Adam The God

Was Chaplin in the meeting where Goody was sacked that was then leaked to the media almost immediately? Pretty sure he wasn't...

I'm pretty sure he did, hence the MFC shorts. I tried to find this online somewhere but all I could find was "I think that I will be doing a little bit of extra midfield stuff at the end of training because I think the midfield coach (Steven King) likes me in the midfield as well." https://archive.sen.com.au/news/2023/02/04/top-draftee-reveals-rival-clubs-late-poaching-effort-on-draft-night/index.html

Didn't he train with us?

Andrew Downer over here... We won't get him with that attitude!

First domino falls. 👏

I wish!

Rachele from Adelaide and Humphrey and Flanders from Suns and bang, we're transformed. If there is enough interest in Clarry because we agree to pay $700k pa of his wage, then we can leverage the competition of interest to a deal that benefits us.

Where's that Peter Bell pic with the feather in his cap? And we'll come back for Ben King next year, thank you very much.

Yeah, it's possible we reset like Collingwood did, but McRae had the best player in the competition land in his lap for free. King won't have that.

He was softer than me on the footy field too.

Wasn't this the reason we sacked Goody? This is my biggest concern around game style and the sort of player we want and need. Contest will never die. It worries me if we're shipping off all/most of our contested ball winners. Agreed.

Yeah, but the problem is Green and Clarry can only play on ball and both play a similar game. He'd be a better fit at Sydney IMO.

So if Clarry has flown to Sydney, I assume it's to meet with Sydney Football Club, although I guess it could be GWS too. I'd say his link with Goody will see him in red and white then.

I agree. Completely. But Collingwood didn't cover themselves in glory when they did similar to Grundy and Treloar. That is the most striking similarity. Let's hope King can coach as well as McRae. And if he can, we'll be able to attract players.

The statement is rational and fair. The only problem is the media beat us two it by 2 or so hours... If that'd been published immediately, I'd be going, well done, Melbourne. But alas...

No, I'm not. I'm assuming that the club isn't capable of pressing a button on the computer to publish a story on the website as soon as Clarry leaves the room with King and list management. Going by our club's history of social media wizardry, they've got NFI.

And we need to start getting ahead of the media. Instead of it being first reported in the press, it should have been on our website. The story landed on the website 40 minutes ago. The leaks occurred straight after the meeting. It needed to go up as soon as Clarry left the room.

If there's any truth to Clarry going, we've absolutely [censored] the bed, both with the May decision, which leaked, and now the Clarry meeting. Leaks all over the joint and debasing whatever currency we might have with either player.

I don't think all reporting about the MFC is made up. I just take issue with the idea that AFL journalists have any integrity whatsoever. I think these leaks speak volumes for Guerra's (in)ability to run a tight ship. Compare this with PJ and it's not even a competition.

The next Mark Neeld you reckon? The last time Demonland was all on the same pages was when we needed a strong man. Let's hope not. We have no idea whether he can coach yet. Short memories on here. If this is true and we're trading Trac, Clarry, May and McVee, it's completely at odds with the messaging from both Guerra and King about finals next year or the year after. I'm giving the club the benefit of the doubt. Hierra and Lamb have both said don't pay any attention to the media, watch our socials. So like @Jaded No More , I'm expecting confirmation one way or other today regarding our true intentions with Clarry.

And do you work in the AFL industry? Because if not, how your industry is reported is completed irrelevant to how a tribal, emotional sport like AFL is reported on. They know what gets clicks.

Well, they do, they give the club some leverage in the negotiations. Or as we saw with Trac last year and potentially Curnow and Merrett this year, clubs can simply hold players to their contracts.

Sorry, and Jackson...

Only one of those guys is elite. The rest are role players. Bowey could become elite. So could Rivers. That's the point. Whereas our premiership list was driven by mostly first round draft picks: Oliver, Trac, Gus, May, Lever. They were all first rounders.

If we're going after a big FA in 2026, we won't have Trac. And there is no way he leaves without his new club paying the majority, if not all, of his contract. We'll have plenty of cap to spend.