Club suspends Byron Pickett

[45HG 1,539]

if he wishes, he's now got a 5 week pre season to get back to his best shape in the past 18 months which he wouldn't have been able to do when playing

[The Slack-Jawed Yokel 0]

It is a credit to the football department for how they handled the situation so quickly and without any fuss.

[Bay Riffin 1,475]

We did the right thing. Letting him play against West Coast would send the wrong message.

He should be made to address the playing group as well.

Hope he stays but we need to develop a strong leadership group that want the Dees to do well. If he cared about the demons enough , he should put his head down, earn his money and produce.

If he goes, it will be as bad as Scotty Judas Thompson leaving the club once he became a valuable player.

be interesting to see how he handles it. He could still get 3-4 years of good footy out of himself but may just quit.

[beelzebub 23,380]

There's more to all this than meets the eye I would summise. We, again I say, see only the public sanitized version. That which is going on behind the doors may be something entirely different.

Somehow you can just sense the next announcement in about a fortnight...an agreement to part ways and the best of luck etc. Pure speculation I grant you, but its got all the trappings of it.

Whilst I d happily have him play on fit he hardly makes the grade as leadership...well does he !!

[Old Man Rivers 326]

There's more to all this than meets the eye I would summise. We, again I say, see only the public sanitized version. That which is going on behind the doors may be something entirely different.

Somehow you can just sense the next announcement in about a fortnight...an agreement to part ways and the best of luck etc. Pure speculation I grant you, but its got all the trappings of it.

Whilst I d happily have him play on fit he hardly makes the grade as leadership...well does he !!

Byron - For christ sake pull your head in, take your medicine & get back to playing some decent Footy.

Yes as a club we look to have handled this well, however we must also make sure Byron gets his head right

& gets back on the park playing his best footy for US.

Stuff this lets sack him, retire him talk. Lets help him get sorted out, we need him.

Despite several opinions in this forum, Pickett is a Star.

He has assisted The Roo's & Power into the history books & he is an important cog in our machine @ present.

His form for the best part of 2006 was very, very good.

No doubt currently has issue's, lets solve them & get him back in that Red & Blue jumper ASAP.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

We did the right thing. Letting him play against West Coast would send the wrong message.

.....

Hope he stays but we need to develop a strong leadership group that want the Dees to do well. If he cared about the demons enough , he should put his head down, earn his money and produce.

.....

be interesting to see how he handles it. He could still get 3-4 years of good footy out of himself but may just quit.

He's not a leadership bootlace and he wont be around after the end of this year.

Hey Bub, whats beyond this public sanitised version? What else is there?

OMR, Pickett was a very good player who played in 2 flags and won a NSM but he is not now anywhere near a star. The ball is in Byron's court. The issues with Byron are his issues and he has had them all his career and he needs to solve them not the Club.

[beelzebub 23,380]

Hey Bub, whats beyond this public sanitised version? What else is there?

we've only heard snippets... they've all been rather well delivered and contained by the club. Quite well handled it would seem.

There is always more to these things.. Im not privvy..are you?

This is nothing overnight,simply something thats come to a head. MFC seems a little better at keeping some of its laundry in-club compared to others.

[DemonDave 1,089]

This scenario, is not too dissimilar in a lot of ways to the Steven Johnson of Geelong dilemma the cats had.

Here is a guy with tonnes of natural ability, and yet mentally he’s streets behind the rest of the list. Johnson

had one too many off-field discretions, and the Cats hand was forced, slapping him with a 6 week ban and

denying him the privilege of training with the senior squad. Johnson worked his guts out, got his body right

fitness wise, produced a string of best on grounds in the VFL and has come back as strong as ever at AFL level.

I can’t see why Byron can’t do the same. Here's hoping anyway!

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

we've only heard snippets... they've all been rather well delivered and contained by the club.

There is always more to these things.. Im not privvy..are you?

What wine? women? drugs? what else is there that you are alluding to?

We know he is an indifferent trainer, his attitude and fitness is questionable and he has failed to front a match as a selected emergency.

His future is uncertain and its in his hands to turn it around.

What else could there be?

[occo 2]

Byron do us all a favour and quit. I dont want to see u out there anymore

[dazzledavey36 54,961]

hay what happened to the other suspended bloke we got?? daniel hayse?

[CHAMP 347]

hay what happened to the other suspended bloke we got?? daniel hayse?

He's quite busy at the moment with his new PS3.

[gOLLy 401]

Byron - For christ sake pull your head in, take your medicine & get back to playing some decent Footy.

Yes as a club we look to have handled this well, however we must also make sure Byron gets his head right

& gets back on the park playing his best footy for US.

Stuff this lets sack him, retire him talk. Lets help him get sorted out, we need him.

Despite several opinions in this forum, Pickett is a Star.

He has assisted The Roo's & Power into the history books & he is an important cog in our machine @ present.

His form for the best part of 2006 was very, very good.

No doubt currently has issue's, lets solve them & get him back in that Red & Blue jumper ASAP.

Here here

[gOLLy 401]

its actually astonishing how many of you are so quick to eat your own. Im starting to think im on a tigers forum, and its not only this thread.

[gOLLy 401]

On the other hand this dosent suprise me. Its the same old posters.

[brey9186 102]

think about this

he doesnt want to do a normal preseason, he gets fit thourgh matches

he now has a month of full game time, no "impact" stints on the ground at AFL level, he will play 100% game time, and prime himself for a finale to his career, 9 games, hopefully more, to show the world what byron pickett can be!!!

or is this just wishful thinking?

has had issues in the past, clearly old demons are haunting him, and he has to make the choice...

[45HG 1,539]

yeah i completely agree

if his mind is intact he has the perfect opportunity to refresh his body and get into the form and fitness we know he is capable.

he helped us immensely last year, and i think his mentoring of younger players was crucial. however this isn't helped if he doesn't set a proper example

[45HG 1,539]

(not that i want this to happen, so don't whinge that i'm bashing players rah rah)

but what happens if byron does decide to retire? can we elevate a rookie? i.e. does retirement count the same as long term injury list etc.

[GoDs 0]

Byron to pull his finger out and get on with it...

http://melbournefc.com.au/Season2007/News/...px?newsId=43337

[CURTIS 0]

Byron to pull his finger out and get on with it...

http://melbournefc.com.au/Season2007/News/...px?newsId=43337

they reported on sen that he is playing for sandy against willy. I thought he was outed for this week. they also said it was sunday so not sure how true this was.

[Yze_Magic 3]

Would be nice to have a fully fit Byron in 2008 for a tilt at the flag

Lets see if he is doing this for the money or if he has decided to show the club, players and supporters he is not done with yet

[Bay Riffin 1,475]

I think he finishes his contract this year - is that right? Will be interesting to see if he continues.

He has 3 year in him at least with a bit of luck. Thing is he would want to get as much out of his body next couple of years as he may slow up as Archer suggests as the body takes its toll.

Welcome back Byron and teach our young guys how to tackle !!

Anti Byron members above will eat their words soon enough.

[Pates 9,660]

Good to see that he has said he's going to commit to us, but talk is cheap so let's see if he can back up his words.

BTW i thought he was suspended for this week from both Melbourne AND Sandy, i suppose if they feel that's in his best interest to not give him this week off then so be it. In 4 weeks time i hope that we will be unleashing a whole new, determined Byronator.

[Gorgoroth 12,965]

work hard and give em hell choppy!

[Lord Travis 10,741]

Glad to see he hasn't thrown in the towel. If he can get fit and back into form, he is easily in our 22 and will go along way to helping us to finals/flag etc. We need his hardness and experience out there to lead younger hard nuts like Jones for a little bit longer.