Ron Burgundy

Yep - I think it's the most excited and the most devastated I've ever been during and after a Dees game.

Happy to hear that Bate is not going to be traded. Misson could possibly fix some of Bate's agility issues - and he's otherwise a very good player.

Even though I wholly agree with the sentiment of this thread, things ARE changing. Scully aside, we have recently landed Neeld, Misson and Craig - we shouldn't underestimate the importance of these signings. All of them could've gone to the so-called "bigger" clubs. It seems we're not so smelly with sponsors either. And we've now got really good facilities. And a decent, albeit very young, list. In short, I reckon some MFC momentum's finally starting to take place.

My recollection is that Hale was happy to go to either the Dees or the Hawks. He's probably very happy he got to the Hawks in retrospect, but at the time he stated he was comfortable with either club. The Hawks offered North a better draft pick than us. I think it was the pick they received for Campbell Brown. Ultimately it wasn't Hale's choice - North wanted to take the Hawks pick rather than ours.

We would've had Hale - it's just that the Hawks put a better offer on the table for him.

Totally agree. 2002 was a bloody good season in retrospect, and Vardy made our forward line look superb.

Make no mistake here - Brad Green is head and shoulders above all the players that I've read are said to be on the table at the moment from other clubs. He was essentially AA last year. And he's a life long Demon. Sign him up asap.

Any update on Green's contract?

Dees to win the flag.

What's disappointing is the ease at which we could've picked Butcher, Darling or Sam Reid in the draft, and now some are prepared to trade a really important MFC player and clubman for one of those guys - indeed someone potentially inferior to those guys. It's not like we didn't know we needed such a player in those drafts. I really hope we backed the right horse with Cook. Neeld strikes me as a guy who will actually instil and command discipline. Perhaps Fev is therefore the man to target. He does kick goals. That's a science fact.

He'd have to be sweating bullets. Is Hardwick a mate of Mark Harvey?

Danyle Pearce is rumoured to be on the market (source: either the Herald Sun or the Age). If true, he'd definitely be worth having a crack at.

Perhaps not in our absolute best 22, but definitely has a role to play. A very good player to have on our list, particularly given that injuries occur throughout the whole year - it's not that often that any teams have their best 22 on the field at any given time. Good attitude and hard at it. Sign him up.

I think Mitchell was overlooked in two national drafts before being picked up by the Hawks in the mid 30s. On the basis of that, I think you can assume Viney's way ahead of Mitchell at the same age.

Exactly. Malthouse's heart will beat very true for the red and the blue next year. I think you can virtually add him to the list of new MFC coaches for next year, albeit on an unofficial basis. The dislike between Buckley and Malthouse is palpable, and human nature would probably dictate that Malthouse wouldn't want to see Buckley succeed. Neeld, on the other hand, is his man.

Demons must re-sign Brad Green asap. Simple. All this bagging of him is pathetic IMO.

Paul Roos said on On The Couch a couple months ago that Neil Craig is one of the very best coaches in the league and that he is universally respected by all other senior coaches. I recall Roos also saying that he was very hard to coach against. Very prepared, runs a very well drilled side etc. This is an enormous get for the club. I cannot believe people have any doubt about this. We have beaten some much bigger clubs to secure his signature. The Scully situation aside, the Demons are seemingly becoming an attractive club to others. I can't remember this ever happening before - certainly not in my lifetime. I am absolutely stoked about recent developments. This is all good.

Absolutely stoked about what's going on at the MFC - it's all good. Perhaps season 2011 is the season we had to have. I am in a completely good mood.

This sums it up. Talls take time (with a few notably exceptions, eg, Darling, NikNat). Literally everyone knows this. Perhaps he won't make it - but it's clearly too early to call that now.

I just get sick of all the keyboard heroes mindlessly bagging some of our players. Brad Green did not have a consistent year in 2011. Everyone knows that, including him I expect. To be fair, he was not the only player in 2011 to fail to play consistently good football in the way the club would like/expect throughout the year. He also did not seem to handle the Captain gig all that well. But to say he should either accept a year deal or essentially get lost is IMO outrageous. He's clearly still a bloody good player who has loads to offer this club. I also do not want to see the club mishandle another (potentially former) Captain's contract so soon after the Junior debacle. Quite simply, it does not have a good effect on list. Green is a loyal MFC man - he is hard at it and he has regularly turned games on his own boot. I still don't know how he missed AA selection in 2010 - many of his performances were genuinely elite. These facts seem to be missing on some here. And yep - that frustrates me. Apologies if I expressed that in too harsh a manner.

Dead set, some of you are the most gutless cowards in the world. Brad Green has given much more to this club than you ever will. And to think, many of you have been cheerleaders for number 31 all year, even though all with half a brain knew he was gone and that he had no pulse for this club. There is a reason the MFC is a lightweight club - and it's not because of Jim Stynes or Cameron Schwab or Brad Green. Take a look in the mirror some of you. Sign him up MFC. He deserves it - don't listen to the Kansas end, bottom of the pyramid slice of our supporter base.

Even though much of this thread is directed towards securing bigger names, I'd be interested to know what Neeld thinks about Simon Buckley. I was disappointed that we let Buckley go - he was pretty unlucky in his final year with injuries. Always showed a bit - and I liked the fact that he grew up a Demon. Views? As an aside, I would like to see the MFC get a lot better at developing 'recycled' players - clubs like the Swans, the Saints, the Pies and a few others are masters of it.

We came 13th this year. And we weren't exactly hitting it out of the ball park in the years prior to that. I am not advocating that we should still have White, Robbo, Yze, Miller, Woewodin or Schwarta on the list. I simply want to see a professional edge to these matters. The bigger clubs don't seem to have these issues - and, if they do, they seem to manage these issues a whole lot better. And simply putting tough talking platitudes out there doesn't equal that. Anyone can talk tough - IMO managing a list effectively requires a more professional and sophisticated lens than that.

Yes I am. In my observation, effective list management requires good communication. Professional outfits do this stuff well. I don't like the fact that virtually all senior players to have been delisted in recent times seem to have an axe to grind with the club. To me that reveals a problem. Perhaps it's a product of investing too much time in certain players, or poorly negotiating their contracts - but the bottom line is that it's not a good look to have so many former senior players saying negative things about the club. It may reflect poorly on them too, but IMO it all feels a bit amateur. Just like that 186 point belting felt a bit amateur. I have the feeling that Neeld will bring a hard edged, professionalism to the club that has perhaps been missing for a while. And effective communication will be part of this.

The Junior situation was a disaster - and didn't make any sense either IMO. I wasn't particularly concerned about Bruce's contract, as it appears he had an unrealistic view of his worth - and I think he'll come to regret that in due course. But as to past players, the history isn't great. I'm not suggesting any of them should necessarily have had their MFC contracts extended, but there's clearly been a breakdown in communication between them and the club, as most of them seem to have left with a lot of anger directed at the club. Eg, Woewodin, Powell (not quite a club 'stalwart' to be fair, but a bloody good player who we shouldn't have lost to St Kilda in the PSD), Miller, Junior, Robbo, Yze, White - and possibly now Green. And in this context I will be very annoyed if Green receives this treatment - only a couple of years ago Collingwood was desperate to get him, and it's possible therefore that Neeld was a fan. I hope this hasn't changed.