Menegola - what happened there?

[Dormammu]

During his time at freo he should have played at least 1 AFL game. Period.

You say it as an absolute statement but offer no proof. Which game(s)?

We might have made a grand final but it was evident to everyone we needed to try players with more skill. It was pure madness that Ross kept Mayne/Pearce/Suban/Ballas in the side when they had horrid game after game. To throw in Clarksons name is ridiculous because as it stands this is one player whose loss is purely because of Ross.

Yet Menegola himself acknowledged that he lacked the skill you say we needed.
And why is it ridiculous to mention Clarkson? Clearly he didn't rate Menegola or he would not have delisted him.
Perhaps the same criticisms that Menegola had of himself?

 

[Yeti]

Wasn't that hard. Guys like Suban, De Boer and Mayne were getting regular games in that period. Menegola is better than all of them but never got a chance with us.

At the time, was he?

If he was that good why wasn't he drafted / rookied immediately by another club?

He spent the first half of the 2015 WAFL season injured and then dominated to be given a lifeline with Geelong which he has grasped with both hands.

Credit to him for making a go of it on his 3Rd opportunity but to say he was good enough when he was on our list is a little bit of revisionist history for me.

 

[Banker]

You say it as an absolute statement but offer no proof. Which game(s)?


Yet Menegola himself acknowledged that he lacked the skill you say we needed.
And why is it ridiculous to mention Clarkson? Clearly he didn't rate Menegola or he would not have delisted him.
Perhaps the same criticisms that Menegola had of himself?

Well have a pick of any games that our spuds got every week regardless of form.... To ask for a specific game is ridiculous and you're just trying to justify your view.

Ross had to tell him something, why he couldn't get a game and suddenly he believed it as well. What he didn't know is that Ross prefers experience over youth at the time and he would need to play like Fyfe to get a regular game.

Because Menegola at the time was drafted into a Hawks team that would dominate for years. Whilst he was on our list he was better than many of our players..Using Clarkson is ridiculous because he made the correct choice and didn't waste 3 seasons of resources into him.

 

[Banker]

At the time, was he?

If he was that good why wasn't he drafted / rookied immediately by another club?

He spent the first half of the 2015 WAFL season injured and then dominated to be given a lifeline with Geelong which he has grasped with both hands.

Credit to him for making a go of it on his 3Rd opportunity but to say he was good enough when he was on our list is a little bit of revisionist history for me.

To say he wasn't is unfair when he never got a single game.

"Revisionist history" is saying that Suban/Mayne/Pearce/MDB deserved games regardless of form and had talent. If Mayne was still on our list he would be getting games, whilst at the rubbish pies team he can't even make it!

 

[Dormammu]

Well have a pick of any games that our spuds got every week regardless of form.... To ask for a specific game is ridiculous and you're just trying to justify your view.

If you're so convinced back it up with facts. Not an unreasonable demand. Otherwise you're just being ridiculous.

Ross had to tell him something, why he couldn't get a game and suddenly he believed it as well. What he didn't know is that Ross prefers experience over youth at the time and he would need to play like Fyfe to get a regular game.

Now you're just making s**t up. Players get daily feedback from development coaches, (at least) weekly feedback from line coaches and irregular feedback from the head coach. From the interview Mengola bore no ill will towards either Hawthorn or Fremantle and accepted personal responsibility for his fate.

Because Menegola at the time was drafted into a Hawks team that would dominate for years. Whilst he was on our list he was better than many of our players..Using Clarkson is ridiculous because he made the correct choice and didn't waste 3 seasons of resources into him.

A self-defeating argument. If Clarkson didn't want to waste 3 years of resources why draft him in the first instance?

 

[Yeti]

To say he wasn't is unfair when he never got a single game.

"Revisionist history" is saying that Suban/Mayne/Pearce/MDB deserved games regardless of form and had talent. If Mayne was still on our list he would be getting games, whilst at the rubbish pies team he can't even make it!

He didn't get a single game, he clearly wasn't up to it. Where did we finish on the ladder in 2014 / 2015? Pretty sure we had a pretty good side that would have been hard for a good player to break into let alone one that wasn't up to it.

I again point to the fact that but he wasn't picked up immediately upon being delisted as proof that he wasn't. Even after his good half a WAFL season he wasn't picked up until pick 66 (ish?).

Suban / Mayne / Pearce / DeBoer deserved games at the time due to our stoppage game style (now redundant) along with the fact that no one was knocking them out of their spots with WAFL performances.

DeBoer and Mzungu both got picked up immediately after being delisted and Mayne somehow got the deal of the life time but I don't think Menegola would have been brought in for him anyway.

Suban has never been a favourite of mine but he must have been doing his role as required. We are clearly moving on from him.

If Barlow was moved on there was definitely no place for Menegola.

 

[masai]

Ok, if we give pat's on the back to Geelong for realizing Menegola's potential, what do they get for failing to realise Hamling's potential ?.

Swings and roundabouts.

 

[Steinfreo]

How do you mean? Roberton was offered a contract, what more could our recruiting and development department have done?

Menegola was rightfully delisted in my eyes, it took his (second) delisting for him to become the player he is now.

Let's not forget that he wasn't drafted after being delisted by us and when he was, it wasn't until a pick in the 60s.

I don't mean to fill the Peel thread with this now that there is a Menegola thread so maybe take your response there.

The wrong contract and conditions provided for Roberton, he had a choice and Fremantle did not provide the best choice.

Menegola's development obviously was inferior to what was provided for him as an individual (at Geelong) so we were unable to help him realise his potential while at the club. Hed walk into our current Midfield in my opinion, and if our list management had a bit more foresight a few years and cut a few earlier current Menegola would have walked in to it back then as well.

Losing Barlow was silly. He was being played out of position so often in the end and would walk into this midfield or at least at first drop instead of the Sherro, DP etc merry-go-round we have now.

I mean its all captain hindsight stuff really, and I probably said * all when we lost Roberton and Menegola so really it doesnt matter. I just hope some reviews took place.

 

[Frank J Moose]

The wrong contract and conditions provided for Roberton, he had a choice and Fremantle did not provide the best choice

Bulldust.

Roberton was moving back to Melbourne no matter what. His pregnant girlfriend wanted to move back to family. He was willing to walk away from AFL football to live in Melbourne. There was nothing we could do. He did not have a contract and was already living in Melbourne when he was reluctantly delisted.

 

[Yeti]

The wrong contract and conditions provided for Roberton, he had a choice and Fremantle did not provide the best choice.

Menegola's development obviously was inferior to what was provided for him as an individual (at Geelong) so we were unable to help him realise his potential while at the club. Hed walk into our current Midfield in my opinion, and if our list management had a bit more foresight a few years and cut a few earlier current Menegola would have walked in to it back then as well.

Losing Barlow was silly. He was being played out of position so often in the end and would walk into this midfield or at least at first drop instead of the Sherro, DP etc merry-go-round we have now.

I mean its all captain hindsight stuff really, and I probably said **** all when we lost Roberton and Menegola so really it doesnt matter. I just hope some reviews took place.

Wrong contract conditions....

- We drafted him with pick 49
- He played 37 games in 3 years with the club out of a potential 66
- During his time he was developing as a potential best 22 player
- He requested a trade rather than signing a new contract at the end of 2012.
- No club was willing to trade for him.
- He was offered to train with St Kilda and was signed as a delisted free agent for the 2013 season.
- He is on record as saying he needed to be back in Melbourne due to his partners pregnancy.

What conditions could Fremantle offer to satisfy him? $500,000 per year for a player with potential who had not cemented a place in our best 22? Should we do that will all players or should we accept that some players need to live in a city other than Perth (McCarthy can be used as someone coming back the other way, it does happen).

Roberton, who will play under his third senior coach in four seasons this year, was grateful to the Dockers for their understanding of his reasons for wanting to go home.

"I think my first year was probably my best year and then I sort of dropped off a bit," he said. "But it was a good experience and I learnt a lot."

https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20...t-from-fremantle/story-e6frg21l-1226557331147

I believe you are completely wrong about the Roberton situation and we could not have kept him without throwing a huge money deal at him which he was clearly not worth at the time.

As for Menegola I don't think he would walk into our midfield at the moment. Who would you take out for him? Please keep in mind we are not challenging for a premiership at the moment we are building towards one in the next 2 years+.

That is the same reason that Barlow is no longer with us. I love Barlow, he was a champion for us and a contested inside beast but he had clear limitations on his game. He doesn't spread from the contest particularly well and was most useful when we were a using a high stoppage game plan. The fact that it was the Gold Coast who picked him up and not a top 4 team is indicative of his value.

He was holding up the development of Blakely, Langdon, Weller etc. the same way Pavlich was holding up the development of a new forward line. We could have kept Barlow but his limitations as a player would have meant that he would not be in our best 22 by the time we get to finals. Unfortunately for him his contract was up at the wrong time. If D.Pearce or N.Suban's contracts were up and not Barlows I have no doubt they would have been de-listed instead.

 

[ydraw]

That is the same reason that Barlow is no longer with us. I love Barlow, he was a champion for us and a contested inside beast but he had clear limitations on his game. He doesn't spread from the contest particularly well and was most useful when we were a using a high stoppage game plan. The fact that it was the Gold Coast who picked him up and not a top 4 team is indicative of his value.

Barlow is not with us because of his age and no other reason. Menegola is 25.

 

[Yeti]

Barlow is not with us because of his age and no other reason. Menegola is 25.

Are you saying that he does not have limitations his game (as I stated) and would be best 22 by the time we next challenge for a flag?

Who's spot would Barlow currently take?
- Fyfe? No, our best mid (25yo)
- Neale? No, our 2nd best mid, (24yo)
- Mundy? No, multi-position player that still performs to a high level (31)
- Blakely? No, replaced Barlow as an inside mid (21)
- Langon? No, developing mid, needs games to develop into best 22 (21)
- Tucker? No, developing mid, more outside IMO (20)
- Balic? No, could be anything hopefully we keep him (19)

*ages are estimates only

As for Menegola, same thing goes for him. People seem to be looking at Menegola as the player he is NOW not the player he WAS when we de-listed him. If we had of kept him he would be quickly over taken by the 3 amigos and de-listed in 12 months anyway.

 

[stax on the mull]

Roberton had to go home and there wasn't any interest from clubs during the trade and he eventually got picked up as delisted free agent by St Kilda. I'd say part of their interest was that Micale who had just been hired as one of Watters's assistant coaches had coached Roberton when he'd played WAFL at East Perth.

 

[ydraw]

Are you saying that he does not have limitations his game (as I stated) and would be best 22 by the time we next challenge for a flag?

Who's spot would Barlow currently take?
- Fyfe? No, our best mid (25yo)
- Neale? No, our 2nd best mid, (24yo)
- Mundy? No, multi-position player that still performs to a high level (31)
- Blakely? No, replaced Barlow as an inside mid (21)
- Langon? No, developing mid, needs games to develop into best 22 (21)
- Tucker? No, developing mid, more outside IMO (20)
- Balic? No, could be anything hopefully we keep him (19)

*ages are estimates only

As for Menegola, same thing goes for him. People seem to be looking at Menegola as the player he is NOW not the player he WAS when we de-listed him. If we had of kept him he would be quickly over taken by the 3 amigos and de-listed in 12 months anyway.

Of the young guys only Blakely has any chance of being better than Barlow. Barlow is a severely underrated player, he was in our top 3 mids all the time he played here, probably only getting overtaken by Neale in his final season and a half. We got rid of him because he'll be retired in our next premiership window, no other reason.

 

[Taylor]

Menegola is not particularly fast, not particularly good with ball in hand, can really run and is a big body.

He suits Geelong's style of bulk inside fifties regardless of targets, just like he could have for us if we had dominant marking talls in the forward line.

 

[Yeti]

Of the young guys only Blakely has any chance of being better than Barlow. Barlow is a severely underrated player, he was in our top 3 mids all the time he played here, probably only getting overtaken by Neale in his final season and a half. We got rid of him because he'll be retired in our next premiership window, no other reason.

I disagree for the the reasons I have previously stated:
- Limited ability to spread from the contest
- Suited to an outdated gameplan (high stoppages)
- Limiting the development opportunities of promising players
- Was out of contract at the wrong time

Age certainly had something to do with it but his time at Fremantle was up, despite how good he was for us.

 

[Nightrain]

Still wouldn't get a game for us. He's a mediocre player and the midfielders we've got are either stars like Mundy, Hill and Fyfe, or young, or both like Neale. It's not a slot where we're weak.

Agree. He would not get a game in our current line up and was mediocre when he was with us. If he was on our list now and playing in the 22 he would be the next whipping boy and there would be calls for him to be dropped. Looks good now whilst Geelong are winning but just keep watching. He is one of those players that needs others around him to play good so he looks good but don't rely on him to lift the team or have an inspirational game when the going gets tough.

Glad that a previous Freo player is making it elsewhere but also glad that we cut ties with him. I don't think we would benefit from his style.

 

[malpaso]

During his time at freo he should have played at least 1 AFL game. Period.

We might have made a grand final but it was evident to everyone we needed to try players with more skill. It was pure madness that Ross kept Mayne/Pearce/Suban/Ballas in the side when they had horrid game after game. To throw in Clarksons name is ridiculous because as it stands this is one player whose loss is purely because of Ross.

Menegola doesn't have skill, what he has is endurance and gut-running.

 

[Steinfreo]

You guys are ****ed in the head if you think menegola roberton barlow arent in our best 25 at least. ill give you roberton though

 

[Yeti]

You guys are ****** in the head if you think menegola roberton barlow arent in our best 25 at least. ill give you roberton though

Knowing our current game plan and rebuilding phase along with contracts in place, who would Menegola and Barlow come in for?

No one would dispute Roberton except for the fact that there was no contract that we could offer him that would have kept him when he was a borderline 22 player at 21 years of age.

 

[TheMcManusNose]

Never once watching him run around for Peel did Menegola ever look better than guys like DeBoer or Mzungu who were a clear class above, or even Ballard.

Classic late bloomer and if you think they're were genuine signs, over and above the other various de-listed flotsam that litters the WAFL every year, that required we play him at afl level you are a moron because there weren't.

 

[Moist Biscuit]

Wasn't that hard. Guys like Suban, De Boer and Mayne were getting regular games in that period. Menegola is better than all of them but never got a chance with us.

Suban, De Boer and Mayne were all better than Menagola in that period. It's dumb to have a dig at our recruiting staff, he was hardly a special player back then and he's still not that special now.

 

[Moist Biscuit]

You guys are ****** in the head if you think menegola roberton barlow arent in our best 25 at least. ill give you roberton though

Roberton is the best of the 3 and the only one that would get a consistent game for us.

 

[Moist Biscuit]

Never once watching him run around for Peel did Menegola ever look better than guys like DeBoer or Mzungu who were a clear class above, or even Ballard.

Classic late bloomer and if you think they're were genuine signs, over and above the other various de-listed flotsam that litters the WAFL every year, that required we play him at afl level you are a moron because there weren't.

Yeah it's ******* stupid to blame the club for Menagola never kicking off whilst at Freo.

 

[Moist Biscuit]

Of the young guys only Blakely has any chance of being better than Barlow. Barlow is a severely underrated player, he was in our top 3 mids all the time he played here, probably only getting overtaken by Neale in his final season and a half. We got rid of him because he'll be retired in our next premiership window, no other reason.

Top 3 mids of all time. Fyfe, Belly, Hase, Mundy and Hilly would all have something to say about that.