The Future of the Birdman

[dplggr47]

well, there's only a maximum number of draft picks the crows can get, so if they can delist enough...taking into account that some rookies will be upgraded at year's end...then Burton might not need to be delisted.

keep him...offer him 1 year...plus, if next year is his last, then at least give him a proper farewell game. he is a legend at the club, so i think it's the least he deserves...than to go out on a knee reco.

 

[Campbell's Chunky]

I think he will be delisted.

But obviously the Crows would keep him around the club and fully support the rest of his rehabilitation.

 

[Mismatched]

Whilst Brett is a great athlete and aerobically probably one of the best in the AFL, he has had more than his fair share of injuries, so much so that this year was his first full preseason in about 5-6 years.

He also relies on his athleticism and ability to run and jump a lot, think how this latest injury will affect his ability to play AFL.

Sad as it is, this will be the end of Brett. The club has forecasted another case of axe-wielding at the end of the season, I don't see how they could say wield the axe on an Edwards, Basset, Goodwin or Mcleod, when they'll keep a similarly aged player who won't play for a year and who couldn't be rated as a serious chance of playing the year after that anyway.

We lived through Hentschel's injuries as he was still young and will still have 4-5+ years, depending on how well he recovers left. Biglands probably had 2 years left of footy, but he did his knee again. Burton, pre injury would have been lucky to last into the 2010 season, now he probably won't play again until 2010. Just not going to happen.

It is such a sad case to be discussing as he was in the best form of his career and had become a crucial cog of our team, in reality though, I can't see how we can justify keeping him.

 

[Mismatched]

well, there's only a maximum number of draft picks the crows can get, so if they can delist enough...taking into account that some rookies will be upgraded at year's end...then Burton might not need to be delisted.

keep him...offer him 1 year...plus, if next year is his last, then at least give him a proper farewell game. he is a legend at the club, so i think it's the least he deserves...than to go out on a knee reco.

Not sure that this is quite true, if it is, we'd have to delist possibly 15-20 players at least to do so, problem is, is that we don't have enough prospects for delistment to do anywhere near this, or the probable 6 or 7 that we will want. We've gotten rid of a lot of dead wood over the past 3-4 years and the type of delistments that were a mere formality have taken place.

 

[Gets!]

I think a one year contract will be perfect for Brett and the club.

If he recovers well and shows some promising signs in his comeback games, then he can push for another contract extension of one year, and will no doubt be valuable to the club. I mean come on, he is fit as.

If he doesn't recover well or suffers a similar injury etc etc, we haven't lost much as it is only a one year contract and then even Brett may agree his time as an AFL footballer is coming to a close.

 

[Cap]

The good news is for Brett that he will be back this time next year, so you would assume after a few SANFL games if he shows good signs he will be recalled.

Any later and I would be worried for him if we are doing to well, however if we are doing poorly again I reckon he will go another year because there is surely now way known that Basset. McLeod and Goodwin would be going in 2010

 

[SydCrow]

Does anyone think that the fate of Hentschel & the Birdman might be linked?

Hentschel has now missed almost 2 years of footy. He's returned via the SANFL and done well enough there, however he keeps getting soft tissue injuries whenever a return to the AFL appears likely. It's almost certain that he'll be offered a 12-month contract, giving him 2009 to prove that he still has what it takes to be an AFL footballer. However, he does remain a significant risk - I've seen just as many reports here suggesting that his movement is poor as I have raving about his good form.

Burton will also sit out 2009 with injury (assuming he is retained). Can we afford to have one player who is "high risk" and another who is MIA completely? I know we carried Biglands & Hentschel on our list this year, but Biglands 2nd ACL injury didn't occur until late in the pre-season.

Also worth considering the contractual implications of Burton's injury. The Crows don't give players aged 30+ multi-year contracts. We know this. However, it is pointless to offer Burton a 1-year contract for 2009 because we already know he's going to miss the entire season. I guess they could give him a 1-year contract, assessing his recovery at the end of 2009, but really, what's the point? For the club to see any return from Burton they'd have to give him a 2-year contract. What are the odds on this happening?

Don't forget that Hentshel was a double recon and one of the worst ever. It's amazing that he is playing at all. There are lots of other players who have got over a recon (Hudson, Malceski!!) Admitedly, Burton is at the older end of the scale. He is also a forward and it seems to be more difficult for forwards to fully recover mobility.

Is there a maximum number of draft picks we can take or is it simply a matter of how many we delist (so the total on the list is 40 plus rookies)? Are we better off keeping the Birdman rather than taking say, pick, 80 with our last pick?

 

[RealSlimShady]

Brett Burton is coming out of contract soon, he'll be 31 when/if his knee is right to start playing again and soon the Gold Coast team will start monopolising the draft. So, do we honour a fallen hero with a contract extension or politely show him the door to make way for the new breed?

I am fairly confident that we have seen the last of Burton in a crows gurnsey, been a great player for the club and I hope he gets a season or two out of his body in the SANFL or maybe go up and play with Roo in the Riverland

 

[jackster83]

I think Burton's future will be decided by how well Jericho plays in his absence, given that those 2 are the only medium sized forwards on our list. If LJ can kick 15+ goals in the remainder of the season, then Bird is gone.

 

[Eastern Crow]

heart sats keep him, however head says that we must delist him

IMO it is too much of a risk to have both Bitdman and Hentchel on the list due to the seriousness of their injuries

lets be practical, if we retained Birdman, we could not expect his best football until season 2010, by then he would be 32 and by then hopefully Walker, Tippett and Jacky would have developed further

 

[Gets!]

I can just see us delisting him and the Bulldogs take him or something in the PSD.

He plays all year and kicks 45 goals.

Would break my heart.

 

[Eastern Crow]

I can just see us delisting him and the Bulldogs take him or something in the PSD.

He plays all year and kicks 45 goals.

Would break my heart.

I can't see another club picking him up in the PSD, he will not be available for a return until this time next year

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

I think a one year contract will be perfect for Brett and the club.

I see it completely differently to this.

IMO the club has two choices:
1) Delist him
2) Give him a 2 year contract

There is no point giving him a one year deal. Half pregnant. If we are going to keep him on our list it is because of what he will/may produce for us in 2010. 2009 is irrelevant.

A one year deal would waste a spot on the list, soak up dollars and basically be a 12 month long wait-and-see approach to decide whether we are going to give him a contract in 2010 or not. If we are going to do that we may as well delist him at season's end, let him play/recover with the Eagles next season, then re-draft him at the end of 2009. No other clubs is going to poach him, just like no other club drafted Gehrig this year.

With a two year deal - because we are being 'generous' with our time allocation given that all other 30+ players only get one year deals - we will be able to pay him less.

 

[coast2coast]

as callous as it seems, i personally think he'll be delisted.

but it could an option be to re-rookie petrenko or moss and then automatically upgrade them to the main list at the start of next year, allowing bird to stay on the list as a long-term injury.

 

[Mismatched]

I see it completely differently to this.

IMO the club has two choices:
1) Delist him
2) Give him a 2 year contract

There is no point giving him a one year deal. Half pregnant. If we are going to keep him on our list it is because of what he will/may produce for us in 2010. 2009 is irrelevant.

A one year deal would waste a spot on the list, soak up dollars and basically be a 12 month long wait-and-see approach to decide whether we are going to give him a contract in 2010 or not. If we are going to do that we may as well delist him at season's end, let him play/recover with the Eagles next season, then re-draft him at the end of 2009. No other clubs is going to poach him, just like no other club drafted Gehrig this year.

With a two year deal - because we are being 'generous' with our time allocation given that all other 30+ players only get one year deals - we will be able to pay him less.

Did think of that and it might even be the way to go, there's no reason why he can't complete his rehab at the Crows next year and I'm sure no matter the decision he probably will. Odds are he won't contribute next year and if his form warrants it or we need him, then we can probably pick him up PSD no worries for 2010. Sadly for Brett he loses some money, but maybe we can employ him like we've done with some others post career.

 

[dplggr47]

as callous as it seems, i personally think he'll be delisted.
but it could an option be to re-rookie petrenko or moss and then automatically upgrade them to the main list at the start of next year, allowing bird to stay on the list as a long-term injury.

Birdman's on this year's long term injury list. Petrenko will be AFL ready by next year, and whether he is upgraded this year will depend on the club. but both are currently still rookies. no one has been upgraded, and no one will be upgraded unless the club are planning to debut them this year.

may as well delist him at season's end, let him play/recover with the Eagles next season, then re-draft him at the end of 2009. No other clubs is going to poach him, just like no other club drafted Gehrig this year.

there's always a risk that some other desperate club might pick him up... also, if we keep him for next year; he may be good enough to be useful after he recovers from the knee. also, aren't 1-year deals offered to those over 30 years of age.

 

[relapse]

I would expect it to be a year to year proposition

Lets be honest we wont see him until 2010 and even then history shows that it then takes about 12 months of playing footy before the player usually reaches anything close to their best footy again.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

there's always a risk that some other desperate club might pick him up... also, if we keep him for next year; he may be good enough to be useful after he recovers from the knee. also, aren't 1-year deals offered to those over 30 years of age.

They are, but we made that rule up ourselves. So we can choose when and when not to enforce it.

 

[coast2coast]

Birdman's on this year's long term injury list. Petrenko will be AFL ready by next year, and whether he is upgraded this year will depend on the club. but both are currently still rookies. no one has been upgraded, and no one will be upgraded unless the club are planning to debut them this year..

yeah i know. but i was suggesting one could be kept on the rookie list and then upgraded in place of burton if he were to be given a one-year contract extension next year. not sure if this is within the rules, but it would effectively give us a way to carry bird next year while keeping free the spot he would have taken up on our main list (that's assuming that either petrenko or moss were going to be upgraded anyway)

 

[Snagboy]

G'day Fellas,

Good Luck to the Birdman, love watching him play.
He will come back & give you great value...

Cheers

 

[tribey]

Apologies if this has been brought up already, but did anyone else hear Trigg tonight?

Stated it was a "distinct possibility" that Birdman might be done, but having said that, the decision hasn't been made and for now they just want him to begin the long road back from surgery.

Given the tone of the interview and his responses to questioning I don't like his chances of receiving a new contract.

 

[Vader]

Is there a maximum number of draft picks we can take or is it simply a matter of how many we delist (so the total on the list is 40 plus rookies)? Are we better off keeping the Birdman rather than taking say, pick, 80 with our last pick?

well, there's only a maximum number of draft picks the crows can get, so if they can delist enough...taking into account that some rookies will be upgraded at year's end...then Burton might not need to be delisted.

The number of draft picks we can take is determined by the number of players we retire/delist/upgrade to veteran list/upgrade from rookie list. If the club really wanted to clean out completely, they could (theoretically) have 38 selections in the National Draft and 6 selections in the Rookie Draft.

The Birdman will most certainly NOT be the first player culled at the end of the year. That honour will probably go to Biglands. However, he's probably not THAT far down the list - maybe 5th or 6th.

The more I read of the arguments in this thread (which has some VERY well expressed points), the more likely I think it is that Burton will be a "former Crows player" in 2009.

 

[jenny61_99]

Apologies if this has been brought up already, but did anyone else hear Trigg tonight?

Stated it was a "distinct possibility" that Birdman might be done, but having said that, the decision hasn't been made and for now they just want him to begin the long road back from surgery.

Given the tone of the interview and his responses to questioning I don't like his chances of receiving a new contract.

I think we all know this is the most likely scenario in our heads..... but in our hearts are in some form of denial. I very much doubt Birdman will play for us again. I hope I am wrong.