hoopla

Agree absolutely We need Fev's influence around our young players like a hole in the head. It is most disappointing that we don't have sufficient influence over our affiliate to manage a distraction like this ! Let's hope he gets OP or something worse before the main season starts. Sorry Fev - most uncharitable of me,I know - but your track record demonstrates that you can't be trusted..... and we don't want our young players playing under a "full-forward centric" game plan Just shows the advantages of AFL clubs with their own VFL teams - Collingwood and Geelong

That's the sort of information I was hoping to get. Thankyou J-Riv If that had been on the injury or resting list... I wouldn't have started the thread in the first place! Good luck Sam

Not at all ..... just asking a question.

Agree with this.... and hope you are right Just a bit surprising that he wasn't named in press release which detailed the injured players .. and those being rested

A little surprised and disappointed that all of our new recruits and a couple of rookies have been named in the side to play Brisbane - but Sam Blease has not. He is not listed amongst the injured players nor amongst those being rested. The silence is deafening! This suggests he is still a long way from where he needs to be. It is about 2 years since he he broke he broke his leg. Surely there is a big question mark over his future. If anyone has some specific news ... please pass it on - because he certainly is/was(?) an exciting prospect

There certainly is benefit in it for Tom .......... if, as we all hope, he wants to stay with Melbourne ..... and,if, as the football industry expects........ average player salaries increase under the new AFLPA Agreement. He eases the speculation by committing until the end of next year and defers long-term negotiations until Harrington adjusts his scale for the new salary cap. Late this season he locks up a higher long term deal than we could offer him today. If the frenzied speculation doesn't worry him ... and he feels comfortable as an uncommitted player .... then he should wait as you suggest. But if he wants to stay with us - without killing off the GWS option ... then this might be the answer.

Certainly there is. Kills off the speculation this year... and defers the long-term decision until key unknowns like the TV rights deal and the new AFLPA pay scales are set. Got to agree with that. If he won't even commit to Melbourne for more one year ... leaving open the possibility of a multi-million dollar contract to begin in 2013 .... then he must be leaning towards GWS

In 3 words.... no, No and NO! It worries me that Casey is keen. We want Casey to be a training ground for the young players on our list.... not a Fev-centric media circus Kill this thread please..

Ditto........... Hope we don't have a problem brewing.... between us and the Scorpions?

Don't like this article in the Hun http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/sting-left-in-brendan-fevola-tale-yet/story-e6frf9jf-1226010325371 Last thing we want is Fev running around with the Scorpions........... getting in the way of our developing forwards. Might lead to a bit of "trouble in Paradise" with our affiliate

Difficult to see how any proposal to remain at the present site would survive any reasonable due diligence .... unless of course the plan is to shut down the pokies and subdivide the land!

We had one very big advantage .... our heritage as founder of the game ( and developer of the ground)[ Oh... and throw in an amazing Irishman]

Yeah... no question - strong red socks - with a smarmy pink top!!

That's why we drafted Robbie Campbell .... as a back-up ruck coach. They were worried that Meeson's ankle mightn't stand up to the pressure of throwing the ball up at training. Good thinking...

Gotta say Bhima that you give us a really comprehensive balanced read. Thanks for your efforts

Couldn't agree more If this thread continues it should be renamed "Paranoia"

Sorry mate, comment does you no credit.. For one thing a well run business would tell an unwanted employee the truth ...... And for another - no-one who's played one game of AFL footy could ever be called soft- much less someone who's played 220!!

Now this is a good point Nobody can bag a veteran for wanting to win a flag before he finishes .... and nobody can criticize a club with a youth policy for losing a veteran in these circumstances.End of discussion - move on. If it is as simple as this - why hasn't he said it - and why hasn't the club said it? Given the vagaries of the draft, you would have thought that the easiest way for a player to get to the club of his choice would be via a trade.

.... and I live in a slightly northern Melbourne suburb. .... and I promise not to start a thread on the subject - Was Canberra a mistake?

Thank-you for your thoughtful contribution to the discussion. I may not have been thrilled with pick 45 .... but the club would have been better off than it is now. I presume you would have been stoked !

Couldn't help but note something slightly incongruous about supporting a statement that wants to leave the past behind - under an avatar (the emblem) that proclaims our heritage ?

Some years ago, I heard Kevin Sheedy say that the seeds for the Baby Bombers premiership in 1993 were sown in the last round of 1991 when Terry Daniher and Simon Madden were brought back into the team for farewell games.......................... why? ............ because the kids saw that they were playing for a club which had "heart". Now this might be a bit extreme ..... and we might all say that any heart Essendon has every had is a pretty sick one ..... but it does make a point. The past does influence the future .. and intangibles do count Ideally you want the majority of your once-favourite sons to leave on good terms .Clearly that is not always possible .... but that is not to say that you shouldn't work towards it. The fall-out with Junior may have been inevitable - but I'm not convinced that we couldn't have worked things through more amicably with Bruce - even if that meant helping him get to another club in return for a draft pick - anything lower than pick #52 would have been a plus. Good management means no nasty surprises - and Bruce's departure at the eleventh hour ( leaving us with a 7th round rookie pick) - certainly was a nasty surprise

That's fine ..... but I'm sure you try to work so that you save your money and pick up a bonus on the side ( such as a draft pick)

... and is quite happy to pay his own medical bills ......

At the end of the day - we didn't get anything for a player who will line up against us next year. On that basis I don't think our negotiation strategy yielded the best possible outcome.