layzie

No and thanks for coming.

That's absolutely horrible.

He hasn't been a problem child his whole career. He'll be fine. Beggars can't be choosers, if we want to take the arrogant approach then sure play him at Casey all year. Otherwise we might as well give him a shot.

This rivalry isn't what we think it is. We can go on about sticking it to Maynard and justice for Gus all we want. It hasn't worked and why would it work in future? There was a brief moment where it felt like there was genuine rivalry again but they have our number now. Whether it is putting us out of finals in 17 or the complete failure in the last round this year. It's like boxing/MMA where we've lost the first two fights and there's no need for a third. For the immediate future under this new regime, I would suggest focussing inward and getting our house in order. The best revenge is living well.

Just don't go to Collingwood.

You will definitely get search results rpfc. Of course, it will be great to have an established key forward. However the suggestion that he'll take the best defender every single week in stride is probably not what he built his career on. If it was then the Pies wouldn't have bemoaned not having a key forward for years. I've also never been keen to chase a key forward and also think it has been the way we move the ball. At least we got someone in.

He's a fortunate sun.

I think this is what will happen Adam. I did think it was a poor look at the time but this last month has surely launched a rocket up his backside. Spend the summer in self reflection, make changes and do your bit for the team in 26 or fizzle out like a sparkler. It's what he does next that counts and I'm willing to give him a shot.

Hope he's with us and makes a good go of 2026.

Very happy with Mihocek however I don't think he's ever been someone who takes the best defender. He's more a nice 2nd or even 3rd tall, yes Collingwood asked him to be the no.1 a lot in recent times and that was part of their problem. A good get but I don't think he's the Gorilla Monsoon key forward that some are making him out to be. We need to keep working on that.

People don't seriously think the club let Oliver down do they?

Yep. Had our chance for this in the 2000s, move on.

Not this time. Got much better stuff to do than put energy into hoping a team does terribly. If it happens, great. You guys can do the legwork though. And maybe at 0-8 I'll stick my head in.

The action is really all you need to know. Yes, Oliver might have slowly been returning to form and I wouldn't have minded another year from him but I'm not in the club. The fact is that they didn't want him around anymore and that surely means that the expectations were not being met and we were better off without him. It is one of the quickest falls from grace I've ever seen in the game. You hear people say that he's always been a certain type of character yet we barely heard anything about his life outside of the game before 2023. And I don't remember one person hating the deal when it was made in 2022.

I think it's just the time. There is obviously a lot of mixed feelings right now, we may never know the full extent of what has led to this. I'm hopeful and confident that when he eventually retires, the bitterness and resentment will fade and that love for the club will come back.

Why didn't I think of that?

And he is a very good tackler. Probably one of the best in the comp! Will be nice to actually stick some of them for a change.

My word. Everyone needs to ask themselves this. Our fans, opposition fans, media, everybody.

Seems like a ripping bloke. Looking forward to seeing him out there.

Jack Steele is 29? Thought he was 31. That's another plus!

Land Cruiser drives us home

It is a sad time and people will need a little time. Christian Petracca will always be one of my favourites to play for MFC. Getting a no.5 guernsey around 2016 was a happy moment because it paid tribute to another all time fav the Ox at the same time. It’s been a pleasure seeing him do his thing for us and we’ll never forget that ride that took us to the ultimate success and him yelling “We bloody did it”. One of my favourite memories about that night. From 2020 to mid 2024 he was at his absolute peak. It was just 18 months ago I remember being at the G on Thurs night against Carlton and him almost single handedly dragging us to the victory with 5 goals. He was something else that night. What happened on King’s Birthday was horrific and thankfully while it didn’t have more serious ramifications, stopped the CP5 juggernaut dead in its tracks. Will we look back on this trade with disappointment in the long run? I don’t believe so. It is just my gut feeling but I think we have seen the best of Petracca. I have no doubt he can play some good football for the suns and provide value and leadership but deep down I feel that this injury completely changed him as a footballer and a person. Trac will be 30 in Jan and personally I think he has 3 years in the game left at best. It would be an unbelievable achievement if he has some kind of renaissance up there but I don’t think we’re going to see a Dangerfield like scenario here. There’s other fish to fry for Trac and the best you could hope for is a guy who provides good value footy and maybe even a shot at a flag. We might never know what fully transpired at the club to turn Christian away, I’d love to hear that side of the story when all is said and done. But also when all is said and done, he will be a Melbourne great and may rediscover the love he once had for the red and blue. Thank you for absolutely everything Christian, we will always be grateful.

Come on mate, you know what I meant. Short term sadness, long term 'moving forward'

It's not about the acknowledgement of their departures that I'm frustrated with, that was necessary. It's the constant silver linings and reaching for positives that I and many others I've spoken to are getting a bit tired of. Do we need a spiel on the calibre of new players we attracted as like it's a St Kilda haul? Two guys are in their twilight, one has played 4 games and one is injured all the time. Do we need to highlight what we received in the Petracca trade when it was a win for both clubs and what you would expect from a club doing their job? Are we really going to play this angle up and then go radio silent on what we received for Oliver? This is nothing against Paul Guerra and I've been very impressed with his start. However after receiving all kinds of letters and communication for 2+ years now the talk is getting cheap. After a lot of mismanagement I'm not going to give the club a biscuit every time they do something right. Glad that they addressed it but now let's move forward into a new era where we act like a successful club should and not be focused on individuals. The club trumps all.

We gave one out this year 😉