News Rucci: Travis Boak may or may not renew contract at Port Adelaide (Part 2)

[The Smaller Warrior]

Welcome aboard Geoffa.

 

[Malibu#27]

I think they wanted it to be noticed.

Force Travis to play his hand quicker with such a public showing. We all know clubs speak to players during the season, it happens. Highly doubt that would have been Travis's first contact with Geelong.

Both clubs want the answer ASAP.

Absolutely spot on. either they were naive, or they wanted the football world to know Travis had been speaking to them, put him in an uncomfortable position hoping it made it uncomfortable to stay at Port given everyone would know he had looked elsewhere...

Rumour has it they boarded the plane wearing the following travel garments:

 

[Geoffa32]

Welcome aboard Geoffa.

Cheers mate!

Lets see how long it lasts lol.

 

[Geoffa32]

Absolutely spot on. either they were naive, or they wanted the football world to know Travis had been speaking to them, put him in an uncomfortable position hoping it made it uncomfortable to stay at Port given everyone would know he had looked elsewhere...

Rumour has it they boarded the plane wearing the following travel garments:

If Chris came on his own it could be dismissed as just being his brother Brad.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

I did say. A passenger boarding the plan. As told on the AA sports show as it was happening. I guess that was missed as no one here listens to AA. It does not need to be anyone of note.

There is an element of society who would jump at the chance to alert a reporter of such a thing. Much like taking photos of players in their private lives and posting them on a public forum.

Ok fair enough, my bad for not reading that post more closely.

If that's the case kudos to Tom Rehn for his Hutchy-like ferretting out of the Geelong contingent.

 

[Geoffa32]

Welcome aboard Geoffa.

Cheers mate!

Lets see how long it lasts lol.

 

[Heafy83]

I think we all accept that opposition clubs will talk to our best players when their contracts come up for renewal. What is unacceptable is opposition clubs blatantly and openly talking to our players in season. It's disrespectful, arrogant and inflammatory for all involved. It really shouldn't matter that we're now entering the realm of free agency as Boak is not a free agent. What gives Geelong the right to brazenly send a delegation full of their most recognisable faces to Adelaide to meet with Boak during the season? Are they so stupid as to think no one will notice Scott, Selwood and Bartel boarding a plane to Adelaide?? Would Geelong be so bold (i.e. ******* rude) with Collingwood???

Did Primus, Cassisi and Boak fly to West Coast during the season to speak with Brad Ebert? Did Clarkson, Mitchell and Hodge fly into Adelaide to speak with Shaun Burgoyne? No. I don't give a **** that Ablett was spotted on the Gold Coast - I didn't see any stories about Gold Coast officials flying into Geelong to meet with him.

I have no doubt in my mind that Geelong have a sense of entitlement given their recent successes and because of Port's recent troubles, Geelong felt they could just stroll in for their unsolicited eleventh hour pitch to Boak. It absolutely doesn't excuse their behaviour. It's not the norm, will not be the norm and just because Boak has previously met with Geelong, it does not give them free reign to publicly meet with him whenever they want to. Rohde may be a weak football manager, but his initial response was taken out of context and has now been clarified.

They did not break any rules and this was backed up by the AFL.

Port did not fly into Perth because Ebert had stated he wanted to come home and play for Port so they didn't need to send anyone to convince him.

Burgoyne was spotted talking to several clubs in Vic after he was ruled out of the rest of the season with his knee injury. He never disguised it. He made it quite obvious he was going.

The only reason Geelong flew in is because it was a last ditch plea. It is obvious they found out Boak had made a decision to stay at Port and wanted to give it one last crack.

How is it any different to Boak going home to chat to his family and obviously also have a chat to the cats?

It is obvious Boak showed them some interest otherwise they wouldn't have bothered.

Boak/Geelong have every right to discuss his options. He is coming out of contract at the end of the year and can do basically what he wants. It has not effected his performance on field and he still seems dedicated to the team.

Regardless of free agency this is how business is going to be done now. Clubs have no moral code to live by and more so than ever now it is a dog eat dog world. Geelong is only looking out for Geelong and Port is looking after Port.

More heat needs to be put on Boak to either shit or get off the pot and if he has decided to stay and has signed a contract make it public ASAP as dragging it out only hurts the club more.

 

[Geoffa32]

Ok fair enough, my bad for not reading that post more closely.

If that's the case kudos to Tom Rehn for his Hutchy-like ferretting out of the Geelong contingent.

At least one journo in town is doing some actual journalistic/researching work. Not relying on club press releases and opionons to write an article.

Would love to have seen Rooch's face at that moment this was made public and Tom Rehn had the scoop.


FTR, I think what Geelong did was pretty poor. Whether it be a last ditch effort to entice him, or a public show to force the issue it was poor and amateurish.

 

[bomberclifford]

My ignore list is making this thread very surreal.
Someone PM me when the Trolls leave.

 

[Spadge]

is it just me or does anyone else get feel that Geoffa is always trolling, even when he probably isnt

 

[Forzaport]

They did not break any rules and this was backed up by the AFL.

Port did not fly into Perth because Ebert had stated he wanted to come home and play for Port so they didn't need to send anyone to convince him.

Burgoyne was spotted talking to several clubs in Vic after he was ruled out of the rest of the season with his knee injury. He never disguised it. He made it quite obvious he was going.

The only reason Geelong flew in is because it was a last ditch plea. It is obvious they found out Boak had made a decision to stay at Port and wanted to give it one last crack.

So we are clear then that clubs don't send delegations (that are easily identifiable) to speak with players from other clubs in season and that what Geelong did was unique.

How is it any different to Boak going home to chat to his family and obviously also have a chat to the cats?

It's the public vs private issue as well as the solicited vs unsolicited meetings.

It is obvious Boak showed them some interest otherwise they wouldn't have bothered.

No doubt there was clearly some fishing from Boak or his family or his manager or all 3. No one has any issue with this.

Boak/Geelong have every right to discuss his options. He is coming out of contract at the end of the year and can do basically what he wants. It has not effected his performance on field and he still seems dedicated to the team.

Regardless of free agency this is how business is going to be done now. Clubs have no moral code to live by and more so than ever now it is a dog eat dog world. Geelong is only looking out for Geelong and Port is looking after Port.

Yeah, integrity is deteriorating but it is still possible to target opposition players using a subtle approach.

More heat needs to be put on Boak to either shit or get off the pot and if he has decided to stay and has signed a contract make it public ASAP as dragging it out only hurts the club more.

The whole situation has turned into a farce although I'm not sure how much blame can be levelled at Boak. That said, there's enough heat on him as it is.

Geelong has clearly had a game plan which went awry resulting in their Hail Mary final play. Even still, it was massively disrespectful and has only served to lower the standards and integrity to which clubs operate.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Just for info (maybe comment later) Neil Balme is morphing Geelong's interpretation of Port knowing they were coming over to talk to Boak on Sunday.

link

But Balme said Scott's comments didn't imply that the Cats had directly contacted Port to outline the exact details of Sunday's meeting in Adelaide, which involved Scott, captain Joel Selwood, vice-captain Jimmy Bartel and the out-of-contract Boak.
"As if we would ring them to say we are coming over," Balme told the Geelong Advertiser last night. "Port was aware that we were talking to him (Boak) per se, but not the exact details and that was never implied.

link

Scott's comments were exactly what that implied.

link

Scott said Geelong had formally informed Port Adelaide of their visit, explaining that general manager of football operations, Neil Balme, had contacted his Port counterpart, Peter Rohde, about the Cats' plans.
"We've been really open with Port Adelaide," Scott said. "They know full well that we're speaking to him. It wasn't a clandestine mission.
"We certainly didn't advertise it. We'd prefer that no one knew about it. We didn't want to publicise the fact, but it was no secret."

link

 

[Forzaport]

Primus has given his 2 cents

Link

Primus green lights chase

DESPITE the club's fiery response to Geelong's 'enemy territory' meeting with midfielder Travis Boak, Port Adelaide coach Matthew Primus says he had no fundamental problems with it.

While Primus said Cats coach Chris Scott and star players Joel Selwood and Jimmy Bartel could have shown more discretion in their approach to the meeting, he conceded it was simply a sign of things to come.

The Power reacted angrily to last Sunday's meeting, with chief executive Keith Thomas claiming in a statement that if the roles were reversed Geelong "would feel more than a little disrespected".

But Primus said players, clubs, administrators and supporters alike would need to become accustomed to soon-to-be out-of-contract players dealing with rival clubs.

"It goes on, every club is talking to players and all those sorts of things," Primus said.

"The way it was done and the way they came into town…could have been a bit more discreet.

Link

 

[Forzaport]

Thread has been re-opened, please post in accordance with the Port board rules and guidelines.

According to _Me_ on the Geelong board, Rohde is in Melbourne nutting out the finer details of a contract extension with Boak's manager.

 

[Forzaport]

Which begs the question, what does Cripps actually do as list manager?

 

[sog35]

Once the negotiations are completed he punches out the contracts. Two handed of course.

 

[Portmanteau]

Cripps is all tied up with the Bloods, obvs.

 

[Malibu#27]

Which begs the question, what does Cripps actually do as list manager?

Perhaps take a look at the 'free agent thread' I suspect this is where he's spending his time. He certainly wouldn't be doing contracts.

 

[BornPort]

Which begs the question, what does Cripps actually do as list manager?

This is why our club is going down hill. Because a guy who was a terrible assistant coach isn't fired he's given a different job. Why does no one have the balls to get rid of failures at the club?

Not sure it's the list manager's job to do contracts though?

 

[Malibu#27]

Article in Age today with Sydney and West Coast coming out in support of Port and criticising Geelong.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/call-for-open-season-on-cats-20120718-22an7.html

While Ireland and Nisbett both conceded every club approached players mid-season from time to time, Ireland added: ''You would hope that it could be done more discreetly.''

....


Added Nisbett: ''If that's the way they [Geelong] want to play it then that is the way we will play it where a club does that to us. If I was Port I certainly wouldn't be dealing with Geelong where Travis Boak is concerned.
''The guy has a contract and their [Port Adelaide's] season is not over. It's just wrong.''

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/call-for-open-season-on-cats-20120718-22an7.html


What I took out of this is West Coast are probably of the opinion our dealing with Ebert was above board, otherwise I would have expected a response saying whats good for the goose is good for the gander etc.

I'd also suggest Nisbett is firing a warning shot at Geelong, given rumours they intend to poach a West Coast player as well.

 

[Malibu#27]

This is why our club is going down hill. Because a guy who was a terrible assistant coach isn't fired he's given a different job. Why does no one have the balls to get rid of failures at the club?

Not sure it's the list manager's job to do contracts though?

Without defending Cripps cause I have no idea how he operates (and it appears he's a prick of a coach), in general, what does his coaching ability have to do with his ability to fill a list mangers role.

Whats Stephen Wells (Geelong List Manager) coaching record like ?
Gubby Allen ?

I would think there would be a different skill set required for the jobs. I'm not saying Cripps has what it takes, but I don't know how we can judge based on the evidence to date. all we know is Port behind the scene has been very active selling itself as a location for free agents .... Cripps is heavily involved in this.

 

[Forzaport]

Perhaps take a look at the 'free agent thread' I suspect this is where he's spending his time. He certainly wouldn't be doing contracts.

Ah, I see. I don't know, I just figured the list manager would be doing much of the liasing with player managers and have a hand in the contract side of things as well.

I suppose scouting opposition clubs would be a big part of the role as well.

 

[Malibu#27]

Ah, I see. I don't know, I just figured the list manager would be doing much of the liasing with player managers and have a hand in the contract side of things as well.

I suppose scouting opposition clubs would be a big part of the role as well.

I really don't know, but it appears more likely Rhode would be doing contracts (similar to Phil Harper), with Cripps performing a similar role to David Noble.

 

[Natman]

Without defending Cripps cause I have no idea how he operates (and it appears he's a prick of a coach), in general, what does his coaching ability have to do with his ability to fill a list mangers role.

Whats Stephen Wells (Geelong List Manager) coaching record like ?
Gubby Allen ?

I would think there would be a different skill set required for the jobs. I'm not saying Cripps has what it takes, but I don't know how we can judge based on the evidence to date. all we know is Port behind the scene has been very active selling itself as a location for free agents .... Cripps is heavily involved in this.

Because this is the Port board and we exist to criticise everything, even though in most cases we know SFA about the topic.

 

[Honeyboy Wilson]

Hahaha _Me_ knows absolutely nothing, so there's no point even talking about something he has said.