DEE fence

Not keen, we need consistent, knowledgeable Hawks people I know (we're not mates when it's footy), really dislike the turnovers.

McVee replacement?

I don’t think training hard has been the problem, nor desire for contest, I’m open to these being good appointments but as much as I dearly would have loved them as players at the club (Hamill was at one stage my favorite non Melbourne player), I don’t see any great coaching credentials. Very happy Troy is staying, but what I really want is to see a strategy coach of Jennings standard to join us/ another mid coach.

The real reason Geelong suspended Mad Monday were the players taking the mickey out of the Cotton On payments, nothing to do with BS and Caro etc.

59 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

I fear there is more angst on its way.

GWS will redo Oliver's contract with whatever terms they agree. Oliver said last year he would take a cut to move out. If he does that with GWS and we did say we would pay 'up to $700k' we will end up paying the lion's share of his contract for 5 years. Given yesterday's comments I doubt he is amenable to ease the $ impact on mfc.

A case in point. If GCS take JUH with a very late pick they will redo his contract from $900k to $300k-$400k. Not saying that is what GWS will pay Oliver but fans need to be prepared to news mfc foots the lion's share of the contract.

Edit: same applies if he ends up at Coll and takes a pay cut which would make our payment so much more 🤮

Just curious but why the hell wouldn’t we pro rata and salary reduction in the contract?

2 hours ago, Redleg said:

The Cats clearly don’t have a no DH policy.

Last 4 Premiers

US - Oliver May

Cats - Stengle, Smith, Bruhn

Collingwood - Thug, DeGoey, get the idea

Brisbane - Zorko, Robinson

33 minutes ago, Norm Smith's Curse said:

Our family are all tragic dees supporters or saints supporters but we all agreed forcing the next generation into the endless cycle of pain was abusive. As long as it isnt Essendon or Hawthorn im ok.

I don’t believe you, and if true this is the ultimate Karen parenting… (joke)

Figure this is better here than in the imploding thread

Thank you for this and it helped form a thought bubble that has been percolating for awhile. Trac has had a game plan built around him, no problem with that, but he represents a considerable amount of effort for others that fill in for his defensive running etc. While he has a license to roam and burst, it means others have extras to do. Now while I don’t mind that when it works, when it doesn’t work it is costing us flexibility with other game plans and I’m pretty sure every coach in the league has got the memo. Now I’m not sure that Tracc gets how much is done for him - and without doubt he does a huge amount to prepare himself, but these poor me vibes kind of stick in the back of my throat. I can understand the Coach thinking the ‘Tracc Play’ is stale and needs a rebuild. Tracc not being onboard with that or whatever leads us to the current scenario. I dearly love the bull like power and leg drive, but almost equally (big disagreement in my family about this) I think his lack of confidence in his set shot kicking has become a cancer for other forwards, I love the manic miracle goals, but the percentage of routine money in the bank shots has dried up so badly I am not opening a vein about the prospect of him leaving. (Check back when he kicks 6 on us).

22 hours ago, CHF said:

I thought about putting this in a few of the threads. Not sure if this is the right one but .... it might be.

Just a thought on what might be the broader picture in the situation with Petracca and Oliver.

Let me see…..

May under contract and told he is free to look for another club…

Petracca under contract, had his situation discussed with him and told about the role he could expect to play in the team. Was also told that he could explore his options if he wanted to.

Oliver under contract, same as Petracca… told what was expected of him and his role within the team as from next season. Told he could look around if he wanted to.

These three are, of course, senior, very experienced players that have some decisions to make with regard to their immediate futures. Serious business.

However, I applaud the club for the positions they have taken with these players. That is not to say that I consider any of the players at fault. The process that the club has in place strikes me as a mature response and a very professional one at that.

Over the last 10/15 years more power and control has evolved to the players with respect to where they play and how they honour their contract conditions. In a lot of respects, they have demanded that clubs become more professional.

With the replacement of the coach, CEO and, in the near future, the President, MFC is looking to throw some of the professional responsibility back on the players and their agents.

“You want to move with 5 years on your contract, well, feel free to have a look around to see if you can satisfy our requirements. However, be assured that if we are not satisfied and a trade cannot be made, we will hold you to your contract and expect a proper, professional playing approach from you. The club will not be actively seeking a trade for you this off-season”

I see nothing wrong with this approach at all. While it is squarely putting a lot of the responsibility back in the Player and their agents it is also taking back a good degree of control for the club. The player and his team might arrive at a preferred club but, rather than make the statement and throw it over to the club to work out with an expectation that they will negotiate and sort it out, in this situation it is the responsibility of the player and his nominated club to present a deal to MFC. This leaves a lot of power in the hands of MFC. In fact, the MFC do not have to state what deal will satisfy them. All they need to do is to say…. “Sorry, that is not good enough. If that is your last word, he plays out his contract.”

I can see the whole of the playing group working through the implications of this attitude by the club.

May situation is a little different. He is that bit older than Petracca and Oliver is losing a pace or two, not as flexible as he once was and is being looked at as a possible disrupter on the list. He has been great for us, but this is a new era for the club.

I hope that the coaches and the club administration continue with this direction. it will make a refreshing change with the coaches, in particular supervising, directing and controlling the playing list within the constrains of a clear vision and approach. All, the players, coaches and club need to know where they stand.

 

Thank you for this and it helped form a thought bubble that has been percolating for awhile. Trac has had a game plan built around him, no problem with that, but he represents a considerable amount of effort for others that fill in for his defensive running etc. While he has a license to roam and burst, it means others have extras to do. Now while I don’t mind that when it works, when it doesn’t work it is costing us flexibility with other game plans and I’m pretty sure every coach in the league has got the memo. Now I’m not sure that Tracc gets how much is done for him - and without doubt he does a huge amount to prepare himself, but these poor me vibes kind of stick in the back of my throat. I can understand the Coach thinking the ‘Tracc Play’ is stale and needs a rebuild. Tracc not being onboard with that or whatever leads us to the current scenario. I dearly love the bull like power and leg drive, but almost equally (big disagreement in my family about this) I think his lack of confidence in his set shot kicking has become a cancer for other forwards, I love the manic miracle goals, but the percentage of routine money in the bank shots has dried up so badly I am not opening a vein about the prospect of him leaving. (Check back when he kicks 6 on us).

22 hours ago, Demonstone said:

His intercept and pass to Fritta in the third quarter to kickstart our comeback was a blinder.

Apart from that, he had 13 other touches and didn't make anybody's best players list on the day.

I was ready to pay a kings ransom for the kick, for all that he was/is a scallywag that was an immortal kick, you could retire happy with that.

A Gen X player in a Gen Z world, love his fierceness, incredibly important player for us. Will remain a tackle machine, a human version of a big cat hunting on Animal Planet. Think back to that 1st tackle in the 21 GF. When we play finals next he will be leading the way in pressure acts. Between him and Kossie we go very well for pressure around the ball.

Pairing ANB with Tracc is not a silly move by Adelaide as ANB created a great synergy with how well he performed the support roll. I am comforted by the fact that Hawthorn survived Buddy leaving and Brisbane was a basket case when Fagan arrived. Track is not Buddy, and we are not as [censored] as Brisbane was.

Felt like he had the riot act read to him midway through the season, as he found some mojo and his half forward efforts were part of a welcome return to form. I was ready for a trade early on but now think keep.

Role player, who gave Nic Daicos a legitimate bath, demonstrating commitment to team, seeing him snaffle Nic legally a micro second after Daicos had taken possession was a Joy. Basically reinvigorated the wing role a few years as an OG and has been happy to perform whatever since. Love and Keep are two words that come to mind.

On 27/09/2025 at 11:52, Demonland said:

this makes me happy

12 hours ago, monoccular said:

Scott whinges and makes excuses all the time. Just a sore loser - sad that with their excessive home ground advantage it doesn’t happen more often.

Extenuating circumstances unable to be revealed? Really?

Maybe recruiting the toxic bulldog?

The challenge lies before us - bring it on.

Collingwood #5? Collingwood 😎? Three way tie.

Remember the prelim against us, was so salty and referenced un-named excuses, he was at least a little better against the Lions yesterday, but still felt forced. Anyway, 9 prelims for 1 GF or whatever it is, the guy can coach and gets a lot out of his players, he's a great coach lets not turn into Victa here (lawn mowers).

3 hours ago, ANG13 said:

Have rules changed about taking about politics? I hope not.

It never ends well does it, in other news how much do you reckon the Essendon fans are thinking they have the wrong brother and that is why the soft cap for senior coaches salary hasn't been exempted.

8 hours ago, jnrmac said:

Development is one thing but have a look at the teams that continually compete - Geelong, Collingwood, Hawthorn - they generally have over half of their players originating at other clubs. They trade for need. Its a gaping hole in melbourne's list management.

We are terrible at getting experienced players to our club. I feel if we are to compete each year at the top level its this area we need to fix. There are some past successes with Langdon, Melksham, Hibberd, May and Lever but more recent times the cupboard has been largely bare.

As i was saying, it’s since ’21

42 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

How was Bowey an average pick when he was picked up as a first rounder?

fair call I guess, he was early 2nd round. my point stands, young blokes have done just fine with us, it's the retreads that are the challenge. it was the career killing comment that got up my nose.

17 hours ago, Coolx2 said:

Under Goody's empire, the Dees don't do development , only career killing. Still disappointed that Sestan and Pup were delisted. However I still think Sestan will get rookied by another club.

Turner, Bowey, Rivers, McVee, Petty, Bedford, Jordan were all average picks all turned out to be diamonds in the rough, our high end picks of recent times have all been strong (a watch on JVR) the only black mark would be our pick ups from others clubs post '21, has been ordinary, but Goody's career killing empire, give it a rest. Even discards like Oscar, Jayden and James get a gig, granted we have issues with the game plan, but so much else has been on point.

4 hours ago, No. 31 said:

Good to see Matt Rowell* getting up over both Nick Daicos and Bailey Smith 👍😃

• future Carlton midfielder 😁

I hope Essendon and Carlton get into a bidding war and bankrupt their clubs of draft picks and Essendon end up with another 10 years of no finals.

FWIW Smith winning would have been worse than Daicos

On the other hand, Langford was robbed.

13 hours ago, Dee Viney Intervention said:

Jimmy Bartel is indeed doing great things at Caulfield Grammar in his role of head of football. He would be a great addition to Melbourne having also had a similar role at GWS. Anthony Phillips is the school first team coach.

Thanks for the correction, apologies to Mr Phillips, no slight intended.

On 25/08/2025 at 23:02, poita said:

The last thing this club needs is more levels of management and less accountability at each level.

Presumably we would have the coach reporting to the head of football who reports to the strategy boss who reports to the CEO who reports to the board. As if any experienced coach is going to accept that.

I'd much rather we support the coach with the football staff that he needs to get the best out of the playing group, rather than putting in more managers to meddle. That's the problem with hiring people who have worked in government entities - they are good at spending money and bad at taking responsibility.

Love this post, look at higher education and health, lots more high priced managers, less doers.

On 26/08/2025 at 01:04, layzie said:

Bartel's experience is pretty good. He was on the GWS board from 2018 - 2024 and was actively involved in list decisions and re-structuring of their FD, he also played a part in getting Kingsley the coaching job. Before that he'd been a part-time list management consultant at Brisbane.

He knows what he's doing and has a lot of experience in building lists and developing footy clubs. If there was half a chance I would be all in.

I've heard very positive things about how he is going about it at Caufield Grammar as Firsts coach, that would be summarized as 'Ted Lasso' style really focused on the boys welfare, finding insightful ways to communicate beyond the tired tropes and cliches. I would be very onboard with Bartel being part of the Demons.

On 25/08/2025 at 23:02, poita said:

The last thing this club needs is more levels of management and less accountability at each level.

Presumably we would have the coach reporting to the head of football who reports to the strategy boss who reports to the CEO who reports to the board. As if any experienced coach is going to accept that.

I'd much rather we support the coach with the football staff that he needs to get the best out of the playing group, rather than putting in more managers to meddle. That's the problem with hiring people who have worked in government entities - they are good at spending money and bad at taking responsibility.

Love this post, look at higher education and health, lots more high priced managers, less doers.

You write the book for you. I’m curious about those that can watch without emotion and see patterns in the play that the emotional supporter miss.

I also am curious about the training piece, some coaches have great visions, getting the players to execute said vision is nothing short of a miracle in my mind.

With a degree of self interest can I forward you to the clippings of Ivor Warne-Smith in the Argus, he has occasional gems that bring a smile, fun for comparison across the eras.