Louie Gives Rory Sloane Some Free Agency Advice

'Follow the Dangerfield blueprint.'


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Triple M’s Dale Lewis has given Rory Sloane some advice, telling not to give in to media speculation about his free agency status and focus on playing his best footy, much like Patrick Dangerfield did.

Sloane is an unrestricted free agent at the end of 2018, with speculation already beginning about the star Crow’s future.

But Louie has called for that to end by saying Sloane should "follow the Dangerfield blueprint".

Listen to the audio:

 

Louie called recent suggestions Sloane could make a decision now “ridiculous”, saying he doesn’t want the league to turn into the NRL.

"History will tell you right now no player has given his intentions at the beginning of a season, let alone pre-season,” he said on Triple M's Rush Hour with Jars and Louie.

"Our landscape, and we speak about it every single year, is not ready for the NRL-type defections of letting you know that actually I’m playing out the year but come season end I’m going home."

Louie gave Sloane some advice on what to do, telling him to follow the blueprint set by Dangerfield.

"Here’s my advice for Sloaney…you go and you play your best footy,” he said.

“You get your manager to come out early on and say we’re not dealing with it until the end of the year. 

"So you get the hoo hah now, let them jump up and down and write their 15 stories a day about it and whether he’s gone or staying or whatever, and you go about, just like Paddy did, and give your best on the park and play your best football.

"Then when it gets to around round 16 or round 17, like Paddy did, and if you’ve made your mind up then…you inform the footy club, just like Paddy did, that although you guys have been great to me I really need to head home from a family perspective, or whatever your reasons are, and I’m going to go.”

Louie told Sloane to keep the decision in-house to avoid all the media speculation, so that he could focus on playing his best football.

"Keep that in house, play out your year, give it your best, and then...make the announcement that he’s either staying or going,” he said.

"Don’t do it any different. Dangerfield was the first person to be able to control the media, with the help of the football club, and still play great footy.”

Louie said how Dangerfield, and even Jake Lever, handled their final contact year allowed them to play their best.

"If that’s not the blueprint - and even Lever to a degree, Jake’s form didn’t suffer (last year),” he said.

"This club’s great at not giving public comment and oxygen onto this story. 

"My advice to him is to follow the Dangerfield blueprint and just get comfortable whenever you are (making the decision) and inform the footy club in a private nature, so they are prepared to head into an off-season so they can replace him."

Ethan Meldrum

24 January 2018

Article by:

Ethan Meldrum




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