Gillard Report

[ting tong]

AFL to take no action against West Coast

March 14, 2008 - 2:32PM

The AFL Commission is to take no action against West Coast after an investigation revealed the club had rid itself of any culture of misbehaviour that may have existed among players.Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick said a report compiled by Victorian Supreme Court judge Bill Gillard into the club has been accepted by the AFL.
The Commission has also accepted various recommendations made by Justice Gillard including a call for a new body to consider off-field disciplinary matters.
The judge has also recommended an increase in fines and suspensions for off-field indiscretions.
Justice Gillard was asked to look into the West Coast's behaviour in the period since it met with the AFL in April last year in the wake of the suspension imposed on former captain Ben Cousins.
Cousins was sacked by the club later in the year after further indiscretions and is currently undergoing drug rehabilitation.
The former Brownlow medallist is currently serving a 12-month AFL suspension.
A separate investigation instigated by West Coast found there were 37 incidents of misbehaviour involving 13 players in the six years to December 2007.
© 2008 AAP


... sorry did i miss something.. when did that happen?

Overall i think its good to let sleeping dogs lie on this one.. but the next club would have to stray a long way off course to bring the game into "disrepute".

 

[PAVnTAZ]

"an investigation revealed the club had rid itself of any culture of misbehaviour that may have existed among players"

Chris Masten
Daniel Kerr
Chad Fletcher

Must have overlooked these tools

 

[anti.]

did kerr and fletcher do something again? this is the first i've heard of it. enlighten me.

 

[DockerNJL]

did kerr and fletcher do something again? this is the first i've heard of it. enlighten me.

Ant, first of all i think its fantastic the way the wiggles have got the place back in order.

Secondly bringing the game into disripute was not what they have done after these incidents last year, its how they let things get this out of control way back from 2002'ish to explode into making the sceen it did last year.

So tell me know was the explosion of events that came out last year + before good for the game?

 

[anti.]

i'd say compared to what carlton done, its not as bad.

obviously whilst not 'good for the game', it didnt really hurt the games image. its pretty damn obvious that my club is not the only club with players that get in trouble. anyone thinking otherwise is deluded.

at the end of the day though...all we had to do to get off this charge was to make up this whole 'new breed' thingy. its still the same eagles, still the same game winning bunch i know and love.

 

[ting tong]

i'd say compared to what carlton done, its not as bad.

obviously whilst not 'good for the game', it didnt really hurt the games image. its pretty damn obvious that my club is not the only club with players that get in trouble. anyone thinking otherwise is deluded.

at the end of the day though...all we had to do to get off this charge was to make up this whole 'new breed' thingy. its still the same eagles, still the same game winning bunch i know and love.

yeah but your club is the only club that has players who are widely aknowledged to be drug users. thats the difference, i know plenty of (generally older) eagles supporters who have been turned off by this whole deal..

i just reckon the afl is toothless and if it wanted to take a stance to stop drug use amongst players.. this was their chance.

obviously they are more interested in making cash and expanding the comp.

 

[anti.]

yeah but your club is the only club that has players who are widely aknowledged to be drug users. thats the difference, i know plenty of (generally older) eagles supporters who have been turned off by this whole deal..

i just reckon the afl is toothless and if it wanted to take a stance to stop drug use amongst players.. this was their chance.

obviously they are more interested in making cash and expanding the comp.

they already took that stance. i mean suspending cousins for 1 year without any prior drug offences is pretty harsh when you think about it.

 

[DockerNJL]

they already took that stance. i mean suspending cousins for 1 year without any prior drug offences is pretty harsh when you think about it.

Lol's you go ant,
Your looking more like tool every minute

 

[DockerNJL]

they already took that stance. i mean suspending cousins for 1 year without any prior drug offences is pretty harsh when you think about it.

So your also saying it was harsh of your club to get rid of him too?

 

[anti.]

So your also saying it was harsh of your club to get rid of him too?

no, i agree with the club sacking cousins and he had to go for sure. but to charge him and suspend him for a year was pretty extreme considering he was never caught.

 

[PAVnTAZ]

did kerr and fletcher do something again? this is the first i've heard of it. enlighten me.

The report said the Weasels RID themselves of these problems. Most of them are still there but give em enough rope I suppose.
But while you mention it that loveable rouge Daniel Kerr broke his girfriends sidelight on her front door just late one night before Xmas. Official word is "he lost his key and was just trying to force the door". Yeah right he's angry little smurf and will drag the rest of your arrogant organisation down even lower. It's all a matter of time. Watch this space.

 

[estibador]

obviously they are more interested in making cash and expanding the comp.

So they should be. That's their job.

It's not their job to be the moral guardians of players' private lives.

 

[anti.]

The report said the Weasels RID themselves of these problems. Most of them are still there but give em enough rope I suppose.
But while you mention it that loveable rouge Daniel Kerr broke his girfriends sidelight on her front door just late one night before Xmas. Official word is "he lost his key and was just trying to force the door". Yeah right he's angry little smurf and will drag the rest of your arrogant organisation down even lower. It's all a matter of time. Watch this space.

some strong words there. kerrey seems to be great now, he's pretty strong so i wouldnt put it past him to accidentally break a door. also fletcher had one incident...i've never heard anything else of him hurting anyone. he seems to be an ok bloke.

 

[ting tong]

So they should be. That's their job.

It's not their job to be the moral guardians of players' private lives.

no, but the game does not exist in isolation from the rest of society, and it is in their best interests to see that those who have the greatest impact on the games standards (players, coaches etc), abide by its code of conduct and uphold its "values".

given the high public profile of players and media attention given to them, their private lives are in the spotlight. if they choose to violate these standards in their private lives.. this deserves attention.. no?

why else would they have sacked cousins in the first place?

 

[Rob]

It's not their job to be the moral guardians of players' private lives.

Yes and no.
there shouldn't be any dispute that misbehaviour by players reflects on the integrity of the league and game - and that being the case, the AFL (and each club) has a responsibility to at least set guidelines regarding player behaviour. It certainly can't be seen to condone it, which is what got the weagles in trouble in the first place. Denying any problem exists when it's as plain as day there are huge problems is akin to giving every player a licence to act like a ****wit.

 

[anti.]

but you cant honestly say you're surprised by the outcome of this report.

 

[Makka]

Sure, the Eagles hierachy got a lot of things wrong and went about things totally the wrong way. Even they admitted that. I guess the main thing now is that they have made changes and hopefully things will only get better from here on in. Hopefully our players will keep their noses clean and concentrate on the upcoming season, as we all should be. Let's just close this chapter and move on. What's done is done. Personally, I hope the AFL are made to change their 3 strikes policy because I think we all agree that it doesn't work. The AFL need to make the clubs aware otherwise things get worse and worse. I think there were plenty of lessons for all the teams and the AFL out of this mess, but whether any are learned only time will tell. Young guys (and the not so young) will always make mistakes and stuff up.

Here's to a great season of footy for all!

 

[ImperialPurple]

but you cant honestly say you're surprised by the outcome of this report.

true. they were never going to "find" anything else. it was all for show from Day 1.

 

[ting tong]

but you cant honestly say you're surprised by the outcome of this report.

now that is something we can both agree on! never going to be anything else than a rubber stamp.

.. who cares really... footy is way more interesting than all the hype and bullsh*t that carries on around it.

bring on round 3 i say!

 

[anti.]

heres a question for freo supporters:

whats worse - what west coast has done or what carlton done at the end of 2007?

please try and answer as if you didnt hate us.

which would you be more ashamed of if it was you.

 

[Mutant]

Just out of interest is the behaviour of McManus - drunk driver, Black - female cop assaulter, Farmer - partner beater and alcholic, CEO failing to pay fines to ensure the cumlitive effect wasn't a loss of licence, really something to be proud of.

Drug use nothing to be proud of but hey your own club alledgedly had one.

So unless you are squeaky clean you really don't have a soap box to stand on.

At least, rightly or wrongly the eagles stood by their men in a time of crisis, something I'm sure Francis and Michaels would argue the Dockers didn't.

 

[dockertor]

did kerr and fletcher do something again? this is the first i've heard of it. enlighten me.

Then you must of not only hidden your light under a bushel but your brain as well for the last three or five years years

 

[footyfix]

You can't be serious! Compared to you lot we are a mob of tree hugging puppy cuddlers! And yes, that includes sir Jeffery. You can exxagerate the facts all you want (obviously reading the west) but West Coast are in a league all their own when it comes to this crap.

 

[QL 21]

true. they were never going to "find" anything else. it was all for show from Day 1.

A show which had to happen though. Can you imagine the uproar if there was no investigation?

You can't be serious! Compared to you lot we are a mob of tree hugging puppy cuddlers! And yes, that includes sir Jeffery. You can exxagerate the facts all you want (obviously reading the west) but West Coast are in a league all their own when it comes to this crap.

Being a tool and popping pills doesn't even come close to bashing a women. If you actually think taking drugs is worse, then you have problems.

 

[footyfix]

You are a waste of time