Robbie Hare says he will stand out of football if he can’t secure a clearance from Port Fairy to Terang Mortlake by June 30.
YOUNG ruckman Robbie Hare says he will sit out the rest of the football season if he cannot win a clearance to Terang Mortlake.
Hare is contracted to Port Fairy but wants to play with the Bloods, where he would reunite with his former Port Fairy coach Shane Threlfall.
Terang Mortlake has lodged seven applications to secure Hare and the Seagulls have knocked back all of them.
The most recent bid was denied on May 31. Players cannot change clubs after June 30.
The Bloods have all but given up the fight to secure Hare and will not appeal to the Victorian Country Football League.
Hare yesterday said he would not play with Port Fairy this season and would sign with Terang Mortlake for 2013.
He said he offered to play for the Seagulls early in the campaign, but on the condition the club would clear him to the Bloods mid-season. He claimed Port Fairy officials wouldn’t agree, prompting him to give away season 2012.
“They weren’t going to guarantee anything,” he said.
Hare said he was frustrated with the situation.
“You miss a bit of footy and the team you want to go to goes all right,” he said.
“I got a couple of offers from different clubs and I was leading towards South Warrnambool, but I thought staying out of town would be nice and Terang (Mortlake) was the best option.”
Hare was one of seven contracted players who wanted to leave Gardens Oval ahead of round one.
The Seagulls have released five of the group, including Sam Burchell, Louis Fary and Rocklyn Miller last week, and are in talks with Merrivale about clearing a sixth, Sam Dwyer.
That leaves Hare as the only player who remains reluctantly tied to the Seagulls.
Terang Mortlake president Frank O’Connor said the Bloods had no ill feeling towards Port Fairy.
“Port Fairy aren’t doing the wrong thing. There is nothing we can do about that,” he said. “It’s up to Robbie whether he wants to play.
“If he wants to play football, it looks like he will have to go to Port Fairy.”
The June 30 deadline means the clearance saga is nearing its end.
In the latest instalment, Fary and Burchell finally won clearances to Allansford and Miller received the all-clear to play with Dennington.
The Seagulls wanted the trio to play early in the season, hoping they could convince them to return.
But Port Fairy football manager Jim Forrest said it was in the interests of the club and the players to part ways after they showed no signs of wanting to stay.
“Contracts state they should play at Port Fairy but that’s not doing anyone any good,” he said.
Forrest said Hare was different because he had shown no interest in lining up for Port Fairy, despite having the opportunity to play.