Dr. Gonzo

Sure but the club has also been saying for years, trust us we will have the new facilities bedded down soon, just can't say anything specific, have to dot the i's and cross the t's - maybe he took them at their word and now sees it ain't happening before he retires. Not saying this is THE reason but another straw added to the pile.

Pies supporters don't have many nice things to say about Pert. Could definitely see him being shown the door especially if Roffey feels her or Goodwin's positions could be saved by doing so.

Buddy didn't leave the Hawks with bitterness between he and the club though, he left due to the money and contract length plus wanting more anonymity in Sydney. He didn't torch the club on his way out and move to a cross town rival. Completely different circumstances.

What a clusterfurk. Heads must roll over this. Poor leadership, poor governance, poor culture. End of story.

They truly are the evil Sith doing the bidding of the dark side

From what I can gather the only other club to lose a Norm Smith medallist was WCE who lost Judd BUT he won it in a losing side. It is unfathomable what has happened to this club since winning the flag, is it just that we can't have nice things?? Supporters will be absolutely furious if this trade eventuates and the club must front with answers. The typical corporate speak and fobbing us off will just lead to more disillusionment and disengagement. Petracca is huge with the young supporters who will drop off unless we can get back to winning and win another flag very soon.

Most other big professional leagues give the club power to trade a contracted player whether they can get the best deal. In the AFL we must have the contracted players agreement before moving them on. Would be far better if the club owned his contract so could trade him wherever we could get the best return for the club instead of having to sort out a trade with his desired landing spot.

Alternatively it could be that the injury/trauma made him reassess his life/career and a desire to move on from a place he can see hasn't addressed the concerns he's raised previously or from a place that will never be the big club he wants to be part of etc. To the other parties it can look as though he is not himself but it may just be that his priorities have changed or that he has made a decision to go in a different direction. He is still himself he is just acting differently towards the club/players because he has decided he wants to be elsewhere.

Would prefer Peter Wright. Far cheaper and more durable.

McKay exacerbates our accuracy problems though. Would rather keep Trac and get Peter Wright on the cheap.

Exactly, that's the only way to read how this has played out. No one is demanding Petracca release a public statement, all we are saying is that in the absence of one it is clear what is going on behind the scenes. Supporters trying to claim all is right, media are just making up stuff/picking on Melbourne, Petracca is suffering, doesn't owe supporters anything etc is just coping mechanism. I'm interested to see how this plays out over the next month or so because as I said earlier it feels like it's going to get ugly with MFC playing hard ball and holding him to his contract when he clearly wants out. Even if he stays this trade period it will be a constant story for the next 12 months.

Morris is a grub but he was only doing his job. Who fed him the information for the story? Has his story turned out to be incorrect? Petracca suffered a horrific injury, very dangerous situation, but blaming the club for sending him back in it wallowing in self pity about it isn't going to help anyone. I don't criticise Petracca for being shaken or traumatised by the incident. I don't criticise him for taking time away from the club and heading north. I don't criticise him for feeling frustrated with the club. I do criticise him for letting those frustrations because public and then letting them fester by not saying anything for 2 weeks while the club continues to cop it from all sections of the media.

He doesn't have to do a live tv interview though. He could pre record something and post on his socials. He could draft something that could be emailed out by the club. He could do a press release for the media. He doesn't have to go on a live tv interview to put the rumours to bed. The fact he hasn't done any of these things speaks volumes. Not saying anything is fuelling the speculation and media frenzy which would only be adding to any mental health issues he may have. It would be simple as anything to draft a basic "it's been tough, I've been frustrated, had honest chats, but remain committed to MFC and further success" etc etc, it basically writes itself. So you'll excuse me if I don't by mental health and the reason he hasn't come out and said anything yet, especially someone as keyed into the brand-building and social media as Petracca is.

This is a naive way to view things. Not saying anything is destabilising the club. Someone from his camp obviously leaked to Morris in the first place and caused this news to break. Not coming out to refute it is saying loud and clear he wants out. All the club has been able to say is that he's contracted, no comments saying he loves the club and is focused on getting us back to finals or that he's committed to the club. It feels like the situation is going to get ugly over the next few weeks. It's no wonder we supporters get labelled with MFCSS, this club is so inept, so well versed at shooting itself in the foot that even when we stumble on a generational talent and build a successful team it's gone within a couple of years due to mismanagement and the generational player is so disenfranchised with the club he wants out. You couldn't make this [censored] up.

He deviates off his line and steps into the bump. He's gone for 3.

I don't buy it. It's not about gameplan or execution, our players actually play timid against the filth. There is no intent behind their movement, they should be tackling to hurt the opposition, swarming them etc The club must put their footy down and say, regardless of what happens moving forward we will not lose to Collingwood again. Play with some ferociousness and they don't like it, they only like it when they can bully other sides. Turn the tables and they go to water.

All those saying Moore caused it by sliding are right but it won't change the outcome. The AFL will say "if you elect to bump you wear the consequences". It's absolute garbage because if the roles were reversed you know what the result would be but because it is Melbourne and even more so because it is Pickett he will get weeks. The umpiring tonight was farcical, this would be the cherry on top. AFL are a corrupt organisation run and officiated by inbred maggots. Sick of the lot of them.

Delusional take. We played them on Kings Birthday with a third if their team out and they still killed us. It's about mindset, they have the right attitude we fall to water when it counts. Yeah we can beat up on a soulless Suns team but can we apply the same pressure/aggression against a Pies team with their rabid supporters screaming from the stands? Some of the efforts to ight were deplorable, many of them when the game was still alive early. They were not the only culprits but Bowey and Fritsch were two notable ones who just [censored] themselves at the thought of contact. It's actually embarassing the way we continue to have our pants pulled down by this mob. We've beaten them twice since 2017 and one of those games was at the Gabba. What does it take for us to say "no more" we will not let this mob roll over us anymore!? It has nothing to do with gameplan, footskills, turnovers etc and has everything to do with mindset and aggression at the opposition and the contest.

I disagree with this sentiment wholeheartedly. ANB has given his all for this club, was told he wasn't needed and out his head down and worked his [censored] off to become a key cog in our premiership side and a leader of the team. He has legitimate reasons to want to return to SA after repaying the club, it's not like a young rookie walking out on the club that draft him after one or two years.

I can walk and chew gum 😉

There is some merit in what you're saying but to think the Petracca story just came from nowhere and was pulled from thin air by Morris is fanciful. Goodwin, Pert and Gawn all spoke in the last week and none refuted the issues. Petracca has not come out to say the whole thing is garbage. There was a players only meeting on Monday where Petracca addressed the group. Clearly in this case where there is smoke there is fire.

Yes. It's absolutely ridiculous, the aim is to win the flag. Doing that from outside the 4 is nigh on impossible (apart from the Dogs aberration) let alone winning from 9th or 10th. It's just more pointless money grabbing from the AFL, trying to find more ways to appease the broadcasters with more content, not giving a stuff about the supporters or the integrity of the competition. They are an absolute clown show. Wildcards make sense in the NFL because of the division structure. So you might have a division winner with a 7-10 or 8-9 record make playoffs while another division has 3 teams with records of 10-7 or better so it makes sense for the better teams in the stronger division to qualify for playoffs as "wildcards" despite not winning their division to qualify. The AFL does not have divisions or conferences, we have one ladder with the qualifying for finals being finishing in the top 8. After 22 (now 23) rounds if you haven't done enough to qualify for at least 8th spot then you aren't a serious threat for the flag are you?

Agree but the problem is until Trac comes out and refutes the rumour he wants out those articles will keep coming. Even if he stays this trade period, the articles will continue all through next year especially if the AFL brings in trading draft picks 3 years out. Then you'll have articles like the Pies trading 3 first rounders for him. Until Trac makes a public statements one way or the other the speculation will continue.

And the rest of them

Premiership hero and top bloke. Thanks for your services Browny ❤️💙