1 minute ago, adonski said:

I know its a bit boring but if we get 2 first rounders for Trac and take a couple of talented kids in the draft like we have done the last two years it's still a fine result

Bread on the experts this is a super shallow draft so we would need to get into at the top 3.

Just now, Frustrated Demon said:

Bread on the experts this is a super shallow draft so we would need to get into at the top 3.

Must be a poor draft if there's only 3 good players!

7 minutes ago, adonski said:

6 & 13 for Tracca pls

Why not 6 and 7 (traded from Saints for Flanders) for Trac and later picks going back their way?

Just now, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Why not 6 and 7 (traded from Saints for Flanders) for Trac and later picks going back their way?

Because not even the Suns are silly enough to trade those picks for a 30 year old

10 minutes ago, adonski said:

6 & 13 for Tracca pls

Picks in a shallow, weak draft are not what we are after. If that is the offer then no thanks, trac can see out his contract

Suns will at least need an early pick for their academy players.

Humphrey + pick 6/7 now the only realistic path for Trac to get his wish.

Otherwise the circus has to move back to town for another 12 months

Reflecting: If Bella's LinkedIn profile is correct, she quit her junior legal role April last year to become Tracs Business Manager and was getting support from Scullie who in mgr and wife of Eddie Betts seemingly to similarly mgr commercial deals.

Shortly after Bella started as business mgr Trac had the very serious queens bday incident and among other suggestions in the media: he wanted to leave (ie means he gets another contact drawn up on different and more beneficial terms eg GC), questions were raised about mfc breaking the contract re duty of care, brand petracca was talked about as part of considerations by his team for a new contract, logically guessing commercial deals Bella and Trac are organising are more complex given the existing Connors contract which didn't forsee the reverue that could be created from brand Trac 5

Never let a crisis go to waste!

In the end, media suggests nothing happens as in the end mfc stand by the validity of the contract as nothing of value is possible with the larger clubs Trac wants for his brand. Media criticism of Trac isn't helping his brand

Further investigations indicate no issue with the queens bday care Trac received late last year. Hence no duty of care issues or contract issue

Then early this year he finally breaks ties with Connors (costing him a reportedly $70k a year for the rest of his contract) with Scullie now his licenced agent. Clearly the commercial deals are a key driver, as well as a new contract, with Bella as business mgr and Scullie as agent

I respect Trac wanting to maximise his IP through innovation but the way he and Bella have gone about it has been poor. Suspect the new contract will address the the commercial deals better. Fingers crossed Trac stays married otherwise he will be taken to the cleaners

7 minutes ago, Demons1858 said:

Reflecting: If Bella's LinkedIn profile is correct, she quit her junior legal role April last year to become Tracs Business Manager and was getting support from Scullie who in mgr and wife of Eddie Betts seemingly to similarly mgr commercial deals.

Shortly after Bella started as business mgr Trac had the very serious queens bday incident and among other suggestions in the media: he wanted to leave (ie means he gets another contact drawn up on different and more beneficial terms eg GC), questions were raised about mfc breaking the contract re duty of care, brand petracca was talked about as part of considerations by his team for a new contract, logically guessing commercial deals Bella and Trac are organising are more complex given the existing Connors contract which didn't forsee the reverue that could be created from brand Trac 5

Never let a crisis go to waste!

In the end, media suggests nothing happens as in the end mfc stand by the validity of the contract as nothing of value is possible with the larger clubs Trac wants for his brand. Media criticism of Trac isn't helping his brand

Further investigations indicate no issue with the queens bday care Trac received late last year. Hence no duty of care issues or contract issue

Then early this year he finally breaks ties with Connors (costing him a reportedly $70k a year for the rest of his contract) with Scullie now his licenced agent. Clearly the commercial deals are a key driver, as well as a new contract, with Bella as business mgr and Scullie as agent

I respect Trac wanting to maximise his IP through innovation but the way he and Bella have gone about it has been poor. Suspect the new contract will address the the commercial deals better. Fingers crossed Trac stays married otherwise he will be taken to the cleaners

Being a junior at any law firm is horrible, I don't blame her for changing direction.

Humphrey and pick 7 or Trac stays, let’s see if they really want him.

We are still in the box seat.

Flanders isn’t a world beater, more like having another Salem , but Humphrey is a special talent.

Surely there's no way The Brand © nominates GC without an agreement in place for Humphrey to come to us?

13 minutes ago, MurDoc516 said:

Being a junior at any law firm is horrible, I don't blame her for changing direction.

She was not a lawyer. She worked in a 9 to 5 role in the team that reviews legal tech solutions and did internal comms about use cases for lawyers.

49 minutes ago, adonski said:

Must be a poor draft if there's only 3 good players!

I believe it’s more that the depth isn’t there and falls away quite a bit after the first round or so. Still some quality at the top end.

We should be ok if we get 2 picks inside say top 15-20 but have to get them right.

1 minute ago, Mouseymoo said:

All in on Max Heath

Keith is a saint nothing to do with the suns losing a mid/fwd for another Ruck, can’t compare if we roll over for a bag chips!

33 minutes ago, Demons1858 said:

Reflecting: If Bella's LinkedIn profile is correct, she quit her junior legal role April last year to become Tracs Business Manager and was getting support from Scullie who in mgr and wife of Eddie Betts seemingly to similarly mgr commercial deals.

Shortly after Bella started as business mgr Trac had the very serious queens bday incident and among other suggestions in the media: he wanted to leave (ie means he gets another contact drawn up on different and more beneficial terms eg GC), questions were raised about mfc breaking the contract re duty of care, brand petracca was talked about as part of considerations by his team for a new contract, logically guessing commercial deals Bella and Trac are organising are more complex given the existing Connors contract which didn't forsee the reverue that could be created from brand Trac 5

Never let a crisis go to waste!

In the end, media suggests nothing happens as in the end mfc stand by the validity of the contract as nothing of value is possible with the larger clubs Trac wants for his brand. Media criticism of Trac isn't helping his brand

Further investigations indicate no issue with the queens bday care Trac received late last year. Hence no duty of care issues or contract issue

Then early this year he finally breaks ties with Connors (costing him a reportedly $70k a year for the rest of his contract) with Scullie now his licenced agent. Clearly the commercial deals are a key driver, as well as a new contract, with Bella as business mgr and Scullie as agent

I respect Trac wanting to maximise his IP through innovation but the way he and Bella have gone about it has been poor. Suspect the new contract will address the the commercial deals better. Fingers crossed Trac stays married otherwise he will be taken to the cleaners

I’m confused as a simple mind, but are you saying that they wanted a new contract with the MFC to assist in his brand?

1 hour ago, adonski said:

6 & 13 for Tracca pls

Flanders not coming and will be very difficult to prise Humphreys out.

i think this might be what we have to settle for

1 minute ago, BDA said:

Flanders not coming and will be very difficult to prise Humphreys out.

i think this might be what we have to settle for

Robey & Lindsay 😎

Just now, adonski said:

Robey & Lindsay 😎

6 once it's pushed out won't be high enough for Robey, Tigers will take him with 3 or 4

If Flanders is worth pick 7, there is no universe in which Trac is only worth 6+13.

The club won’t accept unders for Trac. It’s a hard sell to members and players. Just won’t happen.

More chance Trac is back in red and blue than he’s sold for a couple of middling picks in a poor draft.

27 minutes ago, Big Gun said:

I believe it’s more that the depth isn’t there and falls away quite a bit after the first round or so. Still some quality at the top end.

We should be ok if we get 2 picks inside say top 15-20 but have to get them right.

By the sounds of every single past player and expert, the draft is the worst they have seen in decades, and coaches don’t want to use the picks at all.

So let’s get players.

Humphries is of course the ideal situation for Melbourne but that is contingent on him willing to move to Melbourne and Gold Coast being willing to move him on.

If it does come down to picks, maybe something like 6, 7 and 13 for Petracca, 26 + Spargo compensation pick to help them match academy bids is something to think about.

Experts say its a weak draft but they're not always right. There is very likely a few gems available. Even players that could eventually play an important role alongside our core group could be invaluable down the line.

Whatever happens, Melbourne should play hard ball with Gold Coast who thanks to their academy exceptions are recruiting young talent more than any other club in the competition and are now serious contenders going forward. We need to use all the leverage we have.

1 hour ago, Yarra Valley Demon said:

Picks in a shallow, weak draft are not what we are after. If that is the offer then no thanks, trac can see out his contract

It appears every other list is getting stronger yet we as usual will get bent over!

Humphrey or hold him - not interested in picks in a weak draft

The thought of us getting picks for Tracc and using them for more players from the draft worries me.

If senior/established (and GOOD) players don’t want to come to us, then I feel like we’re on a North trajectory. Lots of high picks with not a lot of success. Whilst the senior guys suddenly drop off and we have a leadership vacuum.

I’ve heard Jordan Lewis and other analysts talk about strong/successful clubs and how it’s the experienced players you bring in, more so, than having high draft picks that counts. Look at the players Geelong (paper baggers yes) and Brisbane have brought in from other clubs and then look at Essendon and North for example.

You bring in experienced players to support the players you have developed through your system and we are bereft of this.

It’s been mentioned to death, but we haven’t brought anyone in that has made us better for 4/5 years.

I feel like this and next year is going to dictate where we end up as a club for the next decade by who we do or don’t attract to our club.

Hope my concerns are misplaced.

21 minutes ago, demoncat said:

Humphrey or hold him - not interested in picks in a weak draft

This. We will soon find out what our new Dees leaders are made of.

Are we firm and resolute in our position or are we the same old timid club that accepts mediocrity.

Edited October 4, 2025Oct 4 by Demon Time

2 minutes ago, BoBo said:

The thought of us getting picks for Tracc and using them for more players from the draft worries me.

If senior/established (and GOOD) players don’t want to come to us, then I feel like we’re on a North trajectory. Lots of high picks with not a lot of success. Whilst the senior guys suddenly drop off and we have a leadership vacuum.

I’ve heard Jordan Lewis and other analysts talk about strong/successful clubs and how it’s the experienced players you bring in, more so, than having high draft picks that counts. Look at the players Geelong (paper baggers yes) and Brisbane have brought in from other clubs and then look at Essendon and North for example.

You bring in experienced players to support the players you have developed through your system and we are bereft of this.

It’s been mentioned to death, but we haven’t brought anyone in that has made us better for 4/5 years.

I feel like this and next year is going to dictate where we end up as a club for the next decade by who we do or don’t attract to our club.

Hope my concerns are misplaced.

Success breeds success. The more successful you are the more likely you are to attract quality players. Our aim is to play finals next year. King has to implement a game plan that challenges good teams. I think good coach far outweighs good players. Hawthorn is a prime example of this.