Little Goffy

Mitch Clark will go down in medical history as the first player with an injury that can only be treated by playing for a top-4 club. Ah well, at least Varcoe will be a good replacement for Byrnes. I'm starting to think Melbourne should just toss the deal. just say "we are being screwed, we're not going to put a fig leaf on it, Varcoe brings us nothing that our list actually needs. Mitch, just go."

Oh goody, another one of these threads. Ok I'll bite. The 2001 draft wasn't that special. Certainly not a super-draft. What is most interesting from it is just how much the 'successful' picks were concentrated in just three teams; St Kilda, Hawthorn, and Geelong. Close to half of all long-term high-quality players were drafted to those three clubs. West Coast, Freo and Adelaide also did well when you add a remarkably strong rookie draft. So, we're now at 6 out of 16 clubs who would actually be happy with the 2001 'superdraft' results.

If we spent a first round pick on him, I'd be appalled. But generally, pleased with the idea of grabbing him, plays a role we need. The sanctimonious way he leverages issues in order to build his personal 'brand' irritates me. But hey, it's not like he's [insert long list of things that a number of Melbourne players have done over the years which we all seemed happy to forgive at the time].

I heard Dafuq had an ok season playing for the Gympie B's. Not sure his fitness is up to AFL standard though. Troll, well I'm shocked to see him disparaged like this. Somehow seems to get to every contest, has an immediate impact and draws multiple taggers. Might not be the prettiest player to watch, but he gets a job done.

Tremendous package deal there. Completely satisfying and realistic enough to hope for without feeling dumb. I'd just add securing Billy Stretch and Oscar McDonald. I'm sentimental that way. Oh, and the Rainbow-Vajajay guy, because I just love names that are fun to say.

Last ten years, six teams share 60% of finals appearances, and an even higher share of wins. The six bottom teams over the decade (not including GWS and GC) barely break 10% between the lot of them. It's that bad.

While I did watch the game, I also cooked lunch during it and spent a fair bit of time doing other things with the game as background. Now that Kennett's gone, and Franklin was lost to Free Agency (as well as Young), the arrogance has eased a little at Hawthorn, and I can honestly think this premiership is legit. Glad it wasn't Sydney. In a fair competition with only one set of rules they wouldn't have been top 4 this year. The gut feeling of horror is, will Hawthorn ever slide? If they can now keep bringing in quality players through Free Agency, who are willing to take a pay cut to be there (Lake took an estimated $200k a year cut to move to Hawthorn), what could make them slip?

it took a moment to realise, but now I know why the Geelong article really bugged me. Talking about how Mitch would be a great fit at Geelong, providing forward support for Hawkins. Same thing said about why Collingwood are so interested in him. But in all that. There is no club, no club at all, in more need of a key forward than the Melbourne Demons. It is why we paid so much to secure him, it is why he was so important. Mitch Clark was Melbourne's most important player, structurally even more vital than our captain. Now we're talking about him walking off in a straight swap for an inconsistent half-back flanker or a mid/late second round pick. Stinks.

Signs an extension which includes the first year of Simon Goodwin's tenure as senior coach. Nice touch. Loved Ollie Wines' effort.

Beams at Collingwood = 1st for clearances and inside 50s. 2nd for possessions and contested possessions 3rd for goals Don't forget Luke Ball is gone too (3rd for clearances, 4th for tackles). Sidebottom, Pendlebury and what's left of Swan will all need to play more time in the middle, reducing their regular contribution to rebounding. That exacerbates the departure of Maxwell and Lumumba, leaving basically a couple of kids and Clinton Young to try to provide drive for Collingwood's counterattacks. Under Buckley, Collingwood have managed three fewer wins each year, going from 20 wins in Matlhouse's last season (2011), to 16 wins, 14, 11... Seems like something special has now been pulled out to keep that rolling.

Between the 28 of them, maybe. Picket, it is nice to be able to agree with you! At a simple level, I'll always be annoyed seeing someone keep taking a million dollar salary when they're not worth a fifth of it.In any context. I'm not that fussed about him going in the first place, it was an offer too good to refuse and we were well compensated. But it was the lying, the bare-faced lying that really got up my nose. A near-consensus No. 1 draft pick, including in his own eyes, and now a total dud.

Hmm, NPUICF... No Problem U & I Can't Fix? Nasty Pestilent Udders Interrupt Cow Fornication?

The very day that any priority pick is awarded to any other club, Melbourne should file suit for anti-competitive practices. I'd speculate that our run of 8 years is worse than any other in the last 30, and our list remains critically defective, regardless of how much effort has gone into setting the administration and culture right again.

One additional capable midfielder with a mature head might just be enough to attain a 'critical mass' to make our midfield routinely competitive. A resurgent Trengove could take our midfield from feeling like 'kids topped up by a few talented individuals' to being a 'well mixed, quality midfield group'. I still rate him, with appropriate caveats of course.

Here we are, one of only two clubs in 20 years who missed out on a priority pick by winning one game too many and we missed it because we were blatantly tanked against by a club which has received more priority picks than any other. Our total PP collection in the 'rebuild era' has been a single pick 1 and pick 17. Collingwood got a top priority pick for a single bad year, with grand final appearances within three years on both sides of that selection. Hawthorn built their premiership list on tanking and hitting the jackpot with their selection. West Coast systematically and blatantly tanked for three years, screwing it up in the middle but earning two end-of-first-round selections along the way, and like Collingwood made top-4 appearances within a few years either side. Carlton... well, they have three start-of-first-round priority picks on their list today, and let's face it, they would be in more trouble than even we are without Murphy and Gibbs. Meanwhile, here we are, rebuilding a gutted list as a result of the disasterous recruiting and list management of Prendergast and Schwab and a string of tragic or maddening events beyond our reasonable control. They say we don't 'deserve' it, they say we need to 'build culture' first. Well, everything that can be credibly done about that is being done. We are showing that we are an organised football club again and headed in the right direction. But, we can't just magically conjure up the cattle to be realistically competitive. Our list is deeply deficient, with 'adequate for VFL' players getting games. No matter how well we manage everything we can control, we need assistance in order to bridge that gap.

Unfortunately, Lyon is a dabbler and meddler, not a leader. Anyway, the main role of the president is to be visibly be making sure that everyone is doing their bit, and reassuring each part of the club's communiuty that they aren't doing it alone. The job is all about convincing supporters, staff, coaches, players, and sponsors that when they make their commitment to the club, so is everyone else. That can be as simple as looking smug at a game, which among his other contributions is something Koch is particularly good at!

1. Clark stays with Melbourne - hooray 2. Clark decides to quite the game or play VFL only - sad but what we expected 3. Clark goes to another club by way of a reasonable trade or compensation plan - perfectly fine, no issue 4. Clark walks out on the club without any compensation or trade plan - Massive Stink of Much Eat Goatshite It's a bit of a chore, being emotionally ready for all possibilities, but I'm bringing down the cone of dispassionate observation for now.

I hear Paddy Ryderfield was going to be traded to St Brisbane for Mitch Lumumba. Adelaide is keen to acquire Mitch Robinson, but not willing to pay much. They say they are happy to offer their late draft pick for Carlton's late daft [censored].

Buntine was someone I was really keen on all the way back in that draft. The bio was along the lines of "composed, smart defender, sensible and reliable on rebounds, reasonably tall, excellent character and leadership (Ben Mitchell medal), not any single outstanding physical trait but at least acceptable in all aspects. Hasn't seemed to have stepped up much in the transition to AFL yet, though has played the role as expected. Would be very happy to get him.

I can't help wondering if watching St Kilda wilfully ruin itself now is what it was like for all the other clubs watching us in 2007-2010. But I also wonder, how could ANYONE set out to follow that strategy, after the object lesson we provided?

Chinese dragon-mother stereotype, wearing an 'I'm SAS but don't tell anyone, wink wink" costume. Bizarre.

Petracca (Meat) Duggan (Potatoes) De Goey (Gravy) Stretch McDonald

One community, led by a farmer named Wil, managed to escape the camps and lived a roving, rough life on the plains. They were known as the Wil de boers. There are actually a lot of cousins-related communities that emigrated. Out near Bega in NSW they formed a community of fishing family, specialising in shipping filleted fish to the Sydney market. They were called the De Boners. On a more serious note, I'd love to get De Boer by trade, and De Goey in the draft.

Quite the compliment, not 'fitting with the club' when that club has been an administrative and list management shambles. Shot repeatedly in the face by the expansion clubs, then shot themselves in the foot with the idiotic Tippett saga. Got to wonder if Sanderson has actually been getting a lot more out of the team than circumstances would suggest. Adelaide could be the new Richmond...

My first thought was just 'nah', but I has a second thought about it and moved to 'nah, in a more respectful tone'. On the one hand, I think he was hard done by at Brisbane and is a more competent coach than his sacking suggests. We must remember that the Brisbane board and management have shown themselves to be several kinds of incompetent over a sustained period. On the other hand... Melbourne are a special challenge requiring a special coach. We need to find a very good match for our circumstances. It is going to come down to the competence and collaboration of the whole coaching panel. Who is the best 'collaborative' coach we can possibly get? Hard question, but I don't think it is Voss.