No way McVee for a pick upgrade..he’s one of the few class players we have

30 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said:

I would be demading Flanders and pick 6 or keeping Petracca. we don't need to give away one of our best players, who is contracted for a pick 13 that'll be pushed into the 20's and a pretty good young player. that's just not how this works.

same thing with the Crows, they can offer us 2 first round picks, but this years is going to be a pick around 20, and next years if they win the flag would be 18. those two picks are a fair way off the mark.

You seem to always overlook the elephant in the room – Tracc's sizable contract. If Tracc wants to leave and we are able to remove his contract from our books and pick up Flanders and maybe P13, then that would be a fantastic result. That said, I would like to keep him.

I don’t know him well enough, but Tom Berry just got delisted.

Would he be worth a look?

18 minutes ago, damienjr said:

You seem to always overlook the elephant in the room – Tracc's sizable contract. If Tracc wants to leave and we are able to remove his contract from our books and pick up Flanders and maybe P13, then that would be a fantastic result. That said, I would like to keep him.

I reckon we will be paying part of his wage. It's a ridiculous wage and it's hard to see GC or anyone wanting to take it 100% on their books.

If it's Flanders, what we get back will in value will probably be tied to what od Tracc's contract we're prepared to pay. It's hard to see anyone wanting to deal a straight swap because Tracc's output isn't worth that money anymore

18 minutes ago, GawnOfTheDead said:

I don’t know him well enough, but Tom Berry just got delisted.

Would he be worth a look?

No

29 minutes ago, damienjr said:

You seem to always overlook the elephant in the room – Tracc's sizable contract. If Tracc wants to leave and we are able to remove his contract from our books and pick up Flanders and maybe P13, then that would be a fantastic result. That said, I would like to keep him.

This is why i am not overlooking it. if Trac came out tomorrow and said i am pledging the rest of my career to help Melbourne win a premiership, NOONE on here would complain about him staying.

The truth is essentially anyone associated in any way with the MFC would like to see a healthy happy Petracca stay at Melbourne, if that's not possible he's contracted and my minimum standards to feel okay with a trade for someone of his quality are.

• the club takes on his ENTIRE contract in full

• we receive a top 10 draft pick and a best 22 player or a second first round pick in a trade

Short of this i don't see any incentive whatsoever for us to trade him, we're already paying for Gus and Goody to not be involved at our club, we don't want to keep adding to that list.

Heath/Derksen should both cost 4th rounders IMO

2nd rounder for Heath surely not

With the revised points scheme GC are probably going to need 6 to have enough points to pay for Uwland and Patterson - which is a good thing.

13 plus Flanders might be the best we can do. It's hard to see Adelaide offering better than that.

If JT likes someone, we can probably trade 13 into the top 10 using some of 23, the May trade and Spargo compo. We don't have the list space to take many picks.

Edited September 19Sep 19 by old55

On 18/09/2025 at 00:24, WERRIDEE said:

Future 1st for Flanders

2nd rounder for Heath

3rd rounder for White

4th rounder for Derksen

Free Agent Miochek

Rookie Sinnema

Future First which could/likely be a top 10 pick for Flanders. No thanks.

who's a better player Mat Kennedy or Flanders

Kennedy was traded for a 2 round pick, 38

Edited September 19Sep 19 by BangBnagBang

NOW 2025 IS DONE

STEVEN KING IS APPOINTED

Keep

Oliver 

Petracca 

May

Uncontracted

McVee ✅Hope King being appointed and a good contract offer sees him stay 

Billings ❌

Fullerton ❌

Sestan ❌

Spargo⭕️UFA Trade or allow to leave 

(R) Verrall ❌

(R) Hore❌.

(R) KBrown💔❌

7 off the list - Spargo, KBrown, Fullerton, Hore, Verrall, Billings, Sestan

2 on the list - SSP top ups Henderson and Culley have earned one year deals so get added

---

❓❓Taj Woewodin/ Woey junior - does he seek to get traded to either Freo or Eagles

❓❓Steven May - Hope he stays and sees out his career. He didn’t have a great year but when fit, he was still a mountain in defence

Contracted 2026 

McAdam⭕️sure he has mercurial talent but can’t believe he was 29 yo and injury prone and he got 3 years (Tim Lamb: was there a trigger clause even thought about? ) Maybe he gets to see out his final year. Have to somehow hope 🤞he can stay on the park or I think he’ll have to retire early.

Laurie⭕️ elite at VFL Level. Just wish he’d got more chances at AFL game and shown something. He has been on our list 5 years now. Might just seek opportunity elsewhere.

Contracted. The “1-year club”

The Veterans. (5) Melksham Tmcd May McAdam Campbell

On the edge. (10)    Laurie Woey jnr Jeffo Adams Johnson rookies: Kentfield Culley AMW Mentha Henderson

That’s a lot of unproven or players in their twilight. Conceivably all 15 could be gone at end 2026.

---

• Added Culley and Henderson as upgrade from SSP to the list

5 new additions

• Add some trade in players

  Draft… 

• Add White (likely list) and Sinnema (likely cat b rookie)

• Add 2 quality youngsters in the draft

This trade and draft period, particularly the former, I'll be watching and judging Lamb's performance closely.

I feel we've made some excellent inroads to get club back on track. I commend Green on his work as president, am pleased to see Steven Smith elected to the board late last year, a change from Gary Pert to Paul Guerra, and of course the appointment of Steven King as coach.

The one thing I've been critical on these last few years is the state of the list management. While drafting lead by Jason Taylor has been second to none, trading critical replacements after the loss of Jackson (Fee), Brayshaw (med.ret.), ANB (Ade), Brown (ret.), Hibberd (ret.) has left a lot to be desired. Grundy, McAdams, Schache, Billings, Sharp. If we look to the Todd Viney and Josh Mahoney list management prior, they built that premiership winning list around the midfield via trade (Lever, May, Brown, Langdon). I attribute much of the current list woes to Lamb, and to a lesser extent, Richardson. My other gripe is Lamb's inability to negotiate (trades and player contracts), or at least that's my perception. Having been in multimillion dollar sales for a while, I get the impression that he has a tendency to promptly go straight to floor price and then try to pick up pieces when he encounters the inevitable push back (I see it all too often in my line of work). With all that said, I can't be too harsh, I certainly acknowledge and commend his knowledge and contribution to the player selections associated with the draft (alongside Taylor). I believe his pros outweigh his cons. Perhaps he needs to read 'Never Split the Difference' (to start) and/or get some 3rd-party help for his negotiations.

To me this trade period is critical if we genuinely believe that we can win another premiership with the likes of Gawn, Petracca, Oliver, Lever, Langdon, McDonald, Melksham, and Viney on the list. I certainly think it's possible.

So where to now? We still need that tall forward and Charlie Curnow is allegedly on the market, but do we have the salary cap available (an A+ list manager would make it work)? Sure there's Mihocek, but his best is well passed and at what cost? Flanders is also rumoured, a great get for the right price. Which prospects with some upside are available for silverware (Harvey?)?

I just hope that Lamb and the MFC are successful during this trade period as it appears to be inflection point for the premiership-capable vererans on our list.

21 minutes ago, ignition. said:

We still need that tall forward

Do we?

Brisbane just won a premiership and of their 18 goals their tall forwards combined for a total of ... 1.

18 minutes ago, bing181 said:

Do we?

Brisbane just won a premiership and of their 18 goals their tall forwards combined for a total of ... 1.

I am finding it uneasy that I am agreeing with you on something.

Yes a gun key forward would be great but we need a stronger group in the midfield and half forward line more in my opinion.

14 minutes ago, ANG13 said:

I am finding it uneasy that I am agreeing with you on something.

Yes a gun key forward would be great but we need a stronger group in the midfield and half forward line more in my opinion.

A gun KPD is seemingly more important than a KPF. Harris Andrews was huge for the Lions for the majority of the finals series.

1 hour ago, bing181 said:

Do we?

Brisbane just won a premiership and of their 18 goals their tall forwards combined for a total of ... 1.

Logan Morris’ repeat leads and contests in the air brought the smaller forwards into play.

Ty Gallop was average but provided an outlet at times.

At the other end, Harris Andrews was dominant because Shannon Neale was awful.

Good tall forwards aren’t just measured by goals.

30 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Harris Andrews was dominant because Shannon Neale was awful.

I think Shannon Neale was awful because Harris Andrews was dominant.

The lions have been lucky. Having access to kids who have been guns and on relatively small $$$ contracts (for now) puts them in a financial position to attract Allen and Draper under RFA. Also they get a top 5 Academy pick this year in Annabelle.

In the meantime if Flanders goes to the Saints for pick 7 then the GC pick 6 would be 'starters' for a Tracc bid.

If we cannot get at least one pointy end pick then Tracc stays. Last season teens picks for Smith and Houston were ridiculously low.

Its hard to see any team apart from GC having the pick capital to do business with us.

Pick 6, a player eg Rosas or another suitable for the Dees and a future 1st would do it. Perhaps some contract $$$ if needed.

Our new coach would know a bit about some of the GC players.

GC might also have to look at trading out one or two players who signed contracts for 'overs' when they were a mess.

At this stage GC have only one player likely to feature in the 2026 draft Archie Hill and he may not attract a 1st round bid. So they may have options with their 2026 picks.

Updated: The top 2026 AFL Draft prospects - Aussie Rules Rookie Me Central

Trac can't go we need him.

B: Lever, Petty, Moniz-Wakefield

HB: Salem, Turner, Bowey

C: Culley, Oliver, Langford

HF: Pickett, van Rooyen, Chandler

F: Melksham, Miochek, Fritsch

FOLL: Gawn, Petracca, Rivers

IC: Lindsay, Windsor, Langdon, Viney, Derksen

Casey

B: Berry, Adams, White

HB: Howes, McDonald, Draft Pick

C: Sinemma, Laurie, Draft Pick

HF: Henderson, Johnson, Sharp

F: McAdam, Kentfield, Jefferson

FOLL: Heath, Sparrow, Tholstrup

IC: Campbell, Mentha, Draft Pick

We won't get Flanders unless Petracca goes I don't want him to go.

I don't know if this is the right spot, but I have this feeling we are about to bottom right out again and try and rebuild when another team comes into the comp...

MFCSS in full effect.

12 minutes ago, Gorgoroth said:

I don't know if this is the right spot, but I have this feeling we are about to bottom right out again and try and rebuild when another team comes into the comp...

MFCSS in full effect.

You wouldn’t have MFCSS without thinking this

So I guess it means premiership in 2039 or so?

Edited yesterday at 05:371 day by whatwhat say what

15 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

You wouldn’t have MFCSS without thinking this

So I guess it means premiership in 2039 or so?

2059 at best the way we do things 😋

DELISTINGS

Billings ❌ Fullerton ❌ Sestan ❌ (R) Verrall ❌ (R) Hore❌(R) KBrown💔❌(R)

Spargo⭕️UFA to North Melbourne

7 off the list - Spargo, KBrown, Fullerton, Hore, Verrall, Billings, Sestan 

2 on the list - SSP top ups Henderson and Culley have earned one year deals so get added 

---

❓❓Taj Woewodin/ Woey junior - does he seek to get traded to either Freo or Eagles 

❓❓Steven May - He didn’t have a great year but when fit, he was still a mountain in defence

Contracted 2026 

McAdam⭕️sure he has mercurial talent but can’t believe he was 29 yo and injury prone and he got 3 years (Tim Lamb: was there a trigger clause even thought about? ) Maybe he gets to see out his final year. Have to somehow hope 🤞he can stay on the park or I think he’ll have to retire early.

Laurie⭕️ elite at VFL Level. Just wish he’d got more chances at AFL game and shown something. He has been on our list 5 years now. Might just seek opportunity elsewhere. 

Contracted. The “1-year club” 

The Veterans. (5) Melksham Tmcd May McAdam Campbell

On the edge. (10)    Laurie Woey jnr Jeffo Adams Johnson rookies: Kentfield Culley AMW Mentha Henderson 

That’s a lot of unproven players and the veterans in their twilight. Conceivably all 15 could be gone at end 2026. 

---

💔McVee. Reported to want out and go “home” to Freo. Home is actually Geraldton, only 400kms away from Freo

melbournefc.com.au

Trac to stay a Demon for life

Christian Petracca has agreed to a seven-year contract extension with the club

💔💔💔💔💔Petracca reportedly interested in a move to the Crows. He has another 4 years on his contract.

Monday 29 September

Day 1. Steven King has some big calls to make.

Squad for 2026!

(21) Gawn. Oliver. Viney. Kozzzy. Rivers. Turner. Langdon. Salem. Bowey. Langford. Lindsay. Fritsch. Petty. Windsor. Chandler. Kolt. Sparrow. Lever. JVR. Howes. Sharp.

The Veterans. (5) Melksham Tmcd May McAdam Campbell

On the edge. (10)    Laurie Woey jnr Jeffo Adams Johnson rookies: Kentfield Culley AMW Mentha Henderson 

---

💔McVee. Reported to want out and go “home” to Freo. Home is actually Geraldton, only 400kms away from Freo

💔💔💔💔💔Petracca reportedly interested in a move to the Crows. He has another 4 years on his contract. 

The trade period and the drafting period is again a crucial time !!

Lots to play out. We have climbed the mountain in 2021, and now seen it disintegrate in a matter of 4 years. It’s not too late unless we get our pants pulled down again.

Edited yesterday at 11:181 day by spirit of norm smith
K

4 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Squad for 2026!

(21) Gawn. Oliver. Viney. Kozzzy. Rivers. Turner. Langdon. Salem. Bowey. Langford. Lindsay. Fritsch. Petty. Windsor. Chandler. Kolt. Sparrow. Lever. JVR. Howes. Sharp.

The Veterans. (5) Melksham Tmcd May McAdam Campbell

On the edge. (10)    Laurie Woey jnr Jeffo Adams Johnson rookies: Kentfield Culley AMW Mentha Henderson 

---

💔McVee. Reported to want out and go “home” to Freo. Home is actually Geraldton, only 400kms away from Freo

💔💔💔💔💔Petracca reportedly interested in a move to the Crows. He has another 4 years on his contract. 

If goes the likely way we will get pick 14 a future 1st and Rachele for Petracca, pick 29 for McVee, pick 52 for May.

So we have picks 14, 23, 29, 37, 52, 54, 59. We probably won't use a pick in the 50's except if it's for White. I'll wait to see if Flanders picks us or picks St.Kilda. Pick 37 for Heath. Delisted free agent or pick 59 for Derksen. Free agent Miochek. Delist McAdam and put him on the rookie list.

B: Lever, Petty, Moniz-Wakefield (a)

HB: Salem, Turner, Bowey

C: Culley (a), Oliver, Langford

HF: Rachele, van Rooyen, Chandler

F: Fritsch, Miochek, Melksham

FOLL: Gawn, Rivers, Pickett

IC: Lindsay, Windsor, Langdon, Viney, Derksen

Casey

B: Berry (b), Adams, White

HB: Howes, McDonald, Pick 14

C: Sinnema (a), Laurie, Pick 23

HF: Henderson (a), Johnson, Sharp

F: McAdam(a), Kentfield (a), Jefferson

FOLL: Heath, Sparrow, Tholstrup

IC: Campbell, Mentha (b), Pick 29

Edited yesterday at 12:221 day by WERRIDEE

Our 22 next year is starting to look extremely dire, we keep losing players in the 23-28 range who are starters or on the cusp with scope to break in and have struggled to replenish that age bracket through trade ins, whilst subsequently our 28+ cohort keeps ageing and our draftees whilst some have shown promise and genuine scope for stardom others have been allowed to plod along because the unforced exits have afforded them lifelines.

Jefferson, Adams, Howes, Laurie, AMW should all be playing for their careers next year but given the ages of McDonald, Melksham, Campbell, May, McAdam of which supposedly ONLY melksham is best 22 next year thats already 5 exits, and then you have Henderson and Johnson who are sort of nothing almost desperate selections hits in hope without any outstanding AFL traits its a really bad spot for our list to be in, i think we could be 5-7 years away from competing

2026

Key Defenders: May, Petty, Turner, McDonald, Adams, Derksen, Berry (B)

General Def: Lever, Salem, Bowey, Moniz-Wakefield (A), Howes,

Midfielders: Pickett, Oliver, Viney, Petracca, Rivers, Windsor, Langdon, Langford, Lindsay, Laurie, Culley (A), Woewodin, Sinnema

Rucks: Gawn, Campbell, Heath

General Fwd: Fritsch, Chandler, Melksham, Sparrow, Sharp, Tholstrup, Johnson, Henderson (A), McAdam, Mentha (B)

Key Forwards: Mihocek, van Rooyen, Jefferson, Kentfield (A), White, 

i suspect lindsay makes a fletcher-esque move to HB next year and i think there are real genuine warning signs around what rivers does either next year or in 2027 when he's OOC.

Lever Petty Turner

Salem Bowey Lindsay

Langdon? Viney Culley?

Fritsch Mihocek Chandler

Melksham? JVR/Kentfield? Pickett

Gawn Oliver Langford

Windsor Rivers AMW/Howes? Sparrow?/Kolt? Sharp?/Draftee?