We are not to be a charity club whom gives games purely for being a good servant...this attitude is the reason we are where we are..

Admittedly junior could have stayed at the club, however not as a player.

So even in retrospect you think it was the right decision?

In the games he played this year he more than proved he was capable of competing at AFL level. Our team is bereft of senior leaders and we denied a club captain and one of its great servants an extra year. It was a [censored] up, and it still irks me.

how many games do you think he could have played in 2011 in the guts as a useful attacking & defending role?

how many games do you think he could have played in 2011 in the guts as a useful attacking & defending role?

Impossible to say but considering the year we've just had, I'd have been more than happy with 13 games of the calibre he provided at the Giants. Averaged 5.2 tackles a game, just outside Top 30 in the league.

This is all alongside his role as a mentor to the younger players and leaders, WYL. Clearly we disagree, let's leave it at that.

Dont worry, we got Cook now

Juniors retirement did not open the opportunity for Cook. We could have had both players.

The issue is whether we would have upgraded Jordie or Spencil from the rookie list..

Impossible to say but considering the year we've just had, I'd have been more than happy with 13 games of the calibre he provided at the Giants. Averaged 5.2 tackles a game, just outside Top 30 in the league.

This is all alongside his role as a mentor to the younger players and leaders, WYL. Clearly we disagree, let's leave it at that.

no we don't disagree. I just think the club was in a true Rock & a Hard Place with Junior. If he had pinged his hammy again early in 2011 all hell would have broken loose.

I definitely think we got it wrong with junior! he was one of our best if not our best the year they forced him out and when he did play this year at GWS he was still pretty decent. Imo we did lose a fair bit when moving him on.

As for Green, he was starting to show signs of slowing down this year but he did still perform very well at the bottom end of the season, but there is a line where you either retire before you start to go downhill and be remembered as a great player or play on and struggle and have that as the last memories of supporters and i think the timing was right.

Cam Bruce i think was getting too old, even though he wasn't as old as some he was showing strong signs of slowing down, or atleast he did when he went to the hawks (i'm still surpirsed they took him given his age)

Opened up the thread thinking it was about Jack Watts, he did poll 3 against the Bombers

i was thinking the same thing!

no we don't disagree. I just think the club was in a true Rock & a Hard Place with Junior. If he had pinged his hammy again early in 2011 all hell would have broken loose.

I agree with WYL, however I still feel the club felt that one of the three (being Bruce, Green and Junior) was going to be let go from the club. Junior unfortunately was the one that we chose, but then the club had no idea Bruce would stuff us around with his contract and leave the club. Leaving Green and a lack of leadership at the club. If we had known about Bruce, I suspect Junior would have been offered another 1 year.

I agree with WYL, however I still feel the club felt that one of the three (being Bruce, Green and Junior) was going to be let go from the club. Junior unfortunately was the one that we chose, but then the club had no idea Bruce would stuff us around with his contract and leave the club. Leaving Green and a lack of leadership at the club. If we had known about Bruce, I suspect Junior would have been offered another 1 year.

that may well be what happened.

I'm sure the club made up its mind to get rid of Junior during the 6 weeks he was out with a "slight hamstring". He was playing good footy at the time - but they didn't expect his body to stand up. They were wrong!

All the players looked up to him . By kicking him out the club shot itself in the foot. Work hard -and the rewards will follow - unless you happen to be Junior McDonald! How to kill a culture by pulling out the foundations !!

Fortunately we have new people in place now ............

Jnr and the club went into the season thinking that it would be his last, he started the season well and jnr started to have second thoughts then he did his hammy and he took 6 (from memory) weeks to get back. His form then was not as good as it was at the start of the year but he was still was having second thoughts. The club thought otherwise and stuck to the original discussions.

Who knows if things would have been different if Bruce had of took the easy option earlier, the club may have kept Jnr.

It was the right decision at the time and still is.

I'm sure the club made up its mind to get rid of Junior during the 6 weeks he was out with a "slight hamstring". He was playing good footy at the time - but they didn't expect his body to stand up. They were wrong!

All the players looked up to him . By kicking him out the club shot itself in the foot. Work hard -and the rewards will follow - unless you happen to be Junior McDonald! How to kill a culture by pulling out the foundations !!

Fortunately we have new people in place now ............

The club didn't owe Jnr anything, they didn't kick him out. They gave him a chance when no one else would and decided to give another young kid a chance instead of Jnr just like when they gave Jnr his chance.

Screwing Junior over for the sake of a year was a monumental [censored] up.

He had valuable leadership attributes that we desperately needed and wanted, and was an examplery player for us.

Sometimes I shake my head at some of the stupidly idiotic decisions we have made with our list.

Newton got an extra year but Junior didn't. I mean FFS!

It was an epic fail.

Not to mention Newton was re-selected in the rookies ahead of a young 22yo Barlow (runner up behind J-Pod in the JJ Liston).

Looking back at it "delistings/retirements" did we get it wrong?

My opinion is that we were spot on.

Junior - didn't play much and has retired

Green - retired this year

Cameron Bruce - retired this year

Did we really lose a lot by forcing the hand of those on the verge of ending their careers?

Na, we're awesome

The club didn't owe Jnr anything, they didn't kick him out.....

He was captain of the club and he wanted to play on but the club said no. Most people would see that as being kicked out !

He was captain of the club and he wanted to play on but the club said no. Most people would see that as being kicked out !

and the club pays the Bills.

As i said earlier Jnr's hammies were dodgy and if he had pinged them early in 2011 we would have been a man down.

I very much doubt he would have played in 2012 unless he had had that "Gap" year.

Jnr was not Kicked Out.

A tough decision was made.

He was captain of the club and he wanted to play on but the club said no. Most people would see that as being kicked out !

Its not what Jnr wanted its what was best for the club. Jnr as a great leader I would have hoped new this.

We did get it wrong. It may not look like it from a glance over our playing list, but 2011 & 2012 showed what a footy side looks like without any real leaders. Even if Junior had been injured for some or most of 2011, Green as a stand in captain with his mate Bruce playing along side him may have given our list some decent leadership in tough times.

We did get it wrong. It may not look like it from a glance over our playing list, but 2011 & 2012 showed what a footy side looks like without any real leaders. Even if Junior had been injured for some or most of 2011, Green as a stand in captain with his mate Bruce playing along side him may have given our list some decent leadership in tough times.

You have my vote demonWA

It is not as though we have replaced them with rocket scientists.

and the club pays the Bills.

As i said earlier Jnr's hammies were dodgy and if he had pinged them early in 2011 we would have been a man down.

I very much doubt he would have played in 2012 unless he had had that "Gap" year.

Jnr was not Kicked Out.

A tough decision was made.

Don't agree wyl

He was pushed out make no mistake about it.

Don't agree wyl

He was pushed out make no mistake about it.

and maybe it needed to be done. The Club pays the Bills.

I don't think anyone is pushed. You either get a new contract or you don't.

The Club assessed his time was up.

I doubt they knew Trakky Pants was about to walk

Don't agree wyl

He was pushed out make no mistake about it.

Can i ask where you were standing when you witnessed this event?

just curious..

Maybe, mfc implied with the recent injuries he'd been going through around the time, that he was more likely to be making his way up from Casey - rather than a guaranteed start from week to week?

Maybe, he felt his body was letting him down? ..and after a year 'off' decided it had healed enough to go around 1 more time with gws?

EDIT: Wish he couldve been kept around the club, in some form of coaching role tho..

Edited September 25, 201212 yr by DemonDan...

Can i ask where you were standing when you witnessed this event?

just curious..

Maybe, mfc implied with the recent injuries he'd been going through around the time, that he was more likely to be making his way up from Casey - rather than a guaranteed start from week to week?

Maybe, he felt his body was letting him down? ..and after a year 'off' decided it had healed enough to go around 1 more time with gws?

EDIT: Wish he couldve been kept around the club, in some form of coaching role tho..

Five rows from the front of bay 53 in the Northern stand.

Retiring McDonald prematurely did and still does seem like a mistake. I see where Bailey and co were coming from but it really wouldn't have hurt keeping him on the list.

The club's stance on Bruce's contract negotiations was spot on, if anything it was a dog act on his part to leave so late that the club couldn't receive any compensation.

Retiring McDonald prematurely did and still does seem like a mistake. I see where Bailey and co were coming from but it really wouldn't have hurt keeping him on the list.

The club's stance on Bruce's contract negotiations was spot on, if anything it was a dog act on his part to leave so late that the club couldn't receive any compensation.

this is exactly why you cannot blame the club for Jnr's exit.

Bruce left for less money, even after the Dawks advised him not to.