The Tom Scully Saga

[rpfc 28,779]

if we want to be a top club we should try and find a way

You've got to fake it, until you make it.

[Beetle 4,681]

I know this wouldnt work in practice but, if every Melbourne football club member gave a $2 keep Scully match levee to the club for every match (h&a) at seasons end there would be 1.5m.

....and this would come under the guise within the salary cap of?????

[hardtack 10,627]

Too many people liken this to a work (normal job) situation. I certainly don't see it that way. It is a club, which has much different values to an office. This isn't a discreet office move for extra money, sport, well Australian sport, still has an element of loyalty to it and certainly evokes passion.

You are correct... and unlike an office situation, the average footballer has a very limited shelf life and is generally out of employment by the age of 35; this would make the dollar even more important, particularly when you consider many of the medical conditions that they are likely to inherit and carry for the rest of their lives.

Loyalty was all very well when it was an amateur sport and you had more chance of ending up at a club you supported as a child... but that is no longer the case.

[45HG 1,559]

You've got to fake it, until you make it.

So you ARE from New Zealand's next Top Model.

[wmth 69]

You are correct... and unlike an office situation, the average footballer has a very limited shelf life and is generally out of employment by the age of 35; this would make the dollar even more important, particularly when you consider many of the medical conditions that they are likely to inherit and carry for the rest of their lives.

Loyalty was all very well when it was an amateur sport and you had more chance of ending up at a club you supported as a child... but that is no longer the case.

Well, that's sad. I still think loyalty has a place and is certainly valued. Lance Franklin turned down Gold Coast amongst a host of others, and were applauded.

There's a legacy issue also.

Their careers a short, but they have a wealth of lucrative opportunities after football from being in this environment - especially if you can play. I never got to sit down with Garry and talk about business.

[rpfc 28,779]

So you ARE from New Zealand's next Top Model.

I am very pretty...

It's a US term used by sportspeople mainly (and Steve Tyler).

Evan Longoria used it a couple years back when his Tampa Bay Rays were one of the youngest teams of all time in the 'post-season' and playing for a franchise that had been a joke since its beginnings.

He was asked how his young team is so composed and confident as they took it to the world champs and he said that were not either but "you've got to fake it, until you make it."

They eventually beat Boston and made the World Series.

[Guest hangon007]

I find it unlikely that GWS will offer Scully ludicrous amounts of money.

Why?

I'm with you especially if the player is not interested in playing for you.

AFL clubs over the last few years have consistently overlooked players that dont want to play for them.

IMHO it all comes down to where he wants to play. If its GWS so be it, if its us ... I'm sure we will get a "discount" on his potential salary elsewhere.

[drdrake 3,187]

GWS is going to be the biggest disaster in the history of the AFL. The reason Tasmania doesn't have an AFL team is the AFL want it as a fall back when GWS fails. I can see the Gold Coast playing finals in the next 5-6 years, with the rumoured players going to GWS they will be 10 years away. I can see a lot of players getting homesick and my gut feal is the other AFL clubs know this and will be picking of their players after their first contract expires.

[loges 6,767]

You are correct... and unlike an office situation, the average footballer has a very limited shelf life and is generally out of employment by the age of 35; this would make the dollar even more important, particularly when you consider many of the medical conditions that they are likely to inherit and carry for the rest of their lives.

Loyalty was all very well when it was an amateur sport and you had more chance of ending up at a club you supported as a child... but that is no longer the case.

Not disagreeing with you but there's also the fact that 1 years salary for an AFL player can be like 10 years pay for the average man on the street

[Wadda We Sing 10,685]

....and this would come under the guise within the salary cap of?????

Ya Ya I know...just a light hearted observation......perhaps it could come under raffle tickets?

Edited June 8, 2011 by Wadda We Sing

[hardtack 10,627]

Well, that's sad. I still think loyalty has a place and is certainly valued. Lance Franklin turned down Gold Coast amongst a host of others, and were applauded.

There's a legacy issue also.

Their careers a short, but they have a wealth of lucrative opportunities after football from being in this environment - especially if you can play. I never got to sit down with Garry and talk about business.

Yes it is sad, but it's also a fact of life in the new millenium. If loyalty was an issue, we would have Judd as well as Moloney, but the rest would be trying their hardest to get to the teams they supported as kids growing up.

Why should someone (particularly a number one pick) feel any loyalty to a club that they have played just a handful of games with. He owes us nothing in terms of loyalty yet... unfortunately it's the system that's flawed and until they get that right, the AFL is limiting the ability of clubs to develop the bonds between player and club that eventually lead to loyalty - they allowed this situation with Scully to occur and he should feel no compunction regarding any decision he makes.

[hardtack 10,627]

Not disagreeing with you but there's also the fact that 1 years salary for an AFL player can be like 10 years pay for the average man on the street

Yeah, but the average man on the street is not necessarily going to be suffering the medical ailments that many players will be suffering from - particularly knees and shoulders, and in some cases as has recently been publicised, brain damage. So what they gain in material comforts may well be offset by a reduced quality of life in other areas.

Edited June 8, 2011 by hardtack

[old55 23,705]

P.S.- I wish someone offered me $1.5 for my services!

I'll go to two bucks Jaded but that's probably my limit considering your bung knee restricts the positions you can play in.

[Brayshaws' Helmet 143]

I'll go to two bucks Jaded but that's probably my limit considering your bung knee restricts the positions you can play in.

haha, well this is going to be deleted

[Jaded No More 68,974]

I'll go to two bucks Jaded but that's probably my limit considering your bung knee restricts the positions you can play in.

Sheedy is happy to give me $4. He really values my leadership skills.

Screw loyalty I'm off

Edited June 8, 2011 by Jaded

[rpfc 28,779]

Sheedy is happy to give me $4. He really values my leadership skills.

Screw loyalty I'm off

$4 dollar whorrific weather we have been having lately, hmmm?

[Brayshaw Self 847]

Trying to get Pendlebury is all well and good but why not throw everything at Lance Franklin in the next 2 years? He would complete our team and was a Melbourne supporter growing up, like Pendlebury. He'd offer more to us than Pendles in my opinion.

[rpfc 28,779]

Trying to get Franklin is all well and good but why not throw everything at Chris Judd in the next 2 years? He would complete our team and was a Melbourne supporter growing up, like Franklin. He'd offer more to us than Buddy in my opinion.

[daisycutter 29,743]

Trying to get Pendlebury is all well and good but why not throw everything at Lance Franklin in the next 2 years? He would complete our team and was a Melbourne supporter growing up, like Pendlebury. He'd offer more to us than Pendles in my opinion.

I don't think he is out of contract next year

Pendlebury has 'signalled' that he would be prepared to entertain offers

[Real Demon 232]

Yes it is sad, but it's also a fact of life in the new millenium. If loyalty was an issue, we would have Judd as well as Moloney, but the rest would be trying their hardest to get to the teams they supported as kids growing up.

Why should someone (particularly a number one pick) feel any loyalty to a club that they have played just a handful of games with. He owes us nothing in terms of loyalty yet... unfortunately it's the system that's flawed and until they get that right, the AFL is limiting the ability of clubs to develop the bonds between player and club that eventually lead to loyalty - they allowed this situation with Scully to occur and he should feel no compunction regarding any decision he makes.

Absolutely spot on!

I hope like hell he stays, but to expect some unwavering loyalty from him when he has only been at the club for just over 18 months is unrealistic.

And let's not kid ourselves, he is no less a chance to win a flag with GWS than the MFC........their window may open a few years after us because they are behind us in development, but like Gold Coast, they will be full of talent with the best kids in the country heading there as well, and he is still a kid himself.

[Age 485]

I just have a quick query should he go to GWS...

Isn't the formula for compensation worked out based on where they finished in that year's B&F plus what they were paid etc etc. With Tom's injury this year, you would say he would struggle to be a top 10 finisher, plus being a new player his contract would be minimal, therefore, wouldn't this all actually equate to quite a low draft pic given for Tom? Is it just a rigid formula or does actual common sense prevail and they take into account draft position, potential, injury etc? (Common sense and AFL don't really go hand in hand though so I will be worried if this is the case)

Was just a query I had for anyone who may actually know how it works.

[Rogue 585]

$500,000 is a lot of money!

And it comes down to thinking "well I'm worth that much to one company, so I should be worth that much to my own company".

I get what you're saying, and clearly Scully isn't choosing between a life of wealth and a life of welfare payments, but in reality you'd think that he'd be looking at $1m vs. $600,000 maybe.

I want him to stay but I also don't want our club to pay him so much that down the track we'll have to lose other quality players. There has to be a balance.

GWS don't have those issues so they can afford to throw buckets of money at players. It's impossible to compete.

P.S.- I wish someone offered me $1.5 for my services!

It is a lot of money but at 1.5m vs 2m you have sufficient money to live a good-quality life either way, so other things become more important (IMO).

[sylvinator 96]

Trying to get Franklin is all well and good but why not throw everything at Chris Judd in the next 2 years? He would complete our team and was a Melbourne supporter growing up, like Franklin. He'd offer more to us than Buddy in my opinion.

Because 2 years ago our club was a rabble, very close to folding or being moved to another state, in $5m of debt, with a crap team on field and lots of instability off-field. Add to that our terrible facilities and not enough money to pay good coaches or medical staff.

The prospect of trading for a gun now is very different.

- we are widely seen as a team on the rise who should be playing finals for several years between 2012-2018 with heaps of talent all over the park

- we have top notch facilities sharing Olympic Park with Melbourne Storm and also at Casey

- we are stable off-field, no debt, improving asset position, not in any danger of folding anymore

- we have front loaded contracts for the past 3 years, creating a massive $1.5m hole in the cap which has been expressly created to (1) keep our young group together AND (2) trade in a gun

- our youngsters are really starting to develop and we now basically know where the holes are in our list, so we can be really specific in the players we target for a very specific role (gun big crash-busting forward anyone?)

- we are not the desperate losers begging players to come to us. We have the talent on our list, if other players want to join in the ride, they're welcome, if not they can get stuffed.

In my opinion MFC has never been in a better position to trade.

I'd be looking for us to attempt to do 2 trades at the end of the year (number 2 can be completed over any of the next 3 years)

1. With our awesome teenagers already starting to surpass many more senior players, I'd be taking this once-off opportunity to trade for one of the best four 17 year olds in the country. GWS are forced to trade these guys and I'd be offering package deals to GWS for players no longer in our best 22 but who could really benefit GWS- Dunn, Warnock and Bate wouldn't be sneezed at. Chuck in a draft pick or 2.

2. Specifically target a big crash-busting pack-marking tall forward to finish off our forward line. Identify exactly who we want (it'd be Chris Dawes for me personally) and throw absolutely everything at him. Imagine Chris Dawes in MFC, with Watts, Howe, Jurrah, Green and Cook allowed to play to their strengths without having to be smashed piller to post each and every week.

Exciting times ahead

Edited June 8, 2011 by sylvinator

[rpfc 28,779]

Exciting times ahead

I know. I was being flippant.

As in "enter any star of the game here."

I chose Judd because he also went for the Dees as a kid.

And that fact makes a world of difference!

[hardtack 10,627]

It is a lot of money but at 1.5m vs 2m you have sufficient money to live a good-quality life either way, so other things become more important (IMO).

Yes, things like climate, lifestyle, real estate opportunities etc. The only thing that I could possibly see being more important to someone like Scully will be family or position at the club. Forget club loyalty... direction of the club might be a factor, but so might the opportunity to play at a club full of fresh talent and pioneering the game in a new frontier (the wild west) - and I don't mean the Dees at Casey :-).

During the game last Friday I tweeted @DemonsHQ suggesting they offer him a guarantee of the captaincy if that would help to keep him - it could be in one year, or it could be two or three years down the track, but I would suggest that something like that could be enough to get him over the line. Perhaps they need a flood of such tweets to get the message across?

Edited June 8, 2011 by hardtack