pinkshark

for god's sake! He had an off day. Simple as that.

Perfectly said.

How about the quality of players recruited and the quality of coaching he has been surrounded by since his arrival? Shizenhouse! I agree with many posters however that he must have his best year. With the better talent around him now I am backing him in.

How about the quality of players recruited and the quality of coaching he has been surrounded by since his arrival. Shizenhouse! I agree with many posters however that he must have his best year. With the better talent around him now I am backing him in.

Cheers for that Steve. Can I get you half a glass of anything?

I'm going bush. Helicoptered in to some remote part of some bushland. For 25 days. No newspapers. No phone. No food. I'm gonna make myself need to hunt for my food. Bear Grylls style. The idea I have in mind is to make myself so busy and preoccupied with having to survive that all of a sudden it's March 26th 1.40pm. No more waiting.

I've said this type of thing before and I'll say it again. If he wants out at some point then so be it. I don't care. We should be well compensated. Enjoy him now and don't be jaded. A lot of sad negativity on this thread. Really sad. (ie. sad supporters) cheer up y'all. I'm [censored] pumped for round 1!

Good onya Wellsy. Proper tragic like me. Your hopes are one of four ways it will go next year. One way is to go backwards. Heaven forbid. Adrenaline rush (the sh!t yourself kind) just thinking that. Second, we flatline and win another seven games. Disaster. Third. 10-12 wins - probably genuinely exciting. Fourth way it could go is gangbusters! 14+ wins. Off the Richter stuff!!!!! I can't wait. I'm terrified.

I do. Super looking athlete for his age. Man's body.

Eddies idea itself is as stupid as I have ever heard. So stupid in fact that it scares me intensely that the AFL 'rule changers' may in fact think its a reasonable idea. Really. I'm scared. His point about making the bottom half interesting and meaningful needs exploring though. But not with the shite he just offered up. I dont have any clue what to do but having lived in the Uk for over ten years and getting 'into the EPL and world football in general, I have to say that one of the real genius of football competitions worldwide are the relegation battles. Its pretty simple really. The bottom clubs are fighting for their lives. They have to earn the right to participate in the premier league. Makes for exciting, emotional stuff. Great for fans. Or break your heart. Of course I get it that most of us aussies cannot fathom this idea. In fact I dont even reckon we would be emotionally strong enough to deal with a Melbourne/Collingwood relegation game. I'd be all over the place! Anyway we are petracking towards not being in relegation battles in the future (if they were to happen). As for where the second tier competition comes from well I dunno, but, you could start with unifying WAFL, SANFL, QAFL, VFL etc etc, into one competition. Conference these all up (NCAA style)and call it the Championship say. Winners of this granny and the minor premiership, goes up, wooden spooners and second last of afl go down. Imagine. We need to beat Collingwood (losing doesnt matter as we are sitting on top, 12 points clear)to ensure their relegation to having to play a regular home and away game at North Ballarat. Wouldnt even have to be the pies. Saints, doggies, cats, hawks, any of them, all of them. Of course, stadium size at some of these non traditional afl clubs is a problem. But it's not mine.

agree with all of the above. Petracca, due to his interrupted start to his career and the associated expectation and so forth will, whether or not we like it or he likes it, have a intense scrutiny placed on his performances. The only way he can succeed is to be a star. Happy days for us if he is. I dont agree that him being a bit of a young clown is a problem. Good on him. All I care about is his game day performances.

stuff robbo.

I have the facts. Petracca is out for 4-6 weeks with a busted up fifth metatarsal. He did it playing basketball in his backyard. A selection of posters think he is a bit of an idiot. A selection of posters think it's just one of those things. I'm not bothered. It is what it is. I'm a Zen buddhist though.

We have a great skipper. I love him. Tough as nails, loyal, reliable...we have a champion on our hands and if we can make some noise in the next few years having him lead us is going to be the icing on the cake. Not a football fan in the country would begrudge him success. As for all the other talk about leadership groups and 'what not'...i reckon its all a bit overrated this leadership group stuff (bear in mind you have a bunch of penis photographing, sexually debauched, dwarf burning idiots down there at the Saints making Jake Carlisle work hard to earn 'their' 'respect' - outrageous! Clowns. Forget about all this leadership group buuuullllllshhhiiit...a captain, vice captain, deputy vice-captain...Bounce the ball thanks umpire we're all set!

Jones and Terlich are goners. Thats clear. Must be hard for terlich. Roos is the 'saviour' of the club to everyone at the club except terlich. I think Roos shut his career down in Sydney as well.

I'm a fan. Go Jack.

I don't know. Stretch maybe. Maybe being surrounded by hungry young talented footballers, Wattsy, who I'm a big fan of, will crank it up a notch. Just looking at our list and I reckon there are twenty players on our list that share a first name. Max's, Mitch's Jack's, Jakes, and it goes on...coming out our a%$^s! Is that normal? I can't do the research because I could not be bothered in the slightest to look at another AFL club's list. Actually, doesn't matter. Its not important. Go Dees.

'Should Melbourne's name be forgot'

glass half empty. The pick we lose next year we cant use this year and yes we lost a second rounder but gained another inside top ten. As for everything gained they should help us to improve THIS year and thats what it is all about for me C and B. Next year. Improvement. Creating belief and a more successful culture. I'm not sure you understand the bit about us not being a 'destination' club. You are not the sharpest tool in the box are you?

Have lost Howe, Toumpas and pick 6 essentially. And have gained three hard at it, experienced players and picks 3 and 7. Considering we're not a destination club pretty crafty work i would have thought.

put your faith in the decision makers. They wish to get it right. They are well considered decisions I'm sure. We just have to accept what we front up with and support the team once again. He looks hard at it at least, as does Melksham and so does this Bugg lad, so all I see is the club bringing in two hungry players, maybe a third for Howe and the Toump. Take it.

What a wan%er! Dumb as dog sh*t he is. this is now confirmed in his choice to go to Collingwood. I'm a fan and don't buy into this "oh its the system and players have the right to test the markets and all that yada yada yada...whatever" He's just a pri%k now and I look forward to the Dees faithful sticking into him when we meet them next year. But hey, as long as Bucks remains in charge I'm happy. Because he is the biggest 'loser' in afl history and he just keeps getting worse and worse at Collingwood and for a die hard dee fan this is just great.

He is a pr1ck. said so himself. who are we to argue

Seems to me his manager is a slimy little geezer. I don't actually think I care. Remember the last game of the year? Took a hanger. In a rush of blood, he gets up (in hindsight, clearly thinking how prospective teams must be thinking of signing him) and kicks the ball directly to the opposition, and I think it ended in a turnover goal. Either way it demonstrated a lack of football intelligence. And for me, throughout his career I have thought, 'he's not the sharpest tool in the box this bloke'. Anyways, I'm just putting my faith in the FD. Surely Jackson, Goodwin, Roos and Mahoney know what they are doing by their offer to him. Ego's ruin pretty much all relationships. We say "your worth this" He and his slimy little manager say "well this team will pay me this" and we have a standoff. The parties dig in. yada yada yada. I'd be happy if he stayed and I don't care if he goes. But if he does choose Metricon stadium (which I can't believe he will) to run out on every week then my earlier statement regarding sharp tools is accurate.

I hear you nut and bean and I certainly get your point. But in ten years time Colin Garland can rock into the Melbourne Footy club and he'll have universal respect from every single person in the building (premiership player or not). Frawley will not be able to do that at Melbourne. (In fact, I'd lock the door and tell him to p*&^ off.) At Hawthorn, Frawley will be looked upon as a mercenary, a hired gun. Deep down, loyal Hawks players and staffers will see him as this as well - a bloke who left his mates to chase the dollar and fame elsewhere. And good on him, he achieved what he wanted. Lots of people do. But I know whose shoes I would rather walk in. I do loyalty. I do Melbourne. Forever.