Matt Rendell...

[Plugger35]

This is the huge elephant in the room that nobody is willing to address.

Somebody Tweet Robbo, he actually seems like he has a pair of balls and a sense of decency - see if he'll pursue it.

Get Sooz on to it.

Agree though that this issue has been largely overlooked and may explain why Demetriou was so keen to come down hard on Rendell rather than offer the usual mediation that occurs in these types of situations. Appeasing sponsors would be a major consideration for the AFL as it is with AFL clubs.

 

[JoondalupJ]

I must also say the fact that Aussie Rules is one of the few ways our first people can assimilate with the world, that they have no choice but assimilate with , doesn,t say a lot about how we have handled things for over two centuries , hey?????

 

[JoondalupJ]

Everyone agrees Rendell could have chosen his words better. His track record doesn't suggest he has racist tendencies.

The main questions are did Vlad force Trigg to get Rendell's resignation? If so, did Rendell deserve to be (effectively) sacked? Why did Mifsud wait 6 weeks to "complain"? What part did Fahour play? Did the reporting of Rendell's comments threaten a financial deal involving the AFL?

BTW check out page 68 for some serious pwnage

Also some posters won't answer a direct question

Werewolf , who is this Fahour you are talking about? His name is very familiar to me ,
very bloody familiar! If tis the one I,m thinking of.

 

[Ron The Bear]

I think he was hard done by and should have been offered and gone through mediation instead of being sacked. But from his FC interview I wouldn't be surprised if he'd flown off the handle and just brought his secretly-planned retirement a few months closer instead.

It did appear that Rendell was less concerned about his exit, than about how that exit would be perceived. It has clouded things in a way that is not favourable to Rendell.

 

[The Speaker]

Werewolf , who is this Fahour you are talking about? His name is very familiar to me ,
very bloody familiar! If tis the one I,m thinking of.

Ali Fahour, brother of Ahmed.

 

[JoondalupJ]

Really don't have a clue you. Stolen generation was virtually at the point of gun. Here no-one is forcing them to leave their homes and go to an academy. They have a choice and a chance to improve their chances in life and AFL footy.
If you can't see the difference and what's good in that suggestion then you seriously have a problem thinking and reasoning. Hence we know not to take your crap seriously anymore.

You obviously check you brain in by the keyboard when you fire up your computer and you're certainly not using them.

Point of a gun , I don,t think that dramatic. Better find some better words than that.

 

[MattyB_76]

Just some telling/curious tweets from Jason Mifsud (yes I'm bored at work).

Is the word insightful, or more appropriately incite-ful?

8 Feb - Is banishing players who make the wrong decisions the best form education/support? seems outdated to me.

27 Feb - Early season trend. Media people using their shows to justify 'out of context' comments in other media outlets. Watch this space.

1 March - Great interview on #afl360 w' Hall & Mooney re playing on the edge. These blokes are trained to the inch & we expect them to not transgress

(in relation to Race Cadets article, written by Mifsud)
2 March - @joedaniher06 > @jason_mifsud you're turning comments into racist remarks, and your statistics fail to back up your contention #unnecessaryarticle

- @joedaniher06 facts are clear & objective. My comment is in relation to stereotype based comments from 2 influential ppl. Good debate

14 March - Watts drafted #1 from Brighton grammar in 2008. Jarrah rookied from yundemu in 2009. Who has influenced more games?

- @ColesBrad > @jason_mifsud If that question were to be posed implying Watts had the greater influence then you'd be labelled a racist

- @jason_mifsud > @ColesBrad straight forward question. What are you implying?

- @ColesBrad > @jason_mifsud That comparing aboriginal and white players and inferring 1 has had a bigger impact is promoting racism if anything #jobdesc?

- @jason_mifsud > @ColesBrad you are a deep thinker, I'm just comparing two young forwards from the Melb FC.

 

[JoondalupJ]

Ali Fahour, brother of Ahmed.

Well well , his brother is an ex banker toe cutter and ruiner of what was once a good reliable system.

He earns huge money, is I think an ALP appointment , thats fine but the unions are almost on his side or have no shoice but to be. He gave his workforce an EBA that
was , I can,t think of a word bad enough to describe this sleak fellow and his idea
of ruining jobs and operations in the name of a bottom line in a place owned by the tax payer. A carlton supporter too.

Seriously this person is someone I can,t describe because it would be too nasty to put on this site. Perhaps ladder climbing would be politician or anything he can cut down inthe name of bonus.

 

[JoondalupJ]

It did appear that Rendell was less concerned about his exit, than about how that exit would be perceived. It has clouded things in a way that is not favourable to Rendell.

I disagree , I think he would have filled his obligation to Adelaide if this had not happened . I think it happened like he said , of course he may have been weary of the whole thing as well . It can,t be easy dealing with this stuff and having to squeaky clean.
Especially with a drongo like Dimetriou looking over your shoulder every three seconds, to keep political correctness at full force.

 

[IanG]

Just some telling/curious tweets from Jason Mifsud (yes I'm bored at work).

Is the word insightful, or more appropriately incite-ful?

8 Feb - Is banishing players who make the wrong decisions the best form education/support? seems outdated to me.

Ironic

 

[RonSon]

This is what bothers me, lets assume Rendell has said something deeply offensive. Here's a guy who was a much loved Fitzroy stalwart for ten years, a dual best and fairest winner and club captain. He has been around football as an assistant coach and recruiter for the last twenty years. Couldn't he have been given a chance at mediation, just maybe a guy who has had a blameless involvement with footy for over thirty years should get a second chance?
It is unclear wether he was offered a chance at redemption or forgiveness. I can only assume that everybody that transgress's in the future will receive similar treatment

Yeah that is what stinks the most to me.

Mediation was an option until the media got wind of the story according to Trigg. The media got wind of the story through one of the involved parties before any mediation between the parties was initiated - after that it isn't an option?



Good old trial by media... and they can't, or seem unwilling to paint the whole picture. Trigg says he's unwilling to release any more of teh conversation - and it's to protect Rendell, Rendell says he doesn't remember, but admits later there might be more to it than he let on originally and we have heard diddly squat from the one person who started the whole media witch hunt in the first place.


I don't think anyone's going to climb out of this cesspit without a bit of mud on them.

 

[Ron The Bear]

I disagree , I think he would have filled his obligation to Adelaide if this had not happened . I think it happened like he said , of course he may have been weary of the whole thing as well . It can,t be easy dealing with this stuff and having to squeaky clean.
Especially with a drongo like Dimetriou looking over your shoulder every three seconds, to keep political correctness at full force.

He said on FC that he was committed mentally to the next twelve months because "this year's draft is probably going to be the best draft ever in the history of drafts", but that signing on at Adelaide for three more years was an error: "I probably made a mistake in staying...in fact, I'm sure I made a mistake. I should have just gone and done something else."

Rendell would've been content to leave the game with his reputation intact, but the AFL botched it.

 

[yebiga]

Interesting sports spread in the age today.

Rendell's apology, below Demetriou's unprofessional behaviour towrds the Tasmania bid, beside Demetriou's concession of mistakes have been made with the Greater West Sydney project.

And at the bottom a story a bout Sharks circling!!!

I wonder if Andrew can read between the lines? Will he be given a chance to resign like Rendell?

 

[RonSon]

From all the talk in the press I realise that other things happened and it is a more complex situation than we know about.

I am specifically talking about how the incident played out in the media and how poorly handled the entire affair has been.

The sensational and unfair headline got him fired. He may well have been insensitive in other cases, but these issues would have been much better dealt with outside the blazing media spotlight.

Ah agreed, it seems I may have misinterpreted what you said, you're just lucky we don't work for the AFL or Andy D might have given you an angry phone call.

 

[weevil]

Ah agreed, it seems I may have misinterpreted what you said, you're just lucky we don't work for the AFL or Andy D might have given you an angry phone call.

Incredibly easy to do, so much flying around in his thread, very hard to keep up with everyone.

 

[BrunoV]

Just some telling/curious tweets from Jason Mifsud (yes I'm bored at work).

Is the word insightful, or more appropriately incite-ful?

8 Feb - Is banishing players who make the wrong decisions the best form education/support? seems outdated to me.

27 Feb - Early season trend. Media people using their shows to justify 'out of context' comments in other media outlets. Watch this space.

1 March - Great interview on #afl360 w' Hall & Mooney re playing on the edge. These blokes are trained to the inch & we expect them to not transgress

(in relation to Race Cadets article, written by Mifsud)
2 March - @joedaniher06 > @jason_mifsud you're turning comments into racist remarks, and your statistics fail to back up your contention #unnecessaryarticle

- @joedaniher06 facts are clear & objective. My comment is in relation to stereotype based comments from 2 influential ppl. Good debate

14 March - Watts drafted #1 from Brighton grammar in 2008. Jarrah rookied from yundemu in 2009. Who has influenced more games?

- @ColesBrad > @jason_mifsud If that question were to be posed implying Watts had the greater influence then you'd be labelled a racist

- @jason_mifsud > @ColesBrad straight forward question. What are you implying?

- @ColesBrad > @jason_mifsud That comparing aboriginal and white players and inferring 1 has had a bigger impact is promoting racism if anything #jobdesc?

- @jason_mifsud > @ColesBrad you are a deep thinker, I'm just comparing two young forwards from the Melb FC.

So how easily can you delete a twitter account?

 

[MattyB_76]

So how easily can you delete a twitter account?

Both Mifsud and Fahour have been tweeting and deleting for the past couple of days. You can deactivate the account pretty easily, but not sure if the tweets just stay in limbo.

 

[BrunoV]

It just seems to be me that walking the fine "racial" line aside it isn't really the position of an AFL representative to question the out put of any player, especially a player like Watts who has already been subject to a lot of unfair and harsh scrutiny.

I'd suggest plenty of screen shots of these posts.

 

[NikkiNoo]

Both Mifsud and Fahour have been tweeting and deleting for the past couple of days. You can deactivate the account pretty easily, but not sure if the tweets just stay in limbo.

From memory there has been a few slander cases involving twitter comments, where one person had deleted them, but the comments were able to be retrieved at the courts request.

 

[RegHickeyStand]

14 March - Watts drafted #1 from Brighton grammar in 2008. Jarrah rookied from yundemu in 2009. Who has influenced more games?

- @ColesBrad > @jason_mifsud If that question were to be posed implying Watts had the greater influence then you'd be labelled a racist

- @jason_mifsud > @ColesBrad straight forward question. What are you implying?

- @ColesBrad > @jason_mifsud That comparing aboriginal and white players and inferring 1 has had a bigger impact is promoting racism if anything #jobdesc?

- @jason_mifsud > @ColesBrad you are a deep thinker, I'm just comparing two young forwards from the Melb FC.

Got a bit of "us and them" about him, has young Jase.

 

[SlainteO'Hailpin]

Pretty sure Misfud is a common Maltese name?

It's Us vs the Maltese!

 

[MrChristo]

Re: Matt Rendall...

Why does nobody care about the Auspost/Fahour/Sponsorship issue here?

It's a massive issue...

...the stench of nepotism from an organisation who are (publicly) hell-bent on promoting equal opertunity and removing those who "don't", is the finest of all ironies.

The AFL must be taken up on it at some point.

But back to the issue at hand...[and I will be typing we/us/them a lot, purely for ease of typing!]...I can see some tenuous links to the stolen gen here, in that it seems 'western society' still thinks they know best for the indiginous.

There was a post a few pages back about the schools/scholarships being set up (can't find it now, or would quote)...good in [western] theory, but is it what they want/need?

Let me explain...

...it all comes back to 'culture'. Western culture is about about fortune and fame. Just about everything/everyone is driven by money and the 'need' to be known.
Parents (generally, in a stereotypical way of course) want their kids to have a good education to 'make something of themselves' (ie. get a well paying job, raise a family etc)...
...the only reason we want to do well at school and go to Uni is to get a well paying job.
None of us hit the books due to some grand desire to be a quiz champion! (Although, of course, money is generally the lure then as well.)

Indiginous kids growing up in isolated communities [generally] have no such wants or needs.

The point being (taking Jurrah purely as an example), why did Melbourne recruit a young man from a remote community who could barely speak English? One reason, to exploit his talents.
Of course there's always the guise (genuine assumption?) of "we're helping him out here", but seriously, what does Jurrah get out of the deal?
Money? Not interested I suspect.
The chance to win a Premiership? Yeah, possibly... [forget about individual clubs].
Fame? Even less than interested, in fact, I suspect it's a drawback.
The chance to be 'educated' and live in western society? [because, logically, to us, it's better than a dirty shanty town]...hmmm...

This has all been said before, but I think it's worth repeating, that Jurrah (again, purely for ease of example) loves running around chasing a footy and doing the spectacular, I've got no doubt he thought running around for an AFL club would be great fun...
...then the reality of hours of training each day. Hours of class-room stuff as the game now more than ever before has the academic element (sports science, recovery, zones, tactics etc.), and suddenly it's not so appealing.

[For the conspiracy gang out there, I'm not in the least suggesting the indiginous guys are less capable of the academia.]

In fact, I suspect there are as many AFL players (of any/all races) who were raised in mainstream western culture who get sick of tired of the professional football way of life and at times want to walk away...
...however for them, reality soon hits that without football they'll have to work a 'normal' job (and at this stage they probably have little to no qualifications), lead an anonomous life as a low paid regular Joe. [Sorry, Aussie battler! ]

Culture.

So 1) They soon get back to the daily grind of their choosen profession## (AFL), and
2) Of course, it's never reported in the media, so we never know.

The indiginous guys have no such hold ups. They lose the enjoyment and what's left but to return home to where they were happy all along? ** And the media jump at the chance to report another "walkabout". (Shit word)

So, in my Jurrah example...Melbourne F. C., absolutely do your best to 'recruit' this man who may well be a difference maker on the field, but don't ever be surprised when he has enough and returns home, because despite what you think (what your western culture would have you believe), he's not getting anywhere near as much as you out of this whole 'deal'.


Someone tell me it isn't 1000% easier for Rendell to say what he did rather than jump through all those hoops!!

(Or even, tell me why the PC police seem to find that so hard to understand.)


(## Of course there would be a very large I suspect % of AFL players who genuinely love what they are doing.)
(** Obviously a fairly large assumption, but I think it's fair to say that recent [3-4-5 years] events lend themselves to such a conclusion.)

 

[MrChristo]

Pretty sure Misfud is a common Maltese name?

Anyone got any footage of him playing footy?

If he got hit on the scone it'd be a Maltese Falcon.

 

[aussierulesrules]

Re: Matt Rendall...

I can see some tenuous links to the stolen gen here, in that it seems 'western society' still thinks they know best for the indiginous.

There was a post a few pages back about the schools/scholarships being set up (can't find it now, or would quote)...good in [western] theory, but is it what they want/need?

I agree that what is studied at school would not necessarily be of great appeal to "those in question" (it isn't for many of us who grew up in the "Western world, either), but the suggestion wasn't about that at all, I don't think, from what Rendell said. He never mentioned anything like that from what I've heard. It was more about getting them (those who are identified as having the most talent, who CHOOSE to take up the option of a scholarship at a big city school) acclimatised to:

A: Living in a big city/suburbia, which I imagine is a hell of a culture-shock, compared to a small town in the outback
and B: Getting them used to the structures of living in this sort of society, such as doing things at a certain time every day and being told what to do, etc which they will confront at an AFL club ("Being away from family is tough. Coming from our community to a city like Melbourne, people just don't understand the difference. "Up here there is nobody telling me what to do, where to be at different times, what to eat ... just completely different lifestyles." (Ross Tungatalum, previously on the rookie list at St Kilda, but was cut at age 19)

so that by the time they are of draft age, they will already be much better adapted to A: Living in a big city/suburbia and B: doing things in a consistent structured way, at the same sort of way, getting told what to do, etc. every day, so that when they walk into an AFL club, the difference isn't as monumental in multiple regards as it would be if they just walked straight into one after arriving from the "bush". And this is of course OPTIONAL, if they want to do it, to improve their chances of being able to handle being at an AFL club, if they get picked up. The same way Cyril Rioli believes it helped him.

That is all I read into what Rendell was saying and I believe that is where he was coming from. All these other inferences have been "put into his mouth" by others, who seem to have taken offence, because they have ASSUMED that he meant a certain thing, when there is every chance he didn't mean those things at all (one example is the inference that they will "better themselves more if they go to school in a big city than if they continue to grow up in the bush". I never heard anything of the sort from Rendell and I doubt very much that is what he meant.

So from what I've seen on places like here, many of those offended have ASSUMED that he meant a certain thing, even though they really have no idea if that is what he meant at all and they certainly have no proof. So it is almost certainly their assumption that has caused them to be offended by what he said, as they would ultimately be guessing that that is in fact what he meant. This is why I don't believe Rendell necessarily had anything to apologise for, from what I've heard of what was said, as he is not responsible for others assuming he means one thing by what he is saying, when that could easily be the last thing he means by what he has said.

Some of the conclusions that have been jumped to here, by those who took offence, are way off the mark, IMO and that is backed up by many of those who ACTUALLY KNOW Rendell, who, like Darryl White, don't believe he has a "racist bone in his body".

From what I've heard and read, he was not pushing any "racial" agenda at all. It was simply someone who's job it is to recruit, thinking of ways that would make the transition from living and playing in the bush, to living and playing in a big city, at an ultra-professional and highly demanding club, easier and more seamless for THOSE THAT WANT TO PLAY IN THE AFL. I have seen nothing to the contrary.

As for the Liam Jurrah example, I could be mistaken here, but I'm pretty sure no-one put a gun to his head when offering him a crack at the AFL and I'm also pretty confident that no-one currently has a gun to his head, telling him he must stay in the AFL if he isn't enjoying it, or doesn't feel it's worth it. He's free to do what he wants.

 

[stickman11]

Re: Matt Rendall...

Seriously, Vlad needs to be sacked. He is a disgrace to the game with his behaviour.