gerry atric wrote:
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The kid is 19, Setanta was 21 or 22 - you can't use that as an argument
Clem, Russell turns 20 in a couple of weeks and Setanta was 20 when he travelled half a world away to play a game he'd never played before. So pretty valid to compare So'Hs strength of character with Russell's. Also as WBY and others point out, he hasn't been sent to Mars to play footy. It's an hour away. And he didn't have a gun at his head when he put himself in the draft and signed a contract. He is probably on 110k + and has played a handful of games, if you put your hand up to take the dough then you agree to the National competition. I went to live interstate when I was 20 and I didn't have a footy club holding my hand... and it was great. Footy is a really tough emotional game. It is why they get paid so much. If you don't want what goes with the cash you don't have to play
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Some of you would probably not have the courage to cop the sh*t that some of the players have.
If you are saying some of us don't have the courage required to be an AFL footballer then in my case you are right, I don't, nor the talent and I earn half or less than half of what Russell gets and he will earn more in the next 8 years than I will in my entire working life. It is a tough game, people yell at you, emotional supporters get angry with you. That's why you get paid miles more than other 20 year old kids.
Also Russell would do well to remind his manager that he respects the fact that Carlton took him at #9 and insist on a trade rather than the PSD. I would much rather Russell confront the deficiencies in his game (eye on the ball) and decide to become a great Carlton player. If he turns his back on us, I reserve the right to be angry about it because the passion of supporters is what pays the wages. He is probably the 300th best footballer in Australia, if he was a cricketer he would be paying to play and if he was in any other sport he would have to travel a lot further than to Melbourne. Character is all about dealing with adversity. We need ability, but we need truckloads of character. And we have never needed it more than now when every defection is another nail in our coffin.
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f***** losers and w*****s
and Jordan will probably hear these terms and worse from Mark Williams often
Can't help but agree, GA. Williams is not averse to using some interesting terminology - even to sponsers.
The more the Jordan Russell thing goes on, the more betrayed I feel by him. We have given him a chance to fulfill his lifelong dreams and plenty of opportunity to make a name for himself. What do we get? More knives than Caesar in the back.
I have stood up for Jordan - I felt that he had a future. I can certainly see some similarities to the early career of Simmo and hoped that Russell would go the same way when he got the confidence in himself.
I won't bother to stand up for him again. I want him gone. I reserve the right to treat him as I would a Hammill or a Campo, as he has let us down in much the same way. If he has a career like Hammill's I will feel he has reaped what he sowed.