nutbean

100% correct - we didnt trade him to play youth we traded him for the exact reason outlined above

fair enough - I have always thought it would be very difficult to get anywhere else than GWS but it is possible

Interesting insight last night on AFL 360 into journo's whose every word we hang on. Wheately and Robbo were discussing Rodney Eade and the back page headline discussing him as an Adelaide coaching target - after which the issue grew legs was then raised at the Bulldogs and the question asked of Rodney Eade. Wheately said to Robbo - "nobody believes this story - its just PAPERTALK that the media like to do" and Robbo agreed with him. What does this tell us about the integrity of Journo's or is it more about their willingness to write anything that will get them the byline and a back page.

Its not arrogance at all - its frustrating trying to continually have to clarify ones position as it gets misreprented so often. There seems to be great confusion on quoting of old55, rpfc and my position. If I may be as bold I think they only thing we 3 are firm on is the belief in the statementsTom Scully has made. None of us are discounting the idea he may leave at season end.

I think others have gone on here and stated various other alternatives which I would prefer to explore - pointing to our culture, lack of resources to develop players properly, and how we have developed players even with our previously limited resources. RR put it nicely that we develop players to a certain level and then they smash their heads on a glass ceiling. Our current malaise in leadership is obvious ( and I dont necessarily equate leadership with pure talent) but we do need to question why we have had so few players take the next step.

This is a whoollllee different and new conspiracy theory.

"It would be very, very foolish to sign up four or five or three players on huge contracts and they could end up with a life-threatening injury and you have wasted so much money in your salary cap," Sheedy said. "Things happen and you just got to be smart about that and you know it's very awkward to sign up players on big contracts right now."

Its not that hard - I dont believe he has signed or committed - TS will make decision at end of year - TS will either stay with us or go to GWS Am I missing anything ?

I know it is contrary to how we have been brought up on this game but maybe the AFL should grow a set like the NRL and if a play signs before the end of the season - he announces it and he plays out the season if his form is good enough or ocnversely the club doesnt play him - it is what it is. Against our culture I know. Interesting to know if Daisy Thomas announced now he was going to GWS - would the Pies play him ?

Just like all the moderators here to a man and aided and abetted by some life members and the like steadfastly refusing to diverge to rumour and innuendo as opposed to facts. The truth is we have the facts from MFC, TS and Velocity. Up to each of us whether to believe their facts are the truth or not. "There are going to be a lot of angry supporters who will feel duped when the truth finally comes out " - if he re-signs then the truth has been spoken since day one. If he leaves for GWS and in the sbsense of any different "truths" coming out I am not sure that the MFC, TS and Velocity will ever be able to convince some people that what transpired was the "truth". If the alternative truth as you and RR believe comes out then I will indeed feel duped. In the end a decision will be made and life will go on.

I agree 100% and hark back to what Jimma said " this systems forces people to tell lies". Judgement call and I pretty much accept how each person is prepared to judge ( as long as "dark side" goes balls out as RR did and took his argument to its only logical conclusion and subsequently got banned for it)

yop agree - I guess we all have our own judgement calls to make on whether we think what we are being fed is the truth or not. I actually dont think that the Judd situation was a charade. He evaluated all the offers, and went with Carlton. We like to think it was only about the money but at the time it was not only money that was better from Carlton, it was also facilities, the place they were in the development cycle of their players ( now has played two years of finals with them) and at that stage - a sounder administration. Thats why Carlton was chosen over us - and the reason Carlton was chosen over the Pies was money.

I think there is some confusion, or at least very simplistic ideas as to what a contract of this sort would look like and how they would be evaluated. It would not just about comparing $X over $years and there is your comparison I would suggest strongly that a contract offer to Scully both from GWS and MFC would be multi faceted - how much in each year ? - front loaded ? back loaded ? - important ! - incentives ? - brownlow votes ? games played ? B&f finishes ? - important ! - endorsements ? marketing opportunities ? media opportunities ? other opportunities ? - important ! - what have GWS offered in terms of living away from home compensation ? housing ? travel ? - injury clauses ? suspension clauses ? misbehaviour clauses - who knows what is in both contracts ? - important ! - terms and conditions ? How often do you hear that the $ number of the contract is ok but there are things that need to be ironed in the detail of the contract ? Cam Schwab has come out in black and white and said over the course of TS's career the money will be same. Do you not think that Cam would back that up with some sort of data to give credence to that comment ? The contract is not only about how many dollars - so many other things need to be factored into the decision. I suspect that right now there might be some number crunching at Velocity and discussion on terms of the contract. I would further suggest that Tom knows that today and now a GWS offer is in simple terms bigger than an MFC offer but with the complexities over what is on offer on both contracts, why is it so unreasonable to take Tom at his word that he doesnt know or want to know the details of the offers/contracts until the end of the season. Edit - to take an example - Cam Bruces contract offer last year - same length at both MFC and Hawthorn - MFC - no guaranteeds on a second year - Hawthorn - a number of KPI's need to be met to get a second year. MFC was monetrily higher. I suspect that Tom's contract would have a hell of lot more in terms of marketing etc in it. It would not be a straight forward contract.

I wrote on another thread about Jordie McKenzie and the club ( and i have heard this from other clubs) strongly suggest to players that they dont read the newspapers ( or read these sites !)

I was standing on the train near him going home from the G about 4-5 weeks ago and as he was getting off the train I let go with a "GO NEEIITAAA" at which he smiled. There were two women sitting with their Melbourne scarves near me and I heard one say to the other after I made a dick of myself by yelling "I thought I recognised him - that was Kevin Neita" Close but no cigar !

There is debate as to what Tom is worth and the argument of paying on potential but I am not sure where this argument comes from that we cant afford him and it will jeopardise our player payments going forward. The last player out of contract last year before the draft was Cameron Bruce - whilst he may have been offered a reduced contract - his amount must have been around 400-500K per year - we did not go and recruit anyone on a similar pay scale so there in itself is a big chunk of money freed up. We have been paying 92.5% of the cap and we have heavily front loaded contracts to get us over the 92.5% cap minimum. If the reputed offer from the MFC is between 5-600K per year then I dont see it as creating problems going forward. The argument as to whether he should be one of the highest paid players at our club is another matter again.

I ran into Jordie McKenzie at a supermarket in Caulfield last night. Had a quick chat to him. Told him he has been fantastic this year which he was happy to hear. We chatted about media and supporter sites - the club tells them they are better off not reading the papers. I told him if he has any confidence or self esteem issues do NOT read Demonland or Demonology and he had a good laugh at that. I followed up after commenting about the sometimes cruel nature of the supporter sites that there is a huge amount of manlove for him on both 'land and 'ology - that was when he looked at me a wee bit oddly ! ( oh well) Who do you see on regular basis in civvy's ?

this is on behalf of Demon Spurs And I am tipping that you are wrong - that more people will say - no thank you

BOD - benefit of the doubt - if you are unsure and can mark the ball - mark the ball

Probably the point I am trying to make is if I had the same sort of intense scrunity on me I am sure it would inhibit me and whilst I dont see Tom as a flamboyant extravert, I think when the flames dies down he could turn out to be a Chris Judd personality. I dont see Judd as a fabulous media performer but his steeliness does come across.

When all this blows over, it will be interesting to see what comes to the fore as I cannot help but feel that the situation this year would dampen the personality of the most seasoned footballer let alone a 20 year old. ( before I get yelled down - yes, it is of velocity's/TS making)

Actually to me, it is highly forgiveable because the club did something that most clubs dont do and it was refreshing to see that ours did. The club (Bailey I think) came out and said if we had our time again we could have handled it a lot better. I can move on knowing that, to coin a Nathan Jones phrase, "we learnt from it".

As an aside - lots of fund raising is done at this time - best chance of a striking you at home. Why do you think those horrible market research people call you during dinner ? 4pm - 7pm

it means i'm frankly confused

I can't agree with myself using the same moniker let alone creating a new one !