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My girlfriend is an Adelaide supporter. Has number 32 on her jumper. Relationship may not be able to survive Paddy coming to Melbourne... I'm willing to risk it.

My sources tell me Danger is in the bag! A caveat - my sources are DL posters

No he's not. Vince, Goodwin, PJ and Mahoney have all spoken to Dangerfield numerous times and Roos has spoken to his manager and his entire extended family.

Vince, Goodwin, talk of Lyons and Dangerfield and maybe even Tex. We can take your girlfriend too!

If this happens... beers at mine.

Clark retires with two years left on his contract with a struggling club, comes back at the first available opportunity to play for a finals club. There's probably a lot we don't know about this story, but feel free to suggest it because it sure seems like it.

Beams to Brisbane, Swan's cooked, Dangers coming to the Dees... Mitch might want to think again about what club he chooses.

And might that be because there's interest in Clark elsewhere? Or perceived interest ... To be brutally honest, I don't see Clark playing much footy going forward ... if he does, he does. Once he's not our player, the care factor becomes zero. We need to concern ourselves with stuff that we can control. He wants out so play hard ball and get the best deal. He's played 4 games in 2 and a half years and is injury prone. Lumumba on the other hand is ready to go. I couldn't care less about Lumumba's beliefs and him having a strong stance on various matters - that's none of my business. Footy clubs are made up of all types and in the end, the players just get on with it. The bloke can play good footy and rarely misses games. He would strengthen our side quite a lot and would be a walk-up start.

Stories of Roos contacting Dangerfield's parents are really interesting because it rings true. If he has sold the entire Dangerfield family the 'Melbourne dream' then it will be the greatest recruting coup since well forever. Barassi to Carlton, Judd to Carlton, Franklin to Sydney; all were considered power clubs even if Carlton were struggling a little ladder-wise. Maybe Lockett to Sydney was the last time a fully fledged star moved to a bottom team with little appeal. Dare to dream . . . .

Cynicism is our greatest enemy. I'm a little worried about the collective psyche of Melbourne supporters at the moment - many of whom I respect greatly. We've spent much time discussing why we're so poor. Supermac on his superb blog listed all of our most famous low moments over the past 8 years, Redleg and WJ and others have summed up the case in favour of a PP in a really eloquent but very dire manner. Jackson refers to us as an impediment on the competition. Roos has made regular reference to our scars. The Ox has only today, labelled us a 'basket case'. If we continue to link our past failures to this notion of needing or deserving compensation and priority picks we're never going to shake the loser mentality. Many have argued that it is our responsibility to utilize whatever mechanisms the AFL puts in place. Up until today I agreed but just as I had concerns about the impact of our blatant tanking a few years ago (an extremely unpopular view at the time!) I'm worried about the chip on the shoulder we as supporters are developing. I'm not going to label it the 'victim mentality' that others have but it's getting very very close. Every time we blame others for our own failures and every time we make reference to the AFL as corrupt or unethical, we become one step closer to becoming cynical. I've spent my life dedicated to the ideals of skepticism. I encourage all I come in contact with in my day to day job to question and challenge but when cynicism overtakes skepticism, we begin to give up. When we think there is no hope, we stop trying. Melbourne supporters are talking about refusing to buy memberships, walking away from AFL and even hoping for the club to fold. That's what happens when you don't think you can make a difference. And that attitude is contagious. And the time to challenge the AFL is when we're on top not when we're scrapping and fighting to get out of the bottom 4. And hopefully that time will come. Hopefully, in a Port Adelaide style revival we'll work hard to climb the ladder and then with the new found respect a higher placed and profitable club will create, people will listen. We cynically make references to the AFL merely following whatever Eddie McGuire says. Well he has his say and people listen because he has put in the hard yards and turned his football club around. Earn respect and your opinions begin to count. In short, we need to rid ourselves of our recent past and focus on how we can contribute to our future. Ridiculing past boards, presidents and CEOs is futile. Whinging about the AFL serves no purpose. I read with interest today, Billy Connolly's approach to dealing with his own demons. "I learnt the past doesn't exist. Once you get that into your head you can stop carrying that burden, especially if you've come through something bad". I'm not sure if it's that simple but I like the concept. The past doesn't exist! 2015 - year zero!! Now there's a membership slogan. Sure, we need to learn from our mistakes but not dwell on them and certainly not publicly. Do the Patrick Dangerfield's of this world want to come to clubs who describe themselves as an impediment to the competition? I respect the enormous amount of positive Jackson and Roos have done for this club over the past 12 - 18 months but they need to be very careful not to continue to reflect on the damage done in the past. It adds to the chip on our collective shoulders and will very soon sound like scapegoating. So good luck fellow Demonlanders. May the skeptics forever rule the cynics!

Paul Roos is a compulsive liar & I love it.

Paul Roos says Melbourne could trade for Adelaide Crows star Patrick Dangerfield

A little birdy told me today that "a straight swap" is not the deal "we" are looking for. Apparently we want more for Clark, and it is more a draft pick situation. If Lumumba is to be included it is to also involve an exchange of draft picks.

Productivity=ZERO! Damn you Demonland...damn you.

PJ is a very astute man. He said when he was first appointed that we had to get rid of the ethos that we deserved handouts. By reading the play within the AFL and the reactions of other clubs, he realised that the AFL WOULDN'T give out a priority pick. So don't go asking for one.....ask for "special assistance" That can take the form of other than draft picks. The words from the AFL are: "The AFL concluded that while Melbourne has a poor on field record in recent times, this does not of itself constitute “exceptional circumstances” or a justification for awarding priority draft selections". "Special assistance" may yet be forthcoming. Don't expect to see it trumpeted so that Caro, Damien, Eddie or others latch on. There are a number of ways that the AFL can assist our circumstance, without them being "exceptional".

Imagine if he stayed around and we lost the deal with Dangerfield because we didn't get the compensation pick... We'd be so grateful for his loyalty.

Call me vindictive, call me whimsical, call me as mad as a cut snake but gee I loved it when Skulldog, a former no 1 draft pick only got ... 1 solitary vote in the Brownlow. What a magnificent career he is carving out at Greater Western Shizen!

I thought I was being pretty clear. My initial post was clearly a poor attempt at humour. The quote attributed to Roos suggests that he hasn't personally spoken to Dangerfield. Having endured the Scully, Clark and Frawley sagas it's pretty clear all key footy people are now well versed in double-speak and deception. That's all I was suggesting. I've been on Demonland forever. I don't think I've ever had a source!

It all comes from confidence in your base of support, being the feet. If you have no psychological or mechanical confidence in a foot, core strength has nothing to anchor on. At the risk of stating the obvious, because of the enormous non linear forces that go through the feet in footy, jumping, twisting, landing, if there's any vulnerability there, it's extremely hard to compensate. I reckon if JT's back to full capacity with his foot, he'll be a different player.

You're vindictive, whimsical and mad as a cut snake.

Bahahaha essendon demanded Ollie wines for Ryder and got told to [censored] off

amazing to think he was considered the second best player in his draft behind scully. so many - more than just dusty - have gone past these two blokes it ain't funny.

What? we want compensation for Clark? No way, toughen up MFC, we need to pull ourselves up. Give him to C'wood with pick 2 for Harry. As for Frawley, anything earlier than round 4 will just reinforce our dependency culture. Let's demand Wednesday twilight games to really build our ability to withstand financial storms.

Again, all we're being told is what *Collingwood* thinks about the matter. Melbourne Football Club and Mitch Clark remain dead silent on the matter. I agree that it looks like he's gone, but I reckon a few posters above me could afford to hold fire a bit; they are abusing Clark purely because of stuff that Collingwood said.

You mean, the progress he has made under an MFC devised fitness program, under the direct supervision of the MFC fitness manager? Go join the rest of the soft tissue injury brigade then Clark, you [censored].

The tease begins. I'm waiting now for Roos to say he's 50/50 on us getting Dangerfield.

Ah...such a happy place for someone prone to depression to want to move to.

Receiving compensation for losing a player through free agency is awarded to all teams, not just Melbourne.

Agree. At the moment we have comparative advantage over any other suitors, we lose that next year. I don’t think we could compete with other teams in a completely open market for Dangerfield. Plus, if we get him now, he could be a selling point for other free agents we may be interested in next. Particularly any disgruntled Crows coming out of contract…

This talk of "premiership window" is premature imo. We need to build to be competitive asap and to challenge finals. Once we have become competitive and have established and ingrained a football department culture which is of the standard required then we build for a premiership. That is when we can develop players we draft. That is when we worry about "premiership window". It may well be that we are ready at the end of next year. But until then the focus is on improving the list to make us competitive and to change the culture. Which is why I'm happy to pay over the odds with top picks on a proven performer and leader.

Sorry Hulk, this is our only chance to get him, if he goes into free agency we have no chance at all. Free agency as it stands is all about stronger clubs getting stronger. The trade works this year, for Adelaide they will get better compensation by trading him to us, for us it rules out nearly every other club in the competition.

I agree Clint. I've said it in the thread already, supporters massively overrate the value of draft picks. Roos has even said a similar thing himself I believe. It's why I thought at the time that surrendering pick 20 and 2 for Tyson and 9 was a bloody fantastic deal at the time. I saw downgrading 2 to 9 as a very minor change - just as likely to get a good player in the 6-10 range as you are 1-5, so it amounted to Pick 20 for Tyson and loose change. It's the sort of thing I'm hoping for in this trade, if it happens.

They must be on drugs.

There had to be some strategy behind this because, despite the compelling case for some draft assistance, PJ would have been aware that the AFL was strongly opposed to giving us assistance even before the application was made. The result was telegraphed in the weekend's papers where it was suggested that while the application was doomed, we would benefit from it because it makes certain, the band one compensation available in the likely event that James Frawley jumps ship as well as the AFL's support in our securing a reasonable outcome with Mitch Clark's transfer to Collingwood. What this episode shows is that we lack the clout of the powerhouse clubs like Sydney, Hawthorn and Collingwood who all receive favourable benefits from various AFL rules and action including fixturing and how hard we have to work to achieve success both on and off the field. Whilst the application failed to achieve its more obvious outcome, I would like to think that its effect will be to underpin the club's recruiting strategy for the coming months. Time will tell.

Quote Quote I think they might be double dipping here...Dom the young talent and Dom the experienced 38 game player. Viv was a very experienced 1/2 a game player when he came to us and Riley had a broken leg. I guess that figures, there's been a bit of double dipping by Mike "stadium deal" Fitzpatrick. Why not be consistent. Good work Dill and sidekick DH Evans.

I've evolved over the years in regards to forum rumours. Early days: gullible, believe any rumour I heard, get excited, feel bitterly disappointed when they didn't go through Middle days: refuse to believe anything, get annoyed every time someone posts hearsay Recent days: Believe the rumours I like the sound of but understand they could be crap, keep emotions completely divorced until things start to pan out. Enjoy the ride, never feel disappointed, but feel ecstatic when things actually come to fruition.

Interesting but probably rubbish post on BF forums: "The Demons have been approved for an AFL "Ambassador" payment to a big name like Dangerfield or Pendlebury etc. to eb paid outside the cap, similar to what buddy was going to get at GWS or Judd at Carlton. This is why they haven't been granted the priority pick, they are practically guaranteed to get an elite midfielder this year and can effectively double the offer of any other club." Could this possibly be some kind of NT ambassadorship to support the expansion of the game with our push into NT? In a way it all makes sense, especially PJs supposed request for financial rather than draft assistance. Lots of speculation though so who knows.

Everyone is a bit harsh on Jack. The amount of criticism he has copped/is copping is ridiculous. There has been so many factors as to why he hasn't yet lived up to his potential, some being his own, but others being how we have developed him. Robbie gray, was pick 55-60 (pick 56 I think), and at the age of 26, has become an absolute superstar in which people knew he could be. The thing is, he's 26, it took 8 years for that. Once a player is drafted, they're just a player, if Gray was a no.1 pick, like jack was, then he may not have became a superstar. It is important to note that Gray recently credited his improvement to his 2012 knee injury (afl website). I love jack as a player, if we backed him, showed support, maybe he would florish. Let's keep this in perspective, Watts may not be an inside mid, so why criticise him on a role that he's not suited to? He is a beautiful user of the ball, we want the ball in his hands in space. We start to back these players, especially the ones who want to be there, and we can celebrate the improvement as a team.

this annoys me. If he has done the dirty on us, why are we protecting his 'good name'. We should be tearing strips off him. He deserves villification

Yep. Screw him, get the best deal or leave him on our list and he can enjoy another year off. Club first. Clark irrelevant.

If Clark goes then it has to be to the club that gives us the best deal. It's a bit like Clark to Freo, they didn't come up with the best deal and we trumped them both with Brisbane and Clark. Maybe the Doggies will come up with a deal we and he can't refuse. Remember, he has a history of changing his mind at the last moment.

Mate I'm not just talking about on field look at things like the fixture, salary cap (COLA & 3rd party deals), academies, even things like stadium arrangements and the double standards applied to AFL decision making at all levels. The competition is so heavily manipulated now it is more like WWE "sports-entertainment" than a legitimate competitive sport.

Fair call, hope did deliver us Paul. But I still don't really believe he is our coach

i would have thought it would be Paul Roos to coach MFC?

We are all Melbourne supporters. We all need psychological help.

The justification detailed on the MFC website is actually infuriating for how much spin/BS/propaganda it contains. I didn't think we would receive a pick (as the AFL are a bunch of compromised wankers) but I am staggered at the reasons supplied and the fact they would put something like that in writing to us; Their first point directly contradicts the supposed criteria they referred to when changing the policy. Initially they stated the decision would be based on on-field performance over a number of years not a single or consecutive years. We have been poor by any definition for 8 years now and although this season was an "improvement" on last season it is only due to the fact that our 2013 season was one of the worst seasons on record. Our performance over the last 8 years is worse than Fitzroy's last 8 years and one of the all-time worst periods for any club. Under the old criteria we would have qualified for a before first round PP last year AND this year. Before we had played Fremantle, Hawthorn or Geelong, 3 of the top 4 teams. So we fell over the line against Essendon and beat Richmond, both games in which the opposition had more scoring shots and dominated the inside 50's. Even in their worst seasons poor teams have upset wins, that doesn't mean they are necessarily "better" than the teams they beat otherwise we could say we beat Richmond, Richmond beat Sydney therefore we should be grand finalists. We were close in several other games, and lost. Only wins matter, getting close is irrelevant. And the win/loss column shows we have won 38 games in 8 seasons and 10 games in the last 3 seasons. I have no idea who they're referring to here? Trengove? Had a very poor year in 2013, no evidence he will return to regular senior football. Hogan has never played a game. Clark "retired" and we will soon lose him for peanuts. Impossible to argue they are "key" personnel. A couple of years ago we had Watts, Blease, Strauss, Morton, Gysberts, Tapscott how did that turn out? No guarantee any of these kids will make it and it is unfair in the extreme to lump the clubs hopes and future on them and actually NAME them in their justification. I was astonished they actually did this, amateur in the extreme by the AFL. Michie and Riley are unproven and irrelevant to the conversation, just because we traded in some mature players who were on the fringe at other clubs doesn't mean anything in regards to the argument for a PP which is based on on-field performance. Similarly the fact we traded in 3 guys who were all top 5 in our B&F shows just how putrid our list is. Not to mention Cross is on his last legs and Vince is closing in on 30 and we had to give up pick 2 for Tyson - so basically we can bring in senior players other clubs are willing to lose and lose our best prime aged players to FA i.e. become a feeder club. The only real long-term "win" of that lot is Tyson and we need currency to get more players like him which is the reaosn for the request in the first place. Even with all these guys coming into the team we could still only win 4 games and finish 17th. Again what an idiotic argument, any club can trade players or gain a compo pick through FA, this is a zero-sum game, it does not improve our list and due to the fact we will likely receive extreme unders for Clark and will lose an AA full back for a speculative pick we will more than likely be worse off not better. Again this is all irrlevant to the on-field performance of the club which is what the criteria should be specifically assessing. This doesn't even mean anything - so because we have appointed an untried assistance coach to be mentored by Roos and take over in two years we will magically improve? This more than any of their reasonings is pure spin/BS. Not to mention the "potential benefits" of the FD cap and luxury tax and not even identified let alone quantified. Again ridiculous considering they are meant to be working by some "secret" yet "objective" criteria which specifically refers to poor on field performance over a number of years not to mention the fact that the AFL RULE BOOK ITSELF SPECIFICALLY REFERS TO ON-FIELD PERFORMANCE as the only factor specifically referred to in the rules. If this does not constitute "exceptional circumstances" then I fail to say what could. Again I did not expect a pick so I am not surprised I am however infuriated at the BS and specious reasoning provided by the AFL.

You really are a piece of [censored].

Praise Jebus, make it so.

Bracing for disappointment, it's a natural reaction as a Dees fan.

This will be my last post on the matter but I managed to find out today that he did meet with melbourne officials. I didn't ask if he had toured aami park or not, however this is now as close to happening without a signature. He is quite frustrated at his treatment both in the media and at adelaide headquarters from several key coaches and members. I'm not going to list those but as it stands patty is 97-99% going to be a Demon.