Player Watch Sam Murray - (Delisted 2019)

Of course I have, but just because he made a bad decision doesn't mean he should be immune from criticism. It was a completely reckless decision, he knew what he was doing and what would eventuate if he got busted. For his sake I hope he gets a lessened sentence but in another sense I'm glad he's gone because maybe he will be able to shake this drug-induced life-style and perhaps one day return a changed man. Until then, he has brought shamed to himself and the club he represents.
Life is not always so clear.
 
Of course I have, but just because he made a bad decision doesn't mean he should be immune from criticism. It was a completely reckless decision, he knew what he was doing and what would eventuate if he got busted. For his sake I hope he gets a lessened sentence but in another sense I'm glad he's gone because maybe he will be able to shake this drug-induced life-style and perhaps one day return a changed man. Until then, he has brought shamed to himself and the club he represents.

I've been told that one of our very best was at the St Kilda festival and took the same drugs that had Keeffe and Thomas banned. Would you feel the same if one of our very best went down this way.
 
Oct 27, 2016
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I've been told that one of our very best was at the St Kilda festival and took the same drugs that had Keeffe and Thomas banned. Would you feel the same if one of our very best went down this way.
Why would I feel any different if say Pendlebury or De Goey took drugs? I would actually feel worse because they have been at the club for a while now and so I have a higher expectation for them to exert the clubs' drug-free culture. And I don't really know how credible "I've been told" is, but yeah you're right. There are tossers who have video evidence of them doing coke and yet they still run around and play on the weekends. Shane Mumford, Jack Watts to name a couple. It's just Murray's luck he got caught, but don't get me wrong; although he made a inexcusable dumb decision, I still wish him the best that he might be able to overcome this struggle. He had a handful of good games under his belt and he was really starting to justify giving up a 2nd Round pick so I would love to see him back in a couple of years time providing he has mended his ways.
 
Apr 13, 2001
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Keeffe and Thomas were both rookie picks too.

But yeah whether he can come back from here and again be a worthy speculative rookie pick will be part of the decision making process.

He showed some talent (rising star nominated) so it’s flippant to just write him off as “barely AFL talent”. Most first year rookies tick that box!
Like Thomas and Keeffe he took illicit drugs that would have otherwise earned him an anonymous first strike in different circumstances. None of the three had any intention to cheat. The club took this into consideration for Thomas and Keeffe and will do the same for Murray.

This is all a moot point if he gets more than two years.
I'm as bullish as you on Murray as a talent and remember a lot of people saying similarly silly things about Swan when he was charged with assault in his 2nd or 3rd year of footy because he hadn't shown much at the point.

Personally I don't care about players or anyone taking 'party' drugs too much but an AFL player doing it in the season is very moronic and above anything else it just shows a complete lack of professionalism and respect for the team. I'd feel the same way if a player was boozing it up until 3am every night on game week. It's not really a technicality kind of like what Keeffe/Thomas was it's very clear that cocaine is treated like any other real "performance enhancing" drugs in-season and there's no strike system involved there. So I think the criteria for redemption for Murray needs to be much stricter should he be lucky enough to get away with 2 years.
 

Kappa

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Murray was certainly no worse than any of Johnson, Toovey or R Shaw at the same stage of their careers and comes with the same potential upside.

If he escapes with a 2 year ban I hope we afford him the same opportunity as Thomas and Keeffe.

Why do we owe him another massive opportunity?

He was an NEAFL player until we gave him a massive chance to come to Melbourne and be in our 22, he played poorly, got dropped then got on the drugs and let us down massively. He is a mediocre player who will spend 2 years not playing any football, the club owes it to the fans to get someone better.
 

Thatsmyname

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Why do we owe him another massive opportunity?

He was an NEAFL player until we gave him a massive chance to come to Melbourne and be in our 22, he played poorly, got dropped then got on the drugs and let us down massively. He is a mediocre player who will spend 2 years not playing any football, the club owes it to the fans to get someone better.
Because how would the public get their feel good story when he finally knuckles under and becomes the key in a premiership? How can the human spirit soar without the plucky ne'er do weller come good? *Cue the Rocky theme* He's the comeback kid and you can't stop him, nobody can! ok maybe wada, but barring their yada yada yada nothing gonna stop this heart warming journey of redemption!
 
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I'm as bullish as you on Murray as a talent and remember a lot of people saying similarly silly things about Swan when he was charged with assault in his 2nd or 3rd year of footy because he hadn't shown much at the point.

Personally I don't care about players or anyone taking 'party' drugs too much but an AFL player doing it in the season is very moronic and above anything else it just shows a complete lack of professionalism and respect for the team. I'd feel the same way if a player was boozing it up until 3am every night on game week. It's not really a technicality kind of like what Keeffe/Thomas was it's very clear that cocaine is treated like any other real "performance enhancing" drugs in-season and there's no strike system involved there. So I think the criteria for redemption for Murray needs to be much stricter should he be lucky enough to get away with 2 years.


Mostly agree with you. Not sure the criterea needs to be any different though. Their circumstances are not miles away from each other.

To clarify, cocaine is not banned “in season”. It’s banned on game day. he didn’t take the drug on game day. He made the mistake of assuming would be out of his system by then but it wasn’t.

If a two year ban occurs then the club has a choice. In those circumstances, Murray will be judged on his own behaviour since that day. Has he shown remorse, has he improved himsel, is he keeping fit, is he showing commitment, is there room on the list for him, do the players want him back, etc etc etc.
 
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Mostly agree with you. Not sure the criterea needs to be any different though. Their circumstances are not miles away from each other.

To clarify, cocaine is not banned “in season”. It’s banned on game day. he didn’t take the drug on game day. He made the mistake of assuming would be out of his system by then but it wasn’t.

If a two year ban occurs then the club has a choice. In those circumstances, Murray will be judged on his own behaviour since that day. Has he shown remorse, has he improved himsel, is he keeping fit, is he showing commitment, is there room on the list for him, do the players want him back, etc etc etc.

Cheers for the clarification, it makes me feel Murray's a bit more dumb than completely recklessly negligent but I think this questions his commitment more than Thomas/Keeffe so his standards need to be set a little higher.
 
May 25, 2006
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Cheers for the clarification, it makes me feel Murray's a bit more dumb than completely recklessly negligent but I think this questions his commitment more than Thomas/Keeffe so his standards need to be set a little higher.

Maybe he had been told or taught that the stuff is always out of your system after a certain number of days, and that has been proven to be incorrect information that was supplied to him. Just a hypothetical but it’s too easy to be judgemental without knowing all the facts.

Alan Didak spend the night at a strip joint with a bikie who then took him on a drive by shooting of a rival bikie clubhouse and then after dropping Dids off murdered an innocent bystander walking to work. He wasn’t sacked and he had other form!

Murray snorting some powder a week out and unluckily having some residual traces on game day pales into insignificance to some behaviour we have seen in the past.

If the club opts to give him a second chance I’d fully support it.
 
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Thatsmyname

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I'd hold on to him simply because his position is one of our biggest needs, sans Crisp and Quaynor there is no other quick line breaking defender on the list.
 
Oct 7, 2001
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Why? I am not aware of any significatn correlation of smoking cannabis with tumours.
While my point was that smoking anything can cause tumours I feel the need to reinforce it.
https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/marijuana-addiction/marijuana-and-cancer/

Does marijuana cause cancer? The honest answer is that not a lot is known about whether or not marijuana causes cancer, but it is possible if you smoke it.
When you smoke anything, and you’re inhaling it into your lungs, there’s the potential for damage, and you may be at a higher risk of getting cancer. Many of the chemicals in marijuana are the same as what’s in tobacco smoke, and some of the carcinogens in tobacco smoke are found in even higher concentrations in marijuana smoke. Not only can smoking marijuana cause cancer, but it can lead to other problems as well as such as coughing, excess mucus and chronic bronchitis.

I suppose I get depressed when people don’t stop smoking after seeing or being informed about the risks.
 
Murray won't play another senior game regardless of his penalty. He had his chance and wasnt up to it.

21 years old and about 10 senior games. If we had have had that same attitude a few years back, Dane Swan would be a factory worker - if not in jail.
 
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21 years old and about 10 senior games. If we had have had that same attitude a few years back, Dane Swan would be a factory worker - if not in jail.

Is murray 21 now? So he'll be 23 when he can play again. He is too far back imo.

Swanny was just a freak 1/100.
 
Is murray 21 now? So he'll be 23 when he can play again. He is too far back imo.

Swanny was just a freak 1/100.

My own view is that Murray isn't a likely prospect, so in that sense I agree with you.

Still, he doesn't need to turn into Swan to make an AFL career for himself. Murray might well be 22 years-old when/if he returns to the game, which would make him a reasonably young prospect with senior footy under his belt. He could possibly make a go of things, if he has enough determination to add something more than pace to his game.
 
Sep 17, 2007
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I'd be fine with him returning a la Thomas/Keefe should he be banned for 2 years. 4 might be a bridge too far, but 2 is fine.

Showed a bit when he played in my opinion.
 
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