poita

There are far too many Goodwin apologists on this thread. Allowing the opposition to have 1 or even 2 more extra players around the contest all day is just dumb, particularly given the lack of leg speed in the side. All it does is allow the opposition to win easy clearances, stream forward in number and pepper our defensive 50. Playing loose men in defence can be okay if those players are getting to contests and helping out their teammates. I assumed we paid a fortune for Lever for this purpose, not so he could be outmuscled by a first gamer. Having guys like Lewis and Wagner bludge around by themselves at the top of the 50 getting cheap kicks is pointless. When you are getting smashed in the clearances you need to put more players around the ball, not less. And you need to get players spreading to provide short options to maintain possession for a time, rather than just kicking down the line to a 1 on 3 contest forever.

1. We had ten players who did absolutely nothing, and still gave Geelong a real contest. Some of those, including Lever, Salem & Jetta, could not have played worse if they had tried. 2. We didn't throw in the towel in the second half, and put ourselves in a position to win the game. 3. Simon Goodwin gets another reminder that he is not as smart as he thinks he is, and can not afford to play games at selection.

I love that so many people around here believe Goodwin when he says that both will be back in 6-8 weeks, when he has been less than honest (or at best, so very wrong) on this subject in the past. I have zero confidence that Viney will play this year, and am losing faith that we will see McDonald play any meaningful part in our season either. Goodwin should just say "we will take the time to get these injuries fixed, we don't know how long that will take, we will update you when we have something definite to tell you", rather than providing a running commentary and looking like a fool or worse when his deadlines are missed. That said, I do expect him to explain why McDonald played AFLX and JLT.

If stupidity was an Olympic sport, there are a number of employees of the MFC that would be strong favourites to bring home the gold medal in their respective weight divisions. Not only do we allow Jack Viney to destroy his foot by playing him early against all prevailing medical wisdom, we allow Tom McDonald to do the same thing six months later. At least Viney's problems stem from regular season matches - the club was stupid enough to let McDonald play a shitty exhibition game two months out from the season. Given the countless half truths and outright lies spoken by everyone from the coach down since Viney's initial injury, I can only assume that we will spend the next 23 weeks enduring the same regarding McDonald's problem. Time for the club to man up and admit to their errors of judgement and give honest timelines for the returns of both Jack and Tom. PS. Vandenberg - indefinite, McKenna - indefinite. So glad my membership dollars are paying for these two to not play football for the club.

Double post, sorry.

I would like to join.

I understand why we have moved on from Luna Park, but I thought yesterday was a little disappointing by comparison. There were really very few activities for kids, and no rides, and I thought they could have made better use of the players (Jordan Lewis was fantastic interacting with kids in the arts & crafts section, but far too many of them seemed to go missing for large parts of the morning. I get that it is not fun signing your name for two hours straight, but surely it is a small price to pay for making a few kids happy). My suggestions for next year: 1. Have a signing area for the big name players where you only need to line up once, rather having to line up ten different times. 2. More players helping out with the activities, engaging with the kids. It is a great way for the younger kids to become comfortable interacting with fans, in a relaxed environment. 3. More rides / skill activities. Even run a mini clinic or two. 4. Have a bit more space between activities, so that lines are not running into each other. PS. When you advertise something as being at the MCG, I was hoping it would actually be on the MCG.

Salem has been a big disappointment over the past couple of years. There is no doubt he has all the tools to be a very good player, but he needs to get his head right (like a number of his mates). Hopefully this is the year that it starts to happen for him.

McKenna, Vandenberg & Kent - what a waste of list space. Hopefully Tyson and Garlett are on track for the St Kilda game.

Thanks again for your great work getting this running each year. PC Demons is back again.

I find it incredible, and highly concerning, that we have so many fringe players coming out of contract next year (Balic, Bugg, Filipovic, Keilty, JKH, Kent, King, Johnstone, McKenna, Smith, Vandenberg, Wagner). Add in potential retirees and there is a good 12 - 15 players who may need to be replaced this time next year. Hopefully a few of those guys step up and earn a new contract, but surely best practice would be to spread these types of contracts out and to have delisted a few more players this year so that we could have had some rookie picks.

Wow, 12 months of work by the recruiters results in us reading out the name of a midget with bad shoulders with our first pick. This ought to end well.

I buy an 11 game reserved seat membership each year. The money I have saved over the past 17 years of no forking out for a higher membership level far outweighs the cost of buying a GF ticket on the black market. Why anybody would pay for a guaranteed GF ticket for a club that hasn't played finals for 11 years is beyond me, but each to their own. I really dislike the idea of the club bleeding loyal supporters dry when it keeps on wasting money on boneheaded decisions such as paying players to pay for other clubs (Watts), or to not even play at all (Garland, Lumumba).

Trade for pick 66 is fair. A one year contract is also fair. Well done to the club for at least getting one deal right this year.

This will make three years in a row that we've traded out of the first round. Those are the actions of a team that is premiership contention, not one that can't even finish top 8. We have a below average midfield, with terrible depth across the board. Pick 35 in a weak draft is basically worthless, I'm not sure why we bothered asking for it. So why the hell have we given up two first round picks, both of which could be in the top 10, for a defender? I'm sure he'll be a good player for the club, but we need to stop the ball getting down there, not worry about what happens when it gets there. Every year it seems as though we talk tough and end up capitulating as time ticks away. Other teams must [censored] themselves laughing when they see us coming. I'm bitterly disappointed that we've given up any chance of landing a top quality midfielder either this year or next.

Barely played at any level for GWS for 2 years, missed another full year for us. He'd want to be something special when he finally gets on the field for all the chances he has been given. Given how little junior football he supposedly played, you would imagine he is coming from a long way back.

Its astonishing that you can get 9 years on a senior list and never once be your club's number one ruckman. I thought Jake was okay depth for a while there, but he really fell away over the last year or two. His inability to put pressure on a flailing Gawn late this season really hurt us. I would be gobsmacked if he was at another club next season, and he really only has himself to blame if old dee's post above is accurate.

Fringe player at best. Would much prefer to see him being a pain in the midfield, rather than playing faux-tough guy in the forward line and spraying shots at goal. He can claim that his hit on Mills was out of character, but it was a weak and pathetic act which significantly hurt the team. He has a lot of work to do to regain respect from inside and outside the club. Maybe this will end up being the making of him.

Viv Michie, Ben Newton, Ben Kennedy, Aiden Riley, and countless others. Not sure why this club keeps thinking it can make AFL players from other teams' state league players. We've proven time and again that we're not up to the task. Good luck to Balic if he comes on board, but the odds are well and truly against him.

Kennedy gone, excellent. Average player with below average workrate. I'm just thankful we only gave him a two year contract. Hopefully there are still more delistings to come - there are plenty of suitable candidates.

I sure hope he was back to running and kicking footballs before we gave him a new deal, because spots on the list are too valuable to waste on (soon to be) 26 years old VFL-standard players with poor injury histories.

I hope Adelaide dig their feet in and demand two first round picks. Surely Melbourne aren't stupid enough to give in (although we have been known to agree to some horrific trades), and turn their attention elsewhere. Our midfield is a much bigger problem than our backline, and Lever showed on Saturday that he is not up to the task of leading the defence. I'm sure he'll be a great player if he can play as a loose man forever, but he's not the big bodied "gorilla minder" that we need.

His first two months were absymal, and he was rightfully (and belatedly) dropped. Whether his poor form was due to his year off, or being played out of position, thankfully he was able to turn things around from QB onwards and be a consistently solid player. The most impressive thing for me was his ability to kick goals from 50 off a couple of steps, whilst most of his teammates were stuffing around with handpasses and sideways kicks from the same position. That said, I doubt that we gave up a second round pick for a HFF. The challenge for Jake now is to get super fit so that he can spend more time in the midfield next season. He has shown a good balance of attack & defense when given a run-with role, and his willingness to kick more than handball should be encouraged.

We did waste a few years looking in New Zealand. Are the odds of plucking a player from Ireland any better than looking at other sports (eg basketball or athletics)?

Totally agree with this. There is a big difference between making list changes that actually improve your list, and making changes so it looks like you are actually doing something. I'm not sold on Lever as being the type of player we desperately need, and certainly not if we get sucked into a ridiculous bidding war / pissing contest with Adelaide and / or other clubs. I'm more than happy to hit the draft hard over the next few years and ensure that we keep our list together in the meantime.