poita

I'd much rather we go after a ruck prospect such as McInerney as opposed to keeping White on the rookie list for another year. We have plenty of mid-sized defenders, but our ruck / key position depth is abysmal.

I've got nothing against Dawes personally, but I don't see why I should feel bad that a bloke who has earned $2m over the past four years and never finished in the top 12 in the B&F has been shown the door. I'll be singing the same tune when Lumumba gets his marching orders in due course as well. I support the Melbourne Football Club, not the individual players, and particularly not those who keep us mired in mediocrity. I wish Dawes well in his future pursuits, but am glad that he is no longer part of my football team.

I sure as [censored] hope we are not paying any of his salary for next year for the privilege of a four position pick upgrade. Good luck Lynden, but I would have preferred to keep you if that was the best we could get for you.

Hopefully we have learned our lesson there and not handed out another lengthy contract. A one year deal would be good. Welcome, Pat.

No, he's finished.

Why waste any more time dealing with these pr1cks? There is zero interest in Hibberd from any other club, including Essendon. We have offered a deal that is probably over the odds given Hibberd's age, his 2016 suspension, and his playing history. After caving in to Essendon with Melksham last year, I'll be bitterly disappointed if we do the same thing with Hibberd this year.

I'm a Terlich fan, but the decision to give a player two years when the coach doesn't rate him at all remains mind boggling. Credit to Dean for keeping his head when his senior prospects were non existent.

Time to cut our losses and move on.

It was a terrible decision at the time, and remains one in hindsight. Firstly, the club shouldn't have allowed itself to be held to ransom by Woewodin after he won the Brownlow. I'm sure we could have come up with a deal that made everyone happy, rather than causing us salary cap problems shortly after. Woewodin was a handy player from 1997 - 1999 (and a favourite of mine), but he was just one of a number of excellent players in 2000. I assume he had a greedy agent in his ear at the time, who put money ahead of team success. Would we have won a premiership in the middle of the Brisbane era? Probably not, but we had a very good team in both 2000 and 2002. Secondly, let's not forget that a fair chunk of the money we saved by trading Woewodin went to Chris Heffernan shortly after. Heffernan clearly still wanted to be at Essendon and never did anything useful for us. I would have rather Woewodin in his 1997-1999 form than anything Heffernan could dish up.

Fantastic deal for the club in every respect. Welcome to the club Jordan, I'm really looking forward to seeing you in the red & blue jumper next year.

I'm pretty sure that the one thing we don't need more of is under performing small forwards. We've got plenty of those already.

How much do the women get paid to play at present, in what is a longer season and therefore a bigger commitment? How much did the men get paid when the VFA and the VFL were first formed? How much do other top sports people in low profile sports get paid? It is only a generation ago that most VFL/AFL players had a full time job, and football was a part time gig. Only the select few would have made life changing money from the game. Nobody is putting a gun to their heads and forcing them to play. The women choose to play, and they know what the costs and benefits are going in to it. In time, if the competition is a success, I'm sure the players will share the spoils. Until that time, baby steps are required.

Clearly not a long term player at almost 29 years old, but was handy for the most part. I would have dropped off 3 or 4 others before him, but we do have a number of similar types on the list.

When his workrate is high, he can be a decent player. When that drops away, he becomes a liability with his suspect disposal. I too prefer him in the forward half, and I would be happy to play him instead of Garlett if Garlett's effort drops off. He is in a group of players with Vandenberg, Bugg, Kennedy, and a couple of others whose careers could go either way at this point. If he tidies up his kicking, he could push ahead of those others and be a long term player.

Not sure his form quite warranted the long run of games he received, but I guess he did enough decent things each week to keep his spot. He probably has the most to lose from Hibberd coming, and for that reason I would keep him on the rookie list for another year. We really haven't received any benefit from elevating the likes of Vandenberg and Magner in the past after one okay year.

The second most disappointing player on our list this year, behind Kennedy. I always expect a drop off when clubs give out contract extensions mid-season, but Garlett's lack of effort and performance from the Port game onwards was diabolical from a seriously talented and experienced AFL player. He is not a player who should be picked each week on reputation, but one who should be dropped to the VFL as soon as his effort falls away. He knows what is required, and simply doesn't put in often enough. Hopefully he can get his head right for a big 2017.

We have too many similar types and White is just too vanilla for me. I would expect that he won't be at the club next year, particularly if Hibberd arrives.

He is massively overrated around here, I assume largely based on handful of games early in 2015. Since then he has been a non-contributor in almost every game he has played. He is a good size, but he doesn't get the ball nearly enough. His handballing this year was the worst I have seen from any AFL player ever, although his kicking is okay. We will only be on the rise as a club when guys like Vandenberg are not gifted games just because of what they have done in the past.

Easily the most disappointing player on our list through the last 2/3 of the season. It is amazing that a player who has been in the system for four years still isn't clear on the level of effort required to be a quality AFL player. There is no doubt that he has talent to burn, but he won't be getting a second contract if he can't match that talent with workrate.

There was plenty to like about Oscar when he adjusted to the pace of the AFL. His defensive work is already pretty good, and I don't think his work with ball in hand is any worse than Jetta, for example. He should be a very good player by the end of next year.

I gather the lack of interest in Ben Newton means that we all are in agreement that he won't get a new contract. Another who suffers from too many similar types on the list, and inability to make the step up from VFL to AFL level.

Bernie played his best football this year in his all too rare forays into the midfield. His form in defence was patchy at best, and downright awful at times. I would much prefer to see him split his time between the midfield and the half forward line, where he has to earn his possessions, rather than being able to get cheap kicks in the back line. He still has plenty to offer with the right role.

Like Tom McDonald he is capable of doing some incredibly dumb things, but there was a lot to like about his second half of the season. He will hopefully be a feature of our defence for a long time to come, and the fact that he some ability to play different roles is a bonus.

I look at Neal-Bullen and see just another run-of-the-mill footballer. He's not quick, his skills aren't great, he doesn't get enough of the football at AFL level, his workrate is miles behind a guy like Viney. He is certainly better depth than the likes of Michie and Newton, but I would happily trade if it was the difference between bringing in a clear best 22 player or not. The big question is will he get another contract if his 2017 is the same as his 2016?

A great servant of the club, and deserved so much more than he got under Roos. I hope he finds another club, because I think he still has plenty to offer.