The Chazz

Does Viney have similarities with Joel Selwood? Will he play seniors in his frist season? Selwood had the luxury of having an elite midfield right from the start which I have no doubt ensured a far quicker development. It's a shame that Viney wont be stepping in to something similar straight away, but may only take a couple of years to get there.

I think a lot of the young midfielders will go to the next level. I am still unsure about him, but I will be watching the development of Gysberts under the new coach. If, as most on here believe, he is in the same mould as Pendlebury, The Gys might be in for a good 2012. The other one that I will watch closely is Jack Grimes. I'm sure Neeld will want to get him in to the midfield, but we as a team need him to become a Top 20 midfielder.

Would like to see Brady Rawlings considered for an assistant role.

Could he be the one that Garry Lyon directed the "make sure you have them all signed up" comment to GWS about?

It's not the first time the Fremantle Doctor has got up late in the afternoon and slammed some windows shut. It's just that the Saints didn't expect they would ever have to deal with it...

So was McLardy in Perth to see Burns or Harvey???

My point Old Dee is that I personally can't believe that our front-of-jumper sponsorship is worth as much as some people do. The concern I have is that if we wait for "that" sponsorship to come along, do we risk missing out on others? We may find that we are waiting along time, only to be disappointed. Hopefully I am wrong. I used the coaching scenario as a comparison. We want an experienced coach, there are basically only 2 out there, Malthouse and RLyon. Do we wait for as long as required to hopefully land that big fish? Like the jumper sponsorship. Do we wait for that "big fish" to pay the premium? It's a personal opinion, but my old mate B59 seems to think that his opinion is what goes, and challenges anyone that stands in the way. Then, if they decide to use a bit of logic in their opinion, he deicdes to get all personal/keyboard hero-ish. Would love to have a beer at a pub with him one day, but sadly I'm not sure if he goes outside his home.

This is the comment that concerns me RPFC. I hope Malthouse or RLyon coach us next year. But if we hold off until March to hope that Malthouse changes his mind, and doesn't, what are we left with?

I'm certain you get self-pleasure out of putting idiotic faces at the end of some of your lines. Cheer up Emo-ticon kid. I'm quite sure you, the most knolwedgeable one (self convinced), would understand the general theory of return on investment (ROI). A business would want to ensure that the money they are investing in to something like the pole position of a Melbourne jumper, is going to generate greater exposure, which in turn will lead to greater profit, for such company. Now, me personally cannot believe that we were "given" $1.9m a season for the back of our jumper. Very impressive work by those involved; perhaps I should get them to sell my next house for me. BUT, just becuase someone believes it is worth that amount, doesn't mean that we have a new going rate for any otehr sponsorship package. This is where my $cully comparison came in. GW$ believed he was worth $6m/6years, but I can assure you that no-one else in the league would have been willing to pay that. So, does that mean every other Club would've paid unders, or did GWS in fact pay overs? Based on the fact that we got $700k from Hankook, and from what RPFC stated was a great deal, I honestly can't see how, in the 3 year term that Hankook were involved with, that the pole position could've increased over 150%. Did Hankook pay unders? Apparently so. But does that mean Energy Watch paid market value? I am very doubtful they did (meaning they paid well overs). If a client came to me and offered (after negotiation) $1.2m p/a, I'd be quite inclined to take it. But that's why Cam gets paid the big bucks to hopefully bring in the huge sponsorship deals. While we are in the media for various reasons at the moment, new investors wouldn't be getting a great deal of coverage until February. And surely to god there will be minimal distractions next season, meaning that our media appearances will probably drop. This will basically depend on form, etc. Let's play a fun game B59, what do YOU think our front jumper sponsor will pay? My call is $4m over 3 years (I realise that equals $1.33m p/a - slightly more than what I mentioned above). That would give us a combined total of $9.7m over 3 years, as opposed to the Hankook/Kaspersky combination of approx $5m over the same period.

Denuto?

Ah B59 - haven't you learnt anything through the $cully $aga? Just because Energy Watch paid $1.9m p/a, doesn't automatically mean the front is worth anywhere near that. Hankook were paying $700k per season for the front, I haven't seen anything in the last 3 years to suggest that it is worth much, if anything, more than that.

The difference between the likes of Clarkson and RLyon is the lists that they took over. Hawthorn were probably a year or two ahead of our development, where RLyon walked straight in to St Kilda with a pretty established midfield a star key forward. The bloke that takes over our list are starting further back than those 2. I think I would be able to coach Geelong and still get them to finals. I'm yet to be convinced that Scott has got it - will reserve my judgement after some of these older players retire. I wont have to wait too long. The hardest part is finding these good assistant coaches, and making them want to come to Melbourne, especially to work underneath an untried coach. If I were an assistant, I'd want to be working under the best possible. But, if you're like Brian Royal, and happy to be an assistant for your career, then maybe that's what we'd attract (which some know my opinion of Royal). This is the light at the end of the tunnel if we can pull somehting like this off. My personal order would be 1. Pagan, 2. Craig, 3. Eade, 4. Anyone other than Laidley.

I have to ask, of this "list" of 24-26 year old stars that are out of contract, why would'nt GW$ have circled? They have more money than anyone else, and I'm sure they wouldn't be wasting their time with old has-beens like Brogan, Power and Junior. If we want one of the stars that are in that age group, we have to target a contracted player, which will be a very, very difficult situation, unless there is a go-home factor (ie. we need to look at interstate lists). In regards to the compo picks, if for example, Geelong and Melbourne decide to use their mid-first round pick next season, who gets first bite? Or, for that matter, the end-of-first-round picks, who determines the order? we are all assuming that Melbourne will get it, but is this fact?

Am I the only one out there that thinks we are in a world of hurt if we can't land RLyon or Malthouse? If we have to go the untried path, I don't like the look of the next couple of years. It is not "sky falling" stuff, just being honest!

That was me DemonOX. My issue was that anytime throughout the year he seemed to kick us while we were down. I have to explain though, the only time I see him is on that Channel 7 footy show on a Sunday morning, and while it is a media job, I get nothing from him in terms of his support for Melbourne. Then, I think there was an article in the Hearald Sun during the year where he bagged the cr@p out of us. And on AFL Game Day one day, Sheedy got up the Club, and he just sat there a copped it. I would like to know if he is involved with the Club behind the scenes. Going to a game here and there doesn't count. I saw Neitz at a function at the Gold Coast game and he was just fantastic. I appreciate that he doesn't have media commitments like Ox does. As your name suggests you are a big fan, I'm expecting total disagreement. I would be interested in the view of neutral supporters though.

Not so sure about this now. I think Lyon has taken the $cully move quite personally. Didn't see what context he said it in, but he made mention that he is a competitive person and that GW$ would want to make sure that all their players are signed up. So, in my view, that looks like he's hanging around for a couple of years yet...

Thought JT's tweet about the $cully $aga was perfect. "Disappointing news about Skulls today! Life goes on. On a better note though @calemorton and marts have re-signed. Bring on 2012". Not once has he wished him luck or that he understands his decision. Perhaps JT should run social networking classes down at the bubble dome. Just need Brad Green to come out and tweet something similar to JT. Again, it doesn't have to be a personal attack, but a statement that this MFC team are focused on massive improvement in 2012 now that all distractions are gone. Perhaps he needs to do it after the coach has been announced. Trenner's for captain...just not 2012 (I'm happy with 2012 if he takes another step forward next year).

HT - all this talk about this Jaeger kid being available with one of "those" picks this year. My question is would he be the likely number 1 draft pick in 2012? Maybe, just maybe we have negotiated a deal with the AFL/GW$ that we will be given the opportunity to pick him up this year (ie. losing a number 1 darft pick but getting one in return). Reality is, GWS wouldn't be able to get him any otehr way would they?

The question that I want to know is how does Schwab, etc know the exact details of Scully's new contract? He knows virtually to the cent what he is getting, when he is getting it, and how he is getting it, and will use this in the discussion with the AFL regarding compensation. Schwab was very clever in stating that we should receive maximum compensation. Reality is, in his first season, Scully will be the highest paid player in the AFL. The first part of his contract, for season 2012, will be worth a lot more than Ablett, and the Club will be using this to get the best return. The smartly said that it should be 2 first round picks, but didn't demand the same as what Geelong got for Ablett, which I believe is because they are going for more compensation. Should we get more than what Geelong got? Maybe. Is Scully better than Ablett? No. But the thing in our favour, and regardless of what the football community think, is that GWS paid what they did, and we know exactly how much that is. I can understand the Geelong faithful not hating Ablett for leaving. He helped the Club achieve the ultimate - twice, and won a Bronlow along the way. I can't understand why a lot of our players, officals and supporters are feeling the same way about Scully, who has been on our list for 2 seasons and done bugger all for us. I have no doubt he will be a star, but it wont be in the red & blue.

Hey Hardtack, sorry if you have already commented on this, but weren't you on the China trip? Just wondering what observations you made throughout the adventure. While it probably would've been stalker-ish, I know if a group of the players were enjoying the nightlife over there, I would've been with them!

My mail is that we signed our big forward up last night...Stef Martin, and in my Round 1 team of 2012, there is ample room for he, Jamar and Gawn. The big question that remains is how BIG will Watts, Cook and Fitzpatrick get? I think it's fair to say that Watts will be a big figure with another 2 preseasons under his belt, Cook & Fitzy I just don't know... Look at Geelong's team on Friday night against the Hawks - Ottens, West, Hawkins and Pods. 2 dedicated rucks, 1 that can pinch-hit, and the other a big forward. Look at Collingwood - Jolly, Brown, Dawes, Cloke. Can we see the trend here? I was a Bailey fan, but 1 of my criticisms was the fact that we never really got to see any consistent forward structure. Our backline is basically pre-picked every week, but multiple changes were made to our forward line each week, and as a result, they don't have that same understanding of each others game like the backline does. If we have cash to spend, target a quality midfielder. I mentioned in another thread that we should offer Brad Sewell good $$$ plus look at picking his brother up with a 2nd or 3rd round pick in the draft. I reckon we could get Brad for about $450k-$500k per season.

I saw Jim (in the Presidents Club) at the Gold Coast game, and shook his hand after that same game - you could've knocked me over with a feather. Mid this year I had to deal with my father fighting and in turn losing a similar battle. All I will say is that I think the time has come for him to step down as President immediately, and spend some quality time with his family and friends. Knowing what he is like though, he will see that as giving up. A very proud man, a champion of the game, a man that almost single-handedly saved our great Club. A champion man.

Melbourne offered Tom a 5 year contract. Do you think we would've done that if we felt his knee was suspect?

I'm not saying they need to bad-mouth him Hardtack, but something along the lines of what Trengove has said a few times in regards to money isn't everything and that he plays to win premierships, or something subtle about missing out on sharing this ride with his mates. It was a soft response from Jones. As I said earlier, basically saying that it is ok for players to leave if they are offered big dollars. Pathetic.

Would love to share your optimism WYL, but I think it will sting the sh!t out of us for a couple of seasons. To top it off, Nathan Jones got on his Twitter saying that he understands the decision and wishes him luck. Jonesy - I know your a nice bloke and all, but have a bit of c*nt about you pleeeeease. So are you saying that any of our players are free to leave if the money is right? No wonder we are a long way off from winning a flag - I'm quite certain the Hawks of the 80's, the Lions of the early 00's and the current Geelong and Collingwood crop wouldn't take this, they would make a statement as a group.