Adina88

So many people have glossed over this - so quick to kick Oliver out the door now that they want to overlook that the club didn't ask him to leave at all. And he hasn't indicated at all (yet) that he wants to leave. Why are people jumping at every crumb of rumour thrown out by the media instead of listening to our own List Manager?

Of course. He wants out. He's selling a cheap trade to GC to get them to take him and cares not one whit about a deal that is acceptable to us. We're not his priority, and haven't been for some time. But King wants to bring that back inside the team if a deal falls through? Madness.

And without being inside the four walls of the club yourself, you have absolutely no idea about 'club culture'. Why the hell do the rest of the team speak so highly of him if he's such a 'cancer'? What a bizarre insinuation that on the one hand, Petracca is the most professional player in the league with the highest standards that rubs off on the rest of the team, and yet one single person can be so negative, and the rest of the team so naive and impressionable that they would be negatively influenced by someone's individual off-field health issues. Have some respect for the rest of the team as being free-thing individuals with their own agency. Stop scapegoating a single player as the bane of all the club's problems. Melbourne supporters are a weird bunch.

How is this different to holding onto a player who is at risk of another ACL? Or has a growing history of concussion? EVERY player is at risk of suffering something that actually takes them off the playing field for weeks, months, an entire year. 'Oliver is a risk' is such a cheap, below-the-belt shot, especially given it implies 'off-field issues'. Oliver has more risk of redoing a hamstring strain, or breaking his hand again than anything else.

What’s that saying? ‘Beggars can’t be choosers’. If MFC are begging another team to take Oliver, then we have no right ask for a high price. Dumbest trading decision MFC will ever make. I genuinely hope Clayton thrives in Sydney and absolutely rinses us in 2026.

Might be time for a few DLers to take a breath and review their understanding of the DL terms of service and posting guidelines. Targetted harassment of players and how apparently useless they are isn't in the spirit of good forumship.

OR, TRAC STAYS AT MFC His form continues to slide, he continues to baulk at contests, he continues to spin and dump his kicks, and kick more behinds than goals. And he might even turn his disapproving heart on his sleeve in his team mate's direction, literally, like May has in the past. His trade value drops even further when he inevitably asks for another trade in 12 month's time. Can't wait.

"His off field behaviour" - put yourself in Oliver's shoes: when is he EVER going to be allowed to get past that? Listen to anyone who actually knows Oliver and they'll say he turned a huge corner in 2025 with his training, he was highly motivated, and he was absolutely committed to the club. He gets the redundancy chat now and told that he's no longer really valued, that the club is far less committed to him than he is to them, and told he's free to explore his options. So he is. Yet EVERYTHING in the media (and this board, it seems) is focused on his "off field behaviour" from years ago. It's not hard to see why he'd feel that no matter what he does, he'll be punished for it. It's absolutely fine if you hold all players to the same exacting, unforgiving standards, but it's pretty clear most people don't.

What a pile-on. You can’t fault Oliver for being brutally honest in saying GWS and/or Collingwood’s training facilities are better than Casey. He speaks the truth and yet he’s still crucified for it.

Let's not forget Trac shopped himself to Collingwood last year outside any involvement of his manager; Trac asking for a trade and saying he wants GC still does not guarantee GC went into a meeting willing to part with anything other than picks. Trac needs/wants GC more than GC needs Trac. He has so little hand in all of this, even though he was the one who pulled the original trigger. The latest creak in my knee is telling me MFC plays hardball and the whole deal falls through.

The problem with a deal not going through now is that if he's not traded this year, then there's even less chance he'll be traded next year, which he's 100% guaranteed to ask for. It's kind of now or never - and the question is how much the club is willing for this circus to keep rolling, every, damn, year: stop the hurdy-gurdy, I wanna get off. Trade him (but don't blink - no unders).

I'm not quite sure why you think Petracca deserves all the sympathy/empathy and Oliver deserves none. Either way, let's set the record straight on a couple of things, hopefully for the final time because this off-field melodrama is really tiring: The Club didn't visit Christian while he was off injured because medically, no-one was allowed to visit him. Spleen injuries = immuno-compromise = no non-family visitors. The story that no-one from the club contacted him is also not true: Christian himself was interviewed by the Club in a sitdown at one point (remember that? On his couch?) and he admitted that he'd had plenty of phonecalls from the Club. He also admits that for a period of time he just didn't pick up the phone. Be emotional about it all you want, but let's not rewrite history to suit a narrative.

IMHO, I think Trac sees himself very much as a performer. On the field, off the field, in front of a camera, in the kitchen. I think he’s one of those people who is very good at saying what he thinks is the right thing to say, and what people want to hear. But does he mean it? Not necessarily. I’d take everything he’s said in the past with a grain of salt.

I don't see how King sees Petracca as a central part of 2026 if CP himself doesn't. Now, maybe the latter is news to him, but I can't see a world where CP walks back into the club and it being a good thing. That bridge is well and truly burnt. Agreed the Club MUST not take unders for him, but will they blink and take unders just to get rid of him now? God, what a dilemma.

CP in 2024 choosing Collingwood. I'm only half-joking. Ivan Soldo, I believe?

Absolute hyperbole. For a start, you can take ANB's name out of your mouth if you're insinuating he left because of 'club culture'. He made it absolutely clear his move home had ZERO to do with football. Have some respect.

That's harsh. For all of Clarry's faults, he's the first to admit he has them and has been transparent about the impact it has on others, and that he's needed to improve himself. There's others in the club who I would trust far, far less than Clarry.

I hate this for Clarry. The timing stinks. If you're going to ask a player to look elsewhere, then show him the respect of a bit more notice and opportunity, surely. May got it.

The club have made a rod for their own back with this. If 2025 really was the year of bending over backwards to change everything to keep CP happy, then of course he thinks he can call most if not all of the shots now and choose where he goes. I hope he's in for a rude awakening. I'm just looking forward for this melodrama to finally end (or be transported to wherever he ends up - no longer our problem).

Speaking as a South Australian, I'm of the opinion he'll hate the absolute football fishbowl of Adelaide. The novelty will wear off very quickly. As for GC, he's always holidaying in Noosa. Wherever he goes, I'm sure it will only be a 2-3 year plan and he'll end up back in Vic post-retirement.

Very.

The only thing Trac would move to Adelaide for is being v good mates with ANB, and it's only a one hour commute home to Nonna. GC on the other hand, is very much closer to Noosa. I agree we require the highest trade value or they can shove it, but the problem with it falling through altogether is we get another year of half-arsed CP. This year was bad enough.

And what of the lists he was coaching during those years? What of the rival competition and their lists and coaches at the time? You can't look at stats in a vacuum.

I wouldn't say we're below Tasmania - there's no guarantee at all that Tasmania will even go ahead. There's no AFL licence until the government signs off on the stadium, and that's currently a long way off.

Agree. I've always felt is was primarily confidence - I've noticed a definite uptick all year in his forward aggression - he's clunking them more often now, and some of the tackles he's prepared to lay are pretty elite. Now, if some of that could rub off on JVR...