Mick Malthouse criticises Mitch Clark for reluctance to rejoin Melbourne and look elsewhere

MICK Malthouse has criticised Mitch Clark, saying his reluctance to rejoin Melbourne was wrong as clubs queue up to poach the troubled forward.

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MICK Malthouse has criticised Mitch Clark, saying his reluctance to rejoin Melbourne was wrong.

As Collingwood and Essendon queue up to poach the troubled forward, the Carlton coach said the Demons had every right to feel cheated if Clark resumed his career elsewhere.

Clark, 25, is still on Melbourne’s list and comes out of contract at the end of October. He is on the brink of a shock comeback only five months after quitting because of mental health problems.

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“If I was them and he’s still on their list, I’d be filthy if he pulls it and goes to some other club,” Malthouse said.

“I would be filthy because they’ve gone out of their way to get him ... they would have paid big money, there’s no doubt they paid him big money because he was on his way to Fremantle and he was hijacked on the way through.

“Hijacked means they put the proposition to him and he accepted it.”

Malthouse said Melbourne coach Paul Roos and his club had to play hardball in their pursuit of an equitable trade.

“If he’s still on their list and if I was Melbourne, I would be demanding exactly what a 6ft 7in (200cm) key forward demands,” Malthouse said on Adelaide radio station 5AA.

“I don’t care — well, I do care what illness he’s had — but it’s not reflective of the trade bait. If he’s going to be traded, he’s got to accept that he took on responsibility to sign a three-year contract with Melbourne. He didn’t complete it and now he wants to play for someone else? No, no, no. I hope Melbourne haven’t cut him off the list. If they haven’t they should demand a trade for him.”

Malthouse’s comments follow similar criticism from former Richmond and Western Bulldogs coach Terry Wallace, and Melbourne great David Schwarz said the Demons were blindsided.

“The club have been caught off-guard,” Schwarz said on SEN.

“They thought they did this in good intentions and if there was any possibility of him returning to the game that he’d come back to Melbourne, and that’s clearly not the case now.”

Originally published as Mick Malthouse criticises Mitch Clark for reluctance to rejoin Melbourne and look elsewhere