Opinion Thanks Bhilly, I Won’t Boo You!

Remove this Banner Ad

Bring back Drum

Mundy4Hundy
Jul 8, 2019
3,380
10,231
AFL Club
Fremantle
100% This.

I don't doubt that Brad's partner wanted to go back to Melbourne.
Brad then spoke to his little mate Colin Young.
Colin worked out a massive pay day for his client (as it his job to do)
Brad nominated the Saints and the Saints only.

If it was truly a decision based on his partner's wishes, he would've said to Freo - get me to Victoria on a good contract at whatever club offers the club the best trade deal.

This will keep happening across the league until the players have their power stripped back and the clubs are given an even chance - player trading without their consent.
Fremantle could have quite easily said to Brad, no we are holding you to your contract & that would be that. But the club realised that they will get more for him now as his stocks are high because in 2 years time anything can happen, plus he is 2 years older.

Again, if Freo weren’t happy with the deal, they could have said no deal at any time & seriously why would you as a professional footballer accept an offer from another club for less time & money so Freo get a better deal?

I think your dreaming on that one.
 

theGav56

Brownlow Medallist
Oct 11, 2004
29,300
29,197
Bali
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Fremantle
Off course they were weak reasons, but are you saying that Brad wanted to go back to Melbourne & used his misses as the excuse?
I don't really care if he wanted to go back to Melbourne. He signed up for a front loaded contract, and without a substantial reason behind it, my expectation is he honours. If he doesn't honour it my respect for him takes a massive dive. If he did what Jenkins did, which is to take a pay cut or accept a modest contract, then I would have a different rating of his reasons for moving. So I am saying that if you don't have the massive contract offer on the table then magically he may not want to go back to Melbourne (same with Neale and Weller).

I also fully get the make hay while the sun shines situation afl players find themselves in, but it doesn't equate to me coughing up good vibes towards them leaving us while under contract.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

yakamoto

Club Legend
May 8, 2008
2,355
1,840
perth
AFL Club
Fremantle
I have always enjoyed watching him play apart from one or two times a year when he was at Hawthorn. Might even overcome my distaste for St Kilda and turn on the TV for one or two of their games next year.
On top of Weller and Lachie leaving this does raise a few questions for a Freo.
1. Have we invested too much from the salary cap in a handful of fading stars over recent seasons at the expense of those ascendant or in their prime.
2. Given the strong ties that each of the three talents recently departed have outside WA, does this reinforce the argument for drafting local talent predominantly?
 

tacopavlich

Premiership Player
Oct 19, 2010
3,271
2,480
perth
AFL Club
Fremantle
Off course they were weak reasons, but are you saying that Brad wanted to go back to Melbourne & used his misses as the excuse?

It's incredibly unlikely that Hill would be moving back East for the same reasons if there was less money on the table than Freo would be offering. The story that Hill is becoming a Saint independently from salary is pure PR spin but that doesn't mean that Hill's partner doesn't genuinely want to go back home and it isn't sincere.
 

StingBitten

The Midland Steal
May 31, 2012
6,717
13,170
Bayswater
AFL Club
Fremantle
I heard Brad's interview on 3AW.

By his tone and language I'm no longer under any doubt that he largely wanted this move nearly as much as his partner.

I actually don't think he hates the club, Ross or Perth.

But he certainly prefers the Melb life and the glittered trams that come with it, he just didn't realize how much he actually missed it.

It's fascinating, when Brad was 17 I was just starting out in criminal justice and he very nearly received a community based order before getting drafted, remember him having the police and the children's court in hysterics, there was no way he was getting in trouble.

Dude just had too much energy for this place.
 

Darcy 2 Fyfe

Club Legend
Sep 20, 2011
1,920
2,771
Yallingup
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
West Perth
My brother in law taught both Brad and Stephen at Clarkson back in the day. Said Stephen was a church mouse but Brad was always causing disruptions. Did say he was a cheeky bugger but hard to dislike.
 
Sep 22, 2011
29,719
28,959
Perth
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Liverpool FC, Washington Wizards
Think he does indeed miss the Melbourne lifestyle. If he was serious about his footy, he would’ve asked to go to a top club- ala Geelong if we wanted to get Kelly or perhaps Collingwood. His GF was an added excuse.
But he’s content in that he won three flags and isn’t fussed about going straight to a less successful team. Only 26.
 

theGav56

Brownlow Medallist
Oct 11, 2004
29,300
29,197
Bali
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Fremantle
Think he does indeed miss the Melbourne lifestyle. If he was serious about his footy, he would’ve asked to go to a top club- ala Geelong if we wanted to get Kelly or perhaps Collingwood. His GF was an added excuse.
But he’s content in that he won three flags and isn’t fussed about going straight to a less successful team. Only 26.
Different dollars available at Geelong or Collingwood compared to Saint Kilda I suspect.
 

Clems Knee

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 15, 2009
8,390
15,664
Perth
AFL Club
Fremantle
Let's be honest Perth is a shithole. It's a no brainer to choose Melbourne if you've got family there.

Yeh, the weather is so crap in WA. And the place isn’t full of Victorians. I mean, who doesn’t love Victorians? What’s not to love? They are the best. We know this because they keep telling us. A lot.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Aug 20, 2014
4,544
5,257
AFL Club
Fremantle
Let's be honest Perth is a shithole. It's a no brainer to choose Melbourne if you've got family there.
Shithole is to strong. It is nicer and more interesting than Brisbane and Adelaide. Its probably the third coolest city. Brisbane is probably the ugliest place I have ever visited and Adelaide is full of creeps. Third isnt bad.
 

One_Wing

Premiership Player
Jan 10, 2016
3,156
8,792
AFL Club
Fremantle
Haha everyone is so sensitive about cities. Ive lived in Perth, Melbourne and Tokyo. When comparing these three places in terms of lifestyle Melbourne and Perth are pretty similar places.
 
Last edited:

Bring back Drum

Mundy4Hundy
Jul 8, 2019
3,380
10,231
AFL Club
Fremantle
Let's be honest Perth is a shithole. It's a no brainer to choose Melbourne if you've got family there.
Each to their own.
A lot of good mates of mine from footy are from Vic who stopped here to play & never left, met partners & are raising families.
 

BigKep

Senior List
Jul 15, 2017
171
270
AFL Club
Fremantle
I booed Lachie but I won't be booing Brad. Unlike with Neale at least Brad has an anchor in Melbourne being his girlfriend is from there, whereas Lachie didn't move back to South Australia (which I could have handled), he moved to the other side of the country where he had no ties showing no loyalty to a club that had given him a lot.

On SM-G611F using BigFooty.com mobile app
 

ImperialPurple

Matthew Pavlich Medallist
May 26, 2003
24,236
18,031
South Freo
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
SFFC, Aussie Women's Cricket, HNK
100% This.

I don't doubt that Brad's partner wanted to go back to Melbourne.
Brad then spoke to his little mate Colin Young.
Colin worked out a massive pay day for his client (as it his job to do)
Brad nominated the Saints and the Saints only.

If it was truly a decision based on his partner's wishes, he would've said to Freo - get me to Victoria on a good contract at whatever club offers the club the best trade deal.

This will keep happening across the league until the players have their power stripped back and the clubs are given an even chance - player trading without their consent.

It all started with Judd when he nominated Carlton, and it's been the accepted practice for 'big name' players ever since. He never should have won that Glendinning in 2006, and none of this would be happening! It's all Ross Glendinning's fault. All of it.
 

se17enteen

Premiership Player
Jun 6, 2010
4,029
12,844
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Dillon Panthers
I booed Lachie but I won't be booing Brad. Unlike with Neale at least Brad has an anchor in Melbourne being his girlfriend is from there, whereas Lachie didn't move back to South Australia (which I could have handled), he moved to the other side of the country where he had no ties showing no loyalty to a club that had given him a lot.

On SM-G611F using BigFooty.com mobile app

Neale made sure Freo was well compensate for him leaving, B.Hill on the other hand was different.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

ImperialPurple

Matthew Pavlich Medallist
May 26, 2003
24,236
18,031
South Freo
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
SFFC, Aussie Women's Cricket, HNK
Neale made sure Freo was well compensate for him leaving, B.Hill on the other hand was different.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I don't know how players 'make sure' their clubs are well-compensated. Neale asked for a trade, then it was up to Brisbane to satisfy Freo. Neale had nothing to do with it except sit and wait it out and hope that the clubs could come to an agreement. Same with Hogan. He didn't 'help' Melbourne - he had to sit tight and hope that the two clubs could negotiate a suitable outcome that allowed him to get to where he wanted to go. Although I guess it's true they made off before the end of contracts when they would become free agents, which did make a trade more favourable for Freo, I guess. So if breaking a contract means they've helped the club, then I suppose my argument becomes moot. But I can't really see how Neale's and Hill's situations were too different, we were pretty well compensated for both - if anything, slightly more for Hill IMO. His front-loading does sting a bit, but Neale was being underpaid for his talent/output.

The only one who really 'helped' was Weller, but that's because he might be hella good looking, but he's obviously none-too-bright announcing that he would be at Gold Coast the following year. Pick 2 - that's laughable and still one of those things that never gets old.

Those who have waited till the end of their contract and then left have put us in poor negotiating situations, and our compensations gave been nada or next to nothing - I'm looking at you Chris Tarrant, Josh Carr and Ed Langdon.

I don't know what's better - honouring a contract, or leaving early putting the 'old' club in a better negotiating position. IMO Neale = Hill, and Weller = plain stupid.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Back