Jaded No More

While that must be very hard and very upsetting for him and his family, it's good news for his safety. I'm very proud to see our club support him and hopefully our supporters will do the same.

Hopefully he is allowed to, and more importantly wants to, come back to Melbourne. We need to get him out of danger ASAP and away from a very toxic situation.

There is one thing that matters above all else, and that is, that we help ensure that this incident does not ruin Jurrah's life. So many talented young people in those communities have had their life destroyed due to similar circumstances, and it would be a tragedy if Jurrah's life goes the same way. I firmly believe that football has the ability to save Jurrah from a life of violence and struggle, and I also believe that the financial, emotional and legal support afforded to him as an AFL footballer would greatly benefit his family and community in the future. Already the amount of awareness that he's managed to raise is enormous. Our main focus needs to be on getting his life back on the right path, and to not let one (ableit serious) incident dictate the rest of his very young life. I have no doubt that we will provide the best legal support for him, and I just hope that this helps him recover and return to a life of success. Regardless of what he has done, I think that deep down we all know that he is a good person, caught in a terrible situation. He has had to overcome a lot to make his way in life, and I am hoping that this inner strength allows him to do the same in this case. The best thing we can do is to support him, because it's too easy to wipe your hands clean of people when they have done something wrong, but like it or not, Jurrah is one of our own now and it is our duty to protect and help him.

For those of us stuck at work and unable to listen to SEN, what did he say? When do they expect Jurrah, or do they in fact expect Jurrah to return to Melbourne (the city not the club)?

I've seen many players come and go, but with the exception of Troy Broadbridge, I have never felt so heartbroken and shattered. This just cannot be the end for Jurrah and I hope we stick by him and help him, because football has the power to save his life and help his family and he deserves that opportunity so much.

Calm down everyone, Captain Optimism is here to save the day.

Best post of the thread by far. rpfc won't be happy!

I'm confused. Surely it is in our best interest as well as Liam's, that this works out for the best. Why then are you so determined to convict him and banish him? I highly doubt that the police would let a man convicted of violent assault with a dangerous weapon, to leave the state. There was more support and belief in that scumbag Tom Scully than some people are showing towards Jurrah right now. Mind boggling.

Ridiculous. So every time one of our footballers goes home, or goes away we need to send minders on the off chance they'll get into trouble? I would not have guessed in a million years that Liam Jurrah would be involved in a violent incident. He has no history to cause suspicion. Besides, he was given time off to deal with personal matters, club officials had no right being there with him. Can we just calm down and wait for more reliable information?

Not that we know the whole situation, but as a community leader and elder, he probably felt compelled to step in. If your family or friends were fighting and you were scared for their life, you wouldn't step in and intervene? I doubt if you were in the same situation you'd give a crap about your job!

What can't go on? Liam has never asked for time off before during the season, he has never given us any reason or any indication to believe that he wasn't dedicated to his career, and he has certainly never done anything unlawful or not within the rightful conduct for a Melbourne player. It's very very sad, but it seems that some posters here are jumping to conclusions, and making ill informed comments because of Liam's heritage and cultural background. We've had a string of some serious headcases at Melbourne, and many other players who have gone out and done the wrong thing (Sylvia, Moloney etc), and all have been afforded multiple chances. Liam has never done a thing wrong by our club, and yet some people are happy to get on their high horse and pass judgement and punishment without knowing even half the story. What a wonderful supporting community we all are.

My comment came before I knew anything about people being seriously hurt. This entire situation is extremely sad, but reality is, we know nothing about the cultural or tribal issues going on up there, and so we should not get involved or cast accusations. All I want is for everyone involved to come through unaffected, and for Jurrah to return back to Melbourne.

What if he was there trying to resolve tensions between two people who then set out to attack one another? How about we don't assume he is guilty of horrible crimes before we have any confirmation? FFS the folks on this site are quick to judge and jump off bandwagons.

We can't jump into any conclusions, but really, this is very distressing for everyone concered, especially Liam.

The best 30 minutes you'll ever spend on Youtube. Heartbreaking and very important.

I agree with that, but urgency can be drilled into you, talent can't. Some players are very laconic by nature. I think Garland is similar, but because he is a defender, he doesn't require the same sense of urgency to attack the contest, the contest comes to him. Watts has to develop the aggressive side of his game, he needs to go hunting for the ball and become more attacking. That sort of thing often comes with age, with realisation that your body is capable of handling your opponent and also with general maturity and confidence. Jamar and Frawley, who are both monsters and have always been fairly large, used to get lost in contests. Now they are both in the top bracket of their position amongst the competition. Not everyone is aggressive and intense from the moment they step on the field, some players need that side developed, and Watts is one of those players. I certainly don't see him as somebody who is scared of body contact, he hasn't consistently ducked out of contests or stayed away from the packs, but he also doesn't seem to have the inner belief to physically impose himself on matches. Being hammered in the media every week surely doesn't help either.

If anybody says that was the loss we had to have, I will hunt them down and karate chop their face off. That was the most destructive, humiliating, disgusting and downright disgraceful thing I have ever experienced as a supporter and paid up member of this club. I never in my life felt so much apathy towards Melbourne as I did in the days following that game, and I think if anything it made me a bit more numb to the emotions associated with being an MFC supporter. I still love this club, and will support it until the day that I die, but that day can never be undone, and for many of us, that pain will not disappear until we win a premiership. Everything that we have achieved during the pre-season could have been achieved without this loss, and without the ensuing humiliation.

Ummm because nobody gives a sh*t about GWS or their players?!

So you don't get personal leave and annual leave payments from your work place?!

Thanks Rudeboy. I'm glad the club are giving him the time he needs. When do you think he'll be back?

Grimes is now another 1-2 weeks away, same as last week. What's the bet he doesn't play next week? Bubblewrap alert!

Hmmm this doesn't sound good. I have a very uncomforable feeling about this. Hopefully it's my MFCSS playing up and nothing more.

The point is, that Carlton's top 5 players are great, the rest are damn mediocre, and it's only because we used to play such loose attacking footy that we'd get murdered, because head to head, their attacking players are well ahead of ours. A midfield of Jones, Magner and Couch managed to break even with a midfield of Swan, Pendelbury and Thomas on the weekend, despite the very very obvious disparity in class and talent. There is nothing to say we can't break even with Carlton's midfield if we play the same sort of defensive, contested footy we've played thus far, and I'm confident our backline can shut their forwards and our forwards can challenge their backs.

Carlton is not such a classy side. It is the same old pricks who kill us every time we play them. Judd, Murphy, Waite. Shut those 3 down and we can win. We have a far superior backline and our forward line is a lot less one dimensional. If we can keep playing the sort of contested footy we've been playing in the middle, there is no reason why we can't beat them. I am sick to death of losing to them. They are nowhere near as good as they believe. The proof lies in the fact that they have gone nowhere in finals, and can't beat the best sides. They crumble under defensive pressure, which is what our new game plan is about. It's about time we put them back in their arrogant box.

Joel McDonald gets a huge tick for hardness and willingness to succeed. Unfortunately he is prone to brain fades and his disposal is woeful. With so much quality competing for limited spots in the backline, I think he'll find it very hard to cement a spot in 2012. You just cannot afford to have guys turning it over, or doing dumb things in the backline.