2 minutes ago, John Demonic said:

Not likely. This thread is the place where everyone congregates for the next two months.

There's always one!

hahah i know right.

 

My favourite part of the day is reading some of the doom and gloomers on here. clearly a few retirees with nothing better to do 🤪

39 minutes ago, Demonland said:

 

Oh man, Trac looks very happy in the water. He’s off to the Swans. 

24 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Oh man, Trac looks very happy in the water. He’s off to the Swans. 

Thought he was changing codes and playing for Parramatta

1 hour ago, picket fence said:

I am also of this view, Look. I reckon if IF he goes he will go to Carlton, just a gut feeling... players and draft picks might do the deal. Hoping he is still ours but just got this uneasy feeling!

History doesn’t repeat itself but it rhymes. One year after losing trac to Carlton do we then fire goodwin after winning a flag and finally complete the cycle and lift the curse? 

4 hours ago, deejammin' said:

Just so we’re clear. Tom Morris broke/created this story. So far his track record is:

Petty to Adelaide at years end. RESIGNED FOR FOUR YEARS. 

Oliver is disgruntled and may leave. ENTIRELY FALSE AND WAS NEVER HAPPENING

Jack Viney is going to North. ENTIRELY FALSE AND JUST READ HIS LETTER TO SEE IF YOU EVER THOUGHT THAT WAS HAPPENING. 
 

Meanwhile, the one actual story of ANB leaving, totally missed it, not a single leak! 

Morris has no credibility. Don’t believe what you read. Trac may be disgruntled. Seems true. Wants a trade, Nu, not only unlikely, partly because it definitely can’t happen but also because I don’t think Trac is like that. He’s clearly pressuring the club to have some things fixed, but he’ll be here for five years minimum. 
 

The media has been trying to get us all year. From culture that doesn’t seem any worse than any other club, to poor leaders, Max and Jack are the benchmark. To poor onfield culture, this weeks GC win showed just how far off it that was, we could’ve turned our toes up or gone for higher draft picks. To a list of players they report are leaving, clearly removed from the facts.

We’ve won 11 games in one of the toughest seasons ever with a super tough draw. And we’ve lost 4 by less than a kick, a few in controversial situations, this is hardly the Neeld years. Tough it out. Trac will stay.
 

I like the cut of your jib, deejammin’!

I hope Trac does not leave, but if he chooses to do so, and a deal can be done for his services that satisfies both melbourne and Trac then i wish him the best of luck. i just hope that he does not go to collingwood. they were responsible for brayshaw hanging up his boots, and responsible for Trac's injury in the first place.

4 hours ago, pewpewpew said:

My primary concern, even though we haven’t heard any outright denials from Petracca's camp, revolves around the possibility that our club might fail to address the significant issues Trac has with the team's current trajectory on the field. It's clear that the clubs he's rumored to be interested in—Melbourne-based, in the Premiership window, and capable of drawing big crowds to the MCG—simply don’t have the draft assets needed to facilitate a trade.

This raises a serious worry: could Trac become so disillusioned with the club’s direction and the way his injury has been managed that he considers stepping away from the game entirely? The thought of losing such a key player, not just to another club but to early retirement, is deeply unsettling. It’s crucial that the club takes his concerns seriously and ensures he feels valued and confident in the team's future. Otherwise, we might face a situation where one of our most important players decides that his best option is to walk away from the game altogether, which would be a huge blow not just to our on-field performance, but to the morale of the club and its supporters. Not to mention the impact from a mental health perspective all of this has on Trac himself.

That's always been my worry too. 

Many people including his team mates didn't grasp the gravity of either the physical or the associated mental trauma he is suffering.  

People who have suffered a huge life-altering trauma will know how raw you feel and how that makes the smallest things seem overwhelming.  You can feel like a totally different person from who you were before the event and you are also dealing with the realisation that you'll never get back to that carefree innocence. 

The world can seem terribly cruel and uncaring as people carry on with their lives oblivious to the pain you're feeling.  Such events can alienate you permanently from friends and family.  They may not be bad people but they are just unaware or uncomfortable or unable to deal with your situation and suffering.  

The first thing is getting support and getting back as well as you can be.  Then when you're better there'll often come a reckoning and reassessment of your life and priorities.  It would be hard for him to come to terms with the job and sport he loves very nearly killing him.  

I hope he's getting compassion and understanding and space to get well.  And I hope he'll want to return to the care and support of his Demons team mates and club.  Take your time and get well Christian.  

It's only football, but all of us love watching you play it in our jumper.  You lift your fans and team mates higher and give us great joy.  

Edited August 21, 2024Aug 21 by Hellfire Dub

48 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Oh man, Trac looks very happy in the water. He’s off to the Swans. 

Tracc wants trout?

9 minutes ago, binman said:

Tracc wants trout?

more likely salmon

 

47 minutes ago, Hellfire Dub said:

That's always been my worry too. 

Many people including his team mates didn't grasp the gravity of either the physical or the associated mental trauma he is suffering.  

People who have suffered a huge life-altering trauma will know how raw you feel and how that makes the smallest things seem overwhelming.  You can feel like a totally different person from who you were before the event and you are also dealing with the realisation that you'll never get back to that carefree innocence. 

The world can seem terribly cruel and uncaring as people carry on with their lives oblivious to the pain you're feeling.  Such events can alienate you permanently from friends and family.  They may not be bad people but they are just unaware or uncomfortable or unable to deal with your situation and suffering.  

The first thing is getting support and getting back as well as you can be.  Then when you're better there'll often come a reckoning and reassessment of your life and priorities.  It would be hard for him to come to terms with the job and sport he loves very nearly killing him.  

I hope he's getting compassion and understanding and space to get well.  And I hope he'll want to return to the care and support of his Demons team mates and club.  Take your time and get well Christian.  

It's only football, but all of us love watching you play it in our jumper.  You lift your fans and team mates higher and give us great joy.  

Hi Hellfire,  that is beautifully and sensitively written. 

You have a real understanding of the impact of and healing from traumatic experiences.

It seems you or someone close to you has gone thru trauma and the healing.  If so I wish you/them good health and well being.  If not I wish you/them good health and well being, anyway😊.  You seem a very good caring human.

Edited August 21, 2024Aug 21 by Lucifers Hero

 

24 minutes ago, Demonland said:

 

Give it a rest media…. It wasn’t the severity, it was not understanding how much it had affected Christian they are referring to.

Edited August 21, 2024Aug 21 by DistrACTION Jackson

12 minutes ago, Demonland said:

 

Oh ffs 

Did any of these clowns stop and think that maybe, just maybe, Trac was putting on a happy face and telling his teammates he was doing ok when asked?

How many people do you know who put on a smile, while deep down they’re struggling?!

It is entirely plausible that Trac felt a sense of responsibility to maintain the upbeat tone that he’s so well known and loved for amongst his teammates. It’s entirely possible that when his mates asked how he’s doing, and of course they did, he said he’s fine. 

Maybe he wasn’t ready to tell them how badly he was struggling, or maybe he didn’t know himself how badly he was struggling either, until he had time to process. 

I have a particular interest in one player on the list who has missed games at Casey on a few occasions now.  The medical reports are scant and on one occasion I attended a club function and asked how he was.  No one knew or was reluctant to tell. By accident, I ran into him at the game and he assured me he was ok but got a concussion at training the previous Thursday and was in concussion protocols. Club officials and other players had no idea what was wrong.

On other occasions, this pattern has repeated itself. I have concluded that player details or injuries are not shared amongst the playing group. They are so focussed on their own performance and well being they have no time to know all about the others. Maybe this is a strategy to limit information leaking.

I have nothing but admiration for WCW attending training so often and keeping us informed. She can keep a secret as well.  She is my only trusted source. She posted Monday that Sparrow was in a moonboot with a bad ankle long before the club's medical report.

Re Trac, most players only had to read the papers to realise the gory details of his case study but then if I was advising the players I would recommend they don't read the papers. I can understand the leaders reaching out to Trac but hope that not everyone on the list was contacting him. I also read where he turned his phone off.

Whatever happens, it will all become obvious in the passage of time so for now I trust the club to tell me what it deems appropriate to know. I stopped listening to SEN, ignore the Sun and all the AFL shows on Foxtel etc. 

1 hour ago, binman said:

Tracc wants trout?

Cod be staying now I reckon.

56 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

Oh ffs 

Did any of these clowns stop and think that maybe, just maybe, Trac was putting on a happy face and telling his teammates he was doing ok when asked?

How many people do you know who put on a smile, while deep down they’re struggling?!

It is entirely plausible that Trac felt a sense of responsibility to maintain the upbeat tone that he’s so well known and loved for amongst his teammates. It’s entirely possible that when his mates asked how he’s doing, and of course they did, he said he’s fine. 

Maybe he wasn’t ready to tell them how badly he was struggling, or maybe he didn’t know himself how badly he was struggling either, until he had time to process. 

Indeed.

And maybe the context is important.

We are talking about an AFL football club FFS.

No doubt the culture of footy clubs have improved - somewhat.

But they are still full of ultra alphas, where winning is everything and where playing through pain is not only par for the course it is lionozed (eg pendlebury being lauded for playing the last two game with an injury).

1 hour ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

Give it a rest media…. It wasn’t the severity, it was not understanding how much it had affected Christian they are referring to.

If someone is in Noosa posting on tiktok while you're losing games to Fremantle by 50 points, you might be forgiven for thinking they are doing ok, despite their injuries. 

They obviously knew how awful tracs injuries were, but they didn't know how much it had affected him mentally. This may have been because he didn't tell them. 

These journalists are now trying to make this issue worse. Maybe they are the bad advice he's been apparently listening to. Can't they see that the team are trying their best to improve things? 

24 minutes ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

Cod be staying now I reckon.

 

Trout

Trout
Let it all out
Tracc is the thing I can't do without
Come on
I'm talking to you
Come on

In violent times
You shouldn't have to sell your soul
In black and white
They really, really ought to know

Edited August 21, 2024Aug 21 by binman

2 hours ago, Deecisive said:

more likely salmon

 

On a scale of 1 to 10???

6 hours ago, Older demon said:

I have concluded that player details or injuries are not shared amongst the playing group. They are so focused on their own performance and well-being they have no time to know all about the others.

Or maybe a player's medical history and personal details are confidential perhaps? 

Way too many journalists covering footy in this town and I never thought I’d say this but way too many footy shows focusing on anything but the footy. 

Fancy focusing on the wording of Lever’s interview rather than talking about the final week of footy with finals on the line for a couple of teams. 

10 hours ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

Cod be staying now I reckon.

He's not for scale.

Edited August 21, 2024Aug 21 by Grr-owl
Ah, no....Moonshadow beat me to it : (

Without knowing for sure, blaming the lack of communication on the Club  (looking at you, Caro, among others) is the wrong thing to do.

 In the training thread I mentioned that within minutes of the session starting I heard Tracc apologise to at least four people for not returning their calls/texts. They were the ones I heard, it’s likely there were more. They include the property manager Jake, a couple of the trainers and a couple of admin staff, ie. NOT the players. Clearly he had already apologised to them at the team meeting.

As @Jaded No More said, it’s likely that after the leak Tracc’s manager advised him against replying to anyone involved with the MFC.

 

 

34 minutes ago, Grr-owl said:

He's not for scale.

No they didn't, G; yours was a different take!

1 hour ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Without knowing for sure, blaming the lack of communication on the Club  (looking at you, Caro, among others) is the wrong thing to do.

 In the training thread I mentioned that within minutes of the session starting I heard Tracc apologise to at least four people for not returning their calls/texts. They were the ones I heard, it’s likely there were more. They include the property manager Jake, a couple of the trainers and a couple of admin staff, ie. NOT the players. Clearly he had already apologised to them at the team meeting.

As @Jaded No More said, it’s likely that after the leak Tracc’s manager advised him against replying to anyone involved with the MFC.

It's not the communication now that journos are talking about, its the communication for the many weeks he was away. Ie. That the club comms (or lack thereof) left a void, creating room for speculation. This scenario should've been handled better by the club, especially as bottom feeding journos thrive off speculation. Unfortunately players and fans read this s**t and clubs have to put energy onto managing the narrative before it gets out of hand. It's a waste of resources, but necessary.

There's too many footy tv shows, too many journos competing for attention online and in print. And not enough worthwhile information being covered.

Edited August 21, 2024Aug 21 by Moonshadow