Liam Jurrah: charged, on bail and discussion closed for now

[Jaded No More 68,867]

The grey area...and I mean really grey, is as a club, what stance does the club take?

I certainly don't envy the club.

Whatever they choose to do, they will be critised. It's a case of damned if you do and damned if you don't.

We definitely need to show Jurrah a different level of compassion and understanding because he is coming from a very different culture, and the circumstances he finds himself under are complex, dangerous, and extremely personal.

None of us can say how we would behave if our family was in danger, and none of us truly understand what goes on in Liam's community.

The fact that he's injured and unable to play makes it easier for now, it means he can go about his rehab away from the public eye, and things will naturally settle down.

What sort of 'punishment' the club hands out, I am not sure. Certainly the drinking needs to be addressed, but our club cannot get involved in legal matters. We can't act as judge or jury, and I personally hope we offer Jurrah all the legal support afforded to us, and let the courts settle the charges.

It will not be beneficial for Jurrah if we take a hard line. What he needs now is support, and understanding, and to feel like, in losing his right to return to his real home in the near future, that he still has a nurturing environment and a home in Melbourne.

If we push him too hard, he'll retreat, and that puts his career in real danger, which will put his life in real danger.

I would hope the club can resolve this issue of Liam wanting or needing to return home while this situation with his family and community continues. If Liam cannot remove himself for that danger, and won't feel emotionally satisfied in Melbourne, then there is no hope of him ever continuing at the club. Because while my heart goes out to him, and while I absolutely want us to help him escape charges and return to the field, we cannot ever find ourselves in this situation again.

[Forest Demon 4,681]

I would like to see him play in the seniors as quick as he is fit to do so...i know it is wrong to drink during preseason, he shouldn't have done it...but bereavement can do that.

The Best way Liam can repay the Faith of the MFC is on the ground.

That said...it is the coaches call...

Playing games of football won't even be on the radar for the time being, and correctly so.

[Sir Why You Little 36,991]

Don't forget to consider the other players however. A player like Ricky Petterd who has worked hard all pre-season and behaved himself missing out on playing for the firsts as his spot is taken by Liam would not be fair i think.

But you do not understand the situation...that has been made very clear.

[Jaded No More 68,867]

Don't forget to consider the other players however. A player like Ricky Petterd who has worked hard all pre-season and behaved himself missing out on playing for the firsts as his spot is taken by Liam would not be fair i think.

Rubbish.

No teammate of Jurrah's would wish ill upon him, and no player would ever begrude him if he made his way back onto the field.

Players will lose their spot in the side because they are not good enough. I don't want players getting games based on their off field behaviour.

[Sir Why You Little 36,991]

Playing games of football won't even be on the radar for the time being, and correctly so.

It should be....will be the most effective way to get his mind back in to shape....keep him busy...

Liam would be a very scrambled young man right now.

[Jaded No More 68,867]

It should be....will be the most effective way to get his mind back in to shape....keep him busy...

Liam would be a very scrambled young man right now.

Agreed.

If he wasn't a footballer, what would have become of him after Wednesday night?

Football is his salvation, and the only reason he has to stay in Melbourne and help himself and his family to a better life.

I have no doubt that he is well aware of that, and realises that without footy his life will be very different. That's why his people are very keen and supportive of his career, because they understand the wonderful implications of having stability, a career, money, and most importantly something real to focus on.

He has done an extraordinary thing for his people and his community already, he has given them a name, and a voice and a place on the map, and his power and influence will continue to grow if he remains a successful footballer.

We should be doing everything we can to help him achieve that goal, not for our own selfish needs (because lets face it, he is a gun footballer and we need him in the team), but because it is the right thing to do for someone who has very little to fall back on.

[Pennant St Dee 13,135]

This thread is unbelievable if you read it from start to finish talk about jumping to conclusions and changing your thoughts as further information comes through from the media. Look don't take what the media are saying as gospel they take pieces from here and there make assumptions and print what is sensational.

Yes an incident has occured, those involved are the only ones who know what really occured and that is if and only if (not stereotyping here but speaking from personal experience) they are sober enough to remember what occured. The investigators will not know what occured they will have information in form of possibly statements and forensic evidence. They may not know exaclty what occured but may be putting the matter before the courts for a decision to be made on the facts presented.

I suggest we forget rumours, what the media says and just let the court process take it's course. Liam will discuss it with the club but what occured is subject to a matter before the courts so until it is dealt with none of us will know what occured. What's done is done and nothing will change that.

Focus now moves onto Liam and the club getting him through what will be a traumatic period. The court process will not be dealt with before the season is finished therefore the club will assess what affect it will have on Liam's season and whether him playing is best for him or if the issues affect him to much. No person is bigger than the club and I'm sure the club will assess the entirity of the situation and the outcome will be whats best for Liam and the club.

So leave it and lets move on until the matter is dealt with. We have a season ahead to focus on and those in the club in the appropriate areas will take care of Liam, while the fotty department continues on with it's role.

[monoccular 17,417]

should be careful about what gets written here. prosecutor lawyers are probably all over this thread already.

on a side note what are peoples impressions on how the club would handle this?

do you think they will throw him into the team as soon as he is fit? or do you think he may be put back to casey until it is sorted?

thoughts?

I would have thought, again FACTS not clear, were he in fact found to be intoxicated regardless of any potential criminal matters, the club would have to impose a sanction on him as they would to any other player who was intoxicated. They could surely do no less.

And I don't think that prosecutors lawyers, as you put it, would gain anything useful from a site such as this - a lot of hearsay here.

[Harcourt 146]

should be careful about what gets written here. prosecutor lawyers are probably all over this thread already. on a side note what are peoples impressions on how the club would handle this? do you think they will throw him into the team as soon as he is fit? or do you think he may be put back to casey until it is sorted? thoughts?

Why would any lawyer be looking at a football club forum?

"And now your honour I'd like to introduce exhibit A, a print out of the pure speculation and inane ramblings of a bunch of nutcases on demonland, an AFL forum"

I'd reckon they will just stick with the actual witnesses to the case not people 5,000kms away who have NFI what they're talking about.

[olisik 4,060]

It should be....will be the most effective way to get his mind back in to shape....keep him busy...

Liam would be a very scrambled young man right now.

Yes, however i don't think it would right to slot him into the firsts as soon as he is fit like nothing has happened.

[hardtack 10,520]

A couple of things... firstly, I can't help but wonder what kind of affect this will have on the playing group (will it demoralise or will it galvanise them) and secondly (and this is something I really have no idea about, but maybe someone will?), will this simply be a matter for the MFC to sort out regarding penalties applied to Liam and if and when he can resume playing, or does the AFL have the right to intervene if they believe he has brought the game into disrepute?

[olisik 4,060]

Why would any lawyer be looking at a football club forum?

"And now your honour I'd like to introduce exhibit A, a print out of the pure speculation and inane ramblings of a bunch of nutcases on demonland, an AFL forum"

I'd reckon they will just stick with the actual witnesses to the case not people 5,000kms away who have NFI what they're talking about.

Lawyers look everywhere, and use whatever they can get there hands on. It would be ignorant to think otherwise.

There has been some 'Liam rang one of my mates' type of posts.

Anyway im not going to talk about this anymore.

[Jaded No More 68,867]

A couple of things... firstly, I can't help but wonder what kind of affect this will have on the playing group (will it demoralise or will it galvanise them) and secondly (and this is something I really have no idea about, but maybe someone will?), will this simply be a matter for the MFC to sort out regarding penalties applied to Liam and if and when he can resume playing, or does the AFL have the right to intervene if they believe he has brought the game into disrepute?

Interestingly we haven't heard from dictator Demetriou yet, or the AFLPA.

I assume they were waiting for legal matters to be sorted today, but you would assume that it would be up to the club to choose his penalty. St Kilda weren't made to sack Andrew Lovett, and Collingwood weren't told to suspend Didak.

Plenty of players have been through the courts before and generally the AFL stays out of it and lets the club handle the situation.

If Melbourne decide not to play him, then the AFLPA might intervene.

[Sir Why You Little 36,991]

Yes, however i don't think it would right to slot him into the firsts as soon as he is fit like nothing has happened.

I know what you think so it is not worth answering...

But in the case of Liam Jurrah...if he does not play football soon, he may never play again.

To Liam i would say "Head Down Bum Up you work yourself so hard & get back into that senior side, & the MFC will back you"

I believe our playing list would understand that, after they were at Wonna's bereavement.

[robbiefrom13 887]

Aboriginal life at Yuendumu is for us apparently as unimaginable as life on another planet. The allegations of an alcohol-fueled machete-wielding Liam seem to us so incongruous as to be inconceivable, nothing to do with the Liam we have known for three years. They are images from that other world, and the personal pressures/obligations under which people there live, about which we know nothing. Whatever his actual involvement there was, it certainly doesn't compute for us.

The Court - with some degree of local understanding - has sent Liam back to Victoria and, for the present, tells him to stay away from that other world. Who can find fault with that? With what paternalistic ignorance would we add our judgement?

So I say, we should accept him back with gratitude. On the footy field here, he will still be the extraordinarily talented and imaginative player we have marvelled at for the past three years - which may not be who he is in the Northern Territory, but it certainly is someone he wants to be.

Perhaps Liam will in time process these two lives he lives, and discover some way of harmonising these two worlds he is connected to. Maybe he won't. Maybe it can't be done. What a really wonderful thing it would be if it could happen. But we should at least embrace him living here, welcoming him back to the MFC and maybe trusting that the "alternative story" of the Liam who lives in our world - one of the most extraordinary and talented and courageous people in the AFL - will in time be strengthened, and will be good for him. He is some pioneer, whatever the eventual outcome! A privilege to call him ours.

[Sir Why You Little 36,991]

Anyway im not going to talk about this anymore.

Most wise of you.

[olisik 4,060]

I know what you think so it is not worth answering...

But in the case of Liam Jurrah...if he does not play football soon, he may never play again.

To Liam i would say "Head Down Bum Up you work yourself so hard & get back into that senior side, & the MFC will back you"

I believe our playing list would understand that, after they were at Wonna's bereavement.

Just because i said i don't think it would be right for him to slot into the firsts dosn't mean he can't slot straight into Casey and spend time playing with them at a lower tempo.

[Tricky 341]

Why would any lawyer be looking at a football club forum?

"And now your honour I'd like to introduce exhibit A, a print out of the pure speculation and inane ramblings of a bunch of nutcases on demonland, an AFL forum"

I'd reckon they will just stick with the actual witnesses to the case not people 5,000kms away who have NFI what they're talking about.

LOL!

[jabberwocky 2,301]

Just because i said i don't think it would be right for him to slot into the firsts dosn't mean he can't slot straight into Casey and spend time playing with them at a lower tempo.

You are still posting..

[Sir Why You Little 36,991]

Just because i said i don't think it would be right for him to slot into the firsts dosn't mean he can't slot straight into Casey and spend time playing with them at a lower tempo.

Casey will not help Liam...That is the point i am making.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

I am disappointed but not surprised in some of the comments of some my fellow Demonlanders. It is a sad and incredibly complex issue and one in which the story is still unfolding.

Agreed... Had a convo with my housemate, which went down the predictable "the law is the law" route...

I'm anti-violence like everyone, but that's why we have a judicial system and courts, and most importantly juries... to humanise the coldness of law. A REASONABLE person would see there's nothing about the last 3-4 years of Liam's life that's been easy, or simple. Particularly the last 48 hours.

As for MFC, the club is really between a rock and a hard place...

It's one thing to send delegates up north to try to pick up indigenous Aussies to better the club and team... Everyone at the club, including the current players, would applaud this. So when something goes wrong, what happens? Do we circle the wagons and protect one of our own? Are we decried for "protceting an investement?" Then there's the wider implications... we know how cutthroat the industry is, and many a team has stuck by a project player only to have them leave after a year or two on the list where they proved nothing.

It's the noble thing to do, to fly people up there to make sure he's ok and get him to Melbourne where he's been ordered to go, then surround him with friends and loved ones to distract the media frenzy... but what's teh implications there? Will there be resentment from team-mates who have had a tough time but WEREN'T shown the same degree of above-and-beyond care? Maybe they wouldn't hold it against the club or Liam, since they were only doing the right thing, but they could easily become disenchanted with the club if it cost them their spot in the 22, or on the list.

Likewise, if the situation legally is dire... what happens then? Does the club cast him off? Does he pull a Krakeour?

It's times like this where knowitalls on demonland really come into their own. Everyone has an opinion, and expresses it emotionally, and never with any degree of temperance. All too quick to get stuck into the board or footy department or whoever because the situation didn't work out ideally... When really, there IS no easy way to handle this. There's gonna be a hard way, or a REEEEALLY hard way.

The whole thing is just horribly, horribly sad.

[Dee Fan 3,247]

Liam said he wasn't involved and I believe him.

I don't think he would have made a comment if he was involved but the fact he said he wasn't makes me confident he is telling the truth.

[The Chazz 4,077]

Rubbish.

No teammate of Jurrah's would wish ill upon him, and no player would ever begrude him if he made his way back onto the field.

Players will lose their spot in the side because they are not good enough. I don't want players getting games based on their off field behaviour.

At this stage, Petterd and others won't have to worry about Jurrah taking their spot. If, as reported, Jurrah has been intoxicated whilst undergoing a strict rehab program, especially one that is away fro, the Club's watchful eye, I can't see how he will be anywhere near lining up for a senior spot until at least Round 4 onwards. By that stage, we will only be a couple of weeks away from his court case, and I'd be surprised if he would be picked until he shows form at Casey, which may be difficult due to what is around the corner for him.

Like EVERY single poster on here, I have no evidence, and I do not claim to know what is best. My personal opinion though isn't great for LJ, and am quite disappointed for a number of reasons. My gut feel is that he will never play for the Melbourne Football Club again, and that will hurt.

Someone mentioed above how he might have picked up a machete to protect himself. His offsider had an axe. Quite good luck that there was afight break out and it just so happened that an axe and a machete were just lying around the yard for people to use as protection. More silly was the guy that kept head-butting said weapon/s.

I'm all for innocent until proven guilty, but something just doesn't seem right with what we've heard so far.

[olisik 4,060]

Casey will not help Liam...That is the point i am making.

and why wouldn't it?

[dpositive 1,663]

I dont Think any of us know all the facts and what would be best.

I doubt it is worth speculating over.

Have been delighted with the clubs actions and responses thus far

Oli back to the footy threads as there is some meaningful speculation and scouring for the facts required.