Lachie Henderson requests trade from Carlton, won’t play again this season
UPDATE: LACHIE Henderson has revealed he wanted to play out the season with Carlton despite telling the Blues he wants to be traded.
Carlton
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EXILED Blue Lachie Henderson says he wanted to play out the season but understands Carlton’s choice to sideline him for the remaining three rounds after he requested a trade.
The 25-year-old is adamant that despite reports linking him to Geelong, he is unsure as to where he will play next year and beyond, but says he would have preferred to have the opportunity to don the navy blue at least one more time.
“I am definitely disappointed (not to be playing out the season). I would have liked to have played it out with the boys,” he told the AFL Players’ Association website.
“My form probably wasn’t good enough and I respect the decision of the club. I see where they’re coming from.
“It’s all about moving forward for the footy club and moving in a positive direction – and for me, not to be there next year, there is no real point in me hanging around.
ANDO: WHY BLUES BOOTED LACHIE NOW
“I don’t know what I will do with myself. I will just wait and watch the boys play and hopefully they go really well and finish off the season really well.
“There’s all this speculation out there (about a move to Geelong) and the speculation is going to keep coming after this announcement this morning.
“I definitely don’t know where I am going next year or where I am playing. We’ll just let that happen over the next couple of months.”
The 25-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the year, concedes his poor form this season can partly be put down to the uncertainty surrounding his playing future.
“It was definitely not a decision I made overnight,” Henderson said.
“Like any big decision you make in your life, you think about it for a long time.
“It’s been rolling around in my head for a long time and it’s been a really tough decision to make.
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“I spent six good years at Carlton. I have really enjoyed those years. But for my own happiness and a bit of success I’d like to get, I made the choice to leave.
“I did really struggle trying to tell the boys I was leaving this morning.
“It was literally pack the bags and walk out the door after that meeting.
“It was tough and it was a big shock but it was my decision and I have to live with it.”
Henderson is also calling for more honesty like that which he and Carlton has shown when it comes to player movements.
“With social media these days, there’s all sorts of things flying around, which look, it’s not nice, but I respect that everyone’s got their own opinion,” he said.
“I’d like to see more honesty with how clubs are going to deal with it, how people are going to deal with it. Everyone’s different, everyone’s going to have a different opinion on things, everyone sees things differently and it’d be nice to see a little bit more honesty going around in the AFL world.”
Interim Carlton coach John Barker revealed on Thursday morning Henderson would have been dropped from the Blues team this weekend for poor form, regardless of telling the club of his decision to leave.
In an unprecedented move, Henderson, told his teammates this morning that he wants out of the Blues before their season is complete and will not play again this year.
“Obviously Lachie has been grappling with some sort of decision for a period of time now,” Barker said on Thursday morning.
“His performances have gradually dropped and to the point on the weekend where his output wasn’t great.
“He obviously wasn’t going to be playing senior football for us this weekend anyway.”
Out of contract at season’s end, Henderson has been horribly out of form and has failed to kick a goal in his last five games despite playing as Carlton’s key forward.
He has managed just 16 goals from 16 matches this season.
Henderson will not feature again for Carlton this year, with Barker admitting the rationale behind booting him from the club now is to ensure he does not suffer an injury that would damage his trade currency.
The swingman is not a free agent and therefore any team that wishes to acquire his services will need to come up with a suitable deal for the Blues.
“We need to provide Carlton with the best possible (trade) outcome and we feel that we’ll do that by keeping him uninjured for the next three weeks,” he said.
“We were really clear, we want players in this establishment that want to assume the responsibility that comes with wearing the Carlton Football Club (jumper).
“He obviously didn’t and the decision from our end was fairly easy.”
Carlton football manager Andrew McKay said the Blues were disappointed by Henderson’s decision.
“We are obviously disappointed with Lachie’s decision to request a trade but we want people who yearn to play for our Carlton jumper — and who will accept the responsibility that comes with it,” Blues football manager Andrew McKay said.
“In consultation with our playing leadership group, it was decided it’s in the best interests of the club that Lachie sits out of the remaining three games this season.
“This will allow further opportunity to see how some of our younger players continue to perform at the AFL level.
“Our list management team now has a duty to our Carlton members to get the best possible deal in return for Lachie through the AFL trade period.”
Henderson’s departure after 102 games in navy blue means Carlton will likely to ramp up its pursuit of disgruntled Essendon swingman Jake Carlisle who is out of contract at the end of the season.
Something would have to go drastically wrong for Henderson not to get to the Cats next year. Birregurra boy. Has requested a trade today
— Jon Ralph (@RalphyHeraldSun) August 19, 2015
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