praha

I just don't believe it...I trust PJ but...I just don't believe it.

Robinson coming to a team he once said played "bruise free footy" is almost comical. I'd take him though.

Kent is every much the player Blease should have been. A colossal disappointment. Anything in the 30-50 pick range will be a steal. He'll fit in nicely at Carlton with their list of downhill skiers.

In an age of free agency and a growing gap between right and poor, good and bad, you simply can't afford to stock up on kids anymore. You need experience, big bodies, and players that have a desire to win. Much like in the US sports leagues, the philosophy should be to build a strong team of experience and top it up with young players. ATM the club is in the predicament of having a team of inexperience needing to be topped up with experience. Bailey came in as coach at a time when the shift was beginning: when drafting strongly wasn't anywhere near as important as having experience that could steer the ship. Add in a poor club culture and the recipe was always there for disaster. Melbourne's list management has been downright deplorable.

Who wants to watch Melbourne get flogged by 10 goals on a Friday night? Sometimes equalisation is good for the club, but it's bad for the league overall. I agree that there needs to be balance: sometimes you balance it in the other direction and you still end up with an unbalanced application of inequality.

Makes sense.

He does a lot off the ball that goes unnoticed. Taps, knocks, body-on-body stuff that a lot of people miss. Doesn't win a lot of it but can develop in that area. Has the skills.

What...? So being a bigot is not okay if you attack and ridicule someone based on race, but it's okay to be a bigot if you're ridiculing someone based on their own personal faith? Cool, gotcha.

Censorship is the wrong term. Only a government can by definition "censor". Demonland was simply choosing not to fund its antagonists, as per this comment:

Like playing contracts, you sign a manager for a period of time. I imagine that his managed was signed up until at least the end of his first contract with Melbourne.

Seems to be the case. PP a certainty if he walks imo and we can't organise a trade.

Ill sum up Roos for anyone than didnt see: Met with Clark, wanted to speak about his health, said it's different watching to being directly involved. Said he'd wished it had come out tomorrow and not been leaked. Said it was no one's fault specifically though. Said Melbourne expects compensation if he chooses to leave. Listed player till October 31 Made it seem like Clarke and Melb will have a gentlemens agreement to a trade Reaction when asked about Frawley was one of defeat, said they couldn't talk with him about it until free agency period, but he's gone.

And why would Hawthorn?

Abbott's doing a great job. *runs and hides*.

What I don't understand is, "talking to Melbourne first". He's contracted until 2015? Does his official retirement effectively mean the club is forced into delisting and/or lost the power to trade him?

I smell a LeBron James scenario coming up.

IMO I see this as a win-win for the club. Either we keep the bloke or trade him and get good compo in return.

I don't quite get the situation at all. The options are: A. We trade him. B. We re-sign him. C. We delist him. If we delist, his options depend on whether or not he was *officially* retired. If officially, he has to go through the draft. If he wasnt officially retired, he can sign with whoever. Why would they delist him? Seems likely he'll either remain on our list, or we'll trade him.

Isn't the essence of camaraderie and team spirit to respect your teammates irrespective of class, race, sexuality, whatever? You're criticising him for calling out people that *aren't* like that, in essence trying to argue he's the antithesis of team spirit. Look, I hate the ultraPC [censored] as much as the next guy, but a good culture is not one that makes a mockery of lifestyle and brushes it off as "team spirit". That's not professionalism. I agree that his type tend to think the absolute worst of people for the most trivial of reasons, but you can't seriously blame him for not wanting the club he's involved with to have a culture of homophobia. I'm not gay and I tend to think debate on issues surrounding homosexual lifestyle (like gay marriage) are mindlessly tedious, but that doesn't mean I have a free pass to act intolerant towards that lifestyle, no matter how casual or good intentioned the comments and acts may be (the mardi gras scandal seems very trivial, admittedly). There must be more to the story and he probably just want an environment where a group of men can get along and be mates without joking like 15 year-olds. It's not an unreasonable expectation to have as an adult. I would take him in a heartbeat. He's run and drive out of half-back is something this team is absolutely screaming out for. The fact some are arguing they don't want him because he tries to rise *above* a culture of homophobia and racism is quite astonishing. I'd rather a bloke like that than someone that hangs around with bikie criminals, or has a history of alcohol and/or drug abuse.

He's done. Trade him for picks and move on.

He dislocated his thumb against GWS or WC.

Terrible Richmond.

I said he would struggle to make their top 22. Who in the midfield would come out in favour of Jones? Comparatively, Melbourne is far, far below Hawthorn's best standard. Jones is a good player in a bad team. What makes you think he would walk into Hawthorn's side? During the year when Melbourne gets flogged, everyone hyperventilates and says we don't have a single player that would get a game in a top 8 side. Why? Jones gets a very loose tag every game. He simply isn't damaging enough with the football. Don't put words in my mouth and equate that to being, "Jones is not a good football". He's just nothing more than a good player in a bad side. We need much more talent and depth in a midfield area already with Jones, Tyson, Vince and Viney. I think that's quite telling. I'm just trying to rationalise why he isn't in the AA side. I don't think I'm the only one who thinks this.

You'll be burnt at the stake around here for such comments. I love Jonesy as much as the next Melbourne fan. A star who will end his career being one of the club's all-time greats. But he's a good player in a bad team. If he were as good as people say he is, we wouldn't be drooling over the prospect of Dangerfield coming to the Dees. He's been the only player from 2008-2012 who has been a genuine treat to watch every single week. He bleeds red and blue.