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Probably the best place to put this... Paul Connors attended the Old Xav's Golf Day on Monday and was the after dinner guest speaker. My Brother attended. He manages 88 players and was happy to have a post-talk 'question and answer' time. At one stage he asked if there were any Melbourne supporters in the room ? It was his initiative and the only club he did it for. It's fair to say he was glowing at the prospects for the club over the next 5 years. He said they were "fantastic" and that supporters were going to have an immense amount of joy. He also said the players love Goodwin, that he'll be a great coach and that Roos was leaving at the "perfect" time. As I said, he brought Melbourne up. He doesn't manage Hogan, but nonetheless offered an opinion. He said "Hogan will stay at the Dees". Obviously it's just his opinion, but he was very confident in his delivery. Obviously it's a relatively small industry and player managers and officials regularly have talks, coffees, etc. He personally barracks for Richmond and said they're stuffed. He said Deledio is on $800K and the club wants to free up cap space so would off load him if they could. This is where the talk has come from. At his age with his recent soft tissue injuries that's easier said than done. He also said he thought O'Meara and Mitchell would get to the Hawks and that Hibberd would nominate Melbourne (he did the next day). No great revelations, but nice to hear...

Rode a Tiger home from Melbourne yesterday having had time to have a beer in celebration of Nathalia beating Finley in the grannie. Some things are always a joy. Walked into my rainforest this morning to have a quiet cheroot and there snoozing beneath my giant red cedar was the man yes Jason Taylor or at least a hazy apparition so I sat beside him and passed him my burning ember and he nodded with his usual good grace. Tell me JT where is it up to and where is it gonna end. Old man wolf he said its starting to hot up with Hibberd already here and two more almost snagged and then we have three youngies to get in the draft. I went to say wow but my voice was sitting on the smoke climbing through the tall branches above me. That's six we have to axe I might have mumbled or perhaps they were his words in my headspace and he was counting them on his fingers and his thumb was Dunny off to Brissy he said and his pinky was Grimesy' gone to the Cats and Garland's been courted by the Suns and then we've said goodbye to Terls Newton and Pedo and we are working with the Suns to improve this years picks by trading next years first round pick. I was choking on my smoke but mumbled who are the other 5 apart from Hibbo don't we need a forward cum ruck and a key back and an outside mid and JT just smiled and said wolfman you've been too long in the wasteland no wolf what we need is the 5 best footballers we can get it doesn't matter how big and what position they just need to be skilled goers and team players Goody will take care of the rest. And he began floating away and I croaked after his shadow and what about Hogan and I'm sure the echo was we don't care we don't care....

If, as reported, his father is sick we can't force a trade. It's bad practice. What would our other young players like Petracca, Oliver and Brayshaw think about the integrity of the club if we did this? Culture killer. I'm a big fan of a decision before this trade period but we can't force it. Best case is we can give plenty of space for the decision and hope that our good faith is reciprocated in his decision. We'll have the high moral ground which I think is important for ongoing culture.

I got high just reading this.

Thanks for sharing ProDee. Connors has managed Watts over the journey and has seen both Jack's, and the club's evolution through some pretty difficult times. If he didn't believe we were much improved, not only would Jack have departed, but Connors would have probably pushed Hibberd toward staying put at Bomberland. Managers have self interest, but chief amongst that is knowing clubs inside and out. It allows them to provide the best possible info for their clients. If Connors thinks we're on the up, it's worth noting, because that view would likely be shared within the industry (Stride management included).

The good money seems to be on Jesse playing for us next year. Starting the season without a contract for 2018 and beyond. Like everyone here I'm sick of this crap. We had 12 months of uncertainty in 2011 with Tom Scully, in 2014 it was James Frawley and in 2017 at this point it will be Jesse Hogan. Is it just me or is it only the MFC who goes through this every three years it seems.... Who will it be in 2020??? I know other clubs lose players. Do they lose 21 year olds like us? Was looking forward to a year that was focussed on the rise of the MFC next year and not a bloody Jesse Hogan media circus every week.

The Hogan thing sums up the disconnect between supporter and those who ply their trade in the Industry. We supporters are loyal, sentimental, nostalgic and for entire lifetimes committed to our club. It is our heritage, it is part of our blood line and DNA. Yet we folliw a game that is professionalized, corporatised and bastardised. We invest our emotional energy and passion into this crazy unreality. Do I want Hogan to stay a Demon? Absolutely. Do I accept that he may go? Yes. He is a player who was drafted from far away WA. It's a long way away. It's not Melbourne. It's unique like all other parts of the country, with its own culture, lifestyle, behaviour and way of thinking. Melbourne is not Perth. We are a product of our upbringing, our connections, our family. Jesse will always be a Western Australian as that is where he belongs. Any Melbournians who have lived interstate or overseas remain at heart Melbournians as that is where the heart lies. There will be many who will get upset if Jesse flies away home. Yet who could blame him. If this occurs this meat market of professional sport will see another player or group of players ripped away from their home turf to ply their trade in far away Melbourne. God help them. Poor buggers having to put up with the traffic, the aggression, the road rage and lack of courtesy. What a dog eat dog world Melbourne has become. When I look at the way the game continues to change I see Hogan as a CHF of the past in the image of Brown and Carey. He is a key position player in a game that no longer has key position players. So it will not be the end of the world if he goes, which he will sooner or later.. Yet emotionally I want him to remain a Demon, how crazy!

The beauty of recruiting someone like Hibberd is the knock on effect - you can take the short, simplistic view that we've just gained another 'half back flanker'. We know that Hibberd is a very good half back flanker, for a start, and it gives us more options. With his recruitment, it can allow other guys like Hunt and Salem to play further up the field and use their weapons (kicking and speed respectively) where it can be more damaging than before. Hibberd is terrific one on one, is a very good kick and is cool under pressure. Not to mention he brings further experience to our backline, something we are still short of. But feel free to be underwhelmed. Some supporters are never happy.

If Jesse's old man has weeks to live Then i don't think anything should happen except phone calls and texts till after christmas. My Dad just lost his wife to Cancer it was a slow and evil process. I am glad she has now passed. The hell is over If The MFC show compassion now, we should get it back later.

FFS, Brent Harvey is 38. Leave him alone to retire.

people saying we should trade him now are totally overlooking the nature & criticality of his old man's illness. The club is doing 100% the right thing by giving Jesse space at this time.

Would rather re-sign Dean Terlich

While I suspiciously haven't logged into this site since August 24 my Brother has never logged in, although he has been an almost daily reader since 2003. He is a bit of a luddite, but I'm sure he'd manage to navigate the sign up process. Truthfully, he has thought about joining over the past 13 years, but assures me he'd be banned in no time. It's fair to say he doesn't have a high opinion of some posters.

I lean the other way. He'll cost nothing and make us a better side. He could be the difference between making and missing the 8, that's how tight spots will be. Yes it might not lead to a premiership but what's stopping us from having a run like the Bulldogs and building confidence if we did make it? GWS wouldn't even think twice if they had their time again with Stevie J. Yes to Boomer

That is just so illogical. "I want to go home. My club could get a better deal now, if they trade me and I get home straight away, but no, I will get them a worse deal in a year, to repay them for all they have spent and done for me. No, I will play for less money on my old contract. I will stay in Melbourne this year and play a last year, when I know I am leaving and not committed to the future of the club. I will cop the media on my back each week and every performance will be over analyzed. I will not look my team mates and coaches in the eyes, as I know I am leaving. Yes that is what I will do." This missing family and friends argument really needs examination. I understand the current situation and would imagine that if family is the real reason, you would want to go home immediately.Why stay another year? These guys sign AFL Draft rules where they agree to play anywhere in Australia and then seek to break them. He is in Australia not overseas. He can talk to family every day by a multitude of electronic means. He can fly home a few times a year to see them. He is in a job paying great money and it is only for the next 10 years at a maximum. It will be easier on his back and long term health to fly less. It makes no sense to me. He needs to get back with his Melbourne girlfriend or find another. The club is doing the right thing in not pressuring him and letting him be with family during their crisis. He must appreciate that. I still think all of this hype, is Management driven, to secure a better deal from us. FWIW, I think he will stay beyond 2017. PS. The one fear I have, is that WC or Freo may have said we can't get you this year because of salary cap, or lack of trade currency, but we will get you next year, on a massive salary that they know we wouldn't match. That could explain staying this year, but again he could accept a smaller salary this year, so that sort of goes against my fear. Oh well who knows the truth, maybe not even Jesse at this point.

Thanks ProDee Love this sort of info especially if it talks us up haha. But in all seriousness little snippets from player managers are way more bankable then whispers from the media Thanks again ProDee - it's why I keep reading this site

Look... I think we can now all agree that Mahoney, Roos, Viney and Goodwin have been trying to destroy our list for years. How else can we explain bizarre decisions like retaining Jayden Hunt, redrafting Neville Jetta, trading out pick 2 for an injury plagued gws midfielders and offering Trengove a contract extension.

I have started to come to terms with whatever Hogan may do, as my name suggests, I am in the Navy, living in Sydney, but from Melbourne. I grew up in Melbourne, left for the Navy in 2008 at the age of 17 and am now 25, I have been away from Melbourne now for 8 years but you know what? I am taking a $26,000 p.a pay cut in 15 months to come back home to Melbourne because you can take the boy from home but you can't take home from the boy. I have friends, memories, girlfriend, a dog here in Sydney but always looked at my time in Sydney as a temporary thing (albeit a 9 year temporary thing come next year.) So life story aside, I completely agree as to why the bloke will be torn between home and career but the majority of the time home wins, especially when Hoges is so close to his family family and is staring down the barrell of a $1.5M+ deal. I think he will stay but either way, I won't crucify the kid if he decides to go back home.

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.

People are making out that this is a recent thing. It's not. We've had contract offers in front of him for over a year and he's refused to consider them. SEVEN MONTHS AGO he told the club he would not consider their offer until after this season. He's had seven months to think about whether he wants to keep playing for Melbourne. It's not unreasonable to want an answer.

even more reason to show some sensitivity towards the situation. The club should not even entertain telling Jesse that he needs to commit or be traded at this point in time. Reading between the lines and hearing his manager say that he believes he will play at the dees in 2017 aligns with this thinking too. People deal with loss and grief differently. He may decide that he needs to head home to be around his family. But similarly, he may feel that his old man would have wanted him to continue with the dees, so soldier on. Time will tell

Collingwood have officially started top up mode, Richmond style. Buckley will run that club into the ground before he goes, killing any hope of them achieving premiership success on the way out.

West Coast don't necessarily need a key forward and their biggest weakness is their midfield. I'd be shocked if they looked to give up their best midfielders for a key forward.

Virtually every time I see De Goey kicking he butchers it. Why do you think he gets dtopped ? I'm happy to disagree on Brayshaw. He has lovely foot skills on both sides of his body. Obviously young players make mistakes as they get accustomed to the tempo of AFL footy. And yes, the same could be said of De Goey, but my eyes tell me Brayshaw is a vastly better skilled player. ButI have better things to do than argue about a fringe Collingwood player. I'll end up sounding like Stuie.

Hey Stuie, just because someone else has an opinion you don't agree with doesn't make them misguided or even wrong. There can actually be many opinions or viewpoints on a topic and value in just exploring them rather than seeing them as an attack on our own sense of righteousness...

I didn't read the wall of text you quoted, but I think Brereton may have been misquoted or understood. I heard him a bit over the weekend and he asserted that some teams need a key forward because of their structure and the way they play, while others, and he cited Melbourne at one point due to Hogan being the topic of discussion, don't overly rely on a key forward. He thought the way Melbourne played this year made Hogan expendable for the right trade. On the flip-side a team like West Coast rely heavily on Kennedy. He also said that Roughead was not a traditional key forward in that he rarely takes contested marks unless it's one on one. Imo, Hawthorn were cooked due to their appalling contested ball numbers, ageing stars, lack of at least one true key forward, and ordinary bottom 6 in their best 22. Footy is so fluid throughout a season let alone what happens over a 3 year period that to make concrete conclusions on player types like Hogan or Brown is silly. A player like Hogan, who has great endurance, aggression and contested marking ability will always be a commodity in high demand. I also think his ground level play and smarts is underestimated.

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.

To be fair, Scully's was also family related with Phat Phil taking a fat slice of the pie.

Quite enjoyed "Reservoir Dogs" so a yes from me.

The issue is that Jesse Hogan cannot decide if he wants to play for us long term or not - and this has been going on since last year. If his father is gravely ill (and I do not share your acceptance of such on the post you have mentioned) then that is yet another reason for him to go back to WA. My point remains, we cannot continue to remain suppliant to players who do not, deep-down, want to play for us. So let's get it over and done with and trade him. We are a very soft club, and it has done us no good for over 50 years - time to draw a line in the sand.

Yup, manages Paddy Ryder i believe and it's fair to say the Bombers made that as difficult as possible for all involved by demanding Wines or Wingard in a trade haha

He will be 39 next year...Let him hit the wall on someone else's list

Good to know the condescending crap written about Melbourne hasn't dried up just yet. Not many (if any) other clubs would have an article purely trying to make sense of why a player wants to go there. Take a breath. Melbourne is a destination club. At least that’s Michael Hibberd’s perspective as the defender seeks to join the Demons ahead of the 2017 season. Translation: Preapre yourself for something shocking. Players actually want to go to Melbourne. I know right? At least that's what Hibberd reckons. Lol good luck Michael.

I'd rather draft a kid who might end up having a career with us, than a final year veteran.

Chance Salem could get up, according Plapp in the GF presser. Source: MFC twitter

Nup not saying that at all, I want to keep him, so tell me, Why would he not be wiling to sign now?? What will change next year? He knows what the place is about. Why won't he sign? We offer huge amount put it onthe table, give him a few weeks to make up his mind, And if he cannot then what are we to assume?? Cmon what is there to think about? Eh?

Yes. https://www.colourbox.com/preview/2173469-funny-skinny-teen-shows-biceps-isolated-on-white-background.jpg

Someone seems to have hijacked the thread with a bunch of stuff about destination clubs....can't be bothered going through it all. All I know is that you seemed to rate Carlton as a destination club but haven't backed it up with any player of substance. Judd is the last one I remember.

Yes, he is worse than Brayshaw, who is very good despite some of the comments one sees here. Tyson can turn it over, but is a far more penetrating and damaging kick than De Goey. I agree re Harmes, who I don't have as best 22 going into next year (unless he improves his kicking). He's on a par with vandenBerg, but the latter plays a different role. And why bring up a key defender ? Compare like with like. Do you really want a player with McDonald's kicking skills running around your midfield ? Why on earth you'd bring up McDonald is beyond me. That said, he's a better kick than McDonald. De Goey is a poor kick under pressure. Very poor. We're building a midfield that renders De Goey unnecessary.

I'd be really disappointed if the club lobbied not to play a big game, most probably at our home ground, because we were afraid of losing. Bring on the Bummers I reckon.

This is getting worse by the day....It's a horrible memory.......I can remember asking my dad why Ron Barassi left and went to Carlton....over and over....poor dad being Richmond .(...who were flogged every week then....(like now Ha!) )..... couldn't help......I was shattered......just a kid.........my life ruined at 13....I thought. The Norm Smith Curse....come back Norm forgive us!!!! Ahhhh...etc etc However...I was really upset when Mitch Clark left and now I'm happy about that........Geelong can have him. I need a psychiatrist to follow this club.

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.

I agree. We are a destination club for Essendon 26 year old half back flankers. Probably the main one, since we have got two in successive years.

Sometimes, after catching up on several pages of this thread, I have an almost uncontrollable urge of throwing my iPhone against the wall.

So you're saying it IS true then?

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

Well it is mission accomplished as far as I am concerned Two months ago I conceived a cunning plan to derail the Hawk's 4peat campaign, they were on a 7 game winning streak, had beaten the Swans in Sydney, demolished the Tigers and had moved 2 games clear on top of the ladder and they were giving me the shytes no end. And as the wife and in-laws are all mad hawks supporters there was a high level of tension in the household every Dawks game night as I have a developed a pathological hatred for them over the years for obvious reasons. My plan was simply to place a large bet on them to win the flag. I haven't placed a bet on anything for 20 years because I have never won so much as a football club raffle in years of buying raffle tickets for local causes and as for horses or tattslotto forget it. In short I had put the "Curse of The Hood" on the team. Once the bet was laid at 4.5 to 1 in my new Sportsbet account, I found I was totally calm on game night and was quite happy for the Dawks to smash their opponents. It was quite therapeutic actually. And I really did think the Dawks were a real chance to win the flag as their main competitors were looking to be in average form. And the winnings would go toward my next project to buy a C3 corvette stingray that my wife believes is utter folly. She keeps saying it is impractical to buy a 40 year old, gas guzzling, 2 seater with barely enough luggage space to store a tennis racquet. I mean really what would she know! A few weeks later I watch the Dees beat them for the first time in 10 years, Stratton goes down, then the Weagles stitch them up and Ceglar goes down and all of a sudden the team looks old and slow but still has some fight left. And they certainly looked slow on Friday night as the Bulldogs ran all over them. Mitchell, Hodge and Gibson all seemed to be losing form over the last few weeks and they looked very human and battle scarred. Poor Clarko must have been scratching his head and the sports journo's as to what went wrong but now you all know the real reason. Looks like I will have to save a bit longer for the Corvette But please remember to gamble responsibly!