DON'T LOOK BACK by Whispering Jack

While the attention of much of the football world is on the AFL final series, Melbourne supporters have been preoccupied with other matters.

The Tom Scully saga is finally and thankfully over. The predictable outcome will leave a bitter taste in the mouth for many but it can also herald new opportunities for the club. There will be compensation of sorts (although most of us believe it to be hopelessly inadequate) and there is money to lure players from elsewhere and reward those who have remained truthful and loyal.

Amid conflicting statements from all quarters over several months, the lingering truth from this unsavoury episode is found in the prescient words of MFC legend and club chairman Jim Stynes as reported in The Australian newspaper as far back as 28 March 2011 - Recruits forced to lie, Stynes says.

Stynes said the league should never have allowed Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney to sign players from existing clubs a year in advance of their inaugural AFL seasons.

"The way these two teams have got to build has just caused a lot of deception in the game," Stynes told a function at the MCG yesterday. "To date, players were able to go about their business and if things weren't working out, then they were able to go to other clubs.

"But I just think the AFL should never have allowed teams to recruit a year before they actually played.

"What it's doing is it's causing players basically to lie -- to lie to their families, their friends, their mates."

I think Jimmy knew then exactly what was going on.

To compound things, the AFL's rules relating to compensation to clubs for players lost in this unseemly charade are hopelessly tainted.

The unfairness of it all not only leaves a bad taste but it also shakes what little faith is left in the integrity of that for which the six teams remaining in the finals race are striving.

This game was once a sport in which the national ethic of egalitarianism and a "fair go" for all was paramount.

Not any more!

While the AFL, through its new franchise rules has perpetuated the farcical atmosphere of greed that now pervades the game, this issue is one with which all lovers of the game need to deal. For the Demons there are other battles to fight for the time being.

The Scully saga wasn't the worst thing to happen to the Melbourne Football Club this year (although it played a role in what became a shambles of a season). Things happened both on and off the field about which none of us can be proud.

There is much healing required at the club; a need to clean house both on and of the field, to appoint a new coach and his assistants and to recruit and trade wisely to continue the process of building the team in such a way as to ensure future success. When it comes, I trust that the success we achieve will stem from the fruits of hard labour and therefore something for all of us to truly appreciate rather than from blood money as is the case with the AFL's new franchises.

We must not look back. We move on.

I think we have to make sure we sign other players before next season.

I lost my trust to AFL 100%, I wouldn't be surprised if they change the rules so GWS can poach other players from our club.

The Scully saga wasn't the worst thing to happen to the Melbourne Football Club this year (although it played a role in what became a shambles of a season). Things happened both on and off the field about which none of us can be proud.

There is much healing required at the club; a need to clean house both on and of the field, to appoint a new coach and his assistants and to recruit and trade wisely to continue the process of building the team in such a way as to ensure future success. When it comes, I trust that the success we achieve will stem from the fruits of hard labour and therefore something for all of us to truly appreciate rather than from blood money as is the case with the AFL's new franchises.

We must not look back. We move on.

My thoughts exactly. The Scully move will hopefully prove to be the hiatus of a scrappy, patchy few years. We've seen this year that the club, despite the huge strides made by Jim Stynes et al, has some deep issues off the field in its culture. The exposure of these problems will, I hope, ensure that they can be faced up to and addressed, to clear the way for a successful new era on and off the field for the Melbourne Football Club.