Farewell Alex Neal-Bullen

[DubDee 25,839]

He’s given us 10 years of 100% effort and continuous improvement 

Losing a 29yo role player is tough. A lovely man from all reports but we should be able to get a second rounder for him i’d say 

A sad day but not the end of the world. I imagine he would thank the club for developing him so well

[Ouch! 2,262]

Nibbler has become one of my favourites after initially being a little critical of his finishing, but has worked on that, and would be gutted to lose him. Behind Gawn (and Gus :(  )he's probably the one guy I love listening to in the media too!

The bigger issue than this news is that this appears to be leaked and to be honest whoever is leaking to the media currently needs to be dealt with immediately.

If Nibblers intention is to get back to Adelaide and be close to family then I wish him and the family well. We will get good compensation for a him I suspect, and if we can somehow leverage this with Port and a deal for Houston it could work out as a net win for both parties, although I suspect both trades would be done separately. I'll hate seeing him in other team colours, but family comes first.

 

[DubDee 25,839]

Just now, WalkingCivilWar said:

Gotta disagree with you on this one. All things being equal, if this was four years ago, he would take his partner and baby girl back home regardless of how the club was going. You said yourself that “ANB would be a family first man.” And he is. 

fair enough. we are all welcome to our own opinions 

[fr_ap 2,478]

Like many I've found this upsetting. One of my favourite players, effort attitude and commitment could never be questioned, which is more than you can say for most. 

[KLV 1,765]

7 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

I think he’ll always have a soft spot for us. He’s not leaving on a bad note. His sole reason for leaving is to be close to his family and unfortunately that means leaving our club and joining a new one.

It will be hard to see him in different colours. Hell, I still can’t look at Jayden in those colours without feeling sad. But Nibs has made this decision and we should back him all the way. He’ll be sorely missed, very popular among the boys, friends with all of them. ☹️

Isn’t his mum in the cheer squad?

[dazzledavey36 54,861]

3 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

I’m not sure what you’re saying here

New bub, all his extended family support are back in WA and SA and his partner is from Larrakia country which is up Darwin.

You only have to watch the Kozzie documentary to realise how incredibly close he is with his family.

As I said a few pages back. When you become a new parent your whole perspective in life changes and the support you need when you become a new parent is immense. 

[DistrACTION Jackson 8,721]

30 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

New bub, all his extended family support are back in WA and SA and his partner is from Larrakia country which is up Darwin.

You only have to watch the Kozzie documentary to realise how incredibly close he is with his family.

As I said a few pages back. When you become a new parent your whole perspective in life changes and the support you need when you become a new parent is immense. 

What’s right for Nibbler May not be the same for Koz. Don’t think it’s worth jumping at shadows. Baby shadows that is

Edited August 13 by DistrACTION Jackson

[Seraph 1,824]

The fact that there are people either associated with the club or working for the club who decide to leak such news to the media (to attempt to intentionally damage the club?) at the current time has made me more disappointed than the fact that ANB wants to leave.

All the best to him, completely understandable if it's for family reasons and I can understand why you'd be livid if it the issue was raised weeks ago and has only been made public now.

The club needs to identify these saboteurs and exile them, permanently.

[JJJ 1,263]

25 minutes ago, Demon Dynasty said:

 

Like a leaky boat.

I can't recall many other clubs of late that leak so badly and consistently.

Find the rat and exterminate pls MFC!

If there was a vote in the UK to rename the Dees, it would Leaky McLeaky Leaky Boat Face.

[david_neitz_is_my_dad 4,083]

I distinctively remember a young Nibbler getting onto a few in the win vs Geelong in 2015

 

[Red But Mostly Blue 4,547]

Pretty bummed about this. Nibbler is a leader of the club and always has a dip. Has improved over the years with plenty still to give, but understand his reason, as a father of little ones myself. 

But I gotta say, this, together with the Trac malarkey today (not that I believe it - although his silence is a little worrying, he doesn’t have to say anything of course but geez it would help), doesn’t give me great confidence right now, as I worry we’ll spend another offseason batting away trade rumours/ defending our culture, when we should be finding players who will plug the holes we have, and solving the issues we have so we can give our last year or two to win a flag with Maxxy and May etc a real crack. The distractions don’t help. 

Anyway, Nibbler will be missed - wish him all the best, hope we do right by him as he has been good for the  club, but it is another hole to plug, just not sure who can do it. A very important offseason ahead. Get players/get right for 2025. 

Edited August 13 by Red But Mostly Blue

[ChaserJ 5,083]

Love Nibbler, he’s been such a great leader and role player. The way he went to work on his game after we put him on the trade table (unsuccessfully) is pretty darned impressive. Could have dropped his head, but he committed to improving and became a critical component of a premiership team.

His defensive coverage in midfield has been critical to Petracca’s mid fwd role over the last couple of years, we’re really going to miss that accountability and coverage when he’s gone. 

That said, can understand that family comes first and don’t begrudge the move. We’ll always have ‘21 Nibbler.

[layzie 33,793]

1 hour ago, Demonland said:

Premiership Hero

The memories last forever 

[picket fence 17,142]

1 hour ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Have I mentioned it was leaked to the media?

Seriously, the family didn’t want it made public yet. Unfortunately someone has betrayed their confidence and now it’s public knowledge. The family is furious about that.

Just wanna reiterate… this is something the family has been discussing for a while. It has ZERO to do any of the current stories making the rounds. 

Someone leaked it??? it seems WCW that the Club has a insider that cant shut up and is maybe responsible for multiple leaks, club is a leaking sieve of info at this stage! We have a RAT in a position of knowledge! 

Edited August 13 by picket fence

[picket fence 17,142]

1 hour ago, Port Demons said:

Love Nibbler and wish him the best, but I think Bowey's foot skills and footy IQ would make a good link-up high-half-fwd prospect. A different type, but worth trying. 

Bowey ?? Aint the answer

Edited August 13 by picket fence

[layzie 33,793]

18 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Gotta disagree with you on this one. All things being equal, if this was four years ago, he would take his partner and baby girl back home regardless of how the club was going. You said yourself that “ANB would be a family first man.” And he is. 

Have to agree, I think this was happening whenever it was happening.

Life.. 

[Docs Demons 1,790]

2 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Someone leaked it??? it seems WCW that the Club has a insider that cant shut up and is maybe responsible for multiple leaks, club is a leaking sieve of info at this stage!

Appears so but as usual all and sundry love having a go at our club for some reason. Very sad but would love us to bounce back next season and stick it right up them.

[Guest]

Just now, KLV said:

Isn’t his mum in the cheer squad?

Yeah but she hasn’t sat with us this year in Melbourne, only at both Adelaide games during the ‘business trip’ earlier this year.

She’ll also be missed. Right now the DA WhatsApp is going off. We’ll miss that bat-[censored] crazy beautiful woman and all her eccentricities. She’s one in a million. And her energy! She makes me look lethargic and nonchalant during matches. She does not stop… yelling, chanting, cheering, singing. She stands on the seat and yells encouragement to our players for the entire match. And I learned the hard way to NOT accept her high fives … I legit thought she’d broken every finger in my hands. She’s hilarious too. So, when she first heard us yell out “Dogga” to LJ, she thought we were saying “Donga” and nobody would correct her since it was never not funny to hear her screaming “GO DONGA” at the top of her lungs. And she was such a mum sometimes during matches. One time Nibs turned the ball over and she said, “Oh Alex… what on earth was THAT!? But in general cheering she always called him Nibba which was pretty cute. Yep, gonna miss her terribly. 

[ElDiablo14 4,998]

@Demonland is it a record breaking day for ad revenue? 😆

[Young Blood 2,620]

wow what a year its been

- Clarry's off field problems and fitness (poor blokes been vomiting at every match)

- Gus retires

- May injures ribs twice (can have longer term effects as we saw with Langdon)

- Trac goes down with a horrible injury bringing contention around club medos

- The team runs our of steam fitness wise and reverts to defensive front half slog football

- Someone in Tracs camp makes it known he's unhappy with the current state of the club

- Impactful injuries to Gawn, Salem, Windsor and Bowey

 

And now this as a new fresh punch in the guts. ANB one of most consistent players will be sorely missed....

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Someone leaked it??? it seems WCW that the Club has a insider that cant shut up and is maybe responsible for multiple leaks, club is a leaking sieve of info at this stage! We have a RAT in a position of knowledge! 

Particularly insidious that they leaked it at this point in time when they likely have known about it for at least a couple of weeks. 

[Adam The God 30,220]

Losing the leadership of Gus and now ANB will be huge. A vacuum will need to be filled.

[Young Blood 2,620]

4 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Particularly insidious that they leaked it at this point in time when they likely have known about it for at least a couple of weeks. 

Do you think there's something sinister at play? All within a few weeks trade rumours around Clayton, Viney, Trac and now Nibbler (the latter the only legitimate one obviously)

We've historically been extremely tight with inside club affairs. This seems particularly out of pocket for us to suddenly be so leaky...

Edited August 13 by Young Blood

[Demonland 72,155]

6 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

@Demonland is it a record breaking day for ad revenue? 😆

No. We have won a flag. And had many colourful ups and downs.

[Norm Smith's Curse 2,602]

The window is shut and the rebuild begins. That is the direction some folk aren't happy with.