Forest Demon

I never said there was proof. Just said if there was, we are in trouble. For what it's worth, I think it would be almost impossible to come up with the required evidence, and if we were punished I would most likely support an appeal. Just have to wait and see what the AFL dig up I suppose.

None of your options define tanking. Tanking is actively trying to manipulate losses by the board and/or coaching staff. Of course positional changes and playing youth are not tanking in themselves, but if they are part of a greater plan to ensure a loss, that is tanking. If there is proof of this as said by certain journos, we are in the shite and are going to have to scrap hard over the next decade to get out of it.

He has overseen some very good things, as has most of the current board. And I love the way he handled things like the Jurrah and Ben Polis press conferences, spoke amazingly well. But the fact is we are in a bad place, and this tanking investigation should never have been able to grow the legs it has. It all has the potential to damage the club irreparably. Must disclaim that by saying obviously I don't know his specific role in all of this.

I understand the premise of taking down the individuals involved, and not harming the club/supporters, but that wasn't the outlook taken to previous punishments for salary cap rorting etc. And Adelaide fans certainly don't deserve to cop it over the Kurt Tippett saga any more than we do. To be honest, if the AFL take out a few individuals over this, then they could be doing us a favour, ridding the club of incompetent administrators who have held the club back.

I honestly cannot believe the last 12 months we have had. For all the good work carried out by Schwab, Stynes, McLardy and co, you have to ask how we are in the situation we are in today. Why are languishing on the bottom of the ladder so long after starting a rebuild, why are we plums deep in a massive investigation that potentially has huge ramifications, while other clubs have done the exact same thing have managed to do so without being probed so thoroughly by the AFL. We as the supporters of this club, who fork out are hard earned on memberships and debt demolition campaigns, don't ask for much in return, but I have never been so disillusioned with supporting a club as I am supporting the MFC right now. I consider myself as passionate and loyal a supporter as possible, and I am not going to say I am not renewing my membership etc, but if I am feeling so disillusioned with all this, then I really worry about all the fair weather fans and family members that, like it or not, are crucial to sustaining this club's future. The board really need to get on the front foot and do something about this, otherwise I fear that all that will be left of us are the couple of hundred die hards that post on here. Sorry for the rant, but my missus wasn't interested in listening to my speil, so I thought you lot might relate more.

It seems anytime there are changes at the club, everyone starts shouting about how great we are looking and we see a few threads like this. But who says these changes will be any different to any other changes made over the last 5 years. With the recruitment of older heads and strong bodies and the discarding of young skinny kids with potential, expectations must surely have risen next year in terms of how competitive we will be short term. Will be interesting to see the potential [censored] storm if we start like we did this year. As Rhino said, the proof will be in the pudding.

Obviously Gysberts, Morton, and Martin were all traded for nothing else but a spot on the list. On the face of it, it is hard to fathom that David Rodan will provide anymore than any of these 3, not to even mention the age of the likes of Gysberts and scope for improvement. I support the FD as they know these guys far better than any of us, but I still find this a bit of a head scratcher.

No use getting angry with the current football department for blunders made by those in the past. But I refuse to cop the whole 'we are on the right track' or 'Neeld will take us where we need to go' lines. There have been many false dawns at this club over the last few years, and while I will continue to support and pay up and all that, I am no more confident now than I was at any other stage over the last 5 years. We just have to support them and hope they have made and will make the right decisions. Time will tell I guess.

Seems like we are hanging onto our duds until after the trade period in the hope someone will be stupid enough to trade for them or take them as free agency to boost our compensation. Not happening though.

Interesting if true. Thought he was an obvious keeper.

Didn't someone just say he was 188cm. That would make him tall for a mid.

Surely you can't blame the AFL for this. Should get a decent turn out for round 1 regardless of who we play, so that doesn't really matter. And there is hardly a more winnable game they could have given us than Port at the MCG to get spirits up and some momentum going. To me, it is pretty much the best possible round 1 result. Just have to go out and do the business and win.

Bummer. Sad to see him go and was hoping he would stay. Personally, I don't wish him the best and I hope the Cats start sliding out of the 8, and he lives to regret not playing out his career at the Dees.

At the risk of being found out as someone with no idea, what does NQR stand for? See it all the time and never figured it out. my guess is Not Quality Required. Now tell me, did I make a dill of myself?

Every single year I hear Melbourne fans, me included, jumping up and down around this time of year. Well, forgive me, but I am not congratulating anyone until I see results on the field this time around. I am not saying I think they have stuffed up, or that Neeld is no good, but I have seen these sort of posts every year for the last few.

All of a sudden we have 2 premiership players at the club in Dawes and Byrnes. By all reports both are incredibly professional in their approach to the game, and that is probably the bit that gives me the most hope about their acquisitions. I don't expect Dawes to kick 40+ goals, but if he and Byrnes can provide the senior leadership that this club has sorely missed over the last few years, and help show a few on the list what it takes, then that can be more important than individual on-field contributions.

He is ok I guess. If he was given a shot then so be it, but would prefer try and develop our own young small forward, especially when we already have Byrnes for the short term. Pretty much you can take an ok C grader in Campbell, or you can give the spot on the list to a young guy who may not amount to anything, but has a chance to become a A-B grader, which is a ceiling we already know Matt Campbell is not going to get past.

I am certain that if he did in fact enter the PSD there is absolutely no chance he would be available at our pick. GC may be saying they are not into him, but that is media fluff, they would be all over him in the PSD, and the same goes for GWS. He has a preference for QLD or NSW which makes them more attractive, and in terms of football we are not any more attractive than these 2 unfortunately. But, a deal will 99% likely get done at some stage, and if it doesn't I would think he would try his hand in the ND in a Luke Ball-like attempt to get to his desired club.

Money doesn't worry me. Someone has to get paid the money, would rather attract players like Clark and to a lesser extent Dawes, front load their contracts, and repeat in the coming years. Would rather Clark and Dawes getting the big bucks rather than the same old duds that got us in this mess. Pick 20 is fair, they can have Petterd if they want him, adds little value to the trade, just swing us a 3rd rounder or similar.

Definitely seems like the AFL have little idea how this is going to play out, so are keeping their cards close to their chest, and pretty much just making it up as they go.

No idea why I support the MFC, but for whatever reason I have a much bigger connection with Melbourne than I do any other club, even in sports I prefer such as soccer. I think it is the fact I feel like the club actually need me, which is obviously untrue as they would survive without me, but being a member and chipping in a bit of cash here and there, I actually feel like I am a bigger part of the club than I am of any soccer team I support.

At first Petterd + 20 sounds overs, as I, like many on here, have a bit of a soft spot for Ricky. But the reality is this is a guy who was as fit as he is going to get this season, and still managed no more than a couple of woeful games in one of the worst sides in recent memory. He is clearly on the way out, so basically he adds nothing to the trade in terms of things we are giving up. Would still push to get a lower pick in return to try and include in Pedersen or Ray trades. Would have thought clubs would learn our duds are just that. Once a player is tainted with the MFC brush there is no return for them.

Collingwood are doing very well if they manage to get any more than pick 20 for Dawes, but if there are other clubs circling then I guess that determines the market more than what value people like us or people in the media think. Skipped 1 page of this thread and all of a sudden it has turned into yet another Sylvia bashing threads. Surely all those hell bent on continually potting Colin can do it in one of the handful of threads they have already started this year for that exact purpose.

This, kicked 5 against west coast almost purely off the deck.

No use trading for Meredith. Why put another list clogger on there just to get rid of another, and he would probably get a 2 year deal. If we do a deal, do it for a pick, even if it isn't used. But I could handle cale on the list for one more year, tell him how it is, plop him on a wing (at casey) and see how he goes.