luke ball

[BigMart]

Supporters who want to convince themselves that losing ball has cost us zero.....

Ball......for nothing
Lovett......for #16

The most incompetant, short-sighted decision made by the club....in recent history......and thats some history....even recent.

Those who rated lovett.....deluding themselves, essendon fans thought he could play on his day, but also knew that getting a first rounder for an unpredictable, inconsistent player with discipline problems was a steal....they were glad to see the back of him, disliked by players and frustrated coaches...

Those who underrate Ball.....underestimate the value of character. We used to laud the way he continually got knocked out putting his head over it, we loved his tackling, we loved his hardness.. Can't learn that attitude, also Ball is a quality individual, and proved this after winning the gf with collingwood...a lesser man would have thrown it in our faces, Ball looked to Lenny and the boys, clearly felt for them and almost felt bad about celebrating...all of this whilst milney and co were giving him a hard time..

It makes me sick to see him at collingwood, he loved stk....i think he actually did love robert harvey....

The real question is, why did he want to leave???

Money only..... Well a 50% pay cut would be baulked at by most.... Minimal game time.... Perhaps.... Getting ignored in the 09 grand final... Likely

I said in the 09 off season, the decision to get rid of (or not retain) ball, maguire, clarke..... Would hurt the fabric of the club.... I stand by that.

Its not like we got compensated

Reality says
We got lovett for ball and #16...... although thats not the actual trade, it worked out that way
We got jesse smith for X.Clarke
We got Will Johnson for Maguire

Take three quality humans out of an organisation.....it is always going to hurt....it also says results mean more than loyalty to players......so inturn, surely they think, their personal results mean more than loyalty to a club.

Not sure you could have picked three more popular people....maybe lenny and maxy....

[plugger66]

That obviously had a huge effect on the players last year or does it take 2 years for the players to realise those guys had gone.

[The Fireman]

That obviously had a huge effect on the players last year or does it take 2 years for the players to realise those guys had gone.

this

[SainterK]

Supporters who want to convince themselves that losing ball has cost us zero.....

Ball......for nothing
Lovett......for #16

The most incompetant, short-sighted decision made by the club....in recent history......and thats some history....even recent.

Those who rated lovett.....deluding themselves, essendon fans thought he could play on his day, but also knew that getting a first rounder for an unpredictable, inconsistent player with discipline problems was a steal....they were glad to see the back of him, disliked by players and frustrated coaches...

Those who underrate Ball.....underestimate the value of character. We used to laud the way he continually got knocked out putting his head over it, we loved his tackling, we loved his hardness.. Can't learn that attitude, also Ball is a quality individual, and proved this after winning the gf with collingwood...a lesser man would have thrown it in our faces, Ball looked to Lenny and the boys, clearly felt for them and almost felt bad about celebrating...all of this whilst milney and co were giving him a hard time..

It makes me sick to see him at collingwood, he loved stk....i think he actually did love robert harvey....

The real question is, why did he want to leave???

Money only..... Well a 50% pay cut would be baulked at by most.... Minimal game time.... Perhaps.... Getting ignored in the 09 grand final... Likely

I said in the 09 off season, the decision to get rid of (or not retain) ball, maguire, clarke..... Would hurt the fabric of the club.... I stand by that.

Its not like we got compensated

Reality says
We got lovett for ball and #16...... although thats not the actual trade, it worked out that way
We got jesse smith for X.Clarke
We got Will Johnson for Maguire

Take three quality humans out of an organisation.....it is always going to hurt....it also says results mean more than loyalty to players......so inturn, surely they think, their personal results mean more than loyalty to a club.

Not sure you could have picked three more popular people....maybe lenny and maxy....

I think think he left because Shane O'Bree was far less competition than Lenny Hayes.

It was about opportunity, and playing the role HE wanted to play.

Engine room he now is, second guy helping out in this role he is no longer.

[BringBackMadDog]

we broke up the group alright....from that bumper crop we actually gave away for vitually nothing, ball, x and goose.....and with it our future....

yep because X and Goose would have really been of value to us now, I mean look what they have done for Brisbane!!

[Leo.J]

Yawn...

He didn't want to make the sacrifices required of him.

He got offered a bundle by John Wren.

He left, he's a traitor.

Good night.

[The Fireman]

Anyone who goes out of their way to play for a club like Collingwood must be some sort of rodent...full stop.

This may sound a bit irrational to some...but not to those who have been around a while and know the club.
Ball must have known how much it would hurt his supporters to not only leave but to a club so universally disliked....he will be remembered as just another mercenary rat.

[BigMart]

A club is more than the guys running out playing seniors for two hours on a saturday....surely you know this....the fabric runs far deeper, and is only really tested in tough times, thats when character comes to the fore....

On the trade

Last year it hit us smack bang in the face, with NO greater example....

We struggled in the clearances, collingwood improved......we lost the gf....collingwood won..... Ball had hos best season for years, we missed him....he is getting better, we lost lenny....

Ffs, it is almost comical

Collingwood are still at the top, we are near the bottom

[Sainternist]

Anyone who goes out of their way to play for a club like Collingwood must be some sort of rodent...full stop.

yep, he would have known full well it would be an insult to the club and fans alike to go there. it almost seemed out of spite.

anyway, F*** HIM! he can join the "not welcome back" list as far as i'm concerned.

[BigMart]

Yeah, ball was a dog.....

Carried himself like a total c**k sucker, whilst a saint, never did squat for us....such a sub-human

Just won a b&f, led the tackle count for tjree years and played a whole season with op......

He was dead rigjt to go to collingwood, he made the correct decision, he was not getting the respect he deserved at stk.

We f***ed up, simple. It has been proven in NO uncertain terms

[The Fireman]

Yeah, ball was a dog.....

to leave and go to Collingwood ......Correct

Carried himself like a total c**k sucker, whilst a saint, never did squat for us....such a sub-human

I can see your sarcasm but wasted here.

Just won a b&f, led the tackle count for tjree years and played a whole season with op......

Yep and good on him just like so many Saint champs before him but who stayed with the club through thick and thin..(not to mention how much the club carried him through the down time due to his OP probs)

He was dead rigjt to go to collingwood, he made the correct decision, he was not getting the respect he deserved at stk.

I now question your loyalty to the club. With due respect Bigmart...I find your response ordinary.

We f***ed up, simple. It has been proven in NO uncertain terms

Hard to keep a bloke with mercenary tendencies , Plugger for EG.

[Sainternist]

Yeah, ball was a dog.....

Carried himself like a total c**k sucker, whilst a saint, never did squat for us....such a sub-human

Just won a b&f, led the tackle count for tjree years and played a whole season with op......

He was dead rigjt to go to collingwood, he made the correct decision, he was not getting the respect he deserved at stk.

We f***ed up, simple. It has been proven in NO uncertain terms

Points noted, however, there is no voice of reason when it concerns being a one-eyed footy supporter.

Sorry, I don't have the heart for diplomacy on this matter and will continue to chew on sour grapes over it whenever it's brought up.

[BigMart]

His hand was forced......do you actually believe, if he was offered a fair deal, in terms of renumeration, game time, opportunity he would have walked.

100% of workers (not just footballers) would walk in the same circumstances

Remember, this is tneir livelyhood, and for ten years only..... Its not just footy for them, its a career

Would you take a 50% pay cut....be honest....would you take a demotion...if you did not have to......come on, i mean seriously..

He is a class act.....supporters from 15 clubs would agree, and half stk supporters also.....playing for stk, does not make you a quality person....playing for collingwood does not make you a dog....

Niether does changing jobs if its in your best interest......

[fugazi]

Still kills me when I see him in Collingwood colours...........pigheaded not to take Wellingham. I like Ross Lyon, but that was a real low point,as the song says , "sometimes you gotta know when to fold them", pride and stubborness written all over that period, certainly coming home to roost.

[Megsie]

I thought the bounce of the football right not left cost us a pemiership.

Geez i'd hate to rely on one L Ball to achieve a premiership for us.

[desertsaint]

I thought the bounce of the football right not left cost us a pemiership.

Geez i'd hate to rely on one L Ball to achieve a premiership for us.

whole lot of different things added up against us in the last two years, just tipped the scales of justice the wrong way at the wrong time. twice.

[Spinner]

Lol if you tried watching some non stkilda easendon games BM you might have rated Lovett. Came off a super year for a player in his role.

Not sure if the Goose and X arguements help your case. I didn't agree with these but I reckon I was proven wrong. They have contributed next to nothing, mainly due to injury.

[SaintWodonga]

Worse thing about Ball is the fact we got nothing for him! On top of that we got nothing for our 1st round pick (Lovett) we rolled the dice on Jesse Smith, on top of that we only blooded one player in 2009 (Steven) I reckon we are paying for it now.

[meher baba]

That obviously had a huge effect on the players last year or does it take 2 years for the players to realise those guys had gone.

I think it has taken 2 seasons for the full effect of Ball leaving to affect us. Lenny and BJ had probably their best ever seasons last year and that, plus some clever compensatory tactics by the coaching staff, got us to within the bounce of a ball from winning a flag, even though we had a seriously undermanned midfield (go back and count the number of genuine midfielders in our sides towards the end of last season: I'm still astonished that we somehow scrambled our way into a GF and then almost won it. It was nigh on an act of burglary!)

A seriously undermanned midfield with Lenny in it could still make a contest. Without Lenny it's a joke. Opposition coaches have taken note and we are getting destroyed. It wouldn't be happening if Ball was in there. End of story.

I don't agree with Big Mart that losing X and Goose was a big deal. Goose might have been a little bit useful, but we'd gone for Walsh who -accoding to Drain at the time - was as good as a first round pick! Last time I looked he was still a rookie...

[Mr Magic]

He is a 'class act' - he's shown it by taking a massive pay cut at the Pies and agreeing to 'play for nothing' in 2012.

[asiu]

Ffs, it is almost comical

almost !!!!!

... but not in whats left of my effn lifetime.

[samoht]

Luke Ball is just your average everyday footballer who does not provide the required spread and run (or long kick) for the modern game.
He's a throwback to a past era, in that sense.

He can't even take the money and run.

[spert]

Ball's gone- get over it.

[IluvHarvey]

Ball's gone- get over it.

Beat me to it!

This is exactly what I was going to write.

[SinCitySaint]

The thing that really rankles about the Ball situation is not that he left, players do that. It is not that he ended up at Collingwood or that we ended up with nothing for him. It is the fact that he basically made it impossible for us to get a fair trade for him by refusing to talk to any club other than Collingwood. Other clubs were interested Melbourne, Richmond and Essendon all stated that he was a player that they would have liked but he would not even talk to them. It meant we had to deal with Collingwood only and that was with the pies in a position of strength where they did not need to offer us anything we wanted.