Leaderboard

Apparently when asked about his sighting at westpac centre he said he was just going up for a look. His father has been hired as a recruiter...

This is half true Billy. MFC were prepared to play games in keeping the potential return of MC from the media so as to keep the pressure off MC not to hide from other clubs as a potential raid. As I have said the club was blindsided by this and did not have it in its calculations. A couple of other points: Roos is furious, particularly with MC manager. Roos believes MC owes us. I agree that it is likely this is over a maximum rookie spot offering by MFC and MC and/or his manager wanting more. I don't believe our application for PP or special assistance has anything to do with this. If fit Roos wants MC.

Please let's not go there. There is no place on this site for unsubstantiated rumours and scuttlebutt. Posting them will only get their authors a holiday from the site.

You would reject a guy based on hearsay of shouting at his partner and being rude to people, but would happily take one who has been found guilty of assault once and charged a number of other times. It would be fair to say your standards are a bit inconsistent.

What staggers me is the huge sense of entitlement some players have to take, take and then take. Mitch Clark received approx $700k per season for 3 years, played 15 games for the club. Thats $140,000 PER GAME of footy! He then makes noises about owing the club while acting to disadvantage and leave the same club. Blows my mind how obscene this all is.

I find it amazing posters who demand, and expect, loyalty from players - yet turn on them at the drop of a rumour, viciously so in many cases. Truly amazing, to the extent of it being bizarre.

My missus was unfortunately on a red eye flight with the entire Coll team back from WA several years ago. She knows nothing about AFL and said they were like rude, pushy boys who would disobey flight attendants and do whatever they liked. She sat next to H and said he was delightful and got the guys around him to turn their phones off, lower their voices, and generally behave like adults. He was good conversation apparently and well respected by the players. Sometimes there is another side to the coin.

James Frawley must think Christmas has come early

Day 2 and i am already sick of this.

My optimistic opinion; MFC; - have applied for special consideration to get Mitch on the rookie list, and a greater salary than a standard rookie - will certainly receive a Band 1 compo pick for losing Frawley AFL; - will instruct MC and manager to "float" him around as trade bait, indicating clubs are interested, ensuring the footy world feels sorry for the MFC - have instructed MC to remove any MFC-related content from social media to appear that his time there is done - will be able to justify giving us Band 1 for Frawley (which is likely to be overs given the expected contract terms), as it appears likely that he (MC) will be leaving us for SFA Other clubs; - will be satisfied that we didn't get a Priority Pick for performance (but being totally blindsided by the approved special consideration as mentioned above) - will accept the compo pick for Frawley being higher than "market value" We come out smelling like roses because we couldn't get a deal done for MC, but have been able to rookie him to give him "another chance". We get way overs for Frawley, because reality is, he's not worth a Pick 3 (Judd was traded to Carlton for Pick 3!). AFL look good as they allowed us to put MC on rookie list after no-one was able to offer him a senior spot. My pessimistic opinion; - MC is a khunt - Our condition is downgraded from critical to palliative In the mean time, I will sit on the fence and have zero opinion until I hear more. I do have this weird Neeld-like twitch building around my right eye though, but I'm currently controlling it...just.

I think this thread deserves its own site!

When mitch retired he said that part of his anxiety was because he wasn't playing and helping the club whilst being paid good money, adding to the pressure on him If he now decides to put money at a higher priority to his health and goes to the highest bidder it seems to me he is again just putting himself into another pressure situation. melbourne's approach is a see how it goes, start as a rookie, get back to playing and good health then get a new contract, which seems a better approach putting his mental and physical health as a first priority. I'm dubious about claims of medical advice to jump into a new start environment especially if it is based on money.

If it makes you feel any better we technically did reach the 100 page mark prior to midnight but I've had to delete about 3 pages of material.

Looking like he has zero value around the league and thats understandable Rookie list spot at base salary for you Mitch, or you can go play in the WAFL or take black and white photos of trees You owe the MFC, we dont owe you [censored]

To be fair - that is BS.

I'm all for getting him, he can play footy.

A little bit of history in this Rohan Connolly article from November 2011 that was dug up by a Saintsational poster ~ Bigger Bombers for bruising battles Three years later and those bigger bodies can't run out four quarters of football and the real bruising battles are being fought out in courtrooms.

Get Malceski.

I can see two ways that we can benefit from this. 1. Clark goes to Collingwood in exchange for Lumumba. That's a good trade for us. Have no idea why people would think otherwise. Lumumba is a known quantity and a good footballer. Clark is (was) a good footballer but is a massive risk for them in many ways. 2. Clark sounds out other clubs, gets no bites and comes crawling back to the club Dustin Martin-style. We offer him a spot on the rookie list, he comes back in Round 1 and dominates in tandem with Hogan and Dawes. He bowes out in 2017 with Melbourne having just won the flag. OK, I got carried away on the second point there but both possibilities are realistic.

Clark for Dangerfield

Not sure if this has been posted? Josh Mahoney on the Mitch Clark situation - 3AW http://media.mytalk.com.au/3aw/audio/080914_josh_mahoney.mp3 (If already posted - mods feel free to remove post)

I prefer to call it legally covering my and your (all posters) arses.

A lot of shite.

Think part of MC's response may be due to the club not falling over itself to get him back. I'm sure previous regimes would have bent over backwards to accommodate his return on MC's terms. But we have smarter people in charge now,. Reckon roosy has spelt out in no uncertain terms if he comes back for us it will be under our terms. No more tail wagging the dog.

Heh. If I were James Frawley I'd be using this Mitch Clark poostorm to quietly sneak out the back door while nobody was looking.

What's with the moronic comments about us allegedly paying for his girlfriends uni course? One since when it is a fact. Two what possible relevance does it have. This thread is an embarrassment to demons fans

If thats the case Clark can go and get F... I want the club to demand the money back it used to pay for his missus uni course. What an absolute slime.

I think every time I watch this guy, he misses a goal from 10m out directly in front, or provides a moment of champagne embarrassment.

Relax, we've got this.

If Melbourne isn't willing to take a risk on Clark, why would any other club? We have salary cap space, and plenty of free spots on the list, and we desperatly need talented experienced players. If MC and his management can get a lucrative deal for him from a club too blind to be worried by his baggage, good luck to them. I would think the honourable thing to do would be for MC to take a one year deal or a rookie spot on a reduced salary, and take a slowly slowly approach with the support of the club that has done everything right by his so far.

When it comes to compensation - if you ignore all the periphery issues - Clark is a 27 year old ruckman/forward who has played 15 games in the last 3 seasons... He is also unfit, has a history of mental illness that clubs - for good or bad - will have to take into account... To Melbourne 'The Decline of Mitch Clark' story is worth quite a bit - he was a player who was easily our most talented and damaging player. To other Clubs 'The Decline of Mitch Clark' story is irrelevant to how much they will fork over for him. There is so much 'IF' coming off his potential AFL career re-ignition that clubs would not offer anything more than a prospective pick. If we are to get anything worthwhile - it is going to be through AFL House and not from Seaford, Lexus Centre, Waverley or Essendon Airport... How do those who complain we go 'cap in hand' to the AFL too often feel about that? Or are those people ok with getting Pick 45 for Clark from Collingwood or Hawthorn?

19 touches for the Stingrays win over the Falcons. He looks well built for a bottom age midfielder, wins his own ball and follows up the contest well. Was generally neat with his preferred left foot. It seemed like he didn’t get as much game time as some of the draft age kids, which might also be because he hasn’t played as much TAC Cup this year with his school commitments. He’ll have another crack at it against Calder on Saturday morning. Should be a good one, but won’t be able to get to the game unforts.

Demonland Meme: "We Only Recruit Choir Boys!" Demonland Meme: "Unlikeable Bloke. Look Elsewhere!" Demonland Meme: "We Just Need Footy Players!" Pick a lane, any lane...

Given that you have obviously met him and know him well and are not basing your comment upon media reports, I guess he must surely be controlling and manipulating. Thanks for clearing that up.

My two penn'orth as I see it: - MC was legitimately depressed and needed to get away from footy. - MFC did the right thing in assisting him in whatever way they could with his recovery. - MC says to MFC, "I'm feeling good, there's a chance I may want to come back and play." - MFC says to MC, "Great, we'd love to have you back at the club if everything's good - let's put you on a plan to get back to fitness." - MC, according to his social media and whispers around MFC going well. - MFC keen to look at getting MC back, but need to do due diligence for both MC and MFC (possibly suggesting rookie spot to start with?) as we are now a Roos/Jackson-led "buy in or get knotted" organisation. - MC manager sees his golden goose getting duck eggs for a while and puts the word out, leading to interest from 6 clubs (note interest and not clamouring for services). - This puts MFC on the back foot as they had assumed that there was an agreement that they'd get first refusal after doing due diligence. - Roos now having to decide about talking MC up for possible PP or talking him down to stop other clubs sniffing. Will be interesting to see how it plays out. I'd assume Roos feels pretty let down and that may be enough to assume MC will be traded.

" Should expect to play finals in 2016" oh the heavenly dream.

Good call by those saying the issue might be we had planned on putting mc on the rookie list (and perhaps Mc had agreed to this) but then his manager got in his ear and said 'Mitch you're a star not a rookie, I can get you on any list you want and on top coin. Heck I'll get you on the hawk's list and you'll. Be winning a flag next year' So stupid. Again what is up with this manager. The play was to go on the dees rookie list and fly under the radar a bit. Less pressure. Has a feel good vibe. He doesn't come of as a mercenary who has rejected the club who supported him, probably maximises likliehood of making it back, dees fans embrace him, everyone looks and feels great. A win win. Except of course his manager who gets much less coin than flogging him off to the highest bidder. Which ironically probably now no sure thing given the circus and the inevitable heat that would come with him. So stupid

Credibility is questionable as the 'missus' married you!

It means we're committed to taking him and we're reasonably certain that we'll pick him up for our second rounder. He's an All Australian Under 18 and has been regularly picking up more than 20 disposals for Glenelg seniors in the SANFL. The father/sons are determined at the beginning of the trade and free agency period so he'll be available for a full pre season come what may.

His manager is a [censored]. I'm sure we would have gladly placed MC on the LTI for this season and welcomed him back on full pay next season, if this was what he wanted. He said he wanted to retire and we supported him, and still help him train and get fit. Somehow that makes Clark the one doing us a favour. It's garbage. I have no doubt that this isn't the Melbourne of old, welcoming a player with questions marks over his head with a long term large contract. I would think a rookie spot would be a great approach, but maybe MC expected better, maybe he wanted to resurrect his old contract pay and we told him to get stuffed. At the end of the day something has gone very wrong. As Gary Lyon said, it should be simple, he says he wants to stay, we sign him to a new contract, story is over and every lives happily ever after. The fact that this has become an absolute shitestorm, tells me that something somewhere didn't go to plan. Roos would not give up on the promise of a supremely talented player.

"In a dramatic twist, mitch clark has been announced as paul roos's successor"

Hope we land a PP and then Mitch signs up as well. We need something like that to happen.

Reminds me a little of Dustin Martin last year, his manager was shopping him round & even taking a tour of GWS facilities. Media had Martin 100% gone from Richmond & the public saying Martin owes Richmond after everything he'd put them through.

I don't care. He can do what he likes. All I know is that Roos is seething.....our coach analyses character as well as skill.

Roos, Clark and Mahoney all said that yesterday was the first time that Clark had discussed his intentions with the club. Young said Clark needed to have his physical and mental health assessed by the club, which would determine his suitability for a return. Training on a Misson programme notwithstanding, this sounds like baby steps to me, not rush out and put an offer on the table. The "might return but not at the MFC" stuff just sounds like management bluster to me. I'm not saying he will or won't return, by the way. The vibe I'm getting from all this is not positive or negative, more of a too early to say vibe.

Possible factors the Club may be considering: 1. Misson has reported that Clarks fitness for AFL is way below par and will take more than 1 preseason to fix. 2. Major depression ( which I do believe he had/has ) is a typically recurring illness that can be controlled rather than cured and he would be at risk in the pressure cooker of AFL. 3. His motivation is mostly financial rather than a burning desire to be back playing. 4. The Club and Roos are angry at the way Clark and his manager have gone about it - not involving us until late and blind siding them with his change of heart. 5. He wants too much coin. Perhaps all things considered their attitude is on ya bike we'll take the compo thanks.

Tell a cry baby to p iss off you reckon, you'd be the first cry baby I'd want to p iss off.

Roos is Mr Ruthless Premiership Winning Coach. He doesn't see in Clark what we all see - he looks at what he has done in the last couple years, the project that he has become and maybe he then looks at our midfield and thinks to himself that there is a better place to invest money than in, what the British would call, a "perennially crocked" forward. Hogan is the man in that forward line and Clark is only at the stage that he wants to play AFL again - so much water to flow under that bridge. If we were gearing up to ask the AFL Commission for a PP - partially on the back of Clark going - we are certainly not going to say its all hunky dory now that he is a chance to play again. IF he can get his body right, and IF he can recapture his form, and IF he can stay healthy... If Clark gets back to footy and we can gain a selection to help our midfield - then would we be better off than if we were taking the chance with Clark next year on $800k? Nothing is black and white and that's why we shouldn't eat Mitch Clark alive - he hasn't seemed like anything other than a great bloke and Demon.

After watching 360 it simply shows us the reason Roosy is in control and it gives me the utmost confidence that we have the right people at the top now. He gave away nothing either way and I felt all he is now concerned about is what is the best for the MFC moving forward. I am now sitting back enjoying the ride knowing that whatever decisions are made we are in very capable hands.

Agree absolutely. Along with GNF I have pushed the "MC to play for the Dees again" line. If GNF is correct and if MC has told the MFC the truth, this has come about due to his medical treatment. I have no clue as to the veracity of this. Presumably until advised by his Doctors to play at another club, he was loyal and determined to resume with us. That loyalty will now be put to the test as Robbie 57 suggests. MC can insist that we get a good deal from his new club or refuse to play with them. Considering what we have done for him and paid him, I would expect nothing less. I still believe as he is on our list we have the whip hand during trade week and as a result of the AFL Retirement Clause he could be bound to us for another year. The AFL will have to look favourably on us given our position and what we have done for this player and what we stand to lose. I think we need to draw breath, stop abusing this bloke from behind keyboards and await the final outcome. No one could argue we got the better of the deal for the GWS player who left us. We have PJ and Roos in charge to get the best deal out of this. Lets see what happens, we may even be better off with what we end up with. Remember if MC had stayed retired we would probably have got nothing.