corowa

I can't see your logic in comparing Michie with Boyd. Boyd is 18, has not already been recruited to AFL ranks, has been a standout TAC player, has been nominated by all and sundry as the 'top pick' in this year's draft. Michie has been on Freo's list for 3 years, has managed 1 game and has sustained injuries. I know which one I'd be drafting, given the chance, and his initials are not VM.

He's 28 and had an 'inconsistent' year with Adelaide. What is it about him that appeals to us as a future player?

Young Viv might be a great bloke and might have heaps of talent and he might get over the spate of injuries that have so far cruelled his playing career. What concerns me is that a lot of us are seemingly going overboard about possibly recruiting a bloke who has played 1 senior match in three years. It must have been a most impressive performance that day, or am I missing something?

I'd like to put faith in our new administration/coaching crew that they could finally get us a 'champion' with pick 2. Getting 2 or 3 or 4 'never will be's' and giving a top club the chance to recruit a youngster who might go on and haunt us for years is not what I want to see. How long is it since we last had a true 'champion' at MFC? Who was our last 'champion'? I want to recruit someone who will draw people through the gate, play exciting and consistent football and be a top player for many years. Other clubs have them, is it too much to hope for us to do the same? A couple of 'good, average' players who last three or four years and then fade into oblivion is not the path I want us to take with pick 2. If we can't get a 'great' trade for pick 2 then choose a 'great' prospect in the draft.

Excuses, excuses, YDE. I was wondering if I should put my hand up. My last game was in PNG when I coached my side to a 14 goals win in a GF and kicked a bag of goals at full forward. Only trouble is it was in 1973 and I'm a bit long in the tooth, now. Ah, the memories ............

Realistically pick 60 or worse is what we'd get for these players in a trade 'deal'. God knows who or what we'd get for those picks. I'd rather keep them for a year under Roos and see what he can do with them.

Having played one game in three years because of injuries would start ringing warning bells for me. I guess we could reserve another seat in the stand for him to watch the games while sitting next to Clark and Dawes.

Hello Monoccular, not sure what your statement means regarding C & D saying 'hi'. Both Clark and Dawes are paid much more than they were on at previous clubs, so whether or not you intended supporting my case, you have just done so. Do you think they would be with us for less money? Few of us would argue that their on-field value has not, as yet, matched our expectations. I know they have been injured, but paying big money for players with a history of injuries (particularly the case for Dawes) is fraught with danger. Let's hope we get a more equitable outcome in 2014.

I could see that GWS might be interested in our pick 2. They could off load it to a club for two good, mature, experienced players who are desperately needed to add support and guidance to their young list. No great loss to the other club as they would have quite a few players of that quality and in return they could get the second pick in the draft. Hawthorn, Geelong and Sydney are three clubs that I could see as being interested. So the trading of pick 2 could be a protracted affair involving three clubs. If this doesn't happen we get to choose which of the highly regarded mids we want out of the draft, which is still a great position to be in.

Carlton have an annoying habit of often getting who they want. Judd and Thomas are two examples. Despite this, surely we could outbid Carlton given the number of highly paid good players they have and their expensive recruitment of Thomas. There would also be a more guaranteed permanent midfield position with us, given our weakness in this area. Savage was very close to playing in Hawthorn's GF team. We need him - so make him an offer he can't refuse.

You're right, Soidee, generally only a masochist or a player who is offered much more than he is currently getting would opt to join a club like ours. It will be interesting to see if our new CEO, head of recruitment and coach can induce any significant improvement on what has happened in past years. If we have the freedom in the salary cap we should make such an offer to several great midfield players in the hope that one of them will take the bait. Perhaps the 'come home to Melbourne' factor might work to our advantage. As for trading pick 2, it is worth trying, but only for a very good player, not a couple of average ones that some clubs will try to off load. No news or little news on the trading front does not concern me. It's a bit like bidding on e-bay, the action heats up in the last hour or so. The three weeks lead up is a boring and, largely, waste of time. In addition, why publicise what you're trying to achieve? It only gives opposition clubs more ammunition to use against you.

Apart from encouraging players not to sue for restraint of trade, I can't see much positive about free agency. Being a supporter of one of the less successful clubs I see free agency as a means for successful clubs to become stronger by attracting the few long term successful players at clubs like ours. Of all of the players to leave their clubs via free agency how many of them have come from 'unsuccessful' or 'struggling' clubs? How many have come from the 'top' teams? How many have gone to 'top' teams as opposed to 'bottom' teams? Instead of being a means of evening up the competition, I believe that free agency is doing the opposite. Can anyone supply answers to the questions above, please?

Whatever happens with pick 2 it would seem that we are in a 'catch 22' situation. It is widely stated that Aish is the second best player in the draft. Aish is a midfielder. We are said to be prepared to give up Aish, a 'potential' AFL midfielder, for a 'proven' midfielder. Would any club be prepared to do this? I doubt that we would. It would be different if Aish was a key forward, where a club needing a big forward might trade a very good midfielder for one. I think we will end up selecting Aish with our first pick and I won't be too disappointed if we do this. Hopefully our new developmental coaches will have more success than their predecessors.

Unless Col improves his consistency I could see him playing games in the WAFL next year, as there's a lot of midfielders at Freo who are better players than he is.

'Quality player' who managed 'only 3 games this season' conjure up serious doubts in my mind. Why would a quality player get so few games? Would 'marginal' player with 'some potential' be a better description?

From all accounts Aish is one of the standouts of the draft this year. It would be hard to criticise MFC if we do draft him. Surely it's time that we (a) got a top selection right; (b) had success with developing the draftees 'potential' and © managed to keep him on our list for a lengthy period. But then my mind springs back to this period in other years. Who would be the last 'early' selection we had that met the criteria above? Travis Johnstone would be my guess, though he was also maligned on a regular basis.

Getting a club, such as the Lions, to accept a deal for a player, such as Rockliff, is only half of the battle. You have to convince the player to join your club. Getting someone to come to Melbourne might still not be all that easy, even with the attraction of Paul Roos. Good players wish to change clubs because they believe they have a better chance of playing in finals or because they are paid substantially more than they are now getting. The latter argument is the only one we can currently offer and we have to pay 'overs' to get anyone. Clark and Dawes are two such examples. Unfortunately this leaves us the less palatable option of 'recruiting' players who have reached their 'past best use date' or those who are unlikely to make it, given their lack of development at other clubs. Rodan, Burns, Gillies and Pederson did not give us a lot of good games this season that would suggest that this type of recruiting is the way to go.

It's my understanding that a priority pick is determined upon the on-field performance of the team in question over the past couple of seasons. If this is the case, as indeed it should be, then culture would seem to be a moot point. Our club has a committee comprising several new members, including a new president. We have a newish CEO, a new coach and new coaching assistants. Should we be judged on the (under) performance of past committees/staff or should our new establishment be given the same consideration (priority pick) that numerous clubs who were in no worse a position than we are in, received with relatively free gay abandon? Seeing Sydney being able to exploit questionable loop holes to recruit gun big forwards clearly indicates that the AFL's vision on level playing fields and equal opportunity for all clubs is a figment of some person's fanciful imagination. Would you rather be given a handout that allows you to get Tippett and Franklin, or a pick that gets you a young kid who has shown potential but is yet to be developed and who, going on past situations, might end up not making the grade?

Unfortunately, Choke, it's not his 'smouldering eyes' that is the problem. t's his foot. How is he mending? Does he expect to do pre-season training? The bottom line is, will he ever play again and if so, how likely is he to break down again?

Having watched Hawthorn's disposal by foot today, I don't care how good a possible recruit is, how fast he can run, how far he can run, how high he can jump, or how nice he is to his mum, if he can't kick accurately on both feet I don't want him at Melbourne. Hawthorn's very few turnovers won them the match today. How I envy them their disposal! How I admire their running to position to receive pinpoint passes. And how I resent our 'turnover champions'. Compared with Hawthorn we're not even close.

I'm happy for a fellow MFC fan to express his optimism and joy. Heavens forbid, it's been a long time since we last had something so good as Paul Roos appointment to be pleased about.

Shaw's above average ability and consistent performance would be an asset to the MFC. However, going on past performances/trade, Collingwood would expect a Mercedes for their Commodore. Eddie does not have a realistic attitude when it comes to dealing with other clubs. He would expect us to give him James Frawley or pick 2 and that's not going to happen.

We made the mistake of delisting many of our 'senior' players over the past 3 or 4 years. There are not enough mature role models for the new players to slot alongside. Youngsters drafted to the club are expected to take the place of those delisted and perform as seasoned veterans. At more successful clubs players like Jack Viney would be developed slowly but surely with the guidance of star players. At MFC he is expected to be a star player. The same could be said of Jimmy Toumpas. It is unfair to have these immediately high expectation of the kids. For this reason the recruitment of 2 or 3 senior players considered to be on the way out at other clubs might be a useful ploy by which to 'ease in' the young newcomers. Paul Chapman comes to mind, as does Cross from the Bulldogs. Heath Shaw would be another to consider. I would expect to see that Paul Roos has made/is making contact with a raft of these players.

Could someone please explain to me the grounds upon which a club is deemed to be eligible to receive a priority pick. I would have thought our lack of competiveness, our two wins and an appalling percentage might have placed us in pp mode. And this doesn't take into account previous poor years. I suppose the AFL will now allocate us a fair show of 'big TV time' matches - Friday and Saturday nights', a fair number of interstate matches, and a break from having to play at Geelong. Collingwood, Hawthorn, etc will obviously get many more Sunday evening matches, travel more times to WA and play at Geelong. (They have played there only 1 or 2 times in the past 15 years). And pigs will fly!

I would think that Paul Roos is not prepared to take on a known 'basket case' and is using the 'price is too high' excuse as a more politically correct 'thanks, but no thanks'.