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I'll put my balls on the line for ya mate. A few things have already happened, but got some whispers (of varying degrees of source quality) to tide you over. (Need the distraction from the Grand Final tbh, depressing) OUT TMac - All depends on medicals (ankle injury). Player and club want the change, opposition interest will determine it. ANB - Apparently some interest from the Crows. Not a lot of noise tho, but tbf he's not an exciting player to talk about. Preuss - Melbourne will try and do a deal to see them go up the draft order. Very keen on Macrae, who they think will be available at pick 9 (which coincidentally is likely the compo pick GWS will get for Williams). Coaches - Plapp and Mathews gone. Very likely more to follow them. Admin - Told earlier in the year Mahoney is likely gone. Haven't heard anything lately though. Richardson talked about as a potential replacement for him. Very very sketchy at this stage so don't bank on this one, but not sure Bartlett is 100% safe either. Other - Still think Burgess will leave (hoping he doesn't of course). IN B.Brown - Pending physical, which will determine the club's interest and offer which likely then determines Brown's decision. 2nd round pick to North and a 3 year deal on 500k for Brown is the price. I know some here have talked about his nature/personality, but apparently after the zoom meeting Max was absolutely sold on him. I.Smith - Very likely, but not a done deal yet. Saints Player - Told we were chasing a 'young, quick' Saints player. Others here posted they heard Hind was being mentioned, so could be him, potentially could be Long. Coaches - Leppitsch has been approached, ball totally in his court. Another former Lion also approached to get involved with the club in some capacity too (not Voss). 2 other highly rated assistants in the pipeline, but promised I wouldn't say.

SEN saying he had a medical at the club yesterday. North will ask for our 2nd rnd pick: # 23 But he hasn't said he wants to join us.

i don't see why brown, weideman, and jackson can't all work nicely together

Pick 23 is a bargain. If that's all we have to pay to get a proven ready-made KPF who has performed better than any forward we've had since Neitz, then it's a [censored] bargain. This one must be getting close now!

This is a bit disappointing. Will always remember the sealer in the semi final against the Cats in 2018. Come to think of it, I miss that winning feeling - it's good for the soul.

Apparently an upset Paul Roos was led to believe the job was his but it was just a trick by North Melbourne. Tomorrow's headline: Roos Rues Roos' Ruse.

I might be jumping the gun here but bugger it

I worked with David Rennick, as a representative of a corporate client using his firm's property, development and construction expertise, over a number of years in a past life. Serious Dees supporter (our relationship was during the exciting '90s!), central to growing his niche firm to major status, and/but a down to earth regular guy. I expect his worth will be considerable in the new headquarters project.

One of Brown’s issues in 2020 was his fitness. That being the case, one of the best arguments for him coming to the Melbourne Football Club could well be the presence at the Demos of fitness guru Darren Burgess, its strength and conditioning manager. If anyone can get him back on track and kicking goals, it’s this bloke.

An elite KPF in Brown is a bit different to playing an inferior and broken player in TMac. We play Brown and Weid as the two tall targets. Jackson plays as a roaming option pushing further up the ground as a marking option, similar to Richardson at Tigers later in his career. Fritsch isn't a tall, and will play pocket or flank regardless of those talls around him. Successful teams have multiple tall marking options. No reason we can't too. Brown immediately improves our scoring, takes pressure off Weid being double teamed, and allows Jackson to develop at a realistic rate without heaping too much pressure on the 19 year old kid.

Officially requested a trade to Bulldogs. i feel a bit sad about this, liked him. But this is life, if Goodwin didnt play him, then fair enough and we have a few of his types.

2 years ago we beat this team in a final with all bar the highlighted players playing in the GF. They have been replaced with Dahlaus, Rohan, Miers, Simpson and Stanley. We have the foundations, sure we need to alter a few things, have a bit of luck, players to prove but things can change quickly.

Yeah, who wants a forward that could only average 45 goals a season (without missing a game) up until the end of 2019; the last three of those seasons each with yields of >60 goals with delivery that was not particularly special in any kind of way. Why would anyone want a player like that? It just beggars belief!

David Rennick and Brad Green will join Melbourne’s Board next month.

Adam Kingsley to be announced as Nth coach

He's referring to Jack's brother Finlay who is in this year's draft pool.

I find this incredibly sad for a young man having done a lot of work to get into a position to land a senior job. Mental health does not discriminate, its had a big affect on my family and i know the battles it comes with. Its a timely reminder for lots of us to check in on mates... it absolutely costs nothing to ask if someone is going ok. Hope Rhyse finds the balance in his life he needs to get better.

They will retain contracted small defender Neville Jetta, with Collingwood adamant they will not lodge a trade offer for the out-of-favour defender.

"Rennick joins the Board with more than 25-years’ experience in the legal and property industries. He is currently a Partner and Global Board member of Pinsent Masons. Prior to that, he was Head of Australia for Pinsent Masons, CEO of an Australian law firm and a Director of an ASX-listed property development company. His responsibilities encompass leadership, people and client strategies and management. Rennick’s areas of expertise include master-planned community projects, property development, corporate, commercial and retail real estate." Bartlett: "His experience is of great benefit regarding our top off-field priority, of building and establishing our home base and training facility within the MCG precinct.”

This post is so far from the truth it’s not funny, haven’t seen much evidence of him sooking it up on field. He hasn’t regressed, he had a few bad turnovers by foot during the year & the media & some very short sighted supporters have jumped all over him. l honestly thought he was easily top 3 in the b&f, probably 2 And as for saying he’s got a can’t be [censored] attitude, he in my opinion was busting a gut more than any other player. He and a precious few have had plenty of players weighing them down He’s 23yo and has carried the midfield for nearly 4 years Totally disagree with everything you’ve said

His manager has denied it. Carlton fans were also saying yesterday on that same board that it will soon be released that Crouch will nominate Carlton as his preferred destination. New minute, nominates St Kilda ?

Fact, I'm told. We are well in the running!

For an injured 28 yr old, what are you talking about. The hasn’t missed a game since 2015 until this year. During those full years he kicked 32,41,63,61 and 64 goals. We have not had a player even come close to this..

Tom Morris reporting that Clarries management have said this is definitely not happening.

FFS. The same poster on the Carlton bored is also claiming Wines wants to go to Carlton. Read the whole thread, they’re pulling the [censored]. You lot need to calm down.

We can back ourselves in to turn him around in 2021 like Sydney/Papley and Port/Wines did this year.

Nothing in it: Just someone on BF trying to distract posters from the bombshells SOS dropped yesterday.

To give some context to this, Hawkins stepped into a Geelong side on the cusp of greatness. He was a much bigger body than Weed, which allowed him to offer more influence as that power forward, but also had one of the best midfields of the modern era delivering him the ball. And still it took him time to develop consistency and make good on his promise. I think Weed still deserves time, but further support, whether that be in the form of Ben Brown, is necessary.

Like Mitch and feel for him given he was in and out of the side more than someone like Melksham who was arguably worse in many games throughout the year. Having said that, we seem to run too many hybrid medium/talls in the forwardline and we're in desperate need of a change up in terms of personnel in our forward 50. I'm hoping we target another small, highly skilled and high pressure forward similar to pickett. Quality entries inside 50 and pressure on defenders in our D50 are so important and for the last two years we've underperformed in both those areas.

The thing is, even if Brown has an okay year, and kicks say 30 it means Weid gets the second defender, so his output should improve. and Jackson/Fritsch on the 3rd/4th defenders is dangerous as well. we just need to make sure we can get enough forward 50 tackles with that setup

I love Weid and think he is developing nicely but I would take Brown over him every day of the week for 2021. That said I think they will play well in the same forwardline together with LJ playing a roaming role pushing up across half forward/wing If anyone's position is in danger in the forwardline it would be Fritsch for mine. I would prefer a Brown/Weid/LJ forwardline over Weid/LJ/Fritsch.

Don't think the dogs will offer up anything this year, they need all the points they can get, might even end up being a 2nd round next year and we give them Hannan and 62 & 63 this year, so ends up being around a 3rd rounder but they get extra points this year and we get the better pick next year.

I wonder if too much is being made of his injury. Unless North were telling porkies nearly 2 months ago, reports suggest the knee injury wasn't serious: “Ben had an MRI yesterday and was cleared of any ligament damage,” Rawlings said. “He sustained pinching of the lateral knee joint and reported pain and discomfort, but both have subsided." August 7 Report He then had surgery. Detailed report in here: Sept 2 Report This time last year he would be a mid 1st round pick. Not sure the injury downgrades his trade value much lower than #23. Also there may be 'steak knives''/later pick swaps involved.

Carlton have called they want their paper bag back?

he's coming, pick 23 i imagine

As the posts after yours show, this isn't a good argument. Their list screamed anything other than "top 4 and four-year dynasty" in 2016, but all of the following were on their 2016 list: Vlastuin, Grimes, Martin, Riewoldt, Cotchin, Edwards, Astbury, Houli, Rioli, Rance, Lambert, McIntosh, Broad, Short, Castagna and Soldo). The majority of that group are a win away from becoming triple premiership players. At the time they also had Deledio, Ellis, Grigg, Townsend and Butler - all 2017 premiership players bar Deledio. That list had taken them to three years of finals but no wins (2013-15) followed by a shocker of a 2016. That's a mid-table four-year run. A bit like what we've had (2017, 2018 and 2020 were all mid-table finishes, with 2018 buoyed by the two finals wins, and 2019 being a disastrous shocker). We've seen enough from the core of our list to suggest we've got what it takes. We've been thereabouts for four years, like they were. We've got obvious talent, like they did. We've shown glimpses, like they did. None of this is to suggest we're guarantees to make it, it's just to dispel the notion that our list definitely isn't good enough. I don't buy that argument.

I've always thought Hannan has what it takes to make it as a fast medium forward - marking height but pace to go with it. Just never seemed to be able to develop consistency - felt like he'd play a good game or two but then disappear for a game or two. We've got too many mid-sized forwards on our list so this isn't the end of the world. If he makes it at the Dogs, good on him.

ET are you suggesting Brown might come to us. First I have heard of it. You really are the trade news breaker supreme. Do you think we will keep Preuss and Hannan?

Look I'm a big Weid fan but the facts are he's behind where Hawkins, Kennedy, Dixon and Lynch were at the same age. That's at least partly explainable because the KPF role is way harder now than it was 5 years ago for Lynch let alone 10 years ago for the other three. I think that it's unlikely that Weid takes the role by the scruff next year and where the club is at, that's what we need someone to do. The best 3 teams this year have that someone and Brisbane are chasing Daniher. I think we need to pull the trigger on Brown and sort out "too many options" as the season progresses. Someone may get injured - who knows? I'd prefer we have a choice.

Hey Skuit, Hang in there. It is a great idea, pity the Benny Hill wannabe's got hold of it. In a futile attempt to get the thread back on track this is what I've heard. Some has been posted elsewhere. Ben Brown has been disenchanted at North for quite a while and is fed up with constant criticism from the powerbroker who wore #11. He has wanted out from very early this season. Collingwood were sniffing around Jeremy Cameron and were prepared to offload Treloar if they thought Cameron was a chance. Clayton Oliver will be at Melbourne in 2021.

I'd suggest we would be pushing GWS or whomever for a 2nd rounder for Pruess and I think we should get it given he is contracted and clubs some clubs are in need of a senior ready to go ruckman. Pruess for Brown would be a huge win IMHO

What exactly has oliver done that says he is getting petulant.

Agreed which is why I don't get people thinking #23 is 'overs'.

This one: Spine tingling! Still brings happy tears. Up there with the Watts QB goal for unbridled joy and emotion. Sad to see him go.

We paid pick 20 plus other stuff for Chris Dawes, after a 15-goal season. 23 is a bargain despite the club wanting Brown out the door.

Sam Edmund just confirmed interest from GWS on SEN.

It has been raised a couple of times in terms of our players - but those rejecting Ben Brown based on some perception of flawed attributes need a psychologist. A leading goal-kicker wants to come to us for probably a second-round pick, but no he can't play below his legs. What? We have been struggling to kick goals, but Brown is the wrong fit. What? It feels like a special sub-branch of MFCSS. Anyway, good luck to any opposition team 0trying to work out to do with this lot in and rotating through the forward-line. Brown Jackson Weid Fritsch Pickett Petracca Gawn Another small pressure forward would be nice. Would love Brown and Smith as inclusions and then throw a bit of bank at McDonald-Tipungwuti. KPF, left wing and extra small forward sorted. Another running half-back and we have no holes left in our best 22, with decent depth.

I'd like 40-50 good games from Smith. That would be highly beneficial on a wing opposite Langdon. As a supporter, why would I care if he's given 2 years or 3 ? What's it to me (his length of contract) if he gives 40-50 good games ?

Can confirm is slowly gathering momentum and ramping up in intensity