MadAsHell

Warnock - Trade to Carlton or Hawthorn for a 2nd round pick. GWS may even be interested if Scully stays. Bate - Trade to Richmond or St. Kilda for a 3rd round pick. Morton - I like the idea of trading to Port for Kane Cornes. Wonaemirri - Delist but to be re-drafted in the rookie draft I suspect. Scully, Sylvia, Green, MacDonald, Martin, Fitzpatrick & Maric - Will all hopefully sign new contracts. If we were to get Malthouse as coach I can actually see him making Maric a pet project given his comments about Addam earlier this year. Dunn - Still contracted and will play out next season with Casey most likely. Bartram - There may be interest from St. Kilda for a trade but I suspect he'll stay on our list next season hopefully to play out with Casey. Campbell, Johnston, McNamara & Newton - To all go the way of the dodo. Evans, Lawrence & Nicholson - All be given another year on the rookie list. I would have expected at least Nicholson and possibley he and Evans to be promoted. However if this was to be the case I'd of expected them to sign on for longer then 1 year.

Don't like our chances of landing Boak. I'd give Morton for Kane Cornes happily though. Reckon it would be a win win for both clubs and Cornes would have a role to play with us for a few years in the midfield. He'd be good with the clearances and it's always handy to have a tagger in the team despite the press making it harder for them.

Yes on a very small financial contract with clauses we can sack him with any breach of behaviour clauses.

There's pros & cons on both sides of the fence but for me I reckon the pros out weight the cons. From all reports he's been really well behaved and a great influence down at Casey, and I don't see why we shouldn't take a punt. Neither Cook or Fitzpatrick will be ready to hold down FF for us next year but will have have the position open at Casey for them to develop as Fev would no longer be there. Green can always move to half back where I reckon he could play a Nick Maxwell type role with good effect. Would mean we may have Jurrah & Howe battling it out for 1 sport but competition is good! Also once injuries come into it I have no doubt they'll both get a lot of games still. We're always complaining that Melbourne aren't bold enough. Well what could be more bold then two huge signings in the off season. Malthouse as coach and Fev taken with our 3rd or 4th pick in teh draft! Imagine the line up next year FB: Garland, Frawley, Nicholson HB: Grimes, Rivers, Green C: Trengove, Moloney, Scully??? HF: Howe, Watts, Petterd FF: Martin, Fevola, Davey FOLL: Jamar, Gysberts, McKenzie INT: Jones, Sylvia, Tapscott SUB: Bail EMERG: Blease, Fitzpatrick, Jurrah

Funnily enough he may be of some value to someone like St. Kilda who'll be looking to replace Baker who I'm expecting will retire at seasons end. Not sure what we'd get for him though, maybe a goal sneak like Jamie Cripps???

Cause the opposition don't rate him they allow him to be the one with ball in hand, just don't cover him when we spread. This is why it's important we develop the likes of Strauss, Blease, Bail, Nicholson, Bennell & Tapscott. The more of them that develop and the quicker they do, the quicker Bartram wont be in the team.

Frawley, Rivers & MacDonald having the better of Kennedy, Lynch & Darling Jamar & Martin winning the ruck duel versus Cox & Natinui Howe at FF with 3 goals & 10 marks Watts despit not having a great game continuing to work hard all match and work himself into the game. All his touches were good touches Nathan Jones absolutely bust a gut. Thought he was very good today, made some mistakes but worked hard to get the ball back when mistakes were made The team show some fight & heart after half time. Last 10min was disapointing but otherwise I was very pleased with the 2nd half.

This is where I've been calling for us to recruit Myles Sewell from North Ballarat. Not only is he a clearance specialist but he's shown he can perform a run with role very well. Should be seriously looked at!

I can see your suprise for now. However Scully's is the ultimate professional, trains as hard as anyone and his preporation is second to none. He also expects the most out of himself and would be the type to expect it from others. IMO this is just the type of person you want in your leadership team.

For me I'd remove Green from the leadership group altogether along with Davey. I'd add Trengove, Watts, McKenzie and (assuming he stays) Scully to the leadership group. Appoint Grimes & Trengove vice captains. Appoint Rivers captain under the understanding that it is for a period of two years before he hands it over to either Trengove, Grimes, Watts or Scully. This allows a few more years for our young stars to develop without the burden of captaincy but still develop their leadership skills. Will also show who wants it more over those 2 years.

Would love to hear Martin & Sylvia sign on the dotted line before seasons end also. Any news on Fitzpatrick. I know news was a signed a few months ago but I still haven't heard anything official yet?

+1 Of the list that was provided I said Laidley as I think he's a very smart and initiative coach who got some good results with an ordinary North list. Also wont be affraid to give the players a good rev when needed. But I still think Malthouse is more then possible.

+1 I agree at the draft table this year we should focus more on mids, I think our depth through the midfeild needs a bit more building, especially given the halt in Morton & Bennell's development. Apart from Watts we still have Howe, Cook and Fitzpatrick who are very young. Then when you throw in Dunn, Bate and even Jurrah & Green who play as talls more then medium sized forwards. If we were to cull Bate & Dunn then you could look to trade for a KPF (Franklin, Cornelius etc..) but otherwise we currently have to many on the list. The midfield is the area we need to foucs on! Edit: Spelling.

I agree he's not of a big solid build, but he is a clearance specialist just like Barlow IMO. Another key forward who I forgor about who I think we could chase and wouldn't cost to much is Aaron Cornelius from Brisbane. I know he's still young (taken in same draft as Watts) but can't get a regular game at the Lions cause of Brown & Clark but has shown he's already a good contested mark and shot for goal. A Cornelius (FF) Watts (CHF) combination could look good for the years ahead.

As far as midfielders go the most keen I'd be on anyone would be Dangerfield from Adelaide but reckon we'd be more likely to find a hard nosed midfielder through the VFL then we would a power forward. Myles Sewell from North Ballarat fits the bill for us perfectly. Plays like his brother and has finished in the top 3 in VFL's B&F a couple of times in the last few years. I reckon our only chance to land a power forward would be if we landed Clarkson from Hawthorn and someone like Franklin wanted to follow his coach across to the club he barracked for as a kid. Would cost us a bundle. Like Sylvia, Morton & our first 2 draft picks for Buddy & their 5th round pick maybe? Good chance that wouldn't even get it done though.

While I saw Garry last night and that was easily the most emotional I've ever seen him about the club I missed what happened with The Ox. What happened there?

Dallas Crane - Numb All Over

Our serious lack of on field leaderrship has got me thinking. Do we go to the drastic scenario of asking Junior to come back to the club as a player to give us some leadership? I know it sounds stupid but Essendon did it with Tim Watson and Paul Salmon and with a fair bit of success also. Granted they weren't as far back as us but it may well be worth considering??? I know Sydney did it with Lockett and it was a disaster but drastic times call for drastic measures. At this stage I'm looking for new coach, new captain and some more on field leaders, Junior coming back to the club I think should at least be considered. I'd even consider getting as drastic as trying to convince Brett Kirk to come out of retirement and play a season with us if it would help us!

I agree that there was no way that many changes were going to be made. It's just what I was hoping to see, CA basically saying enough is enough and we're not going to accept mediocrity anymore. Bailey while not the best batsman in the world I have no doubt could do a better job then what Ponting & Clarke have produced recently, and unlike Clarke, Bailey has actually shown he can leade a side. O'Keefe I agree with you, however I don't think we have any spinners who are good enough at the moment, although I'd back O'Keefe in over Beer every day of the week. Disagree about Marsh being better then Cowan sorry. Over the course of their careers Cowan's first class recrd is pretty much equal of Marsh's, however IMO Cowan is a more technically correct batsman which is what you want at the top of the order when facing the new ball. Siddle right now might be better then Pattinson, but in the long run Pattinson will be a lot better then Siddle and will benefit more from being played now. Siddle is a great battler and gives it his all but will never be a great bowler. As for Johnson until he can learn how to play with some form of consistency and get his head right I don't want to see him in the team. He can go a spend a year playing Shield & County cricket to learn how to do that as far as I'm concerned, don't want to see players coasting by on what they can produce once every 10 tests. (Yes I'm talking about you Michael Clarke!)

Not a big fan of the squad myself, I was hoping to see more radical changes personally, I was being very optimistic and looking to see. E. Cowan M. Hussey U. Khawaja S. Watson (vc) G. Bailey © C. Ferguson B. Haddin S. O'Keefe M. Starc N. Lyon J. Pattinson S. Marsh (back up opener/batsmen) T. Paine (back up keeper) P. Siddle (back up fast bowler) S. Smith (back up spinner/all rounder) Cowan & Hussey opening would of been great, 2 technically correct batsmen who can take the shine off the ball and wont loom to hit out in the openning overs. Watson can move down to 4, allowing him more of a rest and the chance to bowl more at first change. Bailey in as captain (great state captain) and good middle order batsmen along with Ferguson who should be great at 6. Two spinners needed in Sri Lanka and O'Keefe & Lyon are the best we've got. And they can actually spin the ball unlike Beer! Starc & Pattinson will be good opening bowlers, Starc the left arm quick with genuine pace & Pattinson who can actually swing the ball, our first proper swing bowler since Fleming! The other 4 players I selected would of covered all areas needed to be covered in case of last minute injury. And how Ponting & Clarke can continue to get games is beyond me??? They've been terrible for some time and aren't being held accountable, instead they've actually received pay rises! Edit: Replce Hughes with Marsh Edit: Swapped Haddin & Paine around, looking back Haddin doesn't deserve to be demoted yet.

I'd be more keen on Dangerfield personally. Apparently he made some comment a few weeks back that if Craig wasn't there next year he may not be either????

Here's the list of DVD's I have from my own 'Name a game' selection. Round 20 1992, Jakovick kicks 7 and we beat the filth at Victoria Park who were top of the ladder at the time. Round 15 1993, beat Geelong at the G even though Ablett snr booted 11 with Steven Febey playing on him but managed to run forward and kick one himself! Qualifying Final 1994, the blues match, already been referenced many times, Schwarz dominated. Semi Final 1994, Lyon booted 10 (last time a dees player did this) and we smash a young Bulldogs team that had 3 rookies by the names of Scott West, Brad Johnson & Rohan Smith playing. Round 22 1998, smashed Richmond by over 70 points, as mentioned by another poster Richmond needed to win to make the finals and we needed to win for a top 4 spot, Farmer stands on Lyon's head! Qualifying Final 1998, smash the Crows the defending champs, Farmer towles up McLeod and White & Viney dominate the middle. Semi Final 1998, after trailing early against the previous years runners up Melbourne smashes the Saints at a wet MCG despite the last withdrawl of Lyon. Farmer proved the spark in the 2nd term and ends up with 4 including a brilliant scissor kick goal in the 3rd term. Round 7 1999, beat Essendon in a shoot out at the G in a year they dominated and we missed the finals. Round 7 2000, our first game at the new Docklands stadium and still our best win. Beat the Eagles by more then 10 goals with Neitz destroying Scott Cummins at Full Back. Round 14 2000, Match against the filth. As mentioned by others remembered for Farmer kicking 9 in the 2nd half. Qualifying Final 2000, against the Blues, mentioned by several others. Preliminary Final 2000, smash North Melbourne with Woewodin dominating the midfield. Don't really remember the 88 Prelim apart from watching replays so this was the first time I'd seen us win our way into a GF. Round 22 2002, St. Kilda at Docklands, had to win to avoid an interstate trip for the first week of the finals in what was a real danger game as Stuart Loewe's farewell match. Won a shoot out with Steven Armstrong getting us across the line in the final term. Elimination Final 2002, beat North and any finals win's a good one. Pagan's last match as North coach. Round 5 2004, beat Sydney at Stadium Australia despite Junior doing his knee. Scott Thompson starred! Round 6 2004, beat Carlton by over 100 points, enough said. Round 15 2004, beat the Saints in a top 4 match at the MCG just after their winning streak had ended. Round 21 2005, beat the Bulldogs by 4 points despite being down by 21 points with less then 5 min to go. Round 6 2006, mentioned earlier beating the Cats on a friday night at the MCG with several players out. Dunn on debut kicked 2 and looked really good, thought we'd found a key forward! And as others have said, Davey kicked one of the goals of the year! Round 8 2006, our last win over the Hawks on a friday night at the MCG. Hawthorn tried to rough Melbourne up but got belted by us instead. Neitz also passed the all time leading goal kickers list for Melbourne that night. Round 11 2006, Queens Birthday match against the Filth, built as the two best VIC teams going head to head. Josh Fraser gave White a send off before they went down by about 10 goals. Elimination Final 2006, knocked off the Saints and I thought this was the night that we'd unearthed an A grade midfielder in Brock McLean. Round 7 2008, beat Freo after trailing by over 50 points for Bailey's first win as coach. Round 14 2008, I was in Dublin when this happened at the Guiness Brewery but was called as soon as the siren sounded by the old man. Great desperation shown including the best thing PJ ever did on a football field (chase down on Sherman). Round 15 2009, beat Port Adelaide at the MCG in the match I reckon LJ announced himself to the football world with his first bag of 4 goals and some flying marks. Made sure I had at least 1 win against all opponents. When I order my next batch I'll be sure to include a win over Gold Coast annd an old one against Fitzroy!

St. Kilda final 2006. Queens Birthday 2006 (match that pitted the 2 best victorian teams against each other) when all the experts tipped Collingwood. Last 3 rounds of the 2005 home & away season against Geelong, Bulldogs & Essendon to sneak into the finals. Think the combined winning margin in those matches was about 14 points? Beating St. Kilda in 2004 just after their winning streak had ended. Beating Brisbane at the Gabba in 2002 with a depleted back line. And an oldy but a good one! Collingwood at Victoria Park round 20 1992 when they were top of the ladder!

I see your point, but that way we get Viney under father son and then still have 2 more first round draft picks in that draft which may be a very strong draft, but I guess the club will look at all the options. Either way I'm still optimistic that's a problem the club wont have to deal with, unless it's compensations picks for Morton or Warnock???

Cheers WJ, Personally I think he will stay, I've been very impressed with the way the club have handled the saga and think Scully would be as equally impressed and will see his future at MFC. If we were to loose him I think we should get a priority pick at the start of the 1st round of any of the next 5 drafts but am aware that wont happen. I'll accept 2 first round draft picks where they'll fall after our first pick and end of 1st round. Use them in the 2012 draft I say so one can go towards Viney!