Samsara

Great player and good to hear that he wants to play out his career at the club. Jack Watts is looking good.

This thread needs a poll! I certainly don't know what to make of the situation. There is certainly arguments for and against TS going that have merit; but as nothing is final yet, I guess waiting for official announcements remains the most appropriate thing to do. I really cannot envisage him in that horrible GWS jumper though, so hope the ol' instinct is on par.

Just remember that while money and profit is involved, the AFL will remain a business venture beyond anything else. List managers are just as much responsible for winning a premiership as the players themselves for they are the ones responsible for keeping a list of players happy financially whilst keeping in the restraints of the salary cap (not that this is always adhered to: see Judd). If the AFL changed the face of the game by paying every player the same amount (plus incentives), then the whole make up of every team would change dramatically. This is not going to happen, however, so not much point going into it. Regarding the AFL, they will never let Melbourne fold (well; I would hope not) but GWS are certainly more important at this stage.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/jim-stynes-backs-tom-scully-to-stay-with-melbourne-demons/story-e6frf9jf-1226005959950 Another article about this situation. Jimmy talking about debt demolition and having more cash (i.e., 100% of salary cap) to use to keep players.

Only hope that he continues to improve day after day. Having him around the club has revitalised it.

I too am confident that Melbourne will be in premiership contention in the next 5 or so years. Scully, of course, would be a great addition to the club during the next few years but if he decides to go, then so be it. Too much pressure has been placed on his head, and this experience alone could be detrimental to his performance. And since he is playing with MFC this year for certain, that is not a good thing.

Individual personalities are very much directing predictions in this thread. The optimist is convinced he will stay, and sees much evidence for it (up and coming club, young group, Jimmy, Barassi's number, possible premiership and so on); the pessimist is convinced he will go (money of course!), and the realist accepts that he is playing for Melbourne this year and nothing official has been confirmed to this point that would indicate that he is staying on with Melbourne or that he is leaving to GWS.

And Judd landing at Carlton has not led them any closer to a premiership. He - like Scully - is just one man.

Etihad too, crappy ground.

I agree, but there have been rumours about this for some time. And journo's think any rumour is credible and fact most of the time. If you make a list of all the rumours throughout a year of football (consider the Footy Show and radio programs like MMM), you will see that there are always hundreds of rumours going around. With so many rumours, the journo's are bound to be right with some of them based on the sheer number of them that get thrown around. Eddie has been wrong in the past, and don't be surprised if he is again. For the record, Hutchy started talking about this move from Scully well before the finals last year. Worrying about it isn't going to keep Scully at Melbourne, so don't waste your time and energy. I love the club a great deal but AFL, like any sport, is a business and it's really only the supporters, some staff, and very few players who have any loyalty to a club. Remember also, we choose Scully by way of the 1st pick, he did not choose us. If it were up to him, I am sure he would be in the yellow and black.

Will take that on board for next time. I noticed someone else the other day posted the entire contents of the article, so I followed that example. I have provided the link to acknowledge the source.

At the end of the day, if Scully goes then we need to accept it and move on. If he is that way inclined to chase money (no fault of his, it is within his rights) then if it isn't this year, it could be in three years times with free agency coming in (assuming we were able to convince him to sign 3 year contract). This would hurt just as much because it would mean 5 years of development into the lad. If it is in him to want to jump ship, it would be better if he did it now as we would get at least some compensation.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/dees-boss-says-eddies-off-the-mark/comments-e6frf9jf-1226005613485 DEMONS president Jim Stynes has hit back at claims Tom Scully has signed with Greater Western Sydney, labelling Eddie McGuire's comments as "just rumours".

Always had a soft spot for Watts since he came to the club; was judged too harshly for an 18 year old out of school. Looking forward to seeing him play this year. Good performance by the Dee's last night.

No, I was talking about the Friday night Triple M broadcast. He was confident about Gazza leaving early on, an unlike Hutchy and others, didn't change his mind every week. Still, it means [censored] all. Jouro's essentially just here about potential 'offers' and base their stories on what THEY would do in that position. Most of them lack any sort of empathy or ability to understand that other people are difference and might not be motivated by money (Caro is the exception here).

I didn't say he was a good journo, but quite a few of his predictions/rumours last year were in fact true. Like I said, many were wrong. At the end of the day, it's essentially a 50/50 guess either way, so of course journo's are going to say they 'know', because it's not hard to be right. I am starting to think he will stay; really cannot see him in that horrible GWS jumper.

I didn't make the actual clip, but I will keep that in mind.

I openly admit I stole this from BigFooty (the poster might very well be a member here!) and it has probably been posted before, but if there was ever a time that we needed this, it is now.

Is he saying this to send a message to Tom that it won't happen again to other players? McDonald is a champion, he should be still with the club in some role. Very disappointing that we have lost him to GWS.

Frawley will be back in the first couple of rounds, probably 1 so not a big issues. We might miss Morton for a few rounds, but he isn't a massive loss at this stage. A lot of potential that boy, but needs to show some consistency. Watts really needs to show this year; has been promising in patches but its time to bring on his A game. For the record, he is one of the best long passes in a game. Spots and delivers a 30-40m pass very well.

This just makes Scully's position even harder I guess. It's going to be a long year and this talk is going to continue week in, week out. Damian Barrett is convinced an offer "too good to refuse" has been made, and he is one of few journo's I pay attention too. He got a lot right last year (though, he got some wrong too). At the end of the day, Scully is a Demon now and it's not point looking too far ahead (like many of us, including me, were yesterday). Even Tom probably doesn't even know what he is going to do, so any other person's guess it just that. It is nice to hear Jack speak about the club in this way; and hopefully it signals that he intends to stay with the club as long as they support him and offer him what he deserves.

And I was beaten by mousey!

Has not signed with GWS....yet http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/eddie-mcguire-says-tom-scully-may-have-already-signed-with-greater-western-sydney/story-e6frf9jf-1226002829170

Let us hope that Tom makes the best decision for him.

I think we should also not neglect to remember that there is still Sylvia, Davey, Green, Grimes, Jurrah, Watts, Trengrove, Mackenzie, Frawley, Moloney, and the remainder of the team...