Pates

The matches I saw of Hawthorn he seemed to be pretty decent, what we would’ve said “a bright spot in a lot of darkness” during those disaster years. But I still have no issues with letting him go, he wouldn’t have been getting a regular game for us no matter which way you look at it. One thing I’ll say about trading out players is that it’s rare it has really bitten us. This has given him a chance to get a more fulfilled career so good luck to him. 7th B&F at a bottom 4 club? I’m not losing at sleep.

Glad he’s out of QLD and with people that care about him but, and maybe I’m being unfair to Perth, I thought there were issues and influences in Perth that made him want to move to Melbourne for a new start. I still just wish he’d been given a crack at life with us in Melbourne in regular times.

How many international travellers were Western Australia taking at that time? Basically none. They just left it for the other states to cover the risk (mainly VIC and NSW), and then they can blow smoke and beat their chests and say how well they did. I’m not saying the Victorian government did a good job, in fact I’d say it’s be a minor miracle if Andrews saw out his full term off the back of this, but it’s all well and good for them to arrogantly proclaim that they have been so good and slam these tough measures down. The AFL should’ve given them the middle finger and played all finals in Queensland, that would’ve solved WA’s quarantine issues.

Totally agree, can't believe some of the garbage people are talking here. Lewis was bloody good for us to have while building a young team. We didn't have the experience he had, so we literally brought it in.

Not sure where you're coming from with this. Who exactly would be coming in as the other second tall in the forward line? If Brown came in and was able to find some of the form that made him a dangerous tall forward Weid would move into the secondary forward role, take the second key defender, and probably move into a CHF type player. I'd say that would be the plan regardless of who we try to bring in. I can't recall which game it was but I remember them speaking very highly for Sam's movement all over the ground and the amount of territory he was covering. Brown would be more of the traditional stay at home forward. As for the forward pressure I'd argue a lot of the improvement in that area needs to come from Fritta, Melksham, AvB, and Kozzie (who did well in first year terms but still needs more at the fall of the ball).

I really hope we’re not going to be adding Demonland to his list. I’d be interested to know what’s holding things up. Is it money? Is it that his suitors are playing finals footy so things are still hush hush? Is it length of deal?

So first off let’s not panic about Max saying that he’s seeing the surgeon, there are many levels of severity when it comes to knee issues and surgery taking place. It could be a clean up or something equivalent to him not training for a week. Having said that it does show the precarious nature of trading out ruck depth that can perform well enough to compete (even beat) opposing number 1’s. I still say we play a little hardball, if other clubs want him then they should offer us a good trade deal.

Looking from the outside in I would be having Burgess locked up into another year above most football department staff. While I don’t think we took full advantage we were one of the best teams in final quarters for the year which suggests mental lapses through the games rather than physical. We also had our best injury run for a long time (making it harder to swallow poor performances) and I’d also be interested to know if May’s full season could be put down to Burgess’s fitness management. I’m hoping that with these uncertain times and turmoil that’s gone on in the world he has no interest in uprooting himself and his family. Of course there are plenty of Victorian clubs who I’m sure would be keen for his services.

Could this latest indiscretion be the final straw for Jesse at Freo and perhaps see him be a little cheaper on the market? (Both serious and a little tongue in cheek ?)

That may well be true but I feel we’re in a win/win position. Either we get given a usable pick or perhaps a young/fringe player that we feel can step into a role for us or we hold onto him for next year to keep as back up to Max and perhaps even trial a couple of different things with him. We don’t have a need to trade Preuss out so teams should be trying to satisfy our needs.

Taking an educated guess by what’s transpired I’d say he’s an addict, if that’s the case it’s an illness as well as a mental health issue. I’d say most Melbourne fans were extremely supportive of him during his time at the club and being sport it can get emotional in how people react. People saw the barebones of “hub breach”, “on the turps”, and the $50k fine and they react with disappointment and anger for him blowing this opportunity. At the end of the day we’re dealing with someone who is going through a lot. That’s not to excuse him but people also need to take a breath and have some empathy. Maybe sending him back to Melbourne early would’ve been the better choice in hindsight, but then again you isolate him from the club and his teammates and send him to the lockdown state. Is that much better?

Seems to have spiralled very quickly, it’s a massive shame because the extent of his alcohol issues are becoming even more striking now. I just wish he’d reached out before his hub breach, I think the club was keen to keep him on for next year but his demons clearly have a hold on him. I hope there are players like May that are reaching out to him to help him. This is getting a bit tragic now and right now I’d just like to see him safe and away from Queensland. I hope he’s ok, really feel for his mum.

All good mate! Glad I’m not the only one who thought along those lines, it’s not making excuses for his poor choices but I feel we’ve missed the opportunity to give him his best chance by having to go into the hubs. Just as another aside, I have zero doubt that had he been living in Melbourne he would’ve had Ross Lyon as someone to go to for help and guidance. It’s not the same over the phone. At the end of the day he made his (bad) choices, you have to own your mistakes and sadly I think we’ve missed out on another supremely talented footballer due.

I think we sold part of an idea of a two ruckman system, plus there was a lot of concern about our lack of depth with ruckman should Gawn go down. Perhaps we also sold the idea that he would be our future. Either way I’d personally say that his value has increased rather than decreased. He’d walk into at least three clubs as their number one ruck.

Part of me can’t help but wonder how things would’ve gone had COVID not happened. He came to MELBOURNE, not just the team but the city for a fresh start with his family. Instead he ended up back in Queensland where everything started turning, in a hub with people he has known for less than a year, and without a second tier league for the club to properly reintroduce him back to footy with. None of these are excuses, as a footy club I really think we did everything we could to help him and regardless of what has transpired and will happen in the future I still think we have been a positive impact on him. He was a free hit, we got his body working again but the mind is a harder prospect particularly when it comes to things like depression and substance/alcohol addiction. I’m absolutely gutted that it hasn’t worked, I think the demon faithful would’ve fallen in love with watching him at the G. This is on Harley and now that footy hasn’t worked he needs to knuckle down and sort his s*** out not just for himself but for his partner and kid(s). Well done to the club, good luck to Harley.

He’s in contract, so I see no reason to low ball ourselves. It’s extremely handy to have back up for Max and we don’t know how long it will take for Jacko to grow into his body to be able to to take first ruck duties for an extended period. If clubs want him they can pay for him.

I recall during the Sydney game the commentators spoke about how Petracca had fallen into old habits of passing the ball to others rather than taking responsibility himself. I think this attitude is something Oliver needs to change as well, he too often will look to give off quickly and a lot of the time he’s in the best position. While he’s not a bull like Trac he does actually have a good burst of speed off his first 2-3 steps and I feel like he has the ability to split the contest. The best thing we can do is give him a license to back himself rather than give the ball off. I noticed that when Trac started doing that he’d generally then get the ball to the outside rather than continuing the “phone box footy” style.

The great things about Christian, aside from all the accolades mentioned (and 100% congratulations to him for all of it) is that he seems to have an energy about him that brings others into the game. His teammates really get around him when he kicks a goal, when someone else kicks a goal he’s a lot of the time the first to really pump them up. It’s immeasurable important to have people like that in your team because they not only pump others up but it actually makes playing with him a joy. He seems to just love playing footy and it shines out of him onto others. It been great watching him get close to fulfilling his potential, he’s got other gears to go to though. I hope he brings others along during his progress, he’s a great example of what happens when talent mixes with application and hard work.

I’d forgotten about that miss, I even remember Huddo making the call of before he kicked it “this is what they brought him to Melbourne for” and then he missed. It was crucial in the match, who knows if it would’ve seen us win but it was big. I think not having a proper second tier competition has been difficult for someone like him. Surely only so much you can get out of a 14v14 Micky Mouse scratch match.

I suggested this earlier in the year and totally on board with it.

I’ll add another trait that needs to improve across the board. The doggies showed it against Freo when the game was in the balance. Pressure!!! We currently lack a desire and hunger for the contest, we don’t pressure, tackle, harass, smother nearly enough. Particularly when the game is going against us. It’s one of the basic fundamentals and something that can actually get you INTO games when you’re not quite there. Bizarrely we actually have players that should be serving us well in this category; Viney, Brayshaw, Oliver, Petracca, AvB, and Harmes are all names immediately you’d think are going to do all those things. I’m sure I’m missing others. I just think back to the sealer against Essendon and it was Rivers, who actually said after the game he’s not the biggest tackler, who laid the important tackle in the middle to set the goal up. Elite pressure wins you matches and it’s also critical to finals footy.

I agree with this, rather than a festival of footy which squeezes the life out of the players crest a consistent time of stretch that has footy regularly being played. Hate to say it but the world has changed and TV rights have become the more important factor (as much as COVID has also shown crowds are important to the atmosphere and spectacle). Better TV rights will give more certainty to clubs.

Hunt has the same knock as Hannan in that he goes MIA far too often. I also agree that he was on par with Melksham for much of the year but Melks got a blessed free ride all year. Hunt looks like the sort of player who’d thrive on the wing, pretty sure we tried it and it failed. I hope Hunt gets retained as a HFF, pick him instead of Melksham.

Do we know the extent of Gus’s injury? If he’s potentially missing a fair bit of footy in 2021 then we will need Jack in the guts. I will be pretty disappointed to see him leave and sicked to see someone with the name Viney going to the Cats.

Cheers, for me since we got both Rivers and Pickett I’m pretty comfortable with the trade. Pickett’s biggest issue for me is his finishing, got himself into good spots plenty of times but failed to put it through the big sticks.