Leaderboard

Hope they blow it up.

One year deal. Well done Cam and good luck. No surprise really, was clearly in the cards when he went in early for the knife. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-10-06/pedersen-inks-new-oneyear-deal

far too cold and windy. whole place is a desolate, soulless, overdeveloped future ghetto

Extend the scout's contract now.

We definitely won the Gysberts trade

thought this was going to be a thread about Vickory

Can't believe people still argue that Dawes is more valuable than Pedo. The guy does everything Dawes does, but can actually take a mark and is on half the salary. Well done to the Pedo Bear, and well done to the MFC. 16 re-signings in 12 months!

Pedersen is there to buy Weideman time. This is an indication that the club does not want to put undue pressure on its young players. It's just a responsible signing rather than an exciting one.

I suppose they can say they won 3 flags, but the clearing of father/grandfather legend/son, Josh Kennedy, is one of the greatest list blunders of modern times. Kennedy last night won his 3rd Swans B & F. He has become a champion. His family begged Clarkson to give him a go, but they didn't and cleared him. It shows even a genius footy coach like Clarkson, can make a huge blunder on the ability of a player. Would they have won more flags with him?

Please let it mean we don't have to play home games there anymore...last year v St Kilda was an absolute joke

Billy is diligent, hard working, extremely reliable and has good skills, His development in the short time he has been on our list has been as good as any, and he definitely sits comfortably as one of our 'young guns' (albeit that his name rarely comes up when footy discussions turn to the Dees ............ outside these pages of course!). A gem, who will get the recognition that he deserves over what i expect to be a long career in our colours.

So what do you think of it?

Damn , I really liked her. She masterfully got under Essendrug supporters skin during the drug saga, and for that she is a legend. RIP Rebecca

With GWS losing $1.1m in salary cap and having to reduce list size, I hope we are targeting someone on their list. Other clubs seem to be. Of course no point just getting a dud for the sake of getting someone, but they have lots of talent not getting a game.

Lions have apparently gone cold on Dunn, because they have Jack Frost. Unintended pun. Not the worst thing to keep Dunn, who like Pedo, can also be a swing man in a number of positions and can kick a long goal as well. That said I hope we can find a new home for Garland. PS. I hope Grimes gets a new gig, he deserves another chance.

I'm not overly fussed by Bris. getting a priority pick, but I detest the double standards involved by our governing body. Shameful!

I'd take my chance with the bloke from the crowd

Weideman is a long way from being physically ready (if ever) to do forward / ruck back up duties. I would be shocked if he was thrown into the ruck, at least at AFL, next year. Later on........maybe?

Raffle the chance to press the button or depress the Wile E Coyote style plunger. That'd recoup some of the cost. Sell the rubble as souvenirs.

Good decision for Lin Jong.

I don't thing Salem has a lack of speed, he isn't lighting quick but I don't think he is slow. One of those blokes that moves so well with little effort, he would be great on the outside on a wing feeding the ball inside 50. Trade week for us will be picking up Hibberd, trying to offload Dawes for something early third round late second, giving Dunn away to improve draft position. I think we give away our second round pick and then trying to secure an early second round pick 20-25 by trading out these two with picks and hopefully also advancing second pick to somewhere is the 30-40 range. That is really all we will be able to do and if we can execute this it's a win. We don't really have any players of worth that we want to off load and our picks outside second round won't attracted any decent players. Might try to get an uncontracted free agent.

I felt towards the end of the year a lot of Melbourne fans were turning on him a bit, I think as a defence mechanism to expectations that he would ditch us. Now that he's committed and essentially said he's in it for the long haul I hope those people give him every bit of support and credit as he could've taken some big money.

Swan reminds me a bit of Robson... Very overrated BS artist.

i think all state politicians, developers and city councillors should be forced to live there

And now the best comment of all. Greg Swann, the Lions CEO, who said we didn't deserve one and led the fight against us getting one, though we were worse and had a worse list, history and results, said that the AFL were totally correct in awarding the Lions a pick, as they fitted within the criteria for getting one. AFL fl og and brown noser of the year.

100% agree Red. I actually am not fussed about the Lions getting a priority pick but the arguments put forward as to why we didn't get one and it is ok for Brisbane to get one infuriate me. Chief among them is the argument we actually got a a PP in the form of Frawley. Mods please turn the filter off for a second - that is complete bull [censored]. I heard Sam McClure run this argument and it drives me nuts. As you say red that was the rule and it was designed to compensate bottom teams from being decimated by free agency (as an aside Sam McClure has become my most disliked media person. He has morphed from a gossip into someone who seems to have license to give editorials - i'm no Gen Y basher but he simply does not have the runs on the board to be credible, not to mention he is so often wrong and infuriatingly smug, can't stand his father either by the by). The other argument that we got PJ and money for Paul Roos is similarly rubbish. As you point out all clubs get financial assistance from the AFL. And it is their interest all clubs are solvent as they have a billion dollar TV deal that is dependent on 18 teams. But in any case the AFL have installed Fagan and Noble so they have received the same assistance we have. The other issue is that an argument for us not getting a PP was that were the architects of our own demise. And Brisbane haven't been? Sheesh. They are 30 odd millions in debt. Their board is in disarray. They have just sacked in their second coach in the the last 3 years or so (with Voss getting the axe because they apparently thought they had Roos). Their culture obviously sucks. They can't retain players. They've brought in duds. And under Voss they traded away their picks for players like fevola thinking they might snag a flag. All this after having won three flags a decade ago. Beggars bloody belief. And don't get me started on us not getting a PP as punishment for tanking.

Pedo lays a great bump indeed. The commentators will always say "well that will get looked at," just because it's the MFC and a fringe 22 player. If it was Hodge or Rioli then it would be "oh, what a fantastic bump! Nothing to worry about there for the Hawks." Irritating.

Very sad and much too young. Very good and strong independent thinking journo. Didnt pander to popular opinion. Kept her illness quiet to spare others. RIP and sincere condolences to her family and friends.

There is a definite and specific place in our starting 22 for Pedo. He starts on the bench and rotates on the ground to relieve Gawn and Hogan when they need to rest. This rotation also may include Watts or OMac if required. He is a regular swing-man who does a lot of gut running and grunt work that does not transfer into possessions and stats. He will give you 5 brilliant games, 12 or so "played his role" games and 5 howlers each year. Great to see him with one more year.

The thread is not about what would have happened had he stayed, that is a throw away line. The thread is about even the best Coaches misjudging the talent and ability of players even on their own list. It was a blunder and Clarkson would agree.

You're making a wrongful assumption that Richmond would want Grimes.

This signing makes me happy. I like Pedo.

Good contested mark , good kick for goal ,and can play ruck. Took some spectacular grabs this year too. Honest competitor who is perfect insurance while Weideman develops

#pedonomyth

Interesting to see Hoges being a lot more vocal in the press waxing lyrical about Goody and the emerging group. I think he is hooked. Hallelujah!

As there does not seem to be much choice, I would not be averse to Minson. We do not want another "development" tall. Minson is an intelligent and experienced ruckman that knows his craft and his limitations. Not ideal but not a stupid choice. He has a bit of aggro and can take a mark around the ground.

Harriet Cordner has joined the Dees Women's team as a 'B' Rookie http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-10-05/cordner-continues-tradition She will be the 8th Cordner to play for Melbourne. Her grandfather Don Cordner won a Brownlow and Captained the club. Two Cordners are in our Team of the Century. While I'm sneaking in Women's league news, Daisy won the Woman of the Year award, a sort of Brownlow : http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-09-29/pearce-named-football-woman-of-the-year Oh and some new assistant coaches were appointed. http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-10-04/assistants-named-for-womens-team Apologies for gate crashing the main Forum but not many people venture over to the Women's League Forum and I thought these stories were to good to miss especially the Harriet Cordner one. May she have as distinguished a footy career as her ancestors!

The AFL 'changed' their unknown/undisclosed formula after the Frawley pick: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-10-07/revealed-what-it-takes-to-earn-firstround-free-agency-compensation- "CLUBS will only receive a first-round compensation pick after losing a free agent in 2015 if the player's new contract ranks them among the top five per cent of AFL wage earners aged 25 and older... It is believed the CEOs were told the 2015 threshold for a first-round compensation selection is significantly higher this year compared to 2014, when Melbourne received pick No.3 as compensation for losing defender James Frawley to Hawthorn... The AFL also explained that if a player's contract offer ranked in the next 10 per cent band then he would command compensation at the end of the first round, the next 15 per cent earned a second-round pick and the next 20 per cent earned a pick at the end of the second round". Doubt this would stop the AFL making up 'other circumstances' to justify any comp pick they want to give!

PEEEDO!!! cant wait to see him bump and rag doll players next year. Adds some much needed big man aggression to the fwd line. Dawes will be gone now you'd think.

The reality is that the AFL is obviously super concerned about the performance of a required AFL club in NRL heartland. Sure, it's total b.s that the Lions get a priority pick in circumstances where we were denied one a few years ago despite having an overwhelming case for getting one. But I don't see this case like that. To my mind, it's more on par with GWS and the Suns getting unbelievable support (i.e. priority picks) in order to succeed. The only difference here is that it's a priority pick going to an established club - the principles remain similar though. A weak Brisbane Lions is bad business for the national completion, whereas we were just another struggling Melbourne based club with an unfortunate narrative.

I'm all for insurance players, but you need to be confident they can actually still play at AFL level, otherwise they are just eating up a valuable spot on the list. Are we that sure Minson can? He did not demonstrate so this year. In Minson's case he (and/or Spencer) would also be eating up all the ruck minutes at Casey that need to be spent on Mitch King. I doubt he's leaving the Bulldogs to be a VFL ruckman elsewhere anyway.

I don't think there is a nicer, more genuine and more giving person than Jack. His passion for the Club and his role was obvious to anyone who met him. I admired him for the way he played his role at Casey. He showed maturity beyond his years and as LH has said "integrity plus" If he does get picked up by another Club he will play with as much heart as he did whilst at Melbourne. However if he doesn't get to another Club, I am sure that he will succeed in anything that he takes on. I hope that there will be some role for him at the Club at a later time.

That trade whisperer bloke is full of it, mate. Don't believe a word he says. This is the same 12 year old who said Hogan would return early to 'travel'.

I'm with the dissenters....Weed, I think, was just given a taste to keep him focussed. I think Pedo is considerably better at this point and can relieve Max in the ruck. Weed is very much a work in progress and needs at least another season or two of development. My guess is that he and Pedo will be in and out of the team according to form, needs and the opposition.

I watched him at Box Hill in the last Casey home and away: he was sensational. Casey might have won the flag had he not been surgeonized.... I'm glad he's been retained. He isn't a great player but he gives 100%, all of the time. Go Pedders

Pedobear is the most reliable contested mark on our list. His signing is sound insurance while Hogan and Weideman are developing.

Meh.

Jeez, thanks for the searching party thread... I got promoted earlier in the year at work and then I stupidly agreed to coach a reserves team up here in the AFL Canberra so my free time was minus hours... Getting back in the habit now with trade week looming...