Toast Fremantle's 2nd pick: Harley Balic

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Clems Knee said:
But wouldn't it be nice if people didn't believe everything they read without considering who was writing it?
Or give themselves a filter so that they don't overreact and write stuff that with a bit of consideration, they probably wouldn't?
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Yes , My old pappy used to tell me "Believe nothing what you hear and only half of what you see"
 
The kid will be a champ-can't wait to see him in action.

He'll make some good mates at the club, a lot of younger blokes around his age from Melbourne, he'll be fine. Weller, Langdon, Croz, Sheridan - they'll take him under their wing. The inter-state boys tend to stick together so it's important that the foundation is there. Mick Barlow will also be a good influence I think.

New facilities out at Cockburn and the new Perth Stadium - not a bad time to be drafted to the club. He said he's only been to town once for a 18's carnival game so it'll all be new and exciting. I'm sure the club will fly his family over when they need to as well.

Just for those people saying get on with it, play where you're drafted etc etc... Just hints of irony when we were all up in arms at GWS not trading McCarthy.
 

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PurpleReign said:
For some reason I find some posts on this thread very disturbing and I just can't let it go. I mean people sometimes say some dumb things on here and some even say some very offensive things on here but some of the posts here directed at Harley's Dad have been deliberately hurtful. Is this how we greet a new family to our footy club? We here on big footy are the self proclaimed hard core "supporters" of the club, surely we would treat a new draftee more respectfully than the mere barrackers would.
So what if his Dad offered to buy his contract. We don't know whether the offer was serious or whether his Dad used humour to skirt around an emotionally charged situation as us men often do. I think if Harley's Dad had a serious conversation with him about sitting out of footy for a couple of years Harley would have been in a far more sombre mood when he spoke to the journalist and I'm pretty sure Harley wouldn't have blurted that information out to the first journalist he spoke to.
I hope neither of his parents let curiosity get the better of them and take a peek here to see how the the most avid supporters are reacting to the arrival of their son because by the second page we're already calling his Dad a sook, a flog and a *******. Now I know parents are warned against visiting grubby little sites like this but maybe they haven't attended the social media awareness classes yet, afterall it is only 1 day since the draft was held. I hope his brothers don't come on here, I hope his aunts and uncles don't pay us a visit and I hope none of his mates from his junior footy club take a squiz because like me I'm sure that they would be appalled.
When you post in a thread like this you represent the club we support, whether you like it or not. And even if your comment was meant to be jocular or light hearted, believe me, it doesn't come across like that.
Being a father with sons in their late teens I understand what Ed is going through and of course he wouldn't stand in the way of his son's dreams. But I found my oldest son's 17th, 18th and 19th years to be incredibly enjoyable and rewarding. Graduating from high school, getting his licence, buying his first car, taking him for his first legal drink on his 18th, him offering to take me for a drink on his 19th, university, first proper job, there are just so many life long memories in those 3 years. Ed knows this, what loving parent wouldn't offer to buy his son's contract as an expression of his love. Parenting is hard work so when the good stuff comes around you selfishly want it to last forever.
I don't want to be all preachy about this, but we had an opportunity here to make the Balic's son feel welcome and to let the parents know that it was a privilege for our club to draft a very talented young man and that he was coming to a supportive environment where he would be encouraged and appreciated and we stuffed it up. I reckon it would have been amazing for the parents of AP and Weller when they heard the Purple Haze cheer their son's every possession on their debuts. That's how we should have approached this "toast" thread.
The most disappointing aspect of all this is that some of the comments came from solid Freo BF citizens, whose posts are normally humble, measured and intelligent and also quite humorous from time to time. I can only assume you are not parents.
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I feel the same, a good with Ross would put any concerns to rest. They would know that boy was going to be well looked after. Plus Harley & Darcy are great mates and would look for other.

have a mate drafted to the same club would make things a little smoother. At least I hope so.
 
Clems Knee said:
I think he has had the surgery.
From Going Places:
"He met with renowned surgeon Greg Hoy, who noted there were already signs of arthritis in the joint potentially developing down the track, so Balic required surgery as soon as possible. In early August, he had the operation done at Epworth Hospital and stayed overnight to recover."
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-11-17/going-places-nothing-will-be-the-same-again
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He must be the only surgeon in the country that operates on broken bones/joints. He was my surgeon when I broke a few fingers years ago and is mentioned as the surgeon for every sports star in Australia that breaks a bone (I am not a sports star). He has stacks of memorabilia on his wall from all these sports stars he works on.
 
Dockers Fan said:
I feel the same, a good with Ross would put any concerns to rest. They would know that boy was going to be well looked after. Plus Harley & Darcy are great mates and would look for other.

have a mate drafted to the same club would make things a little smoother. At least I hope so.
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Im sure it helped Lauchie and Forster when they were drafted together.
 
Never heard so much hyped up ill informed drivel. Bloke cracks a one liner and the world goes bananas. You folks probably think that what a politician/banker/lawyer tells you is fact too.
The kid's a ripper. He's a ripper because he has a great family who can make light of a pressure moment, just like he can on the footy field. The only mistake here was that there were 37 chances to pick him first that others missed out on.
 
moonhead68 said:
Never heard so much hyped up ill informed drivel. Bloke cracks a one liner and the world goes bananas. You folks probably think that what a politician/banker/lawyer tells you is fact too.
The kid's a ripper. He's a ripper because he has a great family who can make light of a pressure moment, just like he can on the footy field. The only mistake here was that there were 37 chances to pick him first that others missed out on.
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Yep, Mountains out of molehills.

Although most of the posts here i took as them being sarcastic.

Very happy with the pickup now I've done some homework. Looks to be a very good player.
 

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prpl_jss said:
The douchery in this thread is outstanding.
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So much douchery it's spilled out into other threads where the real douchery lives.

Hello, douchebags. *waves*
 
The footage on the freo website reminds me of Crozier so much, could be a steal at 38 but i am not sure how many crozier types a team can have.
Obviously Balic looks to play more midfield so hopefully he develops into that role more as the HFF should be sewn up by Croz in the future
 
moonhead68 said:
Never heard so much hyped up ill informed drivel. Bloke cracks a one liner and the world goes bananas. You folks probably think that what a politician/banker/lawyer tells you is fact too.
The kid's a ripper. He's a ripper because he has a great family who can make light of a pressure moment, just like he can on the footy field. The only mistake here was that there were 37 chances to pick him first that others missed out on.
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What do you know about the kid? Have you seen him play? (serious question)
 
Just thought I'd pop in to say there were similar scenes following Brent Reilly's selection by the Crows back in 2001. Parents in tears etc etc. Brent quickly became incredibly close mates with several Crows players, started dating a local Adelaide girl and never appeared to contemplate moving back to Melbourne. He may not have been an elite player but he still managed 200+ AFL games and made an AA squad so safe to say he would've found another club interested in him if he'd wanted to leave. He's since married that Adeaide girl and seems fairly settled here. For a fair whack of time he was the Crows "go to guy" when dealing with potential Victorian recruits, as in he'd go along to meet them with the Coaches to talk about the club/city.

Us "interstate" clubs are always going to be at a disadvantage when it comes to Vic recruits. What's particularly frustrating is that the Vic media seems to delight in it when a Victorian player "returns home" (trust me we've copped a lot of it over recent years). I wouldn't buy too much in to it.
 
FantasticShirt said:
Just thought I'd pop in to say there were similar scenes following Brent Reilly's selection by the Crows back in 2001. Parents in tears etc etc. Brent quickly became incredibly close mates with several Crows players, started dating a local Adelaide girl and never appeared to contemplate moving back to Melbourne. He may not have been an elite player but he still managed 200+ AFL games and made an AA squad so safe to say he would've found another club interested in him if he'd wanted to leave. He's since married that Adeaide girl and seems fairly settled here. For a fair whack of time he was the Crows "go to guy" when dealing with potential Victorian recruits, as in he'd go along to meet them with the Coaches to talk about the club/city.

Us "interstate" clubs are always going to be at a disadvantage when it comes to Vic recruits. What's particularly frustrating is that the Vic media seems to delight in it when a Victorian player "returns home" (trust me we've copped a lot of it over recent years). I wouldn't buy too much in to it.
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Then whinge when an "interstater" wants to leave a Vic club.
 
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