It seems that not a day can go by without an article being published debating the impending Tom Scully decision and frankly, I’ve had enough.
There is little if any doubt that this will certainly be the biggest talking point once the footy off season commences – at least when Melbourne commences theirs.
However, the constant scrutiny and speculation that continues to hound Scully has become tiresome and dare I say it, boring. Not to mention the effect it must be having on the 20 year old himself.
On numerous occasions both Scully and his management have insisted any decision made by the player will be made public at the end of Melbourne’s 2011 campaign. That should be where it starts and ends.
This week it was officially announced that GWS have in fact made an offer to Scully – as if we didn’t already know.
Despite this, those in the player’s corner remain defiant that no announcement will be made yet.
There are so many chiefs weighing in to the decision Scully must make on his future that one wonders whether they are forgetting he is not only a young boy with an AFL career in its infancy but is still at present contracted to the Melbourne Football Club.
The AFL has instigated this entire situation with the concessions and draft picks afforded to the two new franchises.
Whilst we all understand that they were and still are hell bent on not reliving the Brisbane Bears debacle, what they have created is an unfair and intrusive environment for young players like Scully.
The rules clearly state that the new franchises must not sign any player until the end of the season but there is no rule that outlaws initiating discussions with the management of all targeted players. Therein lays the problem.
Scully has said all season that he has not signed any deal with GWS and it’s time he was taken at his word.
It has been reported by those in Melbourne’s inner sanctum that Scully has become distressed that the footy world, media and public believe he has lied from day one.
How on earth must this young boy be concentrating on his current role at Melbourne with the endless speculation and innuendo of where his future lies?
Surely, what should be front and centre in Scully’s mind is Melbourne’s next opponent not sitting in the offices of his employer in a distressed state.
Now, there are reports of third party deals to assist in keeping him a Demon – much like those that led Chris Judd to Carlton.
In the same paper, Eddie McGuire has again thrown his two cents in – as only Eddie can – and slammed what others believe to be adequate compensation for the Demons if Scully is to depart.
Of course McGuire was only making comment to compare the compensation to what the Magpies might be entitled to if Dale Thomas opts for more money at GWS. But that’s Eddie for you.
Scully is grappling with being labeled disloyal or money hungry for the rest of his career. How unfair. Imagine that sort of pressure for a 20 year old.
The bottom line is this. Tom Scully is a kid doing his darndest to forge a successful career as an AFL footballer.
He should be allowed to do this until the end of the season when he is free and able, with a clear head, to make whatever decision are in his best interests – not Melbourne’s and not GWS.
The enormous sums of money he could earn in Sydney will surely be making him excited but he has a job to do and that is playing great footy for Melbourne.
The huge cash offer and GWS aren’t going anywhere. Neither is Scully and neither is Melbourne. So why not leave the kid alone for eight weeks.
At least then, he will have had some time without unnecessary distractions to talk with his family and his own club to work out what is best for him and no one else.
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