15 hours ago, Deevout said:

I have been wondering for a while who would be the next Captain of the club after Max, what a hard act to follow, jezz. My concern was Tracc was not fully committed to the club so that ruled him out, Lever is struggling to get on the park so I would be concerned if he was to be made Captain. Not that he wouldn’t give 110% to the task or be deserving of the role.

Then who? most are still a bit young. Trent Rivers comes to mind then maybe Langdon but does Laggers have the personality to do it as he seems an introvert. My boy Bowser in the future maybe a least in the leadership group.

If Tracc is now committed to the club for the rest of his career then why not? I was very upset about what happened with him and the club in many ways. The fact that he was aloof to the cheer squad had me super annoyed. (Thanks for the update on his interaction with fans now GW)

Anyway, I think the responsibility would give him total focus on bettering himself and the club. He would have a much bigger say in many ways. So let’s go for it if he is. Another string to his many awards. It s should always be remembered that many true greats of the VFL/ALF never became a Premiership player let alone a Norm Smith medalist.

The club as a whole needs to get is S..t together big time. I am sick and tired of hearing the constant infighting that has gone on and off for DECADES!

PS: It will be a sad day when Max finishes as Captain 😞 he is now my favourite player of all time. I was 8 when Barassi last played for us. Robbie a very close second and will always be much loved and never forgotten.

Anyway, end of rant. Back to reading DL and rarely posting. Cheers from Kruger Park South Africa.

Which camp / lodge Deevout?

Said it before - I would make Petracca the next skipper.

We all question our loyalties from time to time and challenge those around us and ourselves to justify continuing on.

I am glad he seems to be throwing himself back in love with the club and what it is trying to achieve

Love the Petracca speech thing, so important, it showed a bit more investment and clarity on Saturday I thought and that will always come from top down.

15 hours ago, Roger Mellie said:

I agree. My guess is Petracca, Lever, Sparrow, Spargo, Chandler and maybe JVR.

Are you able to elaborate @Dannyz ?

There’s a two tier leadership model.

Gawn Viney Lever Petracca and Salem are the officially leadership group.

Sparrow, Rivers, Chandler and McVee are the emerging leaders group.

18 minutes ago, Dannyz said:

There’s a two tier leadership model.

Gawn Viney Lever Petracca and Salem are the officially leadership group.

Sparrow, Rivers, Chandler and McVee are the emerging leaders group.

Interesting. So it wouldn't be a giant leap for Trac to take on the captaincy next year and give Gawny a chop out for his last few years.

39 minutes ago, rpfc said:

Said it before - I would make Petracca the next skipper.

We all question our loyalties from time to time and challenge those around us and ourselves to justify continuing on.

I am glad he seems to be throwing himself back in love with the club and what it is trying to achieve

I would even argue that having come through a test of loyality the commitment is deeper still. Id also back him for the captaincy.

Lever is the best fit as our next captain. He's not our best player, but he's our next best leader.

Although I'm happy to move on from last year's saga, the truth is I think it gave an insight into how Christian is wired.

The idea that he put the club through the ringer to force change is revisionist history.

2 hours ago, Dannyz said:

There’s a two tier leadership model.

Gawn Viney Lever Petracca and Salem are the officially leadership group.

Sparrow, Rivers, Chandler and McVee are the emerging leaders group.

Is it to be assumed that was with the blessing of teammates?

Reckon Oliver gets traded end of year

6 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

I’m Ghosty.

@ghost who walks is my groupie 🤣

6 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

Like I didn’t hate Hird enough already. It takes a special level of a-hole to downplay what Tracc did in the rooms.

6 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

I’m Ghosty.

@ghost who walks is my groupie 🤣

Why am I always last to know

5 hours ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

Which camp / lodge Deevout?

Kruger Gate Hotel. It’s been awesome. Time to go home unfortunately. Cheers

In Perth at the moment and away from my usual comforts, but whatever the show Cornes and Caro Wilson are on was banging on about the Tracc speech and emotion being a stage managed stunt. Nick Riewaldt being the main offender. Seems like nothing we do will be viewed positively.

17 minutes ago, Left Foot Snap said:

In Perth at the moment and away from my usual comforts, but whatever the show Cornes and Caro Wilson are on was banging on about the Tracc speech and emotion being a stage managed stunt. Nick Riewaldt being the main offender. Seems like nothing we do will be viewed positively.

Bunch of utter peanuts.

26 minutes ago, Left Foot Snap said:

In Perth at the moment and away from my usual comforts, but whatever the show Cornes and Caro Wilson are on was banging on about the Tracc speech and emotion being a stage managed stunt. Nick Riewaldt being the main offender. Seems like nothing we do will be viewed positively.

It seems to me that there's a sweet spot of one to two years where recently retired players in the media can be really good to listen to before they defer to their paymasters and crank up the innuendo and controversial comments. I bet he won't call it a stage managed stunt when he's next in the MMM studio with Max though.

Edited April 22Apr 22 by Rab D Nesbitt

3 hours ago, Greg Schneider said:

Reckon Oliver gets traded end of year

Reckon he doesn’t

1 hour ago, Left Foot Snap said:

In Perth at the moment and away from my usual comforts, but whatever the show Cornes and Caro Wilson are on was banging on about the Tracc speech and emotion being a stage managed stunt. Nick Riewaldt being the main offender. Seems like nothing we do will be viewed positively.

Yep saw that. Just goes to show that your damned if you do or damned if you don't. The best way to stick it up em is to keep winning and do so convincingly and in a united way. Anything but will invite speculation, rumour and criticism. Its just the footy cycle.

Teams like Geelong and Collingwood escape this criticism because they keep on winning. It is that simple.

6 minutes ago, GS_1905 said:

Yep saw that. Just goes to show that your damned if you do or damned if you don't. The best way to stick it up em is to keep winning and do so convincingly and in a united way. Anything but will invite speculation, rumour and criticism. Its just the footy cycle.

Teams like Geelong and Collingwood escape this criticism because they keep on winning. It is that simple.

We can create a nice little “us against them” vibe. Maybe we should just win the flag, that’ll shut them up.

On 16/04/2025 at 18:39, Adam The God said:

Mine too.

King of the flipflop is fine with Trac now.

4 hours ago, Greg Schneider said:

Reckon Oliver gets traded end of year

Unless there's still significant tension behind the scenes (who knows), then why would we?

We don't need the $ space, and while he hasn't recaptured his best form he's still been pretty decent

He's coming from a long way back so I'm hopeful he will build as the season progresses

41 minutes ago, GS_1905 said:

Yep saw that. Just goes to show that your damned if you do or damned if you don't. The best way to stick it up em is to keep winning and do so convincingly and in a united way. Anything but will invite speculation, rumour and criticism. Its just the footy cycle.

Teams like Geelong and Collingwood escape this criticism because they keep on winning. It is that simple.

Even when they are not, they still get glazed in the media. HQ favourites plus lots of journo fans and ex players in the commentariat.

I am open to Petracca as captain as a reclamation project. Most Melbourne supporters I know have little love for him. Making him skipper and getting his commitment to the club for life would go a long way towards his personal legacy and our clubs legacy.

10 minutes ago, seventyfour said:

I am open to Petracca as captain as a reclamation project. Most Melbourne supporters I know have little love for him. Making him skipper and getting his commitment to the club for life would go a long way towards his personal legacy and our clubs legacy.

I’m not enamoured of him but could easily see him become captain. Wouldn’t be a bad thing.

On 21/04/2025 at 10:50, Ghostwriter said:

For once Tommy’s not trolling. I just spoke with a guy who was in the rooms and he told me that Tracc’s (impromptu) speech was heartfelt and incredibly moving. Tracc said he’s 100% committed to the club. He said he loves the MFC and he doesn’t wanna be anywhere else. He told the boys he f@%#*#g loves them and his speech was very well received. There were even tears shed.

Thanks Ghosty. Stirring stuff! If this is true, we are back ‘on track’ (Tracc?) for season 2025.

Did I read someone say he ''tore through packs'' ? Please.

Petracca has noticeably avoided contact and marking situations this year. I don't blame him after his injury, but it's nonetheless plain to see.

Petracca has zero captaincy potential. Zero. It's also well known he's not popular with some established players.

It's great to see he's getting closer to playing good football.

1 hour ago, Gator said:

Did I read someone say he ''tore through packs'' ? Please.

Petracca has noticeably avoided contact and marking situations this year. I don't blame him after his injury, but it's nonetheless plain to see.

Petracca has zero captaincy potential. Zero. It's also well known he's not popular with some established players.

It's great to see he's getting closer to playing good football.

I've heard he's unpopular and yet he's in the leadership group...

Edited April 22Apr 22 by Adam The God