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Michael Gardiner

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saints

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Would like to know peoples thoughts on mick gardiner. Now that he will most likely be sacked by the eagles he would be up for grabs for nothing next year as he is out of contract.
Does anyone think it would be a good idea to sign him to the saints?
I for one would like to see him at the saints, would solve a few of those ruck problems.
Could finally get rid of barry brooks.
 
WC will get a trade offer from one of Swans, Pies, Blues or you guys. Wont be much but it will ensure he doesnt enter the PSD.
 
It's not a bad idea. I thought since coming back a few weeks ago his form on the ground has been pretty promising which suggests he's still got the talent. I wouldn't mind getting him at the saints as long as we can get him with a late pick in the draft. I wouldn't want to waste a second round pick, probably not even a third round pick. We wouldn't get him in the preseason draft as other teams would get him before us. You would just have to say to him that if he mucks up once he'll be gone and basically put him on notice. If we got a good preseason into him and he put in a 100% we could reap some real benefits. Maybe a change of clubs could do good him some good like it did for Spida.

Howewver, I must mention what an idiot he is to put himself in that position just after he got himself back in the side and back on good terms with the coaching panel and playing group.
 
I think you've got to be kidding yourselves if you want or even think Michael Gardiner will play for us...

Grant Thomas has said all along in his coaching career he doesn't just want decent footballers in his team, he wants well rounded, decent human beings. If half the stories that go around in the media about what Michael Gardiner gets up to in his own time are remotely true...this kid should be locked away.

I have no problems at all with Cain Ackland, Michael Rix and Kosi in our ruck division. The Rix/Ackland have been doing well in the hitouts department so far.
 

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I'm with R Man on this one.

He's got unlimited potential and if he could get his body right he would be a fantastic acquistion.

However the fact remains that he has been given a multitude of chances and wasted every single one of them. Our club has worked hard to get rid of the negative influences and put together a talented squad full of well rounded individuals.

He's just not worth the risk.
 
saints said:
Would like to know peoples thoughts on mick gardiner. Now that he will most likely be sacked by the eagles he would be up for grabs for nothing next year as he is out of contract.
Does anyone think it would be a good idea to sign him to the saints?
I for one would like to see him at the saints, would solve a few of those ruck problems.
Could finally get rid of barry brooks.
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Nah... I am happier without him. Remember Lawrence Angwin? Carlton took him up and what happened? He took down Karl Norman with him.

I place a high premium on positive and ethical behaviour by team members. Keeps everyone working towards common goals.
 
R Man said:
I think you've got to be kidding yourselves if you want or even think Michael Gardiner will play for us...

Grant Thomas has said all along in his coaching career he doesn't just want decent footballers in his team, he wants well rounded, decent human beings. If half the stories that go around in the media about what Michael Gardiner gets up to in his own time are remotely true...this kid should be locked away.

I have no problems at all with Cain Ackland, Michael Rix and Kosi in our ruck division. The Rix/Ackland have been doing well in the hitouts department so far.
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Great post !!!
 
I wouldn't want the saints to have anything to do with him. It would make a mockery of everything we've been doing to improve the club for the last few years.
 
Fred said:
I wouldn't want the saints to have anything to do with him. It would make a mockery of everything we've been doing to improve the club for the last few years.
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He makes Spider look like Robert HArvey. Why don't we get davis as well?
We should stick to the Swans no F*****s policy. The draft is very deep this year, we should just keep getting 18yo's
 
No thanks. His body hasn't stood up to the rigors of footy at the top level, and I doubt we need another ruckman who regularly doesn't get on the park.

I also doubt just how intelligent he is, given the number of chances WC gave him and yet he still managed to foul up his career there. Players need to be smart these days, and he doesn't strike me as too smart. And he seems to think rules don't apply to him either; we don't need that.

A "no d*ckheads" policy appeals to me. :D
 

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A fully fit Gardiner with a clean bill of health mentally and physically would an extremely good acquisition for any club, not just St Kilda.

A fantastic player with immense talent, but without a brain in his head.

I'd only trade for him IF the following conditions were met:

- WCE accpeted a 4th round pick or worse.
- Gardiner accepted minimum wages plus incentives OR West Coast paid out a Bourke style deal (pay 10-15% of wages).
- He was given a one strike and you're out policy.
- He signed a good-behaviour bond deal.
- He underwent classes with a psychologist.

If all that could be met, then, yes, I'd consider him.
 
Hapless Gardiner looks east
By Greg Denham and Courtney Walsh
July 19, 2006

BARRED West Coast ruckman Michael Gardiner is clinging to hopes that he can revive his career outside Western Australia at the end of the season.

Eagles coach John Worsfold and his match committee yesterday ran out of patience with the former vice-captain and have recommended his contract not be renewed at the end of this year.

Gardiner, who will play out the season with Western Australia Football League club Claremont, shot himself in the foot after his alleged alcohol-related car accident on Monday night, according to a West Coast board member.

"He's already had too many chances and that has to be the last straw," the board member said.

A source close to the 2003 All-Australian said: "We know it's all over here and he won't play again at the elite level until he's physically right. But we'll get him right and he is prepared to go interstate."

It is understood St Kilda is Gardiner's initial preferred option, but any official approach to Saints' coach Grant Thomas is not expected in the short term.

The Eagles last night did not want to discuss trading Gardiner, but indicated they would talk to any interested clubs.

But his currency must be limited given that Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett said yesterday Gardiner was unwanted in trade talks at the end of 2005 while defending the club's decision to retain him for another year.

"If someone had have offered a trade for him, then it might have been different (but) nobody offered any trading material for Michael Gardiner," Nisbett said.

"Not a player. Not a draft pick at any time, and I was at all the draft talks.

"So there was no discussion about Michael with any club. So it makes it difficult to trade someone if somebody else isn't that interested."

Gardiner, who was one of the highest-paid players in Western Australia, will be off contract at the end of the season.

He said last month he believed he could play on until he was at least 30.

"I'm 26 now and I reckon I've got a good three years left in me, at least, after this one," he told The Australian.

Gardiner's family is understood to be upset at claims by West Coast that Gardiner had been in a state of depression.

"Mentally, he's as strong as an ox," a family member said last night.

But it is believed he had phoned teammate Ben Cousins on Monday night and he appeared upset about the extent of a new injury to his right foot.

He had been taking sedatives after being treated by the club doctor with cortisone.

It was a serious injury to his left foot which required delicate surgery last year and almost prematurely ended his career.

"I think every time a player has problems with injury, or things go wrong with performances, it is always an issue for athletes, and I think this is one of those times," Nisbett said yesterday.

Nisbett, who said the club would continue to support Gardiner with counselling, repeatedly referred to the former star's mental state yesterday, even when discussing how the ruckman might revive his career.

"The unfortunate thing I think in all of this is that I don't think it is just his football that we need to be concerned about, and that's exactly where we are coming from," Nisbett said.

"But at this stage, hopefully he can get himself back going again and get himself playing at Claremont and hopefully things will sort themselves out again.

"That's up to Mike. We are certainly going to try to help him through this. Whether he can resurrect himself and get himself back on deck, (well) Michael is the only one who can do that."

Nisbett conceded Gardiner's indiscretion had placed the Eagles under immense onfield pressure as they battle to hold a top-two position and guaranteed home final.

The Eagles, who face Collingwood, Adelaide and St Kilda in the next three weeks, are also without number one ruckman Dean Cox, who is at least a month away from resuming after breaking a collarbone against Western Bulldogs two weeks ago.

The hard-working Mark Seaby, who was dropped as soon as Gardiner had proved his match fitness in the WAFL, will be forced to carry the ruck duties. Jaymie Graham or Andrew McDougall, who is yet to play a game this year, are possible back-ups.
 
http://www.theage.com.au/realfooty/...unt-on-gardiner/2006/07/18/1153166383512.html

Clubs loath to punt on Gardiner
Michael Gleeson and Stephen Rielly
July 19, 2006




There is no light at the end of the tunnel for Eagles ruckman Michael Gardiner, who has been suspended indefinitely.

WEST Coast's troubled ruckman Michael Gardiner has almost certainly played his last game of AFL football after again falling victim to his own frailties.

After it was revealed the 27-year-old, under the influence of alcohol, had wrapped his Holden SS Commodore around a light pole at high speed on Monday night, Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett said Gardiner would more than likely never play for the club again.

Gardiner was fined the maximum $5000 and suspended indefinitely by the club. With his $450,000 contract up at the end of this season, Nisbett said it was highly unlikely he would be re-signed by West Coast.

"I guess you could read between the lines and say it is very unlikely that the club would say to Michael 'We are going to renew your contract'," Nisbett said.

Yesterday, an overwhelming majority of AFL clubs suggested the 2003 All-Australian was unlikely to appear in their colours next season.



No club expressed even mild interest in the ruckman and what might be required to trade for his services. Most expressed reservations about his physical ability, apart from the off-field issues that have sabotaged what should have been a stellar career.

Kangaroos football manager Tim Harrington: "No. We have two young ruckmen at the club who we believe are going to be 10-year players for us. They are playing senior football and we don't really need another ruckman type."

Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade: "No. It's highly unlikely that we would consider him."

St Kilda coach Grant Thomas: "No."

Collingwood chief executive Greg Swann: "No, we are not interested."

Adelaide football manager John Reid: "I think I can speak on behalf of the club in saying no, we are not interested."

Port Adelaide football manager Peter Rohde: "We have not discussed it at the club but I would be very surprised if we went down that path."

It is understood that Fremantle, Richmond, Sydney, Hawthorn and Melbourne also have no interest in Gardiner. Essendon, the Brisbane Lions, Geelong and Carlton could not be contacted.

But some clubs speculated there might be some interest to take him in the pre-season draft.

"It all comes down to risk versus reward," one official said. "If he is not costing you a lot and if he is not disruptive to your program and your culture then the upside is probably quite good. But what I do know is that clubs are now very sensitive about their club culture, and they are cautious about having people in there that might come into conflict with their culture."

Although Gardiner has likely played his last game at West Coast, the club must comply with AFL and AFL Players Association agreements, and it wants to keep trade options open.

One club official said the timing of Gardiner's misdemeanour — in the middle of trying to again prove his worth — would diminish whatever value he still has.

Monday night's crash is the latest drama to beset the Eagles ruckman.

In 2002 he was the subject of a club inquiry over allegations he bought recreational drugs after claims he had been caught in a police sting. Gardiner was not named, but the club said police and senior officials had not uncovered evidence of drug-taking. Weeks earlier, The Age had reported that Gardiner and Ben Cousins had been socialising with convicted heroin trafficker John Kizon. Later that month, Gardiner was omitted from an Eagles' practice match after breaking a team curfew.

In May last year, Gardiner and Cousins refused to answer questions about a brawl at a Perth nightclub. They were criticised by police for not explaining phone conversations they were understood to have had with a man charged with disposing of a gun fired at the Metro City nightclub.

In January this year, Gardiner was reportedly evicted from the Ascot racecourse on Perth Cup day.

In February, he was caught drinking the night before a practice match and was told he was not welcome at the club until his attitude improved. He was sent to WAFL club Claremont for two months.
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I'd expect he's assuming our ruck stocks are pretty weak & therefore he'd be a chance to come in as no. 1 ruckman in a fairly strong team. But it seems GT has already (along with several other clubs) said "not interested".
 
The bloke's an absolute ********....if we get him I will not barrack for St. Kilda anymore...and that's saying something as I have barracked for them all my life.I wouldn't go for any AFL team at all even, I can only go for the Saints.
 
Don't worry Ritchie, you'll be able to follow the Saints for a long long time, and hopefully you will see much success. Gardiner wont be wiping his feet on our doorstep.
 

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