Wiseblood

To be fair though Stuie, if he was struggling at that time he wouldn't have signed a new contract that kept him at the club for multiple years. Obviously when he signed it he was more than happy to stay for the future.

I think the bottom line in this, no matter how we feel, is that we don't know the full story. All we know is that he has been given a leave of absence and has headed back home to be with his family. Of course we can speculate and I understand that some will defend him and others will have no sympathy towards him. I have never experienced homesickness, nor have I experienced depression, so I can't really comment. If he played for us I could be angry that he has left the club in the lurch, but it's harsh to do more than that unless we know the full story. Titan made a terrific post above that highlights this - little sympathy for him due to the fact he signed an extension and committed to the club when he could have waited and then made his way home to Freo, but there is nothing about calling him 'weak and pathetic' as you did. Hopefully the kid can get himself right and return to the club... after Round 1.

I see him fighting for that spot with a few different players, like Stretch, Neal-Bullen, Oliver etc. If he doesn't perform then there are plenty waiting in the wings, which is a good thing.

I'm keen to put my name down and have a crack fellas. Cheers.

I think that is the most logical option, particularly if they try Grimes early on and it just doesn't work out. I still think Mitch White will probably get a promotion, as well as Michie, and I think both might get an early crack in the NAB Cup to show what they can do. White was great in his one game, but it is only one game. I'd like to see him do it well in the NAB Cup before he is considered for that role across half back. And I agree with Watts. I think the backline ship for him sailed a long time ago. I can't see Roos, or Goodwin, sticking him down there again.

Sorry mate, should have been more specific and I mentioned it in an earlier post - I was assuming that we would have been looking at a rotation of Salem/Lumumba/Melksham across half back that would rotate through a wing and the bench as well. With Melksham obviously out I was throwing Grimes up as the next best cab off the rank. I know he has his flaws but we need to start winning games of football, not punting on kids, and thought he was our next best choice. I wouldn't be against Stretch playing there either, although I worry about his strength in one on one situations. Interested to see if he plays there in the NAB Cup.

I said Grimes as an example. I'll overlook your passionate dislike for Grimes though and say that, outside of him, who is this 'kid' of which you speak? White hasn't been promoted off the rookie list so, until he is, we can't have him in the equation. We still need an experienced head down there who CAN provide something both defensively and offensively. Grimes CAN do both, although his penchant for missing the odd target is well documented. The way I see it, is that we don't have a huge amount of options down there. We need to start winning games now so just throwing a kid to the wolves just doesn't cut it anymore. If Grimes fails then we need to think a little more creatively about it. I'd suggest Tom Bugg as an option but from what I can gather he is being groomed as a run with player for 2016 which will hopefully free up the likes of Vince and Viney.

It annoys me too, but then we haven't exactly been anything but 'lowly Melbourne' for a long time. Once we played good, consistent footy and we push for finals it will be hard to change that perception for some.

Jack Viney for me. We already know how good he can be, but I believe this is the year he makes the rest of the competition stand up and take notice.

I was hopeful that he would have spent some time across half back/wing, rotating with both Melksham and Salem. I feel as though that stays the same with possibly Grimes, for example, taking Melksham's role. While his output, particularly in terms of getting his hands on the ball, was well down on expectations, he still played very well when given a role on a forward and was rarely beaten in that regard. Once fit he should be able to slot back into the side nicely.

It wasn't necessarily about his ability to play the game, more that we picked him in the Top 10 of what was dubbed a super draft and missed out completely, just like Cook. Very different players but we picked them both and missed out on others. I was only being light hearted, didn't think you would take it so seriously.

I was hoping we could go even further back and have a discussion about Luke Molan...

I don't think we'll get one. More than likely we'll get to promote an extra rookie, although then being able to add another to the list would be good. VFL rejects do nothing for me. Golby and Arnot don't have the potential to get a game. Mitch White does. I'd rather us go down that road.

Maybe, but to say our view on it was 'quite sad' and then label a posters stance as 'pathetic' went a bit further than that. Edit - I'll keep it on topic from here as I've said my piece.

I don't need them to fight battles for me.

Only one person attacked his background. One. You're making it sound as if there was a lynch mob with pitch forks storming his front gate to tell him that he's wrong. Why you need to make it sound like that, rather than quietly having a word with the poster in question, is beyond me. Plus I still believe the rest of us are quite valid in our points re: Garlett's fitness. While boxing may make up a decent part of his fitness program, he still isn't immune to realising that while he can't do that, maybe he could do a little extra in other areas to keep his fitness base up. He's paid quite well to be a professional and it's clear he didn't quite reach those standards. Lastly, people are criticised on here left, right and centre for their various views on the club. That's what a forum is for. Why you choose, as a mod, to come out and defend one poster over not much is telling. I've brought it up before but clearly Saty is a mod favourite and is treated as such. I wouldn't see yourself or other mods quickly jumping to the defence of others with a couple of big paragraphs to support it.

As if they'll say he is a rubbish trainer to a bloke behind the fence. Everyone else's points are valid - a stuffed finger doesn't mean he can't do other things to keep himself in shape like the rest of the list would. It smacks of a bloke who was a little bit slack over the break and didn't so enough to keep himself in shape. Cheers to the reports as well guys. The positive is that we are slowly adding more players to the main training group and we have less in the rehab group. We can't complain with that.

And Brayshaw was the one who was subbed off for Toumpas in the end.

Hey guys, Haven't joined the Demonland Supercoach league before so I'm more than happy to start from the bottom division. I'd just love to be involved! Team name is 'Van Buren Boys'. Cheers.

Not exactly a fair comparison. Garlett is a proven goal sneak at AFL level and does it on a consistent basis. Hunt hasn't come close to that yet. He hasn't even done it on a consistent level for Casey. I'd love him to make it, I really would... but let's not get carried away.

We'll never know, and we can assume all we want, as to what happened. Was there someone out there we could entice? Possibly, but we don't know. I'd like to think the club was still happy to throw picks 3 and 12 around and see what came up - if nothing did then we just take it to the draft. But to get something, you need to give up something. We weren't getting Pick 12 for Matt Jones. Trengove may have been expendable at the time compared to other players, but that didn't mean the club didn't rate him. They just saw the bigger picture and felt that getting another pick to dangle around at clubs, or go the draft, was worth more to us at the time. The fact Trengove was given another year tells me we still DO rate him and believe he is worth persisting with.

I wouldn't go that far. The club saw an opportunity to land an extra first rounder and Trengove was the player the Tigers wanted... of the players who were available that is. Clearly the club were happy to move him on but it's a bit simplistic to simply suggest the coaches don't rate him. He wouldn't have gotten another contract and another year to get healthy otherwise.

Justin Charles is a certainty to be signed now.

I take it you don't rate it?

This might have been answered already, but is Chip Le Grand's book on this saga worth a read? It's relatively cheap for the Kindle version and might check it out... if it's worth it that is. Cheers.