Norm Smith's Curse

Exactly - what if MFC is now just a reality television show measuring how many hours people take from their regular work, parenting and life obligations to continually press refresh on threads like this one?

I worry Melbourne are doing that thing where you advertise a garage sale on a Saturday morning and people start ringing on Thursday with sob stories about why they cant make Saturday, so you let them come early and they then low ball everything and you take it because you worry it wont sell, then on Saturday realise you could have got way more...

What if King just realises that we cant keep fielding the relics of the 2021 team and hope somehow it will just turn back into 2021? I just hope they have something significant planned that results in a good transitioning rebound game that doesnt spook any of the younger brigade into also exploring their options...

Lets be realistic here. We probably delisted defenders in the last few years that were more experienced and more proven than Derks so not a huge surprise.

Now that we have established that contracts mean nothing, surely this all means that we are tapping in to some incoming talent?

I like the fact that Clarry can have a laugh. But gees i really hope there are some surprises on the cards. We havent been getting like for like since Jacko, Harmes and Brayshaw left.

Wait until they are told to explore their options as well...

Relax, everything is back to normal now, our season starts at Trade week again...

Conspiracy theory one: what if we were just trying to work out which players were leaking? would we allow this to get out if we genuinely wanted to trade Clarry unless we already presumed he had little trade value? To all the 2021 players - thanks for the premiership will never forget it and another one is never guaranteed. But hoping that this means we have two speedy replacements in the mix already as I distinctly remember people lauding Neeld's hard edge at that time as well...

This is going to be highly demanding on Tim and Jason - no wonder Tim's head is spinning here: 462332012_8589778521061357_1905714225936944495_n.mp4

Even Clarry will admit that he has no one to blame but himself for past year issues. Who else rocks up to preseason camp with coral cuts all over your feet (media supported at time)? Question is would he have pushed the envelope if he was a fringe player?

Imagine if JUH and Oliver turn up for day one of preseason at Goldcoast with Tracc

Disappearing with another Well there were signs... Like being named in Parliament and a 4 year suspension thingie...

New role doesn't obviously include time spent at Revolver?

Consider it a learning

I'm all out of faith...

'In this space?' is that you Goodie? Agreed it's highly unprofessional and also let's the leaker sell the leak with an angle or agenda which is why it happens. I originally thought it was the players or their managers but know Clazza is an open book and heard from several people independently that May did not want the wider public to know he might be being pushed to seek a trade.

The fact Tom regularly tweets about things 20 minutes after they allegedly happen suggests there is no third-party verification going on. And then you get articles like Robinson's piece last year based on what people in a restaurant alleged they overheard at a leadership meeting where a player being discussed was assessed as 'weird'.

Yeah I dare to dream but the pattern of the decades before our premiership doesn't fill me with huge confidence. That being said these guys were the first a graders we have had since the 80s.

This is utterly incorrect. They can tweet their thoughts and opinions as facts with no accountability whatsoever and do so regularly. Sam McClure currently has a track record of 0% accuracy as an example. Intrigue and clicks get the AFL in people's minds - all news is good news. Tom Morris himself said he reported factually the opinion of a person who went to the same party as an AFL player and speculated about something that was said at the party as an example.

Doesn't Julian work at Clarry's management team? Just saying...

Reclaiming the Neeld years

But ... Imagine we go into this trade period being an implied basket case and walk out of it offloading both Tracc and Oliver and adding two to three players with speed/both way running on the age demographic of Windsor et all. You almost wonder whether that was why Judd leaving stung.

The dude was literally coasting this year waiting to get out. When pressed many times to make statements suggesting he is still buying into the red and the blue, he always replied with things like 'football is still my passion.' Wondered if he had just fallen out of love with football or the club. But reportedly wasn't happy when told we were moving towards a rebuild, wasn't happy with cultural issues being ignored until they exploded publically and wasn't happy with the club tweeting he would be back in six to eight weeks while he was getting a blood infusion. Those were the more public suggested reasons. Also its been going around that there is a bit of a rift between senior players.

He wants out and he has been a star for us but he is also 30 and its clear we are building around the younger brigade and hopefully a list that can transition better and unlike the other aging midfield bulls Tracc has currency. Tracc and Sparrow = Flanders and a low pick?