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thanks mate , I can tell you that Miss 11 and 13 was more upset , than my 7 year old , I guess as we also sponsored Jesse we had met with him many times personally and so on, It was hard for the kids to take. I had explained to them some of the reasons and the cancer side of it too , they completely understood that , as we are sadly very familiar with cancer in our family. I must say though the club did ring me within minutes of the trade being done and tell me, which was a nice touch.

It's worth re-iterating that Steven May chose MFC over offers from Collingwood and Hawthorn who also made finals this year - really who would've thought that even 2 years ago? And he cited the key reason was "the guy" Simon Goodwin, that means he preferred Goodwin over Clarkson and the reborn new age Buckley! Wake me up, I must be dreaming!

From the afl website

Our backline has gone from a shambles three to four years ago to now being a strength. We've added Hibberd, Lewis, Lever and now May. It's unbelievable. Not in my time once as a supporter have felt confident in our back six as an entire unit. And now I will be. To my ears, it sounds as if many posters who have questioned the May trade haven't actually watched him play, or nearly enough of him. Let me elaborate. In May, we're getting pretty much exactly what Frost offered us in terms of speed and offensive play from our back-half. However, unlike Frost, May is an exceptional one-on-one defender and intercept player, he has elite foot-skills for a key defender, he is super smart and composed with ball in hand and he plays with a similar intensity to Viney both at the ball and man. He is similar to Rance in that he has the closing speed and awareness to leave his opponent and halve contests that otherwise would be pencilled in as a win for opposition sides. That trait is extremely special. He is a leader and former captain. His aggression and presence are going to change the entire look and feel of our defence. During the year, I am certain that opposition key forwards would have been strolling into our backline, seeing Oscar and Frost as our key defenders and thinking they'd have a day-out. Franklin, Riewoldt, Kennedy, Hawkins. All of them would have licked their lips. May's addition in that sense is enormous. Opposition sides know that May is aggressive and plays to hurt, and that advantage is significant. Opposition forwards second guessing at contests is exactly what you want as a defender. I can't remember ever having that in our backline save maybe for Jetta on smaller forwards, but never key forwards. They've always had something laugh at. Posters really do underestimate what he's going to provide and the onflow effect he'll have. His arrival is as big as any imo.

Often you look at old clips and it looks like old fashioned football. Sean Wight could slot easily into our current side. Goodwin would love him.

The next contract we may have to be concerned about is Mahoney's. The man is doing good, no doubt it's being noticed.

Just read his interview on the club website and im more pumped than ever to get him in. He has already spoken to Lever and it sounds like he cant wait to get stuck in again. On a side note, this is the quote that most stood out......... “I’ve never even played in a Friday night game, let alone a final, so I’m just looking forward to being part of it.” How The actual [censored] is that possible for a player who has been on the field 120 or so times. I, and others, will miss Hogan, but i have a feeling this bloke will bring something that helps us all cope with the loss.

Get out of the weeds and look at it from a higher POV: we turned a star asset about to enter his prime that didn’t want to be around anymore into a star asset in his prime, a possible best 22 player about to enter his prime, and a top 25 pick. We didn’t go back to the draft for a kid, we helped out the weakest area of the list, possibly addressed a glaring need with ball use and got a reasonable pick for the next spargo. I am impressed that we lose Hogan and yet have a better team for Rd 1 next year.

Well until we start training it's over for footy... This is the worst period of the year for me as footy gets taken over by racing, some weird pastime people continue to call a sport for some unknown reason. A more pointless pursuit I cannot think of. Can anyone tell me when we're back on the track? It will be a bit later this year because of our finals appearances, how strange is that. Bring on season 2019...and to think some want to shorten the season, must have rocks in their heads.

Maybe he wouldn’t have felt pushed if he agreed to sign an extension.

From the way he's standing, it looks like his foot is buggered. And there's a haunted look in his eyes, like a bloke seriously troubled by something. Dodged a bullet

The kid is gonna have a big shock to his system. He’s going to be a senior player over here, ‘Jonno’ retired this year, Sandilands on his last legs, Mundy & Ballantyne likely to be out too. Neale wanted out, and as their new star KPF there’ll be a lot of pressure on Jesse to provide leadership on field especially if, as expected, the Dockers are down the bottom again. One thing’s for sure there’ll be a heap more pressure on him to perform than there has been at the MFC this past couple of years.

I can't wait to have a player like May run out onto the G for us. No problem with this tackle or the little thank you very much afterwards. Occasionally you need opposition to earn their free kicks (without crossing the line obviously). Bring on 2019.

He still loves Jessie. ? The video of him hearing the sad news is in this link How many kids going this. I am especially thinking of the little guy in the pic below who is the son of @markc Hope your little fella and family find a new demon hero.

One of the things I love about this is that not only have we secured May we prevented the Pies (on of our premiership competitors) from landing him. If there's on thing they need in their team, it's a key back as evidenced in the GF.

Titus O’Reily’s GCS team photograph 2019

Which means she was a Giant first.

Agree. Not sure about a once in a generation key forward. Big statement. My generation has seen the likes of McKenna, Hudson, Dunstall, Lockett etc who all would eat Hogan for Breakfast. He is gone and for me I barrack for MFC not JHFC. Let it go as when RBD left I'm sure not many or any MFC supporters changed to Carlton or for that fact the many Hawk supporters moved to Swans when Buddy left. I follow MFC not a player. Took a while to get over Watts and see what he has done at Port so let's just get over Hogan and focus on the team we have, which I believe will give us plenty of smiles in coming years.

Went to footy training last night (our Spring High Intensity Training or 'S.H.I.T' program) and post training hydration was alive with trade talks. There were many Eagles supporters fuming that the Kelly trade didn't get done but there was even more Dockers supporters there that were fuming how they paid 'overs' for Hogan. General consensus was that they're already wary of his injury history and alleged 'off-field' behaviour. My guess is that if Hogan can't get it together over here for the Dockers, he will become a whipping boy for these lunatics. The messiah syndrome has been significantly amplified by his return to Perth and whilst he's now home with family and friends, I think he's in for a lot of scrutiny compared to what he experienced at the Dee's.

Good luck to him except when he plays against us. I will not be booing him when we play against freo next year. Happy with the trade bring on 2019. good luck Jessie hope you find happiness back in perth.

Just wait until that post is screenshotted and placed on Facebook which someone then shares via email which is then printed out and taped to a telephone pole and then some millennial takes a selfie in front of and posts it to Snapchat.

She’d a tear I must confess watching that. His balance, poise and focus on the ball was floweresque. Horrible to think we lost 3 champions way too soon.

He went to Freo, it’s similar to dying but he’s not dead.

Quite frankly that looks completely normal to me and seems like it was forever to be so.

One thing I’ve wanted for a while but never seems to happen. Home game at the G vs Essendon, the ALWAYS seem to get the home game vs us. It’s actually getting ridiculous now.

who currently has a serious foot injury, who didn't want to play for us anymore, and who's OOC next year.

Posters who are unhappy about this trade period need to relax and revisit this in 5 years time. The same posters complained about Melksham. A player who had the best year of his career to date this season. Do these naysayers know that since Roos took over, we're the only club to have a moved in a consistently upward linear fashion year upon year? Where has this view that 'Mahoney always gets pantsed' come from? There is absolutely zero evidence to show for it if looking at our results year after year since the Roos rebuild. Wake the fuckark up you ninnies. We just made a prelim without Hogan and have addressed a pressing backline need by nabbing a former number 5 draft pick, who is still seriously untapped as well as a player who footy experts say would be an AA key back in a better side. Both of them for a pick 6.

NO MORE GEELONG GAMES IN GEELONG. Why are we the only Victorian team that is made to play there? Joke! West Coast in Melbourne for a change would be nice. Essendon home game at the G for once.

Hijacking the thread a little (I’ll create a new one later) but I’d give Preuss 12 so he’s next to Max in the locker room.

Good question, I am not sure. Perhaps rather a Jinx. Aside from Dennis Cordner way back in the ether, there have not been many great successes at the Club in this jumper. Certainly not in the last 50 years. For me, Jesse's time in that jumper was a disappointment. And it spent a considerable amount of time in the locker.

It gives you a nice warm feeling when you hear May's comments. A coach that the players love, finals success, a destination club etc etc. Its like a new club. But Goodwin is at the centre of it all.

I’d love to see Steven May in the 27 Sean Wight, Ingo, Rivers.

You can’t underestimate the point about wantaway players not being a health hazard to the organization. The players themselves might be professionals and give their all on the field but the atmosphere always gets strained as soon as they or the team has a bad day and the media gets on the case with their speculation. We traded out one player who had no contract and two with one year left and now have three players well and truly tied to the club plus AVB is on a three year contract. We did well.

THE TRADING CHRONICLES 2018 Whispering Jack PART TWO - NO CHOICE There was a time before he even played a single game at AFL level that Jesse Hogan was regarded as the player who would lift Melbourne from the bottom of the ladder. He’s been at the club since he was selected in the 2012 mini-draft but circumstances caused him to wait two seasons before making his AFL debut. He achieved Rising Star status in 2015, kicked more than 40 goals in three of his four seasons, had his disappointments with injuries, illness and personal issues with the loss of his father and yet, Hogan the Saviour seemed forever absent for the club’s most triumphant moments. Hogan is now a Docker after the Demons traded him for national draft picks 6 and 23 on the final day of the AFL's trade period. This is despite the fact that he was contracted to Melbourne for 2019 and would have earned good money. There’s no doubting his quality as a footballer but he wanted to go home and the likelihood remained high that he might be gone after another season filled with unwelcome distractions of an uncertain future at the club. And not for the first time. When expectations are high for the future after making it to a Preliminary Final, full commitment to the cause beyond the now is paramount. In the end, there was no choice. Moving on to the future, the three players introduced to the Melbourne Football Club have the attributes of commitment, willingness to work hard and the ability to fill needs. Former Gold Coast co-captain Steven May, a hard-at-it defender has a five year contract. The skillful Kade Kolodjashnij who brings run and carry to the table and mature ruckman Braydon Preuss both join the club with three year deals. There is no certainty in the business of sport but Melbourne appears to have done well in a trade period that also saw it upgrade its draft position to a point where it now has two picks in the 20s. There is still a lot to do at the draft table, some rookie upgrades and possible acquisition of delisted free agents to fill the eight vacant places on the club’s lists. Where does this all leave the Melbourne Football Club? Age journalist Peter Ryan summed up the Demons’ trade period in At a glance: Assessing each club's 2018 AFL trade period when he wrote “At a glance: Going for the flag”. Of course, it’s too early to make a reasoned analysis of the trade period because the outcome is never determined in the moment. Time will tell for all clubs and in 2018 there were so many different agendas and strategies. There were clubs that used it to dump the burden of high salaries, some wanted better draft position while others aimed to fulfill certain needs. In the end 42 players changed clubs by way of trades but by draft time at the end of November, there will be many more new faces at every club. The completed trades - Trade Tracker

he forgot to leave the flap open ....

I know you have been lamenting our backline for a the past few years as I have. Our additions are an absolute game changer. Added to that we have serious grunt and hurt factor. May, Viney, Vanders, Hibberd and Jetta are contested beasts. Oppositions will know they have been tackled and that actual and preceived pressure will be a great bonus for us.

His short delivery is actually pretty good. I understand his instructions have been to give it off quickly to the easiest option. No hero shots. As such he has done well. He'll never be a Salem with his disposal but the whole package of Frost has some very strong traits.

Play Frost as a tall winger who can run and kick deep into the forward 50.

In addition to your observations, Salems Lot, we are approaching the stage where oppositions will need to adapt to us as much as we have had to do to them in the past. Exciting times for us.

I know the selection committee seem to rate Oscar over Frost but I think those two fighting for the second KP defender is going to be interesting to view. Frost definitely adds something with his pace, and his disposal improved a lot last year as well so I can see him getting quite a few games in 2019. Preuss will be very interesting to watch how they use, lots of commentators were shocked that he chose to come to Melbourne when he’s going to be behind Max. Personally I think the club has a very clear idea about how they will use him next year and I won’t be surprised to see us play two rucks with either one of them spending time forward. Max is happy and that makes me happy!

I’m happy with Mahoney. Maybe he could have ended up with pick 14-18 instead of 23. But he delivered Preuss, who will be hugely important in big games next year with Max able to spend time as a target forward. Max, Weid, Tmac can each take pack marks in high pressure games against top teams when there isn’t as much forward 50 space, and Jesse doesn’t have the elevation to do that. And trading to add pick 28 could be another Spargo/Fritsch if JT delivers again. We also saw in last 5 weeks how important forward 50 pressure is, and that is not improved when Jesse played. Can’t wait for round 1.

I heard somewhere they have 9 players over 30 next season. I hope their playing falls off a cliff like ours did 12 years ago. Furthermore, so sick of this Clarkson being the messiah crap. A bit like you, I hope the high risk recruitment plays thay the Hawks have made come back to bit them, Clarkson gets the sack, and we transfer the Norm Smith curse to them for another 50+ years, hereby to be know as the Alistair Clarkson curse.

Good on him. Have a couple of darts on your time off and have some fun.

Good riddance

May will eat it and spew it back up on Max.

A number of our delisted players are better than any of the suggested delisted players from other clubs.

I think they've taken a big risk with a potentially unhappy player with an unhappy wife. But then again they do think they are still in the window with Ablett in his last year and other stars around 30 now so they really have no choice but to go for it next year - they are still topping up in this trade period. I think they are deluded. I hope they are too.