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Open Mike: Don Scott

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He just seems like a sourpuss to me. Bitter that the club and the game has moved on since the 70's.

If he really does still care about the club, why publicly say that he can't be bothered with it?
 
Because he is honest and it makes no difference to the Club. He has no malice and no "love" for the club and is therefore ambivalent, why shouldn't he say that.

Scotty has always been a strange cat, my understanding is that even in his playing days he did not readily socialise with the other blokes outside of official club functions, would regularly put his body on the line in a game for the team though.

Has always done his own thing and good on him for doing what he wants rather than conforming.

He has bleed for the club and saved it in 1996, we have alot to thank him for.
 
Don Scott was always an oddity and a contradiction.

Don was always one of my favourite players. He was the most passionate and brilliant captain the club ever had, and he played a huge part in 3 Premierships, yet he had little personal relationship with any of the players in the club.

Don would just play football and go home.

Leigh Matthews has said that despite 13 years playing together, they hardly spoke outside training and playing. Others like Rodney Eade have said the same.

He was a champion as a leader on the field, and in 1996 when he led the move to keep our club independent.
Other than that, he was just an irascible and difficult personality, and has no idea how the club functions.
 

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B&GBlood said:
Because he is honest and it makes no difference to the Club. He has no malice and no "love" for the club and is therefore ambivalent, why shouldn't he say that.

Scotty has always been a strange cat, my understanding is that even in his playing days he did not readily socialise with the other blokes outside of official club functions, would regularly put his body on the line in a game for the team though.

Has always done his own thing and good on him for doing what he wants rather than conforming.

He has bleed for the club and saved it in 1996, we have alot to thank him for.
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Yep, spot on, everyone is different, and Don Scott is no exception, the work he put into the club during those dark days of the mid-90's often gets overlooked, he is one of the reasons we are what we are today, I still remember being a young kid at primary school seeing him on the news ripping the valcro Hawk off the Melbourne jumper, you could argue that this was one of the defining moments in the clubs history
 
I like the interview, had alwasy thought he was just being a grump in refusing to come back to the club.

But he made it clear, that back when he played, hawthorn was his local club, like any local club out there today in Australia, with many people who have a long history of involvement with the club, comittee members, trainers etc.

Don mourns the fact, that over time, hawthorn became a highly professional, high performance, elite sporting organisation along with everything which comes with that. Elite coaches , assistant coaches, support staff, administrators etc. No longer people who have been with the club for a long time, but quality people sourced externally to achieve a high level of performance. People who will come and go.

Don mourns the death of his local club (interesting that he started off in Hawks 4th grade, it really was his local club), replaced (from his pov), by a high performance professional organisation, which no longer has the culture or feel, of a local club.
 
Has anyone seen much footage of him playing? I've only seen a few DVD's of Hawks premierships.

Absolutly ferocious in his style of play. I don't know if he would be allowed to play today, would scare too many kids and their mothers.

If you were forced into a situation of kill or be killed, you wouldn't want to run up against Don Scott.
 
Burgarama said:
He just seems like a sourpuss to me. Bitter that the club and the game has moved on since the 70's.

If he really does still care about the club, why publicly say that he can't be bothered with it?
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Completely agree.

Don lives in a fantasy world, completely averse to change. Instead of embracing how incredible the game is now, he resents the fact that times have changed. I get the sense that he always needs to be the centre of attention - reflected by his flamboyant outfits and his constant gripes about not getting the "recognition" that past players deserve. I'm not quite sure what more recognition he is looking for...

He made it sound like he was unable or unwilling to form basic relationships with many team mates. He was disconnected to them in the same way he disconnects from the club today. Then the way he responded so emotionally to a question about his mother's death (over 50 years ago) shows the event obviously impacted heavily on his life and upbringing and he looks to have carried a lot of that pain over the years.

It was sad to see how disinterested in hawthorn he has become, particularly given our current run of success, and Mike clearly struggled to understand his level of discontent.

Anyway, each to their own. You can't please everyone.
 
Tasmaniac said:
Has anyone seen much footage of him playing? I've only seen a few DVD's of Hawks premierships.

Absolutly ferocious in his style of play. I don't know if he would be allowed to play today, would scare too many kids and their mothers.

If you were forced into a situation of kill or be killed, you wouldn't want to run up against Don Scott.
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Imagine him in last weeks game against Collingwood. He would have sorted out a few of those magpies especially Maxwell. Ahh the memories of Scotty from the 70's.
 
Hawk Since Birth said:
Imagine him in last weeks game against Collingwood. He would have sorted out a few of those magpies especially Maxwell. Ahh the memories of Scotty from the 70's.
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Tarrant would have been brought to heel very swiftly.

All the maggies would have their heads down and asking Mr Scott if its okay to the touch the ball.
 
Compelling viewing. Forever indebted to don for his work in saving the club. Loved the interview and felt for him when Mike brought up his mother's death, clearly made him uncomfortable but glad they moved topic shortly thereafter.
 

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I think the interview simply reflected a lot about the personality of scott which seems to me to be at odds working in a complex club/business environment where you really need to be prepared to understand and negotiate around conflicting opinion / motives.

And so as a result he blames HFC for changing and so is now unwilling to be involved at any AFL level now.


But interestingly in many ways it was this mindset that drove him to play such an integral role in keeping the club going.

Hopefully one day he will be able to move on (a bit like KB has) and openly enjoy HFC for what it is.
 
Davo23 said:
Leigh Matthews has said that despite 13 years playing together, they hardly spoke outside training and playing. Others like Rodney Eade have said the same.
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This is one thing which really pissed me off about the interview. I could accept Don's explanation that after football, many footballers don't speak to each other anymore, have no contact etc. But Mike just had to go on and on, continually digging trying to find evidence of some sort of imagined conflict. You could clearly see Don was getting pissed off with Mike trying to make something out of nothing. :rolleyes:
 
Burgarama said:
He just seems like a sourpuss to me. Bitter that the club and the game has moved on since the 70's.

If he really does still care about the club, why publicly say that he can't be bothered with it?
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I think a bit of understanding wouldn't go astray. As a Hawks fan since 1968, I often lament the rapidly changing game, one which is almost unrecognisable from the one I grew to love.

Although I am not a local, I was fortunate to join the membership when we had no more than around 6,000 members. The club was so different to the way it is now. I look back fondly on those times, and cherish them dearly.

I struggle to accept how things are now, but that doesn't mean the Hawthorn Football Club isn't special in my life. I think it's fine for Scotty to lament the passing of a bygone era and yet still say he cares about the club.

Some people of my era have embraced football in the 21st century, some of us haven't. Scotty played 302 games for Hawthorn, has been a premiership captain and club champion. If you honestly feel the club isn't in his blood then I believe you're mistaken.

I feel he's entitled to his candid opinions ... honesty is a rare commodity in football today.
 
Life can be a bit of a paradox. I think the passion that saved the club may have led to the eventual fall out. It's a business which means there are many conflicting agendas and ambiguities. It's not for everyone. I am sure he still loves the club deep down inside.

Some classic Don Scott here. Cleans up Sheedy (0.47) and classic ruck work (2.50). Some famous names in this match. Worth watching the entire clip.

 
BobHawk said:
Life can be a bit of a paradox. I think the passion that saved the club may have led to the eventual fall out. It's a business which means there are many conflicting agendas and ambiguities. It's not for everyone. I am sure he still loves the club deep down inside.

Some classic Don Scott here. Cleans up Sheedy (0.47) and classic ruck work (2.50). Some famous names in this match. Worth watching the entire clip.

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I think I'm more taken by Huddo handballing, and then turning up late in the game in a short-sleeved, number 54 jumper. Al Martello was a monster too.
 
Good luck to Scotty. He saved the HFC and I am indebted to him for that.

It makes perfect sense that he does not fit in and he misses the old timers. That is what happens when you emotionally invest.

HFC is about renewal and so it should be. It does not mean we have to deny those that defined the club, but times change as do processes. It shows the class of Don that he retires away from the club rather than force them to be anchored in the past.
 

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Just to highlight what Scotty feels, when Robson left yo go to essendon we found out the club had funded Robsons MBA. They arent cheap !

Robson was hired as a qualified CEO not someone of football background whs education needed broadening.

Kids don't scrimp and save to buy memberships etc for it to be 'wasted' like that.

Scotty is obviously quite contrary and headstrong, but he is a rivetting speaker with a very listenable voice. No wonder he was a footy commentator (which wasnt mentioned) Scotty had no thought to say what he thought his audience might want to here, and seemed to ramble to the casual observer. A bit like Sam Newman really.
Sam inteviewing Don would be much better. Mike is too stiff and too much of a square.

I didnt take it that Don was criticizing the club today so much as saying it wasnt for him. Theres lots of people agree with him. Theres a story in every nook and cranny of glenferrie oval but Kennet and co had a fire sale and moved on
 
It was a great interview, and gave me more of an insight on a Hawthorn legend. I think all Hawthorn fans appreciate the great work he did along with others to save the club from our merger/takeover. He seems like a stubborn character. Now I don't know if he is as content as he portrays on being on the outer of the club. I think the club does enough like most clubs in holding functions and events to bring back players of the past. I don't know if Scott is asking for a personal invitation to be around the club at all times for him to feel wanted. The club continually evolves, but what will never change is the history that is written. And if Doug feels unwanted or on the outer, he never will be seen that way by the fans who appreciate what he has given the club both on and off the field.
 
Loved the interview. It was typical Scotty. Full of contradiction but underneath it all an absolute passion for the club. I was lucky to see him play so many of his 300 plus games. He bled for the team every week. I doubt that a more desperate or dedicated player has ever played for Hawthorn, yet ironically he would play it all down when interviewed.

I remember his comments straight after the '78 Premiership win......."Its a bit of an anti-climax,...its only a game" Yet again in a Grand Final he had played his heart out...led from the front..kicked 3 inspirational goals...held the ball aloft as the siren sounded to end the game..and in his classic awkward but powerful way booted it into the crowd as a triumphant expression of victory.

I'm sure that if the Hawks ever fell on troubled times again he would do everything he could to rally the troops. Just an amazing leader.
 
I gotta say I love Don Scott and loved the interview.I watched him as a kid growing up and he was as tough as they come.
I understand his position today in respect to the club because they are very different now. Clubs are $50M+ businesses so he is right, the emotional involvement that he talks about is long gone.
I am very appreciative of Don Scott for what he has done and will always have massive respect for him.
 
He is a great man as he was key in us keeping our identity. But he has to accept that passionate though he is; the club must continue to evolve and thrive for us to continue to keep that identity. We should not however poo poo his views as a large and successful organisation has to learn to accept and adjust to all views.
Also we should make an effort to welcome him back and learn to listen with politeness when he gets on his soapbox. As you never know his views might inspire a future hawk captain to a premiership and then become as cranky as he is. Our club would then have gained another flag and millions of good memories and two cranks. I could live with that.
 

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Open Mike: Don Scott

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