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Am I the only one who feels a sense of relief along with the disappointment?

Do a trade with Boak, just do it. Don't fcuk around, get it done ASAP.

It's not a question of right or wrong. Nor is it a question of who's in the right and who's in the wrong. It's just sad. None of us can imagine the emotional ties and consequent difficulties for Liam playing in Melbourne and for Melbourne. I wish him luck for the future wherever it is and whatever it brings and thank him for the all too brief joy he provided when he played with us.

Just when you think you've been kicked enough times, something else comes along. This is just about the biggest kick in the guts I could ever imagine. Never thought I could feel so low about footy and this club, but there is just no hope left, no light at the end of the tunnel, just nothing. We pluck this guy out from nowhere, we support him, we set him up, and he gets into trouble and spits in our faces. I can't judge him, I simply can't, but FFS this just kills. Football just cannot get more painful.

The greater tragedy is that you care enough about Nine News to open a new thread about them.

While I used to salivate at his potential and immense talent, I spent half of last year's games screaming at LJ to stop being so lazy, basically kicking junk time goals and rarely chasing. He never had the attitude or the hunger. I'd rather have a committed hungry and never say die player with 75% of LJ's potential.

To me it says Neeld inherited a culture where certain players were given a lot of latitude without necessarily having earned it.I'm happy Neeld expects AFL players to be professional, driven and hungry to play. I'm happy that Neeld expects player to take the field when their recovery is complete... Aren't you?

Whenever I do our best side in my head as we move forward I never include him. Not surprised and not overly disappointed. Unless he gets fit and learns how to develop a defensive side to his game he won't live up to his potential. I've moved on already.

Come on, people. This is a guy whose family is being torn apart in front of him and he has an awful choice to make. Once again we are on the arse end of history but it's character building, isn't it?

I could handle him leaving the AFL for his cultural family reaosns bu tto turn around and play for another club and we get nothing for him, that just plain sucks on his behalf. After everything we have done.

Neita

What a joke. Can't believe some people are saying thanks for the memories! He could of at least bought us dinner if he knew all along he was going to f**k us! We've been by his side through this whole ordeal, which may I mention was through the fault of no-one but himself, and he's turned around and thrown us under the bus. He had a few highlights but he's treated Melbourne quite frankly with complete disdain, and the supporters with even less. We've all been behind him and his way to pay us back is leave. I understand aboriginals are closer to families but we gave him his big break and I'm so so disappointed in him. Leave Liam and never come back, I don't want to hear about you again.

As well as that I hope we abandon this foolish push in to Darwin, it will lead us nowhere.

If he has to go and live in Adelaide for family reasons, so be it. But he could have done it the right way and requested a trade instead of just walking out on the club. The Melbourne Football Club has stood by him through his troubles and he should have done the right thing.

Am I the only one who is only now getting excited about what Neeld might do? I've been saying all along that he planned on using this year to get a feel for the list and had pretty much written off the season in terms of competing on the ladder. I don't think he had planned on it being quite as bad as it turned out, but nobody can doubt that he now has the measure of the playing group. Obviously there are a few people thinking along similar lines given the threads showing up regarding who will be cut. I am really looking forward to the nest three months. This is the time when we're finally going to see what kind of stamp Neeld will put on the club. I expect us to see a serious cull on our playing list, at least an attempt to be very active in trade week, and the draft this year promises to be fascinating. In three months time our list will be almost unrecognisable. It may have been a shocking season to be a Melbourne supporter, but we are going to end with something to talk about if nothing else.

The only thing in football that matters is winning premierships. You're either winning them, losing them, or not in the game. I want to start getting back in the game.

Magner needs to be allowed to play his game. His year went downhill when they started using him as a tagger and in odd roles around the place. Put him under the feet of the rucks and let him rack up clearances. That is his value to the team. I also think Williams is showing a bit.

Clark and Howe?

DemonOx, better you be his real Hero, than footballers. Then he can have reality.

I can only presume ( read fervently hope ) that the reason the Club hasnt uttered a word is because they are keeping their powder dry at present. There something very very wrong about all this. I can sense the club is seething. Im so tempted to utter some words but ill take the cue of the club and remain quietly unamused.

Underrated as a player and leader that man. Loved him, still one of my favourite MFC players of all time.

In retrospect, perhaps this is why Collingwood passed on Liam in the first place.

A jinx hey? Can we put Nic Nat, Dangerfield, Fyfe, Rockliff, Hurley and Cotchin up there?

As disappointed as anyone but this is about a young man's life in circumstances most of us cannot even imagine. I wish him well. As for RR, what a disgrace. The implied suggestion that Rude boy has plotted for Liam to be at Collingwood is just offensive and frankly RR should apologise. Rudeboy has never let his allegiance to Collingwood stand before his allegiance to Liam. The MFC has been the beneficiary of Rudeboy's integrity.

Me too Nash. Sad to see him go but this will be one less headache and resource consuming element that this club can do without. All the best LJ.

Having a player with Jurrah's talent at Melbourne was always too good to be true.

The part of that article I really liked was the bit about Blease being challenged by Neeld and him accepting, and then them having a laugh about it after he beat the challenge. It shows that while Mark has come in with a bit of an old school [censored] 'em and get them fit mantra, he does have time to be a like able coach. It may be a puff piece, but this shows me the culture is heading in the right direction.

We can stand for hard work, discipline and earning back that pride in the jumper. 2012 and the darkest days are behind us - I truly believe that.

Imagine Neeld and the FD have been asked to bake a premiership cake. They arrive and look in the pantry, some good fresh ingredients, some old, some low quality ingredients, some high quality. They test out the ingredients, cakes are not up to standard, certainly not premiership cake standard. So they work out what they can disgard or sell and what they need to buy or draft. They then repeat and resume the cake testing in 2013. Neeld is one horrible year into this process, his first shopping trip (last year) delivered Clark, arguably our best player prior to injury, so he knows his ingredients. His cake baking plan is based on cooking a "premiership cake" so he's not cooked us up some sweet boston buns while we wait for a premiership cake, he's tried to make a premiership cake, and with the ingredients he has these cakes have sucked. Neeld has a full wallet and a handfull of draft coupons and he's about to go shopping again... If he pulls our list, game plan and culture into shape over the next two years, he earns the right to have a tilt at baking the premiership cake.

The boys deserve a break - I have no problems with the 'Mad Monday' tradition. I hope they come back fresh ready to put in 100% to Neeld & Missions demands

This line has always grated on my nerves, though I could never put my finger on why. I think I've worked it out. These young players have never known anything else other than playing football. They go from being at school, training in the afternoon and playing footy with their mates on the weekend, to ditching school and just stepping up the training. At what stage do they get to learn about hard work and professionalism? In any other industry, there's no such thing as a professional 18-21 year old. Other 18-21 year olds are either still studying, or undertaking an apprenticeship or traineeship, and very few of them will have taken on their chief hobby as a career. I don't think I started to resemble a professional in my field until I was 25. This just shows why it's doubly important for leaders of the club to show the way. They must show the young players how it must be done, and pull them in to line when they step out of it, and show what it is to be professional. Otherwise their career will just be a permanent extension of their time at school, kicking around with their mates. I think in writing this post I've almost convinced myself that the minimum draft age should be 21 too.

Matthew Rendell has just sought a full apology from the AFL and compensation for Defamation.

You've got to love being a Melbourne supporter dont you !!! lol The good old Red and Blue...Red the colour of the brick wall......Blue the resulting bruises on head !! fmd if it isnt one thing its another. Still its not boring

Liam Jurrah is dealing with life circumstances that are extremely difficult for most of us to comprehend. His home town is in a state of civil war. His mother's side of the family is exiled in Adelaide because it is not safe for them to remain in Yuendumu. There is no real prospect of a resolution that would see the civil war in Yuendumu end. Liam himself faces serious assualt charges that have their genesis in the cause of the ongoing civil war in Yuendumu. Good luck to Liam in all the challenges that he and his family and the people of Yuendumu confront. GO DEES

And yet still nothing from MFC. [censored] me, how long does it take to put something up? (Spoiler: about 30 seconds.)

See you Liam. Can we remove him from the demonland header as soon as is possible.

What i find equally disturbing, is that whilst every other media outlet in town is reporting on Jurrah leaving us, there is not even anything mentioned on the mfc website. Once again, if you want to know anything MFC related, melbournefc.com.au is the last place to let you know. Pathetic. Boy we really know how to look after our supporters don't we!

Like I said in another post, i want the club to stay away from these kids from the remote communities. Its too much of a risk. Imagine one of us getting drafted by Yuendumu. How long would we stay out there playing and how hard would it be to settle in to the completely different life there. Its exactly the same for these kids. Culturally, Yuendumu and Melbourne are poles apart. Theres just too much potential for issues to arise. THis has nothing to do with race. Id be more than happy for melb to pick an aboriginal kid from the country but these remote communities are jsut so diffiernt. I understand we would all love to give these kids a chance but lets leave that to the clubs that can afford these dramas . Melb is on its knees. It cant afford to be dealing with this. We need a massive list improvement. Get the club back firing again then start taking long shots with list management decisions

Liam will not be playing for Collingwood in 2013 mate, be good if he was at least we could get some trade value but no he will be facing court in Adelaide and good luck to him. The club has done the right thing in supporting one of our players and we should be proud of that. Liam has done the right thing by let us move on now. lets just leave it at that.

Anyone who call racist when clubs think twice about recruiting indigenous players should STFU and look at what this club has been through in the last 4 years.

Talent is useless without the requisite application.

Neeld is holding player meetings at 8.30am today and tomorrow to which every player is required to be at and sober. I guess that's his way of making sure Mad Monday is tempered this year. Great call Mark in my books.

David Schwartz, on his day nobody could stop him. Jakovitch. Flower.

did anyone notice fitzy looked alot bigger then at the start of the year? looks more built up in the upper body.

ill settle for 'better'

Normally get my mother a membership for Christmas. For various reasons, she didn't go to a game this year. This year, she will be getting a coffee machine. It will be up to her to re-sign if the Club calls. For those that talk about jumping on bandwagons, etc, that's fine, I'll cop that criticism, but I would equal anybody in the passionate stakes, so if I re-sign or not is a choice I make based on a number of life's circumstances. I know this year I've had to try and relax a bit more, as the MFC was making me an angry man. I don't know who to blame for this, perhaps Neeld. When I watch the MFC I want to try and experience every part of the game as if I were playing it myself. Every goal they kick I want to feel that I'm in there giving the high 5's and getting a pat on the back myself. This year, the club has played with no enjoyment whatsoever, and that meant that I stopped enjoying it. When you stop enjoying a sport, you really should give it away. That'll never happen, but I've soon realised that I live a happier life when I find that balance of life and the MFC. I'm not sure what the future of the MFC will be. I thought $cully was going to be our saviour, so was shattered when he left (still am, even given his current form!). It was more about the fact that we "lost" a player who demanded a certain level of professionalism that we hadn't seen at the MFC for decades (in terms of work ethic and prepartion for a match). I felt that his departure was the beginning of something potentially dire, and as such, gave myself a reality check in regards to concerns I had, such as "what would it do to me if the MFC folded?". 12 months ago I would have said that I'd be hanging from a tree somewhere. Now, I'll be bitterley disappointed, but will get through it and enjoy the next phase of my life with the MFC chunk obviously missing. That's some deep sh!t, but that's how it is with me after 2012. I now look forward to spending the weekends going fishing, enjoying my new family, and appreicating the things in my life that I have control over. The MFC in 2012 has taught me perspective, and I thank it for that.

The funny thing about Bennell is for that he was the ONE player we pinched from West Coast (if reports are believed); so they got Nik Nat, Darling, Shuey - we got Bennell. HI-larious.

I sense some animosity towards Range Rover