The long and the short of it all is that .. as profoundly redundant as it sounds. We wont know anything til we know something.

There are indeed dark forces amongst us that seek to unbalance and cause mayhem. They do a pretty good job of it too. Interesting in the Buckley story that obviously Buckley it seemed WANTED to go and was accomplice to it all.

I have no real grounds to believe anything anyone about al this says. By this I refer to the parties of his management, GWS, the media etc.

Like BRFE suggests.. Ill believe Tom ( unequivocally) when he signs.

In the mean time Ill harbour my reservations and await the next piece of the puzzle.

My first preference is I want Scully to remain at the MFC on one stipulation, we dont pay grossly over his market value. If he wants to go then fair enough no dramas, one player certainly does not make a team.

I see many similarities between what Scully is doing and the LeBron James move from Cleveland to Miami. Whilst James effectively took a pay cut to play with Miami the way in which he went about the move i.e. live telecast special titled The Decision in which he said "i'm taking my talents to South Beach (miami) attracted a lot of criticism which continues to this day, question are continually raised over his humility or lack thereof. So Scully does have to worry about the effect this has on his so called "brand".

The other consideration is that a player does not make a team, in fact 3 champion players do not make a team, in the case of Miami (Wade, James and Bosh). Miami were beaten by a team (Dallas) with one standout superstar (Nowitski), a quality 2nd option (Terry) and the remainder who played their roles. So for those having a fit over losing Scully, please dont, a well drilled team, with players knowing their roles and intuitively knowing what their team-mates will do will always beat a team of champions. Now, I realise this leaves open the question of have we got a coach to create a champion team???...fight amongst yourselves on that one.

Because bringing tonnes of bricks to the negotiation table always achieves the desired outcome.

Strong table....

But Buckley has been branded FIGJAM and a deserter from Brisbane, and that stigma, although faded, still remains.

It would tarnish his legacy and his brand, if he cares at all about that.

I firmly believe he'll stay anyway, but I'm just interested in the perception of the effect these things would have.

I think you'd struggle to find anyone, even Brisbane supporters, who give Buckley's defection a second thought. Maybe they did for a few years after he left, but wounds fade and heal pretty quickly. A few flags helped ease the pain along the way I would've thought.

And he may have been FIGJAM early on, but I think Buckley has a pretty solid legacy and widespread respect now from your average footy supporter.

No doubt Scully would cop it for a few seasons from Melbourne supporters, but like any broken relationship, eventually you move on.

Edited June 15, 201114 yr by Range Rover

One thing that I think has come out of this is that if Scully does stay a Demon he has incredibly bad management. In an era when players can essentially be their own brand, Tom's brand has taken a massive hit.

I know that he said that he would wait until the end of the year and that lots of players do this, however due to no fault of his own this issue has got more and more press. This situation has changed and the AFL community is starting to turn on Tom, if his management can't see this they are not doing their job.

If he stays, his brand has taken no hit whatsoever.

It becomes clear that all the media hype and rumours were just that.

His image will instantly revert to being intact, that of the golden boy here to rescue the MFC from the doldrums.

If he stays, his brand has taken no hit whatsoever.

It becomes clear that all the media hype and rumours were just that.

His image will instantly revert to being intact, that of the golden boy here to rescue the MFC from the doldrums.

This may be the case if he signs soon, however the longer he leaves the more it appears that he is holding the club to ransom.

I agree that if he stays, it will help his brand. It will be viewed as a choice to stay loyal to a struggling (on field) club rather than be paid heaps to jump ship to a new club.

agreed, the longer this goes on the more his reputation climbs and the greater the pressure

every time in the future when him having a bad game correlates with us losing, everyone, mostly our own supporters, will be like 'cant believe we went through all that anguish and paid so much for this guy, he's totally overrated' etc etc

he is having his tires pumped up way too much and it is no good for anyone

No, going would always have had an adverse affect on his image, no matte how it was handled.

Staying will make him look like a hero and a young man of integrity - the boy who turned away billions of dollars to stay loyal to his club and mates.

Timing will be irrelevant in the end.

That it makes a difference is only a perception that will fade with time...

If he stays, his brand has taken no hit whatsoever.

+1

Sportsnewsfirst on Twitter is reporting that:

"#AFL boss Andrew Demetriou says he'd have no problem with young Melbourne star Tom Scully joining Greater Western Sydney"

Demetriou can go forth and multiply. He is flogging a dead horse with GWS.

Sportsnewsfirst on Twitter is reporting that:

"#AFL boss Andrew Demetriou says he'd have no problem with young Melbourne star Tom Scully joining Greater Western Sydney"

Demetriou can go forth and multiply. He is flogging a dead horse with GWS.

http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-sport/scully-move-would-not-bother-demetriou-20110615-1g3ij.html

Pompous, money hungry piece of [censored] who is out of touch with the game and will continue to destroy it as long as he is CEO.

A few observations:

1. this rumour has elements of the 'moon landing' conspiracy theory about it - a lot of it is based on innuendo and pure speculation rather than hard evidence and fact-based analysis (of which there is not really much to go on, other than what's formally been communicated by Scully, the club and his management);

2. if Scully does wish to play out his career at the Dees, it's actually in his interests to try and negotiate a good deal now. And that deal should not be for the most cash his manager can possibly squeeze out of the club. Despite many of you thinking it's all about the cash, I don't actually think it's everyone's first priority - certainly it hasn't been for me in my career. In my observation, most 'high performers' don't think first about the cash - certainly not so early in their career curve; rather they focus on the longer term opportunity and developing their underlying skill set. If Scully does wish to be a one club player, surely it's in his interests to assist the club in keeping the core of this group together, albeit on a bloody sweet deal. If he holds the club to ransom, we may potentially lose an otherwise required player and this could jeopardise Scully's dream too (assuming he wants to taste the ultimate glory with the one club, ie the Dees);

3. GC, which to my mind had a much more compelling case to a young AFL player than GWS, was only ultimately able to secure some of the Lions talent because of the Fevola situation - and it was also situated just down the road. The 'sun' and the moon collided for Ablett to go there - the reasons are well documented. Those reasons don't seem to exist for Scully - so it would presumably be solely a cash-based decision for him. That said, he doesn't strike me as a 'cash is the only king' kind of guy (absent some really bad advice from his management). But then again, I don't know him - and there's absolutely no hard evidence to support this view - it's based merely on my observation from afar and some fourth hand hearsay.

http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-sport/scully-move-would-not-bother-demetriou-20110615-1g3ij.html

Yes but he is so compromised by this issue. He just ignores the purpose of the draft because the AFL badly need GWS to succeed

But Buckley has been branded FIGJAM and a deserter from Brisbane, and that stigma, although faded, still remains.

It would tarnish his legacy and his brand, if he cares at all about that.

I firmly believe he'll stay anyway, but I'm just interested in the perception of the effect these things would have.

I don't think Buckley has been Tarnished at all (apart from being a Filth Player) How many people can actually remember him playing for Brisbane any way??

The Bears were just just the journey between Port adelaide Magpies & the Filth. He was always going there. In doing so he missed out on 3 Flags which is a beautiful irony.

I don't consider him a deserter at all. Never Have.

Yes but he is so compromised by this issue. He just ignores the purpose of the draft because the AFL badly need GWS to succeed

Hes not compromised !!! ffs its a situation of his own making. He loves it the Narcisistic @#$%. Vlad is above all this as he thinks hes above the game itself.. This is Vlads playground where all the minions do his bidding and be grateful for the opportunity.

He doest give a rats !!!

Hes not compromised !!! ffs its a situation of his own making. He loves it the Narcisistic @#$%. Vlad is above all this as he thinks hes above the game itself.. This is Vlads playground where all the minions do his bidding and be grateful for the opportunity.

He doest give a rats !!!

What a load of crap. The clubs and the players want more money, so expansion is needed. The viability of clubs in general has never been better and more fans turn up to the games. Demetriou is the best CEO in Australian Sport, he may have faults, but he is exactly what the teams, players and Fans want.

Those that think that Demetriou has ruined the game have not had to listen to a Melbourne game allocated to the racing channel on a Saturday afternoon.

Only 1 big difference Demetriou conveniently omits is that we traded Pick 2 for White. If that was the offer from GWS I could live with Scully's decision either way. But of course that's not on offer is it?

The heat is really getting turned up on Tom now:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/why-melbourne-would-call-tom-scully-a-traitor/story-fn6cisdj-1226075236053

Putting an ultimatum to Scully, is exactly what GWS want MFC to do!

Edited June 15, 201114 yr by tatu

Only 1 big difference Demetriou conveniently omits is that we traded Pick 2 for White. If that was the offer from GWS I could live with Scully's decision either way. But of course that's not on offer is it?

I think it was actually picks 2 and 18 !!!

This is the quote you are referring to -Demetriou scoffed at the suggestion that it might be a bad look for the game if a high draft pick went to an expansion club after only a couple of seasons.

He said the existing clubs had backed the concession rules granted to expansion teams Gold Coast and GWS.

"Was it a good look when Jeff White went to Melbourne (from Fremantle)? Did you write an (outraged) piece that said you were horrified and the sky was going to fall apart?" he said.

Now, Demetriou himself brought this up.

Will he now make sure that pick 2 and 18 is what we get if Scully does go???

I doubt it.....

What a load of crap. The clubs and the players want more money, so expansion is needed. The viability of clubs in general has never been better and more fans turn up to the games. Demetriou is the best CEO in Australian Sport, he may have faults, but he is exactly what the teams, players and Fans want.

Those that think that Demetriou has ruined the game have not had to listen to a Melbourne game allocated to the racing channel on a Saturday afternoon.

This is the same hypocrite that allows himslef generous remunerations and an immiinent pay rise but would have the players...those that actually generate the spectacle branded greedy for wanting a more representative slice of the action ?? yeah right !!

I have not stated expansion is not necessary...so cut the Strawman arguments of loading that together...epic fail

There are ways to do that without compromising the other clubs or hang ing them out to dry. His ( Vlads) action sare making a mockery of his own directions and supposed levelling of the field..He constantly changes the goal posts to suit.

He may be your pin up boy Thomo...but hes certainly not mine nor that of many in the game.

http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-sport/scully-move-would-not-bother-demetriou-20110615-1g3ij.html

i had no feelings either way on this topic until now, but i now think the young man is sydney bound after reading what that moron CEO had to say

Only 1 big difference Demetriou conveniently omits is that we traded Pick 2 for White. If that was the offer from GWS I could live with Scully's decision either way. But of course that's not on offer is it?

He has said exactly what I said he would say "it's not my fault ...blame the CEO's who approved it". To bring up Jeff White - despite giving up draft picks it was at that time more of a level playing field. We cannot, the Bulldogs, North, Richmond, Port etc cannot compete against what is virtually the AFL. To say that he knows nothing with regard to the trade picks is absolute tripe. If GWS had not been able to attract any named players who do you think they would call. Yeah right pull the other one. As if the GWS is the reason for the huge increase in the value of TV rights. What a load of crock. This team will be a burden on the AFL for years. Will Demetriou take a pay decrease when they are not successful. We all know the answer to that. If Tom goes he goes and we get done over again by the AFL.