Pates

I get the feeling we won't have to worry about Cross going, and I wish Jamar the best of luck as a top up at Essendon if he gets signed up. Essendon's top up search could be very interesting.

I was about to say the exact same thing. He was kinda a big recruit (what did we give up for him?), I would like to know what the club's position is going forward with him. They must've looked at worst case scenario options.

Dawes has been a constant frustration in his time at the club, but from what I rather with him being in the rehab group (and this is not as a deep insider or anything) he's now just being constantly managed with his workload so expect it to be a regular thing. As for his abilities on field, when he's on he can be a great link man and he does actually work hard, but I feel if Pedders can stay fit this year he can take over that spot. I feel we get more out of Cam as he can also pinch hit ruck and can drop back in defence if needed.

Thought I'd add a little more. Dark day for the competition, really dark day. I didn't expect it to go down as bad as this but when the Bombers chose to roll the dice this was always a possibility, Hird had his ego to stroke and he couldn't face the idea of owning up to his mistakes. The players have been dealt a really rotten hand here, this could ruin careers, it has already ruined reputations and could completely screw the Bombers for a long time. I dislike Essendon with a passion but today I just feel sick about the stench that will be over the code for a long time. Best of luck to Melksham, I honestly don't know what we do with him now.

Seems inevitable every year that there is a massive thread on Demonland devoted to Jack Watts. Every there are those saying "this will be his breakout year", and then on the other side the ever increasing belief that he's had his crack. Personally I try not to think about him any more in any hope for the future. He's great with the kids, he's a great ambassador for the club off the field, and he genuinely seems like a good bloke, but on field I'm done waiting and I'm done hoping. It's in him to be a valuable contributor to the team, but it really is down to him on whether he succeeds or not. My feeling is that he won't be staying past his contract (whenever that ends).

She actually features as one of the players in the 2016 calendar, I too would be pretty gutted if she went into a draft and we lost her. Maybe as founding teams they should give the Dees and Dogs the choice of one player from their list they can sign and the rest go into a draft. She is as passionate about the Dees as any player at our club.

Good thread to have, he was one of my favourites when after his second year, was absolutely gutted when he got this injury and then was revealed to have re-injured it. If he makes it out on the MCG everyone should be on their feet applauding him, such great tenacity from him. Still a long way to go and I am absolutely an advocate for us taking it slow with him.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-premiership/st-kilda-carlton-essendon-melbourne-western-bulldogs-richmond-want-womens-football-license/story-e6frf3e3-1227632017896 It's great to see so many teams getting behind it. The AFL should be mindful of how they go about establishing it and look at the A-league and how they established the competition in the beginning. Too many teams will dilute the talent pool and dilute the support. If the AFL were being fair they would give Melbourne and the Bulldogs first right at a license as both clubs have been all over this from the get go, and Melbourne in particular have made sure to make the womens team not just feel like their an exhibition team that happen to wear the same colours but make them feel a part of the club. Daisy's speech at the B&F was one of the highlights for the year.

Stability is the key to our clubs continued upward trend, we created stability in the coaching ranks by signing Roos for the 3 years and then getting a successor for him for another 3 years after that, and now that PJ has committed to another 2 years we know the club is in good hands up at the top of management.

I think you nailed it, the fact of the matter is it is in the very early stages. A while ago I had an argument with a friend of mine (female) who was talking about the lack of a woman's competition and that the reason was because the media networks/sponsors won't give it coverage. I pointed out to her that it's a chicken or the egg argument, for there to be media coverage and sponsorship there has to be a market and people to market to so the tv channels and papers aren't wasting their reporting on something no ones supporting. I think this years game provided the early platforms for support; the game rated quite well, the standard has improved and I think Melbourne in particular are making important inroads to help the game. Next year needs to be the launchpad for the proper competition, there should be two games shown live (Melbourne v Bulldogs again) us Melbourne fans should really try to get around the ladies team. On the team licenses, while I would really like us to own the Victorian woman's team (or one if there are multiples) I do wonder about the cost vs benefit. Really the AFL should actually subsidise the first couple of years to grow the game without the clubs being constrained. One possible idea is that we go into a partnership with the Bulldogs to have the team costs divided between the two, just spitballing they could calls themselves the Western Melbourne Hell Hounds! If they play them as curtain raisers again split the games up between the two clubs.

I'm most definitely biased on this as I can '98 really was the beginning of me becoming 100% red and blue. I was only a kid but after the club almost merged I decided I was going to commit to being a demon fan through better or worse. So anyway, I think from memory that year I don't think we lost one game with that forward line out on the park. That was the biggest challenge with them was they were all pretty injury prone. Can someone recall if they were all playing in the prelim vs North? But for me it felt like the perfect mixture. Schwartz being the general CHF crashing packs, taking marks and kicking a good amount of goals. Then you had Lyon as the one out of the box, he was a really different player old Gary, I think I kind of liken him to Stevie J in some ways; very different. Neitz was starting to come into his own as a FF at that time and played some truly important games. Then there was the Wiz, I don't even fell I need to say anything. It had talls, mediums, and a deadly small, and they always seemed to pick up the slack for one another. Even though we missed out on the granny (and got royally screwed by the bizarre finals system) it is on par as the most enjoyable year of footy for me (2000 being the other). As a side note, how the Wizard missed out on mark of the year I will never know. His mark was ridiculous for his size, he just about high five'd me at the top of the great southern stand!

I believe the "pink lady" thing is actually very difficult to organise logistically speaking, I'm pretty sure I've heard they only want to do it every second year or so. It also makes an impact as a bigger event as opposed to it being annually. But that shouldn't stop us from holding a "pink match" where we can don our striking Pink and Navy top to raise money for breast cancer, and surely the logical club to do it against would be the bulldogs with the women's game being the curtain raiser. I'll wait until the season draws closer before getting to up in arms about it. On the fixture itself, because I haven't had my 2 cents. It's very similar to this years, in terms of the teams we face we've done pretty well (except 2 games vs the Hawks in not much time ). But commercially we've been dealt a pretty crappy deal. No Friday night despite performing well in our 1 and only this year, and only 1 night game in Melbourne (Tigers ANZAC eve). Our sponsors will get very little prime time exposure which weakens our position in negotiating with them. That said I do understand the reasoning, don't agree with it but I understand it. Going into a new TV rights deal I think the AFL wants to make up for such a terrible year in the prime time slots and we are still far from a guarantee for an entertaining product. When we start winning games and Jesse Hogan starts kicking 100+ goals a year, then we will get the good times. Until then we have a lot more to prove. Oh and Essendon away at the MCG with no return fixture, this has become a lock every goddamn year it's getting ridiculous. Just wear your home top Melbourne, it's our bloody ground!

Much as I really would like him at the Dees he's not someone to "chase". He's someone that if we're interested we meet with him and see where his heads at, make an offer, and leave it at that. If he doesn't want to meet with us then that's up to him and I wouldn't want him at the club. But if he's open to us then we have a strategy and we stick to it.

They should just get rid of the PP. A team would basically have to be on it's last breath and probably too far gone to qualify for one, our denial is proof of that. Now we are on a better path NOW but jeez when we made our submission with Roos coming in as coach there had been few worse sides over the years. If they had given us some kind of carrot, an extra pick at the end of the first or second round they could've had something to go on. Oh well moving on. Strange to see our first pick being anything above 4, happy to see it continue to climb!

One year deal is about right for him, he's not the future but he is coverage as a forward/ruck. I rate him higher than Dawes, frankly Dawes had a terrible year. Shouldn't be best 22 going forward but you need to keep a few of these players around.

We're doing so much for him with getting his rehab right, I don't think we could've handled it any better. Sounds like he's well liked around the club, would sensational to see him a Trenners doing well come round 1 next year. Reckon they've become really good mates. We waited a year to see what Jesse was capable of, worked out pretty well. Can't wait to see Tracca out on the G!

Aside from the cash it's wins that will keep him at the Dees. He will want to be at a rising successful club, next year we get enough wins to be in finals contention and keep on that upward trend I believe he will want to stay as he will (hopefully) feel he's building something with the likes of Viney, Gus, Tracca, TMac, Salem etc. Hopefully Harmes can build on his last game as well as they're good mates.

Quite a few times I've heard the coaching staff putting him at Casey and basically telling him to enjoy his footy. It really seems with him it's easier said than done. It sounds like he's one of the hardest working and most determined guys but he may actually be a bit damaged here at Melbourne. I will be happy to keep him but a change could be the best thing for him. Not sure why I'm talking about Toumpas in a Redden thread, but if it's a part of a potential trade to get him here I reckon if Jimmy's going to make a solid change I don't think it'll happen at the Lions.

I wouldn't necessarily say it's embarrassing; he's been on very good coin at the crows for a while, he'll be on extremely good coin at the cats, and I'm sure his partner will be given a cheeky role at the club or one of Frank Costa businesses. He has always said if he was going to leave it would be so they're close to their families. Money isn't everything. Glad we had a crack.

I reckon Adelaide should match the offer, they are definitely in the box seat if they are willing to risk the cash and truthfully it's likely he'll go to them regardless. They can get a better trade deal, force Geelongs hand.

I like it, go for him.

Maybe that's how they should do the AA side, using current coaches to determine the side rather than outsiders.

The more things change the more they stay the same. Hopefully it lights a fire in both of them.

I didn't actually know there is a general AFL board, I thought it was just general topics of discussion but most AFL discussion goes here anyway. I honestly don't see why this is an issue.