Clint Bartram may have left the building

[Adelaide Demon 0]

But the club will probably delete two of Buckley, Batram, Cheney, and McNamara (as they are OOC).

HAHAHA 'delete', haha sounds like they are going to get offed by Alphonse Gangitano!!

Well to be fair, Barts was on the cusp, has been 50/50 all year in terms of whether he'll be there in 2010. Not a bad player, lots of heart, a 'tryer', but if he is to go, that is the harsh reality of AFL football in 2009. A handful of players have to be delisted from every club, every year. He's good enough to play AFL football but there are a lot of players who are good enough who aren't in the system, that's the way the draft/salary-cap system works in our game.

We will use picks 1, 2, 11, 18 and 34, but I would say it is 50-50 whether we use pick 50. If we get Luke Ball (which I am starting to like more and more every day) then I can't see us using 50... 5 fresh youngsters plus Ball would be brilliant. Pick 50 would be surplus to requirements, and would require another delisting, possibly of someone like Buckley, and for mine, Bucks is going to be as good as any pick 50 unless there's a freak who's gone unspotted.

[MadAsHell 4,209]

Sad to see Bartram go as I really liked him but unfortunatly someone had to go and he was out of contract. Would have rathered Melbourne trade Bell & Newton during trade week to clear spots on the list but this is the way it's gone.

Good luck to Bartram and I reckon he'd be a good fit for North Melbourne next year.

[grant 10]

Hmm well with Bartram you could understand if he didnt have another club to go to as his father passed away recently, But with him Mclean and Mcnamara and also Davey almost leaving im not sure i like what im hearing regarding our club. Clearly some players are very agitated and its disturbing not knowing why. How many more players are going to be [censored] off and want out ?

You're very gullible.

If you're clint or Mcnamara you realise that the club wants to maximise its picks (use pick34) and some list space must be made. It is better for these players and I'am sure agreed by the club that they "walk out" or face the stigma and struggle to get picked up after being delisted by the back-to-back wooden spooners.

[Hannabal 4]

Clint is still in Bali, so treat as a rumor at this stage.

I personally feel Clint has been shafted by the club. Was told last year after his top ten placing at the B&F that he would recieve a two year contract, with details to be worked out 'soon'. Nealry twelve months later, was offered a one year contract, along with a substantial pay cut. Thats right, a club finding it hard to meet the minimum salary cap was seeking players to take reduced pay.

Clint struggled this year after the death of his father, something noone can just easily adapt to. And the club let him down. He was told to play 'one or two' games at Casey to get his mind right, and then straight back into the team. That one or two quickly became six. He was dropped for a few of the last games purely because 'Connelly doesn't want him to play'.

A number of clubs came asking about him come end of season, and the club made the decision not to trade him. He said he wanted to go, and they refused to do a deal.

He'll get a gig somewhere else, no doubt. If he is played as a true tagger, something Bailey has refused to do all year, he will be a valuable player to a side.

There's two sides to every story, Ern.

The bottom line is that Bartam is a plodder that was border-line best 22 in the reigning wooden spoon team. He has the heart of Pharlap and the class of a Clydesdale. Tagger or no tagger he's not good enough.

Thanks for your service Clint.

[The Backyard Charizard 1,202]

I for one will not be overly concerned if we lose Bartram...... The guy showed promise early on, but a lack of awareness and skill had him struggling to cement his position in a bottom side.... Good luck to him if he chooses to go into the PSD.... I am sure a side like Fremantle or Richmond would pick him up..... That is not as much a dig at Bartram's ability as it is a dig at the recruiting of the two clubs mentioned

[gOLLy 401]

Bah

[Jaded No More 67,643]

Clint is still in Bali, so treat as a rumor at this stage.

I personally feel Clint has been shafted by the club. Was told last year after his top ten placing at the B&F that he would recieve a two year contract, with details to be worked out 'soon'. Nealry twelve months later, was offered a one year contract, along with a substantial pay cut. Thats right, a club finding it hard to meet the minimum salary cap was seeking players to take reduced pay.

Clint struggled this year after the death of his father, something noone can just easily adapt to. And the club let him down. He was told to play 'one or two' games at Casey to get his mind right, and then straight back into the team. That one or two quickly became six. He was dropped for a few of the last games purely because 'Connelly doesn't want him to play'.

A number of clubs came asking about him come end of season, and the club made the decision not to trade him. He said he wanted to go, and they refused to do a deal.

He'll get a gig somewhere else, no doubt. If he is played as a true tagger, something Bailey has refused to do all year, he will be a valuable player to a side.

Thank you for the insight.

I don't believe that the club would deliberately not trade him. If a good deal was brought to the table, we would have snatched it, especially if as you say, he doesn't seem to be part of our long-term future. Understandably though, we weren't going to trade him for pick 100 if his future with us was still unknown. Better Bartram than pick 100 we would have said, and we would have been right.

I do wish Clint all the best, whether he stays at Melbourne or elsewhere, because he is without a doubt a very brave young man who has given his absolute all since coming to the club. But he isn't a very good player and he won't be part of our next premiership team, and hence he is expandable. If he goes to make room for the elevation of Spencer or for Luke Ball, it would be good list management on behalf of the club.

And if he wants out, he should walk and try his luck in the ND. With such a shallow draft, he's likely to get picked up by someone else.

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

Midfielders to be selected before Bartram :

Davey

Sylvia

Moloney

Morton

Jones

Grimes

hopefully Luke Ball

Blease

Strauss

Scully

Trengove

maybe even Dunn, Valenti or Buckley

end of story

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

he is expandable

Really? How big does he get?

[Jaded No More 67,643]

Really? How big does he get?

Give me a break, I've been up since 5.30am editing a thesis...

If only Cale Morton was expandable

[volders 22]

If only Cale Morton was expandable

LOL

but yeah bit sad to see him go after he was so looking very promising in his first season, 5th in rising star (behing murphy/h.shaw/pearce/raines) but hasn't shown much since then

[DeeSpencer 24,752]

He is still the best shut down small defender we have (maybe barring Grimes). If I'm Neon Leon outside of September I'd much rather be on Cheney, Bennell or Strauss. It's the promise of Bennell and Strauss that would force Clint out. Personally I'd rather lose Cheney than Bartram though, Clint has similarly average skills but very good speed.

As a tagger he's decent, but how do you justify giving games to a tagger when you need to develop other players. Dunn as a tagger has more potential (I hate to use that word) as shown through his goal kicking.

[The Big Ticket 94]

Met Clint a few times..Nice bloke, but can't kick a football.

[mordja 187]

agree, just not up to it. Liked him early, needed to lift, didnt have the skills.

Played as a tagger (which he quite obviously wasnt going to get under DB) he may be a very good stopper.

[Spirit of the Demon 249]

I can't believe some of the handwringing that's been going on about a few fringe players who played in the wooden spoon side and aren't particularly skillful. The fact is that I would be staggered if Bartram wasn't shopped around but by the same token I wouldn't be surprised if there were no takers either.

The reality is that over the coming weeks there are going to be a lot of discontented players as every club announces its delistings. The clubs are forced to make changes under the AFL's rules and it's inevitable that some heads will roll. Those on the fringe have a fair idea what's going to happen and some leave the building before the axe falls. Sad as it may be, at least two more names will be out of favour and off the senior list within the next week or so. It's part of life for footballers.

[Rogue 585]

What's this about McNamara?

Not good news if he has. Not so much because he is a required player, but because he walked out. I would be purprised if he got a go anywhere else, but good luck to him.

If it's true that we're not particularly interested in giving him money or years to a contract, it might be a bit of the old 'you can't fire me...I quit'!

He is still the best shut down small defender we have (maybe barring Grimes).

He might be, but I don't think he's particularly good at it.

Personally I'd rather lose Cheney than Bartram though, Clint has similarly average skills but very good speed.

I agree. Both are likely to go, though.

Everyone is writing off cheney, i dont see why... ive said it before and ill say it again, he was a definite positive from the crap in 09

What's his role?

He's not tall enough to play on talls, he's not quick enough to play on the smalls, and he doesn't use it well enough to play as an offensive/rebounding defender.

[Weedster 174]

Everyone is writing off cheney, i dont see why... ive said it before and ill say it again, he was a definite positive from the crap in 09

Very True - ready made replacement for Wheels !

[H_T 3,032]

Very True - ready made replacement for Wheels !

Ready made replacement for Wheels ? Is he as quick and agile as Wheels was for the quick small forwards ?

[Weedster 174]

Ready made replacement for Wheels ? Is he as quick and agile as Wheels was for the quick small forwards ?

Give him time - he's only been there 2 years

[45HG 1,539]

Replacement for Whelan?

Ha, there's only one person in the league fit for that title, and it certainly isn't Cheney.

[mauriesy 7,156]

Every year players leave football clubs. List development demands that you remove under-performing players in order to draft more. Players are going to be unhappy, it's something you just can't help.

And with our ever more youthful list, the next few years will see fewer retirements and even more de-listings. We've only got three players who will reach natural retirement age over the next 2-3 years (McDonald, Bruce and Green). So there's going to be a lot more 'aggrieved players' who will leave the building. Get used to it.

[Keyser Söze 0]

"The only constant in football is change"

[rpfc 28,048]

"The only constant in football is change"

I'm sorry, but you're better than that.

That is the kind of thing Mark Robinson would blubber on SEN through his cheek fat.

Just a really lame ironic statement that is as old as it is pointless.

[Keyser Söze 0]

I'm sorry, but you're better than that.

That is the kind of thing Mark Robinson would blubber on SEN through his cheek fat.

Just a really lame ironic statement that is as old as it is pointless.

I thought it was a clichéd saying in football that actually rings true.

Wasn't meant to be a profound statement.

But you're probably right.

Some great imagery of Mark Robinson trying to spit that saying out between mouthfuls of a gigantic ham sandwich.

(Really shoulda just quit while I was ahead...)

Edited October 16, 2009 by Keyser Söze

[Nasher 33,607]

And with our ever more youthful list, the next few years will see fewer retirements and even more de-listings. We've only got three players who will reach natural retirement age over the next 2-3 years (McDonald, Bruce and Green). So there's going to be a lot more 'aggrieved players' who will leave the building. Get used to it.

Precisely. I'm grateful for the fact that rhe last two years, it has been Chris Johnson and Clint Bartram.