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time to move on from gysberts and moloney.......

Just wow.

Yes. According to the Hun just now, he is "keen to be traded to West Coast". A sad end to the winning combination of Yeo and Gabba.

I thought we had.

Terrible summation of the situation. Simplistic and shallow. Following that line of 'logic', we'd win every game if we had a team full of dheads. Lol!

It's now gone international http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/single-dad_n_3944395.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

Trolololololol!!! Hates the coach so stops trying. Openly defies instruction. Won't change body shape when asked. Bullies team-mates. Only runs one way. Worst clubman possible.

I've just shared the video on the Demonland Facebook page. I paid $33 to boost the post and that has the potential to reach 5,000 to 10,000 people.

Dear Damien Barrett and 17 other clubs, Suck on it. Kind Regard, Melbourne "we don't give a f" Football Club

He said burns is in the mix also said every club is peeved off about Roos trying to poach there coaches I say good, go nuts roosy

There's differing levels of [censored]. This ones at the extreme.

When clubs are running away from a powerfully built 22-year-old who is coming off a 500+ disposal 20+ goal season, you can join the dots as to why!

Let's get Woewodin and Trapper back while we're at it, then the midfield will be set!

If Jay Clark said it, then it's almost certainly not true.

Interesting.

Do we really know how good or bad Bails was? In 2010 we looked to be headed in the right direction and he was coaching with next to no resources and had clowns doing the recruiting. The wheels fell off the next year and since we have come to understand the full extent of the dysfunctionalty of those above him. He took the fall with grace, the others have all since been given the kybosch. I suspect that he is competent enough to fill the role at EFC.

Be careful what you wish for. A new Chief might not be as supportive to the MFC.

We are probably the best fit for him, as he will get games with us, probably go 2 years, play under Roos, learn a bit and then head to assistant coaching.

Great video and makes me very proud of my club. Just hearing Sydney's words at the end, "it's awesome, it's awesome" says everything about our club, our players, our game and involvement of our supporters. A memory young Sydney will remember forever. Love it.

-! happy lol

I'm liking how this and Adams has taken the spotlight away from David Swallow. I hope we are stitching him up while everyone is discussing how much crack Martin smoked last weekend.

Why trade for a 29yo midfielder when we can possibly pick up Cross [who is much the same age] for nothing in the pre-season draft? As we have second pick [assuming we do not do a "Hannath"] then it is unlikely that we would miss out. Let us keep all our low draft picks for younger midfielders.

Me too Billy. That post was a smorgasbord of embarrassment.

I kept scrolling down, and the re-posts kept a-coming. Am I the only one that got to the bottom of them all and was relieved that I didn't have an old post on there?!

Not strong enough to play inside. Not quick enough to play outside. Not good enough.

Last month, Hawthorn's president Andrew Newbold accompanied Andrew Demetriou and others to the US on an AFL-equalisation study tour. On his return, one of his first public comments was to slam the idea that the cash strapped and success-starved Melbourne Football Club should be the recipient of any financial or draft assistance from the AFL. I don't believe he mentioned anything about Melbourne, the Bulldogs or even North Melbourne being offered better fixtures along the lines that his club and the other big boys currently enjoy; no extra Friday night games to attract more sponsorship and supporters and no reduction in dead fixture times such as Sunday twilight and the like. In fact, Newbold offered no solutions in respect of the equalisation problem at all. On that basis, it's not difficult to conclude that Newbold is a hypocrite and that the AFL trip was indeed a junket, as many suggested at the time. Instead of helping clubs in need, we are witnessing a flexing of muscles by the president of one of the stronger clubs seeking to maintain the status quo. All this, despite the fact that we are often told that it's in the AFL's interests for all clubs to be more competitive. The fact that Demetriou himself has highlighted that the clubs oppose Melbourne's application suggests that the AFL constituent clubs are reverting to the selfish, greedy partisan politics that prevailed before the AFL Commission was formed - Clubs oppose priority draft pick for Melbourne . The AFL (then VFL) Commission was created in 1985 to administer the competition and its constitution. In the main, it has retained its independence from the constituent clubs (which was its raison d'être in the first place) but the authority of the Commission and its independence is now under attack over the issue of whether the Melbourne Football Club should receive a priority draft selection as a result of its consistently poor performances over the period 2007-2013. During this seven year period, the club's best efforts have been 8½ wins (twice) and otherwise, there have been five seasons in which it recorded between 2 and 5 wins per year. In the season just completed, the club won two matches and finished with a percentage of 54.07. This would have easily qualified Melbourne for a priority pick under the AFL rules that applied in most years prior to the 2012 season onwards but today, clubs can only receive such draft assistance at the discretion of the AFL Commission. The specific criteria have not been announced but it is understood that "a more complicated formula will be used, which takes into account premiership points, percentage, finals appearances and injury rates for a club over several seasons". - AFL overhauls priority pick system The reaction of the opposition clubs to Melbourne's application for assistance has been worrying. The problem I have with the objectors is that they are based on slanted opinions about Melbourne's recruiting performance and ignore the substantive points which the Commission is supposed to take into account in making its decision on draft assistance. And, they place too much weight on the controversy resulting from the AFL's selective "tanking investigation" into events that took place at one club during 2009 even though several others have had their own practices questioned without any scrutiny or investigation. There is little doubt that the club's recruiting performance over the past decade or so has been disappointing (the application for assistance would be unnecessary if it were otherwise) but these assessments fail to take into account several factors. They ignore serious injuries to early picks - for example, of the 2008 draft crop, both Sam Blease and James Strauss suffered broken legs that kept them out for the length of a season and hindered their development. Tom Scully was headhunted by GWS with a $1m plus bounty which the player could hardly resist and Melbourne was never going to match. They ignore facts such as the information in a recent Herald Sun article that place Melbourne close to the bottom of the list of father/son recruits. Compare this with Geelong, the most successful club of the recent era, which received an enormous boost with its sons of former players. The coaches, boards and recruiting officers in place at the time of the club's "bad" recruiting decisions have now moved on. Why make the task of returning the club to competitiveness more difficult for those now in charge? Surely, the fact that the club is overhauling its coaching and recruiting systems and personnel today should bear more weight on the Commission's decision to help out than the fact that it picked Cale Morton at pick four ahead of Cyril Rioli in 2007? The suggestion that Melbourne must suffer again as a result of the events of 2009 for which it was penalised in February with heavy financial sanctions and penalties for officials is risible. The Demons' application is made because the team needs assistance in the here and now and it is inappropriate that it be penalised twice (or three times if you include the Scully fiasco) to feed the greed and altruism of rival clubs who claim that a priority pick would upset the integrity of the AFL draft. The argument of the so-called "objecting" clubs comes across as rather hypocritical coming from some of them. It was only a year or two ago that the new franchises gained a swag of early draft picks (and not just the one that the Demons are requesting) which pushed struggling clubs like Melbourne off the map when it came to securing good draft picks in those years. Hawthorn faces the prospect of losing free agent Lance Franklin at the end of the year but is it likely that Newbold will knock back a compensation draft pick (most likely in the first round) if Buddy takes the money and runs? The same thing will happen with Collingwood if Dale Thomas heads off to Carlton. Coincidentally, Thomas was a priority pick taken by Collingwood which lost its last eight matches in 2005 to snaffle that pick. The Pies somehow managed to avoid the scrutiny of an AFL investigation into that effort. All of this begs the question of the purpose of the AFL rules relating to draft assistance which are designed to help teams in need to become more competitive. Melbourne is such a team and if the Commission refuses the Demons' request for help then the rule must be scrapped because the AFL would be giving into the greed and altruism of its own clubs as it did in years gone past and, on that basis, no other AFL club will ever qualify again.

Me too. Roos would not be that stupid. The article is interesting in that it notes that contact with MFC was initiated by Carr not MFC. It is also interesting in that is public (back page headline) and categorical. We don't want him, now or ever. For those posters who argued that we should 'man up' and take Martin, Roos and the clubs definitive call on Martin (and for matter the almost complete lack of interest from other clubs) should be evidence enough that sort of thinking is out of date and belongs to another era.

Making the statement that we're not interested in Martin, imo is a move to hopefully see him stay, and keep Richmond out of the Taylor Adams sweepstakes. This kid should be top of our list. They don't. He only has 4 afl clients: Dustin Martin, Travis Cloke, Nick Haynes from GWS and another I can't recall, who is of little consequence. He mainly managers entertainers like Kate Cebrano, Vanessa Amorosi and creepy magician Cosentino. It seems only poorly advised and naive players sign with him. But it's obvious where his style of negotiation comes from. He won't last long in the AFL game, imho.

Im of the thinking we were never interested. Some folk took idle text chit chat way out of proportion and married that to a desire of their own to go after him. I think you will find the Dees are flying a bit under the radar at present

That's true, but you just can't help but have the feeling that the major players will not be coming to us.We other than Roos have very little going for us until we are successful on the field. That is hard to do from our position. That is why the PP is not just helpful but essential to try and sway a deal. Even with the free agency last year PA got 2 good picks for Chaplin and Pearce while we got 1 far worse one for Beamer and Rivers. Even with us taking Byrnes that was a bad decision for us. I reckon we need about 3 PP's actually to try and get clubs to influence players to come to us.

Yes WJ, there seems to be an unlimited capacity by some on this site to make it up as they go along. Post a well written, tightly argued case on here, particularly on controversial issues, and you can guarantee to get back some truly bizarre partisan responses, as I have found out over the last couple of months.. Sometimes I wonder whether some of these posters actually read, or if they do, understand, what is being written half the time. Keep up the good work, WJ, you inform and entertain many of us on here, and bring a civilizing and sophisticated perspective to the complicated and difficult issues the AFL in general, and the MFC, in particular, face. We are entering exciting times, and having a voice of reason will help us all along.

I would not give pick 2 for Martin. Reminds me a lot like Sylvia, will dominate for a quarter or two then go missing. Would rather keep the number 2 pick and not get him.

I believe Hird is not allowed contact with any club staff or players etc, or allowed to be at the club. This may be hard to police to since extent and I'm not sure what the AFLs stance on social contact is!To be honest I'd think it would be to hard to try and be involved in coaching without being allowed around the place. Any involvement would just be a pain for everyone. Might be a lot of emails from [email protected] to [email protected] next year. I was surprised he was allowed to be at Essendon games or that he would be allowed to work in footy ie commentating.

Dawes' one injury-riddled big dollar season at the club is certainly not worthy of bringing him up in a captaincy conversation.

Don't trust me old dee...? And a tweet from our own Nathan Jones:

I think there's two aspects to 'culture' in a football club. One is go-hard, put-your-head-over-the-ball, no-bruise-free-play. Melbourne has been deficient in this. Martin can buiild it. The other is the no-[censored]-off-the-field culture. Melbourne is building this, and I think they're OK. Martin is a real threat to it. I hope there are other options to improve the first one, without getting someone who risks destroying the second.

What astounds me is your unlimited capacity to misinterpret what I say in order that you can get on your soapbox and spout bullsh1t.

That's a big call. I reckon if Dawes gets a good run without injuries and some decent delivery he will remain ahead of Fitzy for a while yet. I won't judge Dawes of this season alone.

Hey all, I've lurked around this site and 'ology for couple of years now, never really felt like I had anything to add. My 5 year old is also battling cancer and was lucky enough to receive a visit from Col Sylvia a few weeks ago. Col was great and spent well over an hour with Seb, never seemed rushed or gave any indications that he would want to be anywhere else. Seb had already been through several rounds of Neuro surgery that week but was all smiles that day. In conversation Seb admitted that his favourite player was not Colin, but Jack Watts. Upon hearing this Colin personally organised for Jack to come in the following week. Jack again spent well over an hour with Seb, at a time he was plugged into a dialysis machine harvesting his stem cells. Again there were smiles in a most difficult time. Jack was also very honest and spoke candidly about his relationship with Neeld, who had already been dismissed. Both players demonstrated to me that they carry enormous compassion and to lose either would have a real negative impact on Off the field as much as on. After these recent experiences it makes me sad to read so many posters on here so keen to cut them adrift

Can I just say one quick thing. Not having a go at anyone, but I have bit my lip a fair few times when the whole 'GWS has failed' thing comes up. I live in the Western suburbs of Sydney and have since 1989. I have been through hell and back supporting not only my club, but the great game in general. Was teased and constantly hammered in the 90's, but I lived with it. I have played football for 2 clubs in Sydney, one in the early SFL days and still currently play for a Division 1 Sydney AFL club. Since the AFL jumped on the GWS thing, we have had 4 of our main grounds completely redone and in tip top condition with all new surface, lighting and irrigation systems. We have a full structured and solid competition, with not only a website that is constantly updated with scores, but now we are also getting live stats taken down as well. The kids at school now have Aus Kick available (prior to that PE teachers didn't even know the game to teach it). My friends 8 year old daughter came home the other day and told us she wants to play AFL. This would have been unheard of prior to the AFL's move in Western Sydney. I'm not having a go, but just try to think about all the little things that go on, before you all write off the GWS idea. There is a lot more to the community than just a team, they visit the schools, they spread the game and I couldn't be more proud of the great game in the city I live in. I will also be attending the game next week at Skoda Stadium with a whole bunch of friends who have recently gotten into the game. For as long as I remember it would just be my old man and myself at the Swans games cheering on the Demons all by ourselves. This has all changed since the AFL took interest into Western Sydney. It has truly made a huge difference and we constantly get new players to our club that have come over from Soccer and League. Those numbers increase every year.

im no Gysberts fan but 30 disposals on debut at Geelong. Even if he was drafted a round too soon he had talent.Great news is we now have new recruiters and player developers

You have my vote DN

Also an Essendon premiership player with a successful career in the AFL...

Not for Saint Kilda it ain't. I see no dwarves being set alight in that vid!!!! They should honestly be too embarrassed to submit an entry considering their behaviour.

How many years was Tom Gillies on their list?

I see his hair has grown back since he left the Dees! Seriously when he was at the Dees I couldn't stand to listen to him dribble on, when he speaks its like he is selling me a car. U notice the BIG difference in the way Roos speaks, he sells hope without selling.

The worst of all hiding to nothing roles. Best of luck to him if he gets the gig; reckon he'll need it.

Which should also mean don't be a dill and have a look or share of the OTHER clubs vids like some twits I've seen on Facebook. Go back and have a look after the comp is over if you're really that keen. I mean St Kilda players rapping WGAF! That's Mad Monday schoolboy stuff.

Very interesting reading. I am a huge Sloane fan but would have thought that Martin was well ahead on many of those stats. However, I reckon Sloane emerges from this comparison with a much better overall position. The tackles, marking and contested possession favour Sloane with some strength.

Under normal circumstances I'd say no. The likes of North, Richmond, Saints, etc, rightly wouldn't be interested. But in Melbourne's case it makes sense. The guy would immediately be in our best 3 midfielders, his work ethic and training standards are legendary at the Dogs, and in this professional age a guy that is fit as Cross could quite conceivably play another 3 years. It's not for most clubs, but I reckon it works for Melbourne.