Club Statement- Luke B- :(- wants to go to pies

[Milton66]

Tough news to take right now but has been coming for a while. I would just like to thank Luke Ball for his years of service to the St Kilda Football Club playing through immense pain and continually selflessly putting his body on the line for the benefit of the team.

It is an unfortunate set of circumstances and you can bleat all you like about loyalty but footy is ultimately a business these days and players must keep one eye on later life. If you were offered twice the amount of money to do the same job (with perks in extra game time) only at a different place it is a hard offer to refuse. No doubt he has had discussions with Ross about where he stands for next season and with Armo, Steven etc pushing through this could well have impacted his decision.

I am sure this has been a very difficult decision for Luke and would like to wish him well in his future endeavours and hope that he gets his body right and becomes the player he once showed the potential to be (except when he plays us). His service to this club will not be forgotten.

well said Grant. Shame you flogged him with OP.

+10

[ace]

Is there anyone at Collingwood who is discontented or may be was a St Kilda supporter as a kid and therefore would want to come to St kilda.

I don't know of any possibilities other than Josh Fraser who knows he is about to be replaced - but for the good reason his time is up.

[flyingwhale18]

god i hope this turns out like o'keefe etc.
he stays and plays his heart out.

[degruch]

thinline wrote:
Stuff him, I say. Mercenary with an overinflated sense of his worth.

Can someone show me how to post a picture of Nathan Buckley?

Ha! Gold. I wonder how that premiership is working out for him? Oh, whoops!

[emma]

i just got home and logged on..
today a friend told me bally wanted to go to the pies and i laughed in her face, i was that sure he would re-sign. wow. cannot really put into words, this is devastating. i'm sure that it is not just money related, has to be about playing time. he was always so loyal and commited love the bloke but the fact he nominated collingwood? it makes my skin crawl.
i wouldn't touch anything from collingwood with a ten foot pole! what a terrible end to a terrible day. byebye bally

[ace]

god i hope this turns out like o'keefe etc.
he stays and plays his heart out.

But he like O'Keefe every one of his teammates and every supporter knows he is only there because he couldn't be somewhere else.

[flyingwhale18]

true.
really think he is making a mistake, but in the end, its up to him.

[Mr Magic]

This is purely a monetary decision IMO.
It has absolutely nothing to do with game time.
Luke Ball and his manager have decided that Collingwood will offer him more money than the Saints.

In any case we should just play hardball now and get the deal we want.
He's walked out on us - we are under no obligations to secure him the deal he wants at our expense.

If no deal can be done, then let him go to the PSD. Let's see how much he enjoys playing at
Melbourne
or Richmond
or Freo
or North Melbourne.

Yes they'll give him the money he and his manager want

but he'll end his days being known as a mercenary who gave up a possible opportunity to be a premiership player to chase more dollars.

As for booing him - I will.
We didn't move him on - he chose to join our enemy against us.
Why wouldn't you boo him?
He's now no better than any other Filth player.
Worse - unlike others drafted by them, he chose to go to them over staying with us.

As far as I'm concerned, you're either a Saint or you Aint - Luke Ball as of this afternoon is an Aint.

[Animal Enclosure]

god i hope this turns out like o'keefe etc.
he stays and plays his heart out.

But he like O'Keefe every one of his teammates and every supporter knows he is only there because he couldn't be somewhere else.

And O'Keefe showed this by..... winning Sydney's B&F

[Winmarvellous]

If he ends up at Richmond they'll have a pretty good midfield with him, Benny and Deledio running around.

[xander]

This is purely a monetary decision IMO.
It has absolutely nothing to do with game time.
Luke Ball and his manager have decided that Collingwood will offer him more money than the Saints.

In any case we should just play hardball now and get the deal we want.
He's walked out on us - we are under no obligations to secure him the deal he wants at our expense.

If no deal can be done, then let him go to the PSD. Let's see how much he enjoys playing at
Melbourne
or Richmond
or Freo
or North Melbourne.

Yes they'll give him the money he and his manager want

but he'll end his days being known as a mercenary who gave up a possible opportunity to be a premiership player to chase more dollars.

As for booing him - I will.
We didn't move him on - he chose to join our enemy against us.
Why wouldn't you boo him?
He's now no better than any other Filth player.
Worse - unlike others drafted by them, he chose to go to them over staying with us.

As far as I'm concerned, you're either a Saint or you Aint - Luke Ball as of this afternoon is an Aint.

+1
& i will certainly be booing him.

[flyingwhale18]

no chance in hell id boo Luke Ball, ever.

[megs4#31]

no chance in hell id boo Luke Ball, ever.

ditto

[Legendary]

Tough news to take right now but has been coming for a while. I would just like to thank Luke Ball for his years of service to the St Kilda Football Club playing through immense pain and continually selflessly putting his body on the line for the benefit of the team.

It is an unfortunate set of circumstances and you can bleat all you like about loyalty but footy is ultimately a business these days and players must keep one eye on later life. If you were offered twice the amount of money to do the same job (with perks in extra game time) only at a different place it is a hard offer to refuse. No doubt he has had discussions with Ross about where he stands for next season and with Armo, Steven etc pushing through this could well have impacted his decision.

I am sure this has been a very difficult decision for Luke and would like to wish him well in his future endeavours and hope that he gets his body right and becomes the player he once showed the potential to be (except when he plays us). His service to this club will not be forgotten.

well said Grant. Shame you flogged him with OP.

+10

+100

Thanks Grant.


Bally, good luck to you mate, but I'll be booing you as hard as the next Collingwood player. Leave your mates and a chance at a flag, and you get judged as harshly as the next bloke in a Pies jumper.

St Kilda can work this to their advantage -- if we play it right, involve another club for a three-way deal, we might end up coming out of this trade the big winner.

Ross the Boss and Drain will need to be hard at work now to get this one moving.

[markp]

Could be a big opportunity... we've picked up some very handy players with not much recently, now let's see how we go with a bit of currency on the table.

[Milton66]

Tough news to take right now but has been coming for a while. I would just like to thank Luke Ball for his years of service to the St Kilda Football Club playing through immense pain and continually selflessly putting his body on the line for the benefit of the team.

It is an unfortunate set of circumstances and you can bleat all you like about loyalty but footy is ultimately a business these days and players must keep one eye on later life. If you were offered twice the amount of money to do the same job (with perks in extra game time) only at a different place it is a hard offer to refuse. No doubt he has had discussions with Ross about where he stands for next season and with Armo, Steven etc pushing through this could well have impacted his decision.

I am sure this has been a very difficult decision for Luke and would like to wish him well in his future endeavours and hope that he gets his body right and becomes the player he once showed the potential to be (except when he plays us). His service to this club will not be forgotten.

well said Grant. Shame you flogged him with OP.

+10

+100

Thanks Grant.


Bally, good luck to you mate, but I'll be booing you as hard as the next Collingwood player. Leave your mates and a chance at a flag, and you get judged as harshly as the next bloke in a Pies jumper.

St Kilda can work this to their advantage -- if we play it right, involve another club for a three-way deal, we might end up coming out of this trade the big winner.

Ross the Boss and Drain will need to be hard at work now to get this one moving.

And he forgot to mention that if you get the chance to sue the club you bled for... go right ahead.

[saint75]

Disappointing and surprising. If it is for money, I will be extremely displeased as he has been paid handsomely for quite sometime (thanks GT) with vey little given in return. That in itself would not be a problem if it wasn't for the fact that he is now turning his back on the club when his money is being dropped to what his real value is. Poor form!

However, as we do not know the reasons, probably is not wise to speculate too much.

Looking forward, it could be a possible 3 way trade:

Fev > Saints
Ball > Scum
First Round Draft Pick > Carlton

You just never know what trade week is going to throw at you........

[james rose]

I'm disappointed you're leaving but thanks for your service to the club.

He bled for us on more than one occasion and anyone having a go at him should look at this video clip (particularly the end).



Having said that I hope the St Kilda Football Club do what is best for them.

[SaintDippa]

Luke's decision probably gets him another 150 games as majority will be on the G and not on the concrete OP killer Dome surface.

[saintspremiers]

interesting....

Shame we didn't flog Bally during the GF.....hindsight is wonderful though....

Let's hope we get something for him, dirty rotten pig he now is

[saintdavies]

This thread is now about:



Discuss

[ace]

There is no way Ego McGuire will give up a player of quality.
Collingwood are virtually committed to give up there pick 9 (only worth pick 13 in a full draft) to get Jolly, but Sydney want more.

Ball's management has clearly spoken to Collingwood previously and that is why Luke has not signed our contract.

BUT if there is one thing I think we can take for granted Luke Ball does not want to go into the pre-season draft - he can only nominate the salary Collingwood be willing to pay.
But if he does he almost certainly end up at one of Melbourne, Richmond, Fremantle or North Melbourne.
He would get the money from one of them, andplenty of game time but he would play out his career without glory or a premiership and he knows that.

St Kilda should be willing NOT to trade Ball unless a good deal for the club can be found.
Ball would rather stay on than risk thepre-season draft.

Hawthorn have pick 9!!!!

Yes I should have said 14
I have corrected my post.

[markp]

I'll add that I think I can understand his reasoning... he flogged his body and has probably shortened his career with us, yes he was well paid but no doubt was going to get a massive haircut if he stayed... maybe he thought he had one good contract left in him.

Cant have been an easy choice... I'll miss the character, but sadly not the player he had become.

[flyingwhale18]

that tiger is basically what Luke Ball is.
an attacking machine who is now in way to deep and black and white.

[mightysainters]

thinline wrote:
Stuff him, I say. Mercenary with an overinflated sense of his worth.

Agreed.

I cant believe The Scum would be paying him $600k.

What is he worth ?

$400-450k ?

I'd probaby say the mid 200 mark personally.

yer about 250k... i still think he will struggle to pass the medical does anyone else have this suspicion? There is no way he was right at any part of the season... Although in the granny he looked far more comfortable (probably because of conditions)