Hands up all those who want to be in Tom Scully’s shoes right now? Any takers? If you’re keen, go for it and good luck. Just remember though, you’ve got one hell of a difficult decision to make in the coming months.
In just his second season with Melbourne, Scully is currently earning the AFL’s base wage of $77,700 per year, plus $4200 a game. According to the Herald Sun, if he is paid for the nine games he missed earlier in the season due to a knee injury, he will earn approximately $165,000 in 2011.
On Tuesday, Velocity Sports – Scully’s management group – confirmed to the Herald Sun the young Demon had officially been offered a contract from Greater Western Sydney. The offer is reportedly worth $5 million over five years – that’s a lazy one million bucks per season for all those playing at home.
That’s a pay rise of $835,000. Not bad.
Melbourne recently offered Scully a new contract too, but it’s ‘only’ worth $3 million over five years. Only.
This exciting midfielder now has a tough choice. Does he sacrifice $2 million and remain loyal to the club that faithfully selected him with the first pick of the 2009 NAB draft? Or does he venture into the biggest unknown perhaps in AFL history and chase the green stuff?
It’s somewhat of a luxurious conundrum. But one he’d probably rather not have.
Scully confirmed he won’t be making a decision until the end of the season. Therefore his future will continue to be hotly debated throughout the media, schoolyards and pubs for the remainder of 2011.
So what’s he going to do? What would you do if you were in his shoes?
Looking at Scully’s situation from a pure financial perspective, he’d be silly not to sign with GWS.
It’s estimated Gold Coast’s Gary Ablett and Carlton’s Chris Judd are currently the highest paid players in the competition. Both are believed to earn in excess of $1 million per season.
Third in line is Brisbane skipper Jonathan Brown, who is believed to earn exactly $1 million per season. Next come two more skippers in St Kilda’s Nick Riewoldt and Fremantle’s Matthew Pavlich, who earn close to $900,000.
Amazingly, if Scully went to GWS, he’d be mentioned in the same breath as those five stars. Not in terms of talent, but in wage.
He’d earn the same amount of money as Brown – a 29-year-old stalwart who’s won three premierships and kicked 498 goals from 209 games. Even more perplexing, he’d bank more dough than both Riewoldt and Pavlich, who between them have played 461 games, kicked 946 goals, won 10 Best and Fairest awards and earned 10 All-Australian selections.
Remember we’re talking about a 20-year-old kid, who, if he went to the Giants, would’ve played less than 40 games, earning $1 million.
At the moment, Scully is nowhere near the calibre of Ablett, Judd, Brown, Riewoldt and Pavlich. It’d take him at least four or five years to reach such a high standard.
Scully is still all potential. It’s all about what he could do, not what he’s done so far. He’s shown glimpses, but that’s all they’ve been – glimpses.
So to earn $1 million a year in just your third AFL season is unfathomable. It’s batting above your average. It’s Geelong skipper Cameron Ling dating Megan Fox.
Really, you’d be stupid not to take the money and run.
But while money does talk loudly, it isn’t everything.
If Scully left for New South Wales, he would carry an unbearable amount of pressure and expectation on his shoulders. At just 20, he’d be the marquee player of the club – a club that would be lucky to win one or two games in its first season.
Would he be able to handle such a title? Perhaps. But even the most experienced campaigners would struggle to cope with such hype.
But if Scully were to stay in Victoria, he could relax. He wouldn’t have to deal with such stress. He could rely on more experienced teammates to guide him through these next couple of seasons, before he’s big enough to take care of himself.
The midfielder would also be a strong chance to captain the Melbourne Football Club, one of the proudest and most prestigious sporting organisations in this nation. Everyone speaks so highly of Scully, in terms of his maturity and professionalism, so there’s no doubt he’d do supporters proud.
If he went to GWS, he wouldn’t be able to play on the MCG every second round. He wouldn’t experience the passion and emotion of supporters who’ve been supporting the footy club for decades. Most importantly, he wouldn’t be close to his family and friends.
Glad it’s his decision, not mine.
So now Melbourne waits. GWS waits. Scully waits.
We wait.
But when the time arrives for him to make a decision, it comes down to riches or loyalty.
If Scully chooses to accept the GWS mission, yes his pockets will be heavy but he’ll need 24 hour access to a psychologist from day one. If he declines the mission, yes his pockets will be lighter but he’ll have a magnificent opportunity to create a lasting legacy at the Demons.
All we can do now, though, is speculate.
Ben
Guest
I think Melbourne should take there large offer for Tom scully off the Table. I am a melbourne supporter and a huge fan of Tom scully but lets face it, who is gunna turn down 2 million extra dollars and the chance to play under kevin sheedy and be part of AFL history.. I think melbourne would be far better accepting there fate, and making sure they use there compensation really well. they could easily get players just as talented and lets face it, he is just a talented kid at this stage. with that money they could chase a top tier midfielder or forward to help them take the next step into a premiership contender. Id love to see them make a play for brendan goddard.. 1 mil a year for three years and the captancy. and if Tom scully is really gunna be loyal to the club that has already shown faith in him, he will reject the money and accept a much lesser contract at Melbourne, but i doubt he would.
Jaceman
Guest
GR Yes the GWS push is about TV and access to more advertising $$$%. What I should have said was that a major plank in their armoury for getting a foothold in GWS is expanding the game to other nationalities because many of them arent suited to playing NRL...
amazonfan
Roar Guru
Is that a hunch, or are you basing it on something solid? :D
amazonfan
Roar Guru
I like that a lot. :D
oracle
Guest
Tom Scully will be staying at Melbourne
Seano
Guest
If I was scully I would ask for a 6th year on the demons contract worth a million for that year, that way both him and Melbourne win! -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Martin M.
Guest
When done, Ben. Great to read an unbiased and balanced take on Scully.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
On this general point of finding new sources of players, a few points: 1. GWS recently signed three international scholarship rookies, from Nauru, PNG and NZ 2. For the second year running, a World XVIII and a Sth Pacific team has competed in the national U16 champsionships. Both opened with wins, and today Queensland defeated the World team by 3 goals, and NSW/ACT defeated the Sth Pacific by 21pts 3. The fourth IC will be on next month, and it looks likely to be the biggest and the best. We are expecting that the current title holders, PNG have improved further. On top of that, Richmond has given permission to one of their Irish recruits to represent Ireland, and another, Conor Meredith, who has previously been on North's list and currently plays for Werribee will also represent Ireland. These are just some early signs of what might one day be possible witih the IC - a tournamemnt where prospective AFL players will actually feature.
GrecoRoman
Roar Guru
"The whole push into GWS is about expanding the nationalities that play AFL." I thought it was to get a better TV deal?
GrecoRoman
Guest
"On the whole, Sydney’s west is full of hard working, pleasant people who just want the best out of life." QFT!
GrecoRoman
Guest
Inner bloody West for crying out loud. Prima donnas. Looks like they are making a run for what there is of the West's 'chardonnay' set.
Jaceman
Guest
Malthouse has not split the atom here. The whole push into GWS is about expanding the nationalities that play AFL. BTW there was a Vietnamese kid on the Crows list some years ago and plenty of other nationalities play at lower levels but the mass of ON players hasnt quite seen many reach the AFL as yet...
Jaceman
Guest
Underdeveloped body, bad knee but good player. Sheedy, Allen and Williams arent dummies -is the $1m a year correct or just press talk and is he the loss leader to attract others...Has the offer come because the u18 champs are finiahed and they know pretty much who they will get in the draft....
Mark Young
Roar Guru
Hi Phil Clearly you rarely stray west of Castle Hill or else you wouldn't make such an absurd comment. The West of Sydney has some dodgy areas, but so do most parts of Sydney. Even the lovely Northern Beaches has some scary streets around Dee Why for instance. On the whole, Sydney's west is full of hard working, pleasant people who just want the best out of life.
TW
Guest
The search for talent by GWS will continue well into the future. Scully is just one of the pieces in their chess set. I repeat 18 clubs (18 x 43?) has stretched the talent pool some what. Future AFL talent like Scully will and can come from anywhere in the future. Mick Malthouse covers this future search in this article - Glad to see the wily coach on the same page as the enlightened AFL supporters in the community. Link-- http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/we-need-to-extend-boundaries-for-talent/story-e6frg7t6-1226085924444
GrecoRoman
Guest
True enough. However, if the GWS entity is serious about building something of substance here in the west, it wouldn't be a good look if all their players were loathe to be a part of the community they purport to represent.
Phil
Guest
GrecoRoman Blacktown a great area? Give me a break anything west of Castle Hill should be nuked! -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Matt F
Guest
playing out West doesn't stop a fair few NRL players from living in the east or down the Shire way
GrecoRoman
Guest
Blacktown is not a bad area. They've got a great community there. If he wants to go and live in a 'leafy' area he could set up in the Hills or surrounds.
Talisman
Guest
It just begs the question 'how much is enough?'. I agree with Phil above, if I couldn't make something out of $3,000,000 in Melbourne, who's to say I'd make something out of $5,000,000 in Sydney?