FarNorthernD

You’d swap Balic for Watts?

So Freo want 28 for Balic and we would take 29 for Watts. It’s a weird world.

Using the AFL points system and assuming no great ladder improvement from us next year we have effectively given up pick 4 for Lever. I think everyone here would do that deal. Hopefully that is a worst case scenario. If we improve like we expect and Adelaide falter that could translate to pick 5-6 Also whilst next years draft may well be very good whatever player we would have got would take at least 2 years in the system before we got significant results. That brings us to the 2021 season. Lever will be lining up round one next year.

Yes it is weird that the Club thought highly enough of Jack to give him a 3 year contract on good money one year but considers him a culture killer the next. They have obviously lost patience with him, and fair enough, but culture killer? Didn’t you say a while back that you would be happy for him to stay?

And Lever also has very similar stats to Rivers after the same number of games. Means little at this time. Weideman, by the way, has kicked more goals than Hudson at the same age.

I'm pretty sure we are well run and would have our salary cap under control. If this is true however and we have allowed ourselves to get into salary cap trouble then my confidence in the Club just nose-dived somewhat

If ever the penny will drop with Jack it would be now. If you are a club that backs their footy department to get the best out of him then you could find a potential match winner in the bargain bin. Really the worse scenario for his new club is for him to 'only' get back to his early 2017 season form.

Really? For better or for worse Jack is contracted by the Club for two more years but in its dealings has made it very difficult for him to come back to the fold. They asked him to explore his options and pretty much the least they can do is let him go where he feels like he may have the best chance to succeed rather than what suits the MFC.

Out of interest GV is there a point where the return on JW isn’t worth it? Pick 30, 40, 50?

Just out of interest if you were in charge of the Watts deal is there any point - 3rd round pick for Watts, 4th round, 5th? - where you would say that we are better off keeping him?

It would be safe to assume that any player giving a club organised/sponsored interview has been told how to answer the inevitable Watts question. They are just messenger boys pushing the Clubs line although Jones does seem to want to go above and beyond.

As Mo says the Cats have other priorities than Watts. It would be interesting to see just how low Melbourne would go to get rid of him. I’m assuming they would take anything in the 20’s but would pick 35 get the deal done? If he is still a Melbourne player on the last day and someone offered up 48?

Any chance those who would like Watts to stay also want what’s best for the Club? Or is that just the domain of the anti-Wattsers?

If Jones took ‘personal responsibility for his performance’ he perhaps would have stepped down as leader after he failed to direct any players to get behind the ball against the Saints with 13 seconds to go. Perhaps he would have taken some responsibility for the completely inept first quarter debacle against a Collingwood seconds side in the last round. Or any of the myriad of times that he has gone missing when we have needed someone to stand up and inspire. I actually am a Nathan Jones fan but where is the personal responsibility from Nathan aside from potting his own teammate? Where is the personal responsibility from Tyson for missing so many targets? Where is the personal responsibility from Hogan that he can’t kick accurately over 35m? Where is the elite performance here that you are talking about? It will be interesting if the Club forces Watts out, which causes Hogan to have chats with Freo, which causes Lever to have second thoughts about coming to us. Who takes personal responsibility for that?

Fritsch: "What role am I playing today coach?" Goodwin: "Well today we are playing [insert team name here] so I want you to be booed and sworn out by all their supporters and a vocal and vociferous minority of your own supporters too. If you do well you can expect the same treatment next week and the week after that. Expect to be pilloried in the media and your own Club will admit your mere presence puts them under pressure. You will run the game out to the end but I will infer to the press that your preparation was lacking. All your teammates will make fundamental school boy errors; failing to kick to targets 20 metres away, handball to players feet and missing goals from 35m out but we are setting new standards now and elite finishing skills are so very 2016 which was, coincidentally, when we signed you to that 3 year (non binding) contract. Fritsch: "Oh, I’m playing the Watts role"

Recently there was an Open Mike that featured Paul Connors. He came across as a particularly decent human being. Afterwards I was speaking to a friend who is a relatively high profile AFL journo and he said that Connors was well respected in the industry. He has around 100 AFL players on his books inc Hodge, Nic Nat, Dangerfield, our own Daisy, Michael Hibberd, Melksham, Trac, Michael Hurley, Tom Lynch, Andrew McGrath, Josh Kennedy, Sidebottom Chris Judd and Dimma. He also has Josh Kelly who he recommended to stay at GWS for the success. Success trumps the dollar (particularly when you are already getting paid well). Connors is a good operator. You would imagine there must be a fair bit of angst between parties if his comments are as Redleg reported

Aside from Jack’s preparation and physicality issues there is probably another reason the Club would like to see him depart. Now that another tall in Lever coming on board the Club has less need for Jack. With a lot of clubs going the way of two talls in the forward half and lots smalls providing forward pressure it is hard to see where he fits. T Mc, Hogan, Weed, Pedo and possibly O Mc can all be tall fwd options. Get rid of Jack and you can then draft/trade a small. The Club can push Jack out and claim it is down to his attitude but I suspect there is a bit of list management in play too.

I agree

Why would Watts want to go to the GCS? He doesn't want to leave Vic, he doesn't want to leave the MFC and can you imagine him wanting to jump from a probable finals side to another basket case? That rumour doesn't make sense

It’s funny as a couple of weeks before the finals we were all trying to manipulate the ladder predictor to get a Melbourne V Richmond elimination final at the G. Most here were confident that we could knock them off which we should have done so earlier in the year if it wasn’t for two first quarter injuries. Now we are trying to learn the lessons of a premiership side They remind me a bit of that Swans side that made something like one change to their team in the final 6 weeks (?) of the year. They also had all their finals games at the G being matched against a disappointing Cats team and then two interstate thus sides benefitting from a huge home ground and crowd and umpire advantage. So what did we learn? You need to have your best team consistently on the ground and a bit of luck where you play your finals matches. Combine this with confidence and belief in what you are doing you can hold the cup on Grand Final day

Hopefully it’s a prolific midfielder who can kick.

I wrote to the Club re Jack and received this response "Thank you for taking the time to contact the Melbourne Football Club.As you can imagine, list management is one of the most critical and important aspects of all AFL Clubs and in such a competitive industry, decisions must be made with the Club's success as the main focus. At the end of the season, both Jack and the Club met to have a mature discussion about the future. Both parties agreed that after 9 years at the Club, the timing was right for Jack to explore potential opportunities for 2018. This does not mean Jack is leaving the Club. He is a contracted player and if we believe that after looking at all the options, the best thing is for Jack to remain at the footy club, then that will happen. Similarly, if a deal presents itself that satisfies both the Club and Jack, then we will explore that as an option during the trade period. The Club's number one priority is to improve our playing list and that will be the driving force behind any decision made in this area. As soon as any decision during the upcoming trade period is finalised, we will ensure that this is communicated to our supporters and members.Thank you again for your support and we look forward to having you on board in 2018!"Kind regards, Stephanie Breheny MFC

Let’s face Goodwin can’t even get the best out of Jack Watts what chance has he got with a proper lost cause like Stringer?

Given it seems the club is determined to push him out the door my hope is that Jack can’t find another suitable home. My hope is that he then comes back to pre-season in career best shape and determined to fulfil his considerable potential. He is never going to crash packs but I would definitely take what he offers in his best games but for that standard to be met on a consistent basis. Let’s face it we are going to get 2/3 of f. all for him in a trade whereas at his best his is worth a lot to us in a red and blue jumper.

I’ll admit I haven’t seen a lot of Lever but what I have reminds me of a slightly upgraded version Jared Rivers at the same age and number of games. I liked Rivers a lot but anything more than our first round pick is too much. To me uttering Lever’s name in the same breath as Rance is silly.