I don't think 38,000 people wanting one dead is particularly beneficial for one's mental health. Could be wrong though.

The reason given was medical. MC is scared about falling back into depression..... which is fair enough. MFC reminded him of a time when he was in a very dark place. His doctors recommended not moving back and suggest a fresh environment.

I hope the club and the AFL don't go easy on him for this convenient excuse.

The reason given was medical. MC is scared about falling back into depression..... which is fair enough. MFC reminded him of a time when he was in a very dark place. His doctors recommended not moving back and suggest a fresh environment.

If his mental health is that fragile he shouldn't be making a comeback with any club.

The reason given was medical. MC is scared about falling back into depression..... which is fair enough. MFC reminded him of a time when he was in a very dark place. His doctors recommended not moving back and suggest a fresh environment.

If that was the case i suggest we wait to see what Mitch does in terms of helping the club get the best deal before losing it.

The reason given was medical. MC is scared about falling back into depression..... which is fair enough. MFC reminded him of a time when he was in a very dark place. His doctors recommended not moving back and suggest a fresh environment.

which is what Barret said also

Thanks for sharing GNF

"MFC Blindsided"

I don't think 38,000 people wanting one dead is particularly beneficial for one's mental health. Could be wrong though.

I guarantee you he'd cite an injury when scheduled to play against us.

GNF as always comes home with the goods

The reason given was medical. MC is scared about falling back into depression..... which is fair enough. MFC reminded him of a time when he was in a very dark place. His doctors recommended not moving back and suggest a fresh environment.

That's all well and good but why didn't he say this from the beginning? Instead of stringing the club along?

Obviously we should have checked what team his doctors supported. If MFC is not the right environment for him then you would have to also scrap StKilda off the list too as well as another 6-8 teams.

I don't think 38,000 people wanting one dead is particularly beneficial for one's mental health. Could be wrong though.

Much more than 38,000

The reason given was medical. MC is scared about falling back into depression..... which is fair enough. MFC reminded him of a time when he was in a very dark place. His doctors recommended not moving back and suggest a fresh environment.

Bull s4it!

Run away from your demons, or face them like a man.

So Doc is the AFL that very dark place?

We know that the dark place is in his head, he can run all he likes but that dark place will follow, better to deal with it.

my reasoning is that (end of contract timing) was all part of the total agreement which would come into play at delistment time

it all revolved around him retiring

if he doesn't retire then he is not complying with the agreement therefore all aspects of the agreement would be up in the air

hence it could revert to the prior contract term (ie 2015)

at least that was my reasoning

i also thought the afl brought a rule in covering un-retiring to stop the mal michael situation recurring, but i don't know the details

It all comes down to the arrangement we signed off when organising the payout terms earlier in the year. If as GNF said it was more about a "break" that could become "permanent" rather than "retirement" then we could be stuffed - especially if the agreement was that we would "delist" him at the end of the season which is what has been detailed.

That's all well and good but why didn't he say this from the beginning? Instead of stringing the club along?

Was probably hoping like the rest of us that Roosy would immediately pull us out of the mire... since that hasn't happened poor old Mitchy might be thinking it's all a bit too hard to go back to a struggling club

I wonder if he went to an Essendon doctor, they we can at least blame the drugs for his decision.

So, essentially "my medical condition prevents me from playing for crap teams, guess I'll have to go play finals then"

Depression is different for every person, but rarely does it ever actually HELP one's career.

Mitch must be a very lucky ducky.

The reason given was medical. MC is scared about falling back into depression..... which is fair enough. MFC reminded him of a time when he was in a very dark place. His doctors recommended not moving back and suggest a fresh environment.

Even so, you've got an entire community - which is a better part of the society you're living in - wishing you well and being out there willing to support you. The way this is happening you are throwing all of that goodwill that is generated in your favour away.

It's nonsensical. It would be one of the great comeback stories if he came back and lined up in red and blue. Instead he's going to attract the level of wrath that Buddy Franklin and Tom Scully did anyway.

While I do get that the change may be a part of it, to do it behind closed doors like this? If he came out openly and said 'I'm coming back but I can't come back to Melbourne because of my depression and medical advice. However, I will seek to do the best for Melbourne and try to repay them for all they've done to assist me' very few people would begrudge him. Instead he's losing the media fight by keeping everything behind closed doors, by reacting angrily on social media, by allowing the media cycle to take hold. The goodwill that everyone had for him is rapidly evaporating.

It strikes me more than ever that he's just a [censored]. And depression has nothing to do with that.

Melbourne is no longer the right environment for him because he doesn't need Dave Misson or our facilities anymore. I reckon he's signed a contract elsewhere and will front up in a few weeks.

CAN NOT WAIT FOR ROOS ON 360 TONIGHT, now that GNF has let the cat out the bag.

Many thanks for the info, btw.

Just hope mitch didnt give hogan too much advice

Bull s4it!

Run away from your demons, or face them like a man.

So Doc is the AFL that very dark place?

We know that the dark place is in his head, he can run all he likes but that dark place will follow, better to deal with it.

True. 'If there is no enemy inside, the enemy outside can do us no harm'. If he has truly gotten rid of those internal demons, then external circumstances shouldn't bother him..unless they probably remind him of those bad emotions...but then why would you come back to AFL anways?

It all comes down to the arrangement we signed off when organising the payout terms earlier in the year. If as GNF said it was more about a "break" that could become "permanent" rather than "retirement" then we could be stuffed - especially if the agreement was that we would "delist" him at the end of the season which is what has been detailed.

that could be true, we are all just guessing on the terms of the agreement

i just can't get it out of my head that he has surely breached something in the agreement

if whoever drafted the agreement for mfc didn't make some provision for an adverse scenario i'd be surprised (and angry)

Looking forward to a big leg injury early next year, he might retire again

We showed improvement this season without him on the field. We will continue to do so in 2015.

Don't lose your heads because you feel like this somehow sets us back as a club. It doesn't.

"If you don't want to be here, you know where to go..."

Convenient to use MFC as the place where the black dog startled circling.

I wish MC all the best for his ongoing improve mental health, but besides that, ultimately he dudded Lions/Freo to Melbourne. Now he's doing the same to Melbourne, $cully like behaviour.

If these rumours are true and Mitch plays with another Melbourne based club next year, then to me that makes him a lying cheating [censored]. As someone who has been suffering from depression for over a decade, you don't just get over it in a few months. It is an ongoing thing that would need to be managed, and if he is now saying he is already ready to enter an AFL environment with all that pressure again, then IMO he is a liar and never even had depression. A good way for him to get out of a contract, Mal Michael style, and just pop up at new club with a new contract.

I'll wait and see what happens, but if it's true and he winds up elsewhere, IMO that would make him the biggest dog in the AFL in my lifetime, and a hopeless example of a human being for everyone to see.