It dawned on me seeing Jesse romp it home in the 'best young key forward' thread on the MB, that we as a club have a huge responsibility in ensuring Jesse's talents aren't wasted here at Melbourne.
We have the best young key forward in the comp; a player that is the very personification of someone you can build a premiership side around. This is quite astounding really and I don't think many of us would have expected this level of star at Melbourne after years of Jace Bodes and Isaac weetras.
What does this mean? I don't know but to a certain level we have to bend to what Jesse wants. They say a player should never be bigger than the club but Jess is quite literally a game changer. This was evident in us picking up two forwards over the drafting period as per Jesse's request, three if you include Joel Smith. Does it mean if someone like Alistair Clarkson somehow indicated he wanted to jump ship to Melbourne at the end of the year, would we pay out Goody and thank him for his time? Yep you would pretty much have to. Jesse needs the very best around him in order to reach his, and Melbourne's true potential. This is our responsibility in having a generational talent and him staying at Melbourne long term will be one of the greatest tests for PJ and the coaching staff.
Jesse is a huge, potentially once in a generation talent. I agree with that. And yes we have a responsibility as a club to do the best we can, within reason, for him.
I'm not at all keen on the idea of giving him 'whatever he wants'. F*** that. Ultimately, champion teams win premierships. (Cliche ugh).
Going down the path of giving young star players whatever they want only leads to friction and is detrimental long-term to the club.
I get the Hogan love around here, I really do, but I hope to god there isn't as much smoke blown up Jesse's arse by the club as by supporters.
Not having a go at you directly in that regard, we're all guilty of it. But the only way Jesse will be part of our next premiership team is it it's constantly reinforced that the team comes before any individual. That nearly made me vom when writing it but it's true. Once in a generation talents dont always win flags. Ablett, Lockett etc.