BLWNBA

We're going to get smashed.

Doubts over Demons' bid to lure Daniher out of retirement "However, Demons great Garry Lyon simply cannot see it eventuating. “That’s interesting. I don’t think Joey is coming out of retirement anytime soon,” said Lyon. Essendon legend Watson has a close family relationship with Daniher who played 108 games and kicked 191 goals for the Bombers as a father-son prospect. Watson is adamant that the 204-game, 395-goal Daniher won’t end his retirement to play again. “There’s no way known that he’ll be coming out of retirement,” said the former Dons captain."

If Darcy Wilson was gettable, I would absolutely be into him. In terms of what he would offer us, I see him as potentially being a suitable high HFF/midfielder who would be able to likely replace a lot of what we lost by virtue of ANB's departure. He could easily take Tholstrup's position, and at this stage I think he's on a better upward trajectory than Windsor (although I think he could actually complement Windsor quite well, from an acquisition and game-day perspective). He's contracted for 2026, but I would absolutely be in his ear and planting the seed. He's one of the positives from the 2023 draft IMO. A good runner who can actually hit the scoreboard and provide impact across the midfield and forward 50 arc! ‘A disaster’: Big Saints fear in $1.4m move; twist over Dons star as trigger revealed — Whispers

Yeah I picked up on this too. When it's been re-reported this morning, all the references have been to NM - though that's not to say that is indeed accurate.

But remember, it's totally acceptable to move the goal posts and pass mark when your goal becomes unattainable....

Mirror my thoughts exactly, even down to the verbatim. Despite baulking initially, I think almost anyone would be an improvement to what we already have. At the very least, structurally having his body in the F50 would likely mean that Melksham, Fritsch, JVR or Jefferson (whatever combo we're running with), all move into the second, third, fourth forward role etc which is probably more to their strength (and our benefit). Now I'm not for a moment advocating that this move will win us a flag; we're nowhere near being the Demons of 2021 and I would have BBB substantially ahead of Sleepy Joe. But this type of acquisition would likely give us some structure and allow us to play a more coherent game when entering the F50, at least prima facie (I'm still very sceptical regarding our movement into the F50 and our ability to hit a target - but that's another issue).

Unless WC were willing to pay heavily over, I'd be doing all we can to retain McVee. I've posted this a few times before, but he's exactly the type of player we're missing more of. Good disposal by foot and hand, can navigate traffic and is good at the ground ball. Fairly good mark too - although that's probably not his strongest area with reference to his ability in the air. We'd be going backwards by losing him, at least in the short-term.

Yeah his output has been good recently, definitely trending upwards. I guess he's definitely seeking a trade 🤣

At the time, unless you were a fanboy.

Can't say with 100% confidence, but I think from memory Hibberd's last two contracts were both one year extensions.

The Viney extension off the back of a preliminary chat with North, was one of the greatest sh*t the bed moments the club has had over the past ten years. Of all of the extensions we've given, this one was the most unpalatable. Ideally, Viney shouldn't even be in the best 22 by end of year if we were on the ideal trajectory, IMO.

And he didn't mind the odd Joe the Goose either! His first goal for us against Richmond in 2017 was perfection and vintage Hibberd!

None of this is ground-breaking, but all the salient points are 100% valid. The continued use of the same mid set up is baffling. If we're 'rebuilding', why we aren't trying Windsor, Langford and and XL at CBAs? Hell, throw Tholstrup in there because God knows that HF role ain't working out! Until we get a few nuanced, skilful users in the side though along with a genuine forward target and another small forward, we're miles off though.

That is always true, but quite a few of our actions / inactions were critiqued at the time, either on this forum or in the media. Edit: I'd also add that you would think a professional sports side may have better foresight than what we exhibited.

Agree, there's systemic issues across multiple areas at the club that were completely plastered over by virtue of our previous win / loss records and top four finishes. Although the signs were definitely there at the time, none of our current demise is at all surprising. Many of our on-field issues should've been addressed at the end of 2022. Although some may say we sought to make changes, I think our list management decisions at the time were questionable if you look at them without any bias or in totality of the list / deficiencies.

Is this based on what you would do, or what you expect will happen? A mix of both? A few 'interesting' outs, IMO.

Was he on Harvey the week before too?

Perkins - It's a no from me, though there may be some interest in someone else at the Hanger. Age-wise he fits into the profile we need, but I just don't see how he's a tangible improvement on anyone in our 22. Probably could add depth, but then again would he just be another Laurie? In my opinion, while we are probably lacking a bit of depth in our midfield stocks, if we're going after a mid he needs to be a point of difference from our current stocks and capable of hitting targets with creative kicking, and also playing week-in, week-out. Lord - He's never really set the world on fire and I'm pretty torn on whether he would be another guy that just sits in the twos with average output, or if he can transform into a genuine player. Similar to Jefferson, I think Lord has shown moments of promise, but has just never really delivered and torn a game apart. Similar to most on this list, I'd be inclined to look at him - cost dependent. He's reportedly a player we were / are tracking, and I wouldn't be opposed to him getting a list spot, but I hardly think he'd transform our side and he'd be another speculative acquisition based on potential cf. deliverable output. Derksen - Yes from me. Has shown good form in the VFL, would likely come cheap. In terms of age and body he could stand up to the rigours of AFL. Not expecting him to be the big great white hope, but at worst he'd be another depth player - particularly if we move past playing Goodwin's favourites. Although I do still hold some level of hope that AJ can fulfil that role down forward. Ryan - kicked goals in 10/15 games he's played this including two returns of 3 goals, three returns of 2 goals, and singles in five games (also had a game where he kicked 0.4). He also has an ability to generate I50s and win clearances, which is something I do like for our forward arc. Outside of Pickett, he'd also probably be a player with genuine 'crumbability' and given we're almost devoid of any marking forward, this is something we sorely need. I'm still probably slightly agnostic on whether he's someone who would actually improve our list in a substantive way, but as it stands I'd probably give him and the stats the benefit of the doubt and say he would add some level of improvement to our forward line; of course, it would be totally dependent on his price and what we'd need to give up. I wouldn't want this to turn into McAdam MKII.

From memory, haven't we had interest in him previously? Potentially misspeaking but I seem to recall us being linked to him loosely over the past few years.

But he’s really good friends with the players.

The difference is, IMO, Jefferson has at least shown moments where I think “maybe, just maybe” there’s something. Tholstrup (once again, IMO) hasn’t even shown that.

@john delosa I think we need some more ‘thumbs down’ in this thread!

Ollie, I have not seen one sign in all your posts that you are able of critically analysing the club. You defend it more viscously and consistently than any Collingwood or Carlton or whoever supporter does. You are not a supporter at all, in fact you may have Stockholm syndrome. Please seek help.

Beyond embarrassing, but glad to see the real MFC showed up tonight.

Hogan departs Melbourne “While we are disappointed to lose the high-quality player that Jesse is, we respect this decision and his request for a trade,” Mahoney said. “Jesse has been through some significant personal trauma in the past 18 months, and he has close ties to family members, including his mother, brother and sister, back in Western Australia. “As a club, we understand that being closer to family in Perth is Jesse’s priority, and we appreciate the positive impact this can have on his wellbeing.” Since debuting against Gold Coast in round 1, 2015, the forward has played 71 matches, including 20 this past season.