Deecisive

Cloke probably always wanted to stay at collingwood, they do have a pretty good side and this whole charade was about $$. Thankfully his staying with an even larger salary will help erode the side a little as they need to shed some other good players. Martin is a possible trade as they do need a big man backup for Jolly and they dont have a lot of cash to spare. Martin would fulfil that need quite well, what Martin does not do, the rest of the collingwood team does do, so they can manage with him quite well. Who knows they may get paranoid enough at collingwood to go for 2 more ruckman just to make sure, i just hope they take someone like hille.

I suspect people in this forum are confusing supporter loyalty with footballer loyalty. Why would anyone come to Melbourne, why did Garry A go to Gold coast, Scully to GWS or McDonald go to GWS, Money and opportunity. That is what Melbourne offers, there are some good players who cannot get a regular game with their clubs who are not prepared to sit on the sidelines while they get older and their dreams pass. Melbourne will get players, it may not be the side that some of these players would have chosen with their first pick, but it maybe the club that provides them with the best opportunities and financial reward. GA got 25 votes playing in dare i say a side worse than we were this year, that may appeal to some. Who knows maybe Swan from the woods will be a bit [censored] that those two games he was suspended in may have cost him another brownlow and that playing with melbourne may mean he does not have beams and others taking votes away from him. This draft is about picking up the best players we can now through FA and trading so that we save our draft picks for new or high value talent. It is also a time to clean house a little, in doing so it puts the players on notice that they must lift their intensity if they want to continue to play AFL football, cause if they get dumped by Melbourne they are unlikely to be wanted by too many other sides.

I expect most footballers know when they stuff up, and why? constructive comments on how players can be better can be a positive, jobe watson got advice from someone that helped him turn himself around, who knows maybe some constructive advice to some of our players may help them. play the ball not the man.

Jack certainly has ability, but lacks the 2nd and 3rd efforts that make a champion, this does make him look lazy at times.

With so many potential players leaving I dont see any real value in getting rid of Stef? He is agile, can mark, can kick goals, can run. Another good pre-season and try to bulk him up and he could play potentially forward in the pocket which would soak up another tall backman taking some of the load off the other forwards. He can also play ruck and back in a pinch, a bit of coaching to help improve his shepherding and tackling would certainly not go astray. He may occassionally run into some wrong spots but when you have a side that goes backward as often as we do what where is the RIGHT spot. Stef would do very well at another club, because that club is likely to provide far better support for him than melbourne players do for each other which will allow him to mature and play better. We have some decent draft picks, and the potential to pick up some reasonable FA's that will add to the quality of the team.Yes I believe we have some quality players, but we also have some lazy players who turn the ball over far to easily which kills us. If we now just kill of the 'zone' or lazy mans defense and spare man in defence and maybe we would be more competitive. I would keep Stef and play him forward and concentrate on getting some more depth in the midfield and defence with our picks and FA signings.