Event Horizon
Brownlow Medallist
Veteran
10k Posts
North Melbourne - 2014 Daw, Black, Gibson Player Sponsor
North Melbourne - 2013 Daw, Black and Gibson Player Sponsorship
North Melbourne - North 2012 Player Sponsor
North Melbourne - North 2011 Player Sponsor
North Melbourne - North 2010 Player Sponsor
North Melbourne - North 2009 Player Sponsor
Roos paid Thompson $100,000
Caroline Wilson | February 12, 2009
THE Kangaroos were forced to pay Nathan Thompson a $100,000 settlement as a result of last year's botched handling of the decision to delist the veteran forward.
North Melbourne chairman James Brayshaw confirmed last night the club had made a significant settlement with Thompson, admitting: "It wasn't an exit I was proud of. It wasn't handled appropriately.
"I'm not going to talk figures but we ended up having to sort it out with him and I have no problem with that. I guarantee it won't be happening again."
Brayshaw said he had delivered a blunt message to coach Dean Laidley at the end of the 2008 season, telling him: "The staff and the players don't know you." The message came at the end of a tumultuous trade period in which Laidley controversially placed Hamish McIntosh on the table and the club faced the culmination of a midseason falling-out between the coach and Daniel Harris.
"To cut a long story short," Brayshaw told The Age, "I have known Dean for 30 years and I just said to him: 'Mate, your staff need to know the bloke that I know.'
"As good as he is as a strategist and genius, I believe, in match-day terms, he needs to work on the other stuff. He probably went away with some mental baggage he didn't need but, to his credit, he has put his hand up and really worked on his relationships around the club. The feedback we are getting is terrific."
Laidley had been publicly assured of a contract extension by club chief executive Eugene Arocca towards the end of last season, an offer later withdrawn by the board. Laidley has a clause in his contract that the club must renegotiate with him before round 15 this season. That clause was introduced after the stringing out of his previous negotiations with the club.
"Dean and I speak every week and he knows he will get a straight answer from me," said Brayshaw. "What happened last time won't happen again."
Laidley spoke to The Age about the Kangaroos' dramatic end to 2008 and revealed for the first time the health scare that left him virtually bedridden for several weeks from round 16.
However, the coach denied he had lost the plot after his side's stunning collapse against Sydney in the 2008 elimination final that preceded the Thompson sacking and the trade period.
"I didn't lose the plot," said Laidley. "It was an emotional time but we didn't lose the plot. (The Sydney defeat) whacked all of us between the eyes.
"It cut me as much as anything has cut me in my football career and I told the players I needed to go away for a while and assess where we were at. I include myself in that."
Laidley, who had assured Thompson he would be offered a new contract several weeks before the club changed its mind, admitted the controversy was one of a series of incidents that could have been handled better by both the coach and the club. The Thompson negotiation failed largely due to a lack of communication between the coach and his staff.
Of the falling-out with Harris, Laidley conceded: "If I had my time again I might have done things differently. Maybe it should have been in private."
Caroline Wilson | February 12, 2009
THE Kangaroos were forced to pay Nathan Thompson a $100,000 settlement as a result of last year's botched handling of the decision to delist the veteran forward.
North Melbourne chairman James Brayshaw confirmed last night the club had made a significant settlement with Thompson, admitting: "It wasn't an exit I was proud of. It wasn't handled appropriately.
"I'm not going to talk figures but we ended up having to sort it out with him and I have no problem with that. I guarantee it won't be happening again."
Brayshaw said he had delivered a blunt message to coach Dean Laidley at the end of the 2008 season, telling him: "The staff and the players don't know you." The message came at the end of a tumultuous trade period in which Laidley controversially placed Hamish McIntosh on the table and the club faced the culmination of a midseason falling-out between the coach and Daniel Harris.
"To cut a long story short," Brayshaw told The Age, "I have known Dean for 30 years and I just said to him: 'Mate, your staff need to know the bloke that I know.'
"As good as he is as a strategist and genius, I believe, in match-day terms, he needs to work on the other stuff. He probably went away with some mental baggage he didn't need but, to his credit, he has put his hand up and really worked on his relationships around the club. The feedback we are getting is terrific."
Laidley had been publicly assured of a contract extension by club chief executive Eugene Arocca towards the end of last season, an offer later withdrawn by the board. Laidley has a clause in his contract that the club must renegotiate with him before round 15 this season. That clause was introduced after the stringing out of his previous negotiations with the club.
"Dean and I speak every week and he knows he will get a straight answer from me," said Brayshaw. "What happened last time won't happen again."
Laidley spoke to The Age about the Kangaroos' dramatic end to 2008 and revealed for the first time the health scare that left him virtually bedridden for several weeks from round 16.
However, the coach denied he had lost the plot after his side's stunning collapse against Sydney in the 2008 elimination final that preceded the Thompson sacking and the trade period.
"I didn't lose the plot," said Laidley. "It was an emotional time but we didn't lose the plot. (The Sydney defeat) whacked all of us between the eyes.
"It cut me as much as anything has cut me in my football career and I told the players I needed to go away for a while and assess where we were at. I include myself in that."
Laidley, who had assured Thompson he would be offered a new contract several weeks before the club changed its mind, admitted the controversy was one of a series of incidents that could have been handled better by both the coach and the club. The Thompson negotiation failed largely due to a lack of communication between the coach and his staff.
Of the falling-out with Harris, Laidley conceded: "If I had my time again I might have done things differently. Maybe it should have been in private."