Robbie57

Loved Sean, one of my all time faves. Looking at the clip I saw a bit of Hibbo. Goodwin would have absolutely loved him. With Harley Balic leaving 27 is free for May (or does he get 1 from Hogan?).

I rate him and the rest of the team highly. Hogan's manager said if Melbourne were in Perth he would be with us. What is implicit in that statement is that we have built (Mahony especially) an environment that players want to be in which will help us retain our talent. He deals with people honestly. Every year i am bemused by the value placed on the number of the trade as experience tells us its the outcome that is important. Mahony and Co are outcome focused.

If May goes who will turn the lights out at GCS?

https://twitter.com/TitusOReily/status/1051626486044577792

And what I was told.

It’s pretty clear. The club is happy to have Hogan stay. We want him to sign long term. We tried to get permission to use our first round next year for May but didn’t. I wouldn’t be surprised if the outcome is Hogan signs on for 3 to 4.

It is entirely possible the real situation is that Jesse wants to stay but doesn’t want to sign a long term deal yet whilst the club wants a long term deal for certainty thinking it’s better to take the pain now than in 2 years. If that is the case both sides have been honest. Jesse has had a rough trot and probably not sure what he wants in a few years thus told the club he doesn’t want to commit for 4 years whilst the club has said that’s what they want. We should be slow to suggest a lack of candour.

I remain of the view Hogan is a special talent. The only reason he would be in play is because we asked him to sign for 4 more years and his agent has said no wants to keep options open. He is younger and far more talented than May. We should only be prepared to take an offer that is too good to refuse. 50 goal plus a season players are too hard to come by. Everyone gets swept up in the trade fiasco where picks are simply speculative,Hogan is not speculative if fit. I hope he stays.

In the event Mrs Gawn or Mrs Hogan are reading this thread, I just want Jesse to stay.

I agree with those who suspect he may not be the same. The pictures paint a tormented man. Obviously we don't know whats going on in his head but to a casual observer he still looks distressed. You have to wonder how that will translate into his on field performance going forward. We would be wary of a player with a physical injury.

Just my two cents; this thread is a waste of time. He is a star and nothing (absolutely nothing ) suggests he is not committed to this group. We can use him anywhere on the field. As for the rumours (which i accept are being offered in good faith) from someone who knows a player, they have all the reliability of an MP saying I support my leader. Why would he go to Freo which is going to have years of pain and leave a club (and a group he has developed with) that is now playing finals? I also don't buy our forward line is better without him argument. Whilst he has been out our entire team and in particular our back half has been better which has enabled our forwards to be more functional. Had he been available he would have kicked a bag each week. The logic that he is not there therefore the whole team is better is just fundamentally flawed. (Same logic would apply to Lever). It fails to recognise that we have addressed other issues. We need players of his undoubted elite class not speculative picks.

Back in hotel trip worth it. Dees fans everywhere. The boys believe and so do I.

I am with Goodwin on this, he stays and has shown himself to be a Melbourne person through and through. We have built a special group here.

Absolutely thrilled he has another chance, good luck Jack you deserve a bit of that after the hands you have been dealt.

How hard is it going to be to penetrate our defence! Roos would love it.

No they may be right, pick 27 only then.....

An interesting historical question which have more to do with cricket or just a lack of co-ordination when the grounds were first built. Perhaps the best question is why wasn't Etihad built to the same size as the MCG?

All quiet on the Western Front, just being dificult or something else in the way?

I thought they were making the sandwiches for the trade period. I dont think we should get Hibberd if all he wants is peanut butter as we need to be an allergy free team. Mahony is apparantly baking some sausage rolls as well always a winner.

I have no idea about his talent but I am wary of any Essendon player who has been on the sideline. First I am not sure a year off is either mentally or physically a good thing for a player but their routine changes (the holiday pics only confirm this in my mind) and they start the off-season a long way behind everyone else. Second they must carry some mental baggage from the whole saga and there is no reliable precedent to judge how they will perform/react. The fact he doesn't want to go back suggests at least some baggage and having seen some ex Essendon players talk in the media its clear they still have real issues about the whole saga. Third we dont really know if the baseline of their previous performance was affected by the program at Essendon. Finally Goodwin maintaining a connection to his Essendon days just seems to me to be a bad idea. He needs to build something new with his team at Melbourne and find other players with the qualities he requires (and admired in some players at Essendon). So I would not like to be giving up a pick to get someone with all those issues. Its hard enough being an AFL player. If we get him gratis so be it. We have taken a risk with Melksham and I see no need to double down now.

Funny how the circle turns I grew up with a particualr view of his name but now it seems a virtue, a hard at it player.

Why would anyone trade for a player at risk of disqualification (however short)? Just doesn't make sense to do it.

I'd expect Gawn to be signed up in the next Month.

Just reading the tea leaves here but I think we are really into Brayshaw which is why we cant get the deals done because we want to hold onto pick 2. I suspect if we had pick 1 it would be used on Brayshaw by Roos (he has mentored him this year as has Alistair Clarkson).

Saints going to trade for 3 picks in the top 21 so there is no certainty that he will fall to us at 2. Given that announcement and Roos views on the draft we can expect that our picks will be traded.