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The ex-player scandals are becoming more pissweak by the day. By Friday it's Josh Wagner crossing the road against the red man.

Well we are after a big bodied forward who can score?

Smith is built like Michael Tuck. He could play another 100 games IMO. I would love to get him.

Just found a plugin to restore them to their rightful place. The Boomers of Demonland ....

Jordan Lewis: You’ll love it at Melbourne Smithy, they’ll pay you way more than at the Hawks and give you an extra year or two. Plus, you just have to stand on the ground and point. The only down side is there’s no toilets at training.

Most of our forwards would have missed that parked car.

No they didn't. They said he was seeking a 2 year deal from Hawthorn, and other clubs were sniffing around. They said Melbourne were probably the strongest of those showing interest, but they certainly did not say we had given him a 2 year deal.

Can someone please bump up the ‘Jack Viney made me cry’ topic please? How the worm has turned Please sign, JV

Much rather keep ANB and get rid of Melksham.

While I see the pros and cons of Jack leaving/staying this has a James McDonald feel to it all over again. I honestly don’t believe a club like us can afford to lose a heart and soul player like Jack, regardless of his on field limitations. I’d hate to have to play against him. I think we would regret the decision badly, if that is, we have the opportunity to keep him. Hoping he stays.

Ratugolea was dropped again for the final. I would chase him hard. He could help out in the ruck too if we clear Preuss.

What is the obsession with only recruiting players if they are part of 'our future' or our 'next premiership'? Players that join a club bring things with them when they arrive and leave things behind when they leave. This team requires leadership. He has been a good leader at a good club and still plays at a high level. Even for one season, surely, you take that opportunity. The only valid argument might be that he takes the place of a young player but we're not exactly over-encumbered with talented young wingmen.

So disappointed with the situation, but not with Harley himself so much. I have a few family members with substance addiction problems (mainly alcohol) and have seen what a battle it is for them to stay on the straight and narrow and how quickly it can all turn pear shaped, so no judgement from me. Also feel for his mum and family. Watching and trying to help loved ones self destructing before your eyes is a disempowering, soul destroying situation at the best of times and not being able to be there with them to at least try to support them turn the situation around is gut wrenching. Similar to his reported situation of refusing help from the club since his hub breach, my experiences are that people in this mental state often reject a lot of the love and support that is extended to them in their darkest moments. I can only imagine that to have this playing out in the public eye only further complicates the situation and must compound the feeling of failure and despair for someone in Harley's situation. Loved what Harley bought to the MFC in his short time at it. Though his body wasn't quite up to it this season, but the skills and poise that he exhibited were exquisite and rarely if ever matched by any other player I've seen pull on the red and blue in my lifetime. It really was a joy watching some of those effortless side steps, back peddles and banana snaps around the body that always looked like going through 95% of the time. Kossie has some good dance moves, but Bennel just made it look like he had the ability to work in slow motion, such was his sense of where the players were around him and how to out step and out manouvoure them with utter control. Had he been able to operate at full physical fitness levels with us his class could have been a total game changer and missing peice to the puzzle for the MFC team. Really hope that his family and guys from the MFC like Steven May, big Maxy Gawn and/or whoever else he was close with at the club can provide him some sort of support and sense of worth over the next period. All the best Harley.

With or without good behaviour?

We had very few soft tissue injuries this year. I have no medical background or expertise at all but it wouldn't surprise me if there is a link between aerobic/physical fitness and soft tissue injuries. Hopefully someone like @Webber can tell me whether there's any link. But putting that to one side, we won 11 fourth quarters (4th best for the league) but also drew another two, which overall made us the 2nd best team for fourth quarters. Our fourth quarter percentage was 164.85%, a clear second (Geelong was first at 179.9%, St Kilda third at 134.88%). We outscored our opponents in fourth quarters by 131 points across 17 games. We also went 6-3 in the last 9 games of the season despite having a league-high three four-day breaks across the season and no bye in that period. Despite that, we didn't have players breaking down, and we continued to run games out well. So, I think our fitness levels were pretty good, and even if they're not superior to other clubs, this year showed significant improvement to 2019.

*whispers i think they’re being sarcastic ?

Best year injury-wise for as long as I can remember. Very few soft-tissue injuries too, which is quite the feat given the compact fixture. Hard to argue the correlation with his arrival and there’d be a strong argument for the causation

Unlike Jack to run from a contest.

Harley is in a serious situation and clearly is in need of help. I know he breached the hub COVID, but his case is one of mental health. I think it is time MFC appealed the fine and Demonlanders starts emailing the AFL to rescind the fine. This is not like the other COVID breaches. He absconded and is clearly under duress, unlike the other breaches for playing tennis, going to a night club and visiting a facial salon and so on. From his mums emotional plea the fine and suspension are exacerbating his current mental state as well as all the hate coming his way. MFC are doing everything to get him home but as reported his erratic behaviour is making this difficult. In light of this scenario I think it is ridiculous to hold the club responsible for a player with mental health issues who has fled the hub never to return.

Cesspool, and Fox Sports should have more restraint and good judgement than to validate the chumps and low lives who post their hate on it. The cesspool organisation has a business model that works against human decency and high morals and has been shown to cause depression.

Depends on who the player is. In this case, Smith still has something to give and he could be a handy addition to the side. We need to remember that, the last time we played finals, Jordan Lewis was a big part of it. Smith could do the very same thing. He could also be great for someone like Oskar Baker in terms of development.

come home jesse, come home

Please don't call him Damo. It gives the illusion of popularity and mates.

Updated for 2020 with new crying victim Charlie Dixon. I'll be shedding a tear too if Jack leaves and we have to close this thread.

I reckon he's underrated. Which is easy when nobody rates him. You've got to have depth. He's not going to turn into Dustin Martin anytime soon but is handy enough. You can massacre the fringe players but who's going to replace them? If he reckons he can get a better run somewhere else then let him go, otherwise at least he's got a few years of experience on a random kid.

Jesse needs to get out of Perth. He made a mistake heading back there. It’s too much of a fishbowl. I suggest the club get onto his manager to discuss how to get him back to his rightful footy home, the MFC!

no winners here. very sad. i'm sure there is much we don't know (and probably will never) hope it doesn't escalate, and harley and family get through this setback. can only hope.

Sad to say, I know first hand about the situation with some of your family members. My sister died a month ago from the same issue. People who make judgements about victims of alcohol or drug abuse have no idea how grim life is for those who suffer from addictions. I appreciate your post very much.

We’ve had the benefit of 12 months of learning from him. If he goes he goes but surely we’re not dumb enough to completely turf out his programs and methods altogether. There’s no doubt the group was in better condition from 1 year with Burgess than all those years spent with Misson.

completely disagree unless you mean that fitness is in the top three most important things for the footy dept, in which case i'd 100% agree

As long as we're packaging up the picks for clear improvement in targeted areas, I'd be ok moving on any of these fringe players. On the flipside, if we're just going to use the projected pick to draft a player at around the same mark, it's pointless. ANB is useful to us now. A pick 40 in the draft is ANB, 6 years ago.

I would. We ran out games superbly this year, and our injury run across the board was better than anything I can remember under Misson. He is the one off season recruit for the 'off field' department that was a raging success in my book.

NO, YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM. However, if you're looking for a Head Coach...

Shawly not.

Did I suggest playing him in front of anyone? You're making the logic up.

Yes and no, Mr Old. Players all agreed to the terms of AFL hub and state quarantine rules as part of their continuing ability to travel Australia and play footy. They are high profile, highly paid professional sports people. Doesn't seem like a big ask, especially since no one can be 100% sure they haven't come into contact with the virus. He knew what he was doing, must've known it was wrong, got caught I'd call it low risk, but certainly not no risk

The trade desk just mentioned we have given him a 2 year deal.

Story in today's hun saying Gawn played last 6 games with knee problems and may need surgery. If we let Preuss go for anything less than a great deal we are nuts. Gawns knees are always a risk we should have good cover for him.

You think the playing on ball he could compete with Viney, Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw (from us) or the equivalent first 4 from other clubs? I don't.

MFC should have picked him for more games. We had plenty of muppets playing who were pretty useless and he was left in the hub.

i rate fitness coaches as critical to success and this guy is one of the best. I too thought he was only one contract for one year and thought it must be a lifestyle choice as much as anything (no shortage of takers). A must retain for me

Acquire Burgess, play one round, season off for eight weeks, season returns to reduced quarters, miss finals by a game, lose Burgess. How Melbourne is that.

Just grabbed this from BigFooty for those who didn’t think he’s worth it: Would prefer to keep but would definitely be an astute trade for Collingwood. Obviously they'd be getting a classy, clever, versatile and consistent forward who has made the AA squad 5 times. However, they key thing from Collingwoods point of view is his performance in finals. Tall forwards typically struggle to impact finals but Gunston goes up a level. He has kicked 35 goals from 15 finals (12 of those in Grand Finals) and is pretty unlucky not to have a Norm Smith or 2. Compare him to the other forwards on the market... Jeremy Cameron has kicked 16 from 9. Ben Brown has kicked 9 from 7. He even outperforms the best forwards of their finals rivals... Hawkins has kicked 33 in 22 Riewoldt has kicked 25 in 11 Darling has kicked 30 in 16 Others (Lynch, Dixon, Hipwood, etc) are largely unproven with fewer than 4 finals. Kennedy is the only comparable one with 37 from 16 (but Gunston does a lot more around the ground).

Would have thought this isn't the year to do this there's virtually no exposed form so there will undoubtedly end up being value with the later picks. Usually you have to throw in a later pick due to the uncertainty of the future pick, so would think it makes more sense to save the pick till next year.

The 10 players who will shape WAFL colts finals Taj Woewodin (East Fremantle) Woewodin is the young man who needs to step up in the absence of gun midfielder Jack Carroll, just like he did late against Swan Districts. The son of Brownlow medallist Shane was a welcome addition to the Sharks’ line-up for the final home-and-away round after his PSA commitments with Aquinas College finished up. He is a strong leader, a classy ball user by foot and can play across half-back or in the midfield. Has been named on-ball, but is likely to rotate with starting half-back flanker Finn Gorringe.

Burgess is top drawer. He’s worked for Liverpool and Arsenal and turned down offers from the US. We did very well to lure to the club but there’s no way we hold onto him for long. With soft cap constraints we can’t afford him and I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes up another overseas appointment. Hopefully we can keep him for another 12 months with a view to him setting up our long-term fitness program and mentoring his successor. I’d hate to lose him to another AFL team.

Thanks. I had the worry meter highly tuned and the sarcasm detector failed to activate...

Seems to have spiralled very quickly, it’s a massive shame because the extent of his alcohol issues are becoming even more striking now. I just wish he’d reached out before his hub breach, I think the club was keen to keep him on for next year but his demons clearly have a hold on him. I hope there are players like May that are reaching out to him to help him. This is getting a bit tragic now and right now I’d just like to see him safe and away from Queensland. I hope he’s ok, really feel for his mum.

I hope Harley feels proud of what he has achieved. To come back from the setbacks of the last few years, the public shaming, overcoming injuries and getting fit enough to play AFL again is a huge testament to his grit and determination. Respect. Hope he can get past his current tribulations and recognise his achievements. Feel for Steven May. They seemed like brothers and am guessing he would be worried for his mate who he helped bring to the club.

OK. Viney does multiple roles, and it varied depending on who is in the centre with him. Here is one against St Kilda, without Oliver. It's Viney, Brayshaw and Petracca. This is set up for Petracca to have the who far side open to him. Viney blocks out Steele, Brayshaw gets inside Jones to block and Petracca beats Ross and gets to the far side with space. This is shown below: Unfortunately the play breaks down because Brayshaw can't get inside Jones to block him out, so Jones gets the ball before it gets to Petracca. Viney, on the other hand, gets Steele out of position and is therefor a non-factor in the stoppage. This is shown below. I show this as an example of how important these roles are in stoppages. Here is another, with the play designed for Oliver. Oliver is to beat Shiel to the tap to the far side, with Viney blocking out Merrett to create space and Melksham playing purely defensively on Stringer (near side). Essentially: Merrett give Viney the slip early, which puts the play in jeopardy. But Viney is able to recover to win body position to push Merrett into the contest, which keeps the play alive. Oliver gets a little hold from Shiel, but because Viney has done his job so well on Merrett he's now clear and able to recover the ball to win the clearance. Around the ground, Viney does the same on good players. Here the tap is for Oliver, with Crouch defending him. Brayshaw blocks the inside exit and AVB the defensive exit (we're kicking left). Viney is trusted one on one with their best player, Rory Laird. Viney beats Laird for position and, when there's no effective tap from either Gawn or O'Reilly, Viney is able to win the clearance off the back of his good defensive body work. Now he's one with Petracca on Laird and Brayshaw on Crouch. It's a weird one because the play breaks down with a dodgy bounce. The tap ends up going forwards to no-man's land. But the important thing is the defence at the stoppage. Crouch edges Brayshaw off the ball and Petracca is lost with the clever Laird, but Viney recovers really quickly from the odd tap and gets himself between the ball and Keays, who isn't able to have any influence on the play. The first possession is won by Crouch and the clearance by Laird. It's a comfortable clearance in the end and Laird wanders through untouched. Keays is shut out quickly by Viney. Brayshaw and Petracca are non-entities once beaten, but Viney is able to do his role so consistently. This happens over and over again. Viney is able to kill opposition clearances and also win his own off the back of this. He doesn't have the play designed for him as often as the attacking mids, but he can do it well if there is another defensive midfielder in the stoppage. For example, this stoppage involves Vandenberg. Viney is on Shiel (left) whilst AVB is blocking Merrett and Oliver is being defended. Shiel is the opposition's best midfielder, but Viney is so good at winning the body battle in stoppages that the play can confidently predict he wins body position for the surprise attack. Oliver's man only has eyes for him, so Oliver just has to stay out of the way of Viney, whilst AVB just blocks Merrett away. The tap goes to the far side, which is easy to do when the opposition has Stewart in the ruck. It's an easy clearance in the end because of a terrible setup by Essendon. But the whole play depends on Viney winning body position, which he does. Usually he does it defensively for other players, but he can do it himself so reliably that sometimes they design plays for it. He has the quality to play both attacking and defensive. The defensive midfielder is under-appreciated. Brayshaw has been given this responsibility at times, but he just doesn't do it to the level of Viney. You can see that, since Brayshaw went down late in the year, Melksham has been sent into the middle to play defensively. Oliver can do it at times, but he's a target man more often than not whilst Viney creates the space he can use. When Petracca is in there the ball is almost always going to him. Oliver is a rounded midfield but he doesn't play as a defensively minded stoppage midfielder like Viney. Viney is so important because he's so much better than the next best player in his role (Brayshaw, AVB and Melksham), and one of the best at it in the league. Plus, on top of that, he can be used offensively when required. There's a reason why a range of coaches love him every single year, but his style means that it doesn't always get its way on to the stats sheet.