List Mgmt. Trade: Allen Christensen traded to Brisbane in exchange for National Draft selection no. 21

[MC Extra Dollop]

They all left primarily for money. Personal reasons come second.
The club wasn't going to be able to keep them no matter what they did.

Once again even if Bundy was contracted, he would have left just as Beams is leaving Collingwood.
The Suns showed little interest in signing Bundy. We would have got very little extra for him if he was contracted given his "personal reasons" and injuries.
Geelong has a stated policy to help players get to their destination too.

People can play devil's advocate all they like, it won't change a thing to how contracts.negotiations are being played out these days.

That is all completely irrelevant to what was being discussed. Which was the suggestion that the reason Christensen was left out of contract was to give the club flexibility in pursuing other targets and that an agreement had been reached with him in principle, which would be signed after Frawley or any other free agency pick ups had been secured. Which, of course, makes no sense. Because if you're agreeing in principle to a contract before going out and signing another player, why not just present the contract? The answer is, of course, because the contract might need to be changed down the track, depending on how much is needed to secure the new player.

The specific discussion that was going on wasn't about Christensen's motivations for leaving, it was about the club's motivations for not signing him during the season, or signing him on for longer than one year at the end of last season.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

He is in dream land if he thinks that what ever issues he had are not going to come out

Really? We know about every issue that has ever happened with an AFL player, do we?

 

[Son_Of_God29]

Really? We know about every issue that has ever happened with an AFL player, do we?

MC You would think that someone will come out and say something in the media......remember the town of Geelong is a "TOXIC" environment

 

[PepperFace]

Sorry to intrude.....but without wanting to read through 154 pages of Alan Christensen. Can someone please tell me what these rumoured personal reasons are? Or is this believed to be more of a money thing.....kinda like what us Collingwood people suspect is Beams' main motivation of leaving is.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

I'm leaning back toward the gambling thing if he thinks he's going to become a role model about his alleged problem. The press conference was weak, he says there's no hard feelings and he left on good terms. I doubt that very much, maybe to his face they were nice about it but I'm hearing the inner sanctum at the cattery is seriously pissed off with him.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

Sorry to intrude.....but without wanting to read through 154 pages of Alan Christensen. Can someone please tell me what these rumoured personal reasons are? Or is this believed to be more of a money thing.....kinda like what us Collingwood people suspect is Beams' main motivation of leaving is.

Nobody really knows what the issues are. Some say it's a gambling issue, others that he got some girl up the duff he shouldn't have. In the end, I don't think we care anymore. The prick is gone, good riddance to him.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

I'm leaning back toward the gambling thing if he thinks he's going to become a role model about his alleged problem.

It is just as likely to be depression as anything else, based on his comments.

The press conference was weak, he says there's no hard feelings and he left on good terms. I doubt that very much, maybe to his face they were nice about it but I'm hearing the inner sanctum at the cattery is seriously pissed off with him.

Really? From whom?

 

[Teriyakicat]

By counting money.

Bundy McDuck??

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

Really? From whom?

I have a mate who works at the club. He doesn't usually say much about what goes on inside the club, but he tells me there's a lot of unhappy campers at the club over what Bundy has done. They're moving on, no doubt, but I'm told Bundy's name is mud at the moment. Take that as you will. If you don't believe me then that's your prerogative.

 

[Partridge]

I'm leaning back toward the gambling thing if he thinks he's going to become a role model about his alleged problem. The press conference was weak, he says there's no hard feelings and he left on good terms. I doubt that very much, maybe to his face they were nice about it but I'm hearing the inner sanctum at the cattery is seriously pissed off with him.

Care to name names?

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

Care to name names?

No, otherwise he'll never tell me anything again.

 

[Partridge]

The specific discussion that was going on wasn't about Christensen's motivations for leaving, it was about the club's motivations for not signing him during the season, or signing him on for longer than one year at the end of last season.

Precisely. We look at it now and think "why did he leave?" with assorted levels of hysteria, but that's the real question - how the hell did it get to that point? It's the same as our 'bad luck' to do with the ruckmen in September; it was nothing to do with bad luck, it was bad list management to have only two ruckmen + a part-timer in Blicavs on your entire list, and expect two severely injury-prone players to magically last a season. Guess what happened.

The club is absolutely entitled to hope for the best with contract negotiations, list management, and injury situations with current players, but they should be planning for the worst every step of the way.

 

[Teriyakicat]

Put it this way, if I told my employer at the end of my contract that I wished to move interstate to a new employer and they said no you're not, we're going to make you move to whoever we want, I'd tell them to go and get ****ed. I appreciate that the AFL is not exactly the same, but that doesn't excuse being a *****.

If I was your employer and you walked out on me without giving me time to find and train up a replacement, I'd be giving you the evil stare every time I saw you...
However, if you indicated that you wanted to leave and I had time to interview and find a replacement for you, even if not much time to train one up, I'd be OK with it. I think that's where Cattery is going with his argument.

 

[Teriyakicat]

Unless its all "smoke & mirrors". A leopard doesn't change its spots. If Bundy (I think I will now refer to him by his surname rather than any term of endearment) can honestly say that by moving from Geelong to Brisbane has suddenly resulted in whatever the issues were being overcome, then they cannot have been too serious. I suspect he is saying things to make himself and those around him feel good.

View attachment 86894

WOW!! Overcome his issues? Who'd he kill?

 

[Teriyakicat]

Allen's interview in full

Thanks Cat Attack. I don't think I can listen to that, though

 

[JUBJUB]

Did you hear the rumour that he's actually Batman and someone was about to uncover his identity?

 

[00VicWard001]

Uninformed opinion. Considering his age, he's performed very well. Even played very well in the 2011 GF.



This was the first season since becoming entrenched in the best 22 that he's missed a substantial portion of the season. Only 8 games this year, but 21 last year, 17 the year before, and 19 the year before that. Not the most durable, but it's not like we're talking about Vardy or Menzel here.

And I remember arguing the same about Chapman last year. People claimed Chapman was "injury prone" because he had a bad run with injuries in 2013, but history suggested that was an anomaly, not indicative of how he'd fare in the future. The sample size is smaller with Christensen, but there's no reason to suggest it won't be similar, 2014 being just an aberration.

But as SJ pointed out, losing Christensen isn't just about losing a quality player. He was amongst the few that we absolutely had to keep in the coming years, because he was part of the next generation of midfielders that would comprise the core of the side. He was set back a bit in 2014, but he was still developing well and was becoming a vital player for us. Like with some of our other youngsters, there was a feeling that he wasn't far off hitting his peak. More mids playing at their best is really what we need, both in the short and long-term future. Losing him isn't the end of the world, but it's a massive blow if the club wishes to remain competitive, because it means the spot of a 23-year-old with a few pre-seasons and 60 odd games will likely be replaced by an 18-year-old with zero pre-seasons and zero games. Whilst that kid we draft could turn out fine, it's not what we need right now. Before Christensen left, we needed players around his age bracket and experience to ensure sustained competitiveness and to ensure the drop-off didn't happen suddenly, so him leaving has only served to worsen that problem.

In the short-term, we need quality inside mids to help Selwood, which is what Christensen was and what we expected him to do in 2015. In the long-term, when our veterans have retired, we needed that next group of guys in their mid-20s, with 100-odd games under their belt, to come through and replace them to a degree. We won't be able to do that for everyone, and we know it, but the more inexperienced youth we have to bring into the team at once, the worse the drop-off will be.

What we got for Christensen may be perceived as around par for those outside the club, but his value to us was much higher, and could only really be equaled by a top-10 pick that could be ready to play AFL by next year, or a youngster with similar attributes to Christensen. Christensen is a quality player and better than non-Geelong supporters realize, but his value needs to also be measured in terms of how important he was to Geelong. In terms of the spot in the team Christensen held, we've been set back four years of development.

Really like your posting when you aren't going nuts about CS.

Insightful stuff that sums up exactly what I am thinking. We really need someone to step - almost like Selwood did- to take ACs spot.

I just hope we draft a ready to play kid instead of project players.

 

[_Me_]

he can be a role model to the community
he is in a happy place

its his own life and he controls his own destiny

he leaves on really good terms

he made his decision 4 weeks ago

I think the club was aware of it

its my decision

yeah um um um

What is clear from the interview, is that he has shat his nest, and is out of control, does not know what to do

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

he can be a role model to the community
he is in a happy place

its his own life and he controls his own destiny

he leaves on really good terms

he made his decision 4 weeks ago

I think the club was aware of it

its my decision

yeah um um um

What is clear from the interview, is that he has shat his nest, and is out of control, does not know what to do

Tend to agree , seems in desperate need of some good advice / counsel. Making it up on the run.
You don't pump your tyres up by announcing that you are role model material.
It's like respect - you earn it.
Clearly he has a long , long way to go.

 

[iameviljez]

If I was your employer and you walked out on me without giving me time to find and train up a replacement, I'd be giving you the evil stare every time I saw you...
However, if you indicated that you wanted to leave and I had time to interview and find a replacement for you, even if not much time to train one up, I'd be OK with it. I think that's where Cattery is going with his argument.

I got the feeling from one of the earlier Balmey interviews (i.e. once the news broke) that he'd been weighing up his options for a while?

Would have been nice to get in front of Collingwood for Greenwood though.

 

[Teriyakicat]

I got the feeling from one of the earlier Balmey interviews (i.e. once the news broke) that he'd been weighing up his options for a while?

Would have been nice to get in front of Collingwood for Greenwood though.

I agree- anything that puts us in front of the Pies is a win, for mine
And, yes, apparently pulling the pin on the Cats has been on the cards for some time. Which begs the question- why not a week earlier, so the Cats had some chance of quickly reassessing their options?

 

[Partridge]

Tend to agree , seems in desperate need of some good advice / counsel. Making it up on the run.
You don't pump your tyres up by announcing that you are role model material.
It's like respect - you earn it.
Clearly he has a long , long way to go.

Oh well. Not our problem now.

Here's a new skill you might have to learn little Allen - self reliance.

 

[Scottland2007]

Why ssssso ssserious?

Should you start that one with "riddle me this"?

 

[Cattery]

If I was your employer and you walked out on me without giving me time to find and train up a replacement, I'd be giving you the evil stare every time I saw you...
However, if you indicated that you wanted to leave and I had time to interview and find a replacement for you, even if not much time to train one up, I'd be OK with it. I think that's where Cattery is going with his argument.

You've hit the nail right on the head, it's not so much that he wanted out but the manner in which he went about it, that's what sticks in my craw.

 

[jazzee]

So, what's the real reason he's leaving? So many rumours. Poor kid.