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Thought his achievements this year are worthy of special acknowledgement: Keith "Bluey" Truscott winner AA team on first nomination 2nd in the AFLCA coaches award which was won by Neale 3rd in the MVP awards, second to Neale and Boak Reflecting on those in total: he is voted the best by club coaches, AA by 'independent' AFL figures, top 2 by all coaches that saw him play and 3rd by his peers; some 800+ players. He has been building to this for several years and as he said has areas to improve and won't that be awesome! He graciously credited teammates, coaches and fitness staff at the Bluey. He has carried himself with maturity and humility. For the first time in eons we not only have a club champion we have an AFL champion, an elite player. Regardless of how mfc fortunes go in future he will be a joy to watch and people will go to games just to see his class. Rapt for him.

Can't specifically say to much but my information comes from someone employed by the club. I don't post everything i'm told, but this will be announced in due course so i'm coming forth now.

The guy has been locked up in Qld with a 2 week old baby with no support from parents etc. Played a hellish schedule and missed finals. Time he had a little space. It won't kill us to wait for the decision. It's our pastime it is his life.

I don't wish to deflect this thread from Oliver but I feel it is important to clarify that statement. He has shown consistent improvement since he started playing. Year 1 - 2015. Out injured with ACL. Interrupted preseason. Year 2 - 2016. Out injured (toe). Interrupted preseason. Debuted rmd 6. Played mainly fwd. Kicked 12.11 Year 3 - 2017. First full pre-season. Played mainly fwd. Kicked 22.6 Year 4 - 2018. Played mainly fwd. Had poor goal kicking 19.23 Year 5 - 2019 Played fwd and mid. Leading club goal kicker 22.14. Came 5th in BnF. Year 6 - 2020 A stellar year. So it took him approx 3.5 years not 6 (mid 2016 to the start of 2020) to reach his "one good season". Players don't suddenly have one good season. It is built on hard work with consistent growth and improvement. imv it is a bit unfair to say he wants to walk into a premiership contender. Perhaps he wants to be at a club where everyone (on and off the field) works as hard as he does at being the best they can be. I've heard he is fully committed to winning a premiership at the dees. He plays like he does.

The difference here from many of the other ruck trades is that Preuss has 2 years of contract remaining. This means that we have full control, unlike say Nankervis or similar. We have leverage here because it's not like we are desperate to get rid of him and he's contracted. We could easily have him on the list for another year and do it next year. We hold the whip hand and it wouldn't surprise me if we got a pretty decent deal for him. He play 2 games in the ruck this year. One where he was very competitive with Grundy and the other where he smashed English. He's an AFL quality ruck who we have in contract. A team that needs a first ruck would need to tempt us into trading him.

This year has changed our world and changed our perspectives on many things. I have been following Melbourne for a long time. As you get older and reflect on your football supporting life, you remember the highlights. Many would probably say what highlights, Melbourne has not been successful as a club, they haven't won a premiership since I began supporting them. Believe me, as time goes on, and especially this year, when so many enjoyments have been taken away or lost, it's the great moments you witnessed, together with fellow fans around you at the ground, that you treasure. Jack's goal that QB game was one of those moments. My view was the same as you see on the TV clip, only us fans were all on our feet screaming when he took that run down the wing. We all knew he was going to kick the goal. The noise was deafening. It was like being at a Beatles concert. No one could hear each other. We were lost in the moment of elation and awe. For a while the outside world took a back seat. We need moments like those more than ever. Best wishes and good health to you Jack. Thanks for the memories.

Jack Viney has resigned for 4 years.

Polec for TMac is gathering momentum apparently. Didn't expect that, thought North had already said no, but maybe they're that keen to get rid of him.

Completely agree. I was very disappointed that we traded him at the time, particularly given Roos’ comments about him being the one player on the list whom he wanted with the ball in hand delivering it into the forward line in a tight game. The irony. His trade also seemed to have been handled very poorly at the time. I hope some of the meatheads at the club now recognise this. I’m now hoping the club shows some EQ and recognises Watts as an important and loyal former player of the club. He may not have been a great of the club, but he was certainly a well-liked and important MFC player - and he should be treated as such. Bring him back into the fold MFC. He’s not a Port player. He’ll always be a Demon.

I know there is always a lot of talk about trades and improving the list at this time of year. But I believe that the path to our next premiership can be from internal improvement by a small number of our key players. The coaching, the list construction and our depth is not the major issue. While I think a better winger and forwards will improve our side at the margin, really what we need is our best young players to take the next step. The 5 key improvements we need to have are: 1. Oliver’s disposal Clarry is obviously one of our best players, but I don’t think we will never win a flag unless he improves his disposal. He so prolific at winning the ball (top 5 for total possessions in the AFL but top for Clangers), and turnovers are what kill you in modern football. When Oliver gets possession all the other Melbourne players are working hard into space, so we are out of position defensively if he turns it over. Clarry is the source of our greatest strength and our greatest weakness, so our destiny is heavily tied to his disposal. 2. Petracca improves his consistency Trac was great this year and he has now learnt how to win the ball consistently. The next step for him is to improve the consistency of his kicking. We will be almost impossible to beat if Oliver and Petracca have high disposal efficiency. 3. Jackson needs to transition from talented kid to star player Jacko moves like a gazelle and is well skilled. At the moment I describe his game as being similar to Bontempelli, Blicavs and Mitch Clark, but he currently also possesses all of the flaws of those players and just glimpses of the best bits. If he can improve his marking, to be able to catch the ball at the highest point, it won’t take long before he is a top 5 player in the competition. 4. Weideman takes another step Sam took a major step forward with his marking this year. He also improved in bringing the ball to ground when he was out of position. But he needs to do this every week. And he needs to improve his goal kicking because his set shot technique is good. 5. Fritsch transforms from dead fish to deadeye Has there ever been a player who has been talked up more as a great kick to miss so often? Fritsch will always be just an ordinary forward pressure player, so he needs to capitalise better when he gets his chances in front of goal.

Langdon has been a massive success on one wing but Tomlinson less so and maybe he's found his slot as 3rd tall back - anyway he provides decent multi-role flexibility on matchday. I'd like us to try Mitch Hannan for an extended period on the other wing in the pre-season and next year. He's a footballer, a nice left foot kick, has some speed, is a decent size at 189/87 and is quite strong overhead. Maybe his endurance and repeat sprints aren't up to it, but he's got a mature body and should be able to put in solid work over summer with Burgess to address this. We've got an oversupply of medium marking forwards and Hannan can go missing in this difficult role. I rate him and I think we can get more out of him.

This is my worry with where our club is at. If we don't show proper improvement and have a clear direction as to where we are going then we essentially become a feeder club for the good teams. Who is to say that we aren't already that now, along with a few other clubs mind you. As someone said earlier, most players seem to love the NBA and they have been watching how the good players essentially just pack up and go to a power team so they can win a championship and how normal it has become for them. Even watching players like Lynch go to the tigers and grab a flag straight away and the way it is seemingly more and more accepted will make it more acceptable to them to spend their development years at a club, become a good player and then leave for success. The way that free agency is almost designed now, it sets up the comp for this feeder club scenario to emerge and explains how the cats are able to finish top 4 in 11 of the past 14 years. The draft was brought in to even up the comp but free agency has destroyed that.

Hi Rab. He phoned D’Orazio who is his Manager on Saturday night. I genuinely believe Christian loves the Club and probably loves every single person in it, however, I suspect that Christian genuinely believes he’s built for Grand Finals and has a burning desire to play in a FEW before he’s finished and might have just had some doubts. He’s contracted for two years so that’s that, however, I’d be very worried that if the Dees aren’t a GENUINE Premiership contender at the end of this Contract, he won’t finish his career at the Dees. Time will tell.

I jumped on bomberblitz to have a read of the general feeling amongst the Bombers supporters and Jesus H Christ that forum is an absolute debacle. Hard to read and follow what's going on, sometimes posts are replied to without the quote embedded etc their forum software is second rate. Made me appreciate Demonland even more ?? @Demonland

After being totally deflated when the Barasssi return did not produce success, along comes Swooper. And bugger me if he didn't put a fire in the belly of every player on the list, and the fear of death into every opposition player who dared challenge the Dees. I went to both of the finals versus Swans and North in 1987, and my abiding memory is of the crowd yelling in unison "Robiiieee" when Flower ran onto the ground against North for his first final. Sometime in the preseason, give him 2 hours with our current list. Let them catch the fire!

Hnmm I knew him briefly in another life and in all honesty a terrific bloke with great sense of humility, brevity, and LIFE balance! From a great family, who supported him magnificently. Let's focus on the positives in a negative world, Might not have had the burning desire to play AFL but did anyway, to the tune of 170 odd games! AND had more than a touch of "Briiliance" If he had an EGO, he might well have gone down as one of the greats , but like Robby "EGO" was left far behind! That to me says plenty! Plus a very decent and genuine human being. Congrats mate well done cheers PF

I had a very small brush with depression earlier this year for the first time in my life. As a result I have a new appreciation of the problem and how it distorts your thinking. Saying “just get on with life “ is easy to say but not so easy to do. I read somewhere that he had been told that week that his father had a very serious disease. Who knows what his ghosts are but I would give him one last chance if it is possible.

4 or 5 close enough. Good to see a couple of demonland contributors @Lord Nev, @Dannyzare on the money. Thanks for sharing.

I picked up on that comment as well. Would love to know who, in his opinion was not "Buying in" Meet him a few times during that magic season in 1987. I remember him being the first one in at the after match at the G and buying me a beer. His comment after taking a large gulp was "Gee I needed that, a beer always tastes better after a win" Top bloke and top coach. Would love to see what he would do with this current team.

That tweet leaves out his elite ground ball gets too. As for clangers, he had the most in the comp, one more than Dusty and 9 more than Petracca. Dusty and Petracca played forward and Oliver spent the entire season in the guts, where turn overs will be a bigger thing. Essentially, the best mids are usually the biggest turnover merchants because they're in the hot stuff and getting it so often. I think there are a lot of Melbourne supporters who rate Oliver, but I'm staggered there are so many who continually rate him so harshly, yet he continues to improve his game and is now an elite player across multiple areas of our game. Take Oliver out of our midfield and we're [censored]. I reckon it's a case of MFC supporters not realising quite how extraordinary Oliver is. I've said it many times before, but he's the best player I've ever seen at Melbourne in my 33 years.

Perhaps I'm wrong but I can't remember a single time a contract announcement has been done during the BnF. Doesn't seem like the appropriate forum to me, particularly with some players already shown the door and others most likely knowing they're up for trade. To me it doesn't seem very tactful.

Norf are in for a world of pain in 2021

Spot on. There isn't a Melbourne supporter who doesn't universally admire Jack's attack on the footy, his endeavour, hell his consistency. He is always giving 100% of himself, and that is an admirable quality. That doesn't mean he is faultless or have no clear deficiencies. It also doesn't mean that the way he goes about his footy isn't sometimes detrimental to the overall outcome of our midfield performance. If he stays, great. Although I wouldn't support him getting a 5 year deal. There are only 2 players on our list I would give those deal to, and that is Trac and Oliver. But, that aside, nobody here would be upset if he stays. On the flip side, if he left and we got a really good outside mid in return, I don't think we would be worse off.

Who should we pick up in this years draft mate, who’s going to be the best?

Looks like a win win trade to me.

Daisy Pearce shows these three up every week. They should put her on the selection panel!

I think that most people on here admire JV and the way he goes about his footy. The two criticisms of him most cite, are first, that he tries to barge through players, causing free kicks against him and turnovers, when he ultimately tries to get rid of the ball, while being tackled and second, that his disposal by hand and foot is not great. I agree with those two criticisms. If that then leads you to conclude that I and others who share the same view, have nfi when it comes to football intelligence, then right back at you, having nfi when it comes to football intelligence, and is proved by what you fail to see, of the way he is playing at the moment. PS. Criticizing an aspect of a player's game, doesn't mean you don't like or value his other contributions, but rather it is recognizing an area that maybe he can improve, to enhance his game and thereby his contribution to the team.

It's clear that Melbourne still needs another outside midfielder to support Ed Langdon who had a brilliant season and showed what having a player with his skill set does for our team. Recruiting Adam Tomlinson as a wingman was always far fetched and he seems more suited to a defensive role. Merrett would be an ideal target for us but would probably cost too much. A player I think that would be worth looking at is Tom Phillips who could be pushed out of Collingwood due to their cap squeeze. He's an elite runner and a very tidy left foot kick and exactly the type of player we need. He can also go forward and kick a handy goal.

Oliver definitely has an issue with his disposal. How does a player lead the league in contested possessions, pressure acts and clearances and finish so far off winning the best and fairest? The reason is he turns it over too often.

jesse hogan

If we can turn Tmac or Preuss into Polec happy days. On the opposite wing to Langdon would make a great difference to our side.

I don't love Polec as a player, but he has got traits we lack, and on the face of it could be a deal we could get done without a whole lot of fuss, which would allow us to focus on any other deals we want to get done. Would balance out our midfield mix (he would have approx 0 people in front of him in the queue for a spot on the wing opposite to Langdon) in a lower cost transaction. Let's get it done quick and move on to other areas of improvement.

I said 5, but I'd trust Dannyz word, has had good mail plenty of times.

This is the crux of it. Incumbent on buyers to satisfy us, and that will determine the value. He's potentially of greater value to GWS or Sydney than a late first or 2nd round pick. Sydney in particular have some academy kids rated in the 10-20 range, so probably happy to flip 22 for Preuss & our lower picks. We could probably then do some thing with picks 22& 23 if another deal came up. GWS on the other hand have a very average draft hand after working to get Green in, whilst ensuring they retained a higher pick (Ash). Their currency in trade for Preuss will likely be a player (don't know if we'd play the futures game with them, but they are probably looking at a ladder drop pretty soon). Sounds like Perryman has resigned, so realistically looking at one of Caldwell, O'Halloran or Hately as players that might fall out this year. We lose nothing by keeping him (Preuss hasn't agitated for a move), will only move on if it's a win for us I'd imagine.

The single Camera footage you mentioned was filmed for News purposes. When i was at The ABC we would send a single Cameraman to the games Ch7 were not covering. Was always great watching those tapes with just crowd noise. Sometimes we would add ABC Radio if it was a classic. But i doubt many would be around today. Betacam Tapes are from long ago Youtube is it today. There has been a lot uploaded

If anything I view the reaction as similar to the one I had after we lost to Freo (& subsequently after last weekend). Desperate disappointment with where the club is at and a need to know that we are a genuine chance at winning the thing. I think the club has one season to prove the core of this list is supported to win it all, or those guys will all want to go where they are a greater chance at winning. Truck busted his guts this year and on occasion that was enough to get us over the line, but there were more than a few times where we were carrying too many. I get the frustration.

Im not saying Clarry should have been picked but he had a lot better season than Guthrie. Thats a joke

8 of those were in the last four games though, including 3 against GWS and IIRC each one was for holding the ball. So I think the recency effect has kicked in on that front. I also think it's correct to argue that Viney regularly takes on a tackler when he should instead have released the ball. I don't think that always shows up as a holding the ball free - it might result in a poor handpass or kick under pressure, or a turnover without a free kick, or even a free kick to him. I'm 100% in favour of Viney staying but IMO there is improvement in both where we play Viney (i.e. midfield/forward split) and how he plays.

Both Dangerfield and Bont named at half forwards.. Dangerfield = 11 goals Bont = 11 goals. Meanwhile true forward specialists players in Papley and Butler miss out... Papley = 26 goals. Butler = 27 goals. Worst AA side ever!

The man responsible for my greatest footy highlight - the late 1987 run that culminated in the magic day at the Western Oval when Robbie got his chance to finally play in a final!! I was in Year 12, about a month away from turning 18 and should have been focusing on my exams. Alas, the next few weeks were an awesome ride until we ran into Buckenara. 33 years later and still waiting for the ultimate success. Swooper Northey, the best Melbourne coach in my lifetime!

His comments about Geoffrey Edelsten were hilarious. His story about the pre season camp was gold. Could you imagine that taking place these days having someone dress up as a hillbilly and firing shots at you while you are running. Lawsuits everywhere. He sounds just as frustrated with melbourne as everyone else is.

No matter how you look at it, there's a bit of history in Max's accomplishment tonight. With four selections now under his belt, Max Gawn has overtaken his numbersake, Jimmy Stynes, as the most AA selected player in MFC history.

I love Max Gawn. I think he's an absolutely brilliant ruckman and a terrific ambassador for the club. But he shouldn't have been in the squad for this season, let alone the final 22. He really needs to "do a Luke Beveridge" and donate that jacket to Steven May.

When in their 'wisdom' the brains trust turfed Jack aside, Roos said, "You need players like that'" and "he won half a dozen games off his own boot in the past couple of seasons." One against Hawthorn, in the last quarter he hit Pederson on the lead with a bullet-pass, he put it 55 metres onto Tyson's chest in the pocket, and he hoovered up the ball right out of Lewis' hands in the centre and drove it forward for another goal. Three goals in 5 minutes thanks to Watts - sheer class. The number of times he took saving marks on the last line, at the end of quarters... I always thought you could judge a coach by his ability and willingness to recognise and make full use of great talent. The two outstanding mediocrities of man-management in the past twenty years were with Watts and Jurrah. Some people can only paint by numbers. These guys were fabulous talents, who coaches tried to squeeze down into their petty one-size-fits-all plans. I will always remember the QB winning goal, watching it from that forward pocket - it was a moment of vast significance, heroic and symbolic of so much - drama of the highest order. Exhilirating beyond compare. I remember Jack outside the boundary on the members' side, taking his shot - a huge high looping ball that just curved and curved home - and you knew, of course Wattsy would get it. I remember Jones refusing to hpnour his leads. I got a phone call out of the blue one night a few years ago, and it was Max Gawn doing the phone-around. I'd already renewed as it happened, but we had a bit of a chat anyway. He was a young feller at the time, and out injured. I asked how he was coming along. I said being from Tasmania I don't get to that many games, but I'd seen Robbie Flower's first game and I'd seen Jack Watts' first game, and I tell you Max, I said, I saw your first game too, and I reckon I'll remember it too. In the end Jack didn't achieve as highly, but boy I loved seeing him play. Fabulous human beings all of them. Fabulous thing, to have followed these guys, regardless of the outcome.. Jack Watts is a memorable and real part of the story of the Melbourne Footy Club, and i got wonderful pleasure from supporting him, and believing in his skills and his generosity. There's more than success in being a supporter. .

That bodes well. The AFL website said they may not know for a few weeks the final list sizes but clubs are working on 38 senior players plus 2 rookies, which I think wast he worst case scenario. As a reference, after this weeks delistings we have 39 senior players and 4 Rookies (ecxl Bradtke). So hopefully it all works out and Harley can stay.

This old chestnut again with Brendan Lade? Keep watching that clip and watch Cale actually run to make position, receive the pass and spot up a teammate who kicks the goal.

Do you really think that "chase down tackles" are a good measure of his performance? A chase down tackle occurs when an opposition has the ball in space and is caught unaware without talk from his team mates. If that happens once a game it looks spectacular. "Perceived" pressure is crazy important. Rushed disposals and decisions, turnovers, creating opportunities for others to tackle and disposess.