Welsh quits the Crows

[Hondo]

as for Welsh....cry baby who wanted to come home cause he was homesick after winning a flag, now wants to go back to Melb?

In fairness it was a family bereavement (his brother) that was the catalyst to come home IIRC

Fair bit for a 21 year old to deal with away from home

[Dutchy]

an hours flight from home?

[sydney-dog]

Dutchy

Huddo would be the only player I would of had in my best 22 next year

Roo, his body could not carry him anymore
Perrie, the same
Bode, the same
Torney, the club needed to create some development scope for players like Gallman and Symes
Welsh, he would of been insurance policy only, the club is determined to play Tippett up fotrward next season

The real positive, all spots are open, if I was a young player on the crows list I would be busting my guts over pre-season to get the first look in

Agree, Griffen, Tippett, MacKay, Maric, Moran, Gallman, Moran, Symes and Douglas may not of been in the best 22 in 2007, however, with their development, their is no reason why they can't be in the club's best 22 for 2008 and years to come

Mate, the Kanga's and Collingwood made these decisions last year, opportunities can certainly fast track players

[Booney]

This is GOLD!

They bend over backwards to keep a bloke who was happy to leave,mind you,he didnt get picked for the second half of the year when the forward half was struggling (McGregor)and Roo was getting picked on reputation.Then they let their most productive forward of the last 4 or 5 years go without much of a fight.

John Reid,it's time to go.

Im lovin' this...

[zipzap]

Could this possibly help Chambers' cause re the Crows?

[Rik E Boy]

IMHO .. Short term loss, longer term gain for the Crows ... Hopefully works out as best it can for all parties concerned.

Just curious, what do you see as the long term gain? I assume you refer to 'bad eggs, moving on'?

No nothing like that mate, I just don't see Welsh being a part of the Crows next premiership assault so it will hopefully hasten the development of a player who might be a part of a successful era for them.

Ben Hart's son can become part of the next Crows premiership assualt. May you wait long. Last one out please turn off the light.

regards,

REB

[Rik E Boy]

This is GOLD!

They bend over backwards to keep a bloke who was happy to leave,mind you,he didnt get picked for the second half of the year when the forward half was struggling (McGregor)and Roo was getting picked on reputation.Then they let their most productive forward of the last 4 or 5 years go without much of a fight.

John Reid,it's time to go.

Im lovin' this...

Quite possibly the most accurate utterances by your good self on this site Mr Boon.

regards,

REB

[Psyber]

Could this possibly help Chambers' cause re the Crows?

NO!

This is GOLD!
They bend over backwards to keep a bloke who was happy to leave,mind you,he didnt get picked for the second half of the year when the forward half was struggling (McGregor)and Roo was getting picked on reputation.Then they let their most productive forward of the last 4 or 5 years go without much of a fight.
John Reid,it's time to go. Im lovin' this...

Booney, I know Portites always look for an opportunity to pick at the Crows as they know it will be a while before the Power get a second premiership, let alone back to back ones, but your grounds are a little thin. I agree with you about Roo, but the only reason McGregor is there is because no decent offers came up, and perhaps if he got serious he may be useful as a back up. Welsh was only productive when the midfield won hands down and gave it to him lace out - a bit like Modra in his later years and Scott what-his-name the Crows tried for a while from your mob - OK in front of a strong team at SANFL level, but....

I agree the Crows have tended to hang on to fading stars for too long, but will Tredders be the focal point for the Power again next year???

[Rik E Boy]

I don't remember Scotty Welsh kicking 11 goals against the Cats.

regards,

REB

[JK]

IMHO .. Short term loss, longer term gain for the Crows ... Hopefully works out as best it can for all parties concerned.

Just curious, what do you see as the long term gain? I assume you refer to 'bad eggs, moving on'?

No nothing like that mate, I just don't see Welsh being a part of the Crows next premiership assault so it will hopefully hasten the development of a player who might be a part of a successful era for them.

Ben Hart's son can become part of the next Crows premiership assualt. May you wait long. Last one out please turn off the light.

regards,

REB

LOL ... That would still be quicker than 44 years though right?

[Blue Boy]

GOLD CP !!!

[woodwt]

Give him time!
Be alright if neil Craig gave him a go!

Hey you should just be satisfied he's still on the list!

hes a better player than luke jerico!

[finn]

I am wondering though whether the crows seemingly hardfast rule of single year contracts (basically post 29) won't have the affect of scaring players down the track and making people coming towards that age feel nervous about their position. 30 is way too young to be on the footballing scrapheap; i believe that cases should be dealt with individually rather than having a very public stand on age. I agree that welsh was probably not going to be in the next crows premiership tilt but a second tier forward that kicks 49 with most being 5 in a game is hard to replace.

What we have seen recently is the transformation of football clubs into businesses with most players realising that loyalty is pretty much a thing of the past at afl level. The paradox is that clubs are trying harder than ever to instil a sense of loyalty into their fans.

going on in the transformation, what price that doughty and shirley play a fair few sanfl games in 08? i'd be thinking that they'd better have absolute stellar years to remain in the tricolours in 09.

[Sojourner]

The Crows do seem to be embarking on a large clean out of the club at the moment, I will say that I was surprised that Torney voted the clubs eight best player on the awards night was given the sack yet Doughty was kept on. Still no doubt the club thinks that Doughty has scope for improvement and maybe not so in Torneys case.

What it will be interesting to see is what type of players the Crows target in the draft. Goalkicking is letting them down big time, yet when they have their selections I am not so sure if they will be able to get those players easily.

If the Crows are re-building and looking long term, maybe there is a case for the drafting of Scott Luders into the club from Westies. His dad would run rings around many AFL goalkickers from set shots based on ability in todays modern game. If its genetic, Luders could well be a diamond in the rough in the draft.

[NO-MERCY]

Give Chambers a crack,even at 26yrs of age i believe he has something 2 offer,the crows are slowly running out of goalkickers,or options for that matter up fwd.McGregor will struggle & play more for the Eagles in 2008.He baited the crows & no-one showed interest in him,the same may apply 2 Walsh,i think he should of taken what was on offer,considering he's been an injury proned player for years now.How many goals has he kicked for curiousity in his 130 odd games for the tingles?This could well backfire on him & could find himself suiting up for the BLOODS.

[rogernumber10]

Someone wrote here in the last day or two that you get a 3-4 year crack to win a flag under the drafting system and if you don't win one, you need to prepare for the fact you won't be in contention again for 3-4 years until your next group of players come through.

Wise words. I can't and won't speak for the Crows, but it certainly sums up the Cats.
Cats had four cracks from 89-95, aside from a few other very good years we didn't even make the GF, and went 0-4.

We then weren't seriously in contention at all from 98-03.

Now, we've been back in contention since 05 (lost the heartbreaker), completely buggered 06 ourselves and won 07.
We've got 1-3 years hopefully to win a second before a group of guys at the top end of our list retire and fade.

It's just how it is.

[Hondo]

There's been rumblings all season about off-field behaviour problems within the club - that's what lead to the Huddo suspension

This is the same season where we dropped from 2 Prelim finals in a row to scraping into 8th spot

If some of the players didn't prepare themselves properly for games in 2007 and that in any way contributed to our very patchy form then as a supporter they have let me down.

So its good to see the club take a tough stance re behaviour since season's end - short term pain but longer term benefits should come

[Dutchy]

just what we need another Cat fan on here

[MatteeG]

Welsh often "iced" games, seldom "won" games IMO.

Remember seeing Sherwood TOWEL him one day at the bay a couple years back, and his second efforts were non-existent. Always looks good when delivered on a platter.

Still close to 50 goals in a season is not someone you can replace too easily.

And Rushby- you'd be happy with another mid size forward?

[Shirtfront]

Will miss his finishing. Won't replace him with a ready made goal kicker from our current squad. John Reid saying it gives Jericho a chance to shine up forward, has that bloke got any idea???? Jericho is a joke.

Welsh will kick plenty at another club if they grab him, Hudson will have a great year, Mattner will dominate off the wing for Sydney, Torney will win the Magery. So far so good.