hoopla

Fair call ... and to top off the farce, Tom ( "I'm not making a decision until the end of the season") Scully looks likely to make his decision without even knowing who his current club's coach is going to be!

From the range of opinions expressed in this thread, I'd suggest that it is most definitely newsworthy.. Vice Captain, indigenous group leader, very talented player, uninjured ( apparently), 150 games up ..... Good Communications and Public Relations Policies and Procedures are pro-active

Even as someone prepared to forgive Flash most of his bad days - I don't think his form against Richmond really warranted an immediate return to the Senior team after his suspension. But with LJ injured, I thought he might get another chance to finish this year on a positive note this week(even if only as the Sub) But as it has turned out - he's not even part of an extended bench ......and (presumably as he hasn't qualified for the VFL Finals) he hasn't been picked for Casey either. So he finishes a dreadful season with half a dozen possessions and suspension for a careless elbow in Round 22. As Vice Captain,will they take him to Adelaide to watch the game? What happens now? Does he return for the pre-season as a potential member of the leadership group in 2012? Will he be able to rebuild his confidence in the NAB Cup? Will he be a walk-up start for Round 1 next year if he trains well? He has been an important member of our team for several years now - and at 28 ( or 27) ought to be an important part of our squad for a few years yet ... but he seems to have a bit of a climb ahead of him. I would have loved to have seen a few flashes of the old Flash during these last few weeks ..... but nothing.............Where to now?

Hang on - he's a gun but give him a bit of time He's still only in Year 11 He'll be doing VCE next year - and Carey will be pretty keen to use him to help win a premiership

That's my mail too. He might have got a bit frustrated when he was back in the WAFL ... but that's understandable for a kid committed to excellence See how he feels in about 7 years time

Yeah - but how much more? 15% 25% 50% 100% or more than double ? .... more than double when fitness and durability are under a cloud - and a draft and a salary cap constrain the market? GWS has been handed extra money - and has been told to spend it.We are not being asked to match ( or nearly match) a normal premium above market price - but an artificial premium that an established club with an established list cannot possibly sustain.

There is little doubt that "best offer we can give" is above what we would have given if GWS didn't exist - and that we have had to modify our "wage structure" to make that offer. At least one - if not several of his teamates - are going to have to pay his "GWS premium". For no fault of his own Tom will be damned if he goes ( as a mercenary) and damned if he doesn't ( as a mug who "looked a gift horse in the mouth") We'd be better off putting the whole thing behind us. Damn GWS!

Never thought I'd contribute to this thread!! Unfortunately the premature intervention of GWS has set an expectation that no 2o year old kid without a proper pre-season could ever be expected to meet. To keep Tom we are going to have to pay him more than his form warrants - and distort the salary structure that Tim Harrington has been developing. This will put the harmony of the playing group at risk for as long as Tom remains at the club .... particularly if his troublesome knee ever curtails his output (as it has this year) The fact is that he hasn't earned a Judd-like salary - and that we can't afford to pay him in the hope that he'll be able to lift his output from Round One next year to Judd-like levels every year until at least Round 24 2021. Left alone he might have become a star for the MFC. As it is we need to move on without him - and use the compensation picks wisely. Unless he is prepared to stay on the same sort of salary we are giving his (better) performed peers , then we need to cut our losses and let him follow the dollar. He may become a wealthy man - but whether he will get the satisfaction he could have got if the GWS window had never been open is problematical

Tony .... these emails? Were they general - "I heard someone in the pub say that Melbourne blah blah" ? or hard statements of fact by ,say,a Collingwood official? Malthouse is used to being able to snap his fingers and send players off to Arizona at the drop of a hat. Why would he risk his reputation at a club with limited resources? Were we really onto him as early as March - the pre-season(!)- when we had to be looking for a finals appearance under Bailey? Source please!

Interesting. Schwab seemed to be doing a good job off the field - something like that would explain his fall from grace. Have heard many stories that Connolly's aggressive mouth has caused a lot of friction with the players. It always seemed strange that after missing out on the coaching job to Bailey he was elevated to Operations Manager. Never appeared suited to a behind-the-scenes admin position. If we are build a new culture under a new coach, then surely he has to go as well

Can't see what question marks over 18 year old draftees have to do with question marks over a 30 year old. They might improve - he can only get worse

The trouble is that things have come out. Someone on the inside ( or perhaps more than one?) has blabbed. How is it that everyone seems to know that Schwab had effectively been sacked before the Geelong game? How did it get out that Hankook were unhappy? How did it become known that the players were summonsed to speak to the Board? Part of our problem is that we have been leaking like a sieve - to the point that the club is under pressure to answer questions that should never have arisen. One of the things Gary needs to do is weed out the leak

Let him know we are an option - and offering $5m before considering the value for money elsewhere - are two different things

Two points 1. Is this another knee-jerk reaction? I thought we were putting a process in place to find the best "value for money" candidate available. Is Clarkson so far ahead of the field that nobody else even warrants an interview? We know from several recent articles that Gary is a huge fan - but he was one of those who recommended Bailey .... so his judgment is not perfect. 2. What chance is there of Clarkson leaving a club which is still in the premiership window - with money, facilities and supporters ? Now that Jeff's gone, Hawthorn must look pretty attractive to him. If could well be that all we are doing is pushing up Hawthorn's offer price - and flagging to the footy world that whoever we finally get will not be our preferred choice. Let's hope Caro's off the money with this one ... for the time being at least PS That is not say that we shouldn't consider him

Two points 1. Is this another knee-jerk reaction? I thought we were putting a process in place to find the best "value for money" candidate available. Is Clarkson so far ahead of the field that nobody else even warrants an interview? We know from several recent articles that Gary is a huge fan - but he was one of those who recommended Bailey .... so his judgment is not perfect. 2. What chance is there of Clarkson leaving a club which is still in the premiership window - with money, facilities and supporters ? Now that Jeff's gone, Hawthorn must look pretty attractive to him. If could well be that all we are doing is pushing up Hawthorn's offer price - and flagging to the footy world that whoever we finally get will not be our preferred choice. Let's hope Caro's off the money with this one

Stupid thread - doesn't deserve a reply. The more relevant question is - Would you like Casey to keep him next year? Clearly the answer must be NO

That's easy -- Bye bye Mark

No wonder we're struggling - and are turnover experts - when our Ball Movement Coach writes stuff like this. Sounds like he thinks that moving the ball to the opposition is all part of the game plan. What is a "Ball Movement Coach" anyway?

I reckon this is a pretty good summary Given that it is a weak draft, we might just stick with minimum of 3 changes to the main list. Bate and Warnock are no brainers. The fact that Warnock wasn't given a chance against one of the big bodied West Coast forwards basically says he's gone. The third should be Bartram because there is no place for such a poor decision - maker in a successful side especially one who can't kick. Unfortunately unless we can trade him to GWS which might benefit from his work ethis, it looks like we are stuck with him for another year. Doubt if they'll hit Aussie with a re-rookieing arrangement after working so hard to get him back. With that in mind the third looks to be one of Morton or Maric. I'd like to see both of them under a new coach - but if I had to choose one it would be Morton because hidden somewhere at the moment is still a big upside. As to rookies, Nicho and Evans must stay - and Newton must ( MUST) go

Have to agree. Congratulations to Clint for getting the absolute best out of himself ... but his decision-making as much as his kicking is a liability. Other teams just have to isolate him in defence to win a turnover in a scoring position. We can't go forward with him in our 22 - end of story. You'd like to think that his dedication and work ethic would be an asset to GWS .If we are to be a finals team - we must move him on as soon as we can

Enough water has now flowed under the bridge to bring him to the club without threatening anyone I think he would be a great choice. If his family is settled in Perth, I can'see why he'd uproot them again to come back here. You reckon he'd be happy where he is

Sorry I haven't waded through all these posts - because the answer is simple. Colin Sylvia is a very important player at this stage in our development and he would be a very serious loss full stop.

I'd like to think that you are right .... and that we'll look back at this mess as a positive turning point... Whether or not we do ultimately depends on the response of the players . How many of our young stars - who have seen two admired mentors knifed in less than 12 months - McDonald and Bailey- will take advantage of the GWS free agency window available to them in a few weeks time? Somehow we have to hold the players together through these uncertain times to give the "tonic" a chance to work.

Much of what you say here may be correct, HT. But at the end of the day - a non-executive director is just that - a non executive....... and if the "right" executive team in place, he shouldn't have much to do from one season to the next. With Cook and Balme in charge, I'm not sure that the wheels would fall off at Geelong if their Football Director ( is it still Gareth Andrews ?) missed a few Board meetings. None of us know the truth - perhaps a read of the Andrews Report might help.On the branding side, I agree that Schwab appears to have done a good job But its been a long time since a club blew up because of a breakdown in relations between the players and the CEO and the Operations Mgr. The Board is ultimately responsible - but the core of its failing must surely be in the selection of the comrades from Freo - particularly in the appointment of a frustrated coach as its Operations Manager.