Dr. Gonzo

Oh don't worry, News Corp (GWS sponsor & AFL lapdog) is already onto it. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/gws/lachie-whitfield-gws-giants-star-denies-drugs-scandal-says-former-lover-is-source-of-allegations/news-story/bf3aa95ff3208804bab9499fd37be8fa

Age article says the AFL advised Lions and Pies of the investigation when they were interviewing Allen and Lambert for the roles.

She allegedly did it out of concern for his safety - may be true if they were still together at the time, probably why they're no longer together

Bye after the Darwin game - should be built in to the fixture for both clubs as a player welfare issue, we shouldn't even have to request it but the AFL is the Absolute Farce League Home games vs Essendon and Carlton (once in a decade for both of then) Would like to not have to go to Geelong for a change but that's probably beyond our control St.Kilda, North and Dogs at the G though realistically we'll be playing at least one at Docklands

We'll be playing Richmond the night before so no real difference and we probably will be playing the Bombers or Pies for that reason.

GWS game?

10 wins and a percentage just under 100%. I'd say it's not a success or a failure, it's par. That's not a bad thing it means we're on track and have continued to improve. We are still a very young and inexperienced side with lots of potential top end talent coming through but that talent still needs to be managed to realise the potential. They also need to get another 40-50 games together to gel as a team and another 80 or so until they'll really start to challenge, all things going to plan. We saw a far more attacking mindset which was great to see but did leave us vulnerable on the rebound. We seemed to sort this out in the second half of the year but it's still an area to work on. The win against the Hawks was the obvious high mark of the season but the losses to Essendon and Carlton were equally deflating. Hopefully we'll start to see the improvement in this area next year where we start to bring it every week and beat up on the opponents we should. The difference between our best and worst reduced dramatically this year with the exception of the Cats game which was a real outlier in the scheme of things. Putting that game aside we had a percentage over 100% and had no losses great than 10 goals (our heaviest loss to the likely premier in horrible conditions). We saw Max Gawn put it together for a whole season and cement himself as the number 1 ruck in the game. The bar is set now and he needs to continue into next season and beyond. We saw continual improvement from Viney and Tyson and debuts from promising youngsters Petracca, Oliver and Hunt who was a real surprise. There's obviously still areas for (big) improvement but with the age profile and experience of our list I am confident that will continue in 2017. We'll continue to turn the list over in the off-season (maybe 7 or 8 players moving on) and replenish through the draft and hopefully trade period. Melksham will come into the side next season and will hopefully set us up across half back with Hunt to allow Salem to run through the middle. Salem was cruelled by illness again, hopefully he can get himself right and have a full pre-season to launch into 2017 because I still think he has the potential to be one of the best players on our list in a few years.

Yesterday showed us how to play against bottom teams - what the Cats did to us is what we should've done the Blues and Bombers, kill their hopes in the first 10 minutes/first quarter and watch them roll over.

Some people need to calm down a bit, yeah that was a crap game but it doesn't define our season or our future. We still have one of the youngest lists/the youngest best 22 in the comp. We won 10 games in a season for the first time since 2006. Our percentage has improved year on year since 2013 to where we were about break even. Above all Geelong were playing for top 2 and are likely Grand Finalists (and runners up to the Swans). They're a quality team just tuning up whereas we are a young team just winding down. Things aren't so grim, we'll make finals in 2017.

It's not arguable, go back and watch our 2013 season over summer if you need a reminder.

Sounds like a good game for me to miss. The off season can't come quick enough for us or the players. Thanks for the improvement this year MFC, have a break, get stuck into preseason and let's launch an assault on the finals in 2017.

Wow

I don't think it's an either/or proposition though. We will take at least 3 draft picks as well as trade in a couple of mature guys. Harvey would be best 22, I think it's a no-brainer really (assuming of course he would want to play on and come to us).

Don't worry about other teams, worry about us. Referring to Harvey as a "discard" is extremely disingenuous. He is rated one of the top 30 players in the comp. They've decided not to offer him a contract because of his age - they're going full rebuild. We're going up, they're going down. We can make use of a guy like Harvey for a couple of years as we start to enter "win now" mode, they're planning for 5 years down the track. And if you think we don't have enough spots available on our list where we can do both you're deluded. Off the top of my head Grimes, Terlich, Dawes, Dunn, Newton won't be around next year. We'll have 3 draft picks, probably Hibberd and whoever else we can trade in. We can definitely make room for a player of Harvey's calibre if we need to.

Would you rather Harvey or Lumumba?

We can do both, it's not an either/or proposition.

Because a club only ever uses 22 players and no injuries occur right? I would've rather had him on the weekend than Michie or Neal-Bullen. At various stages through the year we've had Matt Jones, Grimes, Michie, Mitch White, Trengove, Wagner, BK, Lumumba in the team as well as guys like JKH, Newton and Terlich on the list. Then theres Harmes, Bugg, Kent and VDB who while having time on their side arent as good as Harvey. All I'm worried about from here on out is winning now. If Harvey is the difference between 8th and 6th or 6th and 4th you'd turn your nose up at him because it might mean Harmes or Kent get fewer games?

Strikes me as another smart "Daniel Cross" type pick up if we were able to land him.

Because he would be in our best 22 and has attributes that we lack.

Only thing saving him surely

I'm not saying you're wrong but your justification is ludicrous. Trengove and Grimes are not even in the same league as Dal Santo, you could quite easily justify cutting those two and bringing him in. I mean, Grimes FFS.

No it wouldn't

Not just you.

Came here to post this exact thing. I would take Boomer for at least a season, probably two. Would some pace that we desperately need.

I'm just saying that you weren't the only one who thought that way so the disappointment from Melbourne supporters is understandable. Not having a dig at you.