Wiseblood

Turned over a new leaf, mate?

We recruited May and Lever, two premier defenders in their prime, to the club. They don't come cheap. Plus, before we got Lever, supporters and the club knew that we needed to fix our key position stocks in the backline. We were crying out for it. We go and do that but we still aren't happy. We added Hibberd and Melksham for second round picks. Master stroke. AVB deserved that contract after the two months he had, including finals. He was a major component of our run to the Prelim. KK came as an afterthought in the May deal. Overpriced? Hardly. Our backline, when fit, is a strength and our forward line, when fit, is also a strength. I won't argue that we have a few too many in and under types, but then we would have hoped for more from KK, Stretch, Hunt etc. KK and Stretch couldn't get on the park and we needed Hunt forward. Salem is another who might have pushed up but injuries meant he played across half back. Also, I'm impressed with how many times you used 'overpriced' in your post. Well done. Edit - we also swapped Fritsch for Watts, which was a win, and got Hannan for next to nothing. If we can get these guys all on the park together, fit and ready to go, then I'm confident we are back in the finals frame in 2020.

Proof will be in the pudding. It was a tough year for everyone involved, and I have no doubt Goody is working his backside off to help us get better over the off season. But we also know that it means nothing unless it happens. The only thing that interests me right now are our fitness levels - if we have a healthy list that gets things underway positively when November rolls around, then we are already making inroads into improving across the board in 2020.

Classic stuff here. Firstly, no one is after May as he just came to the club and signed a long term deal. Secondly, Tomlinson can't be overpriced as we can get the bloke for free on a decent contract. Thirdly, what are the other instances of poor list management? I know we had a shocker of a season, but list management hasn't been the cause of that. We haven't lost anyone of significance and we've added some very handy players over the last 3-4 years, while signing up many of the kids that are crucial to our long term goals.

The Age also ran an article on the Frost situation which had a quote from his manager, who said we hadn't yet tabled an offer to him but preliminary talks had been positive. I don't know who to believe really.

I'd rather back players on the list, but ANB does nothing for me. He is fumbly, misses tackles, doesn't go hard enough and is an average kick for goal. If he is displaced in the 22 next season then we are headed in the right direction.

I'd love to see clubs have more of a say in where players end up. If they want to go back to their home state then they go to the club that can do the best deal.

I may be wrong, but it could be because he hasn't played all of those 8 seasons at the same club.

I think Frosty was great this year, but this idea that we need to sign him purely based on his pace is kind of strange. Yes, he has some pace on him, but as stated earlier his disposal is barely average and his turnover numbers are horrible. What is the point of someone having some pace if they then turn the ball over downfield, only for it to go back over their head for a score? Pace is only useful if you can also hit a few targets, which is something Frosty doesn't do nearly enough of.

With their interest in Jack Martin, I'll be interested to see how they get both of those deals done with only Pick 8 to play with in terms of first rounders.

Knowing the Bombers, they're likely to ask for 10 first round picks for him and not budge an inch.

@FlashInThePan and @Mach5 made good points across the board re: this issue. It was just one part of why the season went down the toilet so quickly, but I feel this was an area that probably affected us more in the second half of the season than the first. I do agree that our on field leaders have been disappointing and that changes need to be made in this area. I think Gawn stands out as someone who not only wants to be a leader, but consistently exhibits these behaviours for others around him. Lever and May are others who have the potential to do this, but one has dealt with injury and the other came to the club not fit enough so they probably need full seasons under their belts to take that opportunity.

I think seeing us pursuing both Tomlinson and Langdon, plus the potential of splitting our first pick for two slightly later picks and a player, shows that we know exactly what is going on and that we need to bring in further talent in various areas to combat that.

Before we start leaving skid marks in our jocks, lets see how this plays out first. We have no idea what's going on behind the scenes. Also, how many of you getting angry would have been happy to move him on at the end of last season? I'd say 95% of you would have, and would have said as much in some of the threads. Just calm down and think rationally for just a few seconds.

Small update from the HUN: Would already have a designated locker at Melbourne and his new jumper laid out in the changerooms. The Demons have been into Langdon all year and will resume talks with Fremantle about a deal. Will be interesting negotiations after Peter Bell got cranky with the Dees over Jesse Hogan last year.

One paper says we have lowballed him, while another quotes his manager who says we haven't offered him anything as yet but things look positive. I don't know who to believe, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Sounds like we are still keen to sign him going by this quote: “When contacted by The Age, Frost's manager Anthony McConville said he was yet to receive a formal contract offer from Melbourne, but he was confident the two parties were having positive discussions. "He's been told he's a required player at Melbourne," McConville said”

Interesting. After the season he had, how would we feel about potentially losing him to another club? At the end of last year it might not have mattered too much, but he certainly improving in 2019.

Were we ever in the race, though? Did we register interest early, got told of his demands and politely declined to pursue him as he cost too much? It's been hinted that the Dogs were offering him some big bucks, so you would assume he will be handsomely rewarded by the Blues as well. I agree that we need some X-factor, pace etc on our list, and Martin does tick those boxes, but we may never have been in the running to begin with. And if it were to come out that we didn't even ask the question, then I'd find that very disappointing.

True. I'm probably being a little simplistic with that comment. But, the way I see it, is that we are able to add Tomlinson while keeping our picks, thus giving us some flexibility there. We can still add Langdon using one of those, then we might end up splitting that first pick with GWS who might send us a further player as part of that. For example, we might come out of the trade period with: IN: Pick 11, Pick 13, Langdon, Tomlinson, further GWS player (Hately, Bonar etc.) Out: Pick 3, Pick 20. We can then add two highly rated young kids to the list to go with the above. I think that's a positive outcome for us, but that's just my opinion. Much would also ride on the contracts we give, but when was the last time someone has been squeezed out due to salary cap restraints? I think this is one area that we have managed well over recent years.

It just goes to show that even the best coaches can get things wrong. While Billings is no Kelly, he had a ripper year for the Saints and would be more than welcome in our side right now. The deal for Salem and Tyson might not be remembered all that fondly, but we had a decision to make at the time to try and get as much talent into the side as we could. Roos isn't saying that Tomlinson is a bad player, or that he would be a bad fit in our side. He may end up being right with his view, and I would agree with him if we were offering up something like a second rounder for him. But the fact we're essentially getting him for nothing supersedes that. Adding him to our side without giving anything up is a win, and he will be best 22 for years to come.

So if we're getting him for free, what's the issue? Outside of the 4 year deal, we aren't giving up a whole lot to get him and he's an upgrade on anyone else we have running around on a wing. If we also snare Langdon, and KK can get over the concussion issues (which is a big IF), then we've upgraded what we have running around the wings immensely from this season. That can only be seen as a win.

I think we've all known that he's not actually a Melbourne supporter all this time. As you've said previously, he would have similar accounts on other fan forums to stir up as much trouble as possible. As for this thread - I don't think I've ever celebrated harder than when Hannan kicked the sealer. 12 years of raw emotion was let out that night. The opportunity to do this again won't be another 12 years in the making.

I had us at 12:01am in 2013.

Basil Fawlty? 'Don't mention free agency. I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it...'