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Clearly the posters who want to continually talk down Trengove's chances didn't hear that his return to senior AFL footy this year wasn't expected. His rehab went ahead of schedule and the match committee had no option other than to reward his VFL form. Now because he doesn't dominate a prelim final you lay the boots in again. Fair dinkum. I'd be pretty confident the fitness program they have in store for Jack will focus on him regaining that burst power that people love to knock him on. A full pre season with no carry-over injuries will be the turning point.

Ok. A clearer picture is emerging and for me it's relatively straight forward. Hogan does "float" according to his manager when it comes to where he wants to play his footy. My take is that he loves his mates, is happy with the club's progress and gets on very well with Goodwin, but unsurprisingly for a 21 year old who hasn't lived at home since he was 17, he gets occasional pangs of homesickness that prevents him from making a concrete decision. And he doesn't need to, as he's contracted for 2017. So while we all want a decision and so does the club Hogan can buy more time to be sure of his decision. I'm going to take things on face value. I'm now comfortable in the belief that he'll be playing at Melbourne in 2017 and imo that augurs well for the future. The more he bonds with his teammates (and the club) the better. I appreciate others will think he'll leave at the end of 2017, and he may, but I still believe we'll be best placed to retain him. While it's also crossed my mind that it may be better to do a deal this year, if he's genuinely conflicted, which I have no reason to doubt, then we should back the club to convince him to stay. I don't see the current events as some inevitability that he'll go. He's got stuff to work through. I'm going to enjoy seeing Hogan for another year and will remain confident that he'll ultimately decide to stay. If he is presently "torn" it may be that the extra time works in our favour.

Player agents, eh? Those lovable scamps. That reminds me of a well known agent of a well known player. November 25, 2012: Superstar Lance Franklin will stay at Hawthorn, his manager says "We'll get it done with Hawthorn, don't even worry about that," Pickering said on SEN yesterday. "Let's be honest, every club would want Buddy. But he will stay with Hawthorn. It will all be sorted." March 5, 2013: AFL slams reports of Buddy push to GWS Franklin's manager Liam Pickering has denied he has taken offers from opposition clubs, but the reported asking price for Franklin's services would be in excess of $1 million a season. July 6, 2013: Lance Franklin's manager Liam Pickering says Hawks star highly likely to resist lure of GWS "To be honest, there's only really one in it, which is Hawthorn,'' Pickering told SEN Radio. August 26, 2013: Franklin wants to stay a Hawk "I would have thought if you're a betting man, you'd still be pretty confident he's staying at Hawthorn," Pickering said.

The annoying thing about the position people like pf take is that if it does go pear shaped, it'll be "see! I called this year ago! Slow slow slow! Fence knows footy!". We can all see he's not what he was before, right now - that's why he played in the VFL all year. If it's obvious to me, it's obvious to Goodwin, Viney etc. It's about the vision for the future, obviously they see a different one, but if they happen to get it wrong, fence will use his own lack of imagination to justify his position. Fence takes the vision free position, then carries on like he's an oracle if he turns out right. I reckon it's soft.

So are we a "destination club" now!!??

Hibberd just on trade radio confirming the Dee's.

i think the thread is getting ot and not spefically about milkshake. much of what is being discussed should be in the other essendrug thread

So you're saying it IS true then?

You make some good points, but considering what he is going through personally he should be given the time required to make the right decision for himself. The club has taken a complete back step while his family troubles play out. He is not going to make a decision by trade period. It is ridiculous and it would back fire if the club put pressure on him at this emotion time. Yes, he does have one more year left. He understands the pressure he and the club will be under while he is unsigned and thus will not let this play out. I expect that he will re-sign in the new year once his current troubles have played out. Unless he request a trade he will not be traded this trade period. Hogan not requesting a trade would be a very strong indication that he intends to re-sign.

In his interview last week Goodwin said he was confident Jesse would stay and was comfortable if it takes weeks, months or even the middle of next year for the contract to be done. I'm sure Goodwin would love it to be done asap but there is no point putting pressure on Jesse to sign under the circumstances. We need to cool our jets and let everything take its course. If it means the club being flexible on when Jesse starts his pre-season with the team so be it. Even if it means he misses the start of the season to spend time with his family so be it. None of this is ideal, but football is just a game and we have a young man about to go thru a life shattering experience. Compassion and patience is what our club needs to provide and I have no doubt it will. The rest will take care of itself.

Being paid 300k to play footy and live in Queensland for a couple of years Such a tragedy

A lot on here don't seem to deal with uncertainty very well. The attitude seems to be "the suspense/boredom is killing me so just get rid of him". Nothing's really changed except Melbourne has stopped playing games so no-one has anything else to talk about.

Love it. if someone is in doubt of coming to the club, have a beer with Bernie and the choice is easy

Because you will believe anything put in front of you

The footy department isn't going to make decisions on sympathy or any other emotion. They've re-signed Trenners because that was the best option for the club, and because they see improvement in him (that we'll see next season). I've got total faith in them and Jack himself, he's a guy of immense character and if anyone can come back from such a shite injury and reinstate himself as a regular AFL footballer, it's him.

Both Hibberd and Melksham have had a year out of footy but they're experienced best 22 footballers that will add to our half back and on-ball brigade. Depth within the list is looking better all the time.

Basically my view as well. In his current family crisis we would appear [censored] to him, if we were hounding him about his contract. No doubt he will respect our sensitivity to his situation. As I said before and you have said similar, if it was a family reason to go home, he would tell us now, so that we could get a trade done this year and go home. If he doesn't say anything now, that to me indicates a likely extension of his contract with us will eventuate, when he has the clear head to discuss it.

Thought Id sign up to maybe put some minds at rest - I spoke to one of the assistant coaches after the b n f dinner and he was extremely confident jesse would re-sign. Was expectant even. FWIW

Getting off the topic for a minute. GWS have been in the comp five years. They have lost Tyson, Frost, O'Rourke, Gorringe, Jaksch, Philips, Sumner, McCarthy, Treloar, Miles, Hombsch, Boyd and I'm sure many more. They will also lose a couple more this year in Marchbank and Steel They Could be playing in a GF in two weeks. Have another five picks in the first two rounds this year. Trades will see that maybe go to 7 or 8. No wonder why clubs such as us have found it tough to rebuild with all the young talent being snapped up before we got the chance to draft them. Not a good look for the AFL who has always believed in equalisation

Granted, but the club also has a right to protect its investment/s and do what's within its own best interests: if Hogan wants to get to WC but can't this year, then he signs an extension otherwise he'll be wearing a Dockers guernsey in 2017. That is not unreasonable. People keep repeating over and over that he's contracted for 2017, but all the fact does is highlight the severity if finalising his future. Contract extensions are nothing new but with free agency these days they play an important part in list management. What you will see now is teams trading contracted players with one year left to teams that will either do a sign-and-trade deal for the long term, or take on that salary for a year to fulfil their obligations and then free up space in a year with a strong free agency class. It's how it's done in the NBA and it's how it will be done here. Anyone that wants the club to risk an unsure Hogan and keep him playing for Melbourne in 2017 without agreeing to an extension are shockingly misguided. In 2006 that might have been a reasonable train of thought, but it infuriates me when people say, 'HE'S CONTRACTED AND HE WILL PLAY IN 2017'. It's not that simple in 2016. We stand to lose so much if he leaves after 2017. It is completely unreasonable to argue that he is not "ready" to make a decision. I completely understand there are deeply personal issues here but I'm sorry, we all bang on about no player being bigger than the club and for us to just stop and be casual about it...we stand to lose a lot here. He either signs an extension or the club trades him. He either makes a decision or the club trades him. I'm pretty confident this will be sorted by Christmas.

I'm really not comfortable having a player on our list that's not sure if he wants to stay or not, his manager said he is torn between staying or going home. To make a serious tilt at finals next year , you'd want list of fully committed players who believe in the goal of winning a premiership with the Melbourne football club.

STMJ called for Garland to be moved on last year and was shot down by most. Many hid behind by the "I'm prepared to back the footy department in", 12 months on Garland has 2 years left and can't buy himself a game. As I said in an earlier post, the whole "wait for the CBA line" is garbage for a player who stands to get a million dollars a season. And if its not garbage then he obviously isn't worried about team balance. I didn't buy Roo's line about "if he knew a player was leaving he wouldn't play him" after Frawley continued to rack up cheap games. The club needs to start talking to Peter Wright, time for us to start working the angle on players who "may" want to come home.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was purely a cost saving decision by the club. The development program is in place, Macca is running it (who came into the role after Allisons employment) and the club probably feels we have adequate resources to carry out the program moving forward. Maybe let's not look for a conspiracy for a change.

Nah mate, doesn't count until a Brownlow medalist comes to us as a FA.

An extremely good question SPC. The answer is six months away.

Someone may correct me on this, but I believe Tom Petroro is Jason Dover's boss, so I think he would know something of what was going on.

I expect him to work to his and the Club's timetable, not yours or other supporters.

Hibberd and his manager officially anounced that hibberd will be playing with the dees next year, manager was confident that a deal to get him to the club will be done early in the trade period. Sounded as if our second round pick would be enough to complete the trade. Source: Nab afl trade radio, where barret, wallace, and lloyd are the hosts, both hibberd and his manager are on the show atm

That's silly.

Did you actually read the article? His point is rather more complex than telling rape victims to grow up as the headline implies. It's also dead right.

If Hogans mindset truly is "he's waiting to see how we go next year" that is a concern, considering he's part of it. 35 metres out, slight angle, sprays it right.

Whenever you see single quotation marks in a headline - Stephen Fry says rape victims should 'grow up' - you need to tread carefully. And read carefully. That's how journalists distill a comment down to a headline-sized, click-friendly bite. Fry said people who self-pity should grow up, he did not say rape victims should grow up. But that's how the journalist, or most probably the sub-editor, read between the lines to apply some sauce to the article.

Gee, I came to this thread to read some positive news about him training and how he is going to slot into the side next year... Didn't realize that the whole drugs debate was still going on.. He is a Melbourne player now... move on!!

18 AFL listed Dogs? No way. The Dogs have 44 on their list. 23 go to Sydney and maybe 1 comes back to play on Sunday = 22 available They've got 7 injured http://www.afl.com.au/injury-list = 15 available Crameri won't play and Goetz didn't play in the PF = 13 maximum including Hamilton and Lynch who have never played AFL. They may not risk them all on a 6 day turnaround if they win in Sydney but have some injury concerns. We should have at least as many, we had 14 in the PF, all with AFL experience.

Just so happens I'm a physio and a goal kicking expert goffy. I'm also what you may call a 'life coach' but I'll throw that in for free.

this forum seems to encourage the most extreme of responses (in inane detail), which means that contributors either a) freak out, b) diminish achievements/facts, or c) blow achievements/facts waaaay outta proportion, but can i suggest that we view the intrigue surrounding hogan's contract logically? i hope that most on here would agree that hogan is a competitive beast. he has also clearly adjusted to life in melbourne (with the help of an understanding club, fairly regularly trips home, etc). melbourne is where the biggest stars shine, where you get the chance to play on the best aussie rules ground in the world regularly. jesse has developed friendships for nearly half a decade whilst at our club. he has seen the bottom and now he's getting a glimpses of the top. in recent years, he has been joined by a lengthy list of up and coming stars (perhaps headed by the likes of viney, petracca and oliver). it is clear where the dees are headed - not so clear where the w.a. teams are going.. yes, he is a west australian, but do you really think this competitive beast, who now calls melbourne home, is surrounded by close mates that share his life experiences, in a club on the up, would throw that all away to go surfing a bit more, play in a team that could *maybe* contend semi-regularly for finals over the next ten years??! the only issue is the health of jesse's dad. any other argument is null and void. he would clearly want to stay a dee (our future is blinding), but his concern over his dad would be the only issue that could move him back to the west at this stage of his career. i believe that jesse hogan will stay. and i hope wish his dad the best in whatever health problems he is going through currently.

the view that tb4 had no benefit (debatable) on essendon players' performance, and the other view that tb4 should not be a banned substance (also debatable) are complete red herring arguments and have no impact on guilt or otherwise.. the fact is that tb4 was a known wada banned ped at the time essendon injected it to their players in a secretive and undeclared (to wada) fashion, and that the essendon players were contractually obliged to follow the wada drug protocol under threat of banning conditions. it is as simple as that. the rest is obfuscation. the proportionality of guilt between the club officials and the players is an interesting discussion but does not reduce any guilt to zero. the players were ultimately treated leniently in wada punishment terms to effectively 1 playing season. it is also worth noting they rejected the much earlier reported opportunity that would have meant only missing 4 matches. i'm sure cronulla players now feel vindicated they took the deal offered initially for cooperation. added: oh, and incidentally this type of discussion should really be in the other thread

17 tackles yesterday.

[censored]

You don't need to, the club has it all sorted pf. Don't worry yourself.

So we've also got players like Tyson, Stretch, VandenBerg, Salem and Weideman who are OOC in 2017. Do we need to cut our losses on those guys as well? None of them have signed on the dotted line as yet, so maybe someone like Stretch wants to go back to SA? Let's not risk it, eh? I get that it's slightly different with Hogan, but gee, if we took that attitude with all of our players we would be trading them all out of the club while they still had a year to run on their deals. We signed EVERYONE we wanted to in 2016, and there is no reason to believe we can't do the same in 2017 either.

Of course he has the right. But if he has one iota of awareness he'll know that delaying his decision, exercising his "right" is damaging to the club and Goodwins ability to make a success of season 2017. Its part of the parcel that goes with being a highly paid "champion in the making". You need to take responsibility for the impact you have on the team you are playing for (and who's paying you)...

and if we play him at casey all year we can't expect anything of worth on the trade scene can we?

It's an interesting one. Of course it's only VFL, but watching the game on the weekend I thought he looked as solid as I've ever seen. He played with super confidence, used the ball really well and was combative in the contest. He rarely made an error. We've seen him produce that kind of footy only over the course of one year. (2013 or 14?). Unlike Garland, I still think that there's a spot for Dunn in our backline but only if he can produce his best footy consistently. We have nobody who can mind the bigger bodies and when his kicking and decision making is on song, it's a weapon. Maybe his demotion to the VFL at this point in his career will be the kick he needs going into next year? Or maybe it won't and we'll see him traded? It's difficult to know how much influence Roos had in making the calls to demote both Dunn and Garland for the majority of the year and I wonder whether Goody may give Dunn another chance. Like others, I think Garland's days are numbered. He is just that in between size player who doesn't have any real weapons and is incredibly inconsistent. If Dunn has a ripper Grand Final on Saturday, it'll certainly make things interesting.

Jake Niall on the couch said he thought he would stay. I gathered they know about his father but respectfully didn't go into it. I think those stirring the trade pot ( weagles or whoever) in this case need to back off. He has enough pressure with his fathers situation.

He is a keeper for me and let's work on where we can best use him. Otherwise work on an offer you can't refuse scenario.

If Hogans old man is terminally ill then I see the most likely situation is for us to give him space and him play for us next year. If the club push for the contract situation to be resolved (either way) while he quite clearly has bigger issues at play would be disrespectful IMO

As opposed to playing in the VFL?

if thats true its nothing to celebrate. Thats the worst case scenario

FWIW: Tom Browne channel 7 sports news reporter just stated his information is that Hogan re commits to Melbourne.