Jaded No More

Yes we are bringing him in to extent the career of the best ruckman in the league.

Might be contracts ticked off by the AFL that is the holdup? Given the salary transfer etc it might take longer? Surely this gets done by Friday?!

Exactly right. We are not bringing him to captain. We are bringing him in as backup to the best ruckman and captain in the league thanks

As if we have the draft capital or the money for Whitfield. Keep dreaming.

Can confirm this place is very good... more so for a steak, less so for a punch on.

Who cares? They are better value than pick 78 in the draft. It's one year at low cost and Hibberd absolutely has done enough to show he can contribute next year. Melksham is decent insurance.

There is minimal risk with LJ. There is always risk involved in going to the draft. Plenty of top 5 picks have not made it.

Weid for King. I’ll sign that.

He’s probably a lovely guy. He’s just not cut out for AFL footy and that’s ok.

If we were only going to use pick 33 and nothing beyond that, then why not turn 33 to 27? Who cares about the late picks we would have passed up anyway.

I never ever implied that he is not a heart and soul player because he is looking for more midfield minutes. I implied very clearly that IF he chose to leave BECAUSE he wanted more midfield minutes, it would be HIS CHOICE. While you implied that it is somehow the club's fault if he left, although it's very clear that he is, and always will be, behind Trac, Clarry and Viney, so the club cannot simply let him have more midfield minutes to the detriment of team performance just to keep him happy. I don't doubt that he is a well loved player, and I don't doubt for a minute the club wants to keep him. It sounds to me like the club said to him they can't promise him more midfield minutes, so if he wants to explore his options, they won't stop him (and can't really, players are free to always look around even while contracted). To me that speaks to a great culture that won't stop players from pursuing opportunities they can't get at Melbourne.

Yet was willing to leave for more midfield minutes.

He’s also a lot younger and had an ACL in his first season with us and ongoing foot issues this year.

And was part of the best defense recorded by the AFL in a premiership winning season. Did we overpay for May who is almost 30?

You’re right. It’s not like we signed every single one of our best players and locked away the two best mids in the competition for 7 years.

Yep soz Luke but I give precisely 0 [censored] about your desire to land at Fremantle. Should have stayed put. Now you can go to a bottom 2 side.

This can’t be a real offer. Peter Bell is a moron.

Maybe our culture and environment has come so far that we think we can get him right. Who knows. It’s a big risk so I hope we don’t overpay.

How is this a comparable situation? McDonald was captain and pushed out into early retirement when he wasn’t ready. Harmes is IN CONTRACT and exploring his options. I haven’t heard a peep from Melbourne saying we want him to go.

I get where you’re coming from, but this is footy. He’s contracted yet he’s choosing to explore his options. If he was that much a heart and soul player who loved his teammates so much, he’d understand that he can’t be ahead of Trac, Clarry and Viney and get on with it and do what the team needs him to do. Like when Gus played 3 different roles this year because this is what the team required of him. I would be happy for Harmes to stay. He got a big long contract from us after we pulled him off the rookie list. He won a flag with us. He is a regular in the 22. We’ve done absolutely nothing wrong by him, so if he’s choosing to explore his options then so be it. Clearly he isn’t that fussed about his teammates missing him and I’m sure they’ll get over it too. He’s not dying he’s maybe moving to a different team. They can still all be friends and love each other.

I think Jayden is someone we all universally want to see do well. I hope he’s leaving with no hard feelings and I certainly would love nothing more than to see him do really well at West Coast (although I despise that club).

Brayshaw > Harmes + Hunt Brayshaw is a proven A grader in not one but three field positions. Harmes is barely a proven A grader in one.

I’m very positive that this would be driven by the club. He’s contracted so we won’t do anything unless it suits us.

I believe so would the club, but Jayden has the right to secure a better deal for himself and we clearly didn’t want to give him 3 years. At 27 he knows he’s always going to be a fringe player at Melbourne. His time is running out. I’m happy for him and wish him all the success.

Brat