praha

I think Tyson will lead through rounds 1-10. Jones I thought had a more consistent outing in the latter part of the year and was really the only consistent performer in the last 10 losses. He'll probably *just* beat him.

Link to Tweet? EDIT: Found this one http://twitter.com/chrisstubbsfox/status/507055966060167168

Yep he'd fit in to Melbourne's lineup quite well: sprays a lot of kicks and goes missing when the team does. Seems like Melbourne material!

He'd struggle to be in the Hawks best 22. Gets the ball a lot but provides little run and simply isn't damaging enough. Great midfielders influence a match no matter how bad a team is. If was as great as many here think he'd have taken matches like Brissie, Bulldogs, Saints by the balls. He doesnt. I really love Jonesy and want nothing more than for him to earn a premiership trophy, but hes no superstar. It takes watching a lot of footy to know this. Having him as your best player (by far) is *not* a good thing.

Many just refuse to admit this. Jones was best afield maybe once, this year against Richmond. And that's a maybr. I love the bloke, but he's a good not great player in a bad side. Champion Demon, but not one of the top 40 in the land. Harsh reality.

Like the bloke but nah. He's done.

How would you grade the year overall on an A-F grading scale? I said at the start of the year that 6 wins was my pass mark: anything less and the season would be a failure. But there have certainly been some positives despite not having reached my win benchmark: 1. Blooding of JKH and Riley 2. Rise of Jetta 3. Howe is becoming a more consistent performer 4. Tyson acquisition and performance 5. Adelaide win 6. Essendon win 7. Near-double win in Adelaide The things that frustrated me the most: 1. Brisbane loss 2. GWS loss (both of them) 3. St Kilda loss 4. West Coast loss in Round 2 5. Losing so many games by so few points Overall, I give the season a D overall: Didn't meet expectations, but still areas of promise

Watts will probably finish top 5 in B&F. Some of you view our games behind angry glasses.

Hawthorn is reaping the benefits of building a great culture and drafting superbly in the mid-00s. How exactly to you suggest the AFL "fix" up clubs from performing well in areas they're *obliged* to perform well in to succeed? Hawthorn was not a "big" club in 2004 when they drafted Franklin and Roughhead, arguably the beginning of their rise. We're blaming FA for all the top clubs getting the good free agents, but FA is not the problem: Melbourne's ineptness is. Stop trying to handball the blame off to other clubs. Melbourne has the same access to the same talent pool, is under the same salary cap, plays in the same city, and plays at the MCG. If you can't attract free agents, that's not the system's or the AFL's fault: it's the clubs. You won't be asking the AFL to "fix" the system when Melbourne signs a good player, will you?

It was a great season up until the team's 13th match. Then it unravelled. Just a terrible way to finish the season. I expected wins against Brisbane and GWS, at least a win against the Dogs. The team really let itself down. I told myself at the start of the year and said it here that fewer than 6 wins would be a fail. I'm sticking by that. The team let us down in that second half.

Hahah came here to post that.

...You'd...rather us lose by more and be within less of a chance of winning but kick a higher score, rather than have a low score and being closer to the opponent? DAT LOGIC

Agree mostly with the OP, but Roos backing Watts means nothing. "New coach Damien Hardwick gave Tambling a leadership role and, at the same time, told him his future was at Richmond." 'He pretty much told me I was needed in the team and everything we were going to do within the next 12 months, however long it takes, was geared towards winning a premiership,' he said." Awks.

Geez another kid? I remember going to a luncheon in the late 90s, around 97, and he had two young kids then.

Joke?

Dear God...it'll be the first time since 1919 that no one kicks at least 20.

Funnily enough, Tambling had more influential games at Richmond than Watts has at Melbourne. Tambling had the unrealistic expectation of being up next to Franklin who Richmond passed on. Watts only has to compete with NicNat, really lol Richmond got nothing for Tambling, evidently, neither did Adelaide, but Watts has trade value and if we throw in a 30-35 pick we could get a good player in return for him. Alternatively, he's probably worth a pick in the 20-25 range outright.

I predict he'll leave but I have no ill feelings towards him like some of you. The guy has been at the club for 8 years, played good football for most of it, and stayed true through the club's most disastrous time. He isn't the only player who would be best suited to move on and let the club move on in the process. Good luck to him.

Against him?

And yet still a better player than 3/4 of the current best 22...

A bit harsh imo. It's still the same club, same players, same people, and it's considerably different to what any potential change to MFC there would be. The Tigers' change was part of a broader problem for basketball and the NBL in this country, and tbh I think they were the only group prepared to make a hard decision. Tigers support and NBL support were dwindling. I was a Spectres, Giants, Titans, Magic fan and then turned off completely. The whole point is to "unite" everyone under the same banner, because having 2, 3, 4, 5 clubs in the city divided what is a pretty small support base interested in domestic professional leagues. The NBL and particularly the Tigers as one of the league's stalwarts need to make major changes. To be frank I think they expected people like yourself to drop off and people like myself to jump on board.

What could Freo give us if a trade came to be?

Buy Young Dee, how will you sleep not knowing how many people want Watts traded or not?

Roos set to cull top picks: http://m.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/paul-roos-to-cull-top-picks-in-bid-to-regenerate-melbournes-list/story-fni5f91a-1227037950219?from=herald+sun_rss

If he goes for $800k, that is an absolute steal for us in that we're getting a top 10 pick for him (MASSIVE steal because we wouldn't get that in a trade), and some other club is paying MASSIVE overs for him. I hope he goes somewhere for between $700k-$800k.