THE playing future of Lance Whitnall should be known by tomorrow after the out-of-contract Blue meets several clubs today, including Melbourne.

Carlton chief executive Michael Malouf said the Blues would not be in contact with Whitnall over the weekend, having tabled an offer the club believed to be "both responsible and fair".

"Lance knows all the issues." Malouf said. "We're expecting to hear from him early next week."

"I think it's a situation where he wants to look after his own best interests and he's had to take a hefty pay cut in a season where he's had one of his best seasons in 10 years.

"Yet there's other players who have had terrible seasons and they got $200,000 pay rises, so you work it out. I'm not disappointed with Carlton footy club, I'm just disappointed with the situation

Whitnall to know tomorrow if he is still a Blue
By Melissa Ryan
October 2, 2005

THE playing future of Lance Whitnall should be known by tomorrow after the out-of-contract Blue meets several clubs today, including Melbourne.

While Whitnall's manager Ricky Nixon yesterday said he would be surprised if Carlton let Whitnall and Brendan Fevola go, Melbourne has made no secret of its interest in Whitnall. It will gauge his response to its overtures today before trade week kicks off tomorrow.

Carlton chief executive Michael Malouf said the Blues would not be in contact with Whitnall over the weekend, having tabled an offer the club believed to be "both responsible and fair".

"Lance knows all the issues." Malouf said. "We're expecting to hear from him early next week."

Nixon said he was confounded by the offer to Whitnall after the 26-year-old was one of the stronger performers for Carlton this year, finishing third in the Blues' recent best-and-fairest count.


He said the deal that the Blues had signed Brendan Fevola to mid-year — for three years and worth more than $1 million — was a sticking point in the negotiations for Whitnall. "I'd say that, I'm happy to say that," Nixon said on 3AW.

"He's going to meet with a couple of clubs tomorrow, I know that, and probably by Monday we'll all know what's going to happen, I'd say.

"I think it's a situation where he wants to look after his own best interests and he's had to take a hefty pay cut in a season where he's had one of his best seasons in 10 years.

"Yet there's other players who have had terrible seasons and they got $200,000 pay rises, so you work it out. I'm not disappointed with Carlton footy club, I'm just disappointed with the situation.

"The clubs that have spoken to me have said what would you be looking for, and it's probably fair to say that from that it's pretty clear that if Lance was to leave Carlton, it would have to be to a club that could win a premiership in the next three or four years."

Can't beat finishing behind Lappin, Scotland, Carrazzo and the injured French who played 15 games.The next Sticks!

From the sounds of it, it looks like Whitnall will be leaving...Also something mentioned about Ryley Dunn and that he will be used as trade bait...Sounds like we will know by Monday...Freo have done a really dirty deal in signing Dunn and now offering him to other clubs behind his back... ....That's just not right

If Fev is traded, then isn't this the exact thing we've done to him? We signed him on a 350K/year contract and we want to get rid of him.

It's a ploy to stop players going into the PSD which we've effectively stopped from doing.

If Lance is looking at Fev and saying "He got more money, so I want more money too" then what of the other players? Are they then entitled to say "Lance was paid $400,000 a year even when he was playing poorly, I want to be paid $400,000 and not give it my all too"?