Crumden
Premiership Player
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2002
- Posts
- 4,070
- Reaction score
- 9
- Location
- Canberra
- AFL Club
- Richmond
- Other Teams
- Richmond
Fev's form leaves red faces
Jake Niall
August 17, 2006
Chris Judd quietly made it known to the Eagles last year that he wanted Brendan Fevola at Subiaco. The Eagles, whose coach was familiar with the callow young Fev from his days as a Carlton assistant coach, unsurprisingly did not pursue the bloke who was viewed as an incorrigible ratbag.
The Hawks discussed the possibility of getting Fevola — they have been without a forward line since Nathan Thompson left — but did not get to first base. Now they are belatedly in the hunt for a seasoned player, and none of Fev's calibre and vintage (Akermanis is rising 30) is likely to be on the block.
The Bulldogs, who cannot rely on Brad Johnson to carry their vertically challenged forward line forever, contacted Fevola's management, but were not one of his favoured destinations, while Collingwood — despite the obvious affinity it would have enjoyed, via The Footy Show — was understandably more focused on reconstructing its creaking midfield.
Geelong did not put its hand up, having spent big on Brad Ottens 12 months earlier. St Kilda, which contemplated it, had only pick 15 and could not have accommodated Fevola's contentious $450,000-a-year contract under the salary cap.Only one club, Richmond, seriously entertained and pursued Fevola.
The Tigers, with the best man from Fevola's wedding, Chris Newman, reassuring them that Brendan was capable of cleaning up his erratic act, grasped that Fevola represented a rare chance to purloin a key forward at relatively low cost.
If Terry Wallace and Greg Miller went to second base by sitting down with Fevola and crunching some numbers, financial constraints soon intruded. Fevola was keen on Richmond, the Tigers were similarly besotted, but that hefty contract that had been the subject of such scorn and disbelief proved insurmountable.
Richmond's obstacle was budgetary — the club was trying to climb out of debt and fiscal responsibility was paramount — rather than the salary cap, even though Fev was willing to consider a reduced contract. Carlton was in far worse financial shape than Richmond and was still sorting out the futures of uncontracted players Lance Whitnall, Matthew Lappin and Scott Camporeale.
The Tigers said they could not deal unless a crippled Carlton came to the party and paid part of Fevola's contract. This was never going to happen. When Camporeale sought asylum at Windy Hill, some of the financial pressure on the Blues eased.
Eventually, with Richmond scuttled and no other suitors on the scene, Fevola came back to the fold. Some members of the Carlton board wanted him gone, others, such as marketing-conscious chief executive Michael Malouf, wished to keep the problem child and attempt a rehabilitation.
Ultimately, in a frank conversation with Denis Pagan, Fevola vowed to mend both bridges and his ways.
Now, as Fev takes a firm grip on the Coleman Medal and is even spoken of as a captaincy candidate (admittedly, in a field well short of Cox Plate quality), the reluctance of clubs to go after Fevola must be considered a collective misjudgement. How often does a power forward come along via the draft? Ask Geelong.
Consider how West Coast would stack up with Cousins, Judd and Kerr kicking to Fevola? Or the new-found potency of the Hawks had Fevola been flanked by Buddy Franklin? Perhaps, thinking of a nightclub tandem, this is precisely what they feared.
What is most surprising about this almost uniform failure of clubs to have a crack at Fevola is that none properly investigated his medical situation. He was afflicted with a groin complaint throughout 2005, an injury remedied by end-of-season surgery.
It appears that the clubs put a line through the name based on an assessment of his mind, not body. Those reservations were predictable in the current environment of sponsorships, media intrusions and clean-living role models, but the conservative group thinking has been proven wrong.
While he can exasperate his coach and supporters with dummy spits and his stardom is yet to be proven sustainable, Fevola's defining trait is his ability to kick the ball between the two big sticks. Whatever else has changed, that is still the object of the game.
This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/08/16/1155407885858.html
If only CoggaRules could have donated a couple hundred grand of his multimillion fortune to the cause, Fev could have been kicking goals for us this season. Jake Niall
August 17, 2006
Chris Judd quietly made it known to the Eagles last year that he wanted Brendan Fevola at Subiaco. The Eagles, whose coach was familiar with the callow young Fev from his days as a Carlton assistant coach, unsurprisingly did not pursue the bloke who was viewed as an incorrigible ratbag.
The Hawks discussed the possibility of getting Fevola — they have been without a forward line since Nathan Thompson left — but did not get to first base. Now they are belatedly in the hunt for a seasoned player, and none of Fev's calibre and vintage (Akermanis is rising 30) is likely to be on the block.
The Bulldogs, who cannot rely on Brad Johnson to carry their vertically challenged forward line forever, contacted Fevola's management, but were not one of his favoured destinations, while Collingwood — despite the obvious affinity it would have enjoyed, via The Footy Show — was understandably more focused on reconstructing its creaking midfield.
Geelong did not put its hand up, having spent big on Brad Ottens 12 months earlier. St Kilda, which contemplated it, had only pick 15 and could not have accommodated Fevola's contentious $450,000-a-year contract under the salary cap.Only one club, Richmond, seriously entertained and pursued Fevola.
The Tigers, with the best man from Fevola's wedding, Chris Newman, reassuring them that Brendan was capable of cleaning up his erratic act, grasped that Fevola represented a rare chance to purloin a key forward at relatively low cost.
If Terry Wallace and Greg Miller went to second base by sitting down with Fevola and crunching some numbers, financial constraints soon intruded. Fevola was keen on Richmond, the Tigers were similarly besotted, but that hefty contract that had been the subject of such scorn and disbelief proved insurmountable.
Richmond's obstacle was budgetary — the club was trying to climb out of debt and fiscal responsibility was paramount — rather than the salary cap, even though Fev was willing to consider a reduced contract. Carlton was in far worse financial shape than Richmond and was still sorting out the futures of uncontracted players Lance Whitnall, Matthew Lappin and Scott Camporeale.
The Tigers said they could not deal unless a crippled Carlton came to the party and paid part of Fevola's contract. This was never going to happen. When Camporeale sought asylum at Windy Hill, some of the financial pressure on the Blues eased.
Eventually, with Richmond scuttled and no other suitors on the scene, Fevola came back to the fold. Some members of the Carlton board wanted him gone, others, such as marketing-conscious chief executive Michael Malouf, wished to keep the problem child and attempt a rehabilitation.
Ultimately, in a frank conversation with Denis Pagan, Fevola vowed to mend both bridges and his ways.
Now, as Fev takes a firm grip on the Coleman Medal and is even spoken of as a captaincy candidate (admittedly, in a field well short of Cox Plate quality), the reluctance of clubs to go after Fevola must be considered a collective misjudgement. How often does a power forward come along via the draft? Ask Geelong.
Consider how West Coast would stack up with Cousins, Judd and Kerr kicking to Fevola? Or the new-found potency of the Hawks had Fevola been flanked by Buddy Franklin? Perhaps, thinking of a nightclub tandem, this is precisely what they feared.
What is most surprising about this almost uniform failure of clubs to have a crack at Fevola is that none properly investigated his medical situation. He was afflicted with a groin complaint throughout 2005, an injury remedied by end-of-season surgery.
It appears that the clubs put a line through the name based on an assessment of his mind, not body. Those reservations were predictable in the current environment of sponsorships, media intrusions and clean-living role models, but the conservative group thinking has been proven wrong.
While he can exasperate his coach and supporters with dummy spits and his stardom is yet to be proven sustainable, Fevola's defining trait is his ability to kick the ball between the two big sticks. Whatever else has changed, that is still the object of the game.
This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/08/16/1155407885858.html
![C4[2]Yo`DooR](https://www.bigfootycontent.com/avatars/m/21/21849.jpg?1742370429){kind=avatar}
