Neil Crompton

I think if you'd put Spargo's football brain and determination into Petraccas body you'd have Dusty Martin.

You only think Petracca's ceiling is higher than De Goey's. He certainly has never shown the match winning form that De Goey has - and perhaps he never will. At best he has shown glimpses, but he has never contributed a 4 quarter game. He seems to me to be a very immature player, who may, a couple of years down the track, grow up, and start to play consistently to his undoubted ability. I certainly hope so, but i fear the worst - that he may end up being, in terms of level of disappointment, our replacement Jack Watts.

Totally agree. But 3 more pages and we break the Jack Watts' post record.

I luv Gus's ability to win the ball but his disposal lets him down time and time again. If he could hit the targets he aims for - either by foot or by hand - i'd swear we'd be a 2-3 goal better side every week. To me that is the main reason he is not in the AA squad.

Wow! With runs on the board like that, our football department would be mad not to take you on as an adviser! Send them your CV

After the Brayshaw mugging, I'm glad he wont be joining us. The money saved is far better spent on keeping our our superb young talent at the MFC.

Tell that to Kent, Tyson and Melksham

Since the broken bone in his hand, Harmes has been magnificent. Hope the same cause and affect will work with Tyson.

Poor old Watts. Would be lucky to get a game at Casey the way he is playing. Looks to be totally uninterested in going anywhere near the ball unless it lands in his lap. Doubt he’ll get another contract.

That's 9 posts on this topic now Beelzebub and while i respect your right to your opinion, i'm sorry but you will never convince me, no matter how many more you post. Jessie has to stay - for the good of the club - in my humble opinion

IMHO there is so much wrong with the proposal to "sell Jessie". Why would you discard a player who opposition coaches think so highly of they always double team against him? And that's despite the fact that we crucify Jessie every time we bomb it in long. He is not a pack mark but he is fast and if we lowered our eyes and learnt to hit our targets he'd get more confidence in leading. Buddy is not a pack mark either - in fact he would have dropped more marks than Clarry has had handballs - but the swans are always lowering their eyes to his leads. Why would you throw away an established key forward who is your leading goal kicker, and near top goal assist player, for a first round pick that may or may not pay off a couple of years down the track? Does not make any sense. We are now on the threshold of becoming a great team (for many years i believe) and that is being built around the young talent we have, so why would you break up that talent? Jessie was the first of this young group and the key man around who we built our talent pool. The team culture we have built to date with this lot would be destroyed if we were to sell Jessie. Weiderman may or may not become a good player. Jessie is a very good player now. Do we need another mid so badly that we'd take this risk? I don't think so! Our mids are good and will only get better, as will Jessie as we mature as a team and feed him properly. Sell Jessie? FFS give me a break!

To me, umpires are just like players - some are better than others and they all have good games and bad games. I have no problem criticising an ump for a bad decision, just as we criticise our players for making mistakes. But to suggest that umps are cheats, or that they rig matches is, in my opinion, a joke, surely.

my apologies. getting wet for nothing

What are the odds of this happening this coming round: - magpies lose - swans draw with hawks - we beat giants Then we finish 3rd and play west coast again!

Do we need to discuss possible changes just yet? Cant we just enjoy this great moment for a day or two first?

ha ha never in doubt!

Saty, if that were true then it would be hypocrisy. Please show us an example of where a particular poster has been hypocritical to back your "amusing" claim. Your opinion is as important as anyone else on here - just hope its factual.

Like Jaded, i’m not feeling the usual pre-match anxiety that normally follows the Thursday chat. I think deep down I have almost accepted that we have blown it for this year, so the expectation for the last 2 games is not so high. If we do the improbable then I will be over the moon. I may well feel different on game day, but I almost prefer this current state of mind. It’s so much easier on the old ticker. On reflection we are certainly a better side than last year. While extremely disappointed we have stumbled this year, the fact that we have, simply shows we are not yet ready for the big dance. We’ve effectively had 5 years of progressive improvement. No one should be disappointed in that. Maybe the rebuild has not been as quick as some would have liked, but while we are not yet the real deal, I don’t think we are too far from it. In this age of instant gratification, having patience is not an easy emotion to embrace. As someone who sat on the wing and watched as our back pocket player snapped the winning goal in the 64 grand final, I know what having patience means. But in all those intervening years I have never felt more confident in a playing group as I am in this one. So i’ll enjoy the rest of this year, whatever the results of the next 2 games, while knowing that next year, 2019, will be ours. Go Dees.

DV8, there is no way i'd trade Hogan to get better midfielders! That's like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. And i never once said we are not good enough through our midfield! I said our disposal - from all parts of the ground - is poor, causing Hogan to have little confidence in leading.

I think its our delivery that's the problem, whether be mids, forwards or backs. Hogan appears to have no confidence in that delivery, so he hesitates. Put Hogan at the Tigers, West Coast, the Cats or Giants - teams that can hit a target - and he'd be a superstar.

If we had mids and half forwards that could actually hit a target when they kicked, Jessie would have confidence in leading, would kick 60-80 goals a year and be an absolute superstar. Spend our time improving the delivery of the likes of Jones, Tyson, Petracca, Brayshaw, Spargo, ANB, Viney et al, and our game plan would work, our forward line, and Hogan in particular, would be almost unbeatable, and all this ridiculous chat about trading Hogan would disappear.

This would have been a great first half if we'd kicked straight. The sky id not falling yet.

Can't wait for the game to begin. Might give us a break from this. You two should get a private room.

Interesting quote from Leigh Mathews some years ago: “When I look back I was a young, driven, selfish, egotistical, brutal, callous - call it all of those words - footballer," he says. "As a 61-year-old middle-aged grandfather now, I kind of think 'Jeez, that was a nasty piece of work'." For once I couldn’t agree more with Mathews - although somewhat understated I believe.

Under the present system, it would appear that players who have reached the final year of their contract, can have a new contract offered to them at any time during that final year. This is beneficial to the Club, because an early signing provides more certainty in the planning going forward. But is it putting too much pressure on the player? If he doesn't sign in due course, or if he states that he wants to delay talks till the end of the season, he becomes the target of extensive media, public and peer speculation and often pressure. The better the player, the more the pressure. Think of the media and public frenzy surrounding the Dangerfield or the Martin or even the Hogan decision to delay contract talks. Look at the peer pressure and resentment we know was placed on Lever, and appears to have been placed on Lynch, or the rumored pressure surrounding Gaff's current indecision - and the possible impact it's had on him. The pressure is there whether they sign or not. Therefore, is there a better system that would not place players under so much pressure during the season proper - particularly in terms of team moral and performance? Even acknowledging that contract talks can take some time to negotiate, would a set period at the end of the season for all contract renewals to be offered and accepted / rejected be a fairer way? Interested in your thoughts.