- Dec 1, 2013
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What were we supposed to say to him prior to him being hired? "Hi Craig, you uh haven't had any young GWS players over at your house to avoid a drug test in the last few years have you?"
Now LAMBOSE definitely in hot water!
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Crusha
Growing Old (dis)Gracefully
My thoughts on this whole saga are probably known to most here (and, I sense, I'm in the minority) ..... so will not be re-visiting here.
BUT ....... for Christs Sake .... where will this madness end.
By my calculation, Melissa hasn't been charged with any related offence, so why the question about her being able to do the job .... unless the Club thinks she can only perform in tandem with Craig (and there has been no public utterance to suggest same).
My reckoning is that Lambo cannot have any official contact/role/involvement with the Club (and therefore, it's players).
Is ASADA so all powerful that they can dictate what he does in his own home as an individual, who he can have unofficial contact with in his own home. Where does it stop ?? Must players cross the street if they find themselves on the same footpath, leave an establishment if they find that Craig is also there. As far as I know, Lambo is not warned off from AFL venues, would be funny if the players had to boycott the Gabba if they knew Craig was in attendance and there was a chance of bumping into him. What next ........ do we burn any books that have any reference to Craig, to ensure the players are not breaking any rules. Heck we can't check every book for references .......best we burn the bloody lot.
Yeah, I know, "there he goes, off on extremes again".
Well who can blame me .......... given the whole ASADA/AFL/WADA mess ......(does that make an anagram - wadabloodyawfulsaga...... almost).
Look, right or wrong, Lambo has a 12 month suspension from his role at the Club.
What he does in his private life should be his own business ..... and if ASADA/WADA/AFL can dictate what he can or can't do in that environment ..... well, the whole bloody thing is way out of hand.
(*Rant over .... you can all go back to bed now ........
)
Can't have it that no-one at the club knew what had happened at GWS.....I think that they thought that was the end of it, hired him and it blew up in their faces.
Blaming the AFL seems a real cop-out to me, when a few inquiries might have forewarned them of trouble brewing..
I do agree with Crusha about Melissa though, and what Craig can and can't do in his own home..
AFAIC Melissa should be able to carry on with her job....
Blaming the AFL seems a real cop-out to me, when a few inquiries might have forewarned them of trouble brewing..
I do agree with Crusha about Melissa though, and what Craig can and can't do in his own home..
AFAIC Melissa should be able to carry on with her job....
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I think as far as the AFL, GWS and Lambert were concerned at the time, the investigating was done, finished, so not much/anything to report.
Gubby's move to Collingwood was a year after that. Things changed.
- Sep 9, 2012
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I think it has been stated earlier in the thread that Craig told the club there was nothing to worry about, having been cleared by the club (GWS) organised review led by a barrister.
Melissa's role is in question because so much of the welfare provided is based on family surroundings away from the club, ie at home. Bit hard when Craig is banned from contact with the players ("official" or otherwise).My thoughts on this whole saga are probably known to most here (and, I sense, I'm in the minority) ..... so will not be re-visiting here.
BUT ....... for Christs Sake .... where will this madness end.
By my calculation, Melissa hasn't been charged with any related offence, so why the question about her being able to do the job .... unless the Club thinks she can only perform in tandem with Craig (and there has been no public utterance to suggest same).
My reckoning is that Lambo cannot have any official contact/role/involvement with the Club (and therefore, it's players).
Is ASADA so all powerful that they can dictate what he does in his own home as an individual, who he can have unofficial contact with in his own home. Where does it stop ?? Must players cross the street if they find themselves on the same footpath, leave an establishment if they find that Craig is also there. As far as I know, Lambo is not warned off from AFL venues, would be funny if the players had to boycott the Gabba if they knew Craig was in attendance and there was a chance of bumping into him. What next ........ do we burn any books that have any reference to Craig, to ensure the players are not breaking any rules. Heck we can't check every book for references .......best we burn the bloody lot.
View attachment 312113
Yeah, I know, "there he goes, off on extremes again".
Well who can blame me .......... given the whole ASADA/AFL/WADA mess ......(does that make an anagram - wadabloodyawfulsaga...... almost).
Look, right or wrong, Lambo has a 12 month suspension from his role at the Club.
What he does in his private life should be his own business ..... and if ASADA/WADA/AFL can dictate what he can or can't do in that environment ..... well, the whole bloody thing is way out of hand.
(*Rant over .... you can all go back to bed now ........
Yes, ASADA does have that power, and rightly so. Remember Dustin Fletcher couldn't watch his kid play footy because he wasn't allowed at the venue. A ban is a ban. once you start making exceptions, loopholes you could drive a club bus through start opening up.
Craig is banned, and that's that. You can't have players going to their house, based on a promise that "I won't offer advice, promise, pinky swear".
Unfortunate, but that's the way it has to work. Mel could have a role, but it won't be anywhere near the pastoral care currently provided.
We should have asked that after we sleuthed and found the information. The AFL knew, GWS knew and ASADA knew.
Fatcat08
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But we didn't find the information did we. Noone was talking about it
It's possible that we didn't have the best relationship with any of those bodies at the time, or the competence to investigate ourselves.
In order to "find' things, you need to know what questions to ask. I'm sure none of those entities pin such things to their front door so you can see them walking in. Such matters would be confidential, so again, if you don't ask specific questions, you won't be alerted to anything.
Hollow Knight
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Yeah I'm not sure a standard, professional level of "due-diligence" would have revealed anything in this case.
Crusha makes some interesting points. i am sure Craig has become very good friends with a few of the players. would like to see a few points cleared up by the club or the AFL, whichever is the appropriate source, ie. put out a statement detailing exactly what Craig can and can not do. obviously he can not have any official role with the club or players. although is that zero contact in any circumstance? what are the rules in these scenarios-
1) player A and his partner are good friends with Craig. can they socialize with him at all? eg. go out for a meal? a round of golf? a beer?
2) can a player txt Craig and offer his support and to see how he is holding up? (i am pretty confident a large majority of the players would be still very supportive of Craig)
3) is Craig allowed to be in his own home if Mel invites a player over? (impossible to monitor you would think)
unfortunately Mels position with the club is probably untenable or at the very least hard to perform to her desired level, so much of her and his style of welfare revolved around an inclusive whole of family approach.
1) player A and his partner are good friends with Craig. can they socialize with him at all? eg. go out for a meal? a round of golf? a beer?
2) can a player txt
Craig and offer his support and to see how he is holding up? (i am pretty confident a large majority of the players would be still very supportive of Craig)3) is Craig allowed to be in his own home if Mel invites a player over? (impossible to monitor you would think)
unfortunately Mels position with the club is probably untenable or at the very least hard to perform to her desired level, so much of her and his style of welfare revolved around an inclusive whole of family approach.
I have to disagree. Dustin Fletcher's kid's game is/was an official event and under the control of the game authorities, however unpalatable and childish the end result was.
I see players visiting Mel's home as a very unofficial part and personal choice in her role, and if Craig just happens to be there then so be it - the AFL/ASADA has no right to interfere. Remember that Craig is the one suspended here, not Mel.
Hollow Knight
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All this consternation just reinforces my view that we just need to move on. Have to feel for Mel Lambert in that circumstance though.
For comparison, the Essendon players who were suspended were not denied all contact with AFL officials during their suspension. I recall plenty of stories about them having coffee and conversations with various Essendon and AFL officials during their suspension.
Dalions
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As long as she doesn't have a player stay over for 3 days because they "HAVE A HEADACHE".
I'll grant it is a bit of a grey area, but I think it is a fair argument that for the welfare officials of a club, home visits are an extremely normal part of their day to day care. As Jason mentions above, we really need to see a ruling on this, and I'm not sure even the club has one at this stage (going by the Chairman's comments). Having the boys around home for dinners etc is contributing to welfare, official or not.
To use Fletcher and his mates as an example again, the banned players were not allowed to train with their teammates. It didn't matter if it was an "official" training session at the club, or an "unofficial" exercise session with 40 of their mates at the local park.
The hard thing in deciding right and wrong, is the consequences of choosing what we might think is reasonable. They could be honest and only Mel provide welfare, with Craig keeping his nose out things, even in their own home. But the next club will have the banned welfare officer still performing a role & counselling , all the while saying "Nah, they were here to see the wife. I was just watching telly". I'd suggest having players at their house (his house) is providing welfare, which he's not allowed to do.
- Apr 19, 2012
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This is an afl imposed ban.My thoughts on this whole saga are probably known to most here (and, I sense, I'm in the minority) ..... so will not be re-visiting here.
BUT ....... for Christs Sake .... where will this madness end.
By my calculation, Melissa hasn't been charged with any related offence, so why the question about her being able to do the job .... unless the Club thinks she can only perform in tandem with Craig (and there has been no public utterance to suggest same).
My reckoning is that Lambo cannot have any official contact/role/involvement with the Club (and therefore, it's players).
Is ASADA so all powerful that they can dictate what he does in his own home as an individual, who he can have unofficial contact with in his own home. Where does it stop ?? Must players cross the street if they find themselves on the same footpath, leave an establishment if they find that Craig is also there. As far as I know, Lambo is not warned off from AFL venues, would be funny if the players had to boycott the Gabba if they knew Craig was in attendance and there was a chance of bumping into him. What next ........ do we burn any books that have any reference to Craig, to ensure the players are not breaking any rules. Heck we can't check every book for references .......best we burn the bloody lot.
View attachment 312113
Yeah, I know, "there he goes, off on extremes again".
Well who can blame me .......... given the whole ASADA/AFL/WADA mess ......(does that make an anagram - wadabloodyawfulsaga...... almost).
Look, right or wrong, Lambo has a 12 month suspension from his role at the Club.
What he does in his private life should be his own business ..... and if ASADA/WADA/AFL can dictate what he can or can't do in that environment ..... well, the whole bloody thing is way out of hand.
(*Rant over .... you can all go back to bed now ........
Bears repeating.
Maybe, but I feel that we were so keen at the time to stem the 1st round bleeding that we were more than keen and possibly desperate to get Lambert on board.
Definitely, and I'm not sure we would have done anything different had we known what info was available at the time. Worth rolling the dice back then, given it seems the belief was it would come to nothing. Oh well.
It feels like getting him back next December will be a bad look.
For sure. He will be smashed by the media and I am sure some players will see him as a hypocrite.
Not sure the media will give a toss (it's only Brisbane after all). Gubby has been the big story in this, because, well, Collingwood matters apparently.
I think it will be more a case of cleaning up the place and it sounds like the club or some there found some other chinks in his armour as well. His values may not align with those of the new administration.
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