Ron Burgundy

It seems Mitch Clark has questionable integrity. To me, he epitomises many of the negative aspects of Gen Y - strikes me as quite a self absorbed guy: the constant tweeting, his assembly of 'look at me' stickers, his naive artistic calling, his poor treatment of this club. That said - he is simply an unbelievable footballer. The start to 2012 was the only thing I looked forward to each game. I loved seeing him in the red and blue and will always remember some of his performances for us. I find it sad that it turned out this way. It needn't have. Very happy we got Lumumba though.

He will. I can't wait to see Toumpas prove the naysayers wrong. And I'm very confident he will.

That said, it genuinely feels different/more professional now.

Not sure we've been the blue print for success, on or off the field, since about 1964.

Really?

It's weird. I can't even remember him.

Lumumba has got to be in the mix. He's clearly important.

NRL thighs.

Oh Audrey - I look like hell! I got bags under my eyes ...

No longer has one hour in make-up prior to On The Coach.

What a great post. Thanks.

Really? I had thought there were issues with Michie's disposal.

Seems to have been a great trade period for us. That said, we lost Clark and Frawley, both of whom were really important players for the club. I reckon Clark will dominate at the Cats. I'm really disappointed he left us.

1997. Wooden Spoon. 1998. Fourth. Some sides can turn around things quite quickly. Not sure if this team can engineer such a dramatic turnaround, but I am definitely expecting significant improvement. I reckon 8-9 wins and a percentage in the 90s.

At least they're committed to the club and looking forward to being part of its future. Unlike some others in recent times ...

I agree - a great addition to the list. Hope he's included in the leadership group.

How would you assess his pace, foot/hand skills and vision, rpfc? Really interested in this selection.

Santa is real.

Don't know much about his character to be honest. 15 games for another club. 15 seconds at this one.He had hardly established/built a career at GWS yet. Was originally a rookie on a list of first round draft picks, who was then given a great opportunity to be a mainstay of another club's defence over the long term. Add to that the 'go home' factor. Doesn't seem altogether evil to me. Frawley was a club leader at the MFC. Melbourne is essentially his home. Frawley shopped around for the best deal. Nathan Jones had a different list of priorities and his deal reflects that. As did Frost seemingly, albeit his circumstances are very different to those two - he's just starting out. Different players. Different priorities. Differing levels of importance to this club. But you seem to have so much confirmation bias on this issue that you seem absolutely unwilling to see a different perspective on Frawley, despite much evidence to support the contrary view. So let's just agree to disagree. In short, I get your perspective - I just don't agree with it and I find your continual pebble throwing on the issue to be quite tedious.

He had plenty of opportunities to re-sign. He was absolutely a required player. It's actually that simple. That is not to say though that the club did not eventually get sick of him dragging his feet, set their sights on Frost, and became satisfied with pick 3 as compensation for him. And therefore that the club didn't ultimately try to move heaven and earth to re-sign him. Vince and Frawley's situations are not comparable IMO. Not even remotely.

Reading this thread, it makes one realise how much our list has improved since 2012. I look at our best 25 or so now, and no longer get anxious/completely depressed. It's actually alright now.

Players seek to move clubs for many reasons. For instance, I don't expect we'd have Cross, Vince, Gartlett, Michie, Riley or Newton if their former clubs wanted them enough. Cross and Gartlett were effectively delisted, Vince wasn't loved sufficiently by the Crows (bizarre I know!), and the latter three weren't getting regular games in the seniors. Lumumba seems to have had a blow up with Buckley. He never thought he'd leave the Pies, nor did Cross or Vince think they'd ever play for another club. Mitch Clark - well, who really knows what happened there. I wish he was still on the list, even though he appears not to have sufficiently respected the club. Rivers - no one can blame him for leaving. Struck me as the loyal type, only to have become a victim of the Mark Neeld period. Frawley seems to have been a bit of a bounty hunter and seemingly searched for the best deal for himself. He got that. Jones, on the other hand, wants to be a one club player, MFC club leader and, ultimately, an MFC club legend. He wishes to influence the future direction of the club, and, importantly, he believes he can. It's also why I like players such as Watts and Howe. Fundamentally, I think they wish to stay at the club that first recruited them - that's not to say they necessarily will for their entire careers, but it strikes that they would like to. Successful clubs need players with that mindset.

Any chance we can get Adam Tomlinson to the club when his contract ends? Is he not best mates with Tyson? He will be a superstar. As will Bontempelli. But everyone knows that.

I just wish we had more Saturday afternoon games, for no other reason than I enjoy that time slot the most. We need to be interesting to watch before we get the blockbusters. I don't really have an issue with that.

Perhaps it's because it's his club/list now.