Chris Johnson

[Guest Golgothan]

It means half their salary counts against the cap. Good if you have a player eligible that is on Chris Judd $$$

Only problem for Carlton is hardly any of their players will be eligible for the veterans list. Judd & Stevens (On biggest & 3rd biggest money) will never be able to go onto the veterans list because you have to have been at the club for 10 years.

Only Fev will be eligible in the next 3 or 4 years, so when Murphy, Gibbs, Kruezer and whoever else go on to top shelf money, buggered if i know how they'll be able to afford them all.

[mikeod 21]

Only problem for Carlton is hardly any of their players will be eligible for the veterans list. Judd & Stevens (On biggest & 3rd biggest money) will never be able to go onto the veterans list because you have to have been at the club for 10 years.

Only Fev will be eligible in the next 3 or 4 years, so when Murphy, Gibbs, Kruezer and whoever else go on to top shelf money, buggered if i know how they'll be able to afford them all.

Visy.

[e25 5]

Only problem for Carlton is hardly any of their players will be eligible for the veterans list. Judd & Stevens (On biggest & 3rd biggest money) will never be able to go onto the veterans list because you have to have been at the club for 10 years.

Only Fev will be eligible in the next 3 or 4 years, so when Murphy, Gibbs, Kruezer and whoever else go on to top shelf money, buggered if i know how they'll be able to afford them all.

Come on, you don't know?? Its Carlton! The AFL will change the veteran rule for them, of course!

[e25 5]

Visy.

haha Or that.

[Roost It 1,434]

Only problem for Carlton is hardly any of their players will be eligible for the veterans list. Judd & Stevens (On biggest & 3rd biggest money) will never be able to go onto the veterans list because you have to have been at the club for 10 years.

Only Fev will be eligible in the next 3 or 4 years, so when Murphy, Gibbs, Kruezer and whoever else go on to top shelf money, buggered if i know how they'll be able to afford them all.

Carlton have very little talent after the top 5 or 6. They are a 6-10 position club and they know it. If they were serious contenders CJ would be playing for Casey next year. It's going to be really enjoyable passing them, Collingwood and Richmond on the way up the ladder over the next few years

[PeterJames 46]

Finally a rumour i heard that is true!!!

Let's face it he is not a huge loss.

We have been setting a clear example with contracts. Not paying to much!

[Bring-Back-Powell 13,533]

We have replacements in Petterd and Grimes so no major loss. Plus he's virtually done stuff all in 5 years, apart from a couple of pre season games and a good 6 week patch this year.

However...

I would've been happier if Bell was shown the door instead.

[e25 5]

We have replacements in Petterd and Grimes so no major loss. Plus he's virtually done stuff all in 5 years, apart from a couple of pre season games and a good 6 week patch this year.

However...

I would've been happier if Bell was shown the door instead.

There's still time!

But we can't get rid of ALL our C grade flankers...

[Roost It 1,434]

We have replacements in Petterd and Grimes so no major loss. Plus he's virtually done stuff all in 5 years, apart from a couple of pre season games and a good 6 week patch this year.

However...

I would've been happier if Bell was shown the door instead.

I'd say his grunt put him that bit ahead of CJ, but would be a goner if he repeats this year's form in 09

[pringle 42]

What really hurts is that he was clearly wanted by the blues and we got nothing for him in the end. If he wants to go, fine, but why shaft us in the process? Has dropped considerably in my ratings as a person. And whilst I'm at it, the club must be berated for their handling of this case. Contract should have been finalized before trade week, so that a trade could be arranged. Regardless of whether we have other players to fill his shoes, today we lost a 4 year investment to the scum of the AFL at no cost to them and no gain to us. Well done admin.

[e25 5]

What really hurts is that he was clearly wanted by the blues and we got nothing for him in the end. If he wants to go, fine, but why shaft us in the process? Has dropped considerably in my ratings as a person. And whilst I'm at it, the club must be berated for their handling of this case. Contract should have been finalized before trade week, so that a trade could be arranged. Regardless of whether we have other players to fill his shoes, today we lost a 4 year investment to the scum of the AFL at no cost to them and no gain to us. Well done admin.

I think most people heard that we tried to trade him to Carlton, whether it was true or not. Looks like its more likely to have been true now.

But did you see what happened with Warnock & then O'Keefe? Carlton are trying to have their cake & eat it too.

They are playing games by stuffing around until 'oh no, its too late to do a trade now..' & trying to get players for free.

I don't like the way the blues have been dealing, mostly because we haven't been able to pull off the same moves.

But we're not in the same position they are. Get over it.

[Little Goffy 12,873]

We have replacements in Petterd and Grimes so no major loss. Plus he's virtually done stuff all in 5 years, apart from a couple of pre season games and a good 6 week patch this year.

I thought CJ was coming good; I'd put some effort into convincing myself there was a good future there.

But the one year deal was completely appropriate for all concerned - CJ had just barely done enough to keep himself on the list, but would have to back it up next year because he's not a kid anymore. If he built on it next year he would've been able to get a proper contract from there, and everyone would be happy.

Hhe wanted more, the club stood firm, so he's walking. The specific mention of Carlton seems odd, in that it limits his appeal to other clubs if he goes around saying 'that club'. I wonder what the story behind the story is there?

Maybe we'll redraft him if nothing comes of it. Who knows. Maybe there were other issues involved, maybe he didn't come back fit from the break and there was tension there.

As far as the list goes - CJ held one of those positions - HBF/into wing - which are often used as a development area for new players (Grimes, Buckley, Petterd, even Cheney) and which we may, if things go well, have a couple of more versatile players interested in running through there - Garland and Rivers might both find themselves having stints playing a bit loose if Martin, Frawley and Warnock hold reasonably firm.

Bell, Dunn and Bartram provide a bit of depth as running defenders, and frankly all three are on CJ's level, despite their various weaknesses.

Final thought - given that a big problem this year for the club was a lack of defensive effort, should we really be too worried about the loss of a player whose chief weakness is attitude and hardness?

[LeBron James 41]

“To do this, we offered Chris a new two year contract, but unfortunately he wanted to play for another, rival AFL club, and subsequently asked to be delisted.

“It is really important our members are kept well informed on matters such as these, and we are extremely disappointed with Chris’ decision.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/tabid/7415/D...px?newsid=69495

[Kiss of Death 708]

I seriously don't get it. What's the go????

What's the cause of the avalanche of players bolting towards those tanking cheating scum with their president with the criminal convictions?

Why the dream run with the draw this year?

[BAMF 3,812]

A smarter post would have recognised that its 5 names out about 160 names over the past 10 years. And Simon Buckley???? ATM, a fringe player in a bottom side. Nothing to crow about at this stage.

Fair point Rhino, it was a rather rushed post, it is 5 names out of a couple of years. The point I was trying to get across that 4th round picks are not always useless. There are alot of other 4th round players who have made a contrubution to sides across the years. I certainly would have preferd a 4th round pick traded to us rather than losing C.J for nothing. However as it has turned out I certainly wont be losing any sleep over it. No offers at trade time, knocked back a deserved one year deal, not much else we could have done.

And just to add to my argument

Decent 4th round picks from 1998 - 2004 (too early to call on most after 2004)

Domenic Cassisi, Corey Jones, Andrew Embley, Ryan O'Keefe, Ben Johnson, Cameron Bruce, Amon Buchanan, Brad Miller, Paul Medhurst, Dane Swan, Adam Schneider, Chris Knights, Brad Moran.

[w00dy 146]

this one has me angry... i really rated chris, thought he was going to be a really important player for us... but now instead he's going to that scum... I hope he doesn't make it there and someone else picks him up...

[Bring-Back-Powell 13,533]

This is another example of why trade week is an epic failure. Can't even trade a fringe player for a packet of chips!! Maybe the AFL needs to look at mediators for every possible trade talked about??

Now that we've established that the MFC put CJ on the table, two simple trades off the top of my head should've got the deal done:

Chris Johnson for Adam Bentick - straight swap. Both would be on similar salaries. Both are as capable as each other. Both struggled to cement a game in the last 2 years.

OR

Chris Johnson and pick 51 for Carlton's pick 40.

Is it really that hard

[Bring-Back-Powell 13,533]

this one has me angry... i really rated chris, thought he was going to be a really important player for us... but now instead he's going to that scum... I hope he doesn't make it there and someone else picks him up...

West Coast may be interested.

It would ease the pain if he went back to WA, rather than play for VISY.

[QueenC 74]

While I'm not inordinately cut up about the end result here, the whole tacky situation does leave me with a pretty sour taste.

This is another example of why trade week is an epic failure. Can't even trade a fringe player for a packet of chips!! Maybe the AFL needs to look at mediators for every possible trade talked about??

And BBP is completely right about the utter uselessness that has become of Trade Week.

[grazman 6,702]

This is another example of why trade week is an epic failure. Can't even trade a fringe player for a packet of chips!! Maybe the AFL needs to look at mediators for every possible trade talked about??

Now that we've established that the MFC put CJ on the table, two simple trades off the top of my head should've got the deal done:

Chris Johnson for Adam Bentick - straight swap. Both would be on similar salaries. Both are as capable as each other. Both struggled to cement a game in the last 2 years.

OR

Chris Johnson and pick 51 for Carlton's pick 40.

Is it really that hard

Clearly you're a thinking man and clearly those whose job it is to do such deals aren't the lateral thinker you are - or maybe, just maybe - all options were explored and Carlton (which has zero depth) knew it wouldn't have to give up anything to get CJ because no other club wanted him!

[Whispering_Jack 28,101]

Clearly you're a thinking man and clearly those whose job it is to do such deals aren't the lateral thinker you are - or maybe, just maybe - all options were explored and Carlton (which has zero depth) knew it wouldn't have to give up anything to get CJ because no other club wanted him!

The point about Carlton's zero depth can't be underestimated here. Their clear policy seems to be a resumption of the chequebook recruiting approach that they made famous many years ago and IMO they have put little emphasis on building a list from the grass roots up. Yesterday, they delisted their entire rookie list with the exception of Michael Jamison who has virtually been on their senior list for the past year and a half. They've also dumped a number of their so-called "depth" players including Darren Pfeiffer who arrived with a big fanfare last year. So much for player development at that club. They take the top draft picks (as they did in their tanking period) and don't worry about the rest.

The Blues have little depth and they know it so they've gone after CJ who they will get for ... what? They need him and they've probably offered over the odds but they can afford it because while we have to stick to 92.5% of the salary cap, they have the luxury of paying about 150% once all of the exemptions that are making the salary cap rules more farcical by the year are applied.

For my part, I'm happier to build our team from the ground up and to lay a strong foundation for the future which is what we are doing. I haven't been as great an advocate for Jack Watts as many others because I really like the way Daniel Rich plays the game. However, the kid will win a lot of the fans over because of the way he announced that he was happy to play for the Demons when he made his decision to register for this year's draft. We need that spirit at the club, not mercenaries.

[the fork 357]

For my part, I'm happier to build our team from the ground up and to lay a strong foundation for the future which is what we are doing. I haven't been as great an advocate for Jack Watts as many others because I really like the way Daniel Rich plays the game. However, the kid will win a lot of the fans over because of the way he announced that he was happy to play for the Demons when he made his decision to register for this year's draft. We need that spirit at the club, not mercenaries.

Well said Jack. This is how I am approaching this departure. It's been said since the beginning of football, but THIS club is going to have to rely on players that are willing to bleed for the jumper, because everything else is going to try and squash us.

[Jarka 767]

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/tabid/7415/D...px?newsid=69495

Well, there goes the theory held by many here that he's a dud and the club is better off without his skills. It's a pity because often the egos gets in the way of some reasonably intelligent individuals.

Losing CJ is a small blow, but he wants to go to another club, what can you do? The club did the right thing in not matching the other financial offer, nor making ridiculous promises about guaranteed game time. Carlton (I presume) is currently throwing arond the cheque book (what a surprise), but the club is desperate for success. Years of farming the best picks and landing the best player in the comp have put enormous pressure on them to succeed. Their fans won't be happy with another couple of years of mediocrity.

I'm sad about losing CJ, I've always liked him and felt that Daniher didn't develop him properly. Most likely his time at the club under Daniher jaded him enough to want to leave. It's a pity we won't see the best of him but his absence won't be the difference between our success and failure.

[pringle 42]

I posted earlier about how upset I was at Chris leaving... after reading DB's comments...good riddance to bad rubbish.

[Courtney_Fish 183]

we are seriously such a crappy club atm.

....... he finnally starts playing good footy ....

I'm not sure if he finaly started playing good football or if that was the peak of his career.

I'm sort of glad if he goes to Carlton because I don't think CJ is particularly good quality though I hear his dad was a bit older when he hit his best.

I think Carlton has been really clever with everything they've done but I suspect they can't stretch themselves any further and next season they will be vulnerable to other clubs raiding their stocks. Still we could learn from how Carlton has operated the last couple of years.

I reckon we'll have one more bad year but we'll come out of it stronger and more united.