at 06:20, Stiff Arm said:

I'm eternally grateful that we have so many medical professionals here on Demonland that have reviewed the file of Ben Brown and are able to give us such confident prognosis on his future at Melbourne FC.

Because otherwise we'd look like a bunch of amateur, blowhard quacks. Right?

🤔

It’s been pretty well covered in the media, by the club, by Ben and his partner as well. His knees are cooked, that you can be very very confident of.

Deserves to go out on his terms, totally instrumental in our 21 triumph

  On 27/01/2024 at 10:07, Roost it far said:

It’s been pretty well covered in the media, by the club, by Ben and his partner as well. His knees are cooked, that you can be very very confident of.

Thanks Doc, I'll make an appointment to see you next week for my hemorrhoids 

Might be an opportunity to place Ben on the long term injury list and pick up the best ruck/fwd running around in the VFL/ SANFL/WAFL.

I just posted on the BBB thread but this is probably more relevant, Benny Brown should go on the long term injury list and bring in the best ruck/fwd available. Would ease the pressure and use BB as a fwd coach.

Edited January 27, 20241 yr by DeeZone
Added BB

  On 27/01/2024 at 11:16, Stiff Arm said:

Thanks Doc, I'll make an appointment to see you next week for my hemorrhoids 

Just eat more fibre and drink plenty of fresh water. Call me in 3 weeks if you’re still suffering from the inability to see what’s right in front of all of us. 

  On 27/01/2024 at 11:32, DeeZone said:

I just posted on the BBB thread but this is probably more relevant, Benny Brown should go on the long term injury list and bring in the best ruck/fwd available. Would ease the pressure and use BB as a fwd coach.

BBB is probably ready to play again in about 8 weeks, probably at Casey, but Fullarton might be months.

Fullarton, whilst disappointing for him to get injured doesn't change much. He's on par with Schache atm but likely/hopefully with more upside. If Gawn goes down in the next few months we have to either play Verrall or Schache. You can't play TMac as a ruckman and Brown is out. I'm guessing the club would go with Schache as Verrall likely needs another year or 2. Why wouldn't we push Brown to the long term injured list and pick up a big body from somewhere? We need more insurance than Schache. 

Interesting to note that in our run to the finals and indeed, our finals campaign in 1987, 3 listed veteran players were no longer part of the team

But in real terms, all 3 were contracted and getting paid but were deemed surplus to needs.  Injuries played a part as well

And that was 37 years ago 

The players in question were Stephen Icke, Peter Giles & Peter Moore. All good players too

And there were a few others that were coming to the end at the time as well

As previously stated, these types of curcumstances are just a part of sport

So Brown, T-Mac and 1 or 2 others fall into the same category.  That's just the way it goes

Edited January 28, 20241 yr by Macca

Tomlinson can ruck and so can JVR

  On 26/01/2024 at 01:45, Macca said:

Having contracted players who are past their prime is part of professional sports.  Numerous examples are now being seen where a player (or players) are given an extra year or 2 in order to keep those players 

Or if a club wants to secure players in trades where offering an extra year or 2 is needed in order to acquire those players

We're seeing more and more top players signing long term deals and even average players getting longer contracts

And that type of list management is going to continue especially if we see more player movement between clubs

So what that means is that in any given year, a club might have 3+ players who end up being depth only.  Getting the timing perfect is wishful thinking

The AFL is catching up with the rest of the world with regards to list management

But if it's right across the board, across all the clubs, then no club is at a real disadvantage

So gone are the days where every single list position is a productive one.  It stands to reason that type of position just can't happen

And players are not going to walk away from large amounts of money.  You're a long time retired

A way to alleviate the issue is to front end contracts but that's not always possible due to salary cap constraints (in any given year)

In a nutshell, having players such as Brown & T-Mac as depth players was always a possible likelyhood.  The upside is that we have a couple of experienced wise-heads around to help the young blokes coming through

Well said, Macca. 

I just want to add one extra point. How the club treats its players at the end of their careers will be noticed by other players (and their managers) when contemplating changing clubs. It would be much harder to attract quality players to join us if we didn't show we cared about them in their declining years.

  On 29/01/2024 at 02:07, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Well said, Macca. 

I just want to add one extra point. How the club treats its players at the end of their careers will be noticed by other players (and their managers) when contemplating changing clubs. It would be much harder to attract quality players to join us if we didn't show we cared about them in their declining years.

Spot on LD

And with these sorts of things becoming more prevalent, the AFL should be looking at add-ons to the salary caps (in a separate form) to cover the veterans

Or a slightly increased list size so clubs aren't left short? 

Going back 40+ years ago the clubs had players on their supplementary list to call upon

The Eagles & previously the Gold Coast have had massive injury lists in recent times yet couldn't even add State league players to help out (?) Stand corrected on that though

 

  On 28/01/2024 at 01:14, Macca said:

Interesting to note that in our run to the finals and indeed, our finals campaign in 1987, 3 listed veteran players were no longer part of the team

But in real terms, all 3 were contracted and getting paid but were deemed surplus to needs.  Injuries played a part as well

And that was 37 years ago 

The players in question were Stephen Icke, Peter Giles & Peter Moore. All good players too

And there were a few others that were coming to the end at the time as well

As previously stated, these types of curcumstances are just a part of sport

So Brown, T-Mac and 1 or 2 others fall into the same category.  That's just the way it goes

You forgot Kelvin Templeton!

  On 29/01/2024 at 02:28, picket fence said:

You forgot Kelvin Templeton!

Haha!

Kelvin* retired at the end of 1985, PF, but the point remains that by the end of any given season, the writing is on the wall for a number of players

These days, a player like Templeton would probably command a 5+ year deal.  Even average players can get 3 year contracts in the modern era

So the times they are a changin' but after a while, we'll start getting used to it.  To counter that, we probably need bigger lists

*Ventured to Catland in 1983 when Templeton won the game for us kicking 8 goals (we were 6 goals down at quarter time) At the time, we thought we'd acquired ourselves a superstar after that match

When were Brown and TMac give an extension?  At the end of 2022, they had just turned thirty.

  On 29/01/2024 at 03:00, redandbluemakepurple said:

When were Brown and TMac give an extension?  At the end of 2022, they had just turned thirty.

Fairly sure we gave Brown a 4 year deal to acquire the player which included his first year (2021) and T-Mac might have has his contract extended after the 2021 season

But it should be remembered that T-Mac played 23 of 25 games in 2021 and there was no outcry when we did extend his contract.  None that I recall anyway

So you make decisions and you live with the decisions.  There's no shouda, couda, wouda aided by hindsight

Edited January 29, 20241 yr by Macca

  On 29/01/2024 at 03:35, Macca said:

Fairly sure we gave Brown a 4 year deal to acquire the player which included his first year (2021) and T-Mac might have has his contract extended after the 2021 season

But it should be remembered that T-Mac played 23 of 25 games in 2021 and there was no outcry when we did extend his contract.  None that I recall anyway

So you make decisions and you live with the decisions.  There's no shouda, couda, wouda aided by hindsight

Hi Macca. I seem to remember that T-Mac's existing contract, rumoured to be around $750k per year was one of the stumbling blocks in him being able to find another suitor prior to the 2021 season. At the end of what turned out to be a successful year for both him and the club it was agreed to extend his time with us by spreading out that money over a longer period, possibly with triggers and incentives added. Happy to be corrected on that of course. 

  On 29/01/2024 at 04:46, Rab D Nesbitt said:

Hi Macca. I seem to remember that T-Mac's existing contract, rumoured to be around $750k per year was one of the stumbling blocks in him being able to find another suitor prior to the 2021 season. At the end of what turned out to be a successful year for both him and the club it was agreed to extend his time with us by spreading out that money over a longer period, possibly with triggers and incentives added. Happy to be corrected on that of course. 

I believe you're right, Rab

 

  On 29/01/2024 at 04:48, Macca said:

I believe you're right, Rab

 

And you're right too about BBB. It took a 4 year deal to get his signature. I've got my fingers crossed that he'll still be able to make a meaningful contribution this year as he's such a quality person. I just hope it's not to the detriment of his long term mobility. 

  On 29/01/2024 at 05:03, Rab D Nesbitt said:

And you're right too about BBB. It took a 4 year deal to get his signature. I've got my fingers crossed that he'll still be able to make a meaningful contribution this year as he's such a quality person. I just hope it's not to the detriment of his long term mobility. 

Kinda reminds me of Michael Owen at the end of his career at Man Utd and later Stoke.  A great player (and contracted) but his last few years were dogged by injuries

But in soccer, those sorts of stories are quite common and there is a lot of money in the sport to cover those types of instances

Much smaller scale in the AFL but some of the same principles apply (or will apply as the salary cap increases with more money coming into the sport) The salary cap could be $16Million+ soon enough with the new broadcast rights money kicking in 

Another example is Luke Jackson.  Freo reportably offered him many $Millions over a long contract and I believe we just didn't want to match the offer (or couldn't do) even though we didn't want to lose him

With Brown, North were only offering 2 or 3 years IIRC so we got him with the 4 year offer.  Otherwise, we don't get him

  On 29/01/2024 at 05:29, Macca said:

Kinda reminds me of Michael Owen at the end of his career at Man Utd and later Stoke.  A great player (and contracted) but his last few years were dogged by injuries

But in soccer, those sorts of stories are quite common and there is a lot of money in the sport to cover those types of instances

Much smaller scale in the AFL but some of the same principles apply (or will apply as the salary cap increases with more money coming into the sport) The salary cap could be $16Million+ soon enough with the new broadcast rights money kicking in 

Another example is Luke Jackson.  Freo reportably offered him many $Millions over a long contract and I believe we just didn't want to match the offer (or couldn't do) even though we didn't want to lose him

With Brown, North were only offering 2 or 3 years IIRC so we got him with the 4 year offer.  Otherwise, we don't get him

I just read an article about Michael Owen over the weekend. Apparently his 16 year old son has gone blind due to a rare disease. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/disability-68076555

As for BBB I think he actually knocked back a long term offer by the Roos then got crocked in the Queensland hub shortly after. North then lowballed him perhaps half hoping they could move him on. 

  On 29/01/2024 at 05:42, Rab D Nesbitt said:

I just read an article about Michael Owen over the weekend. Apparently his 16 year old son has gone blind due to a rare disease. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/disability-68076555

As for BBB I think he actually knocked back a long term offer by the Roos then got crocked in the Queensland hub shortly after. North then lowballed him perhaps half hoping they could move him on. 

That worked extremely well for Norf, giving us a premiership winning forward 3 goals in a dominant GF performance🤣

  On 29/01/2024 at 05:49, picket fence said:

That worked extremely well for Norf, giving us a premiership winning forward 3 goals in a dominant GF performance🤣

Very much so PF. There were also rumours that they found his wife Hester to be hard work but she seems to be as altruistic as Ben so you'd have to wonder at their accuracy. That said, that hub brought out the best and worst of people.  

As if the Roos could care in hindsight that they traded Ben Brown, we're lucky he played three weeks of good footy in September 21' otherwise you'd have to say the trade's been a bust for us not them