TeamPlayedFine39

As a Dees fan living overseas o am so strongly against this. My only way to watch the games is on TV/online and the fawning over the 'returning heroes' will be too much to bear! (Even with the sound off) Would rather play them round 10 when the emotions gone and their aging legs start to ache.

It's nice to be able to do one of these before the draft... fb: JETTA FROST O.MCDONALD hb: HIBBERD T.MCDONALD MELKSHAM c: HUNT VINEY SALEM hf: WATTS HOGAN KENT ff: GARLETT WEIDEMAN PETRACCA Foll: GAWN TYSON JONES Int: OLIVER BRAYSHAW VINCE LEWIS There's a few of my favorites I can't find a place for...

Stoked with this result (along with seemingly every other person on here). Has there ever been a universally applauded event on Demonland..? We've got some great people behind the scenes at the club; love Mahoney's justification for the trade: “Jordan is a fierce competitor who is driven to win, and those are qualities that you can’t have enough of at our footy Club,” WELL SAID!

My wife is also not at all impressed. One thing this sort of situation does is put a lot of pressure on the new players coming into the club; as she said: "This O'Meara guy better be bloody good." Probably not music to the ears of a young player looking for a fresh start.

So... he's not a 'squib'?

You're suggesting that 90% of the times he could have influenced the contest, he chickened out (squibbed). There's been a lot of criticisms of O'Mac, haven't heard that he is a coward. If true, it's amazing that the match committee, his teammates, the opposition, the media, Melbourne supporters, and even opposition supporters haven't noticed it either... truly amazing.

Got any examples to back that up..?

Good lord. Even on a hypothetical level, I can think of what they could offer us that we'd accept...

Day 2 and I'm still feeling that he will land with us. His 2016 form was very good and while people are complaining that we already have his 'type', it's arguable that his 2016 form would place him in our top 2-3 midfielders; it's hard to say no that. Couple that with his experience and you have a very tempting package. If you ever wonder how Hawthorn always seem to find a way to win the close ones... well it's experienced, hardened player like Lewis.

In my experience (granted I'm not a professional sportsman), once you make the big decision to leave a place, it's very, very difficult to switch your mind back. I think he might leave.

Toadfish like Tyson? Or toadfish like Vince??

Pretty reasonable that it has its own thread; there are plenty of other single player threads bashing around. For what it's worth, I hope having his own thread may be an omen to this being an ongoing discussion. He agreed to terms with us... hopefully the Hawks can be persuaded to deal.

Very true; proven once again. If only people would bare this in mind before complaining about our lack of 'activity'.

I would think we're still in with a shot at Lewis. Loath him as a player, but he's a bloody good one.

A quick glance at the list of free agents this year shows that it was always going to be a boring FA period; there simply little viable talent available. In regards to the trade period, we had our fun last year. Sacrificing our first pick and already lining up Hibberd means we simply have no currnency. The only way to generate this currency is by sacrificing some good young players, which I don't want to do just for the sake of it. We should be happy that our list isn't being pillaged again by the big clubs.

When I saw him in person, I was very surprised to see that he actually has a very big frame to build on. Will be a very big boy with a couple more preseasons.

Bernie set a very, very high bar for himself following a great 2015. Was a little disappointing this year, mainly due to him not having the 'huge' performances that he was able to create the previous year. What I didn't love was his brain fades where opponents were able to throw him off his game; was lucky not to be suspended a couple of time this year. Still has a lot to offer in the best 22.

Generally curious; what's the politics involved here? This case has spanned 2 state governments, 2 federal governments, 4 Prime Ministers, 2 AFL CEOs, an Australian court appeal, a National anti-doping body, an international anti-doping body and an international court of appeal. It does see like everyone outside of the AFL that has come into contact with this case has found Essendon to be at fault. To my understanding, the only body in the world that has sided with Essendon has been the AFL tribunal.

That twitter is soap opera bad! He has such wraps on himself and his fake popularity. If it's anyone well known, the only clown it could possibly be is Nixon.

I tend to agree. This move could be genius on the behalf of the Hawks, but it is also far, far more risky than any of the other big trades they've done. JOM has astronomical potential, but may never play to his high standards again. Mitchel is a decent player, but is no replacement for any of the Hawks (soon to retire) stars. But even more than that is the risk or disturbing the playing group. In the past they've traded away picks and recruited free agents. For these two trades to both happen, they'll need to trade out good, established and most likely premiership players; that can tear the heart out of a team. Personally, I think they're over-reaching trying to bring in both.

I really rate him. Love his attack on the ball and the contest and his dashes out of defense will be a feature of MFC football for the better part of the next decade.

To those who know Hibberd better than I... will we be looking for him to play as a third tall/intercept marker or as a mid-small defender off halfback? To which role is he better suited??

Amazed that his body was able to hold up the way it did this year. Was a totally dominant force it big matches; something we haven't see at the MFC since David Neitz.

Was no doubt playing injured in 2015; multiple times I saw him clutching at his knee/leg during matches. It's worth remembering we did pay a big price to get him and he hasn't let us down. An exciting few years ahead for Dom.

Hmmmmm... not thrilled with this appointment tbh. He handled his departure from Port Adelaide very poorly. Hopefully he's matured significantly since then...