That tub of lard Billy Brownless on the Footy Show tonight reckons McLean was filthy on being ommited. If that's case it is a great and gutsy decision by the MC to drop him and I hope it spurs Brock on rather than get bitter. I think he's been chosen on reputation a bit and that should mean nothing at Carlton. He wears the no.7 and I dearly hope he earns it. But doing fast laps behind Judd during February means nothing now (I saw him in pre-season and reckoned at the time he thought he had made it then). The fact is that on Sunday he looked slow in handballing off against arguably the lowest side going 'round. I'm a bit tired of hearing the injury to Brock excuse and I hope he is too. Hadley is duly rewarded for hard effort and a good game, and Betts/Robbo could pinch hit in the middle if needed. And I agree with previous posts that it will remove a motivating factor for the Demons. Go Blues!

Even though I am a McLean fan, I really like this post . In the end Hadley deserves to be there and Brock (injured or not) does not.

If he is injured well and good, if not hopefully this will put a rocket in his pocket ... MC and CFC with the Fev decision and many others is finally showing that that have a pair and they seem to have dropped and arte still growing! About flowering time!

Hi Beatle,
I did want Jetta but he hasn't exactly set the world on fire either. I'm happy with Lucas and the improvement in Yarran and Garlett.
McLean will turn out OK. We missed Hadley when he went off injured and so we have a ready-made struggle for the inside mid position between the two of them and that has to be healthy.

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Let slip the Blues of war (with apologies to William Shakespeare) (and Sir Francis Bacon, just in case)

McLean deserved to be dropped. Our strength is our pace and at the moment he disrupts that, especially with Hadley also in the team. Hadley offers more than McLean at the moment.

I know what he was brought to the club for, and hes been good/very good in 3 out of the 6 games he has played. In the 3 he hasn't been good, hes been terrible. Even last week he was very poor.

Seems around pre-season time he got a bit FIGJAM about things, and running fast time trials around Visy Park mean nothing when you look slow and out of sync with the rest of the team on the field. He needs to go back to the Bullants and dominate there for at least a couple of weeks.

His best is better than Hadley's best, but we certainly aren't seeing it at the moment

I also agree that not selecting Brock may have something to do with not giving Melbourne more of a reason to fire up against us. A bit of a pychological play by the MC maybe.

Funny how we can see the same performance differently.

To be completely upfront, in 2 games against Richmond and Lions some posters were raving about Brock, but I thought he was just another soldier and not that special. He was serviceable. Last week I thought he was weak and slow. The only time I have been impressed with Brock in a Carlton jumper was with his endurance running during the preseason around Princes Park.

I was a big fan of his when he was at the Dees and wished we had pick 5 the year he was selected. I saw a bit of him at Melb games at the G with my Melb mad best mate.
I was also excited at the prospect of recruiting McLean this year to play in the guts feeding out the ball if Hadley wasn't available, and if he was better than Hadley, double bonus.
I really thought he might be better than Hadley the way Ratts was raving about him. I think Ratts did too TBH.

The jury is still out on Brock. He has the skill and pedigree to offer CFC plenty moving forward.
A long as we/he can cover his lack of pace and he does dish out the hard ball to the outriders Judd and Murphy as expected, he'll be back.
If his body is rooted, and he doesn't step up, well it's bad luck for him, Carlton and the pick 11 who went to MFC when they could've been at CFC.

Anyway, we look like a fast team on paper even without Bower and Armfield playing.
Melbourne are fast, so we need to be too.
I hope the good Carlton, with the aggressive attitude turns up and gives these kids a lesson the same way other teams did to our fledgling teams pre Judd.

Our superior strength, maturity, stamina and Judd should get us over the line.
I just want the 4 points, but if we can make up for last week missed opportunity to hit the scoreboard and bolster %, I will be very happy.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

I doubt it...he got dropped cause he is just not up to it.
Poor Brock hasn't played a decent same since that Final against Western Bulldogs about 4 years ago and then we go and trade out pick 11 for him. Gee we have some real smart operators at our club

Greg Swan on SEN stated that a lot of the reason Brock was dropped was because he has been struggling with injury. He has not been able to get himself right.

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Koperek.

Big difference bewteen Brock and Ando. We recruited Ando as a late pick at 18 years old. We gave up pick 11 in the last uncompromised draft for some time for Brock. He is a player with 100 games experience, we knew he was injury prone and two of our coaches had coached him. Every Melbourne supporter thought they had sold us a pup, and up till now, itt seems that way. He needs to get fit and start delivering. Slow players can be a huge liability.

And it is not a matter of just6 shrugging your shoulders and saying mistakes can happen. Drafting 18 year olds is really hard. Drafting 100 game players should be really easy, if you have really done your homework. There is no excuse for not knowing what you are getting.

Maybe Brock and Warnock will come good and be worth the draft picks. They have a long way to go to prove themselves. When in doubt draft kids. When you are recruiting from other clubs, don't get it wrong. If you are recruiting a slow in and under with a bad injury history. Think #40. Don't jump up with pick #11

Does anyone think they are jumping the gun a bit in regards to the decision of drafting McLean and Warnock?

McLean has been here for not even half a season and has had a few injuries, whilst Warnock is only 23 and needs time to develop, he is a giant, it takes longer. Sure Brock is slow and is not so pretty to watch but at least make your judgment at the end of this season. I think McLean has been playing when he shouldn't have been picked in the first place. Some players can play at 70 - 80%, he needs to be close to 90- 95%. Please be patient and hold off your criticism for a little bit longer.

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Koperek.

Of course the MC expected him to better than Hadley. They wouldn't give up pick 11 for a Hadley back up. We had Bentick for that.
At this stage though I would take Hads any day of the week. I'm hoping that Mclean is injured and therefore nowhere near his best yet

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Bit of a harsh comment on a player in his first year at a new club battling some niggles.

Also a bit harsh on "operators" at the club who drafted players like Scotland, Simpson, Carazzo, Garlett, Hampson, Robbo, Jamison, White etc. I think they have been pretty smart. Easy to beat em' up for perceived mistakes it seems...

Give the boy a chance first and see how he goes.

Looks like Saturday is going to be a bit wet. It would suit Melbourne.

This game shapes as more dangerous if the conditions are slippery.

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Premierships: 1869, 1871, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1877, 1887, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1914, 1915, 1938, 1945, 1947, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1995.

"GIBBS."

I doubt Brock's recruitment was driven by the 'recruiting' department. I expect it was driven by the head coach who coached him at another club.

I don’t buy the whole "we can't make a judgement on the McLean trade because he has injuries" argument.

The fact is, it appears that we have drafted a player who can't get his body right. This goes back past the 10 rounds this year and right back through his later years at Melbourne where his was also hobbled by injuries.

In a trade for a first round pick I'd expect to get a player who is both a) decent and b) not riddled with injuries.

It seems that Brock is, at best, only one of those things.

Some hysterical overreactions re: McLean in this thread. Neither he nor Hadley deserved a game this week, but because of the crying need in our structure, one got to stay and the other got a rocket. This time it was McLean.

I hope he responds well.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

The thing with Brock is, it's not as if he had an interrupted preseason, he had a ripping preseason which should've set him up for a productive year.
Disappointing output so far to say the least, all things considered, and supporter concerns are well justified IMO.

Mclean is no good - his style of play doesn't fit the modern game.
I'd be surprised if plays at Carlton passed his current contract term

Which begs the questions - why have we been playing him, and has Brock been declaring himself fit when in fact he's not?

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"I had to eat"

Well put onya Rexy.

Heal, Hip, Hammy, Back...all after his best preseason in years, giving his body a solid foundation for the season.

I'm disappointed for him and with his output thus far this season.

I hope the tables turn for him this year, or someone has seriously pointed a bone at him.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue