I've taken your advice.

Obviously, the ethics and standards of the way the AFL operates is irrelevant and a non issue.

The threads are merged.

In 24 hours this thread will be irrelevant and a non issue.

If Nm 31 does indeed accept an offer from GWS then it will perhaps say more about him than about the Melbourne Football Club.

The alleged 'inspection of facilities ' trip to GWS does have all the hallmarks of the infamous Chris Judd 'Meet The Clubs charade.

If he does leave after just 2 years it will be the most dastardly act ever committed by a player of the Melbourne Football Club over our 153 year history.

In terms of the compensation my view last year was that clubs that lost players to the new teams should have been very generously compensated because they were the clubs losing talented players for the overall good of the code in a manner they would not normally face. Of course Geelong received only moderate compensation for losing a play of Ablett's talents so we have to hope that the relevant factors such as pick taken in draft, age and contract offer do at least deliver similar compensation to what Geelong received.

Speaking of integrity, IIRC even when Chris Judd left WCE, he didn't want to leave without the Eagles getting properly compensated. Whatever you might think of Judd, he gets my respect at least for taking that sort of a stand.

This is a massive point!

If he is indeed still negotiating with GWS (smart move considering he will now possibly be their marquee signing). The least he can do is make sure we are adequately compensated. If this is what he is doing then I wish him the best of luck.

If not then............

Still we await the decision. He may still sign with the Dee's, although I ran out of breath ages ago.....

Speaking of integrity, IIRC even when Chris Judd left WCE, he didn't want to leave without the Eagles getting properly compensated. Whatever you might think of Judd, he gets my respect at least for taking that sort of a stand.

I think a Scully has no say in what compensation the club gets - its a formula. The Judd departure was always going to be a negotiation with another club if he wanted to go to the club of his choice.

And you can dismiss the guff that Judd wanted the eagles properly compensated. Basically the club of Judd's choice had the option to give what the Eagles wanted or play poker with the Eagles where the Eagles had the Port Adelaide/Nick Stevens option of saying "Screw you - play ball or you can go to the first club in the PSD" ( Even The StKilda option on Luke Ball could have gone wrong had we picked him). Its easy to be magnanimous when you know your suitors are going to play ball.

Edit - you have got to admire Collingwoods balls of steel - they missed Nick Stevens by playing hardball and not trading but got Luke Ball by playing hardball. Apparently StKilda knocked back Wellingham for Ball **(**unsubstantiated media reports)

http://funny-stuff.audio4fun.com/sound-effects.php?op=dload&id=17307

Gee now i know how Tony Abbott feel in waiting for an Election. Just end this already.

Agree with old dee. If he goes we need to develop an 'us versus them' mentality and really use this to try to generate the kind of anger and passion that has seemed absent from our recent performances on the field.

In terms of compensation, my understanding of the Ablett compo was that Geelong got one mid-range first round pick and one pick immediately after its first round pick. Let's say we finish 11th next year as an example and that Port, GC and Brisbane don't get priority picks pre-Round 1. If the compensation was the same as Ablett, we would get pick 9 (i.e. the pick after our first round pick) and roughly pick 11 (i.e. the mid-range first round pick).

While I would want an early pick for Scully (i.e. top 5), at least this would be fairer than say two late first round picks.

You wouldn't use the compo picks in this draft as they'd be picks 13 and 21 (or something like that) as the compromised 2011 draft pushes us further down the order.

You would though consider trading the compo pick(s) to GWS for access to O'Meara. While other clubs can offer higher draft picks in the 2011 draft than us, what they can't offer is compo picks which can be used in the next five years and therefore have more value than picks in the 2011 draft.

I would agree with members and supporters standing up to and challenging the AFL if we didn't receive fair compensation.

74 PEOPLE READING THIS POST OMG!

I would agree with members and supporters standing up to and challenging the AFL if we didn't receive fair compensation.

And we didn't even tank to get him!! Just ask Vlad himself... B)

He couldn't use that against us.

Agree with old dee. If he goes we need to develop an 'us versus them' mentality and really use this to try to generate the kind of anger and passion that has seemed absent from our recent performances on the field.

In terms of compensation, my understanding of the Ablett compo was that Geelong got one mid-range first round pick and one pick immediately after its first round pick. Let's say we finish 11th next year as an example and that Port, GC and Brisbane don't get priority picks pre-Round 1. If the compensation was the same as Ablett, we would get pick 9 (i.e. the pick after our first round pick) and roughly pick 11 (i.e. the mid-range first round pick).

While I would want an early pick for Scully (i.e. top 5), at least this would be fairer than say two late first round picks.

You wouldn't use the compo picks in this draft as they'd be picks 13 and 21 (or something like that) as the compromised 2011 draft pushes us further down the order.

You would though consider trading the compo pick(s) to GWS for access to O'Meara. While other clubs can offer higher draft picks in the 2011 draft than us, what they can't offer is compo picks which can be used in the next five years and therefore have more value than picks in the 2011 draft.

I would agree with members and supporters standing up to and challenging the AFL if we didn't receive fair compensation.

We should be standing up and challenging the AFL before they hand out the compensation.

I believe there is a special clause for the AFL to step in and override any decision based on the formula that furnishes an "unfair result".

The MFC and every single one of it's supporters should be making as much noise as possible and shout from the rafters at the AFL to step in and give us decent pick/s.

We as a supporter group have to seriously make some noise about this. Call radio stations, write to paper editors, the club, the AFL, everyone. Really get angry and make some noise before the fix is in (which it already is but at least we might be able to do something about the end result).

Whispering Jack ... you shouldn't feel bad about starting that "shafted" thread. That's exactly what we need to be shouting out now as supporters.

Let's show people that we're not as bruise-free as they think we are!

I'm in no way a pessimist but the reality of the situation is the Club has been on the most part weak, meek and crap for 50 years.

Even if that sweeping generalisation was true, it doesn't mean that EVERY SINGLE THING the club does is crap - which is the picture that the woebegones paint.

Agree RR

I just went to http://telstra.com/subscriptions/afl/contactus/feedbackchoice.asp

and sent them my thoughts... nice and sweet.

Time for the caged monkeys to start tossing their sh#t around...

It's a pretty simple decision for the kid to make. You can either commit to the oldest football club in the world showing loyalty and integrity and earn a healthy sum on the way. Or you can [censored] yourself out for a few hundred thousand extra dollars in the short term but probably not much difference long term.

So does the kid have integrity as we're so often told? Or is he a money-grubbing [censored]?

Hopefully we find out tomorrow so the club and supporters can move on.

It's a pretty simple decision for the kid to make. You can either commit to the oldest football club in the world showing loyalty and integrity and earn a healthy sum on the way. Or you can [censored] yourself out for a few hundred thousand extra dollars in the short term but probably not much difference long term.

So does the kid have integrity as we're so often told? Or is he a money-grubbing [censored]?

Hopefully we find out tomorrow so the club and supporters can move on.

Agree 100%. Get it over and done with and move on and remind ourselves of all the other great kids we have representing this great club.

This should be in the other Scully thread. It transcends nothing.

If Scully is gone and we obtain the same deal as a proven superstar of the game who was at his peak I cant see how we can feel robbed. Particularly when the value of those picks is perceived as heightened if we can use them in the mini-draft. You can argue the amount of years of service we miss out on a potential superstar but we are talking speculative and their is nothing I have seen that shows more than that. He had a good year last year but no sure signs of being a superstar. He has had a poor year this year which has been hampered by what could be an ongoing battle with knee issues.

If he's gone. Extract the best compensation possible via the criteria that was agreed to with the AFL and then focus our energies on using it to our best advantage.

It's a pretty simple decision for the kid to make. You can either commit to the oldest football club in the world showing loyalty and integrity and earn a healthy sum on the way. Or you can [censored] yourself out for a few hundred thousand extra dollars in the short term but probably not much difference long term.

So does the kid have integrity as we're so often told? Or is he a money-grubbing [censored]?

Hopefully we find out tomorrow so the club and supporters can move on.

Can someone explain to me how the money he will make in the long term is not much different ? That is a throw away comment with no substance.

If the figures are to be believed he will make $600K a season for 5 years at Melbourne and $1M a season for 5 years at GWS. Thats $2M difference over the life of the contract. That takes him to 25 years old - lets put his career out to 33 - 8 years following. He has got to earn $250K per year more somewhere else for 8 years purely to break even with the first contract.

Secondly GWS are heavily front loading the first contract, as would the MFC but GWS are front loading $1M per year as opposed to MFC $600K.

Happy to discuss lots of other reasons for him to stay but anyway you look it - if it is a financial decision there are huge reasons for him to go. There is a big short and long term $ difference.

Reading some of the comments by supporters who are so willing to accept their fate so easily, it is easy to understand why the Fat Man and the AFL find us such an easy touch.

It's a pretty simple decision for the kid to make. You can either commit to the oldest football club in the world showing loyalty and integrity and earn a healthy sum on the way. Or you can [censored] yourself out for a few hundred thousand extra dollars in the short term but probably not much difference long term.

So does the kid have integrity as we're so often told? Or is he a money-grubbing [censored]?

I have no more idea than anyone, but I don't think it's just about the money for Tom - he's going to make enough whatever happens, and he probably realises that.

I suspect it's more about how he sees himself at MFC, and whether he can make "his" way (e.g., the hyper-professionalism, the not drinking etc.) work with us. While everyone at the club speaks of him in glowing terms, and so they should, it's clear he's a little bit apart from the group and culture. Whether that's an issue for him, or the other players, or the club, I suspect we're about to find out. He might just feel that it's easier to plough his own furrow at a new club, surrounded by kids.

We should be standing up and challenging the AFL before they hand out the compensation.

I believe there is a special clause for the AFL to step in and override any decision based on the formula that furnishes an "unfair result".

The MFC and every single one of it's supporters should be making as much noise as possible and shout from the rafters at the AFL to step in and give us decent pick/s.

We as a supporter group have to seriously make some noise about this. Call radio stations, write to paper editors, the club, the AFL, everyone. Really get angry and make some noise before the fix is in (which it already is but at least we might be able to do something about the end result).

Whispering Jack ... you shouldn't feel bad about starting that "shafted" thread. That's exactly what we need to be shouting out now as supporters.

Let's show people that we're not as bruise-free as they think we are!

Can't disagree with any of that. Good post.

I have no more idea than anyone, but I don't think it's just about the money for Tom - he's going to make enough whatever happens, and he probably realises that.

I suspect it's more about how he sees himself at MFC, and whether he can make "his" way (e.g., the hyper-professionalism, the not drinking etc.) work with us. While everyone at the club speaks of him in glowing terms, and so they should, it's clear he's a little bit apart from the group and culture. Whether that's an issue for him, or the other players, or the club, I suspect we're about to find out. He might just feel that it's easier to plough his own furrow at a new club, surrounded by kids.

Nup. It's for the money and the money only.

I have no more idea than anyone, but I don't think it's just about the money for Tom - he's going to make enough whatever happens, and he probably realises that.

I suspect it's more about how he sees himself at MFC, and whether he can make "his" way (e.g., the hyper-professionalism, the not drinking etc.) work with us. While everyone at the club speaks of him in glowing terms, and so they should, it's clear he's a little bit apart from the group and culture. Whether that's an issue for him, or the other players, or the club, I suspect we're about to find out. He might just feel that it's easier to plough his own furrow at a new club, surrounded by kids.

This is the youngest list we've ever had. And to some peoples chagrin, the kids we have drafted are all choir boys.

Can you imagine what kids earning massive coin in West Sydney are going to get up to, and get away with, where no one knows who they are and not many older players around to tell them to pull their head in?

I don't buy the culture argument, he couldn't be that naive.

Nup. It's for the money and the money only.

We may vehemently disagree on how events have and will unfold but if he goes I am of the same opinion. It is a bucket load of money. Callan Ward was pretty clear why he went.

We may have different opinions on this site, but we are all in this together. Soon, we will all be grieving together before our anger takes hold. Or, we will share the same elation if he stays.

We may have different opinions on this site, but we are all in this together. Soon, we will all be grieving together before our anger takes hold. Or, we will share the same elation if he stays.

Very well said, Samsara

Just heard on MMM that he has been up in Sydney the last day now, in the background of all the ward announcements etc. Expected to be announced in Sydney on Monday as a GWS player.