Yes we need to throw money at a key forward (like Logan McDonald), a start up midfielder (like Luke Davies-Uniacle, a small forward (like Tyson Stengle) and maybe a few coaches, but we also need solid depth who can play a role. Look at Collingwood.

Get Will Brodie as midfield depth. Played for Gold Coast now Fremantle but has fallen out of favor and tearing it up in the WAFL. 26 years old. Reminds me of Luke Dunstan. https://wafl.com.au/player/will-brodie

Get Rory Lobb as ruck depth if doggies will pay some of his salary. 31 years old. Played for GWS then Fremantle now Bulldogs but has fallen out of favor (admittedly poor form AFL but good form VFL and appears better than what we have in the cupboard currently). https://vfl.aflmstats.com/player/Rory_Lobb

the biggest issue this year is that there's little or no free agents on the market

free agents who haven't signed on yet who may interest us somewhat: elliott himmelberg, jarryd lyons, oleg markov, will hoskin-elliott, bailey banfield, matt taberner, patrick voss, brendan parfitt, tyson stengle, alex sexton, levi casboult, sam day, harry perryman, isaac cumming, cameron zurhaar, francis evans, jack graham, josh battle, mason wood, tim membrey, andrew gaff, elliot yeo, jamaine jones, jason johannisen, tim english

but, really, there's only five or six who would make our side discernibly better; at least, if the stories are true, we're interested in josh battle

so really we're looking at either pre-agents (those coming out of contract next year, like ldu) or alternatively players with long contracts who may have fallen out of favour (grundy v2)

if we have cap space to throw around we could look at the likes of josh rachele, darcy parish, luke davies-uniacke, logan mcdonald or - please, for the love of all that is holy, no - rory lobb

if we're looking to add depth who may / may not be in our best 22 it's the likes of ryan angwin, those younger players on the edge of selection at their own club that might see a fresh opportunity with us and / or a means to return 'home' to victoria

personally i would be very pleased if we could add battle as an unrestricted free agent, ldu as a pre-agent, and angwin as a youngster looking for more opportunity back 'home' in victoria this off-season, but it's going to be tough to achieve

We clearly need some key position depth, ruck depth, mid talent and depth as well as some speed and class. I've leant towards targeting free agents and players out of contract because I think we should bring in a top end midfield talent in the draft if we miss finals and have a reasonably early pick.

I'd be going after the following players:

Josh Battle- Unrestricted Free Agent who would be a long key position defender for us to replace the loss of May. Was also drafted as a forward and has a great set of hands...

Reef Mcinnes as a young, developing key forward at 194cm who is mobile and versatile. Won't get games once Mcstay, Mihocek are both fully fit.

Ned Moyle- the long term Gawn Replacement. High priority imo.

Conor Nash- Unrestricted free agent, mid depth. Has pace and great size.

Will Phillips, Josh Ward, Ben Hobbs - Mid depth with upside due to potential lack of development/injury troubles. All high picks.

Have also heard we are into Ryan Angwin from the Giants for some outside run/skill. Seems like a depth player at this current point in time but, was an early pick.

 

Pipe Dream:

LDU- star

Finn Callaghan- could build our midfield around him for 10 years, best mates with howes.

 

 

 

It’s not exactly a list of players that scream elite.

Isaac Cumming, Elliot Yeo, Mason Wood, Josh Battle and Tyson Stengle would all give us something we could do with.

I’m just not sure MFC is the destination of choice for players when you have the likes of Collingwood or Geelong next door.

 

 

We can all dream about getting some superstar, but the reality is that elite players rarely move while already in their prime.

• 2023: None
• 2022: Taranto
• 2021: None
• 2020: Treloar, Cameron, Daniher
• 2019: Kelly
• 2018: Lynch, Neale, Hogan, May

Slim pickings.

We are fighting 16 other teams for their services... or they are moving for personal reasons so we'll never even get a shot.

There are players who surprise everyone to become great players (e.g. Stengle) and young players who will likely become elite (e.g. Jackson JHF) but they rare too.

If we are to contend next year, we need to find they B grade players who can be A+ in their role. Ed Langdon, Blake Acres, Bobby Hill, Jack Ginnivan are recent examples of the type.

8 hours ago, Simon Port said:

Finn Callaghan

Astonishing finals series for a second-year player. 

another vote for finn callaghan here as someone who should be a big target for us

i personally a) can't see gw$ letting him go easily and ii) him choosing melbourne to come to let alone 3) him wanting to leave them

57 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

another vote for finn callaghan here as someone who should be a big target for us

i personally a) can't see gw$ letting him go easily and ii) him choosing melbourne to come to let alone 3) him wanting to leave them

We do have one advantage to some other Melbourne clubs 

9 minutes ago, Jeremy said:

We do have one advantage to some other Melbourne clubs 

So, it's 'Bye-bye, Blake'? 😏

Ash Johnson would be a nice addition on a cheap trade deal, out of favour at the Pies

Moyle would be a great pickup 

Joel Jeffrey maybe available if the Suns take D Rioli

9 minutes ago, SthSea22 said:

Ash Johnson would be a nice addition on a cheap trade deal, out of favour at the Pies

Moyle would be a great pickup 

Joel Jeffrey maybe available if the Suns take D Rioli

I thought Johnson might be good too at one point - however his performances recently have been really poor and the fact he struggles to make the scumbags forward line without their regular marking forwards tells you plenty about how he is now seen internally 

1 hour ago, Sydee said:

I thought Johnson might be good too at one point - however his performances recently have been really poor and the fact he struggles to make the scumbags forward line without their regular marking forwards tells you plenty about how he is now seen internally 

He deff is out of the rotation considering they are now playing that dud Kreuger 

Reef, Frampton and Kreuger are all in front of him

 

Added info is Ash is Shane McAdam brother

Back pocket: Ben Paton? Sean Lemmens?

Wing: Brayden Cook, Curtis Taylor, Caleb Mitchell, Ethan Stanley, Angwin?, Hugo Ralph-Smith?

Half forward: Ted Closehy, Sam Wicks

Mid: Will Phillips?, Brandan Parfitt?, Cooper Craig-Peters, James Peatling 

Medium forward: McInnes (would also try him back).

Ruck: Moyle, Max Ramsden, Max Heath, Henry Smith

Key forward: Corey Ellison!

Some lesser names, most out of contract, a couple of state league guys tossed in.

I hope we can go out and land a big name, particular a tall or a gun on baller but they aren’t cheap nor easy to find.

What we do have for the first time in 4 years is the ability to offer playing time on pretty much every line of the team.

A back pocket would free up Judd. A bigger bodied wing would compliment Windsor, especially one who can go forward so there’s a rotation with Langdon. Speed in the forward line is badly needed. And a couple of quality tackling players would correct the midfield imbalance and add some overall competitiveness back in to the side.

you wouldn't want to give up much for ash johnson and quite frankly i wouldn't expect to get much from him

he doesn't do any of the non-negotiables that are required

5 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

another vote for finn callaghan here as someone who should be a big target for us

i personally a) can't see gw$ letting him go easily and ii) him choosing melbourne to come to let alone 3) him wanting to leave them

He’d be an outstanding get. Can’t see it happening this year, but maybe down the track…

Sticking with GWS, I wonder how long Max Gruzewski is prepared to hang around for one of Hogan or Riccardi to fall over. Not seeing an immediate pathway to first team footy for him and another we were linked to in their draft year.

So if you take this season as a bust we're in a mini rebuild. We need a mid with pace and class and a tall marking forward, we also need a high draft pick to keep an eye on the future.  So who are we willing to put up for trade to make this happen? Who or what do you send to Sydney for Logan McDonald? And the same goes for Finn Callaghan from GWS? Does Taylor have his eyes on a high draft pick draftee? What are we going to do to make us better whilst we have the bones of a really strong list? 

so now that the cover for salary cap for forced medical retirements due to concussion have been announced at least we know the salary cap parameters we'll be working with...

according to the sun...

1st year of contract post concussion forced medical retirement: up to 90% covered
2nd year of contract post concussion forced medical retirement: up to 75% covered
3rd year of contract post concussion forced medical retirement: up to 50% covered
4th year of contract and beyond post concussion forced medical retirement: no cover

gus had four years to run

7 hours ago, whatwhat say what said:

another vote for finn callaghan here as someone who should be a big target for us

i personally a) can't see gw$ letting him go easily and ii) him choosing melbourne to come to let alone 3) him wanting to leave them

It's not like Melbourne would be an extremely unattractive place to come and play.

He supported them growing up, we play a large chunk of games at the MCG, we're one of the traditional clubs (unlike GWS), his best mate Howes is already at the club, we have been consistently top 4 for the last few years.

So I think the biggest stumbling block is probably "a".

2 minutes ago, Binmans PA said:

It's not like Melbourne would be an extremely unattractive place to come and play.

He supported them growing up, we play a large chunk of games at the MCG, we're one of the traditional clubs (unlike GWS), his best mate Howes is already at the club, we have been consistently top 4 for the last few years.

So I think the biggest stumbling block is probably "a".

i think 3 then a followed by ii

20 minutes ago, Binmans PA said:

It's not like Melbourne would be an extremely unattractive place to come and play.

He supported them growing up, we play a large chunk of games at the MCG, we're one of the traditional clubs (unlike GWS), his best mate Howes is already at the club, we have been consistently top 4 for the last few years.

So I think the biggest stumbling block is probably "a".

I think a lot of managers and prospective players will be watching very closely what steps we take to address any underlying cultural issues at the club like Clarry, Smith, Hunter, and so on. 

I think you're right on face value we will appeal, for the reasons you've mentioned. 

It would seem very likely we will be buyers in the market as well with what should be a significant amount of cap space opening up with retirements and departures in the next 1-3 years. 

If we're going to throw a godfather offer out there, Logan McDonald is one i'd absolutely go for, if we could get Stengle at his feet that transforms our forward line.

1 hour ago, Binmans PA said:

It's not like Melbourne would be an extremely unattractive place to come and play.

He supported them growing up, we play a large chunk of games at the MCG, we're one of the traditional clubs (unlike GWS), his best mate Howes is already at the club, we have been consistently top 4 for the last few years.

So I think the biggest stumbling block is probably "a".

Finn was a Bulldogs supporter.

Edited June 17, 20241 yr by dazzledavey36

2 hours ago, Roost it far said:

So if you take this season as a bust we're in a mini rebuild. We need a mid with pace and class and a tall marking forward, we also need a high draft pick to keep an eye on the future.  So who are we willing to put up for trade to make this happen? Who or what do you send to Sydney for Logan McDonald? And the same goes for Finn Callaghan from GWS? Does Taylor have his eyes on a high draft pick draftee? What are we going to do to make us better whilst we have the bones of a really strong list? 

In my opinion, there’s very few names that any other club would actively be seeking out.

Trac, Koz, JVR and maybe Judd.

You wouldn’t want to give up any of them voluntarily but Judd is probably the one that could shake loose given he’d be getting paid minimally coming in as a rookie. Currency wise, it would be interesting to see what he could command.

 

Dreams !!!

We will have two new recruits next year anyway i.e. Trac & Clarrie

53 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Finn was a Bulldogs supporter.

Really? His dad is fanatical Melbourne. 

Edited June 17, 20241 yr by Binmans PA
Just did my research properly, I stand corrected, but yeah, his dad is Melbourne.