This is what our leadership has been lacking at the club.  Send a message to both Freo and Kossie, if you want to break that contract it's not gonna be easy!

there is no way we get 3 first rounders for him, but it sets the bar straight away for if he was to leave.

44 minutes ago, KozzyCan said:

 

It's absolute fodder for the media.

I agree it is,  but we are driving this bus.

we are not passengers hoping the driver has not had a heart attack 

3 minutes ago, Travy14 said:

This is what our leadership has been lacking at the club.  Send a message to both Freo and Kossie, if you want to break that contract it's not gonna be easy!

there is no way we get 3 first rounders for him, but it sets the bar straight away for if he was to leave.

he does say 2 or 3 at one stage. so, i take that as 2 good first rounders ,or if not top 10ish, then 3 first rounders

exactly the quotes are taken solitary and not in context, he says 2-3 first rounders.  and to be honest if we got 3 x first rounders outside the top 10 id be [censored]

Very strong leadership from Green which is so much more than Pickett.  Typical media who create a title that leads to click bait.

 

For those that can't read the Age article, here are some extracts:

“People ask ‘has it been challenging?’ I said, ‘no, what was challenging was when I lost my wife six years ago’. And after that period, we had the funeral, and I reckon it was four or five days post that that I really struggled to get out of bed and get on with my life.

“But then I thought ‘Well, I’ve got an eight-year-old, I’ve got a six-year-old’. And you sit down and go, ‘in the end you’ve got to get out of bed for them’.

Green on Simon Goodwin

Green said Goodwin had been “weighed down” by media attention until the club reached a legal settlement in November last year.

“He’s a premiership coach. He is Melbourne’s only living [premiership] coach and probably from our members and supporters to the wider football world, we need to give respect and kudos to this guy,” Green said.

“We had to do something as a board to help lighten that load because we see a coach just getting buried and buried…

On Christian Petracca

Amid reports that Petracca was unhappy with aspects of the club culture, Green wanted to hear from the player himself.

“I caught up with him when it all was all hitting the fan and said ‘mate, what’s going on here?’ And not once through that was he talking about anything other than Melbourne Football Club and where we can improve,” Green said.

On Culture

“I think what we found is issues get put into the one big basket, and they become [conflated] into a big pile of [censored], really, and that creates different instances of what they say is culture. But what I believe, and what I know, is this is a very driven, strong, talented group that can can achieve anything they want to.

Are the Demons a destination club?

Green says Jake Lever and Stephen May are proof that Melbourne remains a place players want to come to.

“I would think we are always a potential destination club,”

Pickett’s future

Discussed in a post above

Oliver’s tears

He revealed the conversation that kept Oliver in red and blue.

“I rang Clarry around the time of the B[est] and F[airest night] and said, ‘This is the situation; you’re not going anywhere. Tonight I’m going up to give a speech and say to our members that our starting midfield for 2025 is going to be Petracca, Viney, Oliver and Gawn. OK?’ And he started getting all teary on me.

“He said to me, ‘Please, don’t do that because the B and F night, it’s not about me, it’s about the guys that are going to get awarded for their individual seasons’. I said ‘No, Clarry, it’s not about you, but our members and supporters want to know we are committed in this place and this environment. And I’m just ringing you to say, ‘I love you. We love you and we’re going to move forward with that’.’ And he got off the phone and just said, ‘Love you, Greeny ’.”

Friendship, love and strength

At a pre-season Kumbaya session in Bright, the players came up with a mantra for the year:

“There’s nothing wrong with tough, hard conversations between each other.”

A new game plan

“He [Goodwin] wasn’t happy with any phase of the game: the way we defend, the way we move the ball, the way we attacked and the contest. People think we’re a contest team, but I think we went from first to eighth or ninth last year,” Green said.

Proposed changes to the illicit drugs policy

“Let’s look at it, let’s review it. But is being hard and fast the answer? I think the model that we have does catch and help players. Is it a deterrent? People are always going to challenge those things. Can we be harder on it? Maybe. But can we help and save players? Yes, in this model. I reckon if you go too far the other way, I reckon you’ll get less vulnerability in emotion and people being able to help.”

Caulfield development

Green is adamant a new home uniting administration and football at Caulfield racecourse will happen, despite the Demons needing to raise a further $70 million in funding.

“We’ve never had our administration, our football department, in one area. Never, and it’s a disaster. We need all those parties to be in one room because until you do that, you’re not one club.

Handing over the reins

“I’ve got a young family of a 14-year-old, 12-year-old and a 14-month-old. And I run my own business on top of it, so it’s fair workload,” Green said.

“I want stability and succession planning for Steve to take over and, potentially, once my boys finish school after three or four years, I take the presidency back over from him.”

 

For me, the parallels with out 2020/2021 preseason are uncanny when:

• players met on the peninsular and AdV higlighted the lack of professionalism in how players spoke and dealt with each other.  Many then committed to each other and resolved to be 'the best teammate I can be'.
• Goodwin was stressed and under the pump by former admins and others until Roffey and Pert stood by him.
• Serious review of game plan.

And we know what happened in 2021.  🏆 

It is a real shame we lost our way in the intervening three years but I'm rapt we have the ship back on and even keel. 

Now it is time to 'walk the talk' and I am very optimistic of our year.  We let 2023 slip.  Don't think that will happen this year!

Edited February 28Feb 28 by Lucifers Hero

2 minutes ago, Travy14 said:

exactly the quotes are taken solitary and not in context, he says 2-3 first rounders.  and to be honest if we got 3 x first rounders outside the top 10 id be [censored]

I think he’s just using that as an example, it’s not an actual negotiation. He’s more making the point that we rate him extremely highly and we aren’t moving him for a deal that isn’t worth it

2 minutes ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

I think he’s just using that as an example, it’s not an actual negotiation. He’s more making the point that we rate him extremely highly and we aren’t moving him for a deal that isn’t worth it

yup 100% agree.  he has nothing to do with those negotiations.  Planting his Dees flag firmly and I'm all here for it!!

Can someone share the rest of the article regarding tracc. Etc, anything new?

34 minutes ago, Gator said:

Do some supporters think if it isn't spoken about it might go away ?  That's hysterical.

Nothing has changed.  It will be discussed in the media most days for the rest of the year.

The MFC will do what is best for the MFC.

I wouldn't trade him under any circumstances at the end of this year.  The end of 2026 you'd have to consider it.

I’d rather we hold onto him for another year as well but I wonder if there was a gentleman’s agreement when he signed his contract that we’d let him go if a trade satisfied us. The rumours of him wanting a move were fairly strong before he signed that deal. 

that might stop the noise for a bit, hopefully, or at least it will mean that any further noise gets the caveat that "demons' president said 2-3 first round picks or no deal" attached to it

It’s a fair statement. 3 first rounders in a compromised draft, could be 3,15 and 22 for example. I’d argue Koz is worth more than that. 

"Fremantle or West Coast or any other club can come up with three first round draft picks or he’s not going anywhere. I can tell you that – he’s not going anywhere unless we as a club get a deal we want.”

Can we please post this on the club socials to see if Kozzie likes it? 

1 hour ago, DeeSpencer said:

.....

Also, not all first round picks are created equally. Geelong stole Jezza Cameron with the worst trio of first rounders you’ll ever see. So if you are setting a price don’t allow wiggle room for a junk platter.

Obviously there is an element of risk with any pick and that single example proves nothing other than you can get it wrong in hindsight.

Perhaps you'd care to suggest what we might demand other than picks?  Maybe tell WA "you can have Kozzie for one or two of your best established players that fill a need for us".  Good luck arranging that.  

Greeny is a true leader

Was sceptical of the Green appointment at first, but boy have I been proven wrong. He has righted the ship much in the same way Peter Jackson did in 2013

Edited February 28Feb 28 by dice

Jesus, the season hasn't started, and there are still conversations around Kossie. He's on a contract for another 3 years; if he wants to go home, so be it. Get the best deal and move on. That's today's football; no use worrying about it now.

He is saying to Perth clubs to show us the goods or don’t think about making a deal. Laying all out and after the Petracca, Oliver no deals,  it’s shows we won’t be pussyfooting around.

Edited February 28Feb 28 by John Crow Batty

10 minutes ago, sue said:

Obviously there is an element of risk with any pick and that single example proves nothing other than you can get it wrong in hindsight.

Perhaps you'd care to suggest what we might demand other than picks?  Maybe tell WA "you can have Kozzie for one or two of your best established players that fill a need for us".  Good luck arranging that.  

Just don’t mention a price.

In fact, don’t even give a concession that we will trade Pickett. 

‘We love Kossie, as a player and a person, our focus is always on maintaining the best environment for all players to stay as long as possible. The focus now is having Kossie play a great season of brilliant entertaining football just as he always has in the red and blue. Anything else will be dealt with respectfully and confidentially by our fantastic list management team’

Some excellent leadership shown by MFC President Brad Green.

I loved him as a Demons player. I love him even more as a President. ❤️💙

1 minute ago, DeeSpencer said:

Just don’t mention a price.

In fact, don’t even give a concession that we will trade Pickett. 

‘We love Kossie, as a player and a person, our focus is always on maintaining the best environment for all players to stay as long as possible. The focus now is having Kossie play a great season of brilliant entertaining football just as he always has in the red and blue. Anything else will be dealt with respectfully and confidentially by our fantastic list management team’

Spot on.

Fair to say it could be another solid year at the draft for the Dees, picks for Pickett and Mcvee + Kalani and Sinemma 

Mixed feelings about this, but I feel like it will work out reasonably in the media circus.

'Melbourne not anxious about possible Pickett trade' takes a lot of heat out of it. Especially if Pickett in turn continues his tone of 'I'm a mature adult who respects contracts and I'm not willing to [censored] the Demons'.

I guess the main thing about the statement is that it projects confidence about all possible outcomes. What's the point of grubby speculation if the answer is 'Yeah, we're okay with that' to every scenario!?

8 minutes ago, Greg Schneider said:

Fair to say it could be another solid year at the draft for the Dees, picks for Pickett and Mcvee + Kalani and Sinemma 

Not for Mcvee. No way! He’s staying in the red and blue !!! 

20 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Just don’t mention a price.

In fact, don’t even give a concession that we will trade Pickett. 

‘We love Kossie, as a player and a person, our focus is always on maintaining the best environment for all players to stay as long as possible. The focus now is having Kossie play a great season of brilliant entertaining football just as he always has in the red and blue. Anything else will be dealt with respectfully and confidentially by our fantastic list management team’

Nah, say it how it is. You want him, pay up big otherwise he stays. It tells Koz and his suitors the true lay of the land. If he’s homesick and you give us a great deal we’ll send him home. The rest is just talk. I like Green’s style, equal parts business and football speak. 

20 minutes ago, Greg Schneider said:

Fair to say it could be another solid year at the draft for the Dees, picks for Pickett and Mcvee + Kalani and Sinemma 

We’re turning the list over quicker than a snag on a flaming bbq (I’ve no idea where that came from or why I didn’t delete it but there it is)