I think that unfounded speculation about an individual's drug dependence sparked only by his disappointingly non-committal status as a demon is low in anybody's book, don't you?

Unless the source is Juddy's grandma, it seems unfair at this stage.

I dont have an opinion on it one way or the other - I wouldn't have a clue as I don't know him and take him at face value when he said he "retired" due to mental health issues.

However someone else had raised a "rumour" they'd heard about another reason for his time off and other posters were curious what he was on about so I linked to an article which "could" have some relevance (though at this stage I have no reason to think it would).

Yeah......nah.

Time to part ways.

Cya MC.

Sympathy for the Devil Blackdog

DCLXVI's take on Mitch Clark => http://youtu.be/gAhu5F6HXmg (Don't dismiss depression as irrelevant. Thankfully many of us know nothing about it. Have sympathy for those that do)

Yeah......nah.

Time to part ways.

Cya MC.

It's all getting a bit complicated and murky. I tend to agree now.

this thread grew so quickly, like 100 pages in a matter of days, incredible really, lol!

wish our players were this passionate...lol...

Hawks say they are not after Clark (in today's HS).

Please MFC do whatever must be done and let's get this behind us.

collingwood is the big rumour according to pretty much everyone.

collingwood is the big rumour according to pretty much everyone.

Pert invited Roos his mate to talk to HL. he knew they were into MC. Eddie surpisingly for a media man has not said one word on MC. Doesn't want to be seen as a [censored] for stealing a bloke that MFC has bent over backwards for.

Chris Scott very quiet today when he said he would love Frawley to play for the Cats.

Wonderful competition where the rich and successful just pillage the poor and weaker teams. The AFL hierarchy should be ashamed of what they have created.

Do they think if a team is incapable of improvement under these conditions, people will just give money, support and blind loyalty forever?

Red. We are/will be better for the moving on, in their current form, of bothe Chip and Mitch. Its just what is.

Agreed red leg, it's just pathetic - we are continuing to be pillaged.

But if we request help? Nah, don't deserve it - we've only got ourselves to blame!

equalisation is only for the rich

equalisation is only for the rich

Yep, that's how it works. Welcome to the brave new world. Top teams pick up champs from the bottom teams (with a few exceptions, such as Buddy) because they "want to play finals".

Bottom teams get the delisted riff-raff (again, with a few exceptions, such as Cross)

Most are suggesting that its Mitch's fault. Yes he started shopping around but who says we didn't initially not show a great deal of interest in his return and maybe even suggested he try "elsewhere" and help us make a deal?

The fact is Clark has left a trail of disaffected clubs in his wake - Brisbane, Freo and ourselves. His manager implied that he walked away from a lucrative deal with us on altruistic grounds - don't think so. There is little support for the way he has gone about it from most of the football world. The whole thing is very distasteful and Clark has to start building some bridges otherwise he will find himself even more under pressure.

At the moment it is very much buyer beware with him.

Given our support for Mitch in the past I would assume that the club would have provided him with what they believed is a fair contract, i.e. given injuries it would probably have a low salary base but performance / match payments to boost his salary should he play for the seniors or perform. Any other type of contract would either devalue him should be play or end up screwing the MFC should be continue to have injuries.

I am not sure there is any benefit of taking him as a rookie, i.e. if he is well enough to play he should be playing, if he is injured we could potentially put him on a long term injury list to ensure he recovers. The fact that he is shopping around means that he wants to know what the market is prepared to pay him and possibly if he can also get picked up by a top 4-8 team. I doubt any team is going to give him a high base salary given his injury history. I wonder if he will ever be capable of playing a full season of football.

Pert invited Roos his mate to talk to HL. he knew they were into MC. Eddie surpisingly for a media man has not said one word on MC. Doesn't want to be seen as a [censored] for stealing a bloke that MFC has bent over backwards for.

Chris Scott very quiet today when he said he would love Frawley to play for the Cats.

Wonderful competition where the rich and successful just pillage the poor and weaker teams. The AFL hierarchy should be ashamed of what they have created.

Do they think if a team is incapable of improvement under these conditions, people will just give money, support and blind loyalty forever?

I'm wondering how long before they drop the merger/relocation package in front of us... Can't be long now, surely...

Pert invited Roos his mate to talk to HL. he knew they were into MC. Eddie surpisingly for a media man has not said one word on MC. Doesn't want to be seen as a [censored] for stealing a bloke that MFC has bent over backwards for.

Chris Scott very quiet today when he said he would love Frawley to play for the Cats.

Wonderful competition where the rich and successful just pillage the poor and weaker teams. The AFL hierarchy should be ashamed of what they have created.

Do they think if a team is incapable of improvement under these conditions, people will just give money, support and blind loyalty forever?

so far we have lost Sylvia to FA. That wasn't a loss at all.

we have gained Vince, which was a massive win.

if we lose Frawley and get pick 3 that will be a win too.

the Clarke thing is a different story

can we all please ease up a little on the 'AFL hates us and so does God and wawawhhwahah'

Edited September 14, 201411 yr by Curry & Beer

so far we have lost Sylvia to FA. That wasn't a loss at all.

we have gained Vince, which was a massive win.

if we lose Frawley and get pick 3 that will be a win too.

the Clarke thing is a different story

can we all please ease up a little on the 'AFL hates us and so does God and wawawhhwahah'

I agree we haven't done too badly from FA to date. But the writing is on the wall that unless the AFL does something, FA will clobber small poorly performing clubs in future.

so far we have lost Sylvia to FA. That wasn't a loss at all.

we have gained Vince, which was a massive win.

if we lose Frawley and get pick 3 that will be a win too.

the Clarke thing is a different story

can we all please ease up a little on the 'AFL hates us and so does God and wawawhhwahah'

Clarke? Marty Clarke?

I fail to see how the first two have anything to do with the AFL. We got the pick we deserved for Sylvia and nothing more. Vince was a win but we could have easily traded that pick for a spud or used it on a spud in the draft. We will also get the fair compensation for Chip, a bloke with 7-8 years of footy left in the peak of his career. However he is just another player free to leave, and the AFL's rules didn't even allow him to be restricted.

Redleg makes valid points about the system.

Clarke? Marty Clarke?

I fail to see how the first two have anything to do with the AFL. We got the pick we deserved for Sylvia and nothing more. Vince was a win but we could have easily traded that pick for a spud or used it on a spud in the draft. We will also get the fair compensation for Chip, a bloke with 7-8 years of footy left in the peak of his career. However he is just another player free to leave, and the AFL's rules didn't even allow him to be restricted.

Redleg makes valid points about the system.

You're complaining about what might happen in the future.

The past and present you have no grounds for complaint.

Hawks lost the best player in the comp for pick 19 and they are one of your envied 'big' clubs

Less whinge more hardening up is required by this club and its supporters

You're complaining about what might happen in the future.

The past and present you have no grounds for complaint.

Hawks lost the best player in the comp for pick 19 and they are one of your envied 'big' clubs

Less whinge more hardening up is required by this club and its supporters

They got that pick directly after their first. They finish last they get Pick 1 and 2. Plus they lost him to one my envied 'big' clubs. It's not as if he upped and left for the Dogs to make them better.

We will have to work around FA and build a list and culture that encourages players to sign on and stay, but to suggest the lesser clubs simply need to harden up and that we aren't hard done by the FA rules is wrong. Has Chip even looked at lesser teams in FA? No. Geelong and Hawthorn, the two best sides of the last decade, are the only ones in the mix. Where is Jarrad Waite going? North, a preliminary finalist. Goddard from a few seasons back goes to the Bombers. Sylvia goes to a top 4 side. The list goes on. Who have we nabbed in FA? St. Kilda? Dogs got Crameri but no-one else was after his signature, a sign he wasn't all that highly rated. Where does Gunston go? Hawthorn. Rivers? Geelong.

History has already suggested the big clubs get the FA's, and while we get decent comp more often than not it can't replace what the club has lost.

You're complaining about what might happen in the future.

The past and present you have no grounds for complaint.

Hawks lost the best player in the comp for pick 19 and they are one of your envied 'big' clubs

Less whinge more hardening up is required by this club and its supporters

Hawthorn are net beneficiaries in this new world order; Lake, Gunston, Burgoyne. These EPL-type clubs just have to wait for the apples to fall from the tree. It's no longer a competition, just a profit-building exercise by media-rights holders. Melbourne are being royally screwed.

so far we have lost Sylvia to FA. That wasn't a loss at all.

we have gained Vince, which was a massive win.

if we lose Frawley and get pick 3 that will be a win too.

the Clarke thing is a different story

Rivers, Moloney, Sylvia, Frawley.

Granted, not all big losses but the certainly has the makings of a pattern.

And although Vince was a "win", he was not a FA.

Also, hard to say that pick 3 for Frawley is a win until we see who we get into the club for that pick.

FA seems to be working well for strong clubs who are using it to "top-up", which I think is the point of redleg's post, and evident in our FA losses since its inception.

They got that pick directly after their first. They finish last they get Pick 1 and 2. Plus they lost him to one my envied 'big' clubs. It's not as if he upped and left for the Dogs to make them better.

We will have to work around FA and build a list and culture that encourages players to sign on and stay, but to suggest the lesser clubs simply need to harden up and that we aren't hard done by the FA rules is wrong. Has Chip even looked at lesser teams in FA? No. Geelong and Hawthorn, the two best sides of the last decade, are the only ones in the mix. Where is Jarrad Waite going? North, a preliminary finalist. Goddard from a few seasons back goes to the Bombers. Sylvia goes to a top 4 side. The list goes on. Who have we nabbed in FA? St. Kilda? Dogs got Crameri but no-one else was after his signature, a sign he wasn't all that highly rated. Where does Gunston go? Hawthorn. Rivers? Geelong.

History has already suggested the big clubs get the FA's, and while we get decent comp more often than not it can't replace what the club has lost.

Yes I know how the system works.

Franklin leaves, cos his side won the flag they get pick 19

Frawley, leaves, cos we suck arse, we get pick 3

So doesn't that mean that the FA system actually favours the rubbish clubs?

There is every chance we will use that pick 3 to do another Tyson-style deal and we will have kicked a goal