I reckon Bruce realised that he only had one year possibly two years of football left in him. He summised that at MFC he had only 1 year at most. He was right. After he had an injury riddled year with 9 games, Tapscott and Strauss were coming up and would have been preferred. There was no chance given where MFC's list is that he would have gotten another run in 2012.

And putting the Club before yourself in this modern game is not leadership but self sacrifice. Bruce may have been self mercenary but for guy who was pick 64 in 1999, he did well to play 233 games in 12 years with 1 Bluey and a couple of close calls on it. Wouldnt mind if we got a few picks like that at pick 60+.

Disagree, he would've only been competing with a 3rd round rookie draft pick. I'm not saying he would have definately got another year, but it would have been a lot more likely with us than Hawthorn.

I'm sure he'll be remembered very fondly by his Hawthorn brethren for his outstanding contribution to the club.

Cam's punt was to play finals in september. Hawthorn did but without Bruce. He would be feeling a bit hollow right now me thinks, because for all those hospital handballs & helicopter kicks we missed his leadership, but i applaud the club for standing firm.

Sh!t happens hey Cam !!! The Karma Faeries bit you fairly on the bum mate !! as so they should.

Oh we're a happy team at H........... that is...all but you !!

Over rated, over paid, over you, over and out.

Cam's punt was to play finals in september. Hawthorn did but without Bruce. He would be feeling a bit hollow right now me thinks, because for all those hospital handballs & helicopter kicks we missed his leadership, but i applaud the club for standing firm.

We havent missed his so called leadership...weve missed Junior's ..and hsi stuffing around and diva act cost us Jnr.

We havent missed his so called leadership...weve missed Junior's ..and hsi stuffing around and diva act cost us Jnr.

Out on the field & on the training track the team did miss Cam's leadership, regardless of the politics. As i said i am glad the club stood firm on the offer it made.

It was a contributing factor in the 2011 mess, but if we had over paid him again it would have been worse. The MFC will get over it.

I am yet to be convinced that Cam was a bootlace of a leader. Sorry thats my view. Cam was an elder for sure..a leader.. I doubt.

C'mon RP, stop being a smartass, putting the Club before yourself is leadership. The arguement is whether that's the only leadership he has shown this year.

You obviously train with the boys and see his leadership firsthand. Good one.

You obviously train with the boys and see his leadership firsthand. Good one.

As opposed to you obviously training with the boys and see firsthand what goes on that we don't? Good one.

Proportion some blame towards Chicken Nixon his dirty fingers were all over this.

I believe he gave Bruce advice that was very poor.

Would of been along the lines of MFC going youth road, you'll be tipped out soon,

they only offer 1 year contracts, hawthorn will offer an optional year, hawks are close to a flag

220 games of loyalty mean squat.

Bruce has made a fool of himself and yes injury limited his chances I hope he can be re-embraced by MFC

because he was a valuable contributor.

In the end, Cam's final hospital hand pass was to himself.

Out on the field & on the training track the team did miss Cam's leadership, regardless of the politics. As i said i am glad the club stood firm on the offer it made.

It was a contributing factor in the 2011 mess, but if we had over paid him again it would have been worse. The MFC will get over it.

HIs leadership could not have been missed too much if the Club stuck firm with Junior already gone. Hmmm.

Bruce was a side issue to 2011 mess. His presence would have blocked the opportunity to bring on Tapscott, Strauss and Blease. His on field impact would have been negligible. There was never any risk of being overpaid in his final contract offer.

Proportion some blame towards Chicken Nixon his dirty fingers were all over this.

I believe he gave Bruce advice that was very poor.

.....

Bruce has made a fool of himself and yes injury limited his chances I hope he can be re-embraced by MFC

because he was a valuable contributor.

Diablo thats rubbish about his manager.

Bruce has been in the system 12 years. The issue was do I take 1 yr at MFC or 1 yr at HFC.

The decision was Bruce's and his alone.

Lets put him on the rookie list. Could add value

Diablo thats rubbish about his manager.

Bruce has been in the system 12 years. The issue was do I take 1 yr at MFC or 1 yr at HFC.

The decision was Bruce's and his alone.

You don't think an unstable manager who makes poor decisions in his personal life would give poor advice.

Fair enough.

I recall I think in Ben Cousins documentary Nixon giving advice to someone other than Cousins and it basically

went along the lines of giving advice to a seasoned player to change clubs for perceived greener pastures.

Nixon had an influence, he was Bruce's manager you don't pay a guy 8% of your contract for nothing even

if you have been in the game for 12 years.

either Nixon didn't assist to mend bridges between Bruce and Club or encouraged Bruce to go.

An unbalanced Nixon would certainly had an effect imo.

Edited October 19, 201113 yr by Diablo Deemon

In the end, Cam's final hospital hand pass was to himself.

Brilliant, you really are Yoda!

Missed his leadership. You've got to be kidding me, that same leadership that was nowhere to be seen when we were garbage the years before he left? The same leadership that saw him sliding in feet first baseball style rather than put his head over it? (if he went that is).

Getting a heap of rubbish ball and being around for a long time doesn't make you a leader.

And I've seen first hand the leadership skills he had off the field, no one listened to him.

I'm glad he left, saved me another year of angst, and showed some of the blind his true colours.

I thank him for 2000, and bid him farewell.

He had to play a certain amount of games to trigger an extension.

Needless to say he didn't get there...

Ok that makes sense. Cheers rpfc.

Food for thought: Why doesn't mfc implement this policy with our over 30 players? Would be a better compromise for older players and the return could be greater for us.

I don't know that Bruce lost much.

Sure, he's no longer a one-Club player, but I doubt his reputation is tarnished much. Maybe he could have played on longer at Melbourne but I'm not convinced.

Furthermore, he took a crack at moving to a Club that was in contention and now won't die wondering. There was no chance at all of a flag with Melbourne in 2011 (or 2012).

I'd rather remember Cameron for the good footy he played for us - over 200 games is a fair effort - as is often the case , the last year or so of a player's career is focused on way too much - Hope he does well in his future endeavers .

I've been critical of Bruce over the years, but I find some of the sentiments in this thread distasteful. If he's played his last game I'll remember him as one of the better players I've seen to have pulled on a MFC boot.

Cam is actually a ripping bloke from what i have been told, so it would be interesting to speak to him over a beer when all haa cooled down to hear his feelings. It wouldn't suprise me if he got into fitness/coaching in the future.

yeah he sat on our table at a Western Demons supporter group night a couple of years ago. Absolute top fella, much more personable than Green

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7415/newsid/2551/default.aspx

He will no doubt qualify for Life Membership soon enough - the above link is our Life Members up to and including 2007 - some names may surprise .

No reason to gloat.

Cam inadvertently did us the favour but he didn't leave for more cash. The guy goes down as a Melbourne player, I don't see tarnish due to this.

The real story...about round 8 the media went nuts with Dees need and were disrespectful to JUnior, Bruce and miller. While there is some sour taste from junior, I don't really think any of these guys made a difference. Better to blood certain guys than have space fillers. A year without these three we are improved in both the backline midfield and forward line

Was not a fan of his for the past four or five seasons. But now I wish him well.

You don't think an unstable manager who makes poor decisions in his personal life would give poor advice.

Fair enough.

An unbalanced Nixon would certainly had an effect imo.

Its up to Bruce whether he takes the advice

Honestly how complex was the decision Bruce had to make???? Not very. It was in Bruce's court and he know exactly what he was doing.

Ok that makes sense. Cheers rpfc.

Food for thought: Why doesn't mfc implement this policy with our over 30 players? Would be a better compromise for older players and the return could be greater for us.

We don't have because it paints the club into a corner. What if he played the first 15 games, triggered the extension, and then did his knee?