Pates

After years of doing the trade/draft period for the future this is the first time in a very long to we have trade/draft period where success will be almost entirely based on short term results. I would definitely rate it as a period in which we have improved the list with adding experience from Lewis, Hibberd, and throwing Melksham in there as well. Weve cut from our list players that I felt were safe options but not going to take us anywhere, and we've certainly handed over the reigns to the new generation of the MFC. I think finals is a genuine chance in 2017, 100% has to be the aim. Kangaroos are going to be almost a certainty to drop out so that's once place up for grabs while I also feel West Coast could be vulnerable. With Lewis in there it immediately adds grunt and experience to the midfield which will only be positives for Viney, Bradshaw, and Petracca. It will also ease that pressure on Jones and Vince. Bring on 2017!

He's a rookie ruckman pick so reality is that he's going to be raw and a bit of a project to develop, but I like that Max has been working with him and will now get to learn directly off him. Good luck to the lad.

That's very fair, and as I said it was two consenting (and recently separated) adults who I think the betrayal centres around the fact that between the 4 of them they were all good friends. Honesty from the start might well have spared this turning into as much of a circus as it did. It was disgraceful that random completely false rumours dragged Billy's daughter into it.

Club expected him to go top 5 so imagine their surprise when he was available at pick 47.

There was that comment that's I'm sure he regretted where he said you don't take a mates wallet and you don't take a mates ex-misses, or something of that degree. I think that spoke to a very old school mentality as you say of ownership, but I think that was Billy being Billy the bogan. His point of betrayal was fair and from what was said in the media he asked them about it and they chose to lie to him. I'm not going to go much further on that point, but I will say that Gary was treated and lambasted as if he committed a crime. What he did was morally wrong, that took two to tango I should add, but nothing more. In terms of his reported illness and everything that came with it, I hope he's moved past the worst of it and he can start rebuilding his life brick by brick.

Ironically if you change the colours to red and blue, and obviously make it the MFC letters, the runner up would be something I would really like for Melbourne. And at the very least with a fan designed, and voted guernsey at least your giving your supporters a chance to make a choice for something they like. I would say take note MFC, but how the club can miss something this obvious staggers me.

While the papers may have been quick to say he might sue the club it might well have been he's hired a lawyer to settle his exit and settlement of his contract. Very interesting to read Bernie's comments vs Mahoney. Mahoney's become a very good operator and an excellent spokesperson for the club relating to football issues, his comments to the media perfectly designed to douse the issue so it can be sorted. While a big part of is really happy the Bernie came out in support of the club it probably wasn't the best thing for him to comment directly on H and what he's doing. Probably needed to play more of a straight bat and just say that the club works really hard to manage concussions and all that jazz. Although we seem to have the media and wider football communities support in this matter with most seeing H as nothing more than a fIog, I'm sure the club would prefer this matter not be played out in the media.

Well done to all managing the club, brilliant work which I'm sure will get better with our team improving. Very good point, I didn't even think about that but our senior coach bill should halve for the year roughly.

"Wow what moisturiser do you use? Your hands are silky smooth."

Anyone with half an ounce of logic in them would see this guy is a total fIog, nothing racial just an idiot no matter what race/religion he is. The club just needs to stick to the facts and the truth shine through. The club will have learned a harsh lesson from both him and Clark, much as part of me still has a little chip on my shoulder with Mitch at least he had the decency to acknowledge we did all we could for him. H seems to be throwing our cautious approach to his long term health back in our faces.

Wow, just wow. I have defended this guy many times, but no more. We have been extremely sensitive to his well being with his concussions, not to mention his other....traits, and he decides he's going to sue us because he knows he's not in our best 22 next year and will fail to gain his trigger clause. For someone that has claimed honour, integrity, and moral high ground in the past this guy really has some nerve. Fight this [censored] Melbourne, Gus and Viney would be happy to stand up and tell the world about our cautious concussion management.

Honestly I agree with you guys, my preference would be that the players don't wear clash strips but the AFL, pointing to ease telling teams apart on the TV, have decided they want one lighter and one darker coloured team. 99% of the time this makes it so Blind Freddy can tell them apart. My issues are much less to do with the policy of wearing it, although there are times you really question if it's required, and more to do with design. If it has to be than at least put the boys in something that required more thought than slapping the logo on a white background.

I hope that even though he's left he will still feel very welcome back at Melbourne whatever he decides to do in 2017. I always got the impression that he was eying the finish line towards the end of his tenure. That doesn't mean I though he was slacking but just that he looked tired and when asked about his plans he would regularly point to the fact that Tammy has had to make sacrifices in order for him to take the role on. I'd be very surprised to him full time at club land in the near future, media is a nice cushy role for him to keep some dosh rolling in.

I believe it's mostly a TV broadcast issue, that certain teams are deemed to cause difficultly when watching them in their home colours. Us vs St Kilda, Essendon, and the Blues would be the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I think in the heat of battle the players know who their guys are. Shorts play a part in that as well. It used to be as simple as a team wearing white shorts instead as a clash alternative.

Yeah I saw that, it ties into the way the club has reacted (not the fans). They have recognised he has done a very stupid thing, the leadership group will punish him and we can move on. This blokes got a great future with us and we can only hope he's learned a good solid lesson.

There are definitely two seperate issues being debated here, the issue of the design and the issue of whether it's even necessary. I don't subscribe to the idea that's it's necessary but at the same time I'm enough of a realist to know that this is something the AFL want and I also see there being potential marketing and sales opportunities for the clash guernsey. So I don't have issue with us having a clash strip or the AFL having a policy for clash guernseys. I wish they wouldn't have to be all white but I think GC is one team that we are supposed to clash with so all red is unrealistic vs them. My only issue is with the current, and in my opinion lazy design of this latest top. In the correspondence between Rodney and the club they mention that this design allowed for more Red and Blue with a predominantly white strip. I would be very interested to see if this was pointed to from the start when they put forward this idea to the club. Because honestly I don't see that. I see a logo slapped onto a plain white background. As many have alluded to it's the sort of thing you would see in the cheap markets of Bali & Thailand. In an age where fan/social media engagement is massive I can't believe that the club could miss such an obvious opportunity to give the fans a chance to shape the image of the club. Have a design competition + fan vote + free signed clash guernsey at the end to someone who picks the winner and you've got blatant easy marketing. Add a plug on Triple M and/or SEN and it would take off. As many have pointed to, I don't think this is an issue the club really cares about.

That seems like an incredibly stupid idea from Hird, and he's done some pretty dumb things in recent years. The doping saga is still really fresh in everyone's minds, hell Watson only handed back his medal like a week ago, how he and any potential network can possibly think he would have support of listeners (aside from blind Essendon fans) is beyond me. He needs to leave the AFL bubble for some time and let things breathe, I can guarantee you if I heard his voice on commentary or on a radio show I would switch off. And seriously Gary, really? You're trying to rebuild your reputation, why would even come near that train wreck?

Will be interesting to compare sales of this one to previous clash tops.

They should for a number of reasons. For one it's representing the club every time it's trotted out, if it lacks any punch than its dishonouring our past. Secondly as pointed out earlier it has commercial value, if the fans don't like it then they won't buy it meaning we've got stock wasting on the shelves. Finally, and no I don't expect this to happen this year, but the club and the designers should ask themselves if Melbourne is holding the premiership cup at the end of the year are we ok with them wearing this? If it's a no then go back to the drawing board. [Disclaimer] I know there'll probably be lots of people saying if Melbourne won the premiership they wouldn't care what they were wearing.

What I gained from the responses is that it's a much bigger concern for the fans than it is the clubs. Perhaps they survey the players and ask them if they prefer playing in something that is more distinctive rather than playing in the traditional colours. For me the issue of when it happens isn't such a big deal, occasionally they are a couple that I raise my eyebrows to, probably the biggest being St Kilda where at times our clash guernsey has been more of a clash than the home. The bulldogs would probably be the other as I genuinely cannot see a clash, Bulldogs are light and we are dark, doesn't that fulfil the clash policy? That is another issue, the main issue I have is us putting out such an uninspired design.

Of recent years this has probably been the best of the bunch for clash guersneys.

I hope this isn't the sort of grey you're talking about. https://proxy.bigfooty.com/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-Vgw5vwmzUk8%2FTolMED3b-hI%2FAAAAAAAAAC4%2FBcOG8LOtd1c%2Fs1600%2FIMG_3066.JPG&hash=7e56d1181165f487dacd28ab8ed243d5

The bugger on this is that I believe we have to have it for a minimum of two seasons. Seriously next time lets set up a design competition that's voted by the fans, fan engagement isn't that one of the new buzzwords? This one reminds me of my homework back at school, I'd forget about doing it and just quickly whip something up and hope it would pass. I swear it feels like they forgot to design one so just slapped our logo on a white background and said, "done!"

Very true mate! Perhaps I wouldn't go for the MCG chips + masterfoods mayo, but Lord of the Fries + whatever mayo sauce they have there is a different kettle of fish!

Can we put forward a competition like what Freo and Port did for someone to come up with a design and the fans vote? This is really average and boring, I can't even say I'm much of a fan of our logo so seeing it blown up to that scale isn't great.