BAMF

Well there you go! It looks like I was missing something. Just goes to show that you can improve on goal kicking if you spend enough time on it. I saw him in the preseason miss a few gimmes and presumed he was still missing the easy ones.

Casboult? Am I missing something here? (Pun intended) If we get Motlop as a free agent I would say yes. Has speed and can rotate through the outside miss and forward line. Can go missing but I would take the risk for a free agent.

Personally I had the same doubts last year. He was easily the least effective of our inside mids and is unable to play a different role. Then he came into form and dominated towards the end of the year and I ate humble pie. He even got a couple of brownlow votes in there somewhere. I'm not ready to write him off again just yet.

1st game for the club and it was a ripper! 18 kicks, 9 handballs, 6 marks and a brilliant goal. Arguably our best player. He owns the hbf position now. Just what we needed.

Gotta admit, I loved it when he posted on here and kept us informed. As for CC or BP? CC by a long way. People are quick to remember the bad picks but he had some good ones too with the picks at his disposal.

The joy of Hawthorn finishing last, going through a year of pain and not receiving a first or second round pick far outweighs a rival receiving said picks.

Anyone want to have a crack at what Lewis is thinking in this clip? 'Sweet Jesus, I'm in!'

I assume he will be training as a defender? Very happy for him.

Was he invited to the combine?

The whole article is aimed as a light joke. However, it does raise the subject: Should we trade JKH? He has another year to run on his contract, but he will be behind Garrett, Kent, BenKen and probably Harmes too. Let alone the other guys we can play at half forward like Petracca, Bradshaw, Vdb. He really will be a surplus and would slot well into Carlton's rebuild. Would it be better for him? I don't think we would get much for him. Third rounder for a straight swap. He could be the steak knives in a bigger deal.

You think it's well balanced? I've seen jumper punches with more force. Only on Monday, one was found guilty of murder. No, the scale is not nearly the same, and yes, the rules are different on the football ground. But they are not suspended altogether. By ever so few degrees, the sight of one footballer belting another in the head legitimises the act more broadly.

Did Viney make Greg Baum cry at some point? He has written another article about him. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/afl-2016-heads-you-lose-but-jack-viney-gets-off-lightly-20160530-gp7k25.html He wrote this article when Viney got off after the Lynch incident last year. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/viney-bump-was-out-of-time-20140509-zr7gd.html

Yep, but my memories of Grimes best were being able to read the play well and shutting down incoming attacks whilst knowing when to run off his man and provide an option. His best is good enough and would certainly make him best 22 in most teams. But I would never ever describe Grimes as a player who could break games open. Its simply not his thing. Happy for others to disagree. Maybe after 10 years of losing my brain has altered my memories. However, I do agree that Melksham leaving gives him a chance. I said after we picked up Bugg that Grimes should see the writing in the wall and request a trade. I really hope he can get back to his best because he is Melbourne through and through, but I dont have much room for 1 paced, average disposal, poor decision maker in my best 22.

Grimes breaking games open? I must have forgotten those ones.

I'm sure it was Dal Santo. I recall the days when Craig Cameron use to post on here back in 2003. Jeez we all use to love it! I also remember you 'Fan.' I'll always remember you by that name and that small avatar of Neale Danniher you had. I was a lurker in those days.

You did say that you would cop flak. Are you surprised now that you have copped it?

I hope this isnt true. I would have prefered using our 2nd round pick in the draft. A third round pick should have got it done. And if it didnt then we force him to the preseason draft.

He doesnt 'get' the argument that we should be happy to pick Melksham up because he is better than Riley, Bail, Mckenzie, Terlich and Matt Jones. And he is right. The last two in particular have been given longer contracts than warranted and now we face the prospect of either paying them out or watch them play out the year at Casey. Now we are discussing giving Melksham a 4 year deal. Personally I think / hope that he would be playing out the last 2 years of his contract with Casey, which would be the same situation we are in now with Jones and Terls. Yes. He would be an upgrade on the players we have delisted. But how much? If you put numbered rankings on players out of 10 and had Bail and Mckenzie as 4, would you be happy that we have improved the list by picking up Melksham who is ranked 5? Yes the list has improved slightly. But its not worth getting too excited and not for a 4 year contract on good coin.

They will have a great shot of playing in the grand final next year. After that, they will lose a heap of players who are best 22. They really need to get rid of some deadwood off their list as well.

The stats he quoted were for Grimes. Not Melksham Melksham's are much worse than Grimes. http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_compare?tid1=6&pid1=3323&tid2=12&pid2=2314&type=A&fid1=S&fid2=S

Hinkley thinks Butcher will make it as a defender. They have given up on the thought of him as a forward.

Vince? Roos' got Vince in. Craig did get us Sellar in 2011.

So you rate Melksham equal to Vandernberg? No Watts? No Garland? Either you dont rate Howe or you figure he is gone. (so do I) There is no way I would get rid of Watts and pick up Melksham. From your 22, I wouldnt have both Dawes and Pedersen and would replace one with Garland. But that decision would not impact Melksham getting a game. I would rate Grimes as ahead of Melksham and before anyone goes off their head, have a look at how Grimes year rates against Melksham's best year of 2013. (ill give you a heads up. Grimes has less clangers and better disposal dif) So Melksham would be getting a spot on the bench ahead of Stretch, ANB, JKH, Newton, Michie, Harmes. I would argue that all of these players would go past him in 2016. Plus any other trades that take place that actually input a best 22 player.

The guy I quoted said that he would clearly be in our best 22. I asked him to name it. Your right. He would be in our top 30. Easily right now. But for how long? I would be hoping/expecting a large number of players to go past him by 2017.

Matt Jones got 9 games in 2015. How many would he get next year? Harmes, Stretch, ANB, Vandenberg, White, Brayshaw all went past him this year. Add in Petracca, Trengove and Kent who are all returning from injuries. That places Matt Jones at the back of the group of Newton, Michie, Toumpas and JKH. Thats pretty much everyone on the list who will be ahead of him in the pecking order. So bringing in Melksham will have very little impact on how many games M.Jones plays next year.