Real Demon

Wow what an inspired choice! Their thorough and exhaustive selection process to get "not the best available coach, but the best coach" has delivered them Hardwick. A 3 year assistant under Clarkson as an apprenticeship and thats it? Not sure if I was a Bombers fan I would be too happy with that. Time will tell though!

I've listened to Caro on Footy Classified and on 3AW over the past few weeks, and she has been pretty forthright in saying she really doesn't know where he will go, and has continually said she thinks this and that.......nothing concrete. She can't just sit there as a reporter and say nothing, but like many others in the media, can make a case for Judd going to the Pies. I like Caro, and think she is one of the better footy journos going around, but it's pretty safe to say this whole Judd story has her stumped like the rest of them at the minute!

Of course it's crap when the team has a shocking year, but if you were a Cats fan you would be over the moon! Well done to Bartel.....top player, and seems like a decent bloke. I always like watching Brownlow night.......it can drag on, but still enjoyable!

Thankyou Scotty Thompson! I had $20 to finish on top for the Crows at $8.50 = $170. Having him in my dreamteam this year helped as I knew he had been consistent all year.

Can't help but think that Robbo has probably chosen to play hard ball with his contract at the worst possible time with Judd in the market at present. Talking highly of the Bulldogs, and holding out for 3 years has put his name well and truly on the trade table. If Robbo really does want to stay, and was calling the clubs bluff, then it could backfire on him badly.

Absolutely agree! It appears as though we have done whatever we can and acted as professionally as we could have to entice Judd to the club.........as supporters, that is all we can ask. If he still doesn't want to come, then at least we know we have some quality people in charge both in the footy dept and admin leading us forward.

If his family live in Sandringham, then you would assume that he would set up residence towards that part of town, making us and Collingwood the easiest commute for him to get to training etc! I'm looking at all angles here !!!!!!!

With Ward, Pickett, Bizzell, Godfrey, and Brown gone, the kids will be playing!

I can't agree.......sure we have a few gaps in our team, but what team doesn't? (Apart from maybe Geelong) Port Adelaide......previously a forward, now holding down full back for prelim possibly grand final team in Toby Thurstans. CHF.....Westhoff.......FF......an aging an battle weary Tredrea. Kangaroos.........prelim team.....full forward.......Edwards........CHF.......Petrie......hardly breathtaking! Gun ruckman though in McIntosh Collingwood..........Rocca.......servicable.......goes missing though.......Cloke very good up and comer...........backline........Clement.......good player, but not quite KPP........who is their FB......Presti........no Goldsack............and their rucks........Fraser / Bryan / Richards.......bloody average IMO! So after all that........my point is.......an in form and fit team, with players playing for each other and understanding their roles, and well coached will still succeed, even if they don't have all the "perfect" pieces to a top team. You bring Judd in, and without doubt he will be of assistance! He would add to a midfield that when fit and firing, is the envy of many clubs!

I would love Judd in the Red and Blue (provided we don't have to sell the farm to get him) but I really do think we will struggle to get him. We are the sentimental option for him, but I think that is about it....we don't have much else to offer him above the other clubs. He is a professional athlete. He is coming from a club where each home game he has 45,000 fanatical fans cheering his every move on the field. He is used to state of the art training facilities, and more dedicated footy dept staff than he could poke a stick at! He is used to a team / club that demands success, and achieves it. After enjoying the best of the best with the Eagles, why would he want to come to the MFC and "rough it" for the next few years while we get our act together and get a home? Judd is a clear thinking bloke........his considered move back to Melbourne proves this. To expect him to make so many concessions to come to the MFC based on a supposed sentimentality isn't rational, and also isn't likely. If I was Judd, I would rank my options 1. Collingwood, 2.Bombers.3.Demons,4. Blues. I think his preference would be to go the Pies, and as a professional athlete with a limited time in the game, and selecting his last club for his career, I couldn't blame him. I'd take the best option - facilities, supporters, profile, recent success, and plenty of games at the MCG with hardly any interstate travel !!!!!! I hope I'm wrong, but my crystal ball shows Juddy at the Pies in a few weeks time! I nominated 0-10% chance.

It's history now........if we want him badly enough, we can still get him. If he doesn't want to play for Carlton, it won't make any difference. The draft picks don't guarentee them anything.

I'm loving the idea of a Lyon / Judd combination on the Footy Show, similar to the Eddie / Bucks combo the Pies used to have! It could become the MFC Footy Show!

Yeah.....I enjoy name dropping.........give me a break! Do you enjoy being a muppet? It's not even my opinion......just adding what I heard the coach say when asked about McDougall. (At a Dogs corporate function recently)

I have it on very good authority (Rocket) that the problem with McDougall isn't talent, but it's all between the ears!

I don't have any problem with it......in fact I actually like the fact that they have something as a club or playing group that they believe in that binds them together. It may be no different to the attitudes or cultures at other clubs, but it's unique, they have a name for it, and it works for them. The shinboner spirit and the extra verse they have at the start of their song is unique to the Roos and good on them for embracing it! I can imagine it would have a big impact on young players coming into the group as well and helps them to identifity with what club is about and what the expectations are. Their finals losses of late have been ordinary, but then again it has been their spirit more than talent that got them into the top 4 this year anyway.

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Beautifully said!!!!! Welcome to the MFC Dean Bailey!

Good call!!!

Spot on! Sheedy has been touted by many as some kind of messiah, and the magic fix for all our ills......well he isn't! I've been of the same opinion all the way through......we need the best coach to win games of footy.......if it's Sheedy, then fantastic, but if not, then I'll back whoever gets the gig.

I've got no idea who I think should coach next year...........I really like Mark Riley, but don't think he will get it, and can make a case for any of the blokes in line for it from what I have read. I think Sheeds will end up getting the gig.........I think provided he can prove to the panel he is still up with it as a coach, his marketing prowess will be too much for the likes of in particular Gardner, and Harris to look past. I have been happy with the process.........from all reports in the media, it has been rigorous, and the club hasn't backed down from "the process" which I respect. A soft club would have bent the rules, or make exceptions all over the place to facilitate someone like Sheeds, and we haven't. If he gets the job it will be on his merits.

I honestly think the club doesn't even know who will be the coach next year, or at least haven't fully decided. And it must me a solid list if highly credentialed assistants like Bond or McKenna are out of the mix. If I was putting money on it, I would go with Sheedy...........he clearly wants the job, and is prepared to jump each hurdle in order to get it. Plus the other intangibles he brings to the table are impossible to ignore. I think that either Hardwick or Bailey would be next in line.........they have obviously impressed the panel, and have bought something different to the table. That's the positive thing about going through such a process like this.........it can unearth some untapped potential that could be a perfect fit for the club going forward! I cannot see Connolly getting the job, and as much as I like Mark Riley, I can't see a former Daniher man getting it either.......just my opinion.

I would have thought that after what Collingwood players have had to witness first hand with Caracella having his career cut short due to a head / neck injury, they would be a little more aware of this kind of thing. Johnson had plenty of time to weigh up his options and refrain from the hit. Cases like this have to be dealt with harshly, and 6 weeks is more than reasonable. Imagine the disaster that could have occurred had Bell been seriously hurt, and been unable to play footy again, or much worse even not walk. That is why these cases need to be dealt with in the harshest manner, and I think the review panel got this one spot on........may it be the necessary deterrent going forward!

That's true, but some of the answers he have regarding the game on the weekend, why players were picked etc I found a little bizarre. Don't know.....maybe I'm reading too much into it, or maybe he's always been that way and I've never really paid attention........just thought he was a little off that's all.

Just watched him being interviewed on On The Couch, and I don't know if it was nerves, or something else, but he just didn't seem quite with it. He didn't answer the questions that were directly put to him, and a few times when he tried to answer the question he was asked, he went off on some tangent that had nothing to do with what was asked. Did anyone else see the interview? As far as the MFC job goes, he has another meeting with us this Thursday.

It's got nothing to do with being sentimental............I just love how people with no idea of his role or importance to the club say "no loss" as though they actually think they know! By simply saying "no loss" implies the 10 years he spent with the MFC was meaningless, and he contributed nothing which I am sure is far from the case.