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Puts to rest any will he or won't he for this season anyway.
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Like it or not, we may have the face the fact that he may never play the game again. SO where does that place us?? We have to wear the his salary for the next eight years and also have the $350,000 trade restrictions placed on us? Gee that seems so fair. Eddie will be laughing his head off ATM.Comment
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my ambivalence is pretty large. players retire all the time due to injury and the clubs usually work something out. I'd be surprised if that wasnt the case here because frankly it would create one seriously difficult precedent for the rest of the competition to have it dealt with the way which the afl tried to pin things down.
But there is a part of me that thinks so what as well. Nothing ventured nothing gained.Comment
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You would have to think that common sense would prevail if Buddy turned his back on the game. If Buddy cannot see out his contract and retires then he should be paid up to that point. If he retires because of his job, then he should compensated accordingly. Same would apply if he was made redundant (although he is not someone on our current list that I would suspect this would apply to).Comment
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I make these comments not knowing Bud's illness or circumstances. So I can only make them on what I know. Which is not much. I have always been and always will be a supporter of him. And I sincerely wish Bud all the best in his recovery. But part of ne is conflicted. I often talk about The Bloods culture. And Jude once said ?Player empowerment, playing for each other, never saying die, and strong off-field standards are its hallmarks, club culture is critical to success". At Bud's 1st press conference back in October 2013 he said ?I?ve heard so much about Bloods culture I can?t wait to be a part of it,? and ?At the end of the day I just love playing football, that?s what I do. I?ve come here to do nothing else but win premierships.?. Now I know I'm going to feel the wrath of a lot on this site, but a part of me feels like Bud has let his teammates and the club down. As I said, I don't know anything about his illness. But I keep asking myself what can be so bad that he left his teammates when they needed him most. I feel like he has deserted them. And I wonder if any of them will feel the same. There are players out there playing with injuries and extreme pain. Ask Dan about his ribs. But he is out there fighting with his mates. Never say die. Has Bud truly bought into the Bloods.
I'm sorry but I can't help what I feel. So give it to me.Comment
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Without any information it's too difficult to predict what the future holds for Buddy. He certainly must be in a bad space to be ruled out of finals.
There are some interesting issues raised by the revelation that the Swans were unaware of Buddy's mental health issues prior to his signing although these problems existed while he was playing for Hawthorn. I really have no idea about this, but if I were going to sign an athlete to a 9 year $10 million contract I would request a full disclosure of prior and existing health issues. I think the Swans would be terribly remiss if they did not. I think there might be an issue regarding the validity of the contract for failing to disclose prior health records. He must have been under medical care for this during his time at Hawthorn.
I also would be surprised if someone in the Hawthorn management was not aware of Buddy's condition. It is very likely that the club doctor knew. I don't know what the protocols would be in these matters. This may be one reason that Hawthorn didn't make much of an issue about Buddy leaving.
I doubt if much will happen until after the finals or at least until we are out of the finals. I don't blame Buddy personally for not disclosing his problems and I wouldn't have any idea if Liam Pickering knew, and even if he did, you can be sure he wouldn't be the one to say anything. But there are some professional people with knowledge of his health issues who had a responsibility to make his employer aware of the situation.
Right now the attention is on just getting Buddy back to a healthy state of mind, but once the dust settles there's likely to be a lot more to this story to play out.Comment
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I'm sure Buddy does feel like he's let his team mates down, and it's probably not helping him. No-one gives a second thought to Reid, Parker, Jack et al. not playing, because we understand that there are some injuries that make playing impossible. By the sounds of it, Buddy's been playing with the equivalent of Dan's ribs (?) for a while now, but it's finally become impossible.Comment
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As I have disclosed earlier, I had bipolar disorder over a long period of time with some quite severe depression stages. I am actually glad that you made the points you did, because most people don't realise that when those with this type of mental illness are feeling well, they never think that the bad times will return. I don't doubt that Buddy was completely sincere about his intentions to give 100% to the Swans for the totality of his contract. Everything can just be going along fine. Years can go by without a problem, then it can suddenly hit you from out of the blue. There's probably a reason for it, but it's not easy to identify. It can feel like an alien has taken control of your mind and there's nothing you can do about it.
In a way it's good that high profile figures like Jeff Kennett, Buddy Franklin, Mitch Clark and Nathan Thomson have helped raise our awareness of these mental health issues.
If Buddy is not able to play, he is in extreme pain. I guarantee you. I have had physical injuries worse than Gary Rohan's broken leg, and have been through some big time physical pain (thank god for oxycontin). And if I had to pick between a Gary's broken leg and severe depression, I'd take the broken leg every time.Last edited by Ludwig; 14 September 2015, 06:46 PM.Comment
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Ludwig i did lifeline counselling as a community service for many years and know many people that have been thru hell and back re suffering from mental illness
thank you for sharing and it often sounds like people who have suffered along the way wished a magic wand could change everything and all things went back to normality........... but it can be a long windy road and patience is tested no doubt day after day week after week, month after month, year after year........... for some.............but the greatest occurrence in recent years is that awareness is growing and new ways of coping and conquering are happening all the time !!!
thumbs up !!"be tough, only when it gets tough"
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As mentioned previously in this forum, if Buddy is missing the finals, we know his condition is pretty bad. Letting down his teammates is not part of his character! We can just hope and wish that he gets better soon and we would all love to see him play in the red and white once again!!!Comment
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Well said. The pressure must be immense too. Can't say that I can empathise either, no matter how much I want to. When we strip him off his supreme athletic persona, he is still a young man being paid big dollars, having enormous media attention on everything he does or does not do, as well as unreal expectations of everyone in the AFL world. I have tasted depression, but I don't know what living out the rest must be like every day. I would think walking in Buddy's shoes would be nightmarish at times. Wishing the Bud wholeness. Would love him to come back fresh and healthy next season.Comment
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I think it's been telling that there was not a Bondi Beach story surrounding Buddy over the recent off-season. Did he stop going to the beach? Did he stop going to his beloved night clubs?
In the 2013-14 offseason we had the party Buddy at his best with the following stories:
- Buddy at the Beach Road bikini competition.
- Buddy at the beach with Adam Ashley Cooper.
- Buddy on a boat and partying hard at Garden Island.
- Buddy hanging with Hanners who damaged his car.
- Buddy at the at the Beach with Tom D and some female friends.
These off field headlines led to a brilliant 2014 playing season.
There has been no Beach stories with Buddy during the 2014-15 summer.
Has he lose his zest for the Sun the Surf and partying hard with his mates?
Is the quieter off-field headlines indicative of a man who is feeling very down at the moment?Comment
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