Mitch Clark discussion - Geelong gets the flog

[Viney]

I'd say they were planning it before retirement, in fact retirement was part of the plan.

Call me naïve, but why the charade and leading the club on that if he returned it would be only to the Dees?

 

[Cannon82]

I'd say they were planning it before retirement, in fact retirement was part of the plan.

Yeah, Clark's manager clearly doesn't feel any shame or need to hide the details over it.

Young was confident Clark could return from his "serious" foot injury, claiming it had been cleared by doctors prior to his retirement in April.
"We had that evaluated by second specialist probably six months before he ended his career and the surgeon was pretty confident his foot was pretty good," he said.
"He had no problems in his belief that Mitchell would play AFL pretty quickly, it was more so what was happening off the field."

So the foot was going to come good 6 months before he quit, even though we were led to believe part of the reason for the depression was Mitch's inability to get on the field and perform to the best of his ability for us. So by that rationale and what followed, it seems the prospect of playing for Melbourne again was the sole cause of his depression. He's certainly found the cure for that.

 

[Cannon82]

Call me naïve, but why the charade and leading the club on that if he returned it would be only to the Dees?

Dunno. A slightly shorter period of most AFL fans thinking you're a massive campaigner?

 

[Headless]

"He was pretty keen, if he went back to Melbourne, to deliver on why they gave up the early pick (No. 12) [to secure his services in 2011]."

Can't have been that keen.

 

[Cannon82]

"He was pretty keen, if he went back to Melbourne, to deliver on why they gave up the early pick (No. 12) [to secure his services in 2011]."

Can't have been that keen.

I think he's still keen. We'll probably see why we gave up pick #12 for him when he kicks a bag of 8 or 10 against us.

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

This is ridiculous, you guys are making assumptions based on absolutely nothing - suit yourselves but I suggest getting over it is a better way to go then constantly being bitter and coming up with more and more situations where Clark becomes progressively more of a campaigner.

 

[CTHORANGE]

Just read that article, hadn't really commented on the situation much except to say we should trade to whoever gives maximum value, but geezus - is this real? I wish we had never let him retire, and just said feel free to take 6 months off, at least then when he returned there would have been an expectation he plays for us next year, you know, cause he was contracted to.

I'm not sure why the AFL is letting this happen? He should not be allowed to play for any club next year, and should have to return via the draft at then end of next year. They must be scared of the politically correct brigade rather than ensuring the competition is run like an actual competition.

 

[Djcjdees]

This is ridiculous, you guys are making assumptions based on absolutely nothing - suit yourselves but I suggest getting over it is a better way to go then constantly being bitter and coming up with more and more situations where Clark becomes progressively more of a campaigner.

With all due respect, I disagree.

This is a footy forum where people can express their views. If coming up with campaigner conundrums is how people are choosing to 'get over it' then so be it. I am actually getting a chuckle out of most of them anyway, as I'm sure others are.

The alternative, in the 'Mitch Clark is crapping on us' thread (which is what this has pretty much always been), we have a whole bunch of blank posts interspersed with a whole bunch of 'why isn't anyone angry about this?' posts..

 

[Djcjdees]

Just read that article, hadn't really commented on the situation much except to say we should trade to whoever gives maximum value, but geezus - is this real? I wish we had never let him retire, and just said feel free to take 6 months off, at least then when he returned there would have been an expectation he plays for us next year, you know, cause he was contracted to.

I'm not sure why the AFL is letting this happen? He should not be allowed to play for any club next year, and should have to return via the draft at then end of next year. They must be scared of the politically correct brigade rather than ensuring the competition is run like an actual competition.

This is the bit that irks me the most. They are more than happy to make rules up on the fly in every other instance, but are allowing this pretty dodgy situation unfold without even a comment. I hope players all over the place start 'retiring' to get to the club of their choice.

 

[Cannon82]

This is ridiculous, you guys are making assumptions based on absolutely nothing - suit yourselves but I suggest getting over it is a better way to go then constantly being bitter and coming up with more and more situations where Clark becomes progressively more of a campaigner.

What assumptions?

He took a payoff and retired earlier this year - not an assumption.
He trained with our staff to get back to full fitness - not an assumption.
He came out of retirement a few days after the season was over - not an assumption.
He's nominated another club as his preferred destination and clearly expects us to trade him there - not an assumption.
His manager has just come out and said doctors gave him a tick for a full recovery 6 months before he retired - not an assumption.
He came down here for a massive pile of cash instead of going to Freo - not an assumption.

Saying he was depressed and fully expected to come back and play for the Dees before getting advice from his doctor to leave and go elsewhere would be an assumption. Saying he was genuinely ill at the time he retired would be an assumption (or I guess you could take the bloke at face value?). Looking at how he's acted, how can you not come to the conclusion he's a duplicitous, self-serving asshat? Only debate I've seen on the topic is whether he's to blame or his "illness".

 

[Topkent]

Having listened to the interview Young said Clark had planned to retire last September but was talked out of it by Roos

He then said that Clark was told to get a change of environment, despite saing 15 Mins later that Clark loved the players and the majority of the staff were different anyway

Its got to be the softest way Ive ever heard someone avoid playing for us anymore

Also Depression doesnt just go away in the space of 6 months, yet all these clubs seem so sure that he is fit and ready now

 

[schmuttt]

Thing is, I actually like Geelong, but I hope he never gets near a flag with them. This whole saga has been pathetic.

 

[ponsdale]

This is ridiculous, you guys are making assumptions based on absolutely nothing - suit yourselves but I suggest getting over it is a better way to go then constantly being bitter and coming up with more and more situations where Clark becomes progressively more of a campaigner.

Nope, I think he has reached peak campaigner.

 

[Captain Jack]

He then said that Clark was told to get a change of environment, despite saing 15 Mins later that Clark loved the players and the majority of the staff were different anyway

This bit pissed me off the most. I get that he wants a clean slate in a fresh environment, that's fair enough, but for Young to then talk about the massive overhaul at the club was so annoying.

 

[Captain Jack]

Also, can we try to bring a bit of creativity to the Clark hating? I'm bloody well sick of you campaigners using that word in every other post in this thread. Vent your anger, sure, but tone down the long c-word please.

 

[wowlace]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This whole situation has given me depression. * you Clark and the AFL.

 

[Demon 16]

Clark is a campaign.

 

[CWaffles]

Also, can we try to bring a bit of creativity to the Clark hating? I'm bloody well sick of you campaigners using that word in every other post in this thread. Vent your anger, sure, but tone down the long c-word please.

I never wrote Campaigner, I wrote Campaigner.

 

[El Gringo]

He made the right call.

Geelong are the sleeping giants of the comp and were badly lacking a key tall in that final against Norf. Delivery from that midfield would make playing key forward that much more interesting as well. And it's definitely a shot worth taking on Geelong's part, he was worth a 1st rounder when he got him from Brisbane on a huge amount of coin. They'll get him for a lot less money given the situation but should still pay up on the trade table. He's worth more to them right now and their finals chances in 2015 than a high draft pick.

 

[Theseventhhamster]

I've enjoyed being a Geelong fan each finals series. Going to need a new team now if Elark is playing for them.

 

[Topkent]

I've enjoyed being a Geelong fan each finals series. Going to need a new team now if Elark is playing for them.

PA Bandwagon

 

[year of the cat]

Having listened to the interview Young said Clark had planned to retire last September but was talked out of it by Roos

He then said that Clark was told to get a change of environment, despite saing 15 Mins later that Clark loved the players and the majority of the staff were different anyway

Its got to be the softest way Ive ever heard someone avoid playing for us anymore

Also Depression doesnt just go away in the space of 6 months, yet all these clubs seem so sure that he is fit and ready now

With respect I don't think you know a lot about depression. Often people may be depressed for relatively short periods.

It appears that Clark's depression was manifested as a consequence of his ongoing problems with injury. A form of exogenous depression. People respond to these situations in different ways - there's no "right" or "wrong" way. Like a marriage breakup or death of a close relative. Most would be sad, some would take longer to get over it than others, some would cope well. But this type of depression is more "treatable" and in Clark's case, his improvement in mood would correlate I'd say with the improvement in his physical well being. At the time that he had depression, I'd say he saw no future in playing AFL. He associated it largely with negative connotations. Hence his decision to retire prematurely.

I can understand the anger of many Melbourne fans that he has decided to move clubs. But you need to remember that Clark probably has an array of mixed feelings associated with Melbourne FC. Perhaps he feels that his best chance of reforging a successful career is in a different environment to the one that he associates with his depression? Perhaps he feels being in Geelong will allow him to be less conspicuous as much as you can playing AFL? Perhaps he feels the support he will get from a better resourced club will be helpful to him? I'd say that he wouldn't be feeling great about the move in terms of what MFC gave up to get him. But I think he can be excused this time for being seen to be a bit "selfish" in his decision. The depression wasn't some elaborate plan made up to get out of MFC.

I apologise for perhaps sounding a touch condescending. I just think that a few here should perhaps show a touch more empathy.

 

[Topkent]

With respect I don't think you know a lot about depression. Often people may be depressed for relatively short periods.

It appears that Clark's depression was manifested as a consequence of his ongoing problems with injury. A form of exogenous depression. People respond to these situations in different ways - there's no "right" or "wrong" way. Like a marriage breakup or death of a close relative. Most would be sad, some would take longer to get over it than others, some would cope well. But this type of depression is more "treatable" and in Clark's case, his improvement in mood would correlate I'd say with the improvement in his physical well being. At the time that he had depression, I'd say he saw no future in playing AFL. He associated it largely with negative connotations. Hence his decision to retire prematurely.

I can understand the anger of many Melbourne fans that he has decided to move clubs. But you need to remember that Clark probably has an array of mixed feelings associated with Melbourne FC. Perhaps he feels that his best chance of reforging a successful career is in a different environment to the one that he associates with his depression? Perhaps he feels being in Geelong will allow him to be less conspicuous as much as you can playing AFL? Perhaps he feels the support he will get from a better resourced club will be helpful to him? I'd say that he wouldn't be feeling great about the move in terms of what MFC gave up to get him. But I think he can be excused this time for being seen to be a bit "selfish" in his decision. The depression wasn't some elaborate plan made up to get out of MFC.

I apologise for perhaps sounding a touch condescending. I just think that a few here should perhaps show a touch more empathy.

Without sounding condescending, you have no Idea if I have suffered from it before thus you have no idea of my knowledge

Clark was cleared of injury before he retired, thats why he is so keen to walk back into the AFL
He was 'depressed' at the thought of having to work hard at Melbourne again, if he felt so guilty about taking our money how come less than a year later he is comfortable taking a pretty good contract at Geelong without any proof he can even finish a pre season

 

[Demon 16]

With respect I don't think you know a lot about depression. Often people may be depressed for relatively short periods.

It appears that Clark's depression was manifested as a consequence of his ongoing problems with injury. A form of exogenous depression. People respond to these situations in different ways - there's no "right" or "wrong" way. Like a marriage breakup or death of a close relative. Most would be sad, some would take longer to get over it than others, some would cope well. But this type of depression is more "treatable" and in Clark's case, his improvement in mood would correlate I'd say with the improvement in his physical well being. At the time that he had depression, I'd say he saw no future in playing AFL. He associated it largely with negative connotations. Hence his decision to retire prematurely.

I can understand the anger of many Melbourne fans that he has decided to move clubs. But you need to remember that Clark probably has an array of mixed feelings associated with Melbourne FC. Perhaps he feels that his best chance of reforging a successful career is in a different environment to the one that he associates with his depression? Perhaps he feels being in Geelong will allow him to be less conspicuous as much as you can playing AFL? Perhaps he feels the support he will get from a better resourced club will be helpful to him? I'd say that he wouldn't be feeling great about the move in terms of what MFC gave up to get him. But I think he can be excused this time for being seen to be a bit "selfish" in his decision. The depression wasn't some elaborate plan made up to get out of MFC.

I apologise for perhaps sounding a touch condescending. I just think that a few here should perhaps show a touch more empathy.

I think most us us are coming from the viewpoint that if he is healthy enough to be part of the AFL competition, then he should play by the rules and honour the contract he would otherwise be under.

If he's not yet well/strong enough to re-activate his previous contract, then he isn't ready to be part of the AFL and it's system.

 

[El Gringo]

But could it be exploited as a drafting/trading loophole?

What's to stop the top prospect of a draft saying he's been clinically depressed since he was 15 and it'd be dangerous to health to be drafted by a club that isn't Hawthorn/Fremantle/Sydney/Port Adelaide? How dissimilar would that be to what Clark has done?