Carney and his agent have acted like mercenaries that much is clear. Eland's comment that 12 months ago Carney insisted the club see out his contract yet then wants to walk when it suits him rings very true. Carney should have negotiated a deal with SFC for next season, as is his right, but played out his contract with us. Instead he snaked around and weaseled his way out of his contract.

But in saying that the club have made major mistakes in my opinion.

First the public statement they made when omitting Carney from the Adelaide game. It was true Carney was not committed and had already negotiated his deal with SFC, but publically to question his professionalism backed us into a corner. There was no turning back from there. The club should have said that Carney was omitted while discussions were ongoing. Simple, short and to the point. Privately what they really thought should have remained private while contracted to the Jets.

The second, of course, is after insisting that we would get a player swap to back down all for 80k is a joke. If the Jets could not get the players they wanted they should have just kept Carney. Instead they strengthen a rival and send a message to every player in the squad and other club that we can pushed around and stripped of our players whenever it suits them. All for 80k. What happens next time when its a younger player we want to keep. If we had of held firm, I beleive Arnie would have made it clearer to Hoole/Naumoff that he was willing to sacrifice them for Carney. Instead Arnie knew we would roll and we did not disappoint.