Merge documentary

[Spazzallo]

Not sure if I want to watch a doco about a tumultuous time for the club/s just after we bow out of finals... But there it is on youtube. Well done to the club making it so easily available!

The last 15 minutes were quite uplifting, at least from a Fitzroy supporters point of view.

 

[LionsMaw]

Just finished watching the doco and can honestly say I love this Club even more.

 

[Paul Mac]

The last 15 minutes were quite uplifting, at least from a Fitzroy supporters point of view.

and emotional

 

[BrainOfMorbius]

I thought this was tremendously well-done.

I liked that it didn't shy away from some of the dreadful PR mistakes made after the merger announcement, such as Gordon's awful Footy Show appearance.

I also appreciated the acknowledgement that there were many Bears fans who were also upset about the loss of the Bears and the club's iconography. I was at the Bears members forum shortly after the announcement, and when the new jumper was displayed on a washed-out overhead transparency, making the maroon look bright red, there was a lot of discontent.

 

[Roylion]

You haven't seen it, but alredy preempting the content.

Watched it. It was as I expected.

 

[jarrod_island_doggies]

Watching it now - had to suppress the urge to punch my laptop screen about 10 mins in...

 

[BRAB]

The fact that Fitzroy fans aren't melting down too much shows it must have been pretty balanced which is a huge achievement

 

[Roylion]

The fact that Fitzroy fans aren't melting down too much shows it must have been pretty balanced which is a huge achievement

What's to "melt down" about? The documentary was standard fare told from the AFL's and Brisbane's point of view. As was expected.

Some of the merger circumstances from the Fitzroy perspective weren't explained well enough. Ross Oakley as per usual whitewashed the AFL's role in the merger. Nauru for example only appointed an administrator to Fitzroy when the AFL schemed not to settle Nauru's debt out of the $6 million merger monies going to the proposed North-Fitzroy merger. The Fitzroy debt of $1.25 million to the Nauru Insurance Company wasn't due to be paid back until 2001 and Fitzroy were meeting the repayments (Fitzroy did actually make a small profit from 1993-1995 courtesy of their new social club). So faced with the prospect of not being paid back at all, Michael Brennan the administrator was called in.

Hopefully a new book, "The Death of the Fitzroy Football Club" due to be published in March 2020 will shed further light on what actually went on.

 

[Football Pope]

What's to "melt down" about?

Some of the circumstances from the Fitzroy perspective weren't explained well enough. Ross Oakley as per usual whitewashed the AFL's role in the merger. Nauru for example only appointed an administrator to Fitzroy when the AFL schemed not to settle Nauru's debt out of the $6 million merger monies going to the proposed North-Fitzroy merger. The Fitzroy debt to the Nauru Insurance Company wasn't due to be paid back until 2001 and faced with the prospect of not being paid back at all, Michael Brennan was called in.

Hopefully a new book, "The Death of the Fitzroy Football Club" due to be published in March 2020 will shed further light on what actually went on.

Already published July this year... was having a read in my local book store $35..

The Death of Fitzroy Football Club

On 1 September, 1996, Fitzroy Football Club travelled to the hostile environs of Subiaco and lost by 86 points to the upstart Fremantle Dockers. Such sapping defeats were nothing new to Roy Boys by then—Richmond had thumped the Lions by 151 points just a week earlier—but this one gave way to the...

www.bennsbooks.com.au

 

[Daniels Riches]

I was looking forward to hearing Oakley’s explanation as to why they couldn’t allow Fitzroy to play their last game in Victoria. Unfortunately didn’t get one. I would have loved to hear from Brad Boyd and Arthur Wilson as well. What I didn’t know was how little North Melbourne offered in regards to keeping and preserving Fitzroy’s history in their proposed merger.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[trikster]

The fact that Fitzroy fans aren't melting down too much shows it must have been pretty balanced which is a huge achievement

Why would we? It's the same story as told many times with the same ending.

The VFL/AFL conspired to wind up Fitzroy to suit their top 2 agenda items ... 1. have less clubs in Melbourne and 2. provide help to the Bears. As Geoff Poulter put it, every other Victorian club was provided support along the way (including the likes of Collingwood who were technically bankrupt and should have been wound up, and Richmond) except for Fitzroy who were left to find their own help (Naura, Bernie Ahern, etc.)

The only new thing I learnt was the magnitude of the $ gap between the North offer and the Brisbane offer.

 

[BRAB]

Oh, there we are.

 

[trikster]

Oh, there we are.

yup, 23 years later and I'm still as angry as I was in 96 (when it is brought up). I'd like to post some honest opinions of Ross Oakley but I'm sure dlanod would have no choice but to ban me.

 

[FLVanLandingham]

Well that was an interesting watch. I came to football in/around/after the threepeat and am a Brisbane boy, so no knowledge/allegiance to Fitzroy prior to that.

Really loved the stuff with Kevin Murray, and insight by the coach was really good too (forgot his name already.. the guy coaching Fitzroy for their last 2 seasons). Kind of wish there was some interviews with some of the Fitzroy players who didn't go on the Brisbane, and some more stuff about the supporter bases for both of the teams. Also would have been nice to finish off with how the Fitzroy fans still exist and do/don't support Brisbane to this day, I feel its relevant to the good atmosphere we get at Melbourne games (this is all conjecture ).


Anyway, certainly enjoyable and well made!

 

[dropbear101]

I watched it sort of knew the story but interesting seeing the different perspectives
AFL seemed to believe in money. Tv rights meant they had to kill a Victorian club and keep on expanding.
Fitzroy seemed to be about survival preferably without merging.
Bears seemed to be about wanting to become better.

Lol north guy still seems bitter least you've won a premiership get over it.
The attitude of fitzroy fans reminds me of my families attitude towards the WAFL and south fremantle the vfl went and created the first plastic club west coast and killed the local league.

 

[CarterS]

I watched it sort of knew the story but interesting seeing the different perspectives
AFL seemed to believe in money. Tv rights meant they had to kill a Victorian club and keep on expanding.
Fitzroy seemed to be about survival preferably without merging.
Bears seemed to be about wanting to become better.

Lol north guy still seems bitter least you've won a premiership get over it.
The attitude of fitzroy fans reminds me of my families attitude towards the WAFL and south fremantle the vfl went and created the first plastic club west coast and killed the local league.

Similar thing is going on in NRL at the moment, TV demanding one team go to make way for another Brisbane team.

 

[Mr Ripper]

Good show, but nothing new. A timely reminder of what a bunch of snakes we have running football.

 

[Lions_Insider]

Good show, but nothing new. A timely reminder of what a bunch of snakes we have running football.

There was never going to be anything new, we just thought the story hadn't properly been documented in the digital era and we had a crack at telling it ourselves.

Few comments further up about hearing from specific Fitzroy people, we invited some to be involved and they declined, which is understandable.

 

[Roylion]

Already published July this year... was having a read in my local book store $35..

It's unavailable. Dymocks in Collins Street said the book being published was delayed from July --> September 2019 and now is due in March 2020. They haven't received any copies at all, which is surprising for one of the biggest bookstores in Melbourne. Readings in Carlton doesn't have it either.

 

[notliondown]

There was never going to be anything new, we just thought the story hadn't properly been documented in the digital era and we had a crack at telling it ourselves.

Few comments further up about hearing from specific Fitzroy people, we invited some to be involved and they declined, which is understandable.

Like every emotionally charged event in history there will always be those who will feel aggrieved by how it's recorded. It doesn't make them right or wrong - just invested.

Personally I think the club should be congratulated on the doco. It just shows that despite the time that's passed there is a determined effort to make sure that the current members and more importantly the new ones know our past. And given it's been created by those who may not have either been around or even interested at the time makes it even more special.

It's efforts like these that mean newcomers to AFL and the Lions will know exactly why we reference Fitzroy - like a supporter was explaining to someone behind me on Saturday night in the stands.

Some may not be 100% pleased with the narrative but it's a massively better outcome than letting the connection simply whither and die with time.

 

[Lions_Insider]

Like every emotionally charged event in history there will always be those who will feel aggrieved by how it's recorded. It doesn't make them right or wrong - just invested.

We thought it was important to tell it, and nobody out there would be more invested in telling it than us. We also thought the Bears story had never properly been told, so it was an opportunity to do that.

We had some people ask what angle we were looking for, and our answer was simply, the truth. Tell us how you remember it, that's all we want.

 

[T Rick]

There was never going to be anything new, we just thought the story hadn't properly been documented in the digital era and we had a crack at telling it ourselves.

Few comments further up about hearing from specific Fitzroy people, we invited some to be involved and they declined, which is understandable.

Congratulations Lions Insider on your team having the courage to tell the story of the merger and have a digital record of the events. It was wonderful to watch, given that I love our combined history, both Bears and Fitzroy. For some of course, the story is too raw but I think your team has done an amazing job.

 

[Pride of lions]

We thought it was important to tell it, and nobody out there would be more invested in telling it than us. We also thought the Bears story had never properly been told, so it was an opportunity to do that.

We had some people ask what angle we were looking for, and our answer was simply, the truth. Tell us how you remember it, that's all we want.

My family (grandfather) began supporting Fitzroy back in the 1930’s and I was taken to my first game by him and my dad when I was 4 years old. I followed Kevin Murray religiously and had his number on my first footy jumper. Later as an adult I spent several years in a Fitzroy coterie group through some really rough times. When the merger occurred I had no choice but to support the Lions and after one or two years I started to feel the same passion for the Brisbane Lions as I had for Fitzroy over all those years. Now my children are also avid supporters of the Lions so the tradition lives on.
I would like to thank the club for still doing its utmost to keep the memories alive and I think that the documentary is a fantastic record of what occurred.
There is no point in dwelling over the negatives of the past,every old Fitzroy and Bears supporter should just get behind the mighty Brisbane Lions and enjoy the ride into the future!

 

[BuntonRules]

There was never going to be anything new, we just thought the story hadn't properly been documented in the digital era and we had a crack at telling it ourselves.

Few comments further up about hearing from specific Fitzroy people, we invited some to be involved and they declined, which is understandable.

Huge, huge appreciation for the club for producing this, LI . Warts and all, it never tried to present the Bears as saviour. Showing Gordon's gaffes, and the damage he did, took cahones.

Learn a heap, and I thought I was fairly well up on things.

Robert Walls stands tall in the history of all 3 clubs involved - do we have a medal or official recognition to his contribution?

The full Buckley story I have never heard. To hear the respect of those involved may well soften my view.

The thought of Browny n Carey in one forward line is scary, although they would probably nearly kill one another.

Greg Swann, effectively, ran Fitzroy for the last 6 months. Probably influenced his decision to take the Brisbane job. And he must get so much personal satisfaction with the club's current position compared to when he got here. Has come the full circle.

How much a loss Andrew Ireland was..

Anyhow, top class effort. Thanks.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Robert Walls stands tall in the history of all 3 clubs involved - do we have a medal or official recognition to his contribution?

Life membership.