Toast Fremantle's 2nd pick: Harley Balic

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estibador said:
I'm still surprised Michie hasn't turned out to be much good. Watching him a few times for Peel he was a one man clearance machine and I was sure that kind of play-reading ability would transfer over to the AFL.
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Watched Melb a few times towards the end of this year, Viv was going well. Right direction.
 
For some reason I find some posts on this thread very disturbing and I just can't let it go. I mean people sometimes say some dumb things on here and some even say some very offensive things on here but some of the posts here directed at Harley's Dad have been deliberately hurtful. Is this how we greet a new family to our footy club? We here on big footy are the self proclaimed hard core "supporters" of the club, surely we would treat a new draftee more respectfully than the mere barrackers would.
So what if his Dad offered to buy his contract. We don't know whether the offer was serious or whether his Dad used humour to skirt around an emotionally charged situation as us men often do. I think if Harley's Dad had a serious conversation with him about sitting out of footy for a couple of years Harley would have been in a far more sombre mood when he spoke to the journalist and I'm pretty sure Harley wouldn't have blurted that information out to the first journalist he spoke to.
I hope neither of his parents let curiosity get the better of them and take a peek here to see how the the most avid supporters are reacting to the arrival of their son because by the second page we're already calling his Dad a sook, a flog and a *******. Now I know parents are warned against visiting grubby little sites like this but maybe they haven't attended the social media awareness classes yet, afterall it is only 1 day since the draft was held. I hope his brothers don't come on here, I hope his aunts and uncles don't pay us a visit and I hope none of his mates from his junior footy club take a squiz because like me I'm sure that they would be appalled.
When you post in a thread like this you represent the club we support, whether you like it or not. And even if your comment was meant to be jocular or light hearted, believe me, it doesn't come across like that.
Being a father with sons in their late teens I understand what Ed is going through and of course he wouldn't stand in the way of his son's dreams. But I found my oldest son's 17th, 18th and 19th years to be incredibly enjoyable and rewarding. Graduating from high school, getting his licence, buying his first car, taking him for his first legal drink on his 18th, him offering to take me for a drink on his 19th, university, first proper job, there are just so many life long memories in those 3 years. Ed knows this, what loving parent wouldn't offer to buy his son's contract as an expression of his love. Parenting is hard work so when the good stuff comes around you selfishly want it to last forever.
I don't want to be all preachy about this, but we had an opportunity here to make the Balic's son feel welcome and to let the parents know that it was a privilege for our club to draft a very talented young man and that he was coming to a supportive environment where he would be encouraged and appreciated and we ****ed it up. I reckon it would have been amazing for the parents of AP and Weller when they heard the Purple Haze cheer their son's every possession on their debuts. That's how we should have approached this "toast" thread.
The most disappointing aspect of all this is that some of the comments came from solid Freo BF citizens, whose posts are normally humble, measured and intelligent and also quite humorous from time to time. I can only assume you are not parents.
 
I don't think folks meant much by it PR, it seems to me to be more of a general reaction by BF regulars to the overall reticence many vic parents have displayed when their kids are drafted by Freo.

I agree with you though that from an outsider's perspective, it's not a good look.
 
PurpleReign said:
For some reason I find some posts on this thread very disturbing and I just can't let it go. I mean people sometimes say some dumb things on here and some even say some very offensive things on here but some of the posts here directed at Harley's Dad have been deliberately hurtful. Is this how we greet a new family to our footy club? We here on big footy are the self proclaimed hard core "supporters" of the club, surely we would treat a new draftee more respectfully than the mere barrackers would.
So what if his Dad offered to buy his contract. We don't know whether the offer was serious or whether his Dad used humour to skirt around an emotionally charged situation as us men often do. I think if Harley's Dad had a serious conversation with him about sitting out of footy for a couple of years Harley would have been in a far more sombre mood when he spoke to the journalist and I'm pretty sure Harley wouldn't have blurted that information out to the first journalist he spoke to.
I hope neither of his parents let curiosity get the better of them and take a peek here to see how the the most avid supporters are reacting to the arrival of their son because by the second page we're already calling his Dad a sook, a flog and a *******. Now I know parents are warned against visiting grubby little sites like this but maybe they haven't attended the social media awareness classes yet, afterall it is only 1 day since the draft was held. I hope his brothers don't come on here, I hope his aunts and uncles don't pay us a visit and I hope none of his mates from his junior footy club take a squiz because like me I'm sure that they would be appalled.
When you post in a thread like this you represent the club we support, whether you like it or not. And even if your comment was meant to be jocular or light hearted, believe me, it doesn't come across like that.
Being a father with sons in their late teens I understand what Ed is going through and of course he wouldn't stand in the way of his son's dreams. But I found my oldest son's 17th, 18th and 19th years to be incredibly enjoyable and rewarding. Graduating from high school, getting his licence, buying his first car, taking him for his first legal drink on his 18th, him offering to take me for a drink on his 19th, university, first proper job, there are just so many life long memories in those 3 years. Ed knows this, what loving parent wouldn't offer to buy his son's contract as an expression of his love. Parenting is hard work so when the good stuff comes around you selfishly want it to last forever.
I don't want to be all preachy about this, but we had an opportunity here to make the Balic's son feel welcome and to let the parents know that it was a privilege for our club to draft a very talented young man and that he was coming to a supportive environment where he would be encouraged and appreciated and we stuffed it up. I reckon it would have been amazing for the parents of AP and Weller when they heard the Purple Haze cheer their son's every possession on their debuts. That's how we should have approached this "toast" thread.
The most disappointing aspect of all this is that some of the comments came from solid Freo BF citizens, whose posts are normally humble, measured and intelligent and also quite humorous from time to time. I can only assume you are not parents.
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Yea I see where you are coming from.

But he and every one around him acted like he inherited a paddock full of purple flowers, when it was announced that we picked him.

I saw more derogatory comments aimed at our fourth pick.
Go have look at his response when he found out we picked him up.
 
AAACockburn said:
But he and every one around him acted like he inherited a paddock full of purple flowers, when it was announced that we picked him.
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Where did you get this from? I saw worry when his pick dropped, excitement and relief when Fremantle called out his name, some concern for his mum and dad's feelings, and a resolve to prove the other drafters wrong.

If there are any media quotes saying how terribly Balic acted, I'd like to see it.
 
I must be a bad mother, I have always told my boys to get out there and see the world, take whatever opportunity comes your way. Give yourself a good foundation (education) and get out of here. Put your foot on the path of life and see where it takes you. Do it while you are young, plenty of time to settle down. Have fun while you don't have a mortgage!! My kids must have got sick of those lines when they were growing up.

One has and the other will probably move out of home when we do :p

Anyway he will be fine, at least we won't be shocked if he goes.

Edit: cut my own post off!
 
PurpleReign said:
I don't want to be all preachy about this
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I've seen TV Evangelicalists be less preachy.

I have enough things in my life to worry about - work, mortgage, do I admit to my wife that I have lost another pair of sunglasses (gets harder as summer approaches plus I'm sure she knows) & kids.

Worrying about how a draftees parents may feel if they read internet comments about what was probably a joke......sorry not making my top 100.

Hey Mr & Mrs B - harden up ....the streets outside of Horsham are tough - you'll need to evolve to survive but I have faith you can do it.
 
leeloo said:
I must be a bad mother, I have always told my boys to get out there and see the world, take whatever opportunity comes your way. Give yourself a good foundation (education) and get out of here. Put your foot on the path of life and see where it takes you. Do it while you are young, plenty of time to settle down. Have fun while you don't have a mortgage!! My kids must have got sick of those lines when they were growing up.

One has and the other will probably move out of home when we do :p

Anyway he will be fine, at least we won't be shocked if he goes.

Edit: cut my own post off!
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Sounds like great parenting to me. But I wouldn't want my parenting exposed in the media then pilloried here.
 

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PurpleReign said:
For some reason I find some posts on this thread very disturbing and I just can't let it go. I mean people sometimes say some dumb things on here and some even say some very offensive things on here but some of the posts here directed at Harley's Dad have been deliberately hurtful. Is this how we greet a new family to our footy club? We here on big footy are the self proclaimed hard core "supporters" of the club, surely we would treat a new draftee more respectfully than the mere barrackers would.
So what if his Dad offered to buy his contract. We don't know whether the offer was serious or whether his Dad used humour to skirt around an emotionally charged situation as us men often do. I think if Harley's Dad had a serious conversation with him about sitting out of footy for a couple of years Harley would have been in a far more sombre mood when he spoke to the journalist and I'm pretty sure Harley wouldn't have blurted that information out to the first journalist he spoke to.
I hope neither of his parents let curiosity get the better of them and take a peek here to see how the the most avid supporters are reacting to the arrival of their son because by the second page we're already calling his Dad a sook, a flog and a *******. Now I know parents are warned against visiting grubby little sites like this but maybe they haven't attended the social media awareness classes yet, afterall it is only 1 day since the draft was held. I hope his brothers don't come on here, I hope his aunts and uncles don't pay us a visit and I hope none of his mates from his junior footy club take a squiz because like me I'm sure that they would be appalled.
When you post in a thread like this you represent the club we support, whether you like it or not. And even if your comment was meant to be jocular or light hearted, believe me, it doesn't come across like that.
Being a father with sons in their late teens I understand what Ed is going through and of course he wouldn't stand in the way of his son's dreams. But I found my oldest son's 17th, 18th and 19th years to be incredibly enjoyable and rewarding. Graduating from high school, getting his licence, buying his first car, taking him for his first legal drink on his 18th, him offering to take me for a drink on his 19th, university, first proper job, there are just so many life long memories in those 3 years. Ed knows this, what loving parent wouldn't offer to buy his son's contract as an expression of his love. Parenting is hard work so when the good stuff comes around you selfishly want it to last forever.
I don't want to be all preachy about this, but we had an opportunity here to make the Balic's son feel welcome and to let the parents know that it was a privilege for our club to draft a very talented young man and that he was coming to a supportive environment where he would be encouraged and appreciated and we stuffed it up. I reckon it would have been amazing for the parents of AP and Weller when they heard the Purple Haze cheer their son's every possession on their debuts. That's how we should have approached this "toast" thread.
The most disappointing aspect of all this is that some of the comments came from solid Freo BF citizens, whose posts are normally humble, measured and intelligent and also quite humorous from time to time. I can only assume you are not parents.
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I don't like the personal attacks in forums in general, there are a lot of keyboard warriors who in person wouldn't dare say anything to anybody's face (keep that in mind next time you type some abuse).
However why are parents not more prepared for their son to be drafted to an AFL club wherever that may be. The reality is that there are only 18 teams in the AFL and if their son got drafted that should be good enough. I find it astonishing the uproar/homesickness/crying over a player playing interstate, think how parents feel if their son pursues a dream to play in the premier league or goes to play college basketball/baseball/football in the United States?
As with other areas of Australian life, we are increasingly becoming a nanny state.
 
Get off your high horse PurpleReign, whether his Dad's offer was tongue in cheek or genuine it was a silly comment that should have been kept in house.

Our player retention is great now but many posters here have been around since the era that our club lost a player on an annual basis to the go home factor so it's understandable that people have jumped on the Dad's comments.

With Sutcliffe, Sheridan, Crozier, Neale, Blakeley, Langdon, Weller, etc as young options through the midfield and the flanks it's unlikely that young Harley will get an opportunity at senior level in his first year or 2 at the club so he'll need to be focused and have the support of his family to make it as an AFL footballer. When the go home factor is on the agenda from day one it's not a great look but I wish Harley Balic all the best. I'm sure he'll feel very welcome, the rest of the playing group will have an array of nicknames for him when he arrives.
 
Clems Knee said:
Where did you get this from? I saw worry when his pick dropped, excitement and relief when Fremantle called out his name, some concern for his mum and dad's feelings, and a resolve to prove the other drafters wrong.

If there are any media quotes saying how terribly Balic acted, I'd like to see it.
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Reading the Hun article doesn't leave too much to the imagination.
I was mainly referring to what his initial reaction was like.

Maybe I worded it wrong but I can't see where I made out like he threw all his toys out the cot.
 
It is a parents worse nightmare to have your kid living so close to West Coast players.

Eat garlic, wear a silver cross and don't drink at T**ty Twisters (near Rocko) after dark is my advice.
 
Moo said:
It is a parents worse nightmare to have your kid living so close to West Coast players.

Eat garlic, wear a silver cross and don't drink at T**ty Twisters (near Rocko) after dark is my advice.
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Are you suggesting West coast players have enhanced speed, strength, and a thirst for biting things?
 
Arcassius said:
Are you suggesting West coast players have enhanced speed, strength, and a thirst for biting things?
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All I know is Darling and Hurn when exposed to the stronger October sunlight went to pieces ....your call.
 
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