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Our backline is fine, and he's a bit old.

It does mean he is quickly becoming a Demon.

God they are idiots.

Why we lost the PP The AFL and "the other 17 clubs" are lying (spinning) as to the reasons The real reason is they didn't believe a team punished over tanking charges to gain a PP should be awarded a PP in the same year They couldn't say this outright because [1] technically we not found guilty of tanking per se and [2] none of the penalties handed out included loss of draft picks or loss of any potential 2013 PPs Nevertheless they all believe it would be "wrong" to "reward" a club with a PP in the same year it was investigated for tanking and handed out severe punishments Right or wrong technically, this is the driving point You know its true

Continue to be amazed that anybody imagines Mark Jamar has ANY trade value. AMAZED!

No

I don't recall anyone saying getting a PP guarantees anything. (And no one has suggested a PP would put us in the finals FCS.) The point BBy and others have made is that it would have helped in building the missing mid-field through trades etc. I don't believe there is a trace of 'all we need is a PP' within the club anymore, so there is no reason to think having a PP is 'culturally' dangerous. It's all very well saying if we are hopeless next year then we'll get a PP and if we are not then we won't need one. Just think hard about the first part of that. it may just be too late if we are this hopeless again in 2014. On the other hand, a PP would have helped prevent us being hopeless in 2014. Note the word 'helped' qualifying 'prevent', and the absence of the word 'guaranteed'.

Akermanis!

And also shows how respected, and powerful, Roos is as a coach in the AFL. What Colless did smacks of someone who is [censored] themselves at the prospect of people wanting to leave to play under, or coach with, Paul Roos, and he was desperate to paint him in a bad light. Only made Colless look silly to be honest.

It's very good news and I hope we re-sign Sylvia too - if he was UFA at some other club everyone here would be falling over themselves to sign him to MFC - there'd be a 50 page thread

I'm happy to draw a line in the sand and back him in his new role. Look forward to seeing what he can do in 2014.

Brad was a great clubman ! His dismissal was of a similar ilk to jmac ..... The fact he refused a send off game in the ones and said he'd rather help casey, the team he'd helped most of the season speaks volumes about the guy.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/melbourne/news/2013-09-24/watts-commits-to-melbourne

I love Paul Roos.

If ever he needed any incentive to do so, Colless has probably given it to him.

Congrats Josh. Do us proud.

The need for a senior person to work with the new coach obviously faded after Roos came on board. He is in charge of a lot of things and of course he will delegate things like player welfare, but I hope he keeps list management or has Viney run it in his yet to be fully defined role - I think it is a waste of a salary to have a list manager whose sole job of note is to negotiate contracts. And saves a bit of money too... Well done Josh.

Oh dear, three more years of Ben telling us nothing hard ever came out of Brighton Grammar........ There will be sadness in the Hur family tonight. I'm thrilled BTW!

He got the 3 votes in our win against the Dogs this year and the 3 votes in our win against Essendon in 2012 - our only 2 wins against non- expansion teams - maybe not so useless.

Not sure if serious.

Fantastic news. Now re-sign Colin, MFC.

Better do something next year

There are those on here who rail against others for a perceived victim mentality. We are treated the same as everyone else they say. Toughen up. I beg to differ. It seems to me that the media and other clubs delight in bagging us at every opportunity. We are perceived as weak and incapable of fighting back. If I just recall some typical examples to illustrate my point. Matlhouse nabs Buttifant and goes after Thomas, media reaction, he is a smart operator. Wellman is taken from us during an existing contract, Essendon smart operators. Roos approaches assistants who are uncontracted, he is a $1.5m AFL planted vulture and is out of line. We ask for a PP after the worst 7 years in modern footy history, all hell breaks out, though they have been given freely before, for 2 and even 1 poor year, to teams that were in the finals shortly before. Excuse given by the other clubs and the media, you wasted earlier picks and you have Roos. Other teams get advantages in the salary cap, 3rd party deals or with fixturing, the media report that as necessary and for us, that's what you get for being no good. We have been pilloried over the tanking saga, investigated for 6 months and clearly been disrupted, even though found not guilty and then even had it used as an argument against us getting a PP. On the other hand, other teams that did the same, have been dobbed in by former players and officials yet have been protected and not investigated by the AFL and escaped any media criticism. Our only number 1 PP we ever got, is poached/stolen from us, half way through his contract, with a sneaky rule created by the AFL and funded by AFL money. Result, we are derided for losing him and picking a person who would leave, albeit for the highest amount of money ever given to a young player. This player never even told the truth to us and obviously failed to give value in the second year of his contract, because his head was elsewhere. We get arguably the best Coach available in Roos and are attacked for destroying the game, for paying him $1.5m, even though Worsfold and Malthouse are believed to be on only slightly less and Roos will pay for himself easily, with increased memberships and sponsorship. All through the last few years our brand has been trashed by the media because of our poor on field performances. we have been called disgraceful and yet when we try and do something about it, we again cop it unfairly from that same media. Need I go on, there are countless other examples. IMO we toughen up and get as dirty and ruthless as possible, without breaking AFL rules and TO HELL WITH EVERYONE ELSE. I want success, I don't want to be a nice guy.

Brad Miller is no loser, he played more than 150 games at the top level and at 30 y/old is kicking off a coaching career under Paul Roos. Im sure he feels like a loser waking up to Pia every morning.

Its all very well for some to adopt the " We didnt deserve a PP, we oughtnt need a PP, Im glad we didnt get a PP" and so on and so on type stances This all smacks of faux martyrdom and little appreciation of the reality that as some suggest, all well and good to suggest we learn to fish , but where and with what ? The PP is a mechanism for equalisation. Many things are contributory to how various teams benefit through out the season. we seem to get reamed at just about every occasion. For all the mouthing that Vlad Inc does about creating a fairer and more equitable league the actual actionings go in the totally opposite direction.. Whilst I agree we move on , for there is no other recourse anyway, I fail to understand all this bravado about time we need to stop leaning on picks and stand on our feet etc. If your leg is broken they splint or cast it. They support it til you CAN stand on your leg and work to rehabilitate it strength. Don't and you'll invariably result in a gummy leg and a person hobbling with a limp. That it who we are, the gimpy limpy club. The AFL throwing money at us is like plssing into a fire. It doesnt go to the root cause of the problem, that being its a very unequal league. This is where we need to direct efforts in future, at a club level as a member of this league ( let alone creator of it ) that we must nag, and lobby for anything and everything. We must object to anything anyone else gets and become strong and beligerent to anyone else's requests. The word is RUTHLESS. The first opportunity to be such is to raid and plunder anything that is or isnt nailed down. We rifle Sydney's young academy talent. we send them (SMFC) a thankyou, your choice as to how many fingers. When Colless or any other buffon gets stroppy, we get gnarly. We go on the front foot and smack them down. We remind anyone who listens as to the benefits these clubs get. time to stop being nice, time to kick these other clubs in the nuts and then kick them again for good measure and remind them we are but their creation. They want us tough and self reliant, no problem. They need not expect courtesy and kowtowing anymore then. Next stop Messendon.. Theyre down, lets foster an environment for WADA to [censored] them relentlessly. I really dont care if a player of ours is collateral.We need to be tougher than that. If we always look to the lowest common denominator we will be rewarded with it.. This club is supposedly connected to the big end of town. Time to throw some weight around. We've be the schoolyard bullies' kicking dog for far to long. Theres only ONE way to deal with Bullies and thats to give them the mightiest whack theyve ever enjoyed ( sic) and then whisper in their ear as they lay on the ground " if you get up....the next will be twice ans painful" Bugger queensbury rules and gentlemanly etiquette its time to get nasty with a few of these who would gladly see us hit by a truck once a week. We didnt get a pick, then no one ever does again. Next club to ask, kick them to the kerb with a less than gentle reminder; "remember us, remember how you voted" We deserved a PP as it was the most efficient path to this supposed new equality but we know thats a myth,an illusion created by the strong to placate the weak. Time to take this game back, its ours, lets remind all of that

To be honest I am thrilled that we now have a great midfield. Who are they, I don't know, but we must have, because the AFL told us today that we will be fine. I don't know how I got that so wrong. Maybe winning 2 games, 1 by a point and the other against the new guys, who we incidentally were the only team they could beat, should have tipped me off. Those thrashings early on when we were described as pathetic and a disgrace, should also have tipped me off to how really good we actually are. Anyway, decision made, move on. What do we do now, anything within the rules to improve. I would try and convince a very good player to come to us via the PSD. Pay him overs if you have to. Trade pick 2 for a top mid if we can and try and get a pick back that we could also trade for another not as good mid. I would start talking about FAIRNESS in the AFL and let it be known that fixturing cannot continue to be so compromised, if all clubs are to have a chance at success. You can't succeed on the field without succeeding off it and we are being given no chance to succeed off it with the current arrangements. This can be done subtly by using the media. We do what Daniher said some years ago, get RUTHLESS.

People are allowed to react Pman and BH. And Jackson's reaction is the exact reaction I would have expected, or that I would have given. There is nowhere to appeal, nothing sinister to claim, just bad decisions that won't help us get better, quicker. Of course, we move on, there are coaching appointments to criticize - but it is naive to think that Roos will deliver us from our malaise so quickly. We are going to be terrible again next year.

How can you keep a straight face while typing this, surely if a club got all its recruiting and development right it would never be in the position to need a PP. When your recruiting fails is exactly the time to stick your hand out. I don't care that we didn't get it but to say we didn't deserve it is complete stupidity, and probably should see the possibility of anyone getting one in the future as being zero or less.

Were you expecting Leigh Matthews or something? I was surprised too, but these development coach positions all seem to be filled by low profile/inexperienced coaches. What say we give the bloke a chance before we pan him, given that being the best player has never been a prerequisite for being a good coach.

Don't know how serious this Dew thing is but at least he would physically provide an example of the departure from the image of a Melbourne replete with light bodied skinny footballers who play bruise free football.

I like that Roos is inadvertently stirring up the Swans. We need some good "Friday night" rivalries to emerge over the next couple of years as we start playing better, hope the AFL have us playing the Swans twice for the next couple of years...

Happy with this. He is worth more to us having us develop him than trading him at low value in the market place. It's also vindication of the Roos impact. As Port have shown, an important part of the path forward to achieve success is to have wanted OOC players resigning and backing the Club.

One of only two Demons to get BOG votes in the 2013 Brownlow Medal. (a useless fact if there ever was one)

I'm happy he's signed, and now that he has I hope everyone backs him in. Good stuff Jack, onwards and upwards for you next year.

Meh, hoping but meh.

On ya Wattsy! Amazing what a new coach can do. Comes in tell Watts he is required and installs a great new set of confidence into him. Unlike someone who came in and told Watts he was the most overated number 1 pick and was set to send him off to North Melbourne for a third round draft pick...

woohoo break out the sparkling mineral water Play footy now Jack, play it the way you can, but with verve and determination. Make yourself proud, be worthy of the jumper. Youve had a think, now is time to DO !!

I heard from a reliable source that Ling, despite his protestations is locked in. Oh crap...I heard it on Demonland....as you were......

I've got nothing against Leppa but if he doesn't work who's next? Lynch? Power? Black? Mal Michael?

What like Hawthorn and Geelong? Don't be silly, we don't do that sort of stuff.

I really wish the AFL would allocate each club the exact amount of the salary cap to be used as cap or, if not used, handed back into AFL consolidated revenue. If players aren't worth money and only 80% is used that's great but the club doesn't see any money saving. Players don't get paid overs and of all clubs have guaranteed access to that amount of funds free agency will work better as the poor teams will be able to afford to buy players. That way clubs can pay players what they are worth and there is no way that they can try to save money through player payments. The AFL funds the clubs substantially anyway. Tie it to player payments to give a level playing field. This is the most effective equalisation measure the AFL could implement. And is more important than ever with free agency.

How is a non-marking, non-kicking, non-mobile, single figure possession winning ruckman of any value, other than to the opposition? The modern game sadly is one that has passed Jamar by. He is an on-field liability, tapping abilities or not.

Its so obvious that t he people running Melbourne over the years have caused all of our problems. Whinging, whining, wringing of hands,playing the blame game is a waste of Energy.We are where we are because of all the bad decisions we have made as a club WE cannot blame the AFL ,the system, bad luck,any indivigual or anything else. The club as a whole got us here the club can only heal itself. I for one am glad we wont get a PP. We don't need it and I would prefer that clubs in future when we start to win cannot say you got and unfair advantage. We must become tough uncompromising hard and feared.When we do that then we will stop being the laughing stock and tool of the AFL

We put too much emphasis on picks... Would the club be better off whinging about picks or scouring the country for a hidden gem. Accept the decision, move on and channel all our energy into unearthing the next James Hird, etc. Just because we didn't get gifted pick 1, that does not mean we cannot pick up a player equally as good. Our chances are less, but they increase if we have the right blokes in place and take the right player. Whilst people are whinging about us receiving no votes in the brownlow, they need not look past Tom Rockcliffs effort while they are at it. If I recall, Tom was a rookie pick? And he is near better than anyone in that draft year - at least top 3.

The situation i want to know now is will the club accept the decision and start working bloody hard or will we hear excuses? It is one draft pick. Get over it. Tanking and high draft picks put this club where it is. We must walk away and fight with what we have. QED.

True. And they can complain for good reason. My view is that stuffing up continuously shouldn't preclude us from further help. The Commission's decision is arbitrary and nowhere does it say in any rules or past by-laws that those who continue to fail through ineptness shall be hindered in their efforts for support. On a more practical note I love the philosophy of Ross Lyon. Now I accept this may sound trite, especially considering their enviable position come this Saturday, but when asked whether he was annoyed that he only had one player that made AA his response was "now they know they need to do get better". Was his tongue firmly planted in his cheek ? Of course, but it's the type of attitude I love and this club needs to adopt. I'm sure it will under Roos.

.....soon to be announced Juice newton as club psychologist ...just finished his degree

I'm taking this as a precursor to the Paul Roos Demons! Two wins for both of my football teams last season, but hoping for a reasonably quick turnaround for both. KC stuffed up some of our early picks but recently we've got them right so we've got some good young pieces in place. I'm somewhat spooked by next week's game against the Giants though. They'll be playing for their season and should be thoroughly stung by that disgusting performance. Hopefully we don't get ahead of ourselves. As for the tipping, fair dinkum. Every week I've picked two winners and the loss each week has occurred in zany fashion. As long as I don't have to run around Demonland with my pants down if I finish on zero at the end of the season.

Wouldn't mind a rod, to help.

If any other club ever submits an application for a priority pick again, I hope like hell that we are the first ones knocking on the door expressing our disgust. This decision is only going to fly if no other club ever receives a PP again, not even after 7 years of appaling on field performances. A big F U to the 17 other clubs who kicked up a fuss, particularly those who gets all the benefits in the world from the AFL already (looking at you GWS, Sydney, Collingwood etc)