Pates

If that is true I would absolutely go after him.

First off this is a great appointed, forgetting that he’s a favourite son of the club he has lots of runs on the board as an assistant to the best coach of the decade. The fact that he is a favourite son who gave us some great memories just adds an element of romanticism to it that warms the heart after a frustrating year. With all the chatter about what this means for Goody there’s a couple of different schools of thought. For me the way I look at it is this: entering into a season where it was always finals or bust for Simon we have managed to get him the assistance of one of the highest rated assistant coaches in the game. It minimises the excuses for Simon and he should be stoked to have someone of Adem’s quality on board. The other way to look at it is this: the club isn’t confident in Simon’s ability to lead the team and is putting a succession plan in place in advance with Yze potentially taking over mid-late next year if results go poorly. It for now can we just not enjoy have Oooooooooooooze back at the club?

Played well for us while he was a Demon, we shifted him to the forward line when we knew he was on the way out. Got pick 3 for him as compensation and got Gus from it, we've done ok. Good luck to him, people need to get over his departure.

I'll admit I'm saying this as someone living in the UK, but surely with averages getting under 10 a day by the time the new season not coming until March the numbers will be such that crowds will be back with them being close to full capacity. Then again who the hell knows in this crazy world of ours! I actually feel like the smart thing to do for next year would be for the AFL to actually throw all profits from matches into a pot which is then equally shared. The reason I say that is because of this year certain clubs were able to benefit from crowds and others weren't, that's not fair, and next year should there be restrictions imposed early but then released further into the season it means a team (like us for instance) will have a blockbuster only at say 50% but then a team like Richmond could have one later in the year at 100%. Again that isn't fair. Share the spoils for next year and sort it normally for 2022. EDIT: Also adding that given we were expecting both ANZAC Eve and QB the same year perhaps look at renegotiating when we have which days so that we aren't left with all or nothing.

I don't think some people would realise the optics of Jack leaving the club and how much of a negative impact it would have on the playing group. I'm not saying that that put him in a position of "pay me everything" but look at how bad it looks for Essendon that Daniher is leaving them, it just looks ugly. I'm really happy that we have Jack long term, his best can be absolutely brilliant but there are lots of things he needs to work on and I'm sure he knows that better than us. Looking forward to watching him out on the G again, crashing in with no regard for himself and always doing the team thing.

2 years is a good extension for him, he’s got some very good attributes but there are plenty of things he needs to work on (starting with accuracy!). And Max, I’m sure it was a joke but don’t name him as the future Coleman medal winner again!

100% people need to remember these people are humans doing their chosen profession, Oscar has put on the Red and Blue and ultimate has played in two winning finals (doing a decent job). I think moving him on is the right call for both club and player, he’s behind the obvious choices and now seems to have moved even further down. He can have an opportunity at another club and the Dees fans can move onto a new whipping boy. Good luck to him.

This was in the article regarding OMac today: “Preuss has two years to run on a contract at Melbourne” so that means we have him signed for 21/22? If so definitely play hardball, it’s maybe a little unfair to Preuss who would want regular senior footy but if GWS want him they will have to come up with a decent trade.

So what was said about those two? Finals or bust must be obvious to everybody, including Goodwin. You would assume everyone gets run over with a fine tooth comb with Goodwin it being based on what areas he needs to improve in to get the team achieving the best their capable of. Mahoney is an interesting one because I remember Roos being very complimentary or him but he should be heavily reviewed given the lacklustre results the last two seasons.

I suppose what I mean by growing up is acting like the adult that he is and making better choices. I think he spent a large amount of formative adult years 18-21 being told “you’ll be a superstar” and probably surrounding himself with enablers, there are plenty of people out there that reach the age of 29 but still act like they’re 18.

So what you're saying is the player (via player manager) engaged in negotiations in a way that would normally be done. Good to hear about him and Isaac Smith.

Oh 100% not saying the club has done the wrong thing here, in fact I’d say we are (as far as I can see) faultless in the way we’ve conducted ourselves. More saying I wish he’d been able to have this year in a proper non-pandemic time. But as you say he wasn’t returning phone calls, you can only imagine that would include Goodwin who he once said he was like a father figure to him.

I wouldn’t be against it (I think I may have suggested it earlier!) but hearing about him being involved in that car accident, sounds like he still has some growing up to do. I hope the club reaches out to him though.

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.