More Dale Thomas News....

[Dave The Man]

Scum <snip - really Dave?> over him

[Dave The Man]

Yeah I agree with that. I like most actually have to fess up that I wouldn't mind hearing his ankle is stuffed. I'm kind of hoping it to be the case.

I'm more referring to a previous post which indicated Daisy looked buggered on the training track and wasn't moving well.

I don't take this to indicate that his ankle has flared up again. I just take this to mean he isn't well conditioned or fit at the moment. If his ankle was buggered, I doubt they would have him running laps which could only aggrevate it more.

As you say, the only true test will be whether he holds together in match conditions.

and Have same Injury that Matt Egan had for Geelong and never played again

[woftam]

Scum are <snip> over him

Let them.
He was our 4th or 5th best midfielder.
You don't pay your 4th or 5th best midfielder $650,000 a year.
Pendles, Swan, Beams are better & probably Sidebottom & Ball would have claims to being more valuable to us as well. The club made the right call not to match the ridiculous money offered to him by the scum.

[themonk]

Scum are<snip> over him

Let them.
He was our 4th or 5th best midfielder.
You don't pay your 4th or 5th best midfielder $650,000 a year.
Pendles, Swan, Beams are better & probably Sidebottom & Ball would have claims to being more valuable to us as well. The club made the right call not to match the ridiculous money offered to him by the scum.

Disagree, when fit only Pendles & Swan were better than Thomas.

Whether he can reproduce that form is the issue.

[collie dog]

Contrary to popular belief, bitter vindictiveness is not an entirely healthy trait.

Since when were most Collingwood fans certified with solid mental health?

[collie dog]

Amazing. Obviously some of you don't follow American sports or European soccer. Players come and go. Players are traded. There's even talk LeBron James will leave Miami Heat if they win their third NBA championship in a row. Get used to it people it's what real professional sports all over the world do.

You have to remember that most players in the AFL end up playing for a club they never barracked for as a kid. It's a paycheck. That's why people move from one company to the next in the business world. Only a fool stays at a company for less money out of sheer loyalty. That's the free market at work. And it can be win-win, because the clever clubs can use free agency to lever champions from other clubs to their own.

Anything else is restraint of trade imo. And in Europe it would land you in court. Literally. There they have no salary caps, no drafts and complete free agency.

That's true and I wont disagree with you.

The biggest gripe Shae had when he was down here, as far as I could see (I had to remove him from MyFace and Twitter in the end) is the fact sport is still a passionate thing here and people still loathe people who leave their club. Although he did say he loved the passion of the supporters.

He then started telling people to get used to the business side of it because that is what sport is in the end... business.

That I also agree with.

The business side of sport is only just starting to come into Australian sports now. Maybe the AFL is just a long way behind NRL, I don't know.

But it's going to take tie for the business aspect to be fully accepted. I'm 29 and it might be my generation or the next generation that accepts it, but it's not going to be an overnight thing.

I do agree that people need to get used it, but I also think those who constantly baffle on about it being a business need to be sympathetic to those who have been following a team for 20-30yrs longer than us who only know sport one way.

I just saw a brilliant documentary on ESPN about Sir Alex Ferguson - by far the most successful sporting coach in the history of the universe (and don't forget he won three Scottish championships with Aberdeen when Rangers and Celtic were in their prime, before being signed by Man U). You would be amazed the number of household names at Manchester United he turned over season by season in order to maintain a squad good enough to win all those championships and cups. In the end success is all that matters in a sporting club that claims to be the greatest, and you don't get success by holding onto players who will not help you win the next flag. Nathan Buckley is doing a superb job turning our list over and in the process I believe we will unearth a new generation of premiership players. But get used to trading and retiring players who are surplus to our needs. We have to stop with this pointless attachment to personalities. Dale Thomas and Heath Shaw included.

[Bucks5]

^ Except Dale Thomas was not surplus to our needs and this is the AFL, not overseas. Aussies value loyalty and standing by your mates, not people who chase the dollar and turncoats.

[woftam]

Scum <snip> over him

Let them.
He was our 4th or 5th best midfielder.
You don't pay your 4th or 5th best midfielder $650,000 a year.
Pendles, Swan, Beams are better & probably Sidebottom & Ball would have claims to being more valuable to us as well. The club made the right call not to match the ridiculous money offered to him by the scum.

Disagree, when fit only Pendles & Swan were better than Thomas.

Whether he can reproduce that form is the issue.

Thomas had what? One top 5 Copeland finish in his magpie career? Beams is a Copeland winner. Gets way more of it & disposes of it better. Ball, Beams & Sidey are more important to us than Daisy. I'm not saying Daisy isn't a good player. He is. He can also be the more spectacular than probably any of our mids. But it would have been irresponsible to match the scum offer in my opinion. I also believe young Elliott will be able to play a similar role for us & can also do the unpredictable flashy stuff. We got a first round draft pick for him & salary cap relief. Good result for us & him.

[skaman]

The more I think of it, the more I wanna punch Dale Thomas...grrrrr. Filthy piece of shite. not worthy of tieing Swannies bootlaces. May his ankles crumble in fear of a Marley crash tackle!!!

[Culprit]

For a bloke with a stuffed ankle he is moving pretty well. Good luck to him. It's a win win, he wanted out and we got a first round pick. The season hasn't started. Game time is the test.

[mudlark]

Amazing. Obviously some of you don't follow American sports or European soccer. Players come and go. Players are traded. There's even talk LeBron James will leave Miami Heat if they win their third NBA championship in a row. Get used to it people it's what real professional sports all over the world do.

You have to remember that most players in the AFL end up playing for a club they never barracked for as a kid. It's a paycheck. That's why people move from one company to the next in the business world. Only a fool stays at a company for less money out of sheer loyalty. That's the free market at work. And it can be win-win, because the clever clubs can use free agency to lever champions from other clubs to their own.

Anything else is restraint of trade imo. And in Europe it would land you in court. Literally. There they have no salary caps, no drafts and complete free agency.

That's true and I wont disagree with you.

The biggest gripe Shae had when he was down here, as far as I could see (I had to remove him from MyFace and Twitter in the end) is the fact sport is still a passionate thing here and people still loathe people who leave their club. Although he did say he loved the passion of the supporters.

He then started telling people to get used to the business side of it because that is what sport is in the end... business.

That I also agree with.

The business side of sport is only just starting to come into Australian sports now. Maybe the AFL is just a long way behind NRL, I don't know.

But it's going to take tie for the business aspect to be fully accepted. I'm 29 and it might be my generation or the next generation that accepts it, but it's not going to be an overnight thing.

I do agree that people need to get used it, but I also think those who constantly baffle on about it being a business need to be sympathetic to those who have been following a team for 20-30yrs longer than us who only know sport one way.

I just saw a brilliant documentary on ESPN about Sir Alex Ferguson - by far the most successful sporting coach in the history of the universe (and don't forget he won three Scottish championships with Aberdeen when Rangers and Celtic were in their prime, before being signed by Man U). You would be amazed the number of household names at Manchester United he turned over season by season in order to maintain a squad good enough to win all those championships and cups. In the end success is all that matters in a sporting club that claims to be the greatest, and you don't get success by holding onto players who will not help you win the next flag. Nathan Buckley is doing a superb job turning our list over and in the process I believe we will unearth a new generation of premiership players. But get used to trading and retiring players who are surplus to our needs. We have to stop with this pointless attachment to personalities. Dale Thomas and Heath Shaw included.

I can only totally agree with you sentiments here. A fantastic analogy in particular,the last line. They are gone,get over it,i don't wish either of them luck as they are now opposition players who,given their licence,could destroy us game day. I'm sure we have the knowledge and personnel to curb them on the day and this is all I will be seeing when they come up against the Pies.Them getting a flogging and not enjoying success.

[Harrysz]

I'm sure that when Chris Judd left West Coast there were plenty of WCE supporters who diminished Judd's value as a player. They were wrong of course. Although at Carlton he never quite reached the heights of his powers, there's no doubting that in his years at West Coast Chris Judd was a champion.
I'm not suggesting that Dale Thomas is in Judd's league but the same process is happening here.
Dale Thomas was a brilliant footballer for us. Have a look at his highlights reel. Check out his performances in the 2010 Finals series.
Since Thomas is now a Carlton player I do not wish him well.
However, I don't appreciate it when supporters try to change history.

[themonk]

Let them.
He was our 4th or 5th best midfielder.
You don't pay your 4th or 5th best midfielder $650,000 a year.
Pendles, Swan, Beams are better & probably Sidebottom & Ball would have claims to being more valuable to us as well. The club made the right call not to match the ridiculous money offered to him by the scum.

Disagree, when fit only Pendles & Swan were better than Thomas.

Whether he can reproduce that form is the issue.

Thomas had what? One top 5 Copeland finish in his magpie career? Beams is a Copeland winner. Gets way more of it & disposes of it better. Ball, Beams & Sidey are more important to us than Daisy. I'm not saying Daisy isn't a good player. He is. He can also be the more spectacular than probably any of our mids. But it would have been irresponsible to match the scum offer in my opinion. I also believe young Elliott will be able to play a similar role for us & can also do the unpredictable flashy stuff. We got a first round draft pick for him & salary cap relief. Good result for us & him.

If Thomas had not broken down we would have paid him $600-650k, it's as simple as that.

I believe we probably did offer a figure close to that amount but included a whole lot of clauses to protect ourselves from further injury which is smart business.

I'm convinced other clubs would have taken the same approach, all except one that is.

[the pie guy]

Can we just move on, I am sick of hearing from the scum, daisy and from our own supporters that are having trouble letting go.
I liked Daisy but he is now with the enemy, so be it. Why are we all wasting time re hashing this subject.
I don't wish him good luck, I will vent my anger at him and all who wear that jumper when we play them. I hope his career with them is dismal at best. Stuff Him.

[themonk]

Can we just move on, I am sick of hearing from the scum, daisy and from our own supporters that are having trouble letting go.
I liked Daisy but he is now with the enemy, so be it. Why are we all wasting time re hashing this subject.
I don't wish him good luck, I will vent my anger at him and all who wear that jumper when we play them. I hope his career with them is dismal at best. Stuff Him.

Players come and go however Dale Thomas was a favourite and exceptional Collingwood player that helped us win the 2010 flag, yes he is wounded and may never be the same player again but seeing him leave us at 26 and move to our biggest rivals is not something most fans can just sweep under the carpet.

We all will feel more than a sting when he kicks a goal against us and clinches his fist as he celebrates.

On the flip side, beating him to a premiership will ease the hurt.