Opinion AFL article June 25 : "What killed Fitzroy."

[Mobbs]

I'ts all here, true as they're riding that bike, apparently ;

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-06-25/the-moment-that-began-fitzroys-long-slow-death

Excerpt:

But the end came as blessed relief for most Fitzroy types. The battle for survival was long and bloody and exacted its toll on pretty much everybody.

"Like a sick dog," said Matthew Rendell, a former Fitzroy captain. "It was almost like 'please put us out of our misery.'"

Their selected 50% of the story isn't too far from the truth. Their choice to select 50% of it is where the trouble starts.

Anyone like to offer their thoughts?

Thanks Doss for bringing my attention to this. As I don't follow AFL tier anymore, I had completely missed it.

 

[Doss]

I still can't believe that line "came as blessed relief".

The arrogance.

An attempt to whitewash if I've ever seen it. A bald-faced lie. What I saw that day at the MCG in 1996 was not relief, it was just raw sadness.

You'll never get anyone connected with the AFL tell the full truth on it now, though. In particular, Rendell has already been burnt once for putting across a message that the AFL felt was inconvenient.

 

[maroon and blue]

I still can't believe that line "came as blessed relief".

The arrogance.

An attempt to whitewash if I've ever seen it. A bald-faced lie. What I saw that day at the MCG in 1996 was not relief, it was just raw sadness.

You'll never get anyone connected with the AFL tell the full truth on it now, though. In particular, Rendell has already been burnt once for putting across a message that the AFL felt was inconvenient.

It doesn't matter what others think, it matters only what people who followed Fitzroy think.

 

[Doss]

Correct.

But nonetheless, it is nice to see that the AFL's conduct is now widely condemned by a cross-section of football followers. And I think the Fitzroy fans, many of whom populate this board, calmly setting the record straight repeatedly on many things and educating people on what really happened has a big part to play in that.

 

[Broken]

Most of the facts are on the record, but for the most part it only really sought out the opinion of those still in the AFL in some way or another and those who had moved on before the real rot set in.

Being on the AFLs official site this is as criticial of the leagues role as it was going to get : "The AFL didn't lift much of a finger to save the club", which is understating their role in the whole saga a wee bit, which is a shame as a new generation of supporters are largely unaware of the events leading up to it.

 

[Roysforever]

Any idea of what happened to the main board thread discussing this article? It seems to have vanished.

 

[Doss]

Any idea of what happened to the main board thread discussing this article? It seems to have vanished.

It was sent to the Footy History board, not by me but it's probably not a bad call.

People on the Footy History tend to be more circumspect and reasonable- main board discussions can be overtaken with rubbish sometimes.

By all means, please continue to contribute as desired to it. I think it's very important that people hear the views of Fitzroy supporters.

 

[Roysforever]

It was sent to the Footy History board, not by me but it's probably not a bad call.

People on the Footy History tend to be more circumspect and reasonable- main board discussions can be overtaken with rubbish sometimes.

By all means, please continue to contribute as desired to it. I think it's very important that people hear the views of Fitzroy supporters.

I appreciate classifying Fitzroy on bigfooty is not an easy task. However given the thread is referencing a news article produced in the past week I think it has rightful place on the main board.

Notwithstanding I always appreciate your comments Dossman.

 

[Doss]

I appreciate classifying Fitzroy on bigfooty is not an easy task. However given the thread is referencing a news article produced in the past week I think it has rightful place on the main board.

Notwithstanding I always appreciate your comments Dossman.

People make it more complicated than it ought to be.

If I had my way, people would be able to list 'Fitzroy' as their first team, but alas...

I suspect the rationale was simply that perhaps some less savoury types had begun to find the thread and that it would be better to move it to a place where better contributions could still be expected.

I reckon that's still been the best Fitzroy topic on the main board that I've seen, in terms of quality of responses.

 

[Roylion]

Twenty years ago yesterday, (28th June 1996), the late Michael Brennan was appointed as Fitzroy's administrator. The current Brisbane Lions CEO, Greg Swann was one of those who was brought in to recover Nauru's debt.

This coming Monday (4th July) is the 20 year anniversary of the announcement of the Brisbane Bears - Fitzroy 'merger'.

 

[Mobbs]

 

[Dramoth]

The AFL should have done much more to save Fitzroy but the seeds were originally own by Ross Oakley as chairman, and later as CEO of the AFL commission. He was one of those who were overseeing the expansion of the old VFL into a national competition.

They originally gave the Bears a crippled hand and when the Roys started to get into trouble, they decided to let them fail so they could force a reduction in the number of Melbourne based clubs (after all they would have been happy to see the Roos merge with Carlton around then as well).

I was devastated when the Roys played their final game. I cannot begin to understand how it must have felt for the Fitzroy supporters.

 

[DERRINALPHIL]

One thing that is never mentioned is that from 1996 the Australian economy started to grow rapidly. The years of the Howard government saw an expansion of the Australian economy that was only matched by the gold rush of the middle 1800s. Many of the other clubs were in' what appeared, at the time, to be deep finical poo but no one realised that money, i.e. TV money, was going to flood into the AFL.

Fitzroy went broke at the wrong time. Five years later their was lots of cash available.

I am now getting a bloody migraine and it is hard to see the keyboard. The above point is crucial when considering why the Roys went under.

 

[Wild Kangaroo]

What Killed Fitzroy- Ross Oakley

 

[Nickoo]

The article is almost unreadable. Agree 50% is correct but Fitzroy was undermined as was Footscray. Most footy clubs of the time were broke including my club Geelong. Poor decisions had left my club at the brink and merger talks were mooted with plans to merge with either North or Footscray actually planner by the club. Wealthy, strong and smart people took control and saved the club. Same for Hawthorn and the Doggies. Fitzroy never had that and missed by a matter of only a few years the TV rights that were dependent on more content. And that killed the Roys. Also all this talk is self fulling prophecy. The AFL was also broke in the early 90's as well so that was another contributing factor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PaddleFoot]

The article is almost unreadable. Agree 50% is correct but Fitzroy was undermined as was Footscray. Most footy clubs of the time were broke including my club Geelong. Poor decisions had left my club at the brink and merger talks were mooted with plans to merge with either North or Footscray actually planner by the club. Wealthy, strong and smart people took control and saved the club. Same for Hawthorn and the Doggies. Fitzroy never had that and missed by a matter of only a few years the TV rights that were dependent on more content. And that killed the Roys. Also all this talk is self fulling prophecy. The AFL was also broke in the early 90's as well so that was another contributing factor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What killed us was a lack of a base. Gym in the back of the ute. Unsustainable. Allowed the neo liberal economic drys to hang us out. Bad timing.

 

[CrazyJoeFevola]

Sorry to revive a bloody old thread, but why were the Roys given the arse from the Junction as a training base after they were forced to stop playing there (I know the playing part was under ground rationalisation bullshit)? Especially considering the Dees ended up not long there after.

 

[BulldogMurray]

Sorry to revive a bloody old thread, but why were the Roys given the arse from the Junction as a training base after they were forced to stop playing there (I know the playing part was under ground rationalisation bullshit)? Especially considering the Dees ended up not long there after.

I believe you hit the nail on the head when you referenced the 'Dees'. They were being relocated away from the G and were offered Junction Oval as an alternative. Forget about the povo tenants; they would be run out of town eventually!!!

 

[CrazyJoeFevola]

I believe you hit the nail on the head when you referenced the 'Dees'. They were being relocated away from the G and were offered Junction Oval as an alternative. Forget about the povo tenants; they would be run out of town eventually!!!

Brazen, even for the admin of the time. Thanks for the answer!