Curry & Beer

I remember it too, I had a big night the night before in which I broke up with my girlfriend and badly injured my arm, somehow I made it to the match in a big spot of bother - little did I know that the nightmare that was my life was only just beginning

as a club we have had 'Peter Pan' syndrome for a long time - time goes by but we never age. When Bailey came in at the end of 07 he immediately began replacing the old with the young.. every season our kids get a year older but we have continued to cull experience systematically, and therefore the small amount of average games we take on the field every week has remained fairly constant over time... and it is no surprise that we consistently see a side getting belted by a more mature opponent.The result has been 5 pretty awful seasons of football to endure. It looks like there will be at least a couple more to come also. I think the slash -and-burn regeneration was the only choice we had at the time - but I am sure very few expected that at the time we welcomed Bailey, Morton and Grimes to the club, it would be 5 years later and we are essentially at the same rung on the ladder. We desperately need this 22-25 group to become solid, experienced, consistent UNIT, we can't have many of them pizzing off or fading out on their potential. We've lost Scully, Jurrah and I guess Morton, who were supposed to be flagship players - but on the other hand we have somewhat unexpectedly gained Clark, Howe and Tom McDonald. The time for playing kids has to be behind us now, we need to start fielding sides that match the experience of our opponents or we will remain uncompetitive.

dude's in the foreground

bout bloody time, they have been going around longer than Michael Tuck

well obviously we are hoping he hasn't hit his peak yet - remember the bloke has only 2 seasons and 16 games over Jack Watts

what would be the compo pick for pederson.. pick 758?

Jamie Bennell to become our danger man. Beat that.

remember when everyone just got a pick based on the order they finished in? It's hard to believe how incredibly convoluted the draft system has become

we also managed to weasel this Barry kid who is another highly-rated mid. Only a true MFCSS could complain we have neglected the midfield when we have poached three quality ones in addition to Hogan, Dawes and Byrnes

pick 20 might be overs for most clubs, but he is a big key forward, which are hard to get and something we badly need. He has physical presence which is something we also lack. He also has valuable experience which is something we also lack. He is obviously ready to go without years of development, so should help us WIN GAMES NOW which is really important for the club. That is not to say he is a short term solution as he probably has a good 6 years left in him, he is the perfect age for us. The only relevant thing is what we could have got with pick 20, and you know for certain that player would not have ticked ANY of the above boxes. Worth every bit of pick 20 FOR US

look that's a bit of a stretch, but I'll grant it as not as bad as most indiscretions - eg. 'I had a long day at work today, I was literally dying' Really? so you ended up in intensive care?

Pick 4 Hogan Barry Viney Dawes Byrnes That is a seriously impressive haul. Hard to believe the difference Scully's desertion has made, it has turned out to be a godsend

are you saying he is somehow altering the physical structure of the MCG? Because that is what 'literally' means in the context of transforming something. Sorry.. pet hate of mine

Last year it was blatently obvious tht we lack key forwards, of course it was exasperated by Clark's injury... but even with him in we clearly need another genuine key target to kick to. There were a number of games last year where we got thumped, despite matching up well in the clearances, disposals and inside 50 stats, and it is clear why. With Clark and Dawes, followed by Watts and Hogan we should not have this problem for a long time. The fact is we needed this role filled and we simply will not get it with pick 20. The midfield should have the cattle to be a fersome unit in 2-3 years, we don't need to use 20 on that either.Well done MFC, this trade period has been a complete slam dunk for me so far.

interesting isn't it how certain people get judged by a different yardstick than others don't think I've read single 'wish him all the best' post regarding McLean or Scully

Really? I would like to see him winning matches of football for the Melbourne Football Club, whose community plucked him from obscurity and supported him with vast amounts of time, money and general emotion only to be repaid with a complete ditching for nothing. Yep, really hoping he becomes a superstar for Port, perhaps the good lord will let us witness him kick a big bag in a big match against us.

I don't think any of us can really comment on this, it is all speculation and assumption. I find it fairly hard to believe that a lifelong clubman coming off a fantastic year could be so heavily affected by not being made captain. Surely at the very least, if in his position, you would still be motivated to perform in order to secure a good contract elsewhere. I can't help thinking there are other issues involved, perhaps personal issues outside the club, or in his relationship with Neeld.. is it possible he ha been carrying something? This is the guy who said, to paraphrase 'if you're not behind the direction the club is going then you can go elsewhere'.. doesn't anyone else find it strange his attitude could completely reverse with the appointment of a new coach? Surely the club recognises there are 2 things we are sorely lacking in leadership/experience and general hardness, which Beamer has in spades.Something is amiss, is all I'm saying.

i'm with PF whatever way you look at it - this is a stuff-up by the club if Beamer himself didn't buy in/spat the dummy whatever, it is up to the club management to work it out, that's their job. You don't just let a situation transpire where your BnF winner is out the door for nothing 12 months later. I admit he did not have a good year on-field - there is obviously a reason for that and the club should have identified it and killed it instead of losing an experienced leader that we badly need.

sad day for me, always loved the Beamer. Still don't know what went wrong in 2012.

but you are talking as if GC are somehow involved in all this, as if they were convinced not to nominate as part of this deal - they aren't, they didn't nominate because of the slight risk

forgive me but I don't get the logic - the Viney situation is mutually exclusive to the Hogan/Barry situation is it not? In the discussion of that deal in isolation haven't we used pick 3 on what would be about the same value next year, and downgraded 13 to 20 for the service of Barry? I'm happy but I don't get your reasoning for JV/Net gain

I know you never agree with me oh wise one but I think you mean psychological

how good is this - Jones, Viney, Trengove, Grimes, Sylvia and McKenzie feeding it to Clark, Hogan, Watts and hopefully Dawes a lot of grit and sheer talent in that lot sounds like a good way to win games of footy PS when we were getting thumped every week and Scully pizzed off I was pretty downtrodden, if I only I had known we would be soon getting the absolute best inside mid and the absolute best power forward available, with another pick to go. So sweet.

just a note: this kid is 3 years and 11 months younger than Jack Watts. Watts was drafted 4 years ago so it is a similar situation. He should be pretty well ready at the start of 2014, he'll have just turned 19. Note: Watts was 18 and 3 months in that highly-publicised debut. He only played 2 more games in 09.

only reservation I have about Hogan is how long it will take for him to do any real damage - 17 year old KPP, gotta be about 5 years off one would think. An 18 year old top draft pick midfielder is generally pretty much ready to go straight away as the last few drafts have shown