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Clark kicked about as many goals from general play/crumbs as he did from set shots. About as handy at ground level as a big man gets. Dumb comment.

Should have been doing this training two years ago.

Feel for Crows supporters . Ya gotta be kidding. I've already watched them win 2 flags including 1 in a finals series where we smashed them by 52pts. They are better than 50/50 shot at any SA player that wants to "Go home". I couldn't give a toss how many players they lose.

I do get sick of the Frawley rumours. If we wanted to get rid of him, like Collingwood want to get rid of Dawes, they may hold some weight, but we don't. And importantly he's contracted for 2013 and also contracted for 2014. If we want him, which we do, he won't be going anywhere.

The majority of sides are moving to a 3 key forward structure where one can pinch hit in the ruck, one plays as a defined key forward, and one who roams beyond the wings into the defensive half of the ground. Then there's usually a plus one smaller player to rove and apply defensive pressure. The 5 and 6 then push up and run back. In Melbourne's ideal structure it would probably be Clark, Hogan and one other from 2014 onwards, with the small rotating between Byrnes, Blease, Davey, etc. We're missing that third roaming tall option. I actually think Martin could potentially fill that bill. I'd prefer Gumbleton to Dawes as he's ostensibly more athletic - albeit more injury prone - and would complement the other two, with Clark the big lug who can pinch hit in the ruck AND play the key forward, Hogan with the defined key forward role and ability to run athletically, and the third able to play deep or push up. No doubt min my mind Neeld is putting together a structure for 2015 onwards.

I have no idea who Brett Meridith is, but I like the deal already.

There were aspects of his play that caused me to not see him developing to a quality AFL standard. It's a judgment call. Could he get to a James Sellar standard in time ? Possibly, not definitely, and that's not good enough anyway. For me that would be his ceiling and I'd cut him accordingly. Obviously the club agrees. I would have been staggered if they hadn't. I posted the following 2 months ago: "I've seen him live a number of times now, including against cellar dwellars Frankston, and the guy couldn't be more underwhelming. He's slow, there's not an aggressive bone in his body, he didn't work hard, and didn't read the play well. He's an OK mark, a good kick, he supposedly has excellent endurance, he's a good decision maker (when he gets it) but not much more." Hawthorn made early judgment calls on top 10 picks Beau Dowler and Mitch Thorpe. West Coast did with Tony Notte. Adelaide did with Fergus Watts. Skilled football watchers make calls on young talls because they don't envisage enough upside. They don't always get it right, but they invariably do. Essendon made the call on Jenkins, but it looks like they got that one wrong. I'm rapt that we now have people at the club that are prepared to make calls on poor draft selections. Keep in mind, Nut, that Sydney have turned over 33 players in the last 3 years. We need to turn our list over. If it looks like a dud, smells like a dud, plays like a dud, it's in all likelihood a dud. I'm enjoying seeing these duds on the chopping block.

Absolute disgrace of a pick. Makes me sick.

Rumoured to have sniffed at Frawley and Watts. Maybe we could trade Sellar for Juddy. I hear he supported the Dees as a kid...

I still believe there's upside to Cale Morton. I have confidence that Neeld will use him better than Bailey, and Misson should be able to improve his strength and fitness. IMO he just needs a bit more time under the new regime at the MFC. I'm not sure we'd ultimately get the better of any trade involving Cale at this point in time.

I want to keep Cale! There I said it. One tough pre-season. Proven running ability and it's not as though we have a plethora of run and spread players. Put him on the wing and he'll prove everybody wrong!

Id trade Cale for one of those Wakey waving inflatable flailing arm tube men.

Another triumph for FA. This is a unique occasion when the average IQs of both clubs involved in the Moloney move north have increased.

Anyone who thinks Clarke has no ground ability did not actually watch him play last season.

Can hardly contain his grin at times lolYou know what, I like that. He's quietly pumped. The plan is coming together

Clark lacking ability at ground level for a big man is flat out wrong. Very adept for a big man at ground level

Some of us said months ago we'd get rid of Cook only to be told how mean we were by other posters; and that "talls take time". And of course they do, but you could also see he wasn't good enough for all of the reasons mentioned at the time. I'm accepting apologies by PM.

Replying to someone who has you on their ignore list - that's pretty funny.

I understand this sentiment, but the one year at Casey playing against men will perfectly set Hogan up for 2014. Round 1, 2014 Hogan will be 195cm and 100kg. I think supporters will be surprised how ready he'll be. Darling just kick 50 goals as a 19 year old in his second season. Hogan will be in his first and need time to find his feet, but it won't take long. He'll be a gun in 2015.

I have no idea why people haven't 'ignored' picket fence. This poster offers nothing other than the pathetic negativity that is MFCSS. He is just a concern troll. A Demonland/Ology Iago that shouldn't be bothered with.

I just hope poor naive 17 year old Jesse isn't Googling himself right now! If you are, then hi, and please go back to Facebook. You're safe there.

MFCSS is rife in this thread "Oh noes we paid overs" "Oh noes he will end up leaving for home" "Oh noes he can't kick" FFS, he hasn't even set foot at the club yet and already some are fretting and criticizing him? Get a life people!

Dawes or Pederson in my opinion would be a good pick up considering Mitch Clark is recovering from a foot injury that not many players have had and realistically could side line him for much longer than expected. If Mitch plays a few games and his foot starts playing up again then we would need a backup strong forward to fill the void. We need a backup strong forward LA (Dawes and Pederson). If Mitch is firing then even having these two boys would be fantastic. GO DEES!!!

This, kicked 5 against west coast almost purely off the deck.

I know its early days but the player of the year is M.Neeld . Im quietly impressed with the way the FD has gone about this period. On field we are rubbish atm but our FD are rollin with the big boys. Shaking a few trees i think. Aggressive but smart play. I have full confidence in the draft/trade decisioon making process for the first time in years

good to see mitch clark has put his hand up to mentor hogan and he is staying with mitch till he is set up

Wants to prove Melbourne wrong. Good luck with that.

I doubt that Neeld would be coming out and saying this unless he has sounded them both out about how they would feel about the set-up. Neeld has so far not put a foot wrong, so I have faith in his approach to this one as well.

I think Hogan will be good, but he will still take time. You can't expect him to hold down a key position consistently from day dot.

I don't like blanket statements so a great deal of what is written in here about Cale is BS. He provides something we lack - namely outside run and uncontested possessions. He needs to improve other areas of his game as his physicality can be deplorable and his intensity at the contest can be just as bad. Unless we get some outside run back, I would persevere with him.

For those claiming that Dawes has refused to talk to the MFC, this from the article relating to our meeting with Gumbleton: "Dawes is choosing between three clubs - Melbourne, Western Bulldogs and Carlton - with all three having made presentations and offers in recent days." http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/dees-meet-with-gumbleton-20121010-27dgs.html#ixzz28wRw6VuQ Seriously, do you people just make this stuff up to justify your attacks on Neeld?

If you're playing Sellar as the second tall in the backline, what would you do with McDonald/Garland/Watts? One of them could be moved up to FF or CHF (after all, they were all drafted as forwards), but if you were going to do that is there any need for Pederson/Dawes/Gumbleton at all? If we're going to get one of Pederson/Dawes/Gumbleton, they will just be a place-holder until Hogan is ready. I don't think we're going to be competing for a finals spot in 2013, so I think it's a better investment to hang on to pick 20 and use it on the best available player. If we can snag Pederson with our third rounder I'm all for it, but otherwise I'm happy with Sellar.

That's the joke, Joyce.

Would prefer Newton over Gumby...

... and I smell an article written by Jay Clark.

This "he might go home" fear is really nauseating. Do you think Hawthorn fans pizzed and moaned that Buddy might return to WA when they drafted him? No way. Why? Because they're a strong club with a successful outlook, confident that their best players will never want to leave. This is the way we at the MFC must think.

He really does look like an extremely smooth mover. There is definitely a theme with the players we are targetting. They are all very good runners. This continues the theme through the year of good runners excelling (Jones, McDonald, Howe etc) and poor runners struggling (Moloney, Gysberts etc). We play a very fitness based game, so getting our hands on high level runners certainly appears to be a priority. Barry is the rare type that has the combination of speed and endurance, so we'll see what we can do with him once we get him in an AFL system.

And Stewart Loewe was a lousy mark, Brett kirk needs to get in touch with his spiritual side and Peter Slipper is a fit and proper person to hold the role of Speaker of the House of Reps This is fun

Me too. He's yet to have a clear run with injuries and I'm guessing it's shattered his confidence. Still got huge up side. Just remember his first year in particular. He was much better than recently. I have to chuckle at the "experts" on this place. Most of you know nothing about Meredith but are happy to get him. I live in Sydney and go to a few Swans games. He is a SPUD. Do not get him. Don't be tricked into thinking the Swans are better with drafts picks than we are because they have done so brilliantly at the Moneyball thing. They have had a lot more misses in the draft than MFC and Meredith is one of them.

If he stayed at Geelong he could have

Would prefer Newton over Dawes....

This is an amazing thread of truth fiction lies and more damn unknowns. One minute everyone os blaming Neeld for chasing Dawes saying he is over. Then someone else pipes up and says they've read a rumor from a mate whose brother goes out with a girl whose brother knows the orange cutte at Melbourne and he's heard Dawes doesn't want to come to us. No one has any facts. We don't know the inner workings of all this. But finally thnaks to Neeld and the current management the club is being dragged into this century. This is the first time in many years we've actually gone and played with the big boys. Sadly it seems a lot postes here preferred the days when we were still floundeing around in the backyard while the others were out in the street.

Take your coach flogging agenda elsewhere please... this topic concerns Dawes (who has not yet been taken by any club and has nowhere stated he would not talk to the MFC) and is not about the coach. It's blokes like yourself that spring up suddenly on this site with the sole intent of Neeld bashing, who worry me.

There is not enough money in the world to make me re-watch 2012 matches. In fact, the day our season ended my Foxtel package was changed from footy to lifestyle. You people sicken me. Good for you!

Michael Voss: amazing player, crap list manager Good luck with Beamer, I genuinely harbor no ill feelings towards him. Hope he goes on to play some finals before his days are up.

I've got the Foxtel set to record the Bombers game.

Welcome aboard Guido. I hope your stay with us is long and fruitful. That is probably the first and last time anyone on this site will ever say anything civil to you.

obviously not up to the last quarter yet?!