if he wants to be at the club then his manager has a funny way of showing it. certainly not doing Evans any favors. Most players will only get one shot at playing football at this level, if he does not rookie with melbourne then he may find his dream of playing alf is over so are the large pay checks he has been receiving. Being a rookie gives him a chance to continue to improve himself and strive for that dream of staying on the seniors list for another 6 years or so, taking the money and running is likely to be the end of his career.

And if he feels his AFL career is over, he would want to get his full payout and that is probably the sticking point.

And if he feels his AFL career is over, he would want to get his full payout and that is probably the sticking point.

And I would too Redleg.

Pay up and I go otherwise I will be at training as required.

So he wants to retire? Or we want to rookie him and he wants to go?

I would love for this to be sorted out, surely a bit of a distraction to the group right now.

If we pay him out and delist him all well and good but then we posters shouldn't [censored] and moan when a contracted player/RFA or UFA wants out .

Ron Burgundy - interested in your thoughts on loyalty and the way the club is handling this (and for the matter, the Trengove episode).

I have little problem with the rookie or the payout scenario but on the other hand I won't curse the sun when a player exercises free agency or wants out from the club whilst still under contract. Football is a business. Loyalty as we knew it is dead and buried - either from players or the club.

(I do may an exception with Mitch C as that was exceptional circumstances - curse you MC)

And if he feels his AFL career is over, he would want to get his full payout and that is probably the sticking point.

We are giving him a chance to prove himself. if he feels his AFL career is over then he is basically admitting that he cannot or does not want to play any more or believes he cannot do better. If so his career is essentially over if he cannot make it at melbourne.

For every Jetta that magically turns it around after 5 years on the list there are 10 that won't and shouldn't be given the opportunity. Evans is a 6 ft dime a dozen midfielder with no point of difference. It was atrocious list management offering him anymore than 1 year at a time, just as it was giving McKenzie and Jamar 3 years.

Exactly. Jetta was extraordinarily fortunate to be given a second (or should that be fourth) chance. I wouldn't have given him another shot, but good luck to him for making the most of it. That situation should in no way set a precedent for every other mediocre player on our list.

What is Evans now - our 15th best midfielder? We could find a dozen players of equal ability and greater application in the VFL. His time is done.

We want to rookie him as we don't want to pay him for nothing and then pay another rookie to fill a list spot.

He's called our bluff and said if you dont want me that's fine. I'm not getting a game from the rookie list and Casey is a dump anyway, I'd rather play somewhere else. Roos doesn't like me, he didn't play me much at all last year, games should be harder to come by this year and I'm not having a Jetta year by a change of positions or big increase in fitness etc, so give me the money and I'll walk.

If Evans is on 200k and a rookie costs 55k then I guess the starting point for negotiations would be a payout of 145k to Evans. That way everyone could be happy.

Either the club balks and pays him more or even his full seasons salary (which after a decent 2013 might be more like 250k or even more) or Evans agrees to the rookie spot.

The clock is ticking.

So he wants to retire? Or we want to rookie him and he wants to go?

I would love for this to be sorted out, surely a bit of a distraction to the group right now.

Only a distraction, if that, for the next 3 hours.

This is an attempt to redress the balance in the Michael Evans case. I was at his first game, might have been at Etihad. He got high 20's in possessions and continued in that vein for three rounds (approx.). He seemed to get where the ball was going, he seemed to have good size and good endurance. At least one non-MFC scribe likened him to Paul Kelly (not the singer). The future looked rosy! Then injury struck... a series of injuries, more like it. I don't think he has had a clear run at it since. It may be beneficial for MFC to have an extra pick, particularly if they snaffle a Doggy Brown or Mat Whelan type with that pick, but to suggest Evans was a poor choice from the outset is Revisionist and misleading.

People shouldn't turn this around and blame Evans. We gave him the contract. If we changed our mind and want to delist him, that is our choice, not his. If he refuses to be rookied, then we have the grounds for negotiation and compromise.

Sure it will be sorted out in the next 3 hours.

Exactly. Jetta was extraordinarily fortunate to be given a second (or should that be fourth) chance. I wouldn't have given him another shot, but good luck to him for making the most of it. That situation should in no way set a precedent for every other mediocre player on our list.

What is Evans now - our 15th best midfielder? We could find a dozen players of equal ability and greater application in the VFL. His time is done.

It should be done as it is done - on a case by case basis to those who want it bad enough.

Not throwing a blanket over a group of people and delisting players for the sake of change.

We want to rookie him as we don't want to pay him for nothing and then pay another rookie to fill a list spot.

He's called our bluff and said if you dont want me that's fine. I'm not getting a game from the rookie list and Casey is a dump anyway, I'd rather play somewhere else. Roos doesn't like me, he didn't play me much at all last year, games should be harder to come by this year and I'm not having a Jetta year by a change of positions or big increase in fitness etc, so give me the money and I'll walk.

If Evans is on 200k and a rookie costs 55k then I guess the starting point for negotiations would be a payout of 145k to Evans. That way everyone could be happy.

Either the club balks and pays him more or even his full seasons salary (which after a decent 2013 might be more like 250k or even more) or Evans agrees to the rookie spot.

The clock is ticking.

A fair deal would be for us to pay him out in full and then rookie him - that gives him a $55k bonus on your figures for the heartache. There should be something in it for him.

In the circumstances a fair deal would be to pay him out.

Full stop.

This is an attempt to redress the balance in the Michael Evans case. I was at his first game, might have been at Etihad. He got high 20's in possessions and continued in that vein for three rounds (approx.). He seemed to get where the ball was going, he seemed to have good size and good endurance. At least one non-MFC scribe likened him to Paul Kelly (not the singer). The future looked rosy! Then injury struck... a series of injuries, more like it. I don't think he has had a clear run at it since. It may be beneficial for MFC to have an extra pick, particularly if they snaffle a Doggy Brown or Mat Whelan type with that pick, but to suggest Evans was a poor choice from the outset is Revisionist and misleading.

The biggest issue with Evans is not his ability or even his desire, but his body which has continually failed him at almost every turn. He had injury issues in 09 & 10 which meant he didn’t end up representing WA in the Nationals. We were rapt to rookie him, and I was rapt with his early output for Casey and eventually Melbourne. Alas, he still hasn’t had an injury free season in his time at Melbourne. It’s been at least six years since he has been injury free.

Unfortunately the question is will his body ever allow him to play AFL footy consistently? The weight of evidence suggests it’s unlikely.

Giving him a rookie spot is a lower risk option to give him one more chance to see if his body holds up, otherwise it’s probably time to move on.

In the circumstances a fair deal would be to pay him out.

Full stop.

Disagree. There has to be some allowance for getting your money up front without having to do anything. He would have expenses that he also won't now spend.

A fair compromise is the way.

If we want to delist evans, do we need to do it before todays list lodgement 2? or can we wait untill dec 1st list lodgement 3?

Disagree. There has to be some allowance for getting your money up front without having to do anything. He would have expenses that he also won't now spend.

A fair compromise is the way.

If we pay him out in full now then he gets to play elsewhere (SANFL, WAFL, VFL) and earn extra. If he has been told he won't get a gig for us then I think he is being compensated for early termination by getting his full contract amount.

A fair deal would be for us to pay him out in full and then rookie him - that gives him a $55k bonus on your figures for the heartache. There should be something in it for him.

giving a player who is payed $200k to play with Casey a bonus is certainly not the way to go. What''s in it for him. - a chance to continue to earn $200K+ in subsequent years if he can met the standards that we have set, that are obviously not beyond him based on some of his early form/promise.

He deserves to be paid out.

If we pay him out in full now then he gets to play elsewhere (SANFL, WAFL, VFL) and earn extra. If he has been told he won't get a gig for us then I think he is being compensated for early termination by getting his full contract amount.

We can agree to disagree - it's not just about the money it's about the AFL dream and Evans quite likely still holds onto it and was contracted by us to have one more year's shot at it. If we delist him it should be on full contract amount and we should offer to re-rookie him. If he doesn't want that he can tell us - "no thanks". Then he could take his chances in the ND and RD with another club and failing that end up choosing to go to VFL, SANFL, WAFL.

I think that's the way to treat him with respect and show an example to the rest of our list.

But then I am a old pinko

I think if they decided to go down this path - of delisting and offering a rookie spot - then offering to honour the terms of his contract while he is on the Rookie List is adequate.

If they do not see any glimmer of a future then they should pay him out - which will probably be near enough to his entire salary and move on.

To squibble over $15k for a player you are axing a year early looks petty.

Evans delisting confirmed.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/melbourne/news/2014-11-13/melbourne-delists-evans

The alarming thing is that we have a player not wanting to stay on our rookie list (bearing in mind he's long odds to get picked by another club).

That's really not a good sign that a guy would rather give up his shot at AFL than have another year as a rookie on very good money.

The ball is in Evans' court. Maybe he'll take the offer. Maybe the best thing for both parties is if he doesn't even if that means we pay out his full deal.

But at the end of the day I am glad we've brought in McCartney, Byrnes and Plapp because we can't have guys hating the Casey/MFC dynamic so much that they'd rather not even be on an AFL list.

there we are, everyone got their wish. moving on

agree about the positive moves at casey but the real problem is casey is broke (because of failed pokie enterprise) and doesn't have the money to attract experienced vfl players

does anyone know if casey has addressed their financial problems this year?