SWANSBEST
22nd April 2003, 05:52 PM
PATRICK SMITH
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Culture of the blind eye strikes at the heart of Geelong
April 22, 2003
GEELONG boast they have a list of kids. Average age is 22.
They must take some baby-sitting. Gary Ablett, James Kelly, James Bartel, Steve Johnson and Jarad Rooke. When coach Mark Thompson wants a motivational speaker he calls in the Wiggles.
Thompson seems the right man to oversee a collection of young men who might grow together and form the heart of an influential team. Thompson is a sensible bloke. He is a teacher, he is patient and he has a sense of humour.
The club's president is Frank Costa. The businessman has given the club stability and more than a little wisdom.
The club has an extra responsibility when it decides to build from the bottom. They take boys and put them in the middle of men's business. Tough, uncompromising men's business. They come to the club through the draft. They are mostly 18 years old when they join the team environment.
The duty of care on clubs who follow Geelong's philosophy is heavy.
Will Slade is not yet 20. He was elevated off the rookie list last season by the Geelong selection panel. He played the final four games. He played again last Saturday but not that he would know that. He was knocked senseless off the ball. It was in the second quarter and he took no further part in the game.
The incident was not captured on television. The umpires did not see it. Unbelievably, no one at Geelong was aware of it. So invisible was this incident that Slade should consider himself very lucky that trainers came to him, doctors checked him out.
Geelong's football manager Garry Davidson told The Australian on Sunday: "It is just one of those nebulous things which happen in football."
Davidson makes a fool of himself and football. What is nebulous about a man being hit to the ground off the ball? Do it in the street and it is a violent crime.
To understand the meaning of nebulous in the context of a 19-year-old boy being knocked senseless you need to know the language of football's unstated code.
Nebulous means "you've got to be kidding". It means Geelong will not seek to find out the truth of the circumstances; if necessary will blur and muddy the facts.
The kid won't remember the incident, no Geelong players or officials will have seen it. You can expect that Melbourne have no idea how or why Slade slumped to the ground. They might even suggest it was a fellow Geelong player who collected Slade by mistake.
That is football's real code of conduct. Not the one the AFL devised and has players sign. This one lives between the players and the clubs. At its heart is the philosophy that demands what happens on the field stays on the field. It is a code that protects the guilty and shames the innocent if they dare tell the truth.
That is why Davidson described the incident as nebulous. Geelong want the matter to go no further because for that to happen the truth would have to be told.
Davidson has a son playing with Collingwood. Tom is considered quite a footballer and was the Magpies' second pick in the 2001 draft. Unfortunately, he suffered a serious knee injury this pre-season. It would be fascinating to know the reaction of Davidson senior if Collingwood officials rang him up and told him that Tom had been struck down behind play. But don't worry Garry, for the incident was nebulous.
Football is a sophisticated business. It can strike $500 million broadcast deals. The clubs can pay out more than $109 million on players and $30 million on coaches. It can introduce racial and religious vilification codes; gambling codes, too. The sport has introduced salary caps and national drafts.
It has pushed out from Victoria and teams from Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland have won six premierships. The present administration has been transparent and accountable.
Yet what the sport cannot do is police itself, something that is fundamental to the game's integrity.
If the sport is not willing to really find out what happened to Slade when there were umpteen umpires at the game, bus loads of officials, 44 players and a grandstand of media as potential witnesses then we should not trust much at all about football.
It is a dangerous practice, this cultural silence. We see it weekly at the tribunal. Fancy we are seeing it at work down at Geelong and up the road at Melbourne.
What should happen is a complete and honest report from Geelong to assist the AFL inquiry. An equally honest assessment of the incident from Melbourne. It might be that Slade tripped over his feet. But at least we would know the sport does not harbour or give comfort to thugs. That would be fabulous. Not nebulous.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,6318262%255E12270,00.html
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Culture of the blind eye strikes at the heart of Geelong
April 22, 2003
GEELONG boast they have a list of kids. Average age is 22.
They must take some baby-sitting. Gary Ablett, James Kelly, James Bartel, Steve Johnson and Jarad Rooke. When coach Mark Thompson wants a motivational speaker he calls in the Wiggles.
Thompson seems the right man to oversee a collection of young men who might grow together and form the heart of an influential team. Thompson is a sensible bloke. He is a teacher, he is patient and he has a sense of humour.
The club's president is Frank Costa. The businessman has given the club stability and more than a little wisdom.
The club has an extra responsibility when it decides to build from the bottom. They take boys and put them in the middle of men's business. Tough, uncompromising men's business. They come to the club through the draft. They are mostly 18 years old when they join the team environment.
The duty of care on clubs who follow Geelong's philosophy is heavy.
Will Slade is not yet 20. He was elevated off the rookie list last season by the Geelong selection panel. He played the final four games. He played again last Saturday but not that he would know that. He was knocked senseless off the ball. It was in the second quarter and he took no further part in the game.
The incident was not captured on television. The umpires did not see it. Unbelievably, no one at Geelong was aware of it. So invisible was this incident that Slade should consider himself very lucky that trainers came to him, doctors checked him out.
Geelong's football manager Garry Davidson told The Australian on Sunday: "It is just one of those nebulous things which happen in football."
Davidson makes a fool of himself and football. What is nebulous about a man being hit to the ground off the ball? Do it in the street and it is a violent crime.
To understand the meaning of nebulous in the context of a 19-year-old boy being knocked senseless you need to know the language of football's unstated code.
Nebulous means "you've got to be kidding". It means Geelong will not seek to find out the truth of the circumstances; if necessary will blur and muddy the facts.
The kid won't remember the incident, no Geelong players or officials will have seen it. You can expect that Melbourne have no idea how or why Slade slumped to the ground. They might even suggest it was a fellow Geelong player who collected Slade by mistake.
That is football's real code of conduct. Not the one the AFL devised and has players sign. This one lives between the players and the clubs. At its heart is the philosophy that demands what happens on the field stays on the field. It is a code that protects the guilty and shames the innocent if they dare tell the truth.
That is why Davidson described the incident as nebulous. Geelong want the matter to go no further because for that to happen the truth would have to be told.
Davidson has a son playing with Collingwood. Tom is considered quite a footballer and was the Magpies' second pick in the 2001 draft. Unfortunately, he suffered a serious knee injury this pre-season. It would be fascinating to know the reaction of Davidson senior if Collingwood officials rang him up and told him that Tom had been struck down behind play. But don't worry Garry, for the incident was nebulous.
Football is a sophisticated business. It can strike $500 million broadcast deals. The clubs can pay out more than $109 million on players and $30 million on coaches. It can introduce racial and religious vilification codes; gambling codes, too. The sport has introduced salary caps and national drafts.
It has pushed out from Victoria and teams from Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland have won six premierships. The present administration has been transparent and accountable.
Yet what the sport cannot do is police itself, something that is fundamental to the game's integrity.
If the sport is not willing to really find out what happened to Slade when there were umpteen umpires at the game, bus loads of officials, 44 players and a grandstand of media as potential witnesses then we should not trust much at all about football.
It is a dangerous practice, this cultural silence. We see it weekly at the tribunal. Fancy we are seeing it at work down at Geelong and up the road at Melbourne.
What should happen is a complete and honest report from Geelong to assist the AFL inquiry. An equally honest assessment of the incident from Melbourne. It might be that Slade tripped over his feet. But at least we would know the sport does not harbour or give comfort to thugs. That would be fabulous. Not nebulous.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,6318262%255E12270,00.html