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Bulldog4life
03-10-2009, 12:05 PM
Unhappy Lions defender asks club for a trade
Andrea Petrie | October 3, 2009

BRISBANE'S Joel Macdonald is expected to leave the pride and has requested to be traded to a Melbourne club.

The 25-year-old defender, who grew up in Melbourne before moving to the northern state as a teenager, is understood to be leaving due to salary cap pressures, although it is no secret that McDonald was disappointed to have missed the club's two finals appearances after playing every game of the home-and-away season.

Macdonald was a late withdrawal for the Lions' comeback win against Carlton in the elimination final due to a back complaint. He was not recalled for the club's semi-final loss to the Western Bulldogs.

Meanwhile, the Dogs are confident they will retain star full-back Brian Lake, despite admitting they are unsure why he is yet to agree a new contract.

The club has offered the 27-year-old All-Australian defender a four-year deal worth about $1.8 million, but Lake is yet to agree to terms.

''We believe we've put a very sustainable and worthy proposition to Brian,'' Dogs football manager James Fantasia told SEN radio ahead of the trade period next week.

Fantasia acknowledged that several clubs were on the hunt for a key defender, but added there had been no suggestion Lake wants to head elsewhere.

''There's never been talk about another club, there's never been talk about Brian wanting to leave the Western Bulldogs,'' Fantasia said.

''It's been simply us negotiating with his management a deal that he thinks is right for him. You've got to remember this will be Brian's biggest contract, his most important one. He's had a lot of things going on in his life, he's had another baby recently and that comes with enormous pressures.

''I'm very confident, though, we'll get to the bottom of all of that and hopefully we can do it sooner rather than later.''

Rick Olarenshaw, Lake's manager, said yesterday he was still in negotiations with the club.

''Whatever James Fantasia says on SEN or in the media I disregard because we have enough chats to know that the only person that he listens to, and I listen to, is ourselves about this,'' Olarenshaw said.

''He knows where it's at and I know where it's at, and that's all we need to know.''

The Bulldogs also remain confident they will be able to strike a trade deal with Sydney to land big full-forward Barry Hall.

Hawthorn will head into trade week with not just a defensive mindset - it has also flagged the possibility of going after a ruckman, with doubt over Robert Campbell for next season.

The Hawks were understood to be in contact with West Coast ruckman Mark Seaby's management yesterday, although Sydney remains the front runner for the Eagle big man.

Campbell met with the Hawks hierarchy this week to discuss his playing future after a medical report from post-season surgery showed he faces the risk of serious knee problems in later life.

Campbell is believed to have had chronic knee problems for the past four years after making a comeback from a season-ending knee injury in 2005.

Hawthorn's list manager, Chris Pelchen, said the Hawks would await Campbell's decision over the weekend before looking at a ruckman trading option.

''We've sat down and done our review with him and it's just a matter of giving him some time and space to figure out what he wants to do,'' Pelchen said.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/rfnews/unhappy-lions-defender-asks-club-for-a-trade/2009/10/02/1254418714246.html

More insightful comments from Ricky O.

Hotdog60
03-10-2009, 01:44 PM
''He knows where it's at and I know where it's at, and that's all we need to know.''

What's that all mean, are they still squabbling over the contract between club and manager?

Sockeye Salmon
03-10-2009, 02:13 PM
What's that all mean, are they still squabbling over the contract between club and manager?

I think Olarenshaw is trying to say that he doesn't care what Fantasia is saying in the media, only what they say in private counts.

That could just be a general comment but could also be a dig at Fantasia's "no other club's have been talked about" comment. Maybe in private Olarenshaw has had quite a bit to say about other clubs who might be interested.

KT31
03-10-2009, 02:41 PM
I think Olarenshaw is trying to say that he doesn't care what Fantasia is saying in the media, only what they say in private counts.

That could just be a general comment but could also be a dig at Fantasia's "no other club's have been talked about" comment. Maybe in private Olarenshaw has had quite a bit to say about other clubs who might be interested.

Could it be possible that some of us at Woof have the wrong slant on the Lake negotiations ?

Could it be possible that it is Fantasia who is buggering up the talks and saying the wrong thing ?

Swoop
04-10-2009, 12:03 PM
I think Olarenshaw's comments are in relation to Fantasia claiming he has no idea why Lake hasn't re-signed. I believe Olarenshaw's comments are alluding to the fact that Fantasia knows full well why Lake hasn't signed and his comments in the media have no bearing on their discussions.