Rodney (Balls) Grinter

Getting rather sick of Adelaide, Port (mainly via Corns) and Freo white anting at our stars from their states.

What is the list of all the best Victorian players from those clubs that can be prominently bandied about in the main stream media to destabilise those clubs?

Uncontracted or contracted, doesn't matter - can someone please make this happen?

34 minutes ago, deelusions from afar said:

If Petty played at another club and entered the national draft at his age with his level of experience, we would take him with our first pick - he's a young physically mature key position forward AND back that has proven ability to play at a high level in the AFL.

There are likely KPP in the draft that could have better careers than him - but they are less bankable than he is at this point in time and they are not ready to hold down a key position post like he is.

The idea of getting pick 10 for him is ludicrous. 

Considering North got pick 3 for Ben McKay.

The other reference point which Adelaide should be familiar with is Jake Lever.  Also had an injury history, but worth two first round picks.  I'd contest that Petty is different, but every bit as good as Lever.  Lever was also uncontracted, Petty is not.

Tell them they're dreaming.

16 hours ago, Little Goffy said:

Looks like a nice young man with an excellent head of hair.

The young folk call it a 'mullet' Goffy.

Kind of like a skinny Luke Jackson look alike.

14 hours ago, praha said:

Melbourne's media department is seriously amateur. 

They posted an Instagram story of a screenshot of their browser... without cropping out the browser.

Yeah and has 69 battery power - don't know if that's saying something. 

Sorry I'm such a juvenile.

35 minutes ago, KingDingAling said:

I’d like to see us wheel Gawn out in a moon boot in the next few days, just to put doubt in Sydney’s mind - that we might need I keep Grundy.

Or does Port actually want a ruck more?

Or for that kind of unders, maybe we'd just prefer to have a quality VFL ruck and insurance for Max.

4 minutes ago, Redbeard said:

Yep that's the one, round 12. 19 disposals, 44 hitouts, 1 goal 1 behind 

I think the game high 8 marks, with many of those contested that also really stamped him on the game.

12 minutes ago, monoccular said:

Asking for a friend - how old was Max in his breakout game at KP??  I would have thought 24 +/- 1

Pretty much.  I'd put it at that 2015 Vs Geelong at Kadinia Park win, where he dominated that he really started to stamp himself on the comp, which probably didn't really consistently get going until the following years 2016 / 2017 so that puts him precisely 23 - 25

Agree that it's probably a good age range to recruit a ready made ruck that still has some years ahead of them.  Probably also allows our 19/20yo developing rucks some time to develop their bodies and as players without being thrown in out of their depth.

On 10/6/2023 at 2:40 PM, Katrina Dee Fan said:

I know, that actually gave me a viseral reaction on Saturday, I felt actual nausea.

I turned the TV off the moment the siren went for that very reason 

7 hours ago, Little Goffy said:

Fair call to say each of them would be in 'arguably the best' range.

Personally I'd say Rozee (pick 5) has edged past Walsh now, though Walsh was an amazing early gun and remains elite.

Weitering has to compete with Oliver (4) and C Curnow (12), which might never be splittable given the totally different positions.

Hodge v Judd is an enduring debate, of course. But that 2001 draft produced multiple club champions, Brownlow and Norm Smith medallists - including the talent surge that turned Geelong from mediocre to decade-long dynasty.

The trades being talked about for Reid are greater than Geelong's entire 2001 draft hand!

 

Edit: Gary Ablett Jr was also in 2001, so the Hodge v Judd debate is slightly moot.

Add to that other list Christian Patracca, who would have gone pick 1 if St Kilda didn't hace a masive recruiting brain fade.

Matt Rowell also looks like being a pretty decient footballer.

I think the other lesson that should be learned out of this by the MFC is that delisting and relisting players as rookies etc may not be such a smart move if we think they might be decient players in the future.

Yes right now JJ was only depth, but in a few years he may not have been.  I'm beginning to think that we need to do more to keep players in his age demographic to sustain the team in the years we will be comming to soon when the Viney, Tracs and Brayshaw, Langdon, Hunter etc cohort start to fall away.  Similarly players like Bedford.  And great teams need good depth.

I partially understand Jordan's reason to move, but when he's going to a club where the midfield will be similarly strong to ours, that becomes a little less understandable.

I'd actually be inclined to boo him and Bedford in the future.

15 hours ago, Nascent said:

Apparently the Lions fans call him "full cream"

Will fit in well with "Milkshake" when he gets back

40 minutes ago, monoccular said:

Great news and cool interview.

He seems to have found his niche as a tallish hybrid forward - whether he retains that role will depend a bit on who else comes on in 2024, and who else we may pick up.

He needs another 58 games to get to the century in case he has a son sometime who wants to follow dad and grandpa in the R&B.    27 x 2 over the next two years and at least a few the following year will do it.  

Agree with Timothy RAB's disappointment that he isn't expecting to play the full 27 next year 🙂

Surely if he knocks up the ton, his daughter would qualify for our AFLW team?

Really glad for Joel that he got the oppertunity and produced this season.  Was a really bright spark up forward to look to for the future.

Thought he had some great games down back pinch hitting as the sub - that Brisbane game in particular.  Provided really strong contest, marking, defensive tackling, but then some good run off half back as well.

A bit hit and miss as a forward, but more often than not, provided a really good aerial contest that others failed to give.  His marking on a lead and goal kicking look pretty rock so solid too.

Love seeing him in the 29.  Would be great to see him pull down some massive hangers like his old man - I reckon he's got it in him.

2 hours ago, Neil Crompton said:

I don't think anyone here will or could forget WCW. But just maybe it's time for healing instead of continually picking at the wound.

I think I disliked the AFL far more for their inaction on this than Maynard for doing the deed. But my sincere hope and energy is focused all at Gus and his healing - so much so that I don't have a lot of energy left to waste on the AFL and that knuckle-dragger Maynard.  

I agree in part Neil.  Maynard was something of an unwitting, careless pawn in the affair.  I do believe there was sincerity in his visit to Guss in the following days.

But I simply can't forget or move on from the way their supporters started the "Collingwood" chant as Guss still lay their motionless on the ground or the way Eddie McGuire carried on "justice has been served" style when he got off at the tribunal.  Tasteless, brain dead (pardon the pun) and uncaring response from all of those aforementioned.

This thread needs to stay alive throughout the whole of next season at the minimum.

5 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

We all agree. We hate Maynard. Case closed.  

And we also hate Collingwood and the AFL and Eddy Mc Guire - probably more than even before if that was possible.

For the next umpteen times we play them, we should really be expecting our side to serve their own version of justice on those a-holes.  Makes duck dinners look like kiddies talk.

1 hour ago, mo64 said:

Message to Jason Taylor. No more Rangas. Next thing we know Bowey will request a trade to his old man's club St. Kilda.

Is that like a variation on the Sydney "No Richard craniums" policy?

1 hour ago, Demonstone said:

I think it's here to stay ... 

As for the nickname, McQualter says it goes back long before he was drafted by the Saints. "I've had the nickname since I was grade three," he revealed. "I was tiny when I was younger and I had an older brother. His friends called me a mini version of him.

 

Isn't that an even better reason to shed the Nick name?

Is he now going to be a Mini Goodie?

13 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

Don’t think there was any ‘let go’ about it - he got a better offer

I don't think he was a free agent was he?

And if I recall correctly may even have still been in contract.

This attitude we have at the MFC of helping players get to the club and trading low value 2nd / 3rd rd picks or worse for them has its drawbacks and sometimes I think we need to hold on harder to some of these types of players.

With Bedford we'd put multiple years of development into him and he was just starting to show the fruits of that investment and we let him go, what I would call cheaply.

On 10/1/2023 at 5:23 PM, whatwhat say what said:

swans picking up all the second rung mids - jj from us and dow from the blues

Maybe, but every so often one of those second strings turns into a solid best 22 performer at another club.

Still spewing we let go of Toby Bedford though.  He had potential best 22 written all over him, but I think we just needed him to be more patient with oppertities to get confident and prove it at the MFC.

2 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Great news!

 

New players and coaches always look infinitely better with a red and blue kit on!

40 minutes ago, Binmans PA said:

Welcome Mini. Have a feeling it's a really good get. Our first CGS student as an MFC coach too.

Can we drop the Mini nickname and come up with something else? 

Seems demeaning.

7 hours ago, Redleg said:

Part of showing respect to a player is to have a heart to heart with them, outlining where they are at.

If the FD feels they won't play senior footy in the next season, then a retirement with a payment, has them leaving as a senior player, not a reserves player, who played on too long.

Conversations need to be honest and respectful as you say, but the player needs to know the lay of the land and then be allowed to make a decision, on how they want to end their time at the club.

That is the respect that you afford your long term players.

I would think most players with pride want to go out near the top, not the bottom, thereby harming their playing reputation. 

Our football department and the players involved are all quality individuals, so I'm fully confident that those types of conversations would be being had if that's where things are at.

But who knows maybe the players, fitness and medical staff have some kind of belief that there is something still worth persevering with and want to squeeze every last drop out of their careers.  I'll be fascinated to see what might be left in their careers.  Melksham looked a bit past it 12 - 18 months ago, was struggling for a senior spot and look at the contribution he was still able to make.

Each individual is different.  Hibbo called it a day when he thought his body and playing capasity was on the cliff edge or just a little over.  To be honest, I was amazed he was so good last season and even the games he did play this year.  Maybe others don't have the aversion to potentially playing mostly reserves and just want to hang onto being involved in that elite environment for as long as they can.  Whatever the case, I agree with @dimmy that these guys have earnt the right to call it a day on whatever their own terms might be.

11 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

The AFL needs to make a decision. Are the Giants the team for Western Sydney or Canberra? They can't be both. It's insulting the people of both western Sydney and the ACT as it's effectively saying we don't think either of you can support an AFL team by yourselves.

Same could be said for North and Tassie

I'm honestly not that phased by the list spot and salary cap these guys might be taking up.  It's basically sunk capital.

We invested it to keep/lure them to the club at a time they were valuable contributors and they helped deliver us a premership.

Giving them extra years on their contracts and thus allowing us to spread their salaries out at a time we were also trying to secure long term deals for Trac, Clarry, Viney, Gawn, May, Lever and others probably also allowed us to keep that team together.  Will we also be asking the same questions in the last couple of years contracts of these guys? i.e. should they retire?

Plenty of players we pick at the national draft will probably never play a game.  Both T Mac and BBB played multiple games in the seniors when needed, with variable levels of output.

It also looks likely we will have a significant list turnover this season and a bunch of young talent.  In the current AFL envioment of limited soft cap having a few role models like T Mac and BBB around the place to teach the development squad in check and bring them up the learning curve faster could be invaluable, like having a couple of extra coaches available at your disposal.  The quality of character of T Mac and BBB is exceptional, so if we can have some of that rub off on the draftees, I think we are doing well.