2 minutes ago, watchtheeyes said:

I’m surprised there is a lack of concern about Kozzy in these parts, given he signed a long term contract allegedly in part because of his relationship with goody. If nothing else, we have worked hard to make this a family for him, so destabilisation would surely only exacerbate his homesickness.

Of course I know we have him under contract, but wait for the media frenzy.

We may get a big haul back for him if he was to force his way out.. but I would vomit in my mouth every weekend to see him playing in oppo colours.

He signed because the entire club has been great to him, he’s playing great footy here, his family is happy in Melbourne and Matty Whelan is doing amazing things at the club. And oh because he’s getting paid a LOT of money

He did not sign because someone promised him Goody will be his coach for the rest of his career.

He’s also not a moron. You think he looked at the on field results and didn’t think Goody’s job wasn’t entirely safe?

Give him some credit ffs!

Players who choose to leave because the coach has left, were never really invested in the club anyway. Coaches come and go. Ask Tmac how many he’s played under.

Now of course if a new coach comes in and Kosi and him don’t get on, then he might want to leave. The coach that is, not Kosi 😂

6 hours ago, Dave1711 said:

As you heard Goodwin say, he won’t miss driving down to Casey, players hate playing for the club because you have to drive for 90 minutes to get to the training ground. We won’t get anymore decent players until we have a proper base in Melbourne city, or within 10km of CBD.

I’ve supported this club all my long life and we’ve never had a real base, players hate it, coaches hate it and supporters hate it. Where the hell Gary Pert is who knows, he’s supposed to be getting Caulfield as a base, haven’t heard anything for 12 months, l mean WTF?

6 hours ago, The heart beats true said:

I just said the same thing in the Goodwin thread

Casey is an Albatross 👍

St Kilda three the 💩💩💩 about training at Seaford and they went back to Moorabbin. Not sure if that had such a big impact. The Casey issue is an inconvenience, not sure it has too much of an affect

10 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

He signed because the entire club has been great to him, he’s playing great footy here, his family is happy in Melbourne and Matty Whelan is doing amazing things at the club. And oh because he’s getting paid a LOT of money

He did not sign because someone promised him Goody will be his coach for the rest of his career.

He’s also not a moron. You think he looked at the on field results and didn’t think Goody’s job wasn’t entirely safe?

Give him some credit ffs!

Players who choose to leave because the coach has left, were never really invested in the club anyway. Coaches come and go. Ask Tmac how many he’s played under.

Now of course if a new coach comes in and Kosi and him don’t get on, then he might want to leave. The coach that is, not Kosi 😂

Fair enough, maybe I’m not giving him enough credit.

I otherwise agree with the sentiment. I hate the stuff you see in media/socials about the Petracca, Gawn etc feeling sorry for them for the way the club is performing. They’re leaders.. it’s on them as much as anyone. And so the sentiment around coach loyalty is similar I suppose. Ie. You’re highly paid, elite players.. if you’re [censored] about the coach getting sacked, well then that’s on you for not delivering as a leader, and one of the teams better players.

I'm not sure about others but my gut feels both Oliver and Trac would prefer to go and would likely say that at exit interview or before.

The conversations and decisions perhaps have already even been made.

No reason to hardball them again and it's best for all to move seperate ways.

Can't be healthy having them around the club with everyone knowing they want out.

If we can get someone to pay half of Oliver's wage then he probably goes for close to nothing but we just have to move on from him for both on and off field reasons.

10 hours ago, Jaded No More said:

The safest bet for a new coach, is to back themselves to get the best out of Trac and Clarry again, and thereby make us a better team instantly.

The less safe option is to trade one or both for less than they are worth, and hope it pays off culturally/ on field.

You can always trade quality players for unders, but getting quality players is much harder both in trading and drafting.

I see it differently, I think a new coach would be happy to see Oliver move on and not have to deal with all the cultural issues. Add to that his one dimensional play and decline in output as well as having Viney for another 3 years if I were a new coach I'd be moving on and freeing up the cap space.

Petracca is different, his output has declined too but he's coming back from horrific internal injuries and is the consummate professional. Whether he is happy with the direction of the club is another matter but if I were a new coach I'd be telling him he's my next captain if he wants it (we're bereft of choice really), he's contracted and he's the one I'm looking to to lead the younger brigade coming through. I'd be happy for him to take Langford under his wing as well.

2 hours ago, Nietaphart said:

St Kilda three the 💩💩💩 about training at Seaford and they went back to Moorabbin. Not sure if that had such a big impact. The Casey issue is an inconvenience, not sure it has too much of an affect

I think Goodwin raising it was pretty telling. It's clearly a sore point. When it comes to recruitment and player retention, training facilities matter.

3 hours ago, BW511 said:

I’m really interested to see what Trac does here, he desperately wanted change, it’s now come but possibly not in the cosy way he imagined.

He’s now in a real bind, if he walks he’s basically blown up the club for nothing and if he stays, he’s likely playing out his career in the lower half of the ladder.

Trac didn't blow up the club, it blew up on it's own.

Whoever becomes the new coach of the Melbourne Football Club will definitely have a huge bearing on the futures of both Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca.

I am hopeful our next coach will be John Longmire. But we shall wait and see....

6 hours ago, KozzyCan said:

I think Goodwin raising it was pretty telling. It's clearly a sore point. When it comes to recruitment and player retention, training facilities matter.

I think it is over stating the affect of training at Casey has by saying we can’t recruit players and players are leaving as a result. It’s not ideal and needs to be addressed, but we don’t have players leaving the club.

9 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I see it differently, I think a new coach would be happy to see Oliver move on and not have to deal with all the cultural issues. Add to that his one dimensional play and decline in output as well as having Viney for another 3 years if I were a new coach I'd be moving on and freeing up the cap space.

Petracca is different, his output has declined too but he's coming back from horrific internal injuries and is the consummate professional. Whether he is happy with the direction of the club is another matter but if I were a new coach I'd be telling him he's my next captain if he wants it (we're bereft of choice really), he's contracted and he's the one I'm looking to to lead the younger brigade coming through. I'd be happy for him to take Langford under his wing as well.

i found it bizarre as Goody lives in Mornington

A long, long time ago, when Demonland worked on 5 bytes of download speed, most were maligning that the biggest influence to Mark Neeld's coaching was keeping Jack Watts

LOL - that worked out well

The pull for any new coach will be these two and the task of getting them back to their best.

Under Goodwin, I was always in the trade Oliver camp, but someone like a Longmire could be the key.

I would rather see how a new coach goes with Oliver and Petracca now. Maybe a new voice and fresh idea is what they need.

11 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

The pull for any new coach will be these two and the task of getting them back to their best.

Under Goodwin, I was always in the trade Oliver camp, but someone like a Longmire could be the key.

I would rather see how a new coach goes with Oliver and Petracca now. Maybe a new voice and fresh idea is what they need.

Maybe and if that's the way they go you'd give them that chance but I feel like Oliver is mentally cooked. May reach his best on occasion but can't see sustained performance.

12 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Maybe and if that's the way they go you'd give them that chance but I feel like Oliver is mentally cooked. May reach his best on occasion but can't see sustained performance.

I really don't understand why Trac and Clarry are being treated so differently on this.

Both missed a lot of footy with injury, both have had mental challenges to overcome. Yes Trac had a worse physical injury and Clarry a worse mental health battle, but both should be afforded time to get back to their best.

Trac has shown at times mental scaring around physical contact. No judgement at all, but who says he will overcome that?

Clarry missed 6 months of footy in 2023, had no pre season heading into 2024, broke his hand so badly in round 1 that he could barely move it or lift a weight for the best part of a season. But for some reason nobody really mentions the physical toll that would have taken on him and the long road back to peak fitness from there.

What makes you think he's mentally cooked? Which btw is a putrid way to put it, but I'll let that slide. Because he had a week off for his mental health this year? To me that screams of someone who is doing the most to look after their mental health.

It took Fritsch the best part of a year to get over his nasty foot injuries from 2023. Tmac the same. Look at Lever, his body has been failing him consistently for such a long period of time, and that's despite completing an almost full pre-season. McVee missed 7 weeks with a hammy and I reckon he's a shadow of his former best self, but nobody here wants to let him walk.

Very few players just 'bounce back' in a matter of one pre-season from serious or prolonged injuries, especially those who need to play such a demanding role as Clarry or Trac. It is a credit to how hard both of them worked in the pre-season that they've managed to physically get thru an entire season without any hiccups.

John Ralph reported Petracca wants to stay. The club desperately wants him to stay and (paraphrasing) "will help set him up for life after football, if it hasn't already happened". I assume that refers to his food interests but it could mean they explore other areas.

I wouldn't trade Oliver either, as apparently there is no interest. He has been improving and had his best game in two years last week. Not having the 'linus blanket' of Goodwin's protectiveness might be the making of him and he matures as a player and as a person. A bit of tough love might just be what he needs, with a bit of kit glove. My guess is he will respond to that and if so he will be far more valuable next year if he/the club want to part company.

Edited August 5Aug 5 by Lucifers Hero

If both Clarry and Trac are invested then I reckon we should retain unless we receive an offer for either we deem acceptable (possibly for Trac, highly unlikely for clarry)

Let's see if a new coach can get them back to playing their best. If he can then i reckon finals is not out of the question

14 hours ago, BW511 said:

I’m really interested to see what Trac does here, he desperately wanted change, it’s now come but possibly not in the cosy way he imagined.

He’s now in a real bind, if he walks he’s basically blown up the club for nothing and if he stays, he’s likely playing out his career in the lower half of the ladder.

Trac wanted out because the club was a shambles in so many ways.

I know this as fact.

We covered cracks for so long and look what's happened?

People on here can believe what they want but trac wanting out last year is a reflection of the state our club has been in and what has been allowed to go on for too long.

32 minutes ago, Howard_Grimes said:

Trac wanted out because the club was a shambles in so many ways.

I know this as fact.

We covered cracks for so long and look what's happened?

People on here can believe what they want but trac wanting out last year is a reflection of the state our club has been in and what has been allowed to go on for too long.

I’m saying the same thing, just noting it would be quite hypocritical if he left when change was finally coming

Edited August 6Aug 6 by BW511

12 minutes ago, BW511 said:

I’m saying the same thing, just noting it would be quite hypocritical if he left when change was finally coming

It's true..

Although, some of Trac's discontentment has been player related too without wanting to go into detail. A lot to play out.

Edited August 6Aug 6 by Howard_Grimes

1 hour ago, Howard_Grimes said:

club was a shambles in so many ways

Do these problems remain - at all, mostly or in full?

Interesting how certain posters pop up all of a sudden with comments that claim to be in the know about everything. Trace back the history and it's all BS.

9 minutes ago, waynewussell said:

Remind me again on how Buckley's coaching career was better than Goodwin's!

Wowsa.

I don't know how to respond to these types of comments, they're so silly.

9 minutes ago, Howard_Grimes said:

The obvious ones being a lack of stability and leadership from top down, still no home base and a playing group who are disconnected.

And, sorry to seem obtuse, but all of these things were on Petracca's mind last year?

According to Jon Ralph (yes, yes, I know):

“Christian Petracca doesn’t want to leave and the club is adamant it is not letting him go. They want to set him up for a superstar return to form, he’s not quite there this year. They also want to help him off the field to set himself up for life, if he hasn’t already.

Ralph said the “big one” to watch is Oliver, who nearly left for Geelong last year, suggesting the only way the four-time best and fairest could move is if he took a pay cut and Melbourne contributed towards his salary elsewhere.

“If he accepted a massive, massive pay cut — let’s call it $400,000 — and Melbourne paid out — let’s call it $300,000 — he’s still on that $800,000-$900,000 a year. I just don’t think there’s any takers for him,” he said.

“But if I was a fresh coach coming into this situation, would I want Oliver always in my midfield? I think I’d probably want him to move on. But it’s just so hard to factor a market where there’s enough money off the books to pay him.

“I think if you’re paying over $1 million for him, Petracca and Kysaiah Pickett, that’s too much of a handcuff. Especially if they’re not going to win a premiership in the next couple of years.

“I think it's a big decision ahead on Clayton. If I was them I’d move heaven and earth to move on Clayton.”

Fox Sports

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1 hour ago, Jaded No More said:

And you honestly think he’s the only great player in the league that has issues?

A good coach will back themselves to get him back to his best over trading him for a second round pick. Or they’ll at least try.

Finding another peak Clarry is 10 times harder than trading him for a second rounder.

I'd trade him for a 3rd and hope the other club takes his full salary. I see him as akin to Beams, peak Beams was up there with the best in the comp too but once it was gone, it was gone.

It's also about more than his performance, it's his impact on the culture and the playing group.

Edit @Howard_Grimes summed it up perfectly

Edited August 6Aug 6 by Dr. Gonzo