1 hour ago, dees189227 said:

Well we gave him a chance and he didn't make the most of it. 

I wonder if 5  10 years down the track Harley looks back and thinks what could have been. 

He had all the talent but never took advantage of it. 

I hope he gets his life to a peaceful place. 

Well said. Very similar to the teams season. Had a chance and didn't make the most of it. Got the talent but never took advantage of it. I bloody hope we long suffering supporters get to be in a peaceful place soon.

That aside wishing HB all the best. AND also our team.

There is more to this, somethings going on behind the scenes. Not that we are entitled to know at all. 

Such a same, really disappointing because his class and skills when fit (and mentally fit) would have helped take us to the next level in 2021. 

 

I hope he can get through whatever it is for his, his wife and children/families sake. 

I may be way off base with this, but going to throw it out there nonetheless.

I reckon Covid killed his career. Hear me out.

He appeared to get his life back on track, away from footy. From all reports he was on track during the early parts of the season and even post-Covid break. I don't think he's built for the footy club life, and he was able to stay 'outside' of it while in Melbourne, and had his family to get away to. Covid hubs come along and he just can't escape the boys. There's nowhere to hide. Now he's basically forced to watch them have a good time, with a few beers no doubt, and can't get away from it, so he's drawn back into that world. The world that destroyed his career in the first place. Add to that the he basically had nothing to do with no 2nds competition and the outcome was almost inevitable.

Like I say, I may be way off base, but I'm prepared to cut him some slack. I wish him all the best for the rest of his life, and I think you'll find, away from footy, he'll be back on track pretty quickly.

3 hours ago, Pates said:

Part of me can’t help but wonder how things would’ve gone had COVID not happened. He came to MELBOURNE, not just the team but the city for a fresh start with his family. Instead he ended up back in Queensland where everything started turning, in a hub with people he has known for less than a year, and without a second tier league for the club to properly reintroduce him back to footy with. 

None of these are excuses, as a footy club I really think we did everything we could to help him and regardless of what has transpired and will happen in the future I still think we have been a positive impact on him. He was a free hit, we got his body working again but the mind is a harder prospect particularly when it comes to things like depression and substance/alcohol addiction. 

I’m absolutely gutted that it hasn’t worked, I think the demon faithful would’ve fallen in love with watching him at the G. This is on Harley and now that footy hasn’t worked he needs to knuckle down and sort his s*** out not just for himself but for his partner and kid(s). 

Well done to the club, good luck to Harley. 

Sorry Pates, I hadn't seen this before I posted. Exactly what I think.

Unfortunate as I had hoped a longer career with us.  Maybe the expectation of what was required to succeed by MFC standards (AFL today) in training, by burgo and co, was beyond what he wanted to commit too.  If all his development at was GC, they may not have pushed him due to his natural talent.  Bit like May when he first arrived, who did adjust to the higher standards and now reaping the rewards.  If covid had not happened it may have been different,  I'm sure at home point we'll hear something.  But good luck to him and the family.

 

 

That long handball from the forward pocket to Spargo(?) in the goal square was sublime and so unMelbourne-like. 

That's what made me stand up and want him to be a 100 game player for us.

Wish him and his family good health and happiness

8 hours ago, kallangurdemon said:

no loss purely from a football point of view .Harleys body was never right for AFL footy and i am confident that we would never be able to get it right no matter what was attempted  .Another of our feel good stories that came to a sad end.

Could it be that Harleys calf problem was always on his mind while playing and as a result we didn't see him stretch out and show his real speed and skills. Playing 'with the brakes on' was not conducive to being the player we hoped he would be. Reason for his non selection in the last half of the season? Just a theory anyway.

3 minutes ago, Bobby McKenzie said:

Could it be that Harleys calf problem was always on his mind while playing and as a result we didn't see him stretch out and show his real speed and skills. Playing 'with the brakes on' was not conducive to being the player we hoped he would be. Reason for his non selection in the last half of the season? Just a theory anyway.

I'm sure the club was working on this, having come back from different injuries it takes time to get confidence back.  

Farewell Harley, we hardly knew you

25 minutes ago, FireInTheBennelly said:

Sorry Pates, I hadn't seen this before I posted. Exactly what I think.

All good mate! Glad I’m not the only one who thought along those lines, it’s not making excuses for his poor choices but I feel we’ve missed the opportunity to give him his best chance by having to go into the hubs. 

Just as another aside, I have zero doubt that had he been living in Melbourne he would’ve had Ross Lyon as someone to go to for help and guidance. It’s not the same over the phone. 

At the end of the day he made his (bad) choices, you have to own your mistakes and sadly I think we’ve missed out on another supremely talented footballer due. 

8 hours ago, Wobbly Bob said:

*  Waive

?

Wish him well for the future.

A pity as he had great skills & vision, but nearly 4 years out was too much to recover in a season.

You have to own what you do, and his last night hub actions were an incredibly bad choice, unfortunately it seems one of many during his career!

Good luck!

 

I may be being a bit tough on Harley but he came to us with two problems that two other clubs could not overcome.

Calves and character. We may have fixed one .

58 minutes ago, Cyclops said:

I may be being a bit tough on Harley but he came to us with two problems that two other clubs could not overcome.

Calves and character. We may have fixed one .

You were correct right off the bat ?. 

I'm hearing, second hand, that Harley has been taken to hospital after big night.

9 minutes ago, waynewussell said:

I'm hearing, second hand, that Harley has been taken to hospital after big night.

sadly so

https://7news.com.au/sport/afl/harley-bennell-hospitalised-hours-after-announcing-afl-retirement-c-1349741

13 minutes ago, waynewussell said:

I'm hearing, second hand, that Harley has been taken to hospital after big night.

Cause or effect ?  Either way really very sad for Harley and his family.

Someone from the club, a friend, an ex-teammate, someone he trusts, needs to get to that hospital and try to talk some sense into him and figure out a way to get him back to his family. But if he has his mind set on a bender then I don’t know where this will finish up.

Sad end.

Hopefully the club can still support him. I know the fine was his fault  but he's probably hating himself right now due to the COVID breach and letting the club down and quite possibly throwing away the his 'last chance', the only thing he knows in life/wanted to do. The comments left by "fans" on his social media won't be helping either way. He needs support and not a pile on. 

I know they're younger and the breaches were different but I don't recall seeing as many online negative comments against Spargo/Pickett. I might be wrong here, but I guess some fans felt extra hurt by this one. (Don't get me wrong he should have known better etc but we don't know what other people are going through).

Tantamount to a long term break up really.

In hindsight if the club wanted to keep him for another year they should've sent him back to Melbourne or even Perth once it was clear he wasn't going to play for the rest of the season.

Seems abundantly clear that the Gold Coast isn't a good spot for him.

He really did seem contrite about doing his best for his family. Would be very sad if he spirals out of control.

I think we’ve made the right call here. Improvement from substance issues are not linear and obviously the events of the last few weeks have thrown him into a bender. Hope his mates get around him.

Unfortunately some people never learn and fail to take responsibility for their own actions. 

23 hours ago, Lord Travis said:

Sad that it ended this way, but it's for the best. Harley clearly struggled both mentally and physically this year. Though he was able to get back playing, he was still a shell of his former self on-field.  

It's a credit to our fitness staff that they got him back fit enough to get through AFL matches without breaking down. No other club was able to get him to the level we did. Combine that with a brilliant injury run this season and the fitness and medical staff get a massive tick for 2020.

Looks like it was your mail that was wrong unfortunately, not mine.

Sounds like your your post hasn't worked out.. ?

You'll note my use of the word 'Had' 

Reported that Bennell has been hospitalized after a bender. I fear for him without the football environment to keep him in line. He's got serious issues and a long road ahead of him. Quite sad.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/harley-bennell-taken-to-hospital-on-gold-coast-20200929-p5606o.html