Little Goffy

Caro missed an 'allegedly'. Technically, I do believe she's sue-able. Particularly in the context of an ongoing campaign to fling mud at our name with basically no new facts being introduced.

Cameron Schwab... something something... uh.... Fremantle is no good... something... um... what was I saying? Given that the club appears to be the best run it has been in living memory, with the most stable and united board, and the astonishing admin-side staff turnover of past years also seems to have stabilised, and the selling of 'distant hope' has been gradually toned down in favour of clear and present actions... Unless something sinister comes out of the woodwork, I'm a solid fan of Cameron Schwab, have been for some time, and frankly I'm more than a little annoyed by the bizarre and gutless anonymous sniping of internet heroes with no particular accusation to make, just innuendo about as useful and reasonable as 'he was responsible for Liam Jurrah getting in a fight in Alice Springs'.

Perfect snooker break?

Nevermind, the baby wasn't fully commited to the bathing process and was just getting in the way of new babies who can understand the importance of scrubbing.

Fulfil the three year contract. No stuffing around, no second guessing or making him look over his shoulder. That cycle is a repeat coach-killler, and drives the kind of political nightmares that nearly destroyed Richmond. Aside from that, Mark Neeld is doing exactly what needs to be done. I'm sorry it feels unpleasant for a few people. Medicine. Take it. It's time this club started drinking it's own [censored], if that's what it takes.

I'm confused, people talk about how we are sacrificing all our future talent? Of our first or second round picks, only one, pick 20 (13) has gone to recruiting a mature player (that is to say, only 24 years old) to fill a very specific structual need. Our delistings / outbound movements have been either mature players or NQR younger players who might do better at their new club, but frankly were done at the Demons. In addition, we've picked up a few additional mature players to fill specific roles so that we actually have a functional team structure for our young, talented players to learn the game in. I notice a few people have lamented our lack of success with player development; maybe 'not having a functional team on the field' was an aspect of that? Our true talent base in in tact, our drafting program barely interrupted, and we're a significantly more complete team structurally. I'm convinced this trade period has been a serious success. We'll have an idea by about round 8 next year... and then again in about 8 years!

Time to start looking at the back end of phantom drafts for new 'cult hero' players. :D

PANIC PANIC PANIC! I'm particularly impressed with the 'gymnastics' of some people who manage to first sook about the draft failures of the past, and then also sook about letting those failures go. Cook, Gysberts, Morton, Martin. Basically list cloggers in the end, in the simple sense that all four could not get a game as either midfielders in a team desperately short of midfielders, or as a forward in a team whih lost it's only true forward target halfway through the year, or a ruck/forward when our entire ruck list was injured. Yes, I know they each had injury problems too... yes! Hurrah! Let's keep players because they are injury prone! Or keep them because 'if' they knuckle down they 'could' be good players. I 'liked' all four, but that's not enough to be kept on at AFL level. I think Martin is the one most likely to do well at their next club, but honestly, only a fresh start will get them there, and they weren't offering anything to the Melbourne football club. If just ONE of the four players who come in to replace them (Pederson and three late draft or pre-season selections) turns out to be a reliable AFL quality player, we have come out ahead. Cheer up,we just delisted all our Tamblings.

Hard times today at the Melbourne Football club if you are a light-bodied, not especially agile, average speed, tallish midfielder with an unreliable kick and floating handball. I had big hopes for both Morton and Gysberts. But let's face it, that was hope for 'the idea of what they could be', not what they really were. Pederson? I know very little. But back in the day we gave up more for Ben Holland!

Cheaper than paying out his contract for next year as part of a delisting, opens up a spot on the list. 'How to delist a player who is still under contract, Lesson 1.' Viewed from the position that Cale did not want to be at the club, and the club did not want him, and nobody else was especially interested, this has been as well handled as you can reasonably expect.

Not actually that injury prone. He has played all but a few games in each except his final season at Richmond and now Port. His injuries have been 'notable' when they've occured, but overall he gets on the park pretty consistently. I'm not completely sold on him, but for pick 88 we aren't going to cry. I was a little reassured to see he was third in the AFL for running bounces/game this year, behind only R & H Shaw. Those Shaw boys must have had a loooong back yard. I think Rodan could play a useful role at minimal cost, we'll see how he goes.

Yeah, I've had enough with the Morton bashing, people. Seriously, we know. No.4 pick, didn't live up to the (read: 'our') hype. Showed very promising early signs, then stagnated. Couldn't put on muscle. Confidence sagged. But who knows, maybe at the Eagles he'll have a 'Steven Armstrong' run, best of luck to him. One thing definitely not needed is more people hanging [censored] on him all day. Getting as boring as the 'Prendergast screwed us' threads.

Geelong have done well to get suitable position players, and an extra, reliable, young midfielder. Collingwood have done well, though I would say they were losing out until they signed Clinton Young. Essendon have done well, not a lot of action but Goddard for nothing is a nice result, any way you look at it. But, depending on the compo for losing Moloney/Rivers, I think Melbourne may yet come out the winners from this year's trade circus. Presuming the obvious happens and the compo goes to North for Pederson, here's the breakdown. Out: pick 3, pick 13, pick 45, Moloney, Rivers. in: Hogan, Dawes, Barry, pick 58, Byrnes, Pederson. Of course, it still remains to be seen if there will be any final 'peripheral' trades. It would be great if we could 'find new homes' for the various players likely to be cut, and in the process upgrade pick 58 to 47, then 47 to 39, then 39 to 30. Each a trivial trade, but overall a good result putting us back in the early second round of the draft.

Meh, so we miss a few thousand extra against Port. Only the hardcore supporters generally turn up to a game against them at the best of timeslots, so save the 'good times' for a team where it will make a difference.

Good luck to him, I wouldn't write off Geelong's finals presence just yet, with both Rivers and McIntosh arriving. Given that they got another premiership anyway after Ablett left, that situation is working out for them nicely - the draft picks to bring in fresh young players, and the salary cap room to attract reliable mature guys. I think Rivers will get to do exactly what he's best at, while with te Cats, and not be exposed in the one-on-ones that have troubled him a bit over the years. He's as good a positional match for Geelong as Dawes is for Melbourne. Now, the compensation for Rivers probably becomes Cameron Pederson, and we have a 'fully stocked' key position list all of a sudden!

Something I particularly like about all this aggressive (and mature age) recruiting is that Neeld is giving himself no excuses or dark spaces to crawl into. He is putting himself in a position where if this team is not performing well by the end of his initial contract, he'll be let go. He knows it, he's ok with it. In perhaps the only way a coach really can, he is demonstrating a willingness to be held to the elite standaes that he is expecting from his players.

You'll be thrilled to know the truth is the total opposite! In both membership and attendance, Melbourne has the BEST conversion of supporters to action. Estimates based on Roy Morgan surveys over the 2000's have or 'supporter' population at around 200,000, creating 35,000+ memberships in 2012, and most notably, growing consistently over the past five years of horror. Here's one relevant article - http://www.roymorgan.com/news/press-releases/2012/1807/ It is very obvious from these tables that 'saying you are a supporter' is very different from 'actually doing anything'. If you think through the implications, the idea that Melbourne's games can draw crowds even vaguely comparable to those of St Kilda or Richmond is a tribute to our devotion as a supporter group. To put it another way, if those 'passionate and devoted' Collingwood fans turned up to games at the rate Melbourne supporters do, then in the middle of rubbish years there'd be 80,000 of them turning up to games against Fremantle. Most recent comparison would be round 18 2005, when they got 26,000. Now that's fickle, two years after a couple of Grand Finals. Burn it into your brain - Melbourne supporters are THE MOST ACTIVE AND RESILIENT supporters in the AFL. Never let anyone say otherwise. You don't support Melbourne because it's the easy option, do you?

We nearly got Lance Whitnall at one point. A late point, when he was well and truly cooked.

I'd say forward with only incidental rucking for the next few years. We'll see how things shake up once Jamar retires. Even then, I maintain high hopes for Gawn, but obviously having multiple future options is ideal. When Clark came in I pictured a future career where, for the next few years he 'covered' the strong tall forward role while we waited on young forwards to develop the required strength, and then move into a more rucking roll once Jamar retired and our other uck options were still very young. It's a nice thought that all of Clark, Dawes, and Pederson have at least done stop-gap rucking duties in their career, and more. It seems like the perfect solution for the bench situation where a second 'pure ruck' isn't considered viable. So, short version - forward, but a useful reserve ruck option along with others, especially in a few years.

It went on BIG TIME with Brock Mclean. But I don't think this is gonna realistically throw anyone off their game or training. After all, Jack Viney wasn't born, he hatched. From a rock.

Bingo! To see exactly when it died, look at Richmond under Terry Wallace. A recruiting strategy based on a bunch of dichotomies - for example EITHER they are skillful OR they have a great defensive work ethic. EITHER they are a running 'user' OR an inside 'gatherer'. Classic examples would be the polar opposites of Travis Johnstone and Simon Godfrey. Tell me you'd keep the pair of them ahead of one guy who can deliver at least solidly on both counts? Get a core of about six who can break those either/or assumptions to a good standard, and we have the starting point of a potent midfield. This is one of the reasons I have been so excited by Nathan Jones' ability to add to his game every year. Besides, Viney will not be a weak link when it comes to spreading from a contest and using the ball quckly and effectively. It's about work rate more than any special athletic attribute.

Fun times! :D Even if it is 'just' Andrew Swallow, Josh Kennedy (of WC), and Leroy Jetta, we're laughing.

Adding to DemonWA's thought about GWS stockpiling talent because the know they will lose them - every extra pick we can jam down their throat now just increases the amount they will vomit back in four year's time when Tom Scully's contract squeezes them all out. Dear GWS/AFL, thank you for paying for the development of our future players, and also the draft picks for Scully, lots of love, Melbourne Demons!

Hmm... looking at the final arrangement on paper, it seems we - Traded pick 3 in this draft for basically pick 3 in the next draft, in order to guarantee a player we were confident about and that really suited our needs, and with the bonus of getting to manage their final pre-AFL development year knowing that they would come to us. Traded seven slots down the list in round 1 (moved 13 to 20) for a player tipped to go third roundish (or later), but who clearly has potential and we obviously like - Dom Barry, speedy agile guy. That second part wouldn't be such a bad deal in itself, even without it being seen as a sweetener for GWS (who get something for nothing). I'm comfortable, pick 20 is useful, there's still quite a few decent mids around there. This also basically rules out giving up too much for Wellingham, or paying too much 'over' for Dawes if we still go for him. So not only are good things happening, but bad things are being nipped in the bud.

Mods, any chance we can do a grand merger to create a 'general pointless sooking thread'?