Leaderboard

It doesn't matter. Until Port Adelaide reveal the name through an official statement, we won't reveal it on here. It's called respect and courtesy.

signed up for 2013 membership today, and choose the Dedicated Demon option where my membership will roll over 'Forever' Get on board!

People should just cool it. He has been a good servant of the club and I have not heard good things about his foot. Let's not dance on graves - it says more about the dancer than the name on the tombstone.

Ross Lyon's stocks are through the roof at the moment. He demands a hard, disciplined, professional culture. And fitness in particular is a key component to all Ross Lyon teams. Apparently, as soon as he got to Freo, Lyon singled out Pavlich and told him he was too fat and needed to get fit. Pavlich did so, and is now in absolutely red hot form. And who did he desperately want to take with him to Freo? Yep, Dave Misson - someone he rates extremely highly and someone with whom he has worked very closely. With Buttifant, Misson is apparently regarded as the best in the business. IMO Neeld has a similar focus to Lyon. And that's why he also wanted Misson. The fact that we now have him has to inspire confidence. Many posters here are understandably frustrated with the results this year. But the performance this year is the culmination of a soft, unfit list that was built prior to this year. Neeld and Misson are now trying to fix it, but this will take time. In short, Neeld and Misson are the solution, not the problem. Freo's rise this year under Lyon (in my opinion at least) demonstrates this. It's about nailing the fundamentals - and, over time, the results should then follow. Neeld didn't inherent a list as good as Freo's, but I'm convinced he knows how to build one. Fitness and discipline are key components to that. There can be no argument that Neeld and Misson do not know what elite level AFL lists look like in terms of fitness. Rather, the knowledge gap on this point seems to sit with some MFC supporters and (soon to be exited) players. In two years from now, under Misson's guidance, this list will be a lot stronger and fitter than the one we witnessed take the field 22 times this year. In the meantime, it would be good if some of the Neeld critics here would just properly consider these facts.

Take my money, break my heart, then sh*t on my head. Re-signed.

The assumption that we are throwing these players out and being disrespectful is a joke. Do you think Aaron thinks his season was what we expect from a senior player? Respect would be the frank conversation where Davey would have been advised that his body and form of this season would see him languishing at Casey all of 2013. This is not throwing them out this is being honest. Davey has provided many fantastic MFC memories but you need to know when your time is up.

I thought it was a good slogan and the Imagery on the site looks great. No pleasing some people.

I went to the Footy today down at Casey to watch a friend play for Box Hill, while my eyes were often on him, I was often found watching Byrnes! He was quick, strong around the contested ball and composed on the outer. He was IMO the best player on the ground by a bit, which is no mean feat with many Hawthorn and Geelong players running around!!! To me he is a perfect candidate for Melbourne in the new age of Free agency. He has been apart of a winning culture(won two premierships in one of the greatest teams of all time), something none of our players can say. He is a small forward/midfielder, which we need!! Also as the article said well loved at Geelong, which to me says alot about his personallity but also his professionalism and want for team success over personal glory. And Heck we just had what may have been our worst season in our history, bringing in a hungry two time premiership player doesn't sound like a stupid decision to me

People acting like Davey is useless etc makes me so bloody mad... I want to meet all of you keyboard heroes and unleash on you. Yeah he had lost a step, yeah his career is coming to an end... but show some respect for someone who has given us many great memories. I swear, I hate 90% of MFC supporters, disloyal pack of sooks.

Totally agree, when you attack the 'club' not the admin, coaching group or the players you are attacking 150 years of history, the foundation of the AFL Football, all the former players, every member of the club from the bootstrappers to the cheer squad to the volunteers, the billets, the bugler as well as all of the fans. People should watch what they say. It drove me mad when people were calling our club irrelevent and soft. The club is more than the team, for the record a president who fought cancer and fought for youth in a public way is far from soft, the way the club adopted a young Barassi after his father was killed was far from soft, the way the club rallied around T. Broadbridge was far from soft. The way the club support LJ was far from soft, the way the club responded to racism allegations was far from soft, the way we dumped Energy watch was far from soft! This club is so much more than what is going on right now on field.

I have been led to believe that the aim is 75 - 80% AFL elite fitness for 2013, and 100% for 2014. Also that endurance will still be the pre Xmas training focus, but building pace will be the focus in early 2013. Watch some of our supposedly slow players 'suddenly' develop pace. Source: my best mate and Misson often discuss training methodologies (my mate was the AFL umpires running coach for years and I helped train him when he was a lad).

Are you sure it wasn't an MCC tie? The guy is about as Melbourne as Tom Scully

Agree. I would also ask, do we think Aaron would be happy to repeat this season or worse. He is proud and respect would lean to leaving a good memory of his time at the club, not playing at Casey or sitting in the stands the entire season. I could see him as an assistant coach/mentor for a couple of years and we could settle part of his contract now and the rest of it over a couple of years while he gets experience in coaching, to help him set up the rest of his life. That way he would be fully paid, have a job and be treated respectfully.

I like it. Subtle and strong.

i disagree, i prefer it to "generation D" and other recent ones. It also goes hand in hand with the incentives that they're putting up for peple who renew 'first' and people who roll over their memberships on the dedicated demons plan ' forever'.

Maybe it's more appropriate to pass on condolences at this point in time and not to speculate about what may or may not have been the cause of John's untimely passing. Can't those sort of discussions at least wait until later?

I'll second the Jay Clark is a joke sentiment. He seems so enamoured with being first that he could care less if he is wrong. On shear weight of numbers, one fo his guesses will eventually be correct and he will be first. Well done Jay! Regarding Byrnes, I recall Peter Vardy being a great pickup for the Dees for a couple of seasons in the early to mid 2000s. Granted we were a very different team in those days, clearly trying to top up while a window of opportunity presented but I wouldn't be against having Vardy again for a couple of seasons starting next year. If SB can play a similar role at the feet of Mitch for a season or 2 and at the very least contributes in a few more wins is anyone really going to complain?

I think Richmond is the biggest threat.

From memory, Cats have a least one compo pick from Ablett left. GC, who are having to reduce their list substanially and already have O'Meara on the books, may be much more interested in banking a compo pick than having another first round pick.

Imagine for example you belong to the Melbourne Cricket Club and on TV and in print you call the club a "disgusting and pathetic club", don't you think your membership would be at risk. My view would be as a Committee member, that if you wish to harm the club, you don't deserve to be a member. I am not against freedom of expression but not at the acceptance of slander.

Can't we just DELIST him? He's just a sniping, ungrateful, disloyal list clogger How about a poll on this rangey?. Something important this time, huh?

I'm not convinced GWS & GC would get involved in the Pre-season because of list reduction placed on both clubs. Plus Im not sure even if they did - they would want to pay "reasonable" dollars for a kid that would obviously want to play in Victoria. If we had a "deal" in place say 3/4 years and an acceptable amount to Jacobs - I reckon he would be ours.

This is exactly why i hate reading people Bag out Steven Armstrong. Do you know what he went through??? Chin up Febes. Talk to people Get it out of your head.

Comes from a strong culture. Is a mature body with speed, can find the ball and kick a goal. Fills a need. It makes me laugh the same people who think players like Petterd should be retained unless we get a mid-high draft pick turn their nose at more accomplished players like Byrnes who we get for nothing. FA is more about filling needs with no cost but salary rather than uncovering superstars for a club like ours.

My how people forget! Gary DID ask Craig Kelly (from ESP-Ross's management ), if Ross was a possibilty!!!& was told that Ross had an agreement to continue as STK coach to the end of 2015 ... This was reported everywhere !!! As far as Mike Sheahan - he wanted CAM SCHWAB replaced as CEO & WAS doing all he could to push it along with Healy's help for his personal agenda.

Another reason to be optimistic. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7415/newsid/147291/default.aspx Bring on 2013 - Go Dees!

He can go straight into the draft. And that is if he even wants to play AFL next season. He may be happy to just play SANFL. Only 1 club would take him in the draft and that means we have as much leverage as a plastic fork trying to lift Fat Phil - NONE.

Puts things in perspective, we carry on like the world is at an end with how our club is going and this poor bloke has had his life cut short too soon. Very sad.

Mate, Jack Viney is the player that typifies this new regime and has exactly the kind of qualities Neeld is trying to instill into the rest of the list. It would be madness passing on Viney and they won't do it.

Lyon has had 2 coaching stints Both with mature lists he has merely refreshed Both lists had some very top line talent He has never built a list from ground up as ours needs Yes he instills work ethic / cultural changes (much the same as Neeld is trying to achieve), however we have no idea what he is like building a list from scratch Some of his recruiting has been terrible Either way, reports are Lyon sounded him out We didn't get him, Neeld seems on the right track, let's just see how it plays out

Definitely not the same...our John Singleton (aka Singo) is the entrepeneur (read, [censored]) who brought us such advertising highlights as "Where do you get it???" and the wonderful Delilah. Doubt he could manage a film longer than 2 minutes and filmed in super 8 (at a stretch).

Agreed. Watts is an average player struggling to maintain a spot in the worst team in the afl. NicNat is a star and has HUGE influence on a finals team, probably will be all australian this year. If anyone wants proof why stats are meaningless with NicNat, look at the video on afl.com.au "Cox chalks up 250". His 13 possessions and 20 taps can have a huge influence on games. The scary thing is that he's shown this year that he is capable of getting 25 possessions and 35 taps, where he's the BOG by a mile. Our recruiting is the reason we are in the hole we're in. Tell me we wouldn't be in a totally different situation if we had done the following (all realistic choices at the time): NicNat > Watts Darling > Cook Lewis Jetta/Dangerfield/Rioli > Morton

Jake Spencer: Round 21: 15 possessions, 24 hitouts Round 22: 13 possessions (85%), 21 hitouts Pity he doesn't have dreadlocks.

I hope the club are doing what they can to help him get his life back on track; these are the thing that differentiate the good clubs from the bad ones. Looking after our own should be second nature.

Caddy is a big bodied midfielder who has decent pace and a decent tank with good disposal and can hit the scoreboard. Would definitely take him for Martin or pick 13 & Bail. If we baulk at getting him because we don't want to get rid of Bail I would be extremely [censored] off with the club it would be another massive blunder. I think people overrate draft picks, a lesson I would have thought we'd have learnt of recent times. Caddy went pick 7 two years ago and has had a couple of good games - there is nothing to indicate pick 13 this year is going to be a vastly better player and Caddy already has two years in the system. If its one thing our club is crying out for it is midfielders who can kick goals. Jones is currently our only one (but not multiple goals a game) and hopefully Trengove will get there too. Caddy can kick multiple goals a game which is something we could sorely use.

Commentators jizzing every-time NikNat scratches himself!! The reality is he has had 13 possessions at 77% efficiency!! 20 hit out is not exactly spectacular either. The guy can play and will only get better, but the media frenzy is fair dinkum joke!!

There are some towns around Ballarat that have the same feel. Melbourne and Ballarat in the 1850s wouldn't be too much different to Deadwood. Thieves ,Whores ,Murderers and Drunks. and thats just my Mothers side of the family.

Yes a club is going to trade a first round pick who plays for them. for a potential criminal who may never play again and has made it clear he's happy to not play AFL again if need be. If this trade happens I'll not only give you every possession I own, but I'll also personally deliver the letter from the AFL to shut down Port Adelaide as a club.

What on earth does the fact that he was brought up in Brighton got to do with his lack of or desire of competitiveness. The need to compete at a certain level comes from within and whether he comes from Brighton or Boronia should not be a factor at all.

Thanks kc and wj for all the info, updates and reports. A stellar job. Ignoring the finals casey had some amazing come from behind wins this year and I think Brett lovett has done a top job. I was a big fan of him as a player but miss the long mullet. These games and reports have Been a highlight of a pretty crappy year as a demon fan. Hopefully you are both back again in 2013

You and Bob have hit the nail on the head. Would I want the club to trade for Burns ? No. Am I happy to have him on the list for a couple of years when we get him for nothing ? Of course.

Sadly for flash I think his body is spent but was a great servant of the MFC!

He is no star, but he is I mature player from a successful club that fills a role we can't currently fill. This is what free agency should be like.

I think flash is suffering from the old, "the mind is willing but the body is weak" he may want to play but phisically it may be past him that said, I have great respecy for Aaron, he has been a great player for our club, if he wants another year, and can convince Neeld he is capable then he should go for it. if not, then I wish him all the best with whatever endevours he chooses to persue in the future.

We dont want guys that can kick a football accurately.They wont fit in wtih the playing group.

Honestly , how many times we going to roll this barrel out. it didnt happen. It was never going to happen , it couldnt have happen... and you knwo what IT DIDNT HAPPEN. Good luck to Freo, they're not us. Lets move on

A tad of hypocrisy in this thread by some. I honestly hope Aaron with one year left on a contract is not pushed. If Aaron wants one more crack at AFL we should do everything in our power to make that happen, either with us or somewhere else. However, the choice should be with Aaron. If we want loyalty from our players we must show loyalty to our players especially to players with contracts.

First of all, thanks to KC for his sterling efforts covering Casey from some of those cold windswept venues throughout the year. Secondly, I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that there's a critical mass of AFL players required to field a successful VFL finals team. The number you need is IMO an absolute minimum of 10 which is the number available a few weeks ago when it was announced who was eligible for the finals. Today, Casey had six Demons with Sheahan and Gysberts the only ones getting in the best players. I thought Davis was just reasonable and the other three had below par days. Tom Couch has been terrific all season but was well covered today. Josh Tynan just went and Lucas Cook was disappointing. The four players missing - Jake Spencer, Jack Fitzpatrick, Michael Evans and Leigh Williams would probably made the difference had they been available. Casey also missed a few of their more experienced players in McGough, Lees and Fieldsend (although the latter appears to be on the outer). Of course, it didn't help that they lost Matthews and ruckman Hill to injury or that they badly turned the ball over kicking backwards a few times which was a disaster in a low scoring game. Still, it's been a good year for Casey because they didn't recruit any names and relied solely on the limited number of MFC players available and local talent coming up through the ranks. It's a job that's been really well done by Brett Lovett. I'm glad Mark Neeld set the record straight on Gysberts and Cook but I suspect that Cook might be gone. Gysberts plugged away and I wouldn't write him off yet but I won't be surprised if he features in the trades. The highlight of the year at Casey for mine has been Jai Sheahan. He was highly touted in some quarters before last year's draft and missed out. He was rookied in the middle of that draft in December and I've been impressed by him every time I've seen him a Casey. He had a bit of a slump in mid season but he's come good again and I think that along with Rory Taggert, he could be the find of our draft.

Spuds