Grandson of a gun

Also just mentioned on HS website in tweet from one of the journo's as confirmed for pick 12. Massive. Massive.........

It's not very often you and I agree RF but on this I am 100% with you. Jimmy's plight is what got Garry involved full on again and it is my solid belief that any success by way of a flag in the next 5 or so years will be entirely attributable to the initial work of one man!

I understand your theory Nasher and agree it is a hole in our list. Heres the issue- you want to trade in a big bloke that we know won't be part of the team come a push for a flag. So at best you want him for two years before you have to start playing the young big blokes we drafted to give them enough games and time to get used to the afl and how to play key forward. The player we try to entice will know this. So you want someone close to the end of their career, past their prime, who we are going to have to pay massive overs for to get them in the first place. Anyone who thinks Warnock and a second round pick would be enough to get the deal done has rocks in their head. And the salary we will have to pay will be ridiculous compared to the output or quality of player. The other option is to try to entice someone young enough to be a long term player but who is already good enough to hold down the position for at least two years and who actually wants to leave their club. Once again the salary we'd have to pay would be huge but more pertinent is what we would have to give up at the trade table. It would be enormous and would hamstring any chance we would then have at more high quality mids either by draft or trade. Dawes has already said no. Hawkins- going nowhere (and a liability until the last two weeks) That leaves a Jessie White- he is a battler and definitely not a lock as a consistent player for the next two years. I doubt he wants to leave Sydney but even if he does we could well end up with a Carlton / Brock Maclean scenario where we paid a high price both at trade and salary only for him to wallow in the VFL. For what is available- I honestly don't see the worth or value in going after them. Our effort can be better focused elsewhere.

I have said it before and Chris Dawes endorsed it. People love to throw up the "we should go after this bloke with everything" and "the club is being derelict in their duties if they don't get him"...........but Unless a player truly wants to move, and not only that, has the want and desire to improve and work hard for his new team then they are not worth a pinch of salt. Dawes doesn't want to go anywhere because of the Collingwood environment. I bet my ass Kosi is the same. If as the OP suggests we need to play to a long strong forward target then what is to stop the club using a player that we already have on our list for this purpose until Cook / Fitzpatrick develop? Why not use Jamar or Martin? Why not even use Fitzy and/or Cook and teach them at the best level how we want to play? WHAT IS WITH THIS IMPATIENT NEED TO TRADE WHEN WE ARE NOWHERE NEAR A TOP FOUR OR PREMIERSHIP WINDOW??? Back the coach we have to develop the players we have and use the draft process for the big blokes. If we are to trade, lets get a midfielder instead. But again, find me a QUALITY midfielder who WANTS to leave and that we can provide a suitable trade for???

It would be about 91 desks wouldn't it???

Perhaps "implicitly" was a poor choice of words...........my meaning was that given the track record of this administration, i have great faith in the manner in which they will use this money to develop and strengthen the club on field and off... Better?

The AFL has announced it's distribution of the Media Rights Deal to the clubs. The Demons are to receive $9.1 Million which is the third highest in the league (forget the typo on the MFC website headline) I reckon it is a bloody good deal for the club but it also shows that given everything that has been done by the administration, we are still a long way behind the top clubs in terms of financial turnover and strength, hence the need for greater assistance. I trust this administration implicitly to use this money wisely and make MFC the powerhouse it once was. I also commend the AFL on the breakdown of money- i reckon they have done a good job and still left themselves some more room for adjustment/assistance after 2014. Carn the Demons!

Unfortunately nope. The draft rules are very rigid and he cannot officially be drafted to the club until next years draft (because he is too young to be eligible this year). But if Melbourne can have him do the same pre-season as the 2011 draftees and then have him at Casey as much as possible next year he will be as ready as we're allowed to get him for the 2013 season. And it also means that if he can start an AFL level modified pre-season this year to nurse him into it, his body will be ready for a FULL pre-season in 2013 leading into Round 1.

Warnock wanting out could be good for us in that if there is no other ready made key position defender out there (a la Lake) who is looking for a new home then his price goes up a bit. I believe Bate will at the least be offered up because we have too many of a similar type and he isn't mobile enough down forward (and nor is he the elite midfielder we need even though he has gone ok in there for Casey and in Round 24). I can also see Maric being off loaded. The question is two fold- does anyone want our players and will these players go there? I can see one or two Vic clubs perhaps taking a nibble at Warnock however as i have stated on another thread, his greatest currency mght be with GWS. He is virtually assured of a game every week, will see plenty of the ball and they get a big strong body to help out the young kids. On the flip side, if Melbourne can package him with one of the compensation picks for O'Meara then i am all for it. After all, we do need to build that elite midfield... Don't know what interest there would be in Bate or Maric but we won't get much for them. They may be good for a couple of pick upgrades which can then be packaged together to trade for a player Neeld thinks we might need as an interim filler until the kids come on?

This......................

Like a bloke with the initials of TS???

I was wondering the same myself Jack. But i think it was a bigger stuff up than that... Knowing they had 6 million to offer, Silvagni got Tom Scully and Chris Judd mixed up. They congratulated Tom on the birth of young Oscar when the contract was signed and it was only at that moment when everything was set in stone that they realised the stuff up. Confusion reins.................

They've apparently signed the st Kilda high performance manager too.

Be Ferocious In EVERYTHING you do! Ferocious attack on the ball. Ferocious attack on the man. Ferocious at the contest. Ferocious when we don't have the ball. Ferocious when we do. Ferocious attitude- PERIOD!

Listened to the MMM interview and he talked about being hard again. But this time when pressed on what that meant by Barrett I think, then he unequivocally stated that we would be a HARD football team. I was under no illusions that he meant ferociously hard at the FOOTY and by extension the hardest team to play.

Ha. Nice one Dockett! Yep i am prone to ramblings!

Wow i go out on the [censored] for one afternoon and night and look at what i've missed. 9 Pages! Good work boys. Oh and FWIW i reckon that it is a good appointment.

SEN have officially reached the point of NFI re Ross Lyon. They carried the Lyon to MFc story then changed their tune to Lyon has committed to the Saints and now he is headed to Freo. I like listening to SEN but wouldn't pay much attention to their coaching predicitions

G'day mate. Go Dees

You are in that same group who seems to think that there is a plethor of 24-26 year old gun hard mids just waiting to get out of their clubs and come to Melbourne. Get out of fairyland. Your broad sweeping draft a gun statement is ridiculous. Name names. And in case you forgot the trade rules, It's not just a case of offer up a couple of picks to a club and bingo Pendles is ours. The player must agree to and want to come to our club and his team must want too or be in a position to give him up. Name players you think we should trade for with these picks.

Childish narrow minded attitude. If a trade with GWS gets the best result for MFC then by all means we make. Why settle for second best- hasn't that been the problem with MFC for too long now, not being aggressive enough and kow towing to others. I don't care who we trade with as long as it makes us stronger! It will make beating them all the more sweet!

I hear what your saying. The value they get is the bankable compo pick. The other blokes add the meat to their list which they will need especially in non-midfield areas. I know they are predominantly VFL players but remember blokes like Danny Stanley, Sam Iles and at the end Josh Fraser were all just VFL players too. At the moment GWS have no strength or real senior experience in the forward or back halves. Melbourne have the highest available bankable compo draft pick (and there won't be any other signees in the same bracket as Scully this year). IMO this pick coupled with a strong Key Backman who has shown he can handle big forwards or a lead up strong bodied marking forward who can also have an impact at AFL level and is still in his mid-late twenties is a reasonably well balanced deal. GWS HAVE to trade the 17 year old picks so in the end i think it is the kind of deal that can get done to get access to O'Meara.

FWIW i believe that it will unfold like this: 2011- Trade compo pick and player/s (Bate/Dunn/Warnock or two thereof maybe) to GWS for 17 year old selection of O'Meara. (Similar to GC17, GWS will be looking for 'bankable compo picks' to maintain draft strength for a few years). 2012- (Assuming a finish around 9-11) We will have to use our normal live first round pick on Viney as someone lower than us will make a bid. The question will be whether we will also use the remaining compo pick in the draft or try to package it as a trade for a need. We are still a long way off being a finals team. I believe that the club will continue on the path of games into the youth. O'Meara by all reports is a star in the making given he has speed, high-level endurance, great skills and decision making and the ability to kick goals. He could be the perfect compensation for losing Scully. I also believe that in a similar vein to Viney, we can apply to have both Viney and O'Meara play VFL at Casey next year to get them ready for 2013. I don't believe that we will trade for an experienced stroong mid or tall key forward this year as in all honesty the pool at the moment is very shallow. Name a REASONABLE to GOOD tall key forward that is worth giving up a first and second rounder AND is available. Don't think there will be much out there. Likewise a mid worthy of this kind of deal. I may be way off the mark but these are my thoughts on the matter.

Gold. Either way Lyon will need to commit one way or the other ASAP in both cases. The Saints will want to know ASAP so that if he is going they can get in the coach race ASAP. The Demons will also want to know ASAP so they can continue with other candidates ASAP. (Don't think i typed ASAP enough then..........ASAP) Either way i reckon by end of this week or very early next week at the latest there will be an answer on Ross Lyon.

I love it how people say the club must go out and get a big proven power forward as if they're just floating around out there readily available. 1. The top liners are out of reach (buddy,Cloke,Reiwoldt x2,Petrie) 2. You would need to pay massive overs for any currently contracted mid tier key forward which will upset the balance of the rest of the list (a fact many were bemoaning re Scully). 2A. With mid tiers you there is every chance they will just be list clogging in a couple of years whilst getting paid massive overs. 3. Anyone else left is either not proven, untried or a dud. Unless you name names your ridiculously general demands of a proven power forward are not worth the bandwidth sucked up by your post. A similar situation is in place re the repeated calls for the strong bodied mid although there is a little more availability in this area. Name names. Don't just make broad demands and then pot the club when those broad demands aren't satisfied.