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Not sure why some are laying into Hogan or saying he didn't perform. The reason there is so much talk about him leaving is because he is an elite talent. He is the best new key position forward to come through in over a decade, the best since Buddy. Fact. The numbers show that. He walked into a bottom team with little supply and poor quality supply and was able to win the Rising Star - rarely done by a key forward, let alone one competing with Patrick Cripps - kick 40+ goals and lead the league in contested marks as a first year player. He towelled up All Australian full back Alex Rance in one of his first games. He's ahead of all others in the league at the same age, and still has further improvement to go. He's already capable of being in the top handful of key forwards and goal kickers in the league, and will only improve further. He'd likely have wound up one of MFC's greatest goal kickers barring bad injury problems. Those talking him down are kidding themselves. We've lost an elite talent, but the club has made the most of him leaving to balance the list and keep pushing towards a premiership. While it's a shame to lose Hogan, it won't kill us like it would've 4-5 years ago. We're stronger now, and will keep rising to glory ?

You're a hard man , have you ever lost someone ? have you ever had to care for someone as they passed away , how about living with cancer ?? I am 51 and lost my wife and now live with cancer , its something you NEVER get over. Statements like yours make me so bloody mad, come sit with me and my kids ask them how they feel , when they don't have a mum anymore , or watched me ... I hope you never ever have to find out what its like. Don't pity me and say sorry , I don't need it , I get up everyday and do what I can , my kids keep me going , go to a cancer ward and see for yourself. I too believe we won on the trade and wish Jesse all the best , as i have when I have spoken to him. Mark.

BUMP! Looks like Jack will get another year at Port. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-10-24/port-trio-set-for-lifelines-rookie-still-in-limbo Rapt for him. Of all people he deserves to keep his AFL dream alive.

I was on a diving trip in West Papua a few weeks ago and we made a stop at a remote island called Banda Island. I have been there before and always take along a bag of school supplies for the kids. To my shock and delight there were two mischievous little boys at the port in Melbourne Demon T-shirts. Admittedly they were pretty well worn and had seen better days and I asked one of them if he knew what the emblem was. He looked at me like I was stupid and said ‘Go Dees’. He didn’t know where the T-shirts had come from and they looked as though they had been handed down several times. I was so chuffed as most of the other passengers on the boat were from Perth and WCE supporters. Didn’t see any of their T-shirts. Made a mental note to bring along half a dozen next year when I go back.

I did indeed want to keep jack. One of my favorite ever dees players. Certainly that was a factor but so was the fact that he was our best kicks and we lack good kicks. His second last season with us was his high water mark and he made valuable contribution. Something that you might well remember I predicted. A prediction you took issue with leading to a losing bet and your jacky boy avatar But I also made clear on multiple occasions that I understood and respected the decision to trade him and haven't complained once since it occurred. And besides we all get things wrong PD. You for instance, in your inimitable way, dismissed completely my belief tmac could make an excellent forward when it was first tried. In fact IIRC you were quite adamant he could never be a forward's boot lace and the experiment would be short lived I on the other hand, with my strong football analytic skills and many many hours of watching him live, was adamant that not only could he be a good forward he might even play that role going forward. I mean it was pretty obvious he had the ability if you were to take of your confirmation bias glasses. Looks like I might have got that one right pd. You - not so much.

I'd rather win the AFLX than have T Mac available for 6 meaningless home and away games.

Better off throwing Tommy Bugg a life raft, delisting was the making of Jetta and I reckon Tom will step up to the plate rather than Joe Bloggs at pick 91.

My daughter was a Bunnings Greeter. Recently got promoted to the plant department. I KNEW she was made of the right stuff.

I'm already having sleepless nights thinking about how we're going to defend our title.

This is an important part of the investment equation which some seem to not understand. While we had good value from Hogan as a player we also extracted value from him as a trade. There's no way we would have got May and Kolodjashnij without having had Hogan to trade. I know it's commoditizing players to describe them this way, but Hogan was a valuable asset both as a player and as trade currency. In other words, his value to the club extends beyond the years he played with us.

I’m happy to argue it Hemingway. Not every investment pays off long term but if you don’t make them you end up broke. In Hogan’s case we got a good return while invested, but now sold that and invested it elsewhere. Jesse was drafted into the club when we were basket cases. Since he arrived we have gone from the basement to top 4. He made an impact as soon as he got on the ground and every year he was here the club improved and he was a part of it. Circumstances (Tmac becoming an elite forward, Weid stepping up at the end of the season), meant the FD were open to a trade. For every go home factor, or top draft getting a once in a lifetime offer, there are the Olivers and Brayshaws that if we didn’t invest in them we’d be back in the cellar soon enough.

That's the whole point, it's premature to make judgements about individual trades now. The thing I do make judgements about is trading philosophy. We trade for outcomes and have a reputation for getting the deal done. Dodoro and Bell do their teams no favours in the long run IMO. Play hard ball on Lever. Maybe May and GC don't have faith in us to get the deal done and lose patience and he ends up elsewhere.

Seriously? We win a flag in the next 5 years with Lever and May making significant contributions and they look like smart trades. Win more than that and they look like genius. Don't win any and you have a point. It's not about winning trade week - expect better of you.

Agree to an extent. Petracca could be like De Goey and kick 40+ as a powerful mid sized forward. At present though his kicking for goal is so poor that he's a way off that output. He's clearly capable, but for whatever reason this year he completely shat the bed with his goal kicking. He was at 1.9 from set shots at one stage. If he tidies up his goal kicking, he immediately jumps from a 15-20 goal a season player to a 40 goal a season player and is talked about as elite rather than potential.

Off-field he is not so lazy....

You just can't help yourself. Humility is underrated but you would naturally disagree. Curious that we all support the same footy side. But of course as they say, sometimes the worst supporters are your own.

JH has considerable issues & that is a fact. Considerable issues. As has been mentioned several times ...what he has had to face as a very young man ....completely understandable so no criticism there... whether he achieves his enormous potential at Freo...we will see. I only wish him well but the MFC are here & now so as much as I hate losing such a unique talent...we will be fine without him. I have a quiet snigger ...when he was at Melb ...always the “go back to Freo” issue & “don’t need him with the emergence of Weid etc & plenty of criticism about his attitude..kicking etc .. now he’s at Freo....”the salvation of the Freo footy club ” I think it is a “win win” for both clubs ...only time will tell who did the better. I thank him for what he bought to the MFC & unlike the defection of Scully”, I will move on pretty quickly & acknowledge the classy way MFC dealt with this .

FWIW Derm thinks we did best of all clubs this trade period! C+ my arze Terry

Terry's brain has gone soft most likely due to the soup and mashed food diet he adopted since 1987.

He'll be entering his 10th year on a senior list. With his injury issues, this is a testament to his character that clubs have wanted to retain him for this long with such uncertainty over his body and fitness.

Petracca should be the project player of Max Gawn's dietician.

Agree. And i recall him kicking it on the full many many times last season so his true conversion is a lot worse than the stats say. DeGoey is one of the best players in the comp. He is a much more gifted player. His skills are elite and his speed is much better than Petracca. He is an absolute Jet whereas people are starting th get frustrated by Petracca missing shots on goal at key moments.

No love for women's footy? Women's footy is a massive opportunity for clubs to grow, especially clubs like ours.

No one is forcing you to open the thread or watch it.

Good reward for working his butt off. Well done. Some other players could learn from his work ethic.

I'm not having a got at you my dear Watson, but saying we lost 47 goals assumes that if Hogan hadn't played in those games where he kicked those 47 goals, his replacement would not have kicked any either. That's highly unlikely. It's not possible to know what that number might have been, but it's certainly not going to be as high as 47.

Collingwood desperately wanted May but he chose Melbourne.

I get strangely aroused every time I'm forced to enter a Centrelink office.

Yes, it does seem a little creepy that you couldn't sleep thinking about Tom Sheridan. The heebie -GCbees?

I'm just popping in to congratulate Redleg and the gang for clocking up the first millenium.

I wonder if anyone knows anyone in the group. Everyone has a skeleton or two in the closet. I’m not saying we should blackmail them, but we should blackmail them.

In fact, a Dons’ supporter friend of mine was whinging about how good the Hawks’ trade period has been, saying “they’ll win the flag next year”. My response was “are you serious, have you seen how good our trade period was?! Our list is now perfect.” He just shook his head and laughed. But I reckon it is. I think the club deserves more credit than we’ve received to date. We simply nailed it. Everyone gets dazzled by brand name player trades, and seems not to play sufficient credit to the trades like Vince, Hibberd, Melksham, Garlett, Cross, Preuss, and KK. It’s about how trades actually improve a club’s list that is the critical element in determining the success or otherwise of a trade period, surely?

Stop rabbiting on about Jessie’s considerable issues he’s had to deal with. He’s a man. He needs to deal with it. perosnally, he has been riding on the reputation of his ‘potential’ for too long. I believe we have won by trading him out. He won’t be the generational player he was billed as and we get a strong key back to add to our side.

Thought he came across pretty genuine and provided sensible answers without too many stock standard modern footballer clechés. Did seem a bit nervous though and not as polished as some, which is kind of refreshing in a way.

I thought a B would have been sufficient, we traded to strengthen weaknesses with quality in 3 different areas Defence(May), Midfield(Kolo) and Ruck(Pruess) not many teams did that in this years trade. Yes we had to let something good go (Hogan) to get something good in return(May), if Freo weren't so stingey we would have had pick 11 instead of 23. If this would have occured i would have rated our trade period an A. If 2017 and 2018 trade gets Lever, Fritsch, May, Kolo and Pruess land us a premiership in the next 3 years, it would have been well worth it.

I am sitting next to Daddy Cool himself Ross Wilson, on a cruise ship going to New Caledonia tomorrow. It’s Called Rock the Boat and features non stop music. Foreigner Thursday and Russell Morris Saturday. Getting me in the mood for Hells Bells at the G especially after I heard an AC DC cover band last night. Banana dacquiries are the go .

This is where you lose me. It isn't a fact. We traded him out, we actively sought another player knowing we would use what we got for Hogan to source that player. Now there are whispers to the contrary of your whispers. You should be more equivocal with your 'inside knowledge' if indeed you have that inside knowledge. Because it sounds like you are not told much of the truth. I told you I believed my lying eyes and my lying eyes were right. And that is a fact.

He's certainly not a player that outwardly lacks confidence, but I reckon at this stage it's superficial. He doesn't know what it takes to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. He has the attributes, but he hasn't felt that moment yet where no one is going to stop him. I predict it'll happen next season.

Welcome to Tyla, Madeline, Jordann and Shelley. Hope you enjoy belonging to the Melbourne Football Club. Looking forward to seeing you in the red and blue.

Wallace, I do not rate as a judge of anything. The more I think about the trading period, the happier I feel about the outcomes for the MFC. And, the happier I feel about the performance of our key managers. We are in good hands.

I had a work xmas lunch at the Stokehouse about 8 years ago. Andrew Leonchelli was with another group. I introduced myself to him, then told him that I was a Demons supporter. He put his arm around my shoulder and said "you poor man". I then told him that I had been telling my female colleagues that he had kicked the winning goal against Adelaide a few years earlier. Without further ado, he marched over to our table, took out his mobile and showed the ladies himself kicking the winning goal. He had clip on his phone!!! I sent him an email a few years later reminding him of that meeting. (I think it was when Melbourne pulled off an upset against Adelaide") He replied ... "Yes, I remember. I think I'd had too much to drink". Top bloke Very friendly.

Our boats go a blistering 6kmh thank you very much! Cheers mate, I’m happy (but actually sad) that I didn’t fly back for the prelim.

@praha, what a time to be alive 1. My housemate Geert, who received a Dees scarf from me last xmas. 2. One of my best mates, known to peruse this site, with whom I work on boats. Edit: For what it's worth Geert told me excitedly about you, and Julian about you telling him about Geert. @Skuit is right about not trusting boat guys. But he also lives on a boat ?

Erm, slowly getting drunk in a pub in the Orkney islands on a sunday afternoon when I was a wee lad of 22, in 03' In walks a couple my parents age... get talking , from australia, "whereabouts" "adelaide" "oh, me, I'm from Melbourne....that Andrew Mcloud goes alright" "yeah, we don't follow adelaide - we're melbourne supporters" ....a few more drinks...turns out they had been at my parents wedding in country vic in 1968..and hadn't spoken since!

Jayden Hunt: “He’s the type of player we need. We certainly won’t be entertaining anything with Jayden – we think he’s got a lot of upside and look forward to him having a full pre-season and getting back to the form he was in a couple of years ago.” - Josh Mahoney