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Whatever happens with Cloke, I love one simple fact. And that is this - we clearly have loads of cap, and picks, and the intent to get serious in hunting the quality players in the league. In short, we are becoming the hunters. Our offers now scare some of the big clubs. This is a lot different to previous seasons where we're either not taken seriously when big names are discussed or we have to pay 'overs' simply to retain our own senior players. Despite our ladder position, I'm actually enjoying this aspect of the year.

I'd be happy with this. It gives us a real structure and makes our recruiting so much easier. Having all of our big men in place means that we can focus on runners, which come on more quickly. Having Cloke and Clark in tandem for the rest of the decade makes us ultra dangerous. One of the reasons for the two key forwards is to get the ball inside 50. One pushes up to the footy whole the other pushes back to goal. We have been hearing the club constantly talking about prepaying contacts to create free agency room. Think about the $5m as being paid in the last few years, rather than in the next few. That means that we could get him, effectively, for free through FA.

The voice of reason, has to happen. Those of you saying that Cook isnt ready and will get destroyed, how about you look at Jeremey Cameron, he seems to be doing fine and he has done half an afl pre season. Cook needs to be given a chance. In: Cook Green Gysberts Jamar Out: Dunn Spencer Magner Bennell

Going after Cloke is an absolute no-brainer. Firstly, one of our biggest failings is getting through half forward. Can you imagine getting used to Jack Watts passing off half back, spotting up Cloke at CHF, who then wheels around and bangs it into Clark? Not to mention, can you imagine how berserk Clark will go against the SECOND best defender on each team? That thought actually frightens me. There aren't any star mids going around, so why not go after what is available? We can load up on guns mids in the draft, rather than via FA. Secondly, in terms of $$, we have heaps to spend. If anybody is worried about cap issues with our potential stars in a few years, I say let's cross that bridge when we get to it. You never know, at that point we might actually be in contention and they might be willing to cop a bit less. Cloke allows Howe to play in the midfield permanently and Watts would never need to play forward again. Garland and Rivers go back to where they belong. I'd take the known quantity of Cloke over the 'Cook will be a gun, just give him time' stuff any day of the week. Why are we even discussing this???

Well, if you're reading this, it means we made it through to the other side. Yay. Give me a like so I can see you're alive! Not sure how this host is going to go as it's a method of hosting we haven't tried before. The acid test will come on the weekend when we get smashed by Freo by 10 goals; let's see how the server copes.

While I am not necessarily happy with the notion of bagging Cale again - you cannot put Aaron in such a place simply on his last two years. From 2004 to 2010 he was a fantastic contributor for this club and won a Bluey in 09, indeed he was a reason to go to the footy in 08 and 09.

All this talk of cook getting smashed because he is too small makes me look at Chris Dawes and wonder what his problem is? It's not a body building competition it's footy. As has been said Jeremy Cameron is going fine for his size and there are plenty of tarzans playing like Jane and Jane's playing like Tarzan in the AFL. if the lad has form then pick him.

What about the midfield? Won't somebody please think of the midfield!!!

He's 15 you [censored].

Pick 4 for Boak would almost be a straight trade of Toumpas for Boak Think id prefer Toumpas to be honest....

As I've observed earlier today: There's no way I want Cloke for this much money. You could have a full-forward line of Lockett, Coleman and Fanning, and they'd struggle to kick 15 goals with our 3rd-world midfield. We need midfielders. We need them now. Our forwardline hasn't REALLY been a problem, but the pox delivery inside 50 has been.

I'd rather Toumpas than Boak.

I'd love to get Boak or Caddy, but I have an issue giving up an exceedingly valuable pick for a midfielder that isn't an A grader. Boak may become one, but right now he's not. Pick 13 is reasonable.

Looks good, remind me to be more kind to nasher in the future...

No i don't think so. He'll be 1-2 for the next 2-4.

And blow out our own salary cap. Not so brilliant.

Then we'll look very good with Whitfield, Toumpas and Garlett running around in our midfield next year.

I would love to see Hogan in the red and blue the the way he runs at the footy him and Mitch could decapitate all the opposition backmen.

Delivery to a forward line is usually much better when there are multiple targets inside that actually know what they're doing. In a way, Cloke would help our midfield more than any individual midfielder would. What we need is four really good midfielders. Failing that, I think Cloke is a damn good option, especially since we won't have to trade to get him.

Agree... Consistency is the key. Out: Dunn (susp) Spencer In: Green, Jamar Cant seem more than 2 changes.

Guys, I made it. You can stop worrying now.

there's your answer - Telstra with Telstra any adverse outcome is possible - murphy's 5th law

One of our biggest advantages in attracting Boak is the same thing that got us Clark .... we can get the deal done. We have pick 4 so Boak knows that he can get here easily. Geelong will have two picks at about 20 so a deal will be tough. I like the sound of 4 and 13 for Boak and 7, but if it is just a straight pick 4 swap then I'd probably been fine with it. He is a strong midfielder with pace, so he's definitely the type we need.

Yep think of the four players on $250k you would like to do without for 5 year. We have used 34 players this year. Ridiculous post. It was 3 yrs ago we were $5m in debt, The club can't go to that well again.

Anyone remember that quote by Eddie 'We are not like Melbourne where you can take players as you like'

Thanks for all the hard work, Nasher. Much appreciated.

Fitzpatrick too slow? OMG he was recruited as a fast leading fwd. Have you watched him?

How we beat this mob by 89 points a little over a year ago I'll never know - but I'd love a repeat!

Does this mean Eddie will be starting WWIII? I'd have thought $1,000,000 pa would just about have bought two decent mids

he is indisputably one of the best players in the league. we've got the money lets get him. where are all the whingers who said mitch wasn't worth it now, huh ???

Except Boak is a respectable young man, whereas Beams is a human stain...

Great work on the site guys. Just signed up.

Agree Old Dee, when we lined up on Saturday I thought our coach was playing forwards as backs and backs as forwards, then I thought all year our midfielders have chased the footy around like under 9's and then bang it hit me Mark Neeld's game plan make it simple under 9's footy the only issue I had was they didn't swap at half time. I would love to see Watts back forward, play him on the spud at his third club. My forward line can kick goals with Howe, Green, Davey, Watts, Martin and Cook it would be a hard forward line to match up on Howe and Green can play tall, they mark the footy well all players except Davey can rotate through full forward plus push up high half forward and all besides Cook are dangerous when the ball hits the ground. The only issue is can we get it inside 50m for these guys to kick the goals.

Yeah that's fair - I would still prefer Caddy he seems to have a bigger build and seems more of a goalkicker but if Boak is available for our mid first round comp pick after having ruled out Caddy then I wouldn't be unhappy to get him. Wouldn't really want to pay pick 4 though (unless we can get Viney in 2nd round) and would want to rule out Caddy first. No reason we can't make a play for both though and see what happens.

i'm sorry. but green? give up. You are a battler. Green would beat probably 3/4 of collingwoods list to a game.

........and it is written ,that Prince Jack of Vines and sir Billy the kid stretchmarks slay the evil Skull voldermort, in the 2015 grand final avenging their fathers , and restoring dignity and respect to the mighty and Victorious Melbourne football club.

......and the sons of past players shall lead them out of the darkness

If Goddard was the Judd of our midfield he'd get tagged out of the game. I can see what you mean BB59, but Goddard is not the solution. I'd go a KPF before I went Goddard. To be honest, I'd be looking at FA for not just Cloke, but for Brad Sewell (give him a three year contract and see if that woos him). Then I'd look at another experienced mid (say Sam Mitchell). Sewell and Mitchell would help nurture guys like Gysberts, Trengove, Grimes and Viney. Then use one or two of the compensation picks on young, quick outside mids. It's not just 'let's go after Cloke and stop there', it's 'let's go after Cloke and target one or two experienced, well respected ball winners, and use compo picks on young mids'.

It's a no brainer for me. A spine of Clark, Cloke, Garland and Frawley would set us up for a period of sustained success. Get it done, MFC.

But who is available? All the premos have re-signed. Who is there to get genuinely excited about? Boak? Just doesn't do it for me. He's no Dangerfield. Cloke's a big risk, yes. But IMO we should be backing in Neeld (premiership midfield coach) and fitness guru Misson to get out our midfield lads playing to another level by 2013. You're limiting what the likes of Trengove, Gysberts, Jones, McKenzie and Grimes can become with your comments BB. They are C grade now. Why can't they become B grade by next year and A grade by 2014? Why limit them? This is not to even mention the fact that they will be joined by Viney and two top mids from this year's draft. This A + B + C + D = finals and flag outlook won't work in an 18 team comp. You've got to take bigger risks than that. Trav Cloke is that bigger risk.

I imagine we'd be getting Cloke as much for his attitude and work ethic as for his ability to take a contested mark. I reckon Neeld's taken a lot from Mick Malthouse's school of thought of players with ambition over players with talent. This is Malthouse talking about Cloke in an interview with 3AW: "He wanted that football, he would demand that football, he would run in front of packs and try to mark the football. He was a big guy, he dominated junior football … but we needed to teach him to jump for the football, because he didn’t need to. But the work ethic of Clokey … is unbelievable. He would get on the track and he would be last off. You would have to rope him and drag him off and he wanted to be the best. Give me a player with ambition – he has got a fierceness for the football. Ambition is the greatest thing of all time – if you lack ambition, you take shortcuts."

I'd be happy to have a go at Cloke, provided that the wage is in the zone where Harrington is happy. We clearly are going to play a game where the long kick inside 50 will be a big part, so we need people who can compete under that high ball and give us scoring opportunities. Cloke is one of the best at that, and he pushes up to do the same thing on the wing. To have both Cloke and Clark we'd have a great structure that we can use during periods of success. Best thing is that we won't have to give up any of our top picks. Our midfield woes can be solved through the draft. We'll have 3 first round picks, including 2 in the first 5. We should be able to hit 2 good midfielders there, and possibly more. We need a star mid that can take the heat off our lesser mids (like Moloney). We are practically no chance of trading for one, so we'd be best off chasing them with our top 5 picks. We may even have one already with Viney.

Despite the MFC's spectacular inability to produce elite mids it's reasonable to suggest that midfield concerns can be addressed far more easily than the ability to procure a gun key forward. I don't overly rate Essendon, but they're top two with just two A grade mids and I'd argue that neither are "stars". West Coast are rock solid these days and sit a top the ladder; and while I acknowledge the contributions of Priddis, Kerr, Shuey, Gaff, Rosa, etc, I'd also argue that none of that group are bona fide stars. Some will put Cox in as a midfielder, which is fair enough and Kerr was once a star, but you get my drift. West Coast are an even side across the field and their game-plan is now second nature. They don't have any weak links. I believe that when Trengove overcomes his woes, plus the addition of Grimes to the midfield, with Viney and a couple of early draft picks in the wings, along with Gysberts to come back, that we're well on the way to developing a solid midfield. I doubt we'll get Cloke, but this club will be well on the way to being a top 4 side by 2014 if we were able to snare him. Cloke would give us the opportunity to fight for a flag within the next 5 years, but I can't say the same for the Travis Boak's of this world.

Our stocks arnt bad, the coaching of the midfield is whats bad in my opinion

An A-grade midfield is a given ... but so is having big key forwards who can throw their weight around and give defenders the jitters. You're wrong about Geelong - they had Ottens rotating through the goal square as well. He's a large part of the reason why they won those flags, which underlines the argument as they took the punt and shelled out to get him over from Richmond. Collingwood lost with Cloke and Dawes?? Check the record for 2010. I think they might've won the flag. And saying that St.Kilda and Port only just missed out still supports the pro-gorilla argument because the fact that they actually made it to the last Saturday in September shows that you need these types of players in your team. You can develop and hope and hope and develop with young talls but the cold hard reality is that the big gun forwards are VERY difficult to come by. They are gold. And that is why Cloke has a 5mil/5year price tag on his head.

I can't believe the negative comments towards Cloke!! Our coach spent time with him in 2 GF tilts. One being successful. Cloke and Clark would be great. Gotta spend $$ to win flags these days. Train up the mids with continued youth injections. If people do not want Cloke, who should we target? At present we struggle to kick 10 goals a game.

Thought that we've been into Travis Cloke ever since the "Get your hands off our players" quote from EE some months back . I think we might be able to 'Front end' his contract (like we did with Clark?) so as to not effect our ability to pay our players more equitably post 2013 . GWS did it with T$ . If you take into account that 24 of our players are out of contract then there could be a decent amount of room in our cap next year . A big wad of cash in his 1st year is a huge inducement . Any player would love a big front ended contract . A bird in the hand ............. And he immediately adds wins to our team . If Cook and McDonald come on in leaps and bounds then we end up with a nice problem . You've got to take your chances when they come your way . Obviously there is the Neeld connection as well and right now we have a vacancy at CHF . I've made up my mind - go get him !

Tim Harrington will know what the impact of a big long Cloke contract is on future player payments - that will be factored in. We won't have to worry about David Cloke, Travis will be on a contract to the end of his career so there'll be no more contract negotiations and if where and when he's played becomes an issue then David is the least of our worries. I'm open to the idea if TH does the sums and they come up OK - we don't know how much front-loading space we've got but it could be substantial. Free agency is the big game changer here - the fact that we don't have to give 2 1st rounders like Geelong did for Ottens makes an enormous difference - we can have our FA Cloke and eat our midfield draft too.

Agree with your post. These football industry formulas people work with nowadays ... 'x) draft picks plus y) development plus z) premiership window' or whatever variation it is can only ever be a guideline. We're operating in a cut-throat 18-team comp and if an opportunity bobs up on the radar sometimes you've got to say stuff it and hang your balls on the line to accelerate the process. Otherwise, in all likelihood, life will forever find a way to shove you to the back of the line. Yes, issues will arise down the track if we secure Cloke on big coin but so be it. We work them out on the run. Success has a funny way of enticing people to stay. I always come back to that saying ... "a good plan today is better than a better plan tomorrow". Travis Cloke is not Kelvin Templeton. He is Travis Cloke. And together with Clark he suddenly changes the whole face of the football club and we can all start walking from Richmond station to the G again with a confident gait in our step.