Hudson quits Crows

[Ian]

from the 'tiser

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 43,00.html


Hudson quits Crows

MICHELANGELO RUCCI, CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER
September 19, 2007 02:15am

RUCKMAN Ben Hudson has quit the Crows after his contract talks broke down last week as Adelaide labelled his demands as excessive.

Hudson, 29 next year, has asked to be traded to the Western Bulldogs.

Hudson, who was plucked from VFL obscurity by Adelaide in the 2003 draft, demanded a three-year contract worth more than $1 million.

Adelaide offered a two-year deal with a lower annual pay scale.

Despite 55-game Hudson drawing controversy to himself late this season - when he was suspended from the August 12 clash with Geelong for breaking a team curfew - the exit from the Crows is based purely on the terms and value of his new contract at West Lakes.

However, there is also speculation Hudson lost interest in Adelaide after coach Neil Craig gave him a scathing assessment of his form at the start of August after a poor performance against Essendon at the Telstra Dome. This was shortly before he broke the curfew.

Adelaide football operations manager John Reid last night confirmed Hudson and the Crows were left at odds on Friday.

"Negotiations with Ben on a new contract have broken down," said Reid.

"As a result, his management has advised us that the Western Bulldogs are keen on Ben.

"We regard Ben as a required player. We are waiting to hear just where the Bulldogs stand on this."

It is uncertain if the Bulldogs are planning a package of players - such as South Australians Jordan McMahon and Stephen Tiller - or draft picks for Adelaide.

Hudson's exit has left a sour taste at Adelaide. The Crows are questioning Hudson's appreciation for their taking him from VFL club Werribee as a 25-year-old as the No. 58 pick in the 2003 national draft after an AFL opportunity seemed to have passed him.

Also, Adelaide stood by Hudson as he recuperated from major knee surgery in 2006.

Hudson played 22 of a possible 23 matches this season, carrying Adelaide's rucks as Rhett Biglands was sidelined by a major knee injury from last year's preliminary final against West Coast.

Hudson's departure dramatically leaves Adelaide vulnerable in the ruck division. It has the recuperating 30-year-old Biglands and 21-year-old rookie ruckman John Meesen, drafted from Victoria two years ago, out of contract and set for a raid from Carlton.

Adelaide's other ruck options are novices Ivan Maric and Jonathon Griffin, both aged 21.

Hudson's exit will increase Adelaide's need to accept a deal with Brisbane for West Adelaide-drafted ruckman Cameron Wood.

Hudson is the second Adelaide player to ask to be traded out of West Lakes. He follows key forward Ken McGregor who is seeking to find greater opportunities with the prospect of being signed by any of Fremantle, Richmond and the Bulldogs.

Hudson's VFL club, Werribee, is aligned to the Bulldogs.

Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade also needs a ruckman - more so than a key forward such as McGregor - to cover the absence by retirement of Luke Darcy

[Booney]

You beauty,things are getting worse for them!

Seriously,that could be a huge loss for the Crows,Hudson one of their first couple picked.You would think they would be prepared to pay someone as valuable as him the sort of $$$ he is after.Perhaps they dont value him as much as the fans do,over to you Crow fans.....

[Rik E Boy]

LOL. You evil, evil man Booney!

regards,

REB

[stan]

You beauty,things are getting worse for them!

Seriously,that could be a huge loss for the Crows,Hudson one of their first couple picked.You would think they would be prepared to pay someone as valuable as him the sort of $$$ he is after.Perhaps they dont value him as much as the fans do,over to you Crow fans.....

Huge loss for the crows.
The bulldogs might do ok out of the draft this from the crows, with McGregor and Hudson.

From the crows point of view its a strange one. he was much loved my the cow fans. Biglands will need to be right to go next season with Griffen and Maric in support. I guess this throws a spanner into the works if they wanted to use Biglands up forward while they eased him back into AFL footy.

[Blue Boy]

You beauty,things are getting worse for them!

Seriously,that could be a huge loss for the Crows,Hudson one of their first couple picked.You would think they would be prepared to pay someone as valuable as him the sort of $$$ he is after.Perhaps they dont value him as much as the fans do,over to you Crow fans.....

Huge loss for the crows.
The bulldogs might do ok out of the draft this from the crows, with McGregor and Hudson.

From the crows point of view its a strange one. he was much loved my the cow fans. Biglands will need to be right to go next season with Griffen and Maric in support. I guess this throws a spanner into the works if they wanted to use Biglands up forward while they eased him back into AFL footy.

I think they are trying to keep the wrong bloke - give Huddo what he wants and let big Rhett go me thinks !!!

[JK]

I reckon the Crows have been disrespectful in what they would have offered him ... They have probably clung onto the "we gave you a start" line for too long, but who could blame a young man (in life, not necessarily football) with limited years remaining in the game for wanting to seriously increase his earning?

One would think the Crows have bucketloads of Cap Space, because really, how many big name stars would they have to fork out on at the moment?

[BPBRB]

I reckon the Crows have been disrespectful in what they would have offered him ... They have probably clung onto the "we gave you a start" line for too long, but who could blame a young man (in life, not necessarily football) with limited years remaining in the game for wanting to seriously increase his earning?

One would think the Crows have bucketloads of Cap Space, because really, how many big name stars would they have to fork out on at the moment?

Spot on CP - Hudson has proven his worth but if the Crows think he is that expendable then let's see what they get for him.

[Hondo]

Werribee and the Bulldogs is where he came from and they have made no secret they are after a ruckman and so prob have pumped up his tyres with an offer he can't refuse

Ruck is one are we have a number of options so look at it simply as a chance to get some new players to the club and move on.

Disappointing but we all know the Bulldogs are after a ruckman and the easiest thing is to target an ex-pat ditto Judd

As for criticising the Crows for not paying the $$$, well you could ask the same question about Nick Stevens, Chriss Judd, etc.

When Brendon Lade was talking recently about the offer he rejected from Carlton he openly said they were offering more $$$ and that the Power/Crows can't match the same deals players get in Victoria - difference was he is from here and has played his whole career with Port. Loyalty over-rode the $$$.

[Hondo]

I reckon the Crows have been disrespectful in what they would have offered him ... They have probably clung onto the "we gave you a start" line for too long, but who could blame a young man (in life, not necessarily football) with limited years remaining in the game for wanting to seriously increase his earning?

One would think the Crows have bucketloads of Cap Space, because really, how many big name stars would they have to fork out on at the moment?

Spot on CP - Hudson has proven his worth but if the Crows think he is that expendable then let's see what they get for him.

Lads re-read the headline ..... "Hudson quits Crows"

[JK]

Werribee and the Bulldogs is where he came from and they have made no secret they are after a ruckman and so prob have pumped up his tyres with an offer he can't refuse

Ruck is one are we have a number of options so look at it simply as a chance to get some new players to the club and move on.

Disappointing but we all know the Bulldogs are after a ruckman and the easiest thing is to target an ex-pat ditto Judd

As for criticising the Crows for not paying the $$$, well you could ask the same question about Nick Stevens, Chriss Judd, etc.

When Brendon Lade was talking recently about the offer he rejected from Carlton he openly said they were offering more $$$ and that the Power/Crows can't match the same deals players get in Victoria - difference was he is from here and has played his whole career with Port. Loyalty over-rode the $$$.

I think you're too overly defensive of your football club Hondo ... The point I was trying to make, is surely Adelaide don't have that many stars to pay that they shouldn't have decent $$ floating about ... The three highest paid are probably Goodwin, McLeod and Edwards, great servants of the club no question, but how do they compare against other clubs 3 top shelf players?

As for the title of the thread, I don't think anyone mis-read or misunderstood it ... ONE of the reasons he QUIT is because he wasn't happy with the offer the Crows put to him .. Surely thats pertinent to the discussion?

[Hondo]

CP

It's not me being overly-defensive - its others reading way too much into the situation. Over-emphasising what the Crows offered but minimising what is probably the real reason for the move - Hudson is from there and got offered a great deal to play out his career (age 29, knee recon) at home.

So what? Happens all the time

We get some draft pick or a player to replace a guy who's heart clearly isn't in it anymore. So a door opens as another closes.

I think Rucci has slanted the article a bit TBH and made more out of what is likely a straight forward return-home scenario

[RustyCage]

The Crows are questioning Hudson's appreciation for their taking him from VFL club Werribee as a 25-year-old as the No. 58 pick in the 2003 national draft after an AFL opportunity seemed to have passed him.

So was Hudson supposed to grovel to the Crows for the rest of his career? "

Oh thank you, thank you, you kind people, where would I be without your generousity? Aren't you just the best people in football?"

FFS!

[RustyCage]

I reckon the Crows have been disrespectful in what they would have offered him ... They have probably clung onto the "we gave you a start" line for too long, but who could blame a young man (in life, not necessarily football) with limited years remaining in the game for wanting to seriously increase his earning?

One would think the Crows have bucketloads of Cap Space, because really, how many big name stars would they have to fork out on at the moment?

Spot on CP - Hudson has proven his worth but if the Crows think he is that expendable then let's see what they get for him.

Lads re-read the headline ..... "Hudson quits Crows"

Yeah, but he quit because they gave him a crap offer. If they offered something better, he would have stayed.

[Hondo]

Yeah, but he quit because they gave him a crap offer. If they offered something better, he would have stayed.

Like Nick Stevens and Josh Carr would have stayed???

Or is it just minutely possible that there's more to it?

Why does he think he's suddenly worth more .... mmmm .... maybe he's had a better offer??

[RustyCage]

Yeah, but he quit because they gave him a crap offer. If they offered something better, he would have stayed.

Like Nick Stevens and Josh Carr?

Josh Carr was going no matter what. Nick Stevens situation was very similar. The only Port player that you can put in the same boat as Hudson is Pickett. If we offered him something better, he would have stayed.

[Hondo]

Josh Carr was going no matter what. Nick Stevens situation was very similar. The only Port player that you can put in the same boat as Hudson is Pickett. If we offered him something better, he would have stayed.

Well, I don't think you really know if Hudson is that different from Carr or Stevens, thats my point

[SCD]

Massive loss for the Crows short term...

BUT and I say this looking forward 2 - 3 years this could be the very best thing to happen to this club.. I honestly think the crows have 2 gun ruckman coming through (I really rate Maric - even if he plays for the Magpies in the SANFL!!) and this will just ensure more game time for them and quicker development...

You can't be at the top every year and there is no point in patching up a team to finish 8th or 9th every year like Richmond and Essendon have done.. The Crows need to get some kids into this team and see what we can do to develop them..
They are well on the way with Knights / Van Berlo / Porplyzia, but please - next year play Griffin / Maric / Douglas / Hinge / Vince / Sellar / Tippett and forget about blokes like Matty Bode who's body can't stand up and Biglands or Hutson coming off serious injuries at 28 and 30 years of age.. Get these kids into the team and see if they have what it takes to move the club forward in the years to come...

[JK]

A good post SCD, I don't dispute any of that.

[heater31]

Adelaide offered a two-year deal with a lower annual pay scale.

How much lower is this said pay scale?????????? obviously its peanuts


thanks very much football operations manager its time you got out of there

[Rik E Boy]

Adelaide offered a two-year deal with a lower annual pay scale.

How much lower is this said pay scale?????????? obviously its peanuts


thanks very much football operations manager its time you got out of there

Why not? Every other bastard is going.

regards,

REB