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Who was it a couple of years ago that wasted a big chunk of their trade period sitting in arbitration because they couldn’t agree on a deal? From memory it was Essendon and St Kilda over Jake Carlisle. We can’t underestimate the importance of getting your deals sorted early so you can move on to your next item. Mahons must have been stoked when he learned the Frost deal would be done with Hawthorn. Two clubs with a no BS approach to trading; no coincidence it was one of the first trades done. It’s also no coincidence that we’re always one of the most active clubs at trade time. Despite the way 2019 transpired, at this time of year, I always feel like we’re in very good hands.

I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, but...

"Rub on all surfaces for a perfect clean" - White King.

Have we not learnt....don't trust Collingwood! If someone is on offer, it is either bluff ( Elliot) or they are just no good.

I look forward to the day when an Essendon player says he wants to go to Fremantle or vice-versa. Actually, maybe not, Bellend and Dododo egos going head to head might cause the universe to collapse.

The AFL has butchered this completely. Instead of removing advantages some clubs had (northern academies) they expand these concepts across the board. Zoning failed last time and contributed to the near destruction of the competition. How can the draft be used as an equalisation measure when the majority of top 40 picks are going to be zoned to particular clubs? The rules as to who qualifies for the Next Gen Academy zones is also idiotic. I was born in Australia and grew up with a footy in my arms. My parents both grew up in Australia. But because my wife was born overseas (coming here as a teenager) my kids would qualify for Next Gen Academies. These are not kids who are new to the game etc my son started Auskick as a 5 year old.

Just watched the highlights package on the MFC website - he’s always sprinting, looks unreal. Wish we could’ve landed two of him. He could actually be the blue print for Jayden Hunt (on the other wing). Over to you Mr Burgess.

To be fair, WB, this is the Ben King thread

They need to get on with the Bruce and Steven deals for starters. They’ve bitten off far more than they can chew I reckon.

I haven't followed the draft super closely this year, didn't expect I'd need to, classic MFC stitch up, but from what I've read about the probable order etc it feels like the type of players we need more aren't expected to go at pick 3, so wouldn't it make more sense to split it? I know 'best available' is the old tune, but 1 x best available vs 2 x best fit makes it not so clear surely? Instead of ending up with another inside mid type, or more depth at the defensive end, we could possibly split pick 3 and end up scoring say Stephens, Weightman and then Pickett (2nd round), which could totally change our dynamic going forward. Is that a genuine possibility?

Finally, I can contribute something a little useful on this topic by selecting undecided.

You're absolutely right, it says he's one of a handful of players to play most games in an injury ravaged year.

Your opinion. Why do you think Roos was so critical of the "veil of negativity" surrounding Melbourne? Because it, and the feedback from members, has a demotivating effect on the club and he realised the whole club from the members up had to get over it. But we haven't and it's back bigger than ever. If what is posted on here has very little effect on how the club performs, which is probably true, why do we have so many on here who think that making bold and sometimes aggressive statements here about not "accepting mediocrity" and complaining ad infinitum will actually have an effect? You can't have it both ways. It's a waste of breath and keyboard strokes, and really just boils down to whingeing, which has no constructive purpose whatsoever.

Correct. It’s great to get players to say they want to come to your club, but if your club cant get [censored] done eventually players won’t come asking. Lever, May, Tomlinson, Langdon... we’ve gotten some big trade done quickly and easily the last few years and also did the right thing by player who wanted out. No point being a stubborn [censored]. Better one bird in the hand and all that.

That the same Montagna that reckons Frost is a lockdown defender (widely acknowledged as a weakness of his) and May (widely acknowledged as a very good 1 on 1 player) only an intercept player? “I think the big disadvantage for Melbourne now is Frost could lock down on the big star full forwards and Steven May could do what he does best, which is intercept mark, win a fair bit of the footy,” Montagna said. Source

It’s been mentioned a couple of times, but the fact Langdon is always on the move and at speed, will improve us instantly. For a team that relied on chaos, we were very flat footed in 2019. The way Richmond run the ball is purely due to the fact that at any given point, 80% of their side is trying to run to create an option or space for someone else. If we can get back to running for each other, it will go a long way to helping us jump back up the ladder. Both T-Mac and Weid are lead up forwards, so they should be licking their lips at the thought of genuine movement on either wing

this is sanfl seconds you do realise? and only 1 game in 12 games (sanfl 2nds, u18 and 2 games sanfl) he kicked 17 goals. take away the 6 in 1 game and you have 11 goals in 11 games hardly a prolific goal sneak. yes, he is a natural footballer type with x-factor but at 170cm i'd like to see a lot lot more of his capabilities and record to date far too easy to be seduced by a highlights video of one game.

St Kilda will probably sign him.

He’s turned out to be a better player but he reminds me of Toumpas. Amongst other things both are/were timid when it comes to contact.

Would’ve preferred Jamie Elliott.

Young intercepting is something that i think should really appeal, outside of his kicking if you look at the Tigers backline, they're all guns at peeling off and taking intercept marks and then punishing teams. Young and Lever when he's up and going could be serious weapons in that way. Plus the fact he's a beautiful kick is a huge bonus.

I think that is a little unders!

Yep ... undecided here as well DZ Let's just say we got picks 8 & 12 for pick 3. And then we go to the draft. You're still holding your breath. For long periods of time (unless it's an Oliver type) But if we traded the pick for proven talent I'd have no interest in what pick 3 actually delivers. Couldn't care less because the decsion has been made and it's final. You can't have regrets with drafting. There's no point. Make the decision and live with the decision.

Go for it I say but you've got to have bartering tools. In other words, there are limits unless the talent is being offloaded and comes cheap And we're talking about talent AF. There's a big difference between elite talent, difference makers, B graders and role players. And list fillers. 900 players in the system and probably close to half are either not really good enough or not ready. 350+ is my estimation. For the AFL it's great ... young blokes all over Australia know they've got a real chance at being a professional sportsman. But for us supporters who just want their teams to win, there are too many C & D graders in the system. 12 teams would work better but that would cost the sport itself. We're stuck with what we've got. The coaching needs to be stepped up right across the board though. Too much 'managing' and not nearly enough emphasis on actual skills. We should know.

Frost had to go, over the last 2 years the list has been stacked with defender types, and there are too many true defenders on the list, also May and Lever are highly paid, effectly we got a second round pick for forst, he was the only defender worth anything at the trade table. OMac is unfairly pick on, its like a mob bullying mentally everyone needs a whipping boy. OMac might not be the best 1 on 1 defender, but he is a good mark and is carefull with is decision-making. A team does not need a team full of great defenders to be a good defensive team. May and Lever will play a whole season, if lever does another knee the team is in big trouble he cost a lot in picks and salary cap, I always thought 2 first round picks was too much to pay, ever few players are worth 2 first round picks, and especially a defender who has previously done a knee.

Well tell him to shut the hell up because as soon as the media goes on about our team the players drink their own bath water and perform like an under 8 Auskick team. They don’t need to hear any of this type of talk.

They don't need Florent with Shiel, Saad, McKenna, Merrett, Parish, Fantasia and Heppell they have plenty of outside run they desperately need inside bulls. Their posturing has seen them miss out on Powell-Pepper and possibly a pick through Fantasia. They should get the Saints, Port and Carlton involved with the Papley, Jones, Howard and Danniher trades and try and end up with a Ross, Dunstan, Powell-Pepper and a decent pick. At the end of the day their window is going to close ( if it's even open)pretty quick with their aging key position players

William Benjamin Basil King is his full name ET.

I listened to the whole interview on my sunday bike ride, a great interview and hard not to like BM's achievements over his entire football Journey. Looks at Goody as his little brother, vice versa and still embrace each other with a big hug and still will outside of the MFC.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-11-02/trading-firstround-picks-afls-most-misunderstood-rule-explained NOTE: THIS ARTICLE IS FROM LAST YEAR. The confusing thing is working out when the 4 year rolling period beings and ends. I would have thought that we had to use one this year as we haven't used any since 2015. Turns out that we don't and that the 2015 period counts within the four year period. 2015: 2 picks 2016: 0 2017: 0 2018: 0

B https://www.justhorseracing.com.au/tips/13-10-2019-horse-racing-tips-and-best-bets-cranbourne-cranbourne-cup-day/553176 I have found this site to be pretty good for provincial meetings. (Not so good on metropolitan meetings.) Here are their best bets for Cranbourne today. BEST BET: Race Eight Number 5 William Thomas NEXT BEST: Race Three Number 13 Zorro’s Dream LONG SHOT: Race Two Number 9 Royal Crown

Couldn't agree more, I reckon we; 1. Only recruit d!ckheads with a history of recurring injury. 2. Initiate a covert off site 'supplements' program. 3. Find ways to pay players outside of the salary cap without the knowledge or approval from the AFL. 4. Adopt list management, game style and match day tactics based on advise of Demonland.

iirc Ess also ended up in arbitration for Ryder to Port. They are habitual offenders.

Someone was trying to tell me a few weeks back that the Bombers being tough to deal with was a 'myth'. As long as Dodoro is there they will always be an absolute pain during trade week.

I just like the fact that we obviously had a plan for the trade period and have executed it cleanly and (compared with most other clubs) quickly. I assume much of the work was done months ago getting the players interested and negotiating terms, but the deals with the other clubs (ie, Freo and Hawthorn) still had to be done. The club deserves credit for its ability to achieve its desired aims.

Re Bennell the talk is that they have got to the bottom of his soft tissue problems and they have been rectified and he is now more mature and asking for a chance. We know he has exceptional skills that we don’t possess and that is why some here have suggested he train with us over the preseason to test both his physical and mental resilience before we would take him on. Seems a low risk possible high reward approach to me.

I actually had a good day on the punt.. Got Super Seth among a few others but Noire wasn't a great tip haha

Ratten as Coach is a huge plus He is well respected and loved within the AFL

I don't know about others but I feel so much more comfortable seeing this sort of press as apposed to last year. The overhype of this team and supposed 'Best List' leading up to season 2019 was way overboard. We had a decent season and were able to knock of two weaker top 8 sides at the G before crumbling out west to a legitimate premiership team. The jump from young developing list with nice pieces that can make the 8 and challenge top 4 sides to then being considered to have best list in the AFL and a premiership favourite was such a reach IMO. It made me super anxious as it set us up for disappointment. Not that I thought we would fall this far. Bring on more articles like this I say. Give the good old Melbourne faithful something to whinge about and continue to doubt a team so they can prove muppets like Ralph wrong.

The Melbourne Football Club has taken a bucket-load of risks even in quite recent memory. Of course, in hindsight they are all either 'obvious' or 'blunders'. Ahh, the past. All so boring and predictable.

This time last year he was tweeting comments about how good our on-ball brigade were and picked us to finish top 5. Fast forward 12 months and on Trading Day he said that we managed to 'fluke' a preliminary final last year. I'm glad David King didn't let the comment pass without rebuttal- He replied that side's don't fluke their way to a preliminary final. Quite frankly it was a ridiculous comment that reflects a superficial understanding and analysis of the game. I think Ralph like a few of his media commentator fraternity are a little salty that we embarassed their season predictions.

FMD, Essendon want Heaney or Blakey as part of the Daniher trade. For a guy whos spent most of the past 2 years injured with chronic conditions. Dodobird is an [censored] hole. Swans should give him the bird and let the Bombers deal with Joe's disgruntled, huge salary.

And let us train on the G ya mugs! It's all gone downhill since January the 2rd 1965! Take it away, SWYL!

Oh no....Caulfield or Randwick? I had an ok day in the end. Was all over Black Heart Bart for a place. Couldnt resist after last week. Wont be 18 & 4 next start thats for sure. Had Nights Watch cause ive seen the painting in Amsterdam...haha.....was on Shadow Hero and Trekking. Trekking in the Everest....has to be a bet doesnt it??

Unfortunately, he'd be always off the ground under the blood rule.

Calling us a basket case side is an insult to basket cases sides. We have sunk below even that level. We have been pathetic for the good part of two decades now. There is no fight left. We will need a miracle to climb the ladder consistently.

Why do people take this [censored] personally? He's entitled to an opinion. And, like, he's not wrong. We finished 17th. Some people around here bang on like we're assured success.

From my brother a Dockers member and another mate also a member both virtually said the same thing Kicking is not great, but has improved the last couple of years with him getting fitter and less fatigued His gut running is going to be hard to replace(especially with Hill also going) he just brings others into the game with the options and space he creates. A steal for a player they both see as still on the up

I like this thread. Even if we're all completely wrong about Langdon, at least for the first time in 6 months there's some positivity back around us. I'm really looking forward to seeing him line up for us. Why should they be viewed independently? Just so you can isolate the Frost trade and whinge about it? It is completely feasible, even probable, that we did the Frost deal knowing what we were going to do with the Langdon deal. People get too caught up on draft picks sometimes. Ultimately we will look at this trade/draft period at the end and look at who went off the list and who came onto it, and we'll see in time whether the added players have improved us. Your list of other options to trade out is classic Demonland silly season thinking. Frost had value this year. We have the ability to cover for him (whether you like May/Lever or not). None of the players you've listed have anywhere near the value that Frost has. And none of the players you've mentioned were out of contract and asking for a big pay/year rise. Frost was entitled to want more money/years in his next contract, but I completely understand (and agree with) the club's decision to hold back on giving him that rise and to instead "cash in" on his 2019. IMO, even to those who think we've lost value in Frost, I think the gain we get from Langdon should outweigh the loss to Frost. We need more run/carry on the wing than we do Frost's daring runs out of the backline. We will be a better side long-term with May and Lever playing FB/CHB reliably and Langdon on the wing.

I hit the 'like' button, but I don't like it at all. I agree, however.