Pates

Yeah I feel like aside from a few minor moves with Dunn and maybe a draft pick of two our exciting trade period is done. It will be interested to see if a few of those stalled trades get done though. GC seem to be firmly standing their ground on Jaeger (good on them too), if he goes into the ND will he do a Luke ball and put a huge price on his head to detract other clubs from getting him?

I think this one is something that is very difficult to judge in hindsight. For me I didn't like it, mainly for the way it was done. There was no consultation with him or discussions about where he was at and what the club wanted from him, he put on the table and that was that. We only got pick 14 from memory, which we used on Daniel Bell, who turned out to be not much in the end. It appeared to be more that we wanted to get rid of his salary. For me, that trade was a mistake.

Best of luck to him.

I'm not 100% putting the pen through him just yet but for me it never felt likely, just a bit of chat and innuendo. Like Lewis at the start of this period he wasn't someone we were seeking out, but who knows things can change quite quickly.

I'd be very comfortable with that.

What a debut game to be involved in for the lad. What better way to welcome yourself onto to AFL stage than to kick your first goal with your first kick against the reigning champs. I really like the look of this kid, the way he moves and the way his mid seems to tick over screams footy brains, and he seems to have a pretty good set of hands and an excellent kicking technique. Give him time and muscle and I can see him and Jesse becoming an excellent partnership for years to come.

Difficult to know how to rate Garlett's year, he was looking ok earlier in the year but really struggled with consistency in the second half. We all know his abilities, hopefully he will be able to regain his confidence into 2017 as he is still far and away our best small forward.

Much as I like Chris, and I feel there are things he's done around the club that we don't see that has helped our young list, I just don't see a way in which he can break into our 22 and be there consistently without some very bad things happening to our stock of tall forwards. Weideman is younger and will of course be given more of a push to aid in his development (he also didn't look our of place), we have help onto Pederson who I would have ahead of him, and then we of course have Jesse and Watts as certainties to the side. Hulett as well showed some ability at VFL level this year and similar to Weeds could be given more of a push in his development. I just don't see a future at Melbourne for Dawes. What good would a rookie spot do for us and for him? He'd be better served putting himself out on the market, any club that has a developing forward line would suit him as it allows him to be the focal point while the younger guys find their legs. As for Rockliff, not doubting the validity of those who have posted regarding Rockliff but until something more solid starts to come to light which includes the media I'll keep my excitement level at "chilled". I'll say this if it does happen, very well done to not only Melbourne but Brisbane for being able to keep it between them.

Mixed emotions, he definitely doesn't seem to be a natural born leader and perhaps being thrusted the leadership was a bad move for him and for the club. If we get him, keep him out of the leadership group. Its funny about this trade period, I really expected us to be very quiet but wow we could make some pretty big moves. Not locking him in, just approaching this time with interest.

Cheers A F and DeeSpencer, doesn't quite sound like what we would be after then.

Does sound pretty crazy, maybe a the deal was close to being done and they got told to at least fight for him to make the club look better. But surely if he's determined to go then they'll let him go, history has shown clubs don't like holding onto players who have stated an intention to leave regardless of contract status.

Raised my eyebrows when one of the articles named him as THE premier ruckman in the game. Last time I checked a fellow with a big beard and wearing red and blue got the nod over him. Would be an incredible turn of events for the Roos if they lost Goldy as well, lucky for them he's contracted for a few years because otherwise they'd be in a lot of trouble with him. Just on a totally different note in the same article I noticed Mitch Brown from West Coast is looking to return to Victoria, how does he stack up against Spencer for instance? I literally know nothing about him but just saw his name in the article so thought I'd throw it out there.

I didn't expect us to have much movement in the trade period, getting Melksham was pretty much the only thing is was expecting except for maybe a cheap back up ruckman. So Lewis approaching us has definitely thrown a few things out of balance. It raises the questions of what we need to give up for him (because seemingly unlike Mitchell) the Hawks don't want to part with him, and that leads onto the next question of where he would fit into the team? Also what was missing from the Hawks that we can provide them with to satisfy a trade? I'm happy for us to get Lewis but he wasn't on our radar until he came to us, therefore we never saw him as a requirement to our progression. I think we can get 2 good years out of him and anything after that is a bonus.

The Hawks are playing a very interesting game this trade period and it could well blow up in their faces. That said Jaeger is a brilliant talent, if there can get him on the park he will be dynamite for them. Wrestling with though emotions here, I really don't wish any ill will on O'Meara but I would love to see the Hawks fall flat on their faces after this trade period. Pick 88 for Mitchell and the Hawks pay part of his salary. Adam Simpson needs to buy a lottery tick now because that's got to be one of the biggest trade wins ever!

Not devastated we didn't get Lewis, more heartened that he approached us. Ah well back to Hibberd. Seems like Essendon are going to continue their form for being the worst club to trade with, after everything they've put him through you'd think they'd want to get the deal done quickly for him.

Would be a pretty big backflip, he re-signed in feb this year.

I knew close to nothing about him and was very curious when a few called that he would be one of the big improvers of 2016. Very exciting, and has created some selection dilemmas for the future with the likes of Lumumba, Melksham, and (probably) Hibberd all players who can run off half back next year. Could see him move into a more outside midfield role, either way love his dash!

So did Maximus Gawnius for a while, he turned out pretty good.

I'd like us to get Motlop, but he's not someone I feel we desperately need. If we make the call and he says he's interested then move forward but not for crazy money or crazy draft picks.

Interesting. I haven't heard a whole lot about his character. I can understand him wanting out of Brisbane given how terrible they are doing and it also sounds like they are suffering from exactly what we had in previous years, bad management. But if he is a [censored] then yes I wouldn't be as keen to get him, as you say Roos and co have worked very hard to build a team of guys that are all pulling in the same direction. If bringing him would take mean our culture takes a backward step than yes I would agree that we shouldn't chase him. I should add though many would argue Jeffy would've fallen into that same category and we got him to buy into our direction and changing culture, so if Goodwin and Viney see the same sort of intent from Tom we shouldn't rule him out.

For someone with Rockliff's ability that seems way under even if they do want his salary out of the club. I would be absolutely over the moon about us getting him I seem he can be an excellent addition and in the right age bracket. You have some good history of getting the inside word so I hope you're correct and we are chasing him. I would've thought the Lions would want at least a first round pick for him though. We are ineligible from trading our future first rounder am I correct? I'm also like the idea of us getting Matera, he's inconsistent but I think would be good having him as a side show for Jeffy and it might teach Jeffy some leadership skills in the same way he did for Eddie Betts.

Welcome to the Melbourne Footy Club ladies! I hope to see you holding the inaugural womens AFL trophy in 2017! Sadly I'm in London now, I'll be very interested to see how the AFL manages the competition when it comes to venues and TV coverage, but I urge all Demon fans to get behind the team and get out to some games. Hopefully the Demon Army will be as loud and passionate as they are for the men.

I wouldn't say it's in the same category. For one, Cross was delisted so therefor he had no other commitments holding him back. Secondly there wasn't a bidding war going on or any additional carrots being thrown up to get him across the line. It was a case of we wanted a senior player to guide the young players. If anything the coaching part came on the back of his retirement in that we didn't want to see him gone from the club. I'm not necessarily saying that what's going on at West Coast is all that wrong, he's not the first player to be brought into the club with clear aspirations of coaching. Hell half of Demonland was talking about it with Scott Thompson for next year. But at the same time I can also see how it can be potentially abused in that you get a player on a two year deal with a "wink wink, nudge, nudge" coaching/player development deal after they've retired.

Part of me is annoyed by this but if getting Roos (with the AFL's assistance I should add) has taught us anything it's not just about draft picks it's about management. The lions need to get their S--- together, only that will change their fortunes. We had all the top draft picks you could hope for but development and player management was so bad we managed to stuff it up so many times it's not funny. They got their priority pick, it will do nothing unless the club as a whole improves.

When does his contract run out and given how close he was to playing in a premiership team why would he leave?