Best of luck to Rivers - he has been a pillar of strength and consistency after a few early injury-riddled years. But I reckon it is a poor decision on his behalf. The Cats have lost Ottens, Harley, Ling, Scarlett, Wojinski, and probably others I have forgotten over the past 2 years and I see them sliding gradually out of the top 8. And as good as Rivers was for the Dees, there is no way he fills the Scarlett hole.

What it does emphasise though is Neeld's take on our past leaders. He preferred Grimes and a very young Trengove to any of Davey, Moloney, Green, Rivers, and did not express much disatisfaction at Rivers' desire to move on. This is beginning to feel a little bit like Blight taking over Adelaide in the mid 90's.

every one on here are fools i wish him no good will, i hope geelong go down next year, just watch if geelong slip down the ladder and need a little rebuild rivs will be showern the door, at the end of two seasons.

Squeezed out by younger, better options.

All the best Jared.

Good luck Riv, would have loved for you to stay, but best of luck at the cats.

PS. I think you have made a bad decision as the Cats will have to fight hard to play finals footy this year with Carlton, Richmond, Essendon and St Kilda pushing them all the way.

Also for those that thought one of the issues Neeld had to fix was our leadership only Aaron Davey remains of the 2010 leadership group.

Edited October 18, 201212 yr by deejammin'

In bigger news, what's with the name change?

"old" brand tarnished

I am tipping less coin at Geelong than Melbourne - they have much more talent they have to pay.

Good luck Riv and wish you all the best.

which in turn lowers our compo in a flawed system.

I am tipping less coin at Geelong than Melbourne - they have much more talent they have to pay.

Good luck Riv and wish you all the best.

Not having a go at you nutbean - but I don't know how you can make that assumption without knowing the contract offer from the MFC

Maybe his reason for looking elsewhere was that he wasn't offered enough to stay on and went for the next best option???

Anyway good luck to Rivo - i guess we'll all see now how important he was to us and how good of a player he really is outside of this club. No hard feelings on my part

PS: to clarify my position i am vaguely aware of the coin he was on to what he was offered

Edited October 18, 201212 yr by Unleash Hell

Squeezed out by younger, better options.

All the best Jared.

I think we all felt that when McLean left that he could see the writing on the wall and he had no future but I think we all got ahead of ourselves, let's hope we haven't this time. Riv is one of our better players and the last remaining senior player, apart from Flash and he may not even be able to play next year.

I'm disappointed he's decided to leave and I don't think it's been all his decision, I have a feeling that he wasn't encouraged to stay.

Anyway hope he has a few good years down there and wants to be a part of our club again after he retires.

It'll be interesting to see the impact of the placing of the compo pick on the Pedersen deal. If its 49 I guess we just hand that over, but if it's 27, surely the AFL would have to take over administration of the club if we gave up a pick that high for a 25 year old with 16 career games to his name who spent all but two games this season in the VFL. It just can't be as straightforward as Melbourne simply handing over a compo pick. We'll have to wait and see what transpires tomorrow.

Apologies if this belongs in a Pedersen thread.

"old" brand tarnished

I would have gone with '55'.

which in turn lowers our compo in a flawed system.

Surely the almighty AFL would be aware that an older player may sacrifice some income for success at another club not weight wages too heavily in their formula?

/sarcasm

Riv a good servant but he was pushed out of the backline last year and isn't as flexible as Garland.

I see Watts being groomed to do what Rivers was doing, and Garland was suitable in that 3rd tall role.

With Frawley and McDonald, we are pretty solid down there.

I would have gone with '55'.

mee too but must be at least 3 chars

Isn't our 3rd rounder now 58? Not sure if North would be happy with that.

Having said that, if this compo pick is 27 (1 after Viney, I have no idea how it's calculated) then it'd be overs.

Mcintoch went for a second rounder, I would put him above Pedersen in rankings for picks.

Pretty gutted to be honest. Wish Riv good luck because he's been a tremendous servant but I'd like to see us make him regret the decision.

I was hoping he'd go. Happy with this outcome. We have the third tall role covered through Garland, Watts, or even Dunn. And hopefully we get reasonable compensation, which we need after the Dawes trade. It's expected Pedersen will come too and I rate his ability as another tall.

It really does feel like a new era to me and it can't come quickly enough.

Rivers was a good servant and I hope he has some success.

Mcintoch went for a second rounder, I would put him above Pedersen in rankings for picks.

As would I, but I still think 58 will be a hard sell to North. Just seems a little too low.

Funnily enough I thought 45 would be about right

Not having a go at you nutbean - but I don't know how you can make that assumption without knowing the contract offer from the MFC

Which is exactly why I didn't write catagorically - "Jared Rivers is going to Geelong for less money" - because I don't know. I am making assumptions that Geelong even though they have freed up some money with retirements have been struggling with their cap. It is not outside the realms that the offer we put on the table was low somewhat forcing his hand. You are right - I don't know (just tipping).

As would I, but I still think 58 will be a hard sell to North. Just seems a little too low.

Funnily enough I thought 45 would be about right

Terry Wallet (on Trade Radio last week) said North would take anything to get rid of Pedersen - even 4th or 5th rounder.

I was quite surprised. Made me wonder if he's a tool.

NB - grain of salt required (Terry)

Usually when Melbourne players leave for another club I couldn't care less if they did their knee in three places, but I wish Rivers all the best. One of my favourites during his career.

Let me guess...Blacktown, SCG and Manuka Oval?

So why did JR leave? Didn't like MNeeld? MNeeld didn;t like JR?

Or just time for a change??

Anyone know??

Terry Wallet (on Trade Radio last week) said North would take anything to get rid of Pedersen - even 4th or 5th rounder.

I was quite surprised. Made me wonder if he's a tool.

NB - grain of salt required (Terry)

Jumping for joy if we snare him with 58!

The source worries me greatly though.

So why did JR leave? Didn't like MNeeld? MNeeld didn;t like JR?

Or just time for a change??

Anyone know??

I heard (take with grain of salt) he wanted three years, would settle for two but club only offered one.

Good luck to Riv. Would have liked him to have stayed on.

I agree is a curious choice as the Cats are not certain to stay up over the next 2 years.

Still the desire to play some finals must be very tempting.

Lets hope we are on the up next year or we will see more of the same.

Good luck to him, I wouldn't write off Geelong's finals presence just yet, with both Rivers and McIntosh arriving.

Given that they got another premiership anyway after Ablett left, that situation is working out for them nicely - the draft picks to bring in fresh young players, and the salary cap room to attract reliable mature guys.

I think Rivers will get to do exactly what he's best at, while with te Cats, and not be exposed in the one-on-ones that have troubled him a bit over the years. He's as good a positional match for Geelong as Dawes is for Melbourne.

Now, the compensation for Rivers probably becomes Cameron Pederson, and we have a 'fully stocked' key position list all of a sudden!