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..I dont want him or Brennan to go, but Vossy can only do so much, as long as he tries to keep them tho..
All sounds fair enough to me..
On the same day Lions chairman Tony Kelly stood down, the club was also preparing for the possibility of losing two of its best players, with Michael Rischitelli set to to walk out on the club.
Rischitelli was one of the first players linked to the Suns but it is understood his management has also held talks with North Melbourne, Carlton and Essendon.
The draft and trading concessions granted to the Suns permit them to take only one uncontracted player from each of the 16 clubs but Rischitelli, or any other Lion, can still be acquired through a trade or one of the national or pre-season drafts in which they hold a swathe of early picks.
"I was asked, 'Is it worth our while putting a contract to you?' and my answer was 'No, it isn't'." Olarenshaw said. "That's not to say we can't go back to Brisbane at the end of the season and say, 'What is your best offer?' but Rob Kerr and I did have a discussion and that's where it was left. Michael has a number of options before him, the Gold Coast being one of them whether or not Jared Brennan makes a move there, and a return to Melbourne being another."
If Brown doesn't get the three votes from the umpires then Michael Rischitelli surely will after he helped himself to 28 possessions and two goals. The 24-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the year, is enjoying his best ever season and Voss expressed his desire to keeping him and the rest of the team together with Gold Coast firmly in the picture.
"We know we're coming to the end of the year and there's new challenges that front us and part of that challenge is going to be able to ensure that we keep the group together and that's going to have its own little hidden challenges," he said. "His season has been very impressive and the fact that he's come out and had his best year, I'm sure that he'll more than comfortably be in our best three in our best and fairest."
Michael Rischitelli - who is probably now considered one of the more senior players at the Club at just 24 years old - has enjoyed the best of his seven year career with the Lions.
Rischa has played every game this season and is among the team leaders in pretty much every statistic you can imagine. He’s been getting plenty of the ball and has really taken his game to another level. It’s little wonder why most people consider him as one of the favourites for this year’s Club Champion award.
Rischitelli's manager, Rick Olarenshaw, said yesterday his client's situation was not connected with Brennan in any way. ''[Brennan's] decision doesn't affect what we decide to do.'' Olarenshaw would not elaborate further.
But the fact Gold Coast can only take one out of contract player from each club (barring a trade) would encourage the view that Rischitelli may be the player that is already committed to the Gold Coast. The less likely explanation is that he intends to re-sign, regardless of what happens with Brennan.
While Gold Coast is his probable destination, manager Ricky Olarenshaw yesterday said re-signing with the Lions was still possible."I am just going to let the dust settle and let him enjoy his Mad Monday. We will start talking seriously later in the week," he said.
"He might surprise us all and sign with Brisbane but everyone is assuming he's going to the Gold Coast. No one has asked Michael yet. It is definitely not cut and dried."
Several clubs keen to lure Rischitelli are likely to contact him late this week or early next week.
On the field, it came as no surprise that midfielder Michael Rischitelli finished the season with more Dream Team points than any of his Lions team-mates.
Rischitelli enjoyed a career-best season and his consistent form was one of the shining lights for the Club in an otherwise disappointing 2010 season. He played every match for the season and averaged a Club-high 96.27 points per game.
He also ranked 20th in the entire AFL competition for most individual Dream Team points accumulated throughout the season.
LIONS MOST POINTS (OVERALL)
1. Michael Rischitelli - 2,118
2. Luke Power - 1,835
3. Jack Redden - 1,746
4. Matthew Leuenberger - 1,702
=5. Daniel Rich - 1,657
=5. Tom Rockliff - 1,657
LIONS MOST POINTS (AVERAGE)
1. Michael Rischitelli - 96.27
2. Simon Black - 91.78
3. Luke Power - 87.38
4. Tom Rockliff - 87.21
5. Jared Brennan - 87.00
