hoopla

Melbourne chief executive Cameron Schwab said last night: “We made our position clear to the Scorpians that we didn't support it but in the end it was their call.”

Melbourne football manager Chris Connolly warned last week: "We would expect when it comes to decisions made on playing personnel, the opinions of Melbourne Football Club would be taken into regard.’’

Casey have done the wrong thing by us. no doubt.

Agree absolutely

We need Fev's influence around our young players like a hole in the head. It is most disappointing that we don't have sufficient influence over our affiliate to manage a distraction like this !

Let's hope he gets OP or something worse before the main season starts.

Sorry Fev - most uncharitable of me,I know - but your track record demonstrates that you can't be trusted..... and we don't want our young players playing under a "full-forward centric" game plan

Just shows the advantages of AFL clubs with their own VFL teams - Collingwood and Geelong

Sam suffered a cork at training last week, Being rested for the Brisbane game.

That's the sort of information I was hoping to get. Thankyou J-Riv

If that had been on the injury or resting list... I wouldn't have started the thread in the first place! Good luck Sam

Terrible terrible thread.

Reading into things that arent even there.

Not at all ..... just asking a question.

I would rather they manage his load now thsn throw him to the wolves and have him break down again.

Have faith and patience......they know what they're doing.

Agree with this.... and hope you are right

Just a bit surprising that he wasn't named in press release which detailed the injured players .. and those being rested

A little surprised and disappointed that all of our new recruits and a couple of rookies have been named in the side to play Brisbane - but Sam Blease has not.

He is not listed amongst the injured players nor amongst those being rested. The silence is deafening!

This suggests he is still a long way from where he needs to be. It is about 2 years since he he broke he broke his leg. Surely there is a big question mark over his future.

If anyone has some specific news ... please pass it on - because he certainly is/was(?) an exciting prospect

Surely you jest?!

Committing for one year? Why not 2 or 3? It would only increase speculation to make such a bizarre move.

1 year makes it look like we have a rental for a year before he heads off. No 19 year old signs a single year extension.

It's unheard of. And it still leaves him open to GWS the following year.

And stuffs up Tim Harrington's carefully planned staggering of contracts for front-loading purposes.

Why would Scully sign for a year under market when he could just wait the year out and get that year at a decent informed price, too?

There is no benefit in it for anyone.

There certainly is benefit in it for Tom .......... if, as we all hope, he wants to stay with Melbourne ..... and,if, as the football industry expects........ average player salaries increase under the new AFLPA Agreement.

He eases the speculation by committing until the end of next year and defers long-term negotiations until Harrington adjusts his scale for the new salary cap. Late this season he locks up a higher long term deal than we could offer him today.

If the frenzied speculation doesn't worry him ... and he feels comfortable as an uncommitted player .... then he should wait as you suggest. But if he wants to stay with us - without killing off the GWS option ... then this might be the answer.

My favourite suggestion in this thread is that Scully will be announcing having signed a 1 year extension (!)

For the life of me, I cannot think of one person that could possibly get an advantage from that arrangement.

There is no positive.

Certainly there is. Kills off the speculation this year... and defers the long-term decision until key unknowns like the TV rights deal and the new AFLPA pay scales are set.

If he doesnt announce at the press conference that he's re-signing then its ablett take 2 and hes goneski

Got to agree with that. If he won't even commit to Melbourne for more one year ... leaving open the possibility of a multi-million dollar contract to begin in 2013 .... then he must be leaning towards GWS

In 3 words.... no, No and NO!

It worries me that Casey is keen. We want Casey to be a training ground for the young players on our list.... not a Fev-centric media circus

Kill this thread please..

Two words, no thanks.

I don't want Fev running around stealing the attention from our upcoming forwards at the Scorps.

Ditto...........

Hope we don't have a problem brewing.... between us and the Scorpions?

Don't like this article in the Hun

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/sting-left-in-brendan-fevola-tale-yet/story-e6frf9jf-1226010325371

Last thing we want is Fev running around with the Scorpions........... getting in the way of our developing forwards. Might lead to a bit of "trouble in Paradise" with our affiliate

The Casey Scorpions already have approval for a pokies venue at Casey Fields. Getting a new pokies venue approved anywhere is difficult and can be expensive. Just ask the Western Bulldogs - after a long battle to get Club Edgewater approved, they are still yet to turn the first sod. I suspect that if the MFC takes obver the Bentleigh Club it will be to keep it going where it is. Any other option would be too expensive. Whether it's a good idea or not, it's impossible to tell without seeing and understanding the due diligence information which the MFC presumably has undertaken.

Difficult to see how any proposal to remain at the present site would survive any reasonable due diligence .... unless of course the plan is to shut down the pokies and subdivide the land!

Like your optimism but your kidding yourself if you think we weren't in a similar situation 3 years ago. If you've ever listened to Schwab speak about it you would

realise that the club came perilously close to folding (assuming the AFL allowed it). Our major advantage/difference to North is a slightly larger supporter base that will turn up when we're winning.

We had one very big advantage .... our heritage as founder of the game ( and developer of the ground)[ Oh... and throw in an amazing Irishman]

Yeah... no question - strong red socks - with a smarmy pink top!!

Last paragraph of the article on Chip Frawley's injury by Jon Ralph in the Herald Sun

It is believed rookie John Meesen is also struggling after a third ankle operation and may miss the NAB Cup

Demon fans, the sky's falling.

That's why we drafted Robbie Campbell .... as a back-up ruck coach. They were worried that Meeson's ankle mightn't stand up to the pressure of throwing the ball up at training. Good thinking...

Gotta say Bhima that you give us a really comprehensive balanced read. Thanks for your efforts

FFS get over it people... I seriously hope we aren't going to have a whole season of this...

Couldn't agree more

If this thread continues it should be renamed "Paranoia"

What else would you expect from a well run business trying to move on some soft wood.

Sorry mate, comment does you no credit..

For one thing a well run business would tell an unwanted employee the truth ...... And for another - no-one who's played one game of AFL footy could ever be called soft- much less someone who's played 220!!

We offered an 11 year vet $300k to stay on the effing list!He wants to win a flag, fine.I just wish he would come out and say that.....

Now this is a good point

Nobody can bag a veteran for wanting to win a flag before he finishes .... and nobody can criticize a club with a youth policy for losing a veteran in these circumstances.End of discussion - move on.

If it is as simple as this - why hasn't he said it - and why hasn't the club said it? Given the vagaries of the draft, you would have thought that the easiest way for a player to get to the club of his choice would be via a trade.

I meant Melbourne Football Club.

And I don't live in Canberra, I live in a very northern Melbourne suburb...

.... and I live in a slightly northern Melbourne suburb.

.... and I promise not to start a thread on the subject - Was Canberra a mistake?

Getting back to Old's incredible question - what would you have said if we traded Bruce for pick 45?

What if we did that trade when he hadn't made up his mind yet?

What would the people think then about the way we treat our players?

Stop applying hindsight to decision - it is metaphysical impossibility, intellectual wankery, and a waste of time.

Thank-you for your thoughtful contribution to the discussion.

I may not have been thrilled with pick 45 .... but the club would have been better off than it is now. I presume you would have been stoked !

Well said

Couldn't help but note something slightly incongruous about supporting a statement that wants to leave the past behind - under an avatar (the emblem) that proclaims our heritage ?

Interesting OP. Certainly.

The club, I imgaine, looks at every big call like the JMac and Bruce ones and considers the ramifications. They want to advertise themselves as a loyal club to any player that wishes to come here, which is a good reason to keep players who are a bit long in the tooth. But by the same tokenm they don't want to seem like a retirement home. Also... they set a theme with those big names you mention. The club makes a call and won't negotiate beyond the price they decide. It's a sound strategy. But it'll be interesting to see whether or not the end result will make us more desirable in the future... or perhaps less desirable in 5-10 years when we decline again.

Some years ago, I heard Kevin Sheedy say that the seeds for the Baby Bombers premiership in 1993 were sown in the last round of 1991 when Terry Daniher and Simon Madden were brought back into the team for farewell games.......................... why? ............ because the kids saw that they were playing for a club which had "heart".

Now this might be a bit extreme ..... and we might all say that any heart Essendon has every had is a pretty sick one ..... but it does make a point. The past does influence the future .. and intangibles do count

Ideally you want the majority of your once-favourite sons to leave on good terms .Clearly that is not always possible .... but that is not to say that you shouldn't work towards it. The fall-out with Junior may have been inevitable - but I'm not convinced that we couldn't have worked things through more amicably with Bruce - even if that meant helping him get to another club in return for a draft pick - anything lower than pick #52 would have been a plus.

Good management means no nasty surprises - and Bruce's departure at the eleventh hour ( leaving us with a 7th round rookie pick) - certainly was a nasty surprise

I have been involved in several negotiations where at the end of the day I simply refused to pay the asking price for the product on offer. When I make this decision I do so with the belief that that money would work better for me somewhere else.

That's fine ..... but I'm sure you try to work so that you save your money and pick up a bonus on the side ( such as a draft pick)

Or Tommy mac keeps sneaking Into training without being noticed

... and is quite happy to pay his own medical bills ......

The Communication Breakdown (always capitalise Led Zep) was hardly a breakdown - we wanted him, we offered a reasonable contract, we waited for him to come to his senses and end the game of chicken, he decided to show us he wasn't bluffing.

We move on.

Or at least some of us do.

At the end of the day - we didn't get anything for a player who will line up against us next year. On that basis I don't think our negotiation strategy yielded the best possible outcome.