Integrity of the AFL in question

[PieNSauce]

Now I know that there is a separate thread which deals with the drug issue as reported by Mark Robinson and the Herald Sun but I think it's worth discussing one of the issues to come out of it in its own right. This thread is not to downplay the significance of player behaviour or the separate issue of journalistic integrity but it is to highlight a specific outcome which has far reaching ramifications for the AFL and that is specifically around the complete failure of the AFL to maintain the confidentiality which it promised to the AFLPA. I would ask that posters limit the discussion here to this particular aspect of the matter rather than rehash what has been said elsewhere.

What I and many like minded posters are very concerned about here is the complete silence of the AFL on this subject. It is quite astonishing to me that in the face of the likely damage that has been done to the relationship between the AFLPA and the AFL, the AFL has thus far been completely silent on the matter of how this breach of trust occurred and who is responsible. Surely any organisation with any integrity at all would be seeking to go very public about getting to the bottom of this matter and yet Gill remains utterly tight lipped. The conspiracy theorist inside me has grave concerns about this and the fact that media seems to be completely ignoring the issue is also baffling.

I have said it elsewhere but will repeat it here. On the strength of what has occurred and the AFL's complete lack of a response, if I were a player, I would be hesitant to even provide the AFL with my address and surely at this moment, the AFLPA must be considering its options to completely abandon any voluntary programs requiring any form of confidentiality from the AFL.

Discuss!

 

[The_Reaper]

The AFL has never had any integrity to question

 

[PieNSauce]

The AFL has never had any integrity to question

lol. This is probably quite true but if they think they will get cooperation from the players for any voluntary programs in the future, you'd have to think that they may need to at least try to give the impression wouldn't you?

 

[ziad]

The AFL has never had any integrity to question

This is the history. Impossible to argue against

 

[PieNSauce]

All jokes aside, surely the AFL's catastrophic failure in this area will have far reaching implications in terms of its relations with the players and its ability in the future to garner support for programs of this nature. Would you even supply them with your address? I would personally have to think long and hard about it if I was a player.

 

[momentbymoment]

Collingwood's name was leaked by an individual inside the AFL with a gripe against Collingwood.

Now if you look at how Eddie throws his weight around and manipulates this league, it's not surprising that there are people who want to knock him down a little.

If Eddie would pull his head in and stop trying to destroy other clubs, I doubt these kind of leaks would happen.

 

[The Blue Baggers]

are you eddie ?

typical magpie , more worried about the leak than a 1/4 of your team being "party boys"

 

[Harro59]

are you eddie ?

typical magpie , more worried about the leak than a 1/4 of your team being "party boys"

Assuming 1/4 of there players are party boys.

Whilst I have no love for Collingwood I feel they have been hard done by simply because they just dont have the info. Basically anyone could write a piece about a team failing drug tests and multiple strikes etc and really the only ones that can clarify if its BS or not are bound by privacy agreements.

So what can Collingwood do? Well very little and this raises the problem that yhe clubs really need to be a ware of whats happening with there players.

 

[Gavin Excell]

The AFL has never had any integrity to question

Incorrect. They have an Integrity Unit.

 

[Gavin Excell]

Collingwood's name was leaked by an individual inside the AFL with a gripe against Collingwood.

Now if you look at how Eddie throws his weight around and manipulates this league, it's not surprising that there are people who want to knock him down a little.

If Eddie would pull his head in and stop trying to destroy other clubs, I doubt these kind of leaks would happen.

When i heard the news i thought that Eddie or Pert may have condoned its release. They are clearly frustrated that players arent heeding the message and may have thought scaring players this way could work knowing that there would be no strikes recorded.

Could also explain why players were so poor Saturday. They may think they are being hang out to dry by their own club.

Of course all the above is a theory and isnt based on any known fact.

 

[didaksrightfoot]

Collingwood's name was leaked by an individual inside the AFL with a gripe against Collingwood.

Now if you look at how Eddie throws his weight around and manipulates this league, it's not surprising that there are people who want to knock him down a little.

If Eddie would pull his head in and stop trying to destroy other clubs, I doubt these kind of leaks would happen.

I have said many a time that Ed needs to keep his mouth shut more often (which, after his initial comments, he has been quiet on this subject - suggesting there are much greater discussions happening behind closed doors) and he's someone that should not be given a microphone as often as he is...
BUT - he has, unquestionably, been great for the AFL, as a business, over the last 20 years, and any club would love to have him as president.

And, despite him rubbing some people the wrong way - there is no ******* way that excuses a breach of confidentiality against players.

 

[didaksrightfoot]

And back to OP (and moving away from the irrelevant Eddie sidetracking):

I think this is the issue that is being missed in a lot of the discussion.

The leak has very likely come from within the AFL.

There is no way it came from Gary Pert. It is highly unlikely it came from another club CEO (because they should absolutely not have had Collingwood's result). There is no ******* way it came from a club doctor, and I would apply that same philosophy to anyone involved in the actual study and data collection.

Take out those groups - and it came from within the AFL - and likely, someone high enough to have access to these results.

This testing was done by the players voluntarily, and anonymously, as a study to gauge where things were at. Off-season testing is not part of our illicit drugs policy at all - and the AFLPA would have done this in good faith... and would rightly be incredibly pissed off that results have been leaked and a specific player group were targeted.

The AFLPA now has every right to walk away from the illicit drugs policy right now and then use it as a bargaining chip in the next CBA... and the AFL has no-one but Robbo, and whoever leaked that information, to thank for that.

 

[the_interloper]

When i heard the news i thought that Eddie or Pert may have condoned its release. They are clearly frustrated that players arent heeding the message and may have thought scaring players this way could work knowing that there would be no strikes recorded.

Could also explain why players were so poor Saturday. They may think they are being hang out to dry by their own club.

Of course all the above is a theory and isnt based on any known fact.

I agree it was leaked by the Pies, otherwise why weren't the test numbers released for the other clubs that had higher results than the Pies?

 

[didaksrightfoot]

I agree it was leaked by the Pies, otherwise why weren't the test numbers released for the other clubs that had higher results than the Pies?

1. There is no way this was out of the club. Clearly you know absolutely nothing about Eddie if you think that is what happened. Pert would also know his position would be completely untenable if he was the one who released it. There would also be much, much, more effective ways to use this information effectively with the players if you want to take a harm minimization approach. Attacking them and putting the whole system in question is not the way to do it.
2. Or, it could be that a particular person within the AFL had a particular agenda in releasing Collingwood's numbers, or that Robbo had an agenda in only publishing Collingwood's numbers. (Or at least, in not then making any effort to try to get league-wide figures, or to report this as a league-wide problem rather than a Collingwood, listing Collingwood in every headline, and plastering Collingwood players in every photo). Robbo knew exactly what he was doing.

 

[_007_]

Is there any sort of pay negotiations coming up with the aflpa? Could be some posturing by the afl. 'You are naughty, you don't deserve x% of TV rights'.

 

[PieNSauce]

When i heard the news i thought that Eddie or Pert may have condoned its release. They are clearly frustrated that players arent heeding the message and may have thought scaring players this way could work knowing that there would be no strikes recorded.

Could also explain why players were so poor Saturday. They may think they are being hang out to dry by their own club.

Of course all the above is a theory and isnt based on any known fact.

ROFL. Seriously? Do you honestly believe this nonsense? Anyone who believes this must think that Eddie or Pert are total and utter morons. Now I know there are plenty who will be happy to take a potshot at Collingwood and Eddie in particular but they are clearly not stupid enough to release information which would not only make their positions untenable but would have the potential to destroy the club completely. What player would sign with a club that was happy to do this? Sorry but the notion is about as ridiculous as anything I've ever heard.

 

[PieNSauce]

Incorrect. They have an Integrity Unit.

That doesn't mean they have integrity!

 

[Beer n Skittles]

Completely agree OP. Players should never have agreed to hair tests in the first place, but the AFL then handing out this confidential info is a disgrace.

Who broke this story & why'd they do it on the eve of round 1 btw?

 

[yeahmate]

Who was Collingwood's round 1 opponent again?

 

[Gavin Excell]

ROFL. Seriously? Do you honestly believe this nonsense? Anyone who believes this must think that Eddie or Pert are total and utter morons. Now I know there are plenty who will be happy to take a potshot at Collingwood and Eddie in particular but they are clearly not stupid enough to release information which would not only make their positions untenable but would have the potential to destroy the club completely. What player would sign with a club that was happy to do this? Sorry but the notion is about as ridiculous as anything I've ever heard.

Look you are probably correct. Just got the impression eddie and pert were at their wits end with players illicit drug use

 

[momentbymoment]

I have said many a time that Ed needs to keep his mouth shut more often (which, after his initial comments, he has been quiet on this subject - suggesting there are much greater discussions happening behind closed doors) and he's someone that should not be given a microphone as often as he is...
BUT - he has, unquestionably, been great for the AFL, as a business, over the last 20 years, and any club would love to have him as president.

And, despite him rubbing some people the wrong way - there is no ******* way that excuses a breach of confidentiality against players.

Sydney would not love him as a president. Period.

 

[BEEG]

Please Gill have a Bigfooty account.

 

[didaksrightfoot]

Sydney would not love him as a president. Period.

Good job ignoring the rest of my post.

So - do you think that having a gripe against Ed would excuse someone leaking this info? (as you seemed to imply)

 

[kneecapper]

It was probably leaked by someone at the AFL who is sick of Collingwood's ongoing failure to systematically deal with issues relating to player behaviour and drug culture.

Anyone genuinely concerned with what happened at Collingwood last year would have unilaterally introduced year-round hair testing to stamp out this scourge, though I suspect the reason it hasn't happened is because it would end up costing the club a lot more personnel than just the two players currently on suspension and we can't have that because apparently the Pies are in a flag window and that equals memberships which equals money.

Edit: this doesn't just apply to Collingwood, by the way. There are other clubs who would prefer not to know what their players are doing and keep them on the list, rather than take strong action and risk suffering suspensions.

 

[Power Raid]

Now I know that there is a separate thread which deals with the drug issue as reported by Mark Robinson and the Herald Sun but I think it's worth discussing one of the issues to come out of it in its own right. This thread is not to downplay the significance of player behaviour or the separate issue of journalistic integrity but it is to highlight a specific outcome which has far reaching ramifications for the AFL and that is specifically around the complete failure of the AFL to maintain the confidentiality which it promised to the AFLPA. I would ask that posters limit the discussion here to this particular aspect of the matter rather than rehash what has been said elsewhere.

What I and many like minded posters are very concerned about here is the complete silence of the AFL on this subject. It is quite astonishing to me that in the face of the likely damage that has been done to the relationship between the AFLPA and the AFL, the AFL has thus far been completely silent on the matter of how this breach of trust occurred and who is responsible. Surely any organisation with any integrity at all would be seeking to go very public about getting to the bottom of this matter and yet Gill remains utterly tight lipped. The conspiracy theorist inside me has grave concerns about this and the fact that media seems to be completely ignoring the issue is also baffling.

I have said it elsewhere but will repeat it here. On the strength of what has occurred and the AFL's complete lack of a response, if I were a player, I would be hesitant to even provide the AFL with my address and surely at this moment, the AFLPA must be considering its options to completely abandon any voluntary programs requiring any form of confidentiality from the AFL.

Discuss!

perhaps the AFL is best served not responding publicly thus meaning any leak is merely hearsay. internally though, one would hope they are scrambling to change procedures, identify sources of the leaks and improve confidentiality and data security.