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Worst in the AFL, mate. By a country mile.

Well obviously started slowly but got better as the year went on. Showed vast improvement and I expect him to show even more next year. Im a big fan of Toumpas and truly believe he will be a gun player for us. He is a very dedicated and professional young player who put enormous amount of pressure on himself and thrives to becoming a very good AFL player. I remember reading reports about him prior to the championships last year that how much he was respected as a leader by his SA peers and the standards he set around them. Make it as you want but we seriously have a gun player on our hands and also a future leader in jimmy! He had very limited pre season due to both hips and learning to run properly and get his core strength up again from scratch is a big ask for an 18 year old. Plus he will regain his speed back aswell which will be a bonus for himself and the Melbourne Football Club. I cannot wait for what Paul Roos and his team has installed for Jimmy for the next couple of years. I expect gradual improvement next year for jimmy and cannot wait till he hits the 70 game mark. I know we haven't developed our young players well but I am now at ease with Roos at the helm. Dean Kent, Jack Viney, Jimmy Toumpas and even Dom Barry are all talented kids that will relish under the new Roos development and COULD form a decent midfield in years to come. Height: 184cm Weight: 79kg Games: 14 Goals: 0

Nate Jones is not a 'warrior' or a 'good trier.' He is an elite midfielder and performs at a premium every game, considering there are normally 3 or 4 tags rotating on him, when our other midfielders don't have the fitness, intelligence or skills to block others off him. When we start winning games, Nathan Jones may yet finish top 3 or 4 in the Brownlow. He's amazing!

Garry speaks for Garry, not sure anyone said any different.

Biggest stuff ups of the year, Brisbane sacking Voss to chase Roos and losing half their players and still not having a coach? Dustin Martin wanting to explore outside offers, asking for way too much and getting rejected publicly by the two worst clubs in the AFL?

Really and truly. What would Lyon know and what on earth gives him any legitimacy to speak on anything to do with Melbourne? He only played 226 games for the club, was captain for seven years, is a dual Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medallist, was leading goal kicker twice, an All-Australian three times, played state of origin for Victoria, coached International Rules and is a media personality, featuring on television, radio and in newspapers. On the other hand, us keyboard heroes have the credentials to say whatever we like on any subject under the sun and to do so with impeccable authority.

Barrett is a lightweight, ignore him.

Very good Django (presuming of course that the pun was indeed intended)

why do we waste time talking about a shifty eyed pygmy like barrett?

Puzzled by the lack of appreciation for Matt Jones. He's gone from regional footy, to VFL twos, to VFL seniors, to AFL, all in the space of a year, then placed top 5 in our B 'n F, and in one of the worst year's for the club ever, with paltry on-field assistance and dubious coaching. Do you think he can't step up even further with another preseason and all other factors improved?

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.

People will come, Ray. They'll come to Melbourne for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up to Brunton Avenue not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at the MCG as innocent as children, longing for the past. "Of course, we won't mind if you look around" you'll say. It's only $200,000 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it, for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the Northern Stand, sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find that they have reserved seats somewhere on the wing, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come, Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been the Melbourne Football Club. Australia has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But the Melbourne Football Club has marked the time. This team, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that was once good and it could be again. Oh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.

I hear the Bandidos are recruiting

I see that you still haven't taken out a subscription to the Comedy Channel Rhino. Pity.

How do you know it wasn't Dustin or his Dad insisting on a figure. A Manager would have to act on instructions.

Is that condescending*? *the well known Greek parachutist

Forget his age, more important questions 1. is his body capable of holding up to AFL level? 2. will he offer leadership on and off the field? 3. will he play in and improve our best 22 consistantly 4. is he the right sort of personality to guide our young talent? in my opinion all of these are obviously yes so the two year deal people are saying he signed with us would be an awesome result for the club.

The Footy Show is still going? I stopped watching in 2003.

Here is a dead certainty - I am stoked we have Roos onboard and he will make the MFC a much more attractive destination - but lets not all get carried away. We look at our destination with rose coloured glasses. Here and now, if the likes of Adams has the reported choice of Collingwood, Geelong, Richmond or us - we would rank 4th choice. It will take "overs" to get the likes of Adams to have us choice one. And that goes for other recruits as well.

Love the idea of pick 2 for Adams and pick 10.

Sadly, I have to agree with you. Evans, Tapscott, McKenzie, Magner and Howe wouldn't get a game at any other club as a midfielder. We have no A graders (with Viney the only one on our list with potential to get there, perhaps Toumpas as well), a warrior in N.Jones and then a collection of good ordinary types. I'm prepared to wait to see what Roos can do with the list but the reality is we need to inject 4+ talented mids into our rotations.

Honestly, why do people get upset when a lame f l o g like this bleats his masters words. Especially on that buffonery of a show.

Jack's loss of pace is a mystery. A lot have suggested he's had an undisclosed osteitis pubis, which is a furphy. The answer is that his foot fracture early season really killed the top 30% of his running mojo. The foot is the 'springboard' from which speed comes, and it would have been playing catch-up all season. He was noticeably quicker in his last 4 or 5 games, and with a full preseason, JT will come back with a bounce. His best is yet to come, and I reckon he, Viney and Toumpas will complement each other beautifully. In respect to Toumpas, he's obviously not at the level of Ollie Wines in respect to his physical maturity, but as he does mature, both his physical capacity and his confidence will grow. His disposal quality, evasive skills and decision making remind me most of Sam Mitchell in his early days as anybody in the AFL, and I'm as confident about his future elite status as about Jesse Hogan.

The clubs now complaining about us getting the money is we got Roos. If we had signed Eade for instance, there would be no negative noise. The fact is PJ got us the best coach not coaching and arguably within the top 3-5 in the AFL. They are getting a little worried that we will get our shite together and pass them sooner rather than later.

Our best bet is convincing Adams to nominate Melbourne as his preferred team and then getting the deal done. We've got lots of salary cap space and Paul Roos. What else can we add to our sales pitch?

Wtf, why are we mentioning Travis in the same breath as Robbie Flower? Travis was borderline AFL for his first four seasons, it wasn't until 2002 - his fifth season - that he pulled his finger out. Travis was lazy and set low standards for himself, I've got no doubt that Toumpas will be a more consistent player than Travis. If anything at all, the only reason Travis may belong in this conversation is to prove that sometimes really talented kids take a while and that's why we shouldn't write them off early, as that was definitely true for Johnstone.

Said it before, he's a deep thinking, emotional kid who places a lot of pressure on himself, so will be more affected by confidence swings than most. He looked a player who felt he didn't belong for much of the season. I expect he will absolutely flourish under a coach who connects with his players as Roos does.

If Daniel Cross is the only 'win' we have this trade period, I'll be mighty pizzed.

Doubtful that Richmond can offer Adams anywhere near what we can if Dusty signs. We could almost double the offer and opportunity. Pies are our biggest threat I would say

Now that Martin looks like staying and Conca has signed, our chances for Adams should improve.

You mean the example of getting two 2nd round picks for Chaplin and Pearce when we we got a single crap pick for Beamer and Rivers, even inc Byrnes. If you are right, the PP is officially dead. The decision board can be immediately disbanded.

G Lyon was Captain of the MFC for 7 years..he was not the ringleader of a circus.. Show some respect you bitter little man...you really have been pouring it out today... Garry made some mistakes, he has admitted that but as a past CAPTAIN he is one who is entitled to speak his mind. If you do not want to listen...Turn it off.

So to paraphrase... He is a media person and part of his role is to discuss football matters publicly, except about the MFC even though he isn't a Melbourne person.

I can't see Hawthorn letting him go unless they get a huge win. As a club they are scum when it comes to the draft period, they get players for absolute nothing and ask for ridiculous picks in return for their players. Savage adds a lot of depth for the Hawks with injuries and provides them with a valuable substitute. If he were on the trade table, I can't see him going for anything more than a 2nd round which I don't think he is worth.

You talk about the longevity of our forward line, then propose trading our top pick for 2 guys who have 2 years left in them at best?

yes. yes. yes. yes.

As much as I love chunk, he is not an elite player. He is great and may reach that standard next season or in the near future but he still has a way to go. It is probable that the fact that the team is rubbish affects him a bit and may hold him back from being better but he still has the occasional brain fade or time he can't break a tag which keeps him a rung below elite. He is by miles our best player and I'd back him to become elite but I don't think he is at that stage yet.

Understood but he's still entitled to express his opinion as a Melbourne person irrespective of whether or not you think his involvement with the club was a "complete disaster" or otherwise. BTW in the recent history of the club he's not on his Pat Malone as far as being involved with disasters are concerned. Do we write them all off from ever having an opinion about the club again in their lives?

I'll go along with it and say it was intended...

Doesn't really have to know anything to make that statement RR. It's a pretty safe assumption that all clubs will do what they think is best for their club.

Equalisation is great, but it should also apply to areas that the rich and 'successful' clubs take for granted as being their domain. For example look at the number of Friday night games in prime TV time given to Collingwood and Hawthorn. Look at the small/non existent number of times 'top' clubs have to play at Geelong. If you don't treat 'less successful' clubs equally then you have to take other measures to even up the competition. In any case who could care less what other clubs think about our 'hand outs'. I prefer to call them 'compensation' for the way we are not treated in so many ways as equal to the 'top' teams.

I've posted this before, but George Stone IS coming to the MFC. I can't tell you my source because of confidentiality reasons.

If only Morton was still on the list (never thought I'd write that).

The other aspect of the deal to get Adams (or any non-free agent) is that we are dealing with the club as much as the player. If we offer the best deal to the GWS in terms of picks etc... then we are in the box seat. Especially given the GWS can then force Adams to us via the PSD. GWS won't want it's players to believe they can just walk to the club of their choice without GWS being adequately compensated.

To get this thread back on track, here's some rumors, some I've heard, and some made up: Daniel Cross has committed to us via free agency. Maverick Weller & Jordan Gysberts both potential delisted free agent targets of ours, likely only one will be signed. Xavier Ellis likely free agent target of ours. Shane Savage is firmly in our sights, potential trade in exchange for 4th Round Pick and one of Jetta or Nicholson. Franklin GWS bound as a free agent. Martin will go to Hawthorn if GWS withdraw their interest which they're likely to do once they confirm Buddy. Hawthorn likely to give up 1st round draft pick & Buddy FA compo pick. Dale Thomas to Carlton as Free Agent Eddie Betts to Adelaide as Free Agent Taylor Adams to Collingwood for Heath Shaw and possible swapping of later picks. Sam Docherty to Carlton in exchange for Chris Yarran, possible swapping of picks. Jared Polec to Port Adelaide for their 1st Round Pick. Patrick Karnezis to Collingwood for 2nd Round Pick. Elliot Yeo to West Coast for 2nd Round Pick Billy Longer to Western Bulldogs in exchange for Ayce Cordy and swapping of picks. Dom Tyson to Richmond for 1st Round Draft Pick & Robin Nahas. Shaun Hampson to GWS in exchange for Kristian Jaksch & 2nd Round Pick Sam Fisher to GWS for Josh Bruce & 3rd Round Pick Delaney to St Kilda for 3rd Round draft Pick Oh and I almost forgot. Darren Jolly likely Delisted Free Agent signing at Richmond and West Coast also showing interest in Andrew Kraouker.

Our only chance to get Adams to nominate Melbourne as his preferred destination is to pay him overs. By a lot. I don't care what they pay him, but they have to get him.

You're on to me Jazza, however no pay means no liability, so when I relocate all those dislocations but only end up with life long nerve damage........not my fault

You could say that with respect to much of the subject matter thats been discussed here, I suspect.

1 pay TV channel, 2 free to air channels that really cover the game, AFL.com.au and club websites and then 2 major papers and yet they feel they need a media awards. Have you ever heard of anything so self centered?

12 of his 16 games this year he had 20+ possessions. In fact he averaged 21 possessions and 3 tackles a game. He shows a good inside and out balance and has a bit of mongrel and skill about him. All coming into a third year when most players start to blossom.