Farewell Alex Neal-Bullen

[Superunknown 4,200]

15 minutes ago, Gawndy the Great said:

Well you can rule out ANB, which leaves Gawn, Trac, Lever and Viney. I don’t think I’m missing anyone. 

Dear me

[Older demon 2,722]

2 hours ago, Demonland said:

 

Only Tom Morris could put his own spin on the situation and use it to denigrate our football club. Goody told him is he was at a leadership meeting he would be surprised at the robustness of it. Of course then Morris would twist it around so he could get a scoop. I thought Goody challenged him today and had an answer for every pot shot Morris had at our culture. 

[Older demon 2,722]

2 hours ago, Demonland said:

 

Only Tom Morris could put his own spin on the situation and use it to denigrate our football club. Goody told him is he was at a leadership meeting he would be surprised at the robustness of it. Of course then Morris would twist it around so he could get a scoop. I thought Goody challenged him today and had an answer for every pot shot Morris had at our culture. 

[manny100 1,443]

ANB gave his all, great leader, was a very good player for the club, rarely missed a game and was consistent week in week out. We always knew what we were going to get.

Now for the trade. Given McAdam was a pick 28 given the above we should get at least that or better.

[DemonWA 3,902]

I honestly don't understand why ANB is allowed to openly walk but the club held Petty to his contract. I can only assume the personal aspects of the request is significant 

[58er 6,175]

2 hours ago, DemonWA said:

I honestly don't understand why ANB is allowed to openly walk but the club held Petty to his contract. I can only assume the personal aspects of the request is significant 

Ten years of everything you could ask a player to do. Alex has been a wonderful Clubman even above his playing role which has shown genuine improvement virtually every year.
And it is after ten years. A wonderful contribution all ways round. 

Alex and his family deserve our best wishes at the same time negotiate strongly to replace him. 

[David-Demon 557]

On 13/08/2024 at 07:01, Clintosaurus said:

 

The Eeyores are all feeling giddy inside at the moment. 

I think the overall view here on this thread is that we need 100% loyalty at the club; having others resign is a step in the right direction, however, when there is one player rocking the boat, it is not a good sign. Maybe there are others that will see a way out - Tracca, Viney et el. 

[David-Demon 557]

1 hour ago, 58er said:

Ten years of everything you could ask a player to do. Alex has been a wonderful Clubman even above his playing role which has shown genuine improvement virtually every year.
And it is after ten years. A wonderful contribution all ways round. 

Alex and his family deserve our best wishes at the same time negotiate strongly to replace him. 

Sorry, the bigger picture prevails in my mind. He signed a new CLUB approved contract in 2023.. Are you telling me he never thought of his current reasoning about his views now.?  I would sit down with him and his family and seek a deliverance whereby, at the end of his playing days, it is time to move to S.A. I thought a pregnancy lasted nine months.... Maybe I am wrong on that.....

Edited August 14 by David-Demon

[Ollie fan 3,234]

22 hours ago, Demons11 said:

You are joking aren’t you? Riv and McVee will play mid next year and the rest you mentioned are fringe players at best and Houston is an A grader 

No, I'm not joking. Our midfield next year will include Gawn, Trac, Oliver, JV7, with Kozzie, Sparrow and Rivers and hopefully a high draft pick. We can't and won't put ALL of our half backs into the midfield - apart from anything else, half back is a vital position and good players should be kept there. As for saying the ones I mentioned are fringe players, they are developing players who i hope will have a future.

 

 Houston got torched by Kozzie last week. He may be a good player but he is, i think, 28 and he is not filling a gaping hole in our team.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,664]

3 hours ago, David-Demon said:

Sorry, the bigger picture prevails in my mind. He signed a new CLUB approved contract in 2023.. Are you telling me he never thought of his current reasoning about his views now.?  I would sit down with him and his family and seek a deliverance whereby, at the end of his playing days, it is time to move to S.A. I thought a pregnancy lasted nine months.... Maybe I am wrong on that.....

You're right...the bigger picture should prevail. In this instance, the bigger picture is that Neal-Bullen is putting his family first.

[forever demons 2,213]

My fav Dee sure will miss little nibbles cannot be replaced

[Demons11 6,847]

36 minutes ago, Ollie fan said:

No, I'm not joking. Our midfield next year will include Gawn, Trac, Oliver, JV7, with Kozzie, Sparrow and Rivers and hopefully a high draft pick. We can't and won't put ALL of our half backs into the midfield - apart from anything else, half back is a vital position and good players should be kept there. As for saying the ones I mentioned are fringe players, they are developing players who i hope will have a future.

 

 Houston got torched by Kozzie last week. He may be a good player but he is, i think, 28 and he is not filling a gaping hole in our team.

You can’t have enough good players and Houston absolutely fills a need.  We don’t have many elite distributors in our side and he is definitely that.  We will be a far better side with Houston in it and not the developing players you mention 

Edited August 14 by Demons11

[binman 42,263]

12 hours ago, FreedFromDesire said:

There's already media reports of Houston having doubts about Melbourne given recent events, if we were to treat a champion player like that it would be a horrible look for our club and would no doubt put an end to many other players looking at us.

Agree we should play nibbla.

Absurd to suggest we wouldn't honour a plsyer who had given so much to the club

But no player considering us would give a fig if we did or didn't.

I mean, after all they are leaving their own club and any decision to leave has already been made. It's just dealin' that needs to be done.

But in any case, I'm deeply suspicious of 'media reports'.

Media creating 'fairy tales for profit' would be closer to the mark.

Edited August 14 by binman

[raDeelaide 248]

A great servant to the club and one of the modern day IMMORTALS of the Demon family. 

Nibbler if we cross paths in SA I’ll buy you a beer. 

[Colm 1,998]

12 hours ago, Gawndy the Great said:

Sam Landesberger from Mid week Tackle just let slip on air the leak on ANB has allegedly come from the playing group.  

 

12 hours ago, Heart Beats True said:

I heard that too. He actually said it was the leadership group. Sam was very bullish about Melbourne though. He said that aside from our horrible recent trading, our drafting had been second to none.

 

12 hours ago, Gawndy the Great said:

Well you can rule out ANB, which leaves Gawn, Trac, Lever and Viney. I don’t think I’m missing anyone. 

Really hope this isn’t true or our dramas are far from over. 

[David-Demon 557]

1 hour ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

You're right...the bigger picture should prevail. In this instance, the bigger picture is that Neal-Bullen is putting his family first.

That's just a circular discussion that does not resolve either party. Look, the guy is not 21.. He has ten years of service, surely there is a life after playing in which he could spin this yarn in the not-too-distant future. 

[Kent 2,888]

On 14/08/2024 at 08:22, Roger Mellie said:

That's wrong - we have a 1st, a 2nd, two 3rds and a 4th

Sorry Rog

Our current picks are 6,38.43,50,62

[DistrACTION Jackson 8,284]

9 hours ago, DemonWA said:

I honestly don't understand why ANB is allowed to openly walk but the club held Petty to his contract. I can only assume the personal aspects of the request is significant 

The difference is Alex came to the club months before trade period and explained his issues with family etc.

Adelaide went to Petty during the trade period and said 'oh hey we have $1m available next year do you want it?' 

Petty re-signing shows it was never about getting back to Adelaide for him.

[whatwhat say what 22,429]

it's really upsetting to lose a player of his ilk in his prime

he's worth far more to us than what we will receive for him

really irritating

[FreedFromDesire 854]

1 hour ago, binman said:

Agree we should play nibbla.

Absurd to suggest we wouldn't honour a plsyer who had given so much to the club

But no player considering us would give a fig if we did or didn't.

I mean, after all they are leaving their own club and any decision to leave has already been made. It's just dealin' that needs to be done.

But in any case, I'm deeply suspicious of 'media reports'.

Media creating 'fairy tales for profit' would be closer to the mark.

I don't agree he wouldn't care, but I guess neither of us are in his friendship circle so what would we know?

Just like any workplace, professionals take notice of how employees are treated by their employers. I think if we were to deny a much loved person, premiership player & leader, who has requested a trade due to family reasons that there's been inference around are very important, not only a farewell to the fans that love him, but selection when he clearly deserves to be selected, it would be an incredibly bad look for those outside watching how we treat our people.

Imagine you were being headhunted by a particular company and then you found out a senior person in the company who had put in their resignation due to personal family circumstances but was still doing a fantastic job, was immediately fired because the company decided to react in an immature emotional way rather than as a company with a mature outlook, care for their people, and a good culture.

I don't know about you, but I most certainly would be thinking twice of joining that company if that's how they treated their people.

I'm not completely sure what you mean with the 'media reports' section. ANB has already spoken publicly about his wish to be traded, and I don't think it would be fair of us Demon supporters to gladly receive the reports of Houston requesting a trade to us but then saying the media make things up when they later report he's reconsidering. Although I do agree there's varying levels of trust I have for different reporters, generally based on what seems to be the extra layers they add themselves to reports.

[whatwhat say what 22,429]

so in terms of replacing his high half-forward / gut running wing / occasional midfielder role, do we all just presume it's tom sparrow who'll have to step into the breach to allow trac to rotate forward as a 'weapon' i50?

i query whether sparrow is up to doing the job as well as nibbs

[FreedFromDesire 854]

12 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

so in terms of replacing his high half-forward / gut running wing / occasional midfielder role, do we all just presume it's tom sparrow who'll have to step into the breach to allow trac to rotate forward as a 'weapon' i50?

i query whether sparrow is up to doing the job as well as nibbs

I don't think anyone can do the job near the standard of ANB, so we're going to lose a bit there no matter what.

Personally, I would have the options (out of the current list) as Tholstrup, Spargo, Sestan and perhaps a left field option in Bowey. It seems we're looking at a few half back types, so that could free up options around those who have been played there. Bowey has toughness and is a good kick, so I think he could be a handy pressure forward for us.

Sparrow strikes me more as a 'see ball, get ball, inside mid who should be playing in centre clearances as an extractor.

[Demonland 70,903]

 

[BLWNBA 874]

6 hours ago, David-Demon said:

Sorry, the bigger picture prevails in my mind. He signed a new CLUB approved contract in 2023.. Are you telling me he never thought of his current reasoning about his views now.?  I would sit down with him and his family and seek a deliverance whereby, at the end of his playing days, it is time to move to S.A. I thought a pregnancy lasted nine months.... Maybe I am wrong on that.....

Have you ever been a first-time parent living interstate with no ongoing familial support? Have you dealt with a difficult pregnancy, or associated complications after birth? 

If you haven't, I hope you never have to experience the complications that pregnancy, post-partum or health issues can cause. 

Your lack of a nuanced understanding, and associated comments are pretty moronic.

[Deez21 253]

Love Nibbler, but there were plenty of times the club should've given up on him and didn't.

However, this is a nicely timed PR exercise from the club. Come to Melbourne and we'll look after you and your family and give you waht you want

 

But the constant fanfare on social media is a bit much. This isn't Gawn retiring or Jones leaving the premiership hub, he's a guy in contract demanding to leave at a time we're down. Goodbye, hope Crows miss the finals again next year