beelzebub

It's about building a team that can pretty well remain intact for 4-5 years . Yes there are always addition and subtractions but I think the club would see any further Bruce involvement as very stop gap , hence the 1 y offer ... and good on em

Why ? If no longer the official sponsor/supplier

Clint with all due ... Of course it's footy !! With unchecked subs it was becoming less like footy and more like bball or some other code. Now well see a slight return to better match ups and inspired tactics and play instead of crash run crash run etc. Who knows ... The art of KICKING may even return !!

Yes it's all about the number of years on offer, melb offering 1(only) Bruce wanting 2 . That would be "option 1" Take it or leave it.. That IS a fair offer all things considering, good luck otherwise Stick to your guns Dees

word to Bruce..... toughen up princess...youre outrageous money days are over... w'ed like to see value for money. ( think he still owes us on that account ) Happy enough for him to stay., but on our terms..not his

I too like the rule change.. 3 and a sub. might slow down this mania to constantly rotate and well see some better footy.

the new rule makes it imperative to have a multifunctional big ( not beanpole ) tall. How astute of MFC to get in first

heres me thinking youd want him to stay !!!

The club probably had the new rules firmly in mind in considering Hale

One might then think of Daisy as .. Thomas the Tank-engine of Collingwood !

ok..heres food for thought.. Some are suggestting that Hale isnt good enough at AFL for us to consider. The MFC have just let brad Miller go. gave 110% Just won casey's B and F.. great club man etc etc.. now off to the Toiges it seems...but wasnt good enough for the MFC to keep.. now with that in mind this same club ( and personnel ) are looking at Hale as more than OK..worth getting !! So in my mind our club IS saying hes OK at AFL..after all we have set the bar somewhere and Millerr failed. So I...nor anyone else here has to say hes ok...the club already has !!

Probably the problem in hindsight for Addam is that when drafted there wasnt a humungous amount of competition for spots.....and now there is.

Ironically from a Nth Standpoint Hale is probably a list clogger ( of sorts) Hes not quite what they want..( only they know what they want ) hes not exactly in favour there..and hes chewing up dolleros. I dont think theyll haggle too much if even a so -so deal can be made. Its win win.

has the club ?

Well.. firstly..Im not prepared to write off any more years...they are all now ladder climbing ones. Weve done all the hard time rebuilding..and wallowing at the bottom. Were now ascending and thats a journey still underways. I do agree being in the top 8 and finals is the next progression. But Im sure the club does want to just make up numbers here..it wants to be finals-competitive. No trade is likely to be win/lose...i.e you do ( Im afraif ) have to give up something to get anything decent ..( unless trading with Carlton of course..lol ) But reality is Hale ( or anyone worth having ) will command a price of some description. Obviously the destination clubs of our trading might vary as to requirements..thats also a reality. I think Hale has two years left ?>?? Would think as others suggest here and elsewhere that maybe North might like to find some salary breathing room...and unload on favourable terms. just as a what -if... they paid 50-75 p.a as a sweetener ? purely supposition.. but just as a question ? Only offer two years to match the previous contract ( if correct ) Two years ought to be reasonable enough..others agree ?

a much overlooked point here. There a re a lot of fanciful wishlists..and ludicrous trade scenarios but the club has to work with REALITIES.

The real question for mine is not whether Hale has talent or not. He obviously does and can be a very good player on his day. Its whats causing the friction at kangaland ? Has he become a square peg in a team of round holes ( sts..lol ) Why do Melbourne think hed be different at the Dees? What would we be doing/providing/offering thats different ? is it simply a fresh start...change of scenery ? All these things can have a marked influence on outcomes. Harrington obviously remembers something thats piqued his curiousity. Ahh theres something about a Melbourne team with two decent rucks !! ahhh the memories !! :) keep in mind atm most teams can cover our existing FF lineup. Often having the luxury at times to even only put their #2 defender on whom ever we line up there. Put Hale/Jamar there and its a very different kettle of fish. so if thats the benefit of spending a 2nd round pick ( assuming thats what we do !! ) then show me the alternative benefit of not doing this..i.e picking up yet another kid ( wet behind the ears) and put into incubation ( with the others) ??? How is that better for season 2011?? edit: what i forgot to suggest as tempering this view is as others ( and myself) acknowledge is that we are all but getting toweled in the rucking when Jamar is relieved. This is incredibly expensive. Changes the whole momentum of our game.. The Russian influence waned here and there as season progressed when he obviously felt the load in some games. Change this up for the inclusion of someone who can at least provide a contest, minimising the effectively of the oppositions ruck if not indeed actually giving us some wins in hit/tap-outs.. This is a whole different dynamic. PJ has just been disappointing..sorry PJ thats just what is. its not working for us. Spencer still very much a work in progress.. realisation date??? wtfk !! there are no guarantees in life.. just opoortunites and the will to try

so what does the club ( MFC-FD ) know that we all dont ?? its obviously a big something !! !! We need a balance of Boys..and MEN ...cant keep loading up the cart with kids. Hale is a biggish bloke.. he wont be bundles out the way in the manner Watts still is. Someone like Hale is need to bed down the forward line.. i.e whether is Hale..or Jamar ( resting )..were just to light up the front and I imagine thats something the club wants to redress. He obviously impressed the club last May

in order...tangent ? you introduced the notion of going whole hog after some name.. I simply suggest its fanciful to think you can simply go get them. You do it as much as you are allowed. There has to be a realism about it all. 2nd.. Dont for a moment think Hale is some magical elixir..some cure-all. He would be a compnent in a line up. he may well help straighten out a niggling problem for us.. ..Pick 30 ? how arbitrary. At present we dont now how we will fair with any other trades so we cant know what number would be offered to Nth...but even if around thirty...so what. Who exactly are we going to spend this pick on.. nature, position .. etc. So many suggest No No No ...dont use pick 2....and yet none suggest who we ought to get..or use it on...all the whiles keeping it real with who and where wed get this person. If its a draftpick... then who ?? and why ?? ep..lets keep warehousing...great idea Going to be an interesting draft and trade this year.. so very different for us compared to recent years.

Where do folk come off thinking that simply because you might like a player that he is attainable ?? Its Rubbish really. Riewoldt has signed with the Tiges..Hes going no where. Nor are many others. Youre counter arguing.. suggesting we wait for the kids and then pressure them from below with more draft picks. There is no doubt some talent but we know that it all takes time. what to do in the meantime whilst trying to be as competitive as you can... stand idly twidling thumbs waiting for player A or B to evolve into the u-beaut incarnation of a particular role. Of course not We only really lack a body to occupy the square with some realistic expectation of delivery. It doesnt actually need to be "one person" per se and this is where a shared role via say Russian/Hale has appeal. . Hale for mine is a decent stop gap. We have tried in-filling from within with less than ideal results....again...thats why the club is looking outside. No one to date has stepped up to the role from within, and teh club obviously doubts anbyone will now overnight

I agree... were still just as likely to have a few picks..so why not use one where theres something tangible to be gained. we still have the Rookie and PSd available.. Weve done reasonably well there of late. Just dont get the ridiculous paranoia surrounding using a pick for a player. At some point in time we have to stop dicking around in the Pits and enter the race..for real. Constanlty future gazing into this draft player or that..all this potential that might happen one day.. what is this some form of denial whereby we only exist in the 'tomorrows" . 2011 is all but here..lets play for real ...huh

So many seem desperate NOT to use a second round pick for Hale ( or such ) . I have to ask these folk what exactly are we going to use it for anyway ? Ist pick for someone from the draft..a given..type? anyones guess even MFC dont know til they see whos there at 12. We have a stack of kids still in mothballs.. Any pick form second round is just another youngen wholl have to develop and be 2 years away..maybe. The club is now well and truly in the here and now. It wants somne ready to go types to formalise the structure it has in mind. Very Likely 2nd round is best utilised to get a player for 2011...not 2013

How ? The club would seem to disagree hence it's looking at Hale . Having two rucks/ big goal kick abilty blokes = massive headache for oppositions. We aren't building per se anymore , were competing and refining as we go. Good summation Hannabal btw

Close 183cm 5'11 in the old weight .. Well approx 90 on his day .. Can of course vary

Back it up in 2011 Beamer ... Ppppwwwwwweeeeeaaaasssee !!!!!