Kearney wants to steal Duffie

[steaming stormer]

If Duffie signs with Parramatta Bellamy will have to drop him and start blooding Niko ahead of Duff.

no he won't - we have a premiership to win this year and we pick the best team week in week out. It's part of the NRL that players sign for someone else during the year - it's crap, but it's the system.
As long as a player is committed to the team, if he is the best player in that position.. pick him!

[simo]

yea thats true. They gotta change this rule until after the season, its ridiculous.

[Michael :P]

i wouldnt play him & Id be suprised if Bellamy used him.

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[Bourbon Rat]

Whilst a player wears Storm colours he's a Stormer & I wouldn't want him treated any different - Earns a start - Gets a start

[I love Cooper]

Grrrrrr back off Parra! I hope Duffie stays!

[Ice]

I'd be very surprised if Bellyache didn't use him if he decided to leave. The only one i can remember him really shafting after saying he was leaving was Guerra which was no loss to us anyway, hell he even let Tomane play on for most games even after the underhanded way he went about negotiations by signing with the Titans and not telling the club just so he could keep his spot in the team.

We've had a heap of players leave without being being chopped, Chambers is another one that comes to mind when he defected to union so if Duffie goes i can't see him being flicked especially given he's definitely in our best starting side. That said i have a feeling he won't be going anywhere, of course i could be wrong for sure but i think he'll stay and reckon we have a better chance of keeping him than Blair.

[Michael :P]

Tomane never saw first grade again after he signed while Chambers was told at the start of the year we didnt have much left for him.

Duffie would be in the Tomane/Guerra camp if he signed for the Eels.

Not that it would bother me, thats life. But I dont think Craig would be too happy after all the work theyve put into him as well as putting him F&C of the Storms ads.

[Ice]

Actually Tomane played 9 games with us after he announced he was leaving. Just sayin....

[Michael :P]

Sweet, but heres Craigs view at the time

The Melbourne mentor admitted that he contemplated dropping Tomane for the rest of the season when he heard this week that the youngster was Titans-bound.

"I was an assistant at Brisbane in 2001 when coach Wayne Bennett told Justin Hodges that he had no place in first grade (after signing with the Roosters)," Bellamy wrote in his News Limited column on Friday.

"Until Wednesday I could never understand why. Now I know."

[simo]

so from that example he played Tomane, so i guess he will play Duffie still if he signs elsewhere.

[glennb]

Bellamy has always said, that he understands that every player can not stay at Melbourne forever and that players need to move own for their own reasons and the club reasons. But all he asks is that they come and tell him first that they are planning to leave before they sign anything.

You will find that both Guerra and Tomane did not do that. They both decided they were leaving and signed before having a meeting with Craig. These were they only two he upset about.

But where they now?

[Ice]

Yeah i remember how livid he was and rightly so given the way Tomane went about it. Bellyache also said in the same article "To say we were disappointed would be an enormous understatement. Joseph had a huge future to look forward to at this club. He still has 13 rounds, and hopefully finals, left in his time here. But, at that moment, I honestly felt he had none." Judging by that i think it's fair to say he thought what was best for the team and played him for 9 of the last 11 games with one of them being a bye.

As for Chambers he announced he was leaving a month or 2 before the 2009 season and went on to play 27 games including the Grand Final so i'm not sure i'd class that as "he was told at the start of the year we didnt have much left for him."

[Michael :P]

Splitting hairs now Ice.

Chambers was told, at some mystical point between the pre-season and the kick-off (Im not sure who exactly that was since you want to be pedantic) that there was not much money for him.

[Michael :P]

Bottom line is I wouldnt play him, but thats me.

[Ice]

Not being pedantic and even if we leave Chambers out of the equation, as you yourself even quoted Belly was absolutley pissed with the way Tomane went behind the clubs back and didn't tell us he signed with the Tits just so he could keep his spot. The bottom line is and the reason we're even talking about this is if the coach played Tomane for virtually every game after the sneaky way he went about it there's no way in hell he's going to drop Duffie if he decides to leave after he's been nothing but transparent.