Jack Anthony leaves Danni (and Collingwood)

Sat –Nov 6th 11:26PM- a confirmation on the Herald Sun website reveals Jack Anthony has left Collingwood and will nominate for the pre-season draft.

Take a glass, throw it to the floor and smash to a billion pieces- that’s what happened to my heart. I had no awareness of anything around me, Jack left, he’s gone- that’s it.

I don’t blame Jack, not one bit.

He didn’t leave as a money hungry monster; he left as a player wanting to be presented with opportunity and opportunity is what he deserves.

You know when something devastating happens, and its so cliché but you find that the world around you is crashing down? That’s how I feel, claustrophobic, like the walls are falling in around me, like im sinking underground and the roof is collapsing onto of me.

I can scarce draw breath in between crying.

I leave Healy and Bulman having not reached the extent of my mourning- im not fit for conversation, who wants a tear stained keyboard anyway?

I leave because I need to be alone- so I can grieve properly and I do.

I can’t bring myself to read past the first few lines of the article. Looking down I can see something about Jack having gone in to clear his locker this afternoon, but I can’t read it, I don’t freaking want to and I won’t darn it!

I have been a Collingwood supporter all my life, 18 years.

Never have I had a number on my jumper, until Jack kicked the sealer against the Crows. With a bold and striking number nine etched on his back, he went back and slotted the beauty home. Moments like That define players. It was in that moment that I fell deeply and crazily in love like I never have before.

The decision to bring Tarrant back would have played a massive role in Jack’s choice.

Im almost sure of it and I can assure you, that ill never look at Chris the same way again.

Answer me this-

How can Mick go on to play Davis in the first grand final when he was clearly not fit enough and not motivated, leaving out Jack who would have devoured the experience, on the sidelines not even to be considered as an option? – Disgusting.

I can’t talk about this point anymore; my blood is staring to boil!

No doubt that when he kicks 4 goals against us, wearing another jumper I will die more than a little inside. Mick, I hope you’ll be able to smile when Jack kicks the sealer for the opposition against us, because you know what? I will be beaming at the sight, ill be damn proud of him!

With all my heart I wish Jack the greatest success in the future and will continue to follow his performance with whatever team takes him on (please god NOT CARLTON OR ESSENDON ILL JUST DIE) While it will take me a significant period to get over his departure, let it be know that Jack will ALWAYS be my number nine, one of my Collingwood boys deep down, having been a supporter himself.

– I’ll never love another player again.

About Danielle Eid

Im 23, cute and most importantly im the Collingwood Football Club's very own PRINCESS!! :) A Latrobe Uni graduate from Bachelor of Journalism. Admirer of Samantha Lane and Jon Ralph. Not your typical 'Robot Journalist' Loves Alex Fasolo

Comments

  1. Damian Watson says

    As much as I feel sympathy for you Danni, I’m looking forward to see Jack in the navy blue guernsey!

    He might even don the number 9 on the back of his jumper as well!

  2. I can see this happening many times next year:

    “Boomer grabs it from the ruck contest, flicks a handball out to Swallow, he’s off, kicks to McKinley in the forward pocket, who spots Jack Anthony one-out in the goalsquare, and with a deft little push, Anthony has marked, and will kick a goal for North Melbourne.”

    Bad luck Danni, don’t give up on having favourite players. It’s a part of our game.

  3. Danni,

    I’m really beginning to hope that young Tigers such as Ben Griffiths, Jayden Post and Pat Contin never kick a winning goal in the dying seconds of a match, because it seems quite a lot of players who do that end up going backwards – i.e. Anthony, Jordan McMahon…

    Maybe Troy Taylor’s goal being disallowed against the Power was a blessing in disguise?

  4. Maria! :(

    *HUGE big hugs*

    I’m so sorry honey, I know your pain. Some of it. Gazza, Mummy – but they left for the money. Poor Jack – as sad as it is that he won’t be in the black and white anymore, at least he should get the opportunity we all know he deserves at a new club. For him, as an individual, this is the best option (while Mick is still involved at the club). I’ll do my best to try to convice Geelong to take him – we need more quality forwards, and you don’t mind us too much, do you? Imagine Jack and Moooooooooons in the same line-up!

    And I know all about coaches picking favourites, making dumb decisions.

    When the Marias become the senior coaches at North Melbourne and Richmond, we’ll make things change. Or, maybe we’ll make the problem worse :P Either way, we’ll be happy :-D

    xoxoxoxox

  5. Steve Healy says

    I’m happy that you object him to going to Carlton and Essendon but NOT melbourne! yay! (not that we need him anyway)I’m sad for your loss.

  6. Stephen Cooke says

    I jumped on the website as soon as I heard that Anthony had left. Oh Dani, poor Dani, there’s no emoticon for what you must be feeling

  7. Dave Nadel says

    I’m sorry for your loss Danni, but Jack made the right decision. It wasn’t just Mick, Jack actually isn’t in Collingwood’s best twenty-two.

    I know you said on Nick’s Bulletin Board that Dawes was retained when he only kicked one goal in a game while Jack was dropped in similar circumstances but that is because Dawes does so much more than just kick goals, he also creates opportunities for other players to kick goals, through crashing packs, through knocking the ball down to the crumbers, through his ability to take contested marks.

    Jack kicks goals, he was probably the second best kick for goal at Collingwood (Didak is better) but that is about all Jack did, even in his best year (2009). He lead well, took the uncontested mark and kicked accurately. But he didn’t create opportunities for other players the way Chris Dawes and Leroy Brown do.

    I would have liked to see Jack stay at Collingwood, he barracked for Collingwood before he was drafted and I always like to see Magpie supporting boys living the dream at the club. I would have also liked the club to keep him as insurance in case Dawes, Cloke, Brown or Macaffer got injured or suspended but the sad fact was that he was not going to get a regular place in the team if everyone was fit and it was better for his career to go to a club with a vacancy for a tall forward.

  8. 1- Hey Duckie, Sorry buyt i refuse to deal with Jack playing for Carlton! nothing personal but…nope i just Can’t deal with it! Too much of a rivalry for me to give him blessings to go there, youd understand that.

    2- Josh,i would like to see Jack still in stripes, Royal blue and white are fine with me. Since the Sav Rocca departure you would know that North is pretty much my 2nd team- Jack has my blessing to go to North.

    3- Adam, either you are onto something or you are becoming superstitious.

  9. 4- thanks for the comment Maria :(
    and also thanks for the vent session! i needed it, and there might be a few left in me. Seriously i can’t wait for Bucks to take over at Collingwood.

    5- Steve, i didnt say it beacuse i thought it was obvious i wouldnt want Jack to play for Melbourne- hed look really REALLY bad in that jumper…geeze!

    6- Stephen, i emailed you a long winded reply.

    7- I agree and support Jack’s walkout 150%
    I notice you say it wasnt JUST Mick, so i can assume that i am right to an extent about Mick playing a part in the mismanagement of Jack. Gee i hope your user name on Nicks isnt ‘defender’ or something, i kinda attacked the bloke! lol i also got a private message, from Rod who writes on here asking if it was me on Nicks.

    As for the Dawes thing, can you say the same for Cloke really? honestly? can you say that its fair with his inaccurate kicking and also the fact that he doesnt, in my opinion do as much as Dawes- is it fair that Cloke was chosen for the side week after week? Also look at Leon, yes he was dropped…barely but he should have been dropped just as much as Jack in my opinion- Leon had a really fudged year.
    As for Leroy- wouldnt have touched him, he deserved his spot, more than Dawes even.

  10. Dave Nadel says

    Danni, no I am not Defender. Defender is a moron and I suspect that he is younger than you are. (That was not meant to be an ageist comment. There are some terrific young posters on Nicks, as there are on the Almanac, but Defender has more testosterone than brains)

    Mick does play favourites but he is still the best coach in the AFL and we wouldn’t have won the Flag without him this year.

    Cloke doesn’t create opportunities for crumbers the way Dawes does but (sorry Danni) he still does a lot more for the team than Jack. To start with he is the best contested mark at the club and possibly in the whole competition. He leads brilliantly, he
    wins the ball lots and he never “sooks” if he is beaten. If his kicking improved he would be as good as Nick Riewoldt. In most games that Jack and Trav have both been on the field and fit you will find that Travis has probably had twice as many shots at goal as Jack. They may have kicked similar totals because Jack is an accurate kick and Trav is not, but even a Cloke mark followed by a shanked kick means that the ball is in the Pies’ forward line rather than their opponents’

    There is no point in comparing the treatment of Leon with the treatment of Jack Anthony. Apart from the fact that they were not competing against each other for places in the side, Leon’s role is quite different to Jack’s

    To start with, Leon was part of Mick and Eddie’s reconcilliation project. Collingwood supporters had an appalling reputation for racism (exposed in 1993 by Nicky Winmar and followed by some behaviour by club officials which was less than helpful). Mick was detirmined to have an indigenous player that was a crowd favourite at Collingwood and Davis was earmarked for that role. This sometimes led to Leon getting games that he might not quite have deserved.

    As he got older (and much better) Leon was also seen as role model and mentor for other indigenous players. I am quite convinced that Leon played a role in the emergence Sharrod Wellingham and Brad Dick. You are right, Danni, that Leon does get more chances than some other players but he earns them with his behaviour around the club. And whatever else you can criticise Eddie and Mick for they are completely right in their attempts to change the Club’s culture
    on racial issues. You are too young to know how terrible the attitudes were of a minority of supporters in the 80s and 90s.

    I loathe the way Eddie has corporatised the Club but Eddie and Mick get full credit for changing the racial culture of the club.

  11. Dave, I have taken your explanation into consideration and wholly respect your knowledge and opinion as a ‘vintage’ wise Collingwood man. Good to know you are not the defender- im appalled by the reactions of some and wouldn’t be surprised if they boo the hell out of Jack when he plays against us- and so you can be sure that I will stand up and cheer my lungs out if he kicks a goal against us.

    While my opinion will remain unchanged (each to their own, im a stubborn Taurus ect ect) im glad to say that I have learned a bit more in regards to what you said about how the club handled racial issues.

    While you may think that we wouldn’t have won the flag with out Mick- and that’s fine, it’s your own opinion- I personally disagree. Mick wasn’t the one executing the plan, kicking the goals, defending and rucking it out. It was the players that won us the flag. A teacher (coach) can only teacher their students so much but it’s up the student to study hard put in their work and successfully perform on the exam. Mick was there in 02 and 03, we didn’t win then, and that’s why I think it’s the players that make or break the final.
    Please don’t take any offence to my disagreement; it’s merely my personal opinion.

    I have nothing against Eddie- I love the Prez!
    As for Travis, I won’t be swayed completely until I see him work as hard as Leroy.

  12. Danni,

    you need to look at this from another perspective; through rose coloured glasses.

    1) He can still be your man. It’s not as if he has walked out of your life. He is still there and will be a lot happier.

    2) He’s said to be going to a better club (marginally)

    3) Navy blue and white would suit you.

    4) Just imagine how good you would feel if he went to the Cats instead of Carlton.

    5) It will be much worse next year when Pendles goes to GWS. At least you will be able to see Jack in and around the Melbourne burbs.

  13. How do I tell my 8yo that his friend won’t play in black & white stripes any more?

    How do I tell him that a guy who was only a young 21 at the time himself and showed enough maturity to ask for my son’s name during a kicking drill and made him feel special for an entire clinic by calling him by his name rather than ‘buddy’ or ‘mate’ or ‘kid’ is a Pie hero no more?

    It will hurt him seeing him in different colours. It’s probably a right of passage for any young Australian child to have their favourite player change clubs. Mine was John Annear. My son’s is Jack Anthony.

    Jack, you will go far in life if you show everyone the same respect as you did to the children at the Montmorency clinic last July. Good luck.

  14. Phantom-
    1) that is true
    2)-depends which club
    3) thanks but no thanks
    4)Agreed i would feel very happy and have given Jack blessings to go to preferably Geelong or North Melbourne.
    5)Excuse me!
    (and if you find out, let me know the specifics of the suburb, id love to see Jack again)

  15. Hover- :(
    I feel for your kid and can relate.
    Sav Rocca was my man, i was like 5 or 6 yearsold and i loved him to pieces- then he left. I cant remember how i coped with it, but i found myself fond of his new home, North because aslong as i got to watch him play i seemed happy enough.
    I was there at his last game, it was against us, i was seated on the same side which the player did the gaurd of honor, crying into my scarf- you just dont forget players like that, players that are your heroes. :(
    Whatever you do make sure your son doesnt feel any anger towards Jack, he would be emotional but don’t let him react wronly like most Collingwood supporters are- ready to boo his socks off and regarding him as their new ‘most hated player.’

    Im glad you mention Jack’s caring side. For what you hear, people assume he’s arrogant and too proud. What they don’t know is that he’s really a sweet guy, as seen in what he did with your son. I have number nine on my jumper- i just hope they dont give it to some loser.

  16. You’re a legend Danni.

  17. So Danni, does Andrew Krakouer deserve the noble honour of donning the prestigious number 9? How about young ruckman Jon Ceglar? Or will Tarrant move to 9 because his old number 20 is being worn (and worn well) by Ben Reid?

  18. Tarrant is getting a number in the 20’s, possibly 23 or 24.

  19. 17- No not Krakouer!!!!
    No not a ruckman!
    Tarrant has taken over Rusling’s number 2 :(
    If i could choose anyone to take it, id choose Jarryd Blair- 47 is just too big of a number for him.

  20. Pity James Kelly wears no 9 for the hoops Danni.

    How about 29 if he goes to the Cats.

  21. What if Toovey gets promoted to number 9? Maybe you should’ve got a velcroe job on your jumper..

  22. 20- Any chance you can….somehow mysteriously make Kelly’s number 9 disappear.. ;) catch my drift?

  23. 21- ill simply retire my jumper if that happens Josh! Dont forget the 9 on my jumper has been signed by Jack himself. :)

  24. Hmm, Kelly had a pretty good season this year, he deserves to be moved up a bit, maybe…number 2?

  25. I knew there was a good reason to why i stay up so late, its the time the news for the next day is written up by jurnos!
    – i predict a Presti retirement
    (Okay fine i read it on the Herald Sun website)
    Another Magpie flys away…. :(

  26. Danielle,

    Sorry to see you so upset about Jack’s departure. You clearly held (hold?) a candle to him.

    I found him an enigma on the field. Capable of a srong mark, a radar-like conversion, a deft pick up & handball. But he just didn’t seem to win enough ball for some reason and he was certainly not in out best 22 at the end. He also seemed to struggle against the close checking gun defenders…Lake & Scarlett clearly had the edge over him.

    I wish him well. Remember he will always be abel to say that he was a Pie player – regardless of how long – and they are all just passin’ through.

    Keep your chin up.

    Go Pies!

    Bakes

    P.S. Bask in the memory of what was a superb year. 2010……The Year of The Swarm

  27. Thanks Bakes- Yeah ill miss him thats for sure.

    Dad just came home with my favourite pizza and used it as a way to gently break the news of Jack’s departure thinking i was unaware. Ill let him know that chocolate is something i am more open to, than i ofcorse i went into a rant about how badly Collingwood treated Jack- Dad is still pondering how i came up with such things and mum is wondering how she went wrong- a football loving daughter? say it aint so. lol :)

  28. Geez,
    At yesterday’s press conference, Geoff Walsh gave Jack Anthony a couple of whacks to go on with.
    And very uncalled for I would have thought. Along the lines of “No club would want to build its
    team around John Anthony”, “We received no interest in him during trade week”…that sort of stuff.
    No need for it all, really, regardless of the circumstances.
    Fair play to any footballer looking to play more senior footy, I say.
    Smokie Dawson.

  29. you can have him back if you like

  30. Beautifully said Michael. Have your crab back I say!

  31. Danielle says

    good! now gimme!!!!

  32. I don’t know what got this going again but I can say that Mr Anthony has been playing very well in defence in recent weeks for Subiaco (they had the bye this weekend). He’s not finished yet.

  33. Danielle says

    Les i was as confused are you are when i found replies to this old piece in my email! lol

  34. Richard Naco says

    Nice of the Fockers to recruit him on behalf of Subi, eh?

  35. He knows what it’s like to kick a goal!

  36. Danielle says

    Rick, the tears!!! :( <3

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