There are reports of "serious unrest" inside the Essendon Football Club after ruckman Tom Bellchambers was not selected for a farewell game against the Demons in round 18.
Bellchambers announced his retirement prior to the 'dead rubber' game for the Bomber, with the veteran fully-fit and available for selection.
Essendon are a club under the pump at the moment with the futures of Joe Daniher, Orazio Fantasia and Adam Saad all unclear, with the trio seemingly destined to depart Tullamarine.
St Kilda great Leigh Montagna said it was a move he was surprised by.
โI was disappointed with this. Tom Bellchambers, heโs not a four-time premiership player or multiple All-Australian, but he is one of the more popular players at that footy club. What heโs been through, going through that drugs crisis, I just thought Essendon missed a trick here,โ Montagna said on Fox Footyโsย The First Crack.
โWith a club thatโs still trying to find their identity and build their brand off the back of the drugs saga. A player like that, who meant so much and was fit and available, I think they really could have played him and made a big difference to this footy club.
โI understand itโs left a bit of a bitter taste in a lot of the playerโs mouths that have played a lot of footy with Tom Bellchambers that thought, hang on a minute, why wouldnโt you exit him and your stars in the right way, and play him in his final game? And now thereโs a little bit of angst there.
โTheyโve missed a trick, we saw it with Kade Simpson (at Carlton) and the Hawks as well, it can actually be a wonderful moment for a playerโs career, and for someone like Tom Bellchambers whoโs been through so much at that footy club and been so through hard many times - it wouldโve been nice, in a game with no finals on the line, to have played him and just gone out in the right way.โ
โMy understanding is thereโs some serious unrest at Essendon at the moment. Itโs reflected outside the club and itโs exactly the same inside the club,โ Morris said onย The First Crack.
โThe best example I can give, aside from Tom Bellchambers, is Adam Saad - whoโs a consummate professional, heโs missed one game in three years, thereโs a four-year offer on the table for him.
โBut he hasnโt re-signed and I believe itโs because he doesnโt feel at this moment in time - he might be convinced, but at this moment in time - that the club is going in a way thatโs going to see them win a flag in the next few years.
โWho knows whatโs going to happen with (Orazio) Fantasia, who knows whatโs going to happen with (Joe) Daniher, there might be other players as well.
โThere is unrest there and I wouldnโt be surprised if thereโs some serious changes to their playing list and system of coaches over the off-season that reflect a club that, albeit didnโt have a terrible season, but performed well below where they wouldโve expected.โ
Essendon champion Tim Watson confirmed there was "unrest" over the treatment of Bellchambers.
โI think thereโs unrest (at Essendon), but I think thereโs always unrest when you underachieve as a group and then youโve got to exit senior players, I think that can lead to unrest,โ Watson toldย SEN Breakfast.
โThere was certainly heartache around those who were long-term teammates of Tom Bellchambers โ thatโs real.
โI think they should have (given Bellchambers a farewell game). I saw in the interview at the weekend that Ben Rutten said Bellchambers had a disrupted year and his conditioning wasnโt there.
โI donโt think his conditioning was there, but when you canโt make the finals and you have got a long-term servant of the football club who has done the hard yards with your team, then I just think itโs a nice way to exit a player.
"If you exit players well in this game, then there is a level of gratitude that is then reciprocated and it then spreads through the group in terms of how you treat your players.
โI think that can lead to unrest in this instance because heโs a very popular bloke Bellchambers, particularly with those that have played with him for a long time, then I think that can lead to unrest.โ
