Tom Scully

[Guest 36DD]

So many people and things pointing to the fact that he is going isn't a coincidence.

It's all very similar to the Ablett situation last year.

I am a big Dees fan but those who keep pushing things to the side and not believing them are either in denial or off their heads.

He is a midfielder who can be replaced. There will plenty of room in the cap for a free agent. I say target Buddy!

"Yes! 'Crisitunity!'"

(When Lisa informs Homer that the Chinese use "the same word for 'crisis' as they do for 'opportunity.'")

Buddy would be a good get, but maybe the effectiveness of forwards is going to be limited with zoning and pressing in the future. Have a look at Riewoltd's output in last years 2 Grand Finals.

Whats to say we dont nab a gun or 2 with the possible compo picks we get if scully goes.

Edited July 12, 2011 by 36DD

[Matt Demon 1,418]

http://soundcloud.com/6pr-sport-central

Tom's manager Peter Blucher from Velocity Sports on 6pr

Edited July 12, 2011 by J-Riv

[bush demon 2,032]

http://soundcloud.com/6pr-sport-central

Tom's manager Peter Blucher from Velocity Sports on 6pr

I wish he would stop banging on about whether DB was going to be coach next year.

[Jaded No More 68,835]

I wish he would stop banging on about whether DB was going to be coach next year.

Why? I think that it's a relevant thing for Tom to consider, as is all the other stuff mentioned in that interview.

It was a good interview and it laid out exactly what has been happening, no BS, just a lot of clarity and now we wait for Tom to decide what he wants to do. Hopefully he chooses to stay with us, and hopefully we make finals and that makes his decision to stay an even easier one to make.

[Bang Bang Bang 5,799]

Good, honest interview from Blucher there. Makes no bones about the fact GWS are out there and will be considered, but stresses that Tom's a great young man who is fully committed to his footy and won't buckle under media pressure, no matter how intense it becomes.

So forget Darren's tweets, Mark Stevens, Damien Barrett and any other "friend of a friend" rumours. Tom doesn't know what he is doing in 2012, so there's no way in hell these guys do.

Puts me at ease a bit for the time being, but I'll still be back checking this thread 100 times a day until he signs either way. haha

[Sir Why You Little 36,885]

I wish he would stop banging on about whether DB was going to be coach next year.

Tom wants to know the future situation of his coaching before he can properly consider these contracts....These contracts are once in a generation.

At least this guy is talking straight...

[bush demon 2,032]

Tom wants to know the future situation of his coaching before he can properly consider these contracts....These contracts are once in a generation.

At least this guy is talking straight...

i thought that it was significant he repeated the point in the same interview and then alluded to whether melbourne made the finals. This suggests Tom is doing some serious quality control auditing of our organisation!

[binman 42,456]

Have read most posts on the Scully saga, the tweets, the links, the articles etc etc. Like someone posted it's a sick addiction, like a very slo mo car accident. Anyway for what its worth i thought, having weighed and considered all the data and info, i'd post what i reckon might happen from here (nb i have no inside sources and this is purely my speculation).

My strong feeling is that whilst the money is a big factor (obviously) the issue of which environment will help Tom reach his potential is the biggest driver for him. I suspect he is hell bent on being the best he can be and that is his priority. The player he most reminds me of in this respect is Nathan Buckley.

Which football environment is seemingly universally regarded as the most professional? Which FD has the biggest budget? Which club will have a a driven coach, great assistants and a gun head of fitness next year? Which club can give him success, both short and long term - and allow him to remain in Melbourne where he has such strong family support? Collingwood. Consequently I reckon there is a very good chance he may end up there.

How? Well he could go into the draft and advise GWS he wants to go Collingwood. Collingwood could then deal directly with GWS and trade for pick number 1. Lets say Thomas and another lower ranked player. Thomas would be exactly the sort of player GWS would love - flashy, talented, media friendly. He could get the big, big pay cheque and the Maggies would have a ten year gun. The maggies could then also afford to pay TS a pretty fair wack, whilst still helping resolve what will become a pretty serious salary cap issue from next year. Alternatively they could trade some of their mid range 23 -26 year players like Beams et al. This would help GWS as they will absolutely look for older more seasoned player than GC as the AFL cannot afford the sort of losses GC have had. A win win for both clubs.

In this scenario, i'm not sure but i don't think Melbourne would get any compensation. If that's the case this would be a pretty handy bargaining chip for TS, one that he could play and perhaps "force" Melbourne to deal directly with Collingwood. Not sure what they could/would give us. Perhaps some draft picks and some players?

Far fetched? Perhaps. But whilst there would have to be some pretty serious wheeling and dealing and there are lots of pieces to the puzzle, if Tom advised his management to make it happen (ie get him to Collingwood), i don't see why it couldn't.

I think the dees are still in with a chance however. I believe Tom is a straight up guy and believe him when he says no deal has been struck with GWS. Even without a commitment lots of people supposedly in the know might believe he will go (which becomes a self propelling rumour windmall where every shake of the head has deep meaning) and therefore it becomes some sort of fact. Buts let's say it's true he has been thinking about leaving he may still change his mind.

The rumours about TS returning from China because he was uncomfortable with the drinking culture ring true for me for some reason and may well have caused him to reconsider his future at the dees. However since then i wonder if perhaps the dees have made some ground up in the club culture and professional stakes.

I reckon the club handled his injury really well, have been super supportive of him and fierce in their resposne to suggestions he a liar (and traitor - the dees should ban talking to John Ralph). Shwabby has lately emphasised the improved professionalism, infrastructure, facilities etc etc. The dees have handled all this with real class i reckon, which will also help.

Finaly another year playing with his young team mates will make it harder and harder to leave and might be enough to sway him our way.

I would be gutted if Tom goes (god forbid to Collingwood!) but in the end i don't suscribe to the theory it will derail our march towards success (can you derail a march?). Huge blow, sure but not a disaster. As i said the dees have handled this with class and not having to pay a huge wack to Tom will in the long run help us keep other player over the next few years. I would be more worried about losing Watts as i reckon he will be the most important player for the dees over the next decade.

Now for the many who won't have bothered to read the above palaver (which would be totally understandable) i will give my probabaility of where i reckon Tom will go (drum roll):

45% chance of remaining at Melbourne Football Club

40% chance of going to Collingwood

15% chance of going to GWS

Edited July 12, 2011 by binman

[Sir Why You Little 36,885]

i thought that it was significant he repeated the point in the same interview and then alluded to whether melbourne made the finals. This suggests Tom is doing some serious quality control auditing of our organisation!

Make no mistake, if we make September then our chances of keeping Tom are a lot stronger.

[east gippsland demon 7]

Have read most posts on the Scully saga, the tweets, the links, the articles etc etc. Like someone posted it's a sick addiction, like a very slo mo car accident. Anyway for what its worth i thought, having weighed and considered all the data and info, i'd post what i reckon might happen from here (nb i have no inside sources and this is purely my speculation).

My strong feeling is that whilst the money is a big factor (obviously) the issue of which environment will help Tom reach his potential is the biggest driver for him. I suspect he is hell bent on being the best he can be and that is his priority. The player he most reminds me of in this respect is Nathan Buckley.

Which football environment is seemingly universally regarded as the most professional? Which FD has the biggest budget? Which club will have a a driven coach, great assistants and a gun head of fitness next year? Which club can give him success, both short and long term - and allow him to remain in Melbourne where he has such strong family support? Collingwood. Consequently I reckon there is a very good chance he may end up there.

How? Well he could go into the draft and advise GWS he wants to go Collingwood. Collingwood could then deal directly with GWS and trade for pick number 1. Lets say Thomas and another lower ranked player. Thomas would be exactly the sort of player GWS would love - flashy, talented, media friendly. He could get the big, big pay cheque and the Maggies would have a ten year gun. The maggies could then also afford to pay TS a pretty fair wack, whilst still helping resolve what will become a pretty serious salary cap issue from next year. Alternatively they could trade some of their mid range 23 -26 year players like Beams et al. This would help GWS as they will absolutely look for older more seasoned player than GC as the AFL cannot afford the sort of losses GC have had. A win win for both clubs.

In this scenario, i'm not sure but i don't think Melbourne would get any compensation. If that's the case this would be a pretty handy bargaining chip for TS, one that he could play and perhaps "force" Melbourne to deal directly with Collingwood. Not sure what they could/would give us. Perhaps some draft picks and some players?

Far fetched? Perhaps. But whilst there would have to be some pretty serious wheeling and dealing and there are lots of pieces to the puzzle, if Tom advised his management to make it happen (ie get him to Collingwood), i don't see why it couldn't.

I think the dees are still in with a chance however. I believe Tom is a straight up guy and believe him when he says no deal has been struck with GWS. Even without a commitment lots of people supposedly in the know might believe he will go (which becomes a self propelling rumour windmall where every shake of the head has deep meaning) and therefore it becomes some sort of fact. Buts let's say it's true he has been thinking about leaving he may still change his mind.

The rumours about TS returning from China because he was uncomfortable with the drinking culture ring true for me for some reason and may well have caused him to reconsider his future at the dees. However since then i wonder if perhaps the dees have made some ground up in the club culture and professional stakes.

I reckon the club handled his injury really well, have been super supportive of him and fierce in their resposne to suggestions he a liar (and traitor - the dees should ban talking to John Ralph). Shwabby has lately emphasised the improved professionalism, infrastructure, facilities etc etc. The dees have handled all this with real class i reckon, which will also help.

Finaly another year playing with his young team mates will make it harder and harder to leave and might be enough to sway him our way.

I would be gutted if Tom goes (god forbid to Collingwood!) but in the end i don't suscribe to the theory it will derail our march towards success (can you derail a march?). Huge blow, sure but not a disaster. As i said the dees have handled this with class and not having to pay a huge wack to Tom will in the long run help us keep other player over the next few years. I would be more worried about losing Watts as i reckon he will be the most important player for the dees over the next decade.

Now for the many who won't have bothered to read the above palaver (which would be totally understandable) i will give my probabaility of where i reckon Tom will go (drum roll):

45% chance of remaining at Melbourne Football Club

40% chance of going to Collingwood

15% chance of going to GWS

wow.... well i can tell you if he ends up at collingwood ill be putting my time into the local footy club and giving the afl the arse. surely not! i have read that many threads on here that my head is spinning. im not gunna open it again until its sorted out one way or the other.... maybe.

[Real Demon 232]

According to his manager he knows the Melbourne offer, but doesn't want to know what the GWS offer is and will look at it after the season......that seems odd.

[Striker475 696]

<Scully to Collingwood post>

This would be up there with the most terrible things to occur in the AFL. We have seen consummate professionals function at clubs apart from the Pies. Yes, there is the Nathan Buckley example, but they can function at other clubs too. You look at the four greats of the late 90s-early 2000s - Hird, Buckley, Voss and Ricciuto - all ultimate professionals. Yes, Buckley did show a level of single-mindedness that perhaps the others did not show, but nevertheless all four became greats at the same time with dedication and effort at four different facilities. Countless players have flourished and thrived at less than stellar clubs. The player I'd regard as the best I've ever seen, Wayne Carey, came through the hellhole that was Arden St. You had the Hawthorn team of the 80s at Glenferrie Oval - not exactly a highlight for training facilities. Victoria Park was effectively falling apart for awhile, yet Collingwood continued to use it as a training base until the Lexus Centre - with Nathan Buckley.

Furthermore, I'd suggest that we now have some of the best facilities around. Five years ago when we were in the sheds at the Junction Oval it was a different matter, but now we're in a brand-spanking new training facility with plenty of equipment, one which is guaranteed to be backed due to it being the home of no less than four clubs. It's as good as the Lexus down the road. Yeah, Collingwood have their Arizona trips. They have a few extra sports-scientists. But you're going to hit a point where you cannot actually progress anymore despite the improvements.

Anyway, I think Collingwood have far bigger problems. Their own salary cap, for a start.

[Real Demon 232]

And now this:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/greater-western-sydney-tables-1m-offer-for-tom-scully/story-e6frf9jf-1226093397146

[Kento80 83]

And now this:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/greater-western-sydney-tables-1m-offer-for-tom-scully/story-e6frf9jf-1226093397146

Does anyone (including AD et al) actually believe that Carlton had nothing to do with organising Judds "ambasadorship with Visy? Absolute rubbish. And if Scully gets one of these ambassadorships, I would say that I cannot believe the MFC had nothing to do with that either. Such a convoluted rule, but I suppose I will forgive them if it helps us retain Scully

[Guest hangon007]

And now this:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/greater-western-sydney-tables-1m-offer-for-tom-scully/story-e6frf9jf-1226093397146

hehehe ... here comes the cavalrymen ... lets just hope the "boys" are on our side. B)

Edited July 12, 2011 by hangon007

[Guest Thomo]

Thomas to GWS, Scully to Collingwood

Huge flaw with your post is I doubt Collingwood would swap Thomas for Scully. If I could choose right now which player I want at Melbourne for the next five years it would be Thomas.

Scully has potential, but also flaws. Thomas is a proven gun. Why would Collingwood get rid of a young great player in Thomas for a young potentially great player in Scully????

Edited July 12, 2011 by Thomo

[Striker475 696]

Does anyone (including AD et al) actually believe that Carlton had nothing to do with organising Judds "ambasadorship with Visy? Absolute rubbish. And if Scully gets one of these ambassadorships, I would say that I cannot believe the MFC had nothing to do with that either. Such a convoluted rule, but I suppose I will forgive them if it helps us retain Scully

Well technically 'Carlton' had nothing to do with it, but the fact that Richard Pratt was at the time president of Carlton, as well as owning Visy, definitely made it a Carlton-oriented offer.

The club can't talk to these people, but what if, say, Jimmy talks to Jules Lund, who then talks to the businessmen? Wonder how that goes.

[Guest hangon007]

Huge flaw with your post is I doubt Collingwood would swap Thomas for Scully. If I could choose right now which player I want at Melbourne for the next five years it would be Thomas.

Scully has potential, but also flaws. Thomas is a proven gun. Why would Collingwood get rid of a young great player in Thomas for a young potentially great player in Scully????

Yeah no way will he go to Collingwood ...

a/ insufficient salary cap room

b/ the filth would go mad if they lost Thomas or dare I say it Pendelbury

c/ they could never get the draft picks to do it without giving toooooo much away

[Guest Thomo]

And now this:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/greater-western-sydney-tables-1m-offer-for-tom-scully/story-e6frf9jf-1226093397146

The AFL want GWS to succeed, and they have corporate links that dwarf MFC. I think that they could easily organise third party payments in Sydney to exceed third party payments from the MFC network if it came down to cash.

If it comes to cash (big if), whatever way it is looked at GWS will have him.

[Striker475 696]

Yeah no way will he go to Collingwood ...

a/ insufficient salary cap room

b/ the filth would go mad if they lost Thomas or dare I say it Pendelbury

c/ they could never get the draft picks to do it without giving toooooo much away

Yeah. Any of Pick 1-3 in that draft? Try Pendlebury + another on for size I'd say.

[Kento80 83]

True Striker, but even though "technically" legal, it is incredibly convoluted and really stinks. The only reason I bring this up is because previously I wasn't aware that the clubs were not allowed to arrange such things. Surely the conflict of interest should have ruled Visy out of the equation. Anyhow, the bar has been set, so I don't see that we should have much difficulty finding enough to make up most if not all of the gap. Definitely should help our cause.

[Guest hangon007]

Yeah. Any of Pick 1-3 in that draft? Try Pendlebury + another on for size I'd say.

Collingwood supporters would go mad if they lost Pendlebury ... they would pull West Pac centre down brick by brick ... it wont happen.

[Striker475 696]

True Striker, but even though "technically" legal, it is incredibly convoluted and really stinks. The only reason I bring this up is because previously I wasn't aware that the clubs were not allowed to arrange such things. Surely the conflict of interest should have ruled Visy out of the equation. Anyhow, the bar has been set, so I don't see that we should have much difficulty finding enough to make up most if not all of the gap. Definitely should help our cause.

It does stink. Carlton will try to cheat the system at any moment in order to get ahead. They have for years. I don't think it stinks as much if the person doing the contract-making is not a part of the MFC hierachy. I would expect that they would be a Melbourne supporter - noone is that naive - but I'd suggest that Jimmy and Schwab will, if they discover who the person(s) are, just guarantee that there is no link directly from the club administration to the other party in an inappropriate way.

[Guest hangon007]

True Striker, but even though "technically" legal, it is incredibly convoluted and really stinks. The only reason I bring this up is because previously I wasn't aware that the clubs were not allowed to arrange such things. Surely the conflict of interest should have ruled Visy out of the equation. Anyhow, the bar has been set, so I don't see that we should have much difficulty finding enough to make up most if not all of the gap. Definitely should help our cause.

Yeah but are we 100% sure they are on our side?

[Guest Rojik of the Arctic]

Yeah but are we 100% sure they are on our side?

Geez, one crises at a time. I'm sure other clubs will use those deals to hang onto their cattle. In a couple of years that will change but right now it's about protection first IMO.