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WELCOME TO THE MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB - HARLEY BENNELL

Tinks
Tinks
in Melbourne Demons

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1 hour ago, stevethemanjordan said:

Hahaha. 

You're ridiculous. 

I think you need to do a bit more research on Jack Watts and his off-field discretions. He has plenty.

How you measure them up against Bennell's is for you to decide but neither of them are angels. And only one has produced far more on a football field. 

Yeah sure, but tell me how many Titanic theme song replays does Bennell have!!!

;)

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    • Haha 1
     
    5 hours ago, stevethemanjordan said:

    Hahaha. 

    You're ridiculous. 

    I think you need to do a bit more research on Jack Watts and his off-field discretions. He has plenty.

    How you measure them up against Bennell's is for you to decide but neither of them are angels. And only one has produced far more on a football field. 

    You often make some good points STMJ. But your inability to resist resorting to personal abuse in your posts makes it all but impossible to respect those views.

    But each to their own.

    On your point, did i say Jack was an angel? No.

    But you can't seriously compare the two in terms of off field indiscretions and value to a team. Jack is a choir boy next Harley Bennell, who has squandered his immense talent and played only 80 games of AFL, likely to play no more, whilst jack will be a 200 plus game AFL player, an exclusive club that Harley will get nowhere near.

    I just googled the word 'Harley Bennell drugs' and this was the first article:

     https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/too-loose-how-dusty-s-report-helped-tigers-dodge-the-bennell-bullet-20180505-p4zdlk.html

    The guy is a disaster zone. 

    Your comment 'only one has produced far more on a football field' is in of itself a very confusing one. I assume you mean he has more talent (in which case why not say that) and in the games he has played he has produced more than Jack. If that is what you mean then i agree. As i have noted on this thread when i first saw him live i thought i was watching a generational player. Brilliant. And he played  some terrific games for the Suns.

    But Jack Watts has produced far, far more in his career. Simply because he he has played nearly 100 games more. And yes Harley has had a shocking run with injury but how much is that down to his inability to prepare and rehab like an elite athlete needs to?

     

     

     

     

     

    Edited by binman

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    2 hours ago, binman said:

    Harley has had a shocking run with injury but how much is that down to his inability to prepare and rehab like an elite athlete needs to?

    from my understanding, knowing someone who has had dealings with him, none

    he works his backside off but he's had a rotten run with injury and he's got extrezzo frustrated and doesn't know how to deal with it

    i am really hopeful for his sake that he can come back at a club - i'd love for it to be with us, but i think he's a big risk from a management perspective

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    • Like 1

    Goodwin would sign Bennell if he thought it would improve on field output because that may save his coaching position.

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    On 8/11/2019 at 2:09 AM, Thehardtackler said:

    Goodwin would sign Bennell if he thought it would improve on field output because that may save his coaching position.

    I would be thinking the opposite. Signing Bennell would be a coach killer move

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    • 1 month later...

    https://m.afl.com.au/news/2019-09-21/two-surgeries-baby-joy-and-new-hope-rebuilt-bennell-eyes-third-chance

     

    Three clubs have shown interest, one of them being Sydney.  If Elliot falls through, I would be very happy if the club had a crack at him.  

    (Very) High risk/ (very) high reward.  He has everything we need and talent wise, would be in the top 30 players in the league.

    Sounds like he may have settled down of the field and now has daughter.  Seems to honestly acknowledge his shortcomings now with a bit of maturity.  Could be a Mitch Robinson style turn around..?

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    •  

    I would definitely use a late pick on him. x-factor, Burgess factor, be a bit bold. upside if worth far more to us than if it does not work.

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    I’ve changed my position on Bennell and would advocate for a one year deal. 

    Having a baby also provides a really good grounding for him to mature as well so the off field stuff now is a lot less of a risk - particularly away from WA. 

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    • Like 2

    On 8/11/2019 at 2:09 AM, Thehardtackler said:

    Goodwin would sign Bennell if he thought it would improve on field output because that may save his coaching position.

    So you think going after success is a bad thing?

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    Happy to have him train with the players over summer, wouldn't be keen on giving him a list spot. Even if he had a flawless of field record the injuries are astronomical. Cutting out a muscle to create room for a nerve doesn't sound like the right preparation to run 15km a game.

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    I cannot see the downside in signing him up (aside from the list space if he fails). Will cost nothing as he's a DFA and he would be on a very low salary.

    Not much risk, for albeit slim chance of good reward.

    Never going to win if you don't enter the race MFC.

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    Just to be clear, we wouldn't need to use a pick on him.  He's a Delisted Free Agent.  If we came to an agreement with him he'd be a free hit. 

    With that in mind, I wouldn't mind taking a punt.   We're in a bad position list-wise in that we've brought in too many inside contested beasts and no outside players to balance things.  This is a player who could fill one of those spots and go a long way towards balancing the side better.  He costs us nothing to bring over and would probably take a pretty low contract to get himself back into the system.  Sign him up to a two year contract, tell him he's got to show the team that he's committed on the training track and spend time helping Nev with his community work.  I say two years because he won't be able to do a full pre-season this year.  If we gave him that time to get his body sorted and then put the pressure on in the next year we'd see what he really has to offer. 

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    • Like 3

    Gawd in a Club that has stayed away from far too many because we are "Conservative" EG  "Dusty" Coz he has Tatts and others,

    About time we got real! Nice guys in looks at least aint gonna win a Flag!!

    YES!

    Edited by picket fence

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    • Like 2
    37 minutes ago, RalphiusMaximus said:

    Just to be clear, we wouldn't need to use a pick on him.  He's a Delisted Free Agent.  If we came to an agreement with him he'd be a free hit. 

    With that in mind, I wouldn't mind taking a punt.   We're in a bad position list-wise in that we've brought in too many inside contested beasts and no outside players to balance things.  This is a player who could fill one of those spots and go a long way towards balancing the side better.  He costs us nothing to bring over and would probably take a pretty low contract to get himself back into the system.  Sign him up to a two year contract, tell him he's got to show the team that he's committed on the training track and spend time helping Nev with his community work.  I say two years because he won't be able to do a full pre-season this year.  If we gave him that time to get his body sorted and then put the pressure on in the next year we'd see what he really has to offer. 

    Good post. Two years is a good idea. Let's him know that we're fair dinkum and not just having a speculative ping at the stumps. And Nev would be a great mentor.

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    Train over summer, if ok by Feb offer 1 year with incentives for a 2nd 

    I suspect Sydney will offer 1 or 2 years sooner rather than later

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    50 minutes ago, Moonshadow said:

    Train over summer, if ok by Feb offer 1 year with incentives for a 2nd 

    I suspect Sydney will offer 1 or 2 years sooner rather than later

    I would have laughed at the suggestion a few weeks ago, but now he has had a doctor operate and say he should be ok, a new partner and kids reason to forge an AFL career and what seems to be a major attitude change to life.

    He is low risk and high reward and is a free throw.

    He is exactly what we wouldn't do and look where we are.

    The Tigers win a flag and pick up Stack and Marlion Pickett, I think his name is, after taking a bloke we avoided, who is their best player.

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    • Like 3

    Marlin picket is going to be a sensation I reckon. Wish we’d had the guts to go there... but I  hope we go there w Harley. 

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    Bennell would be a challenge, but potential high reward. i would expect that the club would provide continued support for him similar to the support we provided to any other injured or recovering player. We need to use free agency to pick up quality players, Bennell when fit is a quality player.

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    • Like 1
     

    I’m sick to death of overlooking the Dustin Martins, Jack Darlings and Sydney Stacks of the AFL because they aren’t cleanskin choirboys. He’s one player who’ll take up one spot on the list. He’s not going to bring down a club’s “culture”. Ridiculous.

    The only real consideration is his calf. If the club (Burgess) trusts the information that his latest surgery is a turning point, which it supposedly is, then this is a no brainer.

    If he fires next season it will be to the regret of every other club who didn’t have a crack at him. I hope we’re not one of them.

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    • Like 5
    46 minutes ago, P-man said:

    I’m sick to death of overlooking the Dustin Martins, Jack Darlings and Sydney Stacks of the AFL because they aren’t cleanskin choirboys. He’s one player who’ll take up one spot on the list. He’s not going to bring down a club’s “culture”. Ridiculous.

    The only real consideration is his calf. If the club (Burgess) trusts the information that his latest surgery is a turning point, which it supposedly is, then this is a no brainer.

    If he fires next season it will be to the regret of every other club who didn’t have a crack at him. I hope we’re not one of them.

    I agree and would proffer this...

     

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