Jake Lever’s walkout leaves bitter taste in Adelaide
THE Jake Lever storm that erupted yesterday is only getting worse, with accusations of lying and angry walkouts being exposed.
THE Jake Lever storm continues to dominate trade talk in the AFL as Adelaide skipper Taylor Walker is understood to be furious with the defender.
Lever yesterday declared his intent to leave the Crows, nominating the Melbourne Demons as his club of choice in 2018. The off-contract star’s desire to leave was a rumour with a long shelf life this season and confirmation of his imminent departure hasn’t gone down well with Crows players.
Melbourne legend Garry Lyon said Walker was “furious” with the 21-year-old as he phoned the playing group to let his teammates know of his decision.
“Tex Walker, as the captain of the football club, was furious and let him (Lever) know in no uncertain manner,” Lyon told SEN Breakfast. “I’m told it was very aggressive.”
Footy reporter Sam McClure said that wasn’t the only relationship to sour in Adelaide, the bad blood so strong the young gun may not even attend the club’s best and fairest awards night on Friday.
“There have been senior players at the Adelaide football club who have been unhappy about this situation for several months now,” McClure said.
“It’s been going on at training and it’s been going on behind the scenes. It started off as banter — it increased to more than just that. In the last 48 hours it has got to the point where the pressure valve had to be released.
“When Jake Lever picked up the phone and decided to call every player on the list to explain what his decision was, and he was seeking a request home to the Melbourne footy club and to go home to Victoria to be closer to family, there were some players that accepted his phone call and were grateful for it.
“There were others, including the captain Taylor Walker who weren’t so happy, and the phone call was very short, and his intentions were made very clear.
“The exit meeting between the head of footy Brett Burton and (coach) Don Pyke didn’t go so amicably.
“My guess is you will not see Jake Lever at the best and fairest on Friday.”
Lever’s manager Ned Guy told NAB Trade Radio on Wednesday some of Lever’s teammates didn’t even want him playing finals with them.
Lever said his request was spurred by a desire to be closer to his friends and family in the Victorian capital, but on Tuesday Adelaide football manager Brett Burton dropped a not-so-subtle dig at the star, saying his trade request was purely a money grab.
Club CEO Andrew Fagan backed up that assertion on Wednesday, saying any suggestion Lever was moving for personal reasons was wrong and it was motivated by coin.
“I’m super confident it was about money. His manager and Jake himself told us that,” Fagan told SEN Breakfast.
“I also understand that it’s never about one thing, but through his management and Jake, money was really important.”
Reports suggest Melbourne is offering Lever a deal worth $750,000 over four years, a sum that would make him the highest paid player in Adelaide.
But the Crows aren’t the only ones fuming about this situation. Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes said the Demons took exception to the juvenile way in which Adelaide handled the negotiating process.
“What was put to Adelaide was a very reasonable offer from the Melbourne Footy Club in their mind. Just looking at the Draft order now, Melbourne have pick 10. That was certainly on the table for the Crows and also their pick No. 2 in the Draft is pick No. 27. So both 10 and 27 and potentially a swap of picks involved there for Jake Lever,” Cornes said on Sportsday SA.
“So this negotiation has been ongoing for a long time and that offer was slid across the table to the Crows official. He looked at it, shut his computer, didn’t say a word, got up and left the cafe. Just walked out. No dialogue whatsoever and it was quite a long walk to the exit of this cafe.
“They tried to call him back — both Lever’s manager and the Melbourne Footy Club. (He) didn’t want a bar of it and it is very, very testy between the Adelaide Footy Club and the Melbourne Footy Club.
“Some further emails were then sent the following day and clearly Melbourne were not happy with the way negotiations are going.”
Melbourne’s general manager of football operations Josh Mahoney confirmed on Wednesday the Demons put their first and second round Draft picks on the table to convince the Crows to send Lever their way, and dismissed accusations the move was all about money.
“We have a deal on the table with Adelaide right now and it involves our first and second round (Draft) picks,” Mahoney told SEN Breakfast.
“One of those will potentially be a future. That’s our offer and we look forward to sitting down (with Adelaide).
“In terms of the money, what I can say is other clubs have offered more money than us for him to return to Victoria. It’s within our pay scale and we are really comfortable with the offer we made.
“He chose us based on the plan we got, the list we got and the improvements we have shown.”
Burton said Lever’s wish to head to Melbourne is “irrelevant” in Adelaide’s eyes and the club is prepared to talk to any of the 10 Victorian clubs to get a deal done. But Guy is adamant it’s Demons or bust for his client.
“Jake will only be playing for Melbourne next year,” Guy told SEN Breakfast. “He won’t sign off with any other deal.
“It has been in motion for a fair while now. Melbourne was pretty fond of Jake all the way through, they contemplated taking him in the draft.
“Jake had his time at Adelaide and we worked through things with them, but we couldn’t get a point where we could reach an agreement, and that probably left the door ajar and Melbourne swooped in.”
Originally published as Jake Lever’s walkout leaves bitter taste in Adelaide