I see the Tigers are going all out for Bushie.
Does anyone know more than this article suggests:
Money - apparently a $100 000 pay rise
Opportunity - would be a regular in any Tigers team.
Poor sod, fancy having to go to the Tigers rabble to find opportunity.
C'mon Lions - find a way to keep Bushie on the list.
(Memo to Akka - still happy with your cunning Sydney stunt and pay rise?)
Tigers/Bushie
Tigers eye Lions hero
By Greg Denham and Chip Le Grand
November 13, 2003
ROBERT COPELAND is the poster boy for the AFL's northern expansion, having once described himself as a Queensland ambassador for football.
Ironically, he might also be the only member of this year's Brisbane premiership team playing for a Melbourne club next season.
Copeland, the last Lion out of contract, is expected to decide his playing future this week after further discussions with Brisbane officials. But if a new contract cannot be agreed to, the man who blanketed Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley in this year's grand final already has a full-time midfield job and $100,000-a-season pay rise waiting for him at Richmond.
The Tigers, who have the fourth pick in next month's pre-season draft, yesterday confirmed Copeland would become their recruiting priority if available.
Copeland met Richmond football operations manager Greg Miller late last month in Melbourne. Miller said yesterday the club had room to accommodate both the 23-year-old dual premiership player and disgruntled utility Ray Hall under its salary cap.
"If he's available next month, we'd certainly consider drafting him," Miller said. "He'd be a great bonus.
"One of the attractions of us is that we would be able to provide him with the opportunity to play regularly in the midfield. With Robert, I believe it's more to do with opportunity than money."
Brisbane are expected to offer Copeland a three-year deal but according to a source close to negotiations, the Lions will not get "within a bull's roar" of the terms on offer from Richmond due to their own salary cap pressures.
Copeland was the feel-good story of the Lions' 2001 season. He started as a rookie-listed Lion in the QAFL and finished on the MCG dais with a premiership medal around his neck.
After the disappointment of being dropped from last year's grand final team, Copeland remodelled himself as a hard-running, defensive midfielder. His grand final performance on Buckley won praise from his coach Leigh Matthews.
He has played just 53 games for Brisbane but his experience growing up in the Hanson-belt town of Kilcoy and commuting 150km to train and play with QAFL club Southport on the Gold Coast is a celebrated part of Lions lore.
Known as "Bushie" by his team-mates, Copeland typifies his upbringing by fishing twice a week during the football season. To relax during grand final week, he took his rod and tin dingy out on the nearby Caboolture River.
Richmond, in the process of rebuilding after a dismal 2003 season, was the aggressor of trade week, launching a successful play for Nathan Brown and an unsuccessful tilt at Essendon's Dean Solomon.
The Tigers have three non-listed players with AFL experience training with their pre-Christmas squad and are expected to use a second pre-season draft pick to recruit de-listed Kangaroos premiership player Shannon Motlop.
The out-of-contract Hall, originally from Woy Woy, north of Sydney, has refused to resume pre-season training with the Tigers and has held discussions with Sydney officials about relocating. Although Miller is confident Hall will stay at Punt Road, he has made clear his preference to nominate for the pre-season draft.
The Australian
Does anyone know more than this article suggests:
Money - apparently a $100 000 pay rise
Opportunity - would be a regular in any Tigers team.
Poor sod, fancy having to go to the Tigers rabble to find opportunity.
C'mon Lions - find a way to keep Bushie on the list.
(Memo to Akka - still happy with your cunning Sydney stunt and pay rise?)
Tigers/Bushie
Tigers eye Lions hero
By Greg Denham and Chip Le Grand
November 13, 2003
ROBERT COPELAND is the poster boy for the AFL's northern expansion, having once described himself as a Queensland ambassador for football.
Ironically, he might also be the only member of this year's Brisbane premiership team playing for a Melbourne club next season.
Copeland, the last Lion out of contract, is expected to decide his playing future this week after further discussions with Brisbane officials. But if a new contract cannot be agreed to, the man who blanketed Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley in this year's grand final already has a full-time midfield job and $100,000-a-season pay rise waiting for him at Richmond.
The Tigers, who have the fourth pick in next month's pre-season draft, yesterday confirmed Copeland would become their recruiting priority if available.
Copeland met Richmond football operations manager Greg Miller late last month in Melbourne. Miller said yesterday the club had room to accommodate both the 23-year-old dual premiership player and disgruntled utility Ray Hall under its salary cap.
"If he's available next month, we'd certainly consider drafting him," Miller said. "He'd be a great bonus.
"One of the attractions of us is that we would be able to provide him with the opportunity to play regularly in the midfield. With Robert, I believe it's more to do with opportunity than money."
Brisbane are expected to offer Copeland a three-year deal but according to a source close to negotiations, the Lions will not get "within a bull's roar" of the terms on offer from Richmond due to their own salary cap pressures.
Copeland was the feel-good story of the Lions' 2001 season. He started as a rookie-listed Lion in the QAFL and finished on the MCG dais with a premiership medal around his neck.
After the disappointment of being dropped from last year's grand final team, Copeland remodelled himself as a hard-running, defensive midfielder. His grand final performance on Buckley won praise from his coach Leigh Matthews.
He has played just 53 games for Brisbane but his experience growing up in the Hanson-belt town of Kilcoy and commuting 150km to train and play with QAFL club Southport on the Gold Coast is a celebrated part of Lions lore.
Known as "Bushie" by his team-mates, Copeland typifies his upbringing by fishing twice a week during the football season. To relax during grand final week, he took his rod and tin dingy out on the nearby Caboolture River.
Richmond, in the process of rebuilding after a dismal 2003 season, was the aggressor of trade week, launching a successful play for Nathan Brown and an unsuccessful tilt at Essendon's Dean Solomon.
The Tigers have three non-listed players with AFL experience training with their pre-Christmas squad and are expected to use a second pre-season draft pick to recruit de-listed Kangaroos premiership player Shannon Motlop.
The out-of-contract Hall, originally from Woy Woy, north of Sydney, has refused to resume pre-season training with the Tigers and has held discussions with Sydney officials about relocating. Although Miller is confident Hall will stay at Punt Road, he has made clear his preference to nominate for the pre-season draft.
The Australian