Little Goffy

Trivia time. Zac Dawson was named, alongside Lenny Hayes,as St Kilda's "Player of the Finals' in 2010. He was also a pillar of the St Kilda 2009 finals run, as well as being highly regarded in finals at Fremantle, including "Player of the Finals' in 2014. That's Zac Dawson. The unco, dour, skinny, tall defender who 'never looked like it' and who nobody really rated even AFTER he was given these nods. I'm far from writing off Oscar McDonald and people really need to accept that the modern last-line-of-defence player is probably the hardest to judge from outside the club, especially on television. I've said before that I would accept it comfortably if he was traded, but I hate that people talk such rubbish about him, and I wouldn't be troubled at all if he stayed on our list.

Kids are cheap, even when they are good. The last 100-goal season in AFL was by a player who was still on a barely-above-average contract because even he and his management were surprised how quickly he dominated! That same player is now getting around a million a year and struggling to take the field! Contracts are always a chancy business and it's a shame there isn't a clearer, more performance-responsive way to lay them out while still giving players some security. The curse of the Melbourne Football Club has for some time included players who have had a couple of top season, committed to the club on long deals which may not even have been 'overs' given their performance, but then had their output slip significantly. Tom McDonald, Jake Melksham, James Harmes stand out recently, The peak for me was the early-mid 2000s when Travis Johnstone, Adem Yze, Shane Woewodin, Cameron Bruce, Brad Miller, and others all got contracts signed at their best form. It's not as if they all turned to junk - I have a lot of respect for these names - but they were all being paid at the fair rate for their best form, rather than the rate for the form they delivered consistently over the years. And the difficulties it caused are history.

Does anyone have a clip handy of the Cotchin sling-tackle-with-spear-action that can be played next to the Neal-Bullen 4-week suspension tackle? Seriously, we're tackling people by the ears now?

The thing about long contracts is, in any year you don't use you full cap you can push money forward to open up space in future. Carlton have been front-ending deals for a long time and the wake that has built up is significant. Also worth noting that many of the swarm of ex-GWS and other recyxled players would have been on lowish dollars with players hoping to turn their careers around, so the 'risk' for injuries and form problems was on the player. Think Caleb Marchbank - when he gets it together he's a genuine quality tall defender and if he'd been incumbent at a club they might be forced to pay on potential. As it is, he has to prove himself before the dollars come, and he has not proven himself. Put another way - Carlton have many not-quite-right players but they are being paid at that level, too. If you combine the years of front-loading and the many players on lower salaries, it's no surprise they've got cash to burn.

Mixed feelings but I'm leaning towards favorable based on character. He's always struck me as a relatively humble person, which is probably the most important trait of a football director, given how loose the mandate is and how easily it can become a 'let me tell you' role in every part of football operations. (See Glenn Archer) Of course, I'm not on Twitter so I could be missing some serious potatoes.

Got to love those hard leads, soft hands and long straight kicks. What is amazing is that only a couple of those marks were contested, he was just getting that much separation.

Yeah, I can't bring myself to have hard feelings. Got to let things go. At the time he left it was painful because it brought us all face to face with the questions of 'Do we really believe this club will turn around' and 'Why are we still with them ourselves?' I'd rather take it as a reminder to send a respectful nod to Nathan Jones than invest much effort in being bitter at James Frawley.

It's all very well saying Bombers will get over-compensated with picks, BUT, just I had hoped, their hubris and reluctance to rebuild means they are openly declaring that they want to get players back in return. Lol, probably think they'll end up with Curnow. Quite likely they'll also be trying to grab a superstar marquee la la la player (remember when the Demons were going to be turned around by a hail mary grab at Jonathan Brown? Or, perhaps most precisely relevant, the Judd trade) because that's the kind of decision clubs are pressured to make when impatient rich supporters poke their nose in and insist they know the answer. So relax, they might get two top ten picks, but then they'll probably trade them all for Jordon De Goey or Josh Kelly on a $6m / 5-year contract.

Based on corrections in this and other threads, and a quick check of an Albanian dictionary, I would like to confirm a crucial fact - It's Y'ze, not Yze.

The only thing better than watching them bottom out would be to watch them hover just on the edge of the bottom four and constantly trying to reload based on Hubris alone, only to burn draft picks and salary cap space for no greater benefit than to keep hovering on the edge of the bottom four.

Ah, Coq. Coq, Coq, Coq. 'No premiership means failure' and 'Success under John Northey' was a beauty. Got to also wonder what these 'many commentators' must think of the AFL Hall of Fame. Anyway. Back to Yze. We've established that he's a loser player unworthy of consideration as a coach. But tragically neither Steven Armstrong nor Chris Heffernan have put their hat in the ring. So we might have to just accept this guy, who not only is a loser but has a loser as a mentor. I mean, if that lumpy shortstack Clarko was any good we would've nailed the 1998 Premiership for sure. @Demonland I swear, the facepalm is helping but a good eyeroll reaction option would have been enough to stop me writing this rant! Just a little sarcasm button to press, that's all I need.

I had a little chuckle at the surprise headline revealing that development is key for a teenage key forward/ruck. While all those other young ruckmen are focusing on salmon farming or bocce. The purpose of the article is of course to remid us that the kid exists, so job done. I wonder how the 'Dogga' nickname came in? I like it because right from his first game, with the floppy hair and the mad enthusiasm and clearly needing to grow into his own body, I was comparing him to some kind of St Bernard puppy. ?

I'm only quoting this so the haters have to see it twice.

I think we all need to calm down and accept Coq au vin's point. Definitely no debate - Steven Armstrong is a better player than Adem Yze and anyone who disagrees needs to be able to demonstrate how they would solve all of the club's problems. Clearly we let the wrong player go to the Eagles. (Another mistake by Goodwin/Mahoney/Pert)

I rarely, rarely mute anyone because even cranky or unreliable people can sometimes contribute. So if it turns out that one day Coq au vin does say anything fun, informative or in any way not just a tent-fart, I'm relying on the community to quote it. Thanks in advance. Wait... where's the mute button gone? Did we lose it in the software update? Noooooo.

I always rated Brett Ratten right from when he had a great effect on our midfield waaaaay back in the day. Possibly even under Daniher! He has also clearly done great work getting St Kilda organised and focused and competitive, making the most of a list with few stars but I'd argue reasonably even quality with a short 'tail'. BUT Before starting at St Kilda he had a six year term as a senior coach, and for all that he clearly was a good coach it still took him five years to win his first final. His winning percentage over those six years was coincidentally almost exactly that of Goodwin's so far at Melbourne. So I would argue it is perfectly reasonable for Goodwin to have 2021 to prove he has learnt more about this coaching caper. I'd also say that based on our (and Simon's) known/apparent deficiencies, Adem Yze would be a sublimely well-matched assistant/sparring partner for Goodwin.

Great signing. 188cm defenders with good mobility, game sense and kicking do not grow on trees. I don't know if Rivers will be the 'best' of the three 2019 picks, but I'm not sure 'best' will be a sensible way to look at them when they are three such completely different types each very suited the role they will be expected to develop into.

Don't forget Dom Tyson.

Basically, what @Lord Nev said. From kicking/goalkicking specialist, to versatile line coach, to match day strategy. Is a legitimately desirable target. https://www.hawthornfc.com.au/news/710789/yze-promoted-to-assistant-coach "Yze played a key role in harnessing the Hawthorn players' elite kicking skills as they developed into the AFL's deadliest team in front of goal over the past two seasons. Since 2010, the team's accuracy has soared from 48 per cent to 57.1 per cent." https://www.hawthornfc.com.au/news/227910/adem-yze "Yze was promoted to Assistant Coach at the end of 2014 after establishing himself as a respected teacher at Hawthorn. ... After four years as a line coach, Yze shifts into the role of 'Head of Match Day Strategy & Opposition' in 2019."

Wouldn't be the first time that has meant coming to the Demons!

??????? Look at all those chickens! Although even if they do all hatch, I'm worry we'd be feeding a couple of cuckoos int here to. And that's my quota of bird metaphors done for October.

I just showed my wife some highlights videos of Yze and she quickly noted, "Oh, he is in Fritsch's spot" because of all the close-to-the boundary 40-out beauties Yze was slotting. A theory is born - Yze is coming to Melbourne specifically to sort out Fritsch's kicking. Worth noting - in his third season Yze kick 9.16, so he knows how to miss and knows how to correct the problem.

It would be acceptable to me if he left to refresh his career, and I'd expect only minimal trade return, but can people not throw abuse at the guy? Seriously, act like adults. There would be a question on our defensive depth but who knows, maybe the plan is to send his brother back there. T.Mac had a couple of seasons in defence almost as good as his 2018 in attack. Maybe being relieved of the pressure thanks to May and Lever being the 'stars' will freshen him up.

You didn't say it had to be real! You said 'real or fake I don't care!' And now the experiment is ruined, unless Sam McClure has already tweeted it...

Darcy Fogarty may do better at a new club and Adelaide is considering letting him go; Pick 23 (with some decorative swapping) and Neal-Bullen are a possible start point of discussion but perceptions of his value are highly variable, both positive and negative. If Essendon lose Daniher as expected, compounding their problem of aging talls at both ends of the ground, they may opt for a single trade to acquire both McDonald brothers. My understanding is the Bomber's and their supporters aren't willing to bottom out completely for a rebuild cycle so they are willing to bring in mature 'meat and potatoes' to help with depth and competitiveness. (Behavioural economists call it the 'sunk costs fallacy') Possibility of a pretty complex three-way trade involving Brisbane's Alex Witherden coming to Melbourne and all kinds of junk late picks flying around for Academy points etc. Melbourne is seriously considering 'opting out' of the draft if they can't manipulate a way well inside the first round and just keeping very late speculative picks given the chaos of the year, with the focus on known 'natural footballers' rather than finessing the athletes and potential. Already a lot of effort invested in 2021 where we are hoping to use fewer but 'better' picks.