GS_1905

In short yes. They are again making it an untenable situation for Melbourne. Its a simple strategy. Leaking we are willing to part with 700K, and all of that creates a market expectation and a norm. We then have to satisfy that because the alternative in Clarry staying is untenable. Im afraid the player managers are having their way with us. Ultimately we will lose on the Clarry fiasco and lose big time. At some point in time we just have to bite the bullet. Im devastaed that it has come to this. We are now into the abyss of full rebuild from which it will be difficult to determine whether we will ever emerge again in the following decade. I sure hope those in the clubs board room and coaching department know what they are doing. I cannot do another lifetime without success.

This went through my mind as well. Bit of an OTP reaction if true

The fact that he is tagging Mitch Cleary.... is a bit worrisome.

If there was a premiership for trade week, we have just about sewn up a 3-peat.

This is unexpected but I hope pre-planned. If the plan is to get Clarry out of the middle, then one has to assume next year is a staring midfield of Langford, Windsor, Lindsay, Viney, Rivers. Its very very young but the balance is better than what we have had. One has to assume that Clarry hasnt been doing all that he could to improve his chances? What is happening with him on top of what we know? Has he lost his drive?

He wasn’t even there from memory so doubt it. The fact that he didn’t poll a vote is the telling sign. Wow I had hopes for Oliver but clearly those in the know don’t have much faith at all.

Now that would be a Stephen King worthy plot twist

If the Ttav deal does come though and we get him off our books, do we make a huge play for Butters next year? We would definitely have cap space to go after him and I think he compliment our midfield very well. Hopefully Lamby is in his managers ear and Port have a shocker and we sneak into the 8 or get very close and convince players that we are back on the up.

The talk on Humphries coming back. I know we were interested at one point, but that is a really hard sell IMV … the belief at GCS will be really high after this year and it would be hard to want to leave. I suppose we’d have some selling points like bigger crowds playing at the G etc. but we toss these names up thinking it’ll magically happen. Now he may be open to it but but I think highly unlikely. I’d say we still push for Flanders and 6 and give them a 2nd rounder.

I think that would work OR 6 and Flanders for Trac and 23 either way it is about the right price.

Geez I hope Daicos goes to Tassie. I think the AFL will want to promote this big time. We just need Pies to crash out of the 8 next year and I think he’ll start to see the lure. Pies are no doubt clearing a lot of cap space now to offer something for him to remain until 2035.

Geez TM must be tracking him on flight radar . I wonder if Trac gave his booking ref.

Shh they have got picks

For sure they would - i dont deny that, but in most of our major leak scenario's i can't see that being the case - it just doesn't make sense to me. They 100% butchered Oliver last year. That was Pert acting from what we are led to believe in isolation but who knows. In the end Pert was ousted so i think ultimately the club 'corrected' its handling of the situation. Judd is a different case - similar to LJ from a few years back. You can have a crack at his values and loyalty, but he is away from home and wants to ultimately return. You dont have to agree with it, but you can understand it. Lets not forget that Trac and his camp went a long long way tarnishing the clubs reputation by allowing that whole fiasco to play out in public the way it did. Now we may have butchered some of the optics of it, but the narrative that ensued was that we were largely responsible for his injury and the way it was handled. Once it was established that he was just as responsible for putting himself back on the field, the narrative shifted to the club not making adequate contact with Trac or his family and he felt alone and isolated.

Having this type of 'mail' would be a commonplace with all clubs. You will never be able to stop this type of information coming out and i'd hardly call it a leak. I'm talking about the juicy stuff, you know Goody's dismissal, May's exit interview, Trac's private leadership discussion etc. These are leaks and i wont go as far as laying the blame solely on Trac, i think he is suspect #1 if i was doing an investigation. The odds of a staff member deliberately leaking information - whilst not zero - IMV is not a likely source. You just have to think about the motivation at play here. Whilst a player on the other hand is different. Especially in the case of Trac. Those that naively believe Trac was all but reconstituted into the playing group from last year, clearly live in a Twilight Zone. He was most likely told, give us 12 months to turn it around and if you are not happy at the end of 2025, we will work with you to make a trade happen. In that time a disenchanted player will do all sorts of things and i think his motivation is to make him coming back to MFC in 2026 a highly undesirable option for MFC whilst without damaging his brand. I thought this 12 months ago, i thought this during the season and i still think this is his strategy. Think about it. it is a smart strategy. MFC will never publicly admit his unprofessionalism as it will lower his trade value but with keeping him, they are faced with the proposition of more of his fracturing / destabilising behaviour. So, they are forced to trade him out. I can't prove it, but I'm highly confident his management have advised him to walk this path.

How do we know the leak wasn't self-instigated?

Ok ill bite. I don't deny we haven't had our own problems since 2021. There has been a lot of them. But why is it that we only hear noise around Petracca (Clarry was of our own making with Pert shopping him around). We had multiple young kids recommitting to the club? Every club will have its issues and we are no different. But this narrative you suggest is that Trac is actually legitimised in his request for a trade. I mean it cannot be any clearer that he is choosing to goto a club that is in the premiership window. If he wasn't, why isn't he going to the Blues, Richmond or even West Coast? All have the capital and cap space to accommodate his needs and two of them are based in his hometown. The latest that the club is pushing him out all but confirm that Trac himself is Morris's MFC source. Its all PR and damage control from yesterday. I'll wager a bet that if he goes, ALL club leaks and the Tom Morris MFC mail stops.

Oh it has been as clear as day. The Prima Donna at work again. Oh I love the part how he said the decision is 50/50. It’s not his decision in the end. We take the best offer we get otherwise tail between the legs at preseason. The guys doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut and out of the lime light for 4 weeks. Cue Shannon Noll P

This is the growing narrative whether he likes it or not and I’m a little annoyed that most media personalities don’t take this narrative. They rarely pot the player leaving but you ally go after the club. I knew from the moment we didn’t hear from Trac for a while after his injury that something was wrong. Whether his thinking to leave existed before or after who knows but I 💯 believe he is leaving due to Melbournes dip in form. He doesn’t want to be part of the reset and rebuild - I’m glad to an extent as god knows what else happens behind the scenes. What id give to win a premiership before he retires from what ever club he ends up playing for.

Maybe i missed it, but didnt Judd have a gf with the womens team? Howd the news go down with her or is she going to request a trade at season end too?

i pulled this off theage quoting one of Trac's interviews from the start of the season: “I understand there’s always going to be noise surrounding that, but internally, I know, my teammates know, my coaches know and the club knows that I’m a Melbourne person through and through,” Petracca said at the time. “Last year was nothing more than wanting to make this football club better and see success.” Now he didnt have to say this, but he did. So one has to question this guys outlook on life and what things he values. When coupled with his awkward statement at the BnF, i think we are starting to get a real-life picture of him.

Its very much a J.Howe situation unfolding again and like J.Howe, he'll watch us win a premiership before his team does. Take that to the bank.

Id ask for Hayden Young instead if we had our pick of the bunch. LJ wont happen.

Its a BS take. You play the role the team needs you to play full stop. A player that has been given an AFL lifeline should be thankful for the opportunity and not demand to played elsewhere. The coach and footy dept know his skills and capability. Its an incredibly short sighted and imature take by Judd. We dont need players like this so he can ruck off along with Trac.