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What I think people need to remember is we are in a position where we just have to trust the new regime at the club. We have to back the judgement of Paul Roos and the people he is in charge of to make the best decisions possible on behalf of the club. Prior to PJ and then Roos coming on board we were in a world of trouble. Perhaps as bad as we have been since the merger situation. We have nothing left but to have faith in the people and the club NOW and hope they get it right. Of course this does not mean we can't have an opinion but geez, just roll with it! How many Swans supporters would have thought the recruitment of Richards, Kennedy or Mattner was a good idea at the time? How many of them backed Roos in when he plucked Shaw from the Pies? Michie is a risk but one that I am willing to take, because Paul Roos is. Call it blind faith if you like, but what other option do we have?

The problem with that is if you have a credible and reliable source the last thing you'd want to do is to 'out' them on demonland.

Just turned on trade radio for the first time ever I could only handle 45 seconds of those two morons Barrett and Wallace dribbling nonsense before turning it off will never listen again

And there's always the fact that on the day of Sylvia's departure Mahoney said the club expects band 2 or 3 compensation.

You are a major contributor to making it that. Heard it here first!

Just from the interview with James Frawley on the MFC website. “As a leader for me, you’ve got to knock [things] on the head early, as soon as you see something, act on it straight away. That’s what I try and do and I’m a pretty passionate guy on the footy field. You’ve got to act on it straight away and giving clear and concise feedback is the best way to do it. Well knock something on the head here James and re sign at the football club. Act on it straight away so we don't have any more distractions heading into next season. If not tell us now so we can get something for you . We really need to keep him and should do whatever it takes.

In addition to fork's post, we also have TV & JT involved in recruiting, and based on last year we picks 2 mature blokes who hasn't even played a single AFL game. Those 2 came 3rd and 4th in the Bluey. Imagine what we might be able to do with a kid who's played 1 game already...

Hang on a moment! Am I the only one seeing this? First we have Jay Clarke a reporter who makes stuff up; then we have Mr Clark Kent, a Demonland poster who makes stuff up; and finally, Clark Kent was a reporter for the Daily Planet. Suddenly everything makes sense!!

Vince to the Dees, got a text from a mate inside the club.

i don't know if he does but common sense says he's 21, played almost a whole WAFL season last year of great footy. Freo would offer him 2 years so we need to give at least that. 3 wouldn't be silly. Smarter than 4 for Vince

It's crazy to think about how long ago that was, but I remember the beginning of that 05 season so vividly. He started unbelievably well after having a pretty decent year prior to. Round 1 against Essendon he annihilated James Hird at the G for Broady's tribute game. The next two against the doggies and cats I remember his form being unbelievable. Then came round 4 and the commentary box were speaking of Bruce's 'brownlow' form. The ball was bounced, Brucie was the first player to touch the ball, and as soon as he did, Brent Guerra smashed him to the turf and that was the end of the Cameron Bruce of those days. It's as if that broken collarbone absolutely shot his confidence from that day on. Was never able to play to that level for the rest of his career. He used to play with such arrogance and every possession he won turned to gold. Ahhhh nostalgia...

i'm so tired of talking the talk............... i'll listen when it translates to on the field

Are GWS offering Dylan and Shiel ??

Adam White tweeting that offers starting to come in for pick 2, package deals coming in (not single player for pick) and that GWS are leading the race.

He wouldn't bother leaving for a one year deal. Would need to be two minimum

I think that without knowing for certain, it is highly probable that we were going to appoint Dew and he dropped us. But who the hell expects the club to come out and confirm that? And because they don't, it's labelled as spin? FMD. Melb supporters are the pits.

Jay Clark is definitely in the wrong business. I think celebrity gossip ala Perez Hilton is more his game

Not Lisa Wilkinson, was it?

I hear what you're saying about the categorisation of our compensation at Band 3 rather than Band 4 but I'm not convinced about one aspect. I seem to recall that the two players who left Port Adelaide were both put on 4 year contracts rather than the 3 year contract which Sylvia is getting. Hence, a possible difference in the compensation we might be given for Sylvia as compared with that for the Port pair. Does that make sense?

If I were a Swans supporter, I'd hardly be excited about the Franklin deal. In fact, I genuinely think it's the dumbest deal I've ever observed. And as for Daisy Thomas - not sure I'd be paying so much for an out of form half forward flanker.

trades 2 for Shiel 22 for Vince 36 for Lyons 54 for Michie delisted FA . Cross add #21 Zac Jones #70 Joel Tippett #78 Clisby (rookie upgrade)

I've come to be fond of the prospect of getting Kelly at pick 2, as I really rate this guy (I know others have concerns on his light frame - not me), but would still be happy to trade it for Shiel. He's about the only deal that interests me, so "package deals" doesn't overly excite. Shiel is a must if it's GWS.

He doesn't have to sign now, there is no need for ultimatums now. Should we start acting like a decent club or should we just continue to act like the toddler of a club we have been these last 7 years? Play good footy, get players to want to stay, and don't fret the end is near when they do leave. We can meet his wage and trade him or get Pick 5 for him as comp.

AFL Trade Week Radio


 Colin Young, manager of Essendon's David Myers joined us.

 Question: If David got better opportunities and terms elsewhere, would he move? 

Young: "If the Essendon FC were happy with the trade, he'd move. He would love to play in the midfield more regularly. David very could well be in the mix for a trade."

Damien Barrett seems to think that his opinion is relevent in some way. It is an absolute disgrace that footy journalists consdier themselves celebrities and experts.

Do we really need live early draft picks if we can trade them for equally good players with AFL experience? I realise we have to use 3 picks but one can b a rookie upgrade e.g. Clisby, and if we have to delist some uncontracted players to make room for these picks then we could re-draft them. With our list age profile I don't think it maters if we don't pick up any 18 yos. As some have posted, if we used our first 5 picks including the Sylvia compo (2, 22, 23, 40, 58) on say Shiel, Vince, Myers, Lyons, Michie and picked up Cross as a delisted FA, it wouldn't matter if our remaining draft picks were 70, 80 and 90.

I was a harsh critic of Cam in the past and unfairly so when he departed. I did apologise to him here when things that were happening at the club became more clearer to me. It sucks that just when one of our players is about to break into the superstar realm something bad always happens to them. Interesting how Clarkson has surrounded himself with a lot of ex Demons. Some say he was never really one of us because he played more games with North. But it appears he has made a lot of strong bonds with Melbourne teammates. Good luck to Cam. Who knows, he could be a future great senior coach. He is having an apprenticeship to die for with the best.

I seriously cant remember when any of Jay Clarke's predictions or rumours turned out to be correct. I remember reading that he once said that Roos would never coach Melbourne.

I want Jay Clarke's job. You make stuff up and everyone knows that you did, yet you still get quite well paid to continue doing it...

Maybe? Pick 2 - 5 for Howe would be an enormous win for us.

Matty Bate... Turning circle of a tugboat. Awkward action for everything he did on the field. He could run fast in straight lines once he built up enough speed, but don't ask him to change direction. I'm confident Michie is nothing like Bate.

He and Garland for co-captaincy is my left-field prediction for next year.

Howe for Shiel won't happen but not because we say no. The thing about trading Howe is you have to weigh up his use to our team vs what he might attract in a trade that could make our team better. Currently he is a high-marking, high half-forward who struggles through the middle and has average to above average goal kicking accuracy. We also have a number of other KPF/high half-forward options in Clark, Dawes, Hogan, Fitzpatrick & Watts. If we can trade him out for a midfielder to add depth to our third world midfield it will be a win. You also have to look at these kinds of players and trade them out when their value is high. No point trying to offer Tapscott in a trade as no one will want him for anything more than a 4th/5th round pick. It's the same logic that should have seen us try to offload Jamar two years ago and Sylvia several years ago. We got something decent for McLean at the right time but not a choice of our own making however got a decent pick back for Travis Johnstone when we saw he still had some value. Considering a trade for Howe doesn't mean he is not rated, in fact it's the opposite. It's just that his relative value to our team is low compared to what we might get for him in return and his value is likely to decrease with age over the next couple of years rather than increase. You don't throw him away for nothing but if you can get something back that will improve our team (namely a midfielder), you do it.

You can think its Band 4, Band 5, Little River Band, Band-aid... I don't care. But don't give me the rhetorical flourish "I don't know we're that is coming from" - I have been boring this site for a year about 'where it is coming from.'

Not sure about using pick 70, might be useful to save something for the PSD given we have pick 2. Could be someone fall through the cracks.

rumour threads are to Demonland posters, as Parliamentary privilege is to politicians.

With dodgy ankles.

Please bailey was coach at the time nuff said.Bruce is a quality guy who the MFC burned like other senior players. He deserved better.

Mundy, Butler, Gilmore, Willits, Polo, T Murphy, Dempsey, Bower, Stanley, Grigg, Hislop, Urquahart, Ward, Notte, Maric A, Strauss, Swift, Ballantyne, Griffiths, Fyfe, Bastinac, Smith, Pitt, Lamb. They are the picks 19 - 21 from 2003 to 2010. Of the 24 picks I reckon there are 4 or 5 good players - Mundy, Ward, Fyfe, Bastinac. There are some ok players - Grigg, Ballantyne and Smith. If we trade pick 20 for Vince given our situation I'll be thinking we've done a sensible thing. If we get Lyon as well it will be robbery.

If we can't pick up the young, quality mid-fielder we want with pick 2 we should keep it. Instead we should trade our later picks for older midfielders like Myer and Vince. These guys will be around 2 - 5 years and worth later round picks. They will help develop our younger talent, but more importantly should be able to give us the instant competitive up-lift in the midfield which we require. I am against trading pick 2 at a significant loss, despite our desperate need for ready made high quality mids.

At least Neeld used them with consistency ;-)

No probs i tend to agree with your thinking about this. The more you look at it the more it would strike a reasoned thinker that there can be NO jumping at the first live candidate simply if they are a potential fit. It must be the 'right ' fit. Roos seems to have a clear idea ( whether its right or wrong atm is immaterial as we have no influence) as to who ( as an ilk ) he sees as the natural successor. if you dont find a suitable one in the first instance you have to wait otherwise everything is compromised, defeating all purposes. For mine I dont really care if he ( successor ) doesnt show/become -avail for even 2 years. id rather get the right person and find ways to accommodate that when it happens. maybe Roos stays on even longer...who knows etc. I dont think anything despite the accepted contracts re Roos/MFC is really set in concrete. Melbourne needs to prove itself. This wont happen overnight.

Hopefully the AFL doesn't work to a strict formula and that they take certain intangibles into account (this compo system is now only in its second year and they are surely still tweaking it)... the impact of a player's loss should play a significant part, and it could easily be said that Sylvia's loss will have a far greater impact on the MFC than Thomas' loss will have on the CFC. Not only are we losing a player who was showing form in the second half of the year, but we are losing one of our more experienced players and therefore the impact on the young playing group will be more significant. The other thing I am hoping for is that the AFL will see this as a chance to give a little back after dangling the prospect of a PP in front of us and then taking it away... after all, they are not entirely against us as has been proven with the assistance package, the installing of PJ and, I am guessing, their not insignificant help in getting Roos across the line.

Talks a good game but we have to see it consistently on the field.

Word is Vince to the Dees on a 4 year deal

Where is it coming from? Is that rhetorical? I think he is Band 3 as Pearce and Chaplin before him. Band 3 is the pick behind out 2nd round pick. About 24 when pushed out by other comp picks. That is where it is coming from. You can tell me it BS but don't tell me you don't know the logic. The logic is sound, the answer awaits.

Let me be clear, 316. It's not about "offloading" Howe, willy-nilly. It's about recognising his trade value, amongst a dearth of SFA else on our list and pulling the trigger on a deal. If he was able to net us that 22-24 year old midfielder, we'd be laughing. That opens the door for pick #2. Trading him for someone like Shiel is what I'm proposing we do. Trade him for someone of value, because he himself has perceived value. I think we can cover him and as you allude to, someone like Shiel will more than fill that void.

PLUS "JESSE HOGAN"

Pick 54 (4th round) is the right trade ... or tell Freo we will get him via pre season draft as Pick 2.

Not sure how good she really is in the air. Reckon Howe might have her covered. And by the way... you can sprout off all you like about Howe's supposed trade value, but it doesn't change the fact he is an important part of our club going forward. Should not, and will not, be traded.