McLean trade the best outcome for Melbourne

[OniAu]

there's something wrong with our game when teams/supporters are banking on players/draft picks not yet made.

its embarassing isnt it, melbourne posters on these boards think its guaranteed success within five years on the basis of all these high draft picks entering their list. Its no certainty to happen.

Hope they recruit a lot of duds, theyll have only themselves to blame when their club is bordering on extinction yet again.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

As if those posters above wouldn't have been amongst the first to be putting the boot into McLean if anyone had been pumping his tyres when he was with us.

Even Blind Freddy could see what this lot are doing.

Same old laughable trolling from opposition supporters who don't have the first clue what they're talking about.

It's so transparently obvious and predictable...

 

[Demonic_Inferno]

Agree with all of this.

Horrendous trade for Melbourne, staggering move on their behalf.

Rubbish. I think you need to stop getting your info on players from footy cards.

McLean is one of a number of similar types of players on the Demon list. His absence won't be missed a great deal, sad to say.

 

[OniAu]

As if these last three posters wouldn't have been amongst the first to be putting the boot into McLean if anyone had been pumping his tyres when he was with us.

Even Blind Freddy could see what this lot are doing.

Same old laughable trolling from opposition supporters who don't have the first clue what they're talking about.

It's so transparently obvious and predictable...

i actually rated him as your best player along with davey. drops off a long way after that to maybe jones.

as someone pointed out , hes 23 and coming into his best years and now you are trading him off for an unknown quantity and hope to do the same again.

you need a spread of players in terms of age, not all around 20. judging on this years final between two really mature teams your next final chance if probably 10 years off , hf with that

 

[madfootyfan]

How have Melbourne won out of this? You traded away an experienced football player, for a draft pick! This draft pick could turn out to be a dud for all we know. Great win.

Melbourne could easily win out of this, they don't have to use pick 11 for a draft pick.. Who's to say they haven't got an established player in mind and off load pick 11 for them, its a great bargaining advantage..
We hear players like Travis Boak, Andrejs Everitt and Ben McKinley just to name a few that might be up for grabs, i'm sure pick 11 could tempt one of those clubs to do a trade...

 

[roostersgal4eva]

exactly right madfootyfan

besides it was Mclean's choice and there was nothing melb could do about it but get the best trade

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

i actually rated him as your best player along with davey. drops off a long way after that to maybe jones.

Fair enough, you don't deserve to be included with those other 2 characters, because you're being sincere here. Kudos for that too, always got to give credit to someone who comes back and responds in that way.

But you'd be hard-pressed to find many Demons supporters who thought this about McLean at any point this year, truly. Davey, Sylvia, and Moloney are substantially better at this point IMO, and Jonah in 2007, and this year, compares very well.

 

[OniAu]

Fair enough, you don't deserve to be included with those other 2 characters, because you're being sincere here. Kudos for that too, always got to give credit to someone who comes back and responds in that way.

But you'd be hard-pressed to find many Demons supporters who thought this about McLean at any point this year, truly. Davey, Sylvia, and Moloney are substantially better at this point IMO, and Jonah in 2007, and this year, compares very well.

Youd know your club better than me obviously , just from an outsiders view it seems like a big risk to lose such a good talent at 23 coming into his prime for a gamble on some unknown quantity.

There is still some grunt in the midfield though with Jones,Moloney and Sylvia.

Could be win win as someone said, no use keeping blokes around that arent intersted in the long term

 

[JP2]

I think that most Melbourne fans would have been gutted when they first heard that McLean decided to leave, but please don't think that what we've been saying in this thread is just the result of sour grapes. In 2006 he was easily amongst our best players, and the game he played against the saints that year in the semi is one of the best I can remember seeing by a Melbourne player, but he hasn't really come close to matching that form since then. Some of it may be due to playing in an ordinary side (though you'd assume he'd stand out more consitently if that were the case) and some of it may be due to injury (in which case he's been hampered for the best part of three years, so I don't fancy his chances of getting over it quickly) but he was very hard to watch this year.

First of all he is almost glacially slow for a midfielder. Not only in terms of running from point A to point B, but he also has a habit of fumbling with any ball he has to pick up below his knees and seems to think he has a lot more time than he actually does when he needs to dispose of it. Secondly, his disposal itself is nothing special: his efficiency is pretty good when he's on form (note, "when") but he kicks without any real penetration (i.e. lots of floaters) and doesn't have that Simon Black / Daniel Cross efficiency with his hands to make up for it. Thirdly, he's not really a specialised inside-midfielder (in that his clearance count and contested vs uncontested possession ratio is probably pretty unremarkable, though I'm having a hard time finding any numbers for him in those areas), so that Carlton supporter who compared him to Sam Mitchell might be in for a bit of a reality check.

Again, I really hope that this doesn't come off as sour grapes. Without a doubt he'll be a more valuable player to Carlton than he would be to Melbourne over the next few years, and if he recaptures his best form (note, "if]") then Melbourne will have undoubtedly been shafted in this deal and I'll probably have to kill myself. As it stands now, though, there are probably a dozen players at Melbourne that I'd be more sorry to see go than Brock (given we already have a few similar players on our list) and those arguing that he's our important player obviously hasn't seen too many of our games over the past 3 years.

Sad to see him go, for all that, and I probably wouldn't do the trade if he didn't want to leave, but pick 11 is a pretty reasonable compensation given his recent form and it gives us an opportunity to draft a decent KP forward / ruckman while taking the best two midfielders in the draft with picks one and two. Could work out being a good trade for both sides, a shit trade for both sides, or something in between. I guess only time will tell.

 

[SolidTiger]

Trading McClean would be the best outcome for Melbourne if Melbourne got fair compansation for him. Pick 11 is well down on fair compansation. A youngish player who has proved himself good is better then a gamble on a draft pick. Melbourne has got bent over in this deal and I must admit I am surprised how meakly they have accepted this deal.

 

[Trav 20]

Trading McClean would be the best outcome for Melbourne if Melbourne got fair compansation for him. Pick 11 is well down on fair compansation. A youngish player who has proved himself good is better then a gamble on a draft pick. Melbourne has got bent over in this deal and I must admit I am surprised how meakly they have accepted this deal.

Don't you love opposition supporters that profess to know a player better than the club of origin supporters. McLean isn't an A grade midfielder. We all wanted him to be, we all expected him to be, but he isn't. He's not an elite inside midfielder and he's not an elite outside midfielder. He's not a 'first dibs' mid, but more 'predatory'. Clearances are certainly not where he excels. I can't think of one lightening and creative handball perfectly weighted to a running outside mid in 2009. Rarely have there ever been. But that's not surprising as his hands in close are not a feature of his game. He's never been a Scotty West or Simon Black type. But you'd know this if you had any idea of him as a player.

He's a solid meat and potatoes mid who lacks pace or game breaking ability and pick 11 is very fair compensation. To date he's a better midfielder than Jones, but Jones is by far the better clearance player. Moloney is a similar type, but Moloney had a better year than McLean in 09, which will be shown by the B&F. And neither Jones or Moloney would yield pick 11. Our midfield no longer had room for all 3.

Coaches very rarely lose players they want to keep. It may happen occasionally, or due to the 'go home' factor, but it's very rare. If Bailey really wanted McLean as part of our future he'd be playing at Melbourne next year. Carlton supporters can kid themselves otherwise.

Would Luke Ball yield pick 11 ? Very doubtful and he's a better player than McLean. What did you think he was worth ? And since when are mids that haven't reached A grade status worth more than pick 11 ? You did know that we have the worst midfield in the competition ?

One has to laugh at all the supporters on BF that think they have worthwhile footy opinions. God love them.

 

[Daytripper]

Would Luke Ball yield pick 11 ? Very doubtful and he's a better player than McLean. What did you think he was worth ? And since when are mids that haven't reached A grade status worth more than pick 11 ? You did know that we have the worst midfield in the competition ?

1. Luke Ball is not a better player than Mclean.
2. Ball has a history of injury problems.
3. Ball is 2 years older than McLean and in my opinion has a limited shelf life at the top AFL level.

Note : he'll probably play a belter today now.

 

[demondavey]

Man my thread has done well!!

 

[picks1and2]

What a ridiculous username that is.

and to think i thought you were a pretty decent bloke. mate, c'mon its only big footy for christ sakes

 

[Trav 20]

1. Luke Ball is not a better player than Mclean.
2. Ball has a history of injury problems.
3. Ball is 2 years older than McLean and in my opinion has a limited shelf life at the top AFL level.

Note : he'll probably play a belter today now.

Ball has always been a better player than McLean. To suggest otherwise due to Ball's recent lack of form is plainly wrong. Btw, McLean has had plenty of injury problems too.

Ball is still in his prime years. McLean won't be ripping it up at 29-30 due to 'build type', lack of pace, and previous injuries; so Carlton have made a decision based on the next 3 years, which is well within Luke Ball's "shelf life", hence the comparison.

McLean hasn't played a dominant game since 2007. He faired well in the B&F that year, but was still well down on his 06 promise, but the injuries to our senior players in 07 were extraordinary, rendering B&F finishes moot.

And I wouldn't get too wrapped up by the Ball comparison. McLean is not an A grade mid, ergo, pick 11 is exceedingly good compensation.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

Don't you love opposition supporters that profess to know a player better than the club of origin supporters. McLean isn't an A grade midfielder. We all wanted him to be, we all expected him to be, but he isn't....

One has to laugh at all the supporters on BF that think they have worthwhile footy opinions. God love them.

Too true mate... and again, yeah, McLean is easily replaceable within our team.

Amazing how there seem to be so many posters on BF who know very little about the Demons or our players, while continuing to claim such "expert knowledge" about said club and said team at the same time

Really, why can't they make the effort to acquire a little more information about these things for themselves before they make such sweeping wrongheaded statements...

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

Youd know your club better than me obviously, just from an outsiders view it seems like a big risk to lose such a good talent at 23 coming into his prime for a gamble on some unknown quantity.

There is still some grunt in the midfield though with Jones,Moloney and Sylvia.

Could be win win as someone said, no use keeping blokes around that arent intersted in the long term

Yeah, it certainly does look like it'll be a good outcome for us mate. But as for McLean coming into his prime - we haven't seen any "prime" form from him since 2006, so I wouldn't bet on it...