No Oppo Supporters The Melt Thread

[Arcassius]

This shit is just expected now. Nothing has changed and nothing will until we get a new coach.

Im still waiting to see how that works out for arsenal [emoji14]

 

[peppy la pew]

Maybe not top 4 pepsi but top 8 is looking likely

They might scrape in mate , looking at their run home

Essendon
Cats
Saints
Swans

Only leave vic once and the trip to sydney might be a make or break.

 

[Oldman Docker]

Hello all, I have been a member of this club since inception, I am an old man, but I’d like to think I know my way around a few professional organisations both in the sporting field and the world of business. I was pointed here by a family member who posts frequently and thought my insight might be appreciated, I will let other decide on the quality post message.



I would like to preface my following remarks by stating that I thoroughly enjoyed our period of relative success in the 2012-2015, it was enjoyable to follow a team that was honest, professional, for the most part and lead well by a man who showed the club unbelievable loyalty. This was a period of harmonious performance, I was proud to follow Fremantle and enjoyed making my way to Subiaco every second week during winter.

That feeling is gone, and whilst that period was good to be a part of, I believe it spawned a toxic element that has been slowly poisoning the club and left us in the position we now find ourselves in. Success can often lead to hubris, humility cast aside for arrogance, and even the most meticulous individuals can be lulled into believing the sun shines out of every orifice. I believe this is entirely prevalent with our football department. We started to take short-cuts, lower our standards and make allowance in the pursuit of the ultimate prize to the detriment of the club as a whole. The worst part about this current period, is a total lack of accountability for poorly executed decisions and out failure as an organisation to create an effective indigenous player management program.



I understand this may ruffle feathers and I will no doubt be accused by some as being disloyal, but that is simply not the case, my only wish is that the club re-discover its identity and develop into an environment that attracts and retains the right people. At this point in time, we, as a club, have failed dismally in this function.

I am of the opinion that the current recruitment, list management and development team needs to be cleansed. This is a unit, who over the past 5 seasons has seen fit to actively recruit Colin Sylvia, Shane Yarran, Harley Bennell, Cameron Mcarthy, Brad Hill, Josh Simpson and Brandon Matera. I find it absurd that the club failed to screen the inherent character flaws associated with each of these particular players, recruited said players and at the same point in time, discarded Michael Barlow, Matt Deboer and Tendai Mzungu. Every single one of the players recruited were infinitely more talented than the three players I note were cast aside, however they all represented individuals with patterns of behaviour not aligned with high performance.


Colin Sylvia was recruited in a quest for more scoring power and hardness around the ball, these were the selling points at the tail end of 2013. Prior to his arrival Sylvia had been associated with multiple off-field misdemeanours including violence toward his partner, excessive drinking and failing to arrive for compulsory recovery sessions. These incidents were spread across multiple years and demonstrated a pattern of behaviour which did not align with a high performance culture. Sylvia lasted 1 and half seasons before the club realised the error of its ways despite stating and I quote

“we're really comfortable that we knew what was coming through the door”

Colin Sylvia was let go after demonstrating an inability to meet the expectations of a professional environment, failing to attend compulsory recovery sessions and enjoying himself over the off-season with excessive alcohol intake and being unable to complete a post Xmas time trial. The club allowed this to happen by failing to accept his attitudinal problems and behavioural issues were systemic, was it hubris?

Shane Yarran, may his soul rest in peace, was bought to the club on the back of a failed 2015 finals campaign, with a lack of goal scoring options cited as justification for his recruitment. Yarran was imprisoned for a violent home invasion and sentenced to prison for a number of years. Shane Yarran retired after one season having been involved in multiple off-field incidents involving alcohol and violence and post his retirement accused the club of having an off-field culture problem with wide spread drug use. In his court documents he reveals he was exposed to a plethora of narcotics in his short lived AFL career. Following his retirement his lawyers noted he had developed an addiction to meth amphetamines. This is what the club said following his recruitment. Hubris?



“We did our background on Shane and spent a significant amount of time with him”

In the very same post season, the club also decided to recruit Harley Bennell. A player of immense & undeniable talent but a player with clear and consistent pattern of behaviour that was completely misaligned with the expectations of professional athletes in the AFL. Bennell was captured snorted a substance as an employee of the Gold Coast football club, had attempted to fight a media identity at the Brownlow after consuming too much alcohol, been involved in nightclub brawls with security staff and was closely aligned with Carmichael Hunt. Fremantle’s hierarchy saw fit to carve out a list spot for a man with a demonstrated pattern of behaviour that is not acceptable for high performance and culturally sound organisations. Since his arrival at Fremantle, we have managed two games from Harley, an incident involving consuming too much alcohol on a flight to the Gold Coast, a fight with a bouncer on the eve of this pre-season and rumblings of other associated off-field behaviour unbecoming of a professional athlete. Perhaps the most disappointing element of Harley’s recruitment is the fact that we lost another Harley due to his troubles off-field. Not only that, during the recruitment process, Richmond backed out of its courtship after Dustin Martin advised that he was “too loose” – Our club, did not believe this was an issue ruling a line through Bennells recruitment, Hubris?


Cam Mcarthy is now at our club having taken a year off and not wishing to honour his contractual agreement with GWS citing homesickness. There is a medical element here and I understand his return to his home state was necessary for his mental health. What I see from Cameron, and everything I hear is that he is a nice enough young man, but simply does not present well, work hard enough to get the best out of himself and is rather image conscious. The club again, I believe, has failed to do the necessary due diligence on his character and we are now seeing a talented young man cruise through a career and demonstrates a lack of dedication to his craft, and he is allowed to continue in this manner.

Since 2015 we have seen the following off-field incidents.

- Yarran, multiple issues

- Bennell, multiple issues

- Brad Hill – alcohol, police involvement for supplying a fake name.

- Michael Johnson, alcohol, violence in Leederville

- Brennan Cox - alcohol

- Luke Ryan – Alcohol

- Connor Blakely believed he was able to skip training to surf



If there were one or two, I would not be concerned, these are young men with a lot of spare time and disposable income. But they are not isolated and the fact that there are multiple instances of disregarding club protocol and societal norms suggests to me that the environment is not acceptable, not even close to high performance and emits an unaccountable theme. And how could it not come across that way when Michael Johnson, a senior player punches a man in the face at 3am and still has a contract after his previous history? How could it not come across that way when the club sees fit to recruit a player with multiple off-field discretions related to drugs an alcohol but is undeniably talented and allows him to stay on the list?


How can it be an accountable, professional and high performance environment when the people associated with recruiting these players are not held accountable for their failings, if it is good enough for the off-field staff, why wouldn’t the players test the limits. I feel we are culturally rudderless and this point has only been exacerbated by the fact that our head coach was associated with some rather unpleasant commentary and is the chief architect of the cultural setting the club operates in. Lyon operates in an untouchable environment, he is beyond reproach, that is the example he sets and passes down the line, there is arrogance in large portions of his delivery, an undeserved attitude on the back of almost performance and the undeniable presence of coaching hubris.


I have observed a number of high performance organisations at close hand over a number of years. We are not even close to replicating the environment required for peak performance, in fact, I have resigned myself to another decade of irrelevance because I simply do not believe the club is equipped with the off-field staff to drive on-field performance. How we have arrived with the current list position is an embarrassment. We entered this year as the club with most 30 year old plus players, and gave away most of our draft picks in a draft mooted to be one of the best in recent years. Our second pick with 75 + in the draft.



My only hope is that board completes a root and branch review of the entire football department, request an external investigation team to measure the club culture and turn over elements within the club that are limiting on-field performance. I sincerely believe the heart of the problems that are prevalent at our club revolve around culture and accountability. Our house is clearly not in order off-field and this is reflected in no uncertain terms on field. We deserve better and I expect better, if there is not significant change at seasons end, I like many others will not be renewing my membership.

 

[Joao]

If there is one thing this board needs it is more melts, especially long ones...

You'll fit in nicely Oldman Docker

 

[Reginald Perrin]

Holy shit! Where is the executive summary?

 

[Oldman Docker]

Holy shit! Where is the executive summary?

My apologies Reginald, Unfortunately I am a man of many words with too much time on my hands it would seem.

I look forward to continuing the discussion.

 

[Joao]

My apologies Reginald, Unfortunately I am a man of many words with too much time on my hands it would seem.

I look forward to continuing the discussion.

This thread is for melting only, discussion has to be held in other threads.

 

[Unique Name]

Hello all, I have been a member of this club since inception, I am an old man, but I’d like to think I know my way around a few professional organisations both in the sporting field and the world of business. I was pointed here by a family member who posts frequently and thought my insight might be appreciated, I will let other decide on the quality post message.



I would like to preface my following remarks by stating that I thoroughly enjoyed our period of relative success in the 2012-2015, it was enjoyable to follow a team that was honest, professional, for the most part and lead well by a man who showed the club unbelievable loyalty. This was a period of harmonious performance, I was proud to follow Fremantle and enjoyed making my way to Subiaco every second week during winter.

That feeling is gone, and whilst that period was good to be a part of, I believe it spawned a toxic element that has been slowly poisoning the club and left us in the position we now find ourselves in. Success can often lead to hubris, humility cast aside for arrogance, and even the most meticulous individuals can be lulled into believing the sun shines out of every orifice. I believe this is entirely prevalent with our football department. We started to take short-cuts, lower our standards and make allowance in the pursuit of the ultimate prize to the detriment of the club as a whole. The worst part about this current period, is a total lack of accountability for poorly executed decisions and out failure as an organisation to create an effective indigenous player management program.



I understand this may ruffle feathers and I will no doubt be accused by some as being disloyal, but that is simply not the case, my only wish is that the club re-discover its identity and develop into an environment that attracts and retains the right people. At this point in time, we, as a club, have failed dismally in this function.

I am of the opinion that the current recruitment, list management and development team needs to be cleansed. This is a unit, who over the past 5 seasons has seen fit to actively recruit Colin Sylvia, Shane Yarran, Harley Bennell, Cameron Mcarthy, Brad Hill, Josh Simpson and Brandon Matera. I find it absurd that the club failed to screen the inherent character flaws associated with each of these particular players, recruited said players and at the same point in time, discarded Michael Barlow, Matt Deboer and Tendai Mzungu. Every single one of the players recruited were infinitely more talented than the three players I note were cast aside, however they all represented individuals with patterns of behaviour not aligned with high performance.


Colin Sylvia was recruited in a quest for more scoring power and hardness around the ball, these were the selling points at the tail end of 2013. Prior to his arrival Sylvia had been associated with multiple off-field misdemeanours including violence toward his partner, excessive drinking and failing to arrive for compulsory recovery sessions. These incidents were spread across multiple years and demonstrated a pattern of behaviour which did not align with a high performance culture. Sylvia lasted 1 and half seasons before the club realised the error of its ways despite stating and I quote

“we're really comfortable that we knew what was coming through the door”

Colin Sylvia was let go after demonstrating an inability to meet the expectations of a professional environment, failing to attend compulsory recovery sessions and enjoying himself over the off-season with excessive alcohol intake and being unable to complete a post Xmas time trial. The club allowed this to happen by failing to accept his attitudinal problems and behavioural issues were systemic, was it hubris?

Shane Yarran, may his soul rest in peace, was bought to the club on the back of a failed 2015 finals campaign, with a lack of goal scoring options cited as justification for his recruitment. Yarran was imprisoned for a violent home invasion and sentenced to prison for a number of years. Shane Yarran retired after one season having been involved in multiple off-field incidents involving alcohol and violence and post his retirement accused the club of having an off-field culture problem with wide spread drug use. In his court documents he reveals he was exposed to a plethora of narcotics in his short lived AFL career. Following his retirement his lawyers noted he had developed an addiction to meth amphetamines. This is what the club said following his recruitment. Hubris?



“We did our background on Shane and spent a significant amount of time with him”

In the very same post season, the club also decided to recruit Harley Bennell. A player of immense & undeniable talent but a player with clear and consistent pattern of behaviour that was completely misaligned with the expectations of professional athletes in the AFL. Bennell was captured snorted a substance as an employee of the Gold Coast football club, had attempted to fight a media identity at the Brownlow after consuming too much alcohol, been involved in nightclub brawls with security staff and was closely aligned with Carmichael Hunt. Fremantle’s hierarchy saw fit to carve out a list spot for a man with a demonstrated pattern of behaviour that is not acceptable for high performance and culturally sound organisations. Since his arrival at Fremantle, we have managed two games from Harley, an incident involving consuming too much alcohol on a flight to the Gold Coast, a fight with a bouncer on the eve of this pre-season and rumblings of other associated off-field behaviour unbecoming of a professional athlete. Perhaps the most disappointing element of Harley’s recruitment is the fact that we lost another Harley due to his troubles off-field. Not only that, during the recruitment process, Richmond backed out of its courtship after Dustin Martin advised that he was “too loose” – Our club, did not believe this was an issue ruling a line through Bennells recruitment, Hubris?


Cam Mcarthy is now at our club having taken a year off and not wishing to honour his contractual agreement with GWS citing homesickness. There is a medical element here and I understand his return to his home state was necessary for his mental health. What I see from Cameron, and everything I hear is that he is a nice enough young man, but simply does not present well, work hard enough to get the best out of himself and is rather image conscious. The club again, I believe, has failed to do the necessary due diligence on his character and we are now seeing a talented young man cruise through a career and demonstrates a lack of dedication to his craft, and he is allowed to continue in this manner.

Since 2015 we have seen the following off-field incidents.

- Yarran, multiple issues

- Bennell, multiple issues

- Brad Hill – alcohol, police involvement for supplying a fake name.

- Michael Johnson, alcohol, violence in Leederville

- Brennan Cox - alcohol

- Luke Ryan – Alcohol

- Connor Blakely believed he was able to skip training to surf



If there were one or two, I would not be concerned, these are young men with a lot of spare time and disposable income. But they are not isolated and the fact that there are multiple instances of disregarding club protocol and societal norms suggests to me that the environment is not acceptable, not even close to high performance and emits an unaccountable theme. And how could it not come across that way when Michael Johnson, a senior player punches a man in the face at 3am and still has a contract after his previous history? How could it not come across that way when the club sees fit to recruit a player with multiple off-field discretions related to drugs an alcohol but is undeniably talented and allows him to stay on the list?


How can it be an accountable, professional and high performance environment when the people associated with recruiting these players are not held accountable for their failings, if it is good enough for the off-field staff, why wouldn’t the players test the limits. I feel we are culturally rudderless and this point has only been exacerbated by the fact that our head coach was associated with some rather unpleasant commentary and is the chief architect of the cultural setting the club operates in. Lyon operates in an untouchable environment, he is beyond reproach, that is the example he sets and passes down the line, there is arrogance in large portions of his delivery, an undeserved attitude on the back of almost performance and the undeniable presence of coaching hubris.


I have observed a number of high performance organisations at close hand over a number of years. We are not even close to replicating the environment required for peak performance, in fact, I have resigned myself to another decade of irrelevance because I simply do not believe the club is equipped with the off-field staff to drive on-field performance. How we have arrived with the current list position is an embarrassment. We entered this year as the club with most 30 year old plus players, and gave away most of our draft picks in a draft mooted to be one of the best in recent years. Our second pick with 75 + in the draft.



My only hope is that board completes a root and branch review of the entire football department, request an external investigation team to measure the club culture and turn over elements within the club that are limiting on-field performance. I sincerely believe the heart of the problems that are prevalent at our club revolve around culture and accountability. Our house is clearly not in order off-field and this is reflected in no uncertain terms on field. We deserve better and I expect better, if there is not significant change at seasons end, I like many others will not be renewing my membership.

- Cox & Ryan had a beer on a Sunday after the game, normal this is alright but it was a 6 day break to the next game which means they shouldn't have had any alcohol.
- Blakely's surf trip - I remember Ross saying it wasn't as simply as him simply skipping training and he didn't think Blakely should get sanctioned but the leadership group did and wanted to set a standard.

Both of these issues are fairly minor but in both cases the leadership group saw fit to set a standard and all three players copped a one game week ban. That seems like we were trying to set a high standard, none of these boys have had any further issues since so it's seems to have worked. Your rant sounds like you think we're not setting high standards/being accountable but these instances seem to show otherwise.

- M Johnson, made a big mistake when out with his wife. He's not in the leadership group anymore. But I think he has held himself in great standing for the majority of his career.

- BHill also made a big mistake, again high standards were upheld by the club and the leadership group. Bradley copped a game ban and was removed from the leadership group. That aside surely you're not suggesting Bradley for Pick 23 (mayne) was a bad trade? He won our B&F last year and always put 100% effort when on the ground. His form returning from injury has not been great but in 2017 we saw what he can offer.

Sylvia and Yarren both low cost - high risks calls and both didn't work out. Every club makes calls like these that don't work out.

Bennell - I don't remember any Freo supporter at the time suggesting this was a bad trade. Quite a lot of hindsight heroes like to rant about it now though.

Matera - He started the season well and isn't going great lately - Funny that, a small forward does well when the team/midfield is doing well and struggles when the team struggles. Early days to be calling this a bust.

Mzungu and Deboer were both delisted, again only hindsight heroes are complaining about this one. Almost all were in agreement that it was time. Barlow - no doubt this one stings.

Thoughts on Hamling pick and Wilson pick? I think most supporters are pretty happy with what Lloyd and Brad have managed of the last few trade periods. No team has even close to 100% success. Got to take some duds with the wins.

Geez there is plenty I am unhappy about but you whole rant seems off base. Standards are being set high and the leadership group and Freo management seem to be upholding them.

Rant about the S&C team sure. If you want to take about the last few years rant about how we should have blooded more youth from 2014 onwards. Rant about our forward structure and their general inability to help each other out (lack of blocking, making space, dummy leads, etc), rant about Lyon still not being able to come up with a solid plan against the Hawks. But to rant about standards?

Do you have inside sources that are saying something else? From the outside it sounds like we are trying to uphold high standards. Do you think that the WA media that seems to love sticking the boot in makes things that happen to Freo seem worse than when issues crop up at WC? HOw do you think the Luke Ryan incident would have played out if he played for Freo? Or if Sam Mitchell left us mid-contract?

 

[mightymouse75]

You have forgotten Josh Simpson and the other Harley. Both high risk / high reward.

 

[mightymouse75]

Getting rid of barlow was rediculous .

 

[Joao]

Getting rid of barlow was rediculous .

Interestingly enough, not currently getting a game for a worse rebuilding side despite averaging 40odd possessions in the twos.

 

[AAACockburn]

- Connor Blakely believed he was able to skip training to surf

This one is understandable. Because when the conditions all line up it is an irresistible urge to drop everything, knowing that it doesn't happen everyday and I think his biggest mistake was to tell his Kook captain that the spot is going off.

 

[G Mus]

There are far more functioning drug addicts and regular users in the AFL than there are non-functioning ones

You only hear about the Shane and Chris Yarrans, the Cousins, etc

Not so much players like Whitfield and many more who hit it hard most weeks

 

[Oldman Docker]

- Cox & Ryan had a beer on a Sunday after the game, normal this is alright but it was a 6 day break to the next game which means they shouldn't have had any alcohol.

Explain to me how players entering an AFL high performance environment are not versed on club alcohol protocols, especially in their first years as footballers, and if they are, why they thought they would go ahead and do it anyway?

Also, both gents turned up in a disheveled state to a Monday morning recovery session, let's not kid ourselves on the amount consumed.

Cam Mcarthy came out after the incident, fronted the media and said he didn't know what the club alcohol policy was!

- Blakely's surf trip - I remember Ross saying it wasn't as simply as him simply skipping training and he didn't think Blakely should get sanctioned but the leadership group did and wanted to set a standard.

Well, as it turns out Blakely feigned an illness to go for a surf down south. Initially, his captain told him he would cover his absence, then decided to make an example of him.

Both of these issues are fairly minor but in both cases the leadership group saw fit to set a standard and all three players copped a one game week ban. That seems like we were trying to set a high standard, none of these boys have had any further issues since so it's seems to have worked. Your rant sounds like you think we're not setting high standards/being accountable but these instances seem to show otherwise.

It's good that they were made examples of, however, the fact that so many instances of poor behavior have been evident over a sustained period speaks to players either not caring, or not being aware of the standards, either way it is a failure of leadership and a sign of a less than ideal culture.

M Johnson, made a big mistake when out with his wife. He's not in the leadership group anymore. But I think he has held himself in great standing for the majority of his career.

It's not his first act of poor behavior. He had previously been referred to a drug diversion for ecstasy possession as well as a charge for possession of cocaine, an act said to have been committed when highly intoxicated.

Would seem to indicate that he's either very mistake prone, unlucky, or hasn't learned any lessons on player behaviour and standards over the course of a 10 + year career.

BHill also made a big mistake, again high standards were upheld by the club and the leadership group. Bradley copped a game ban and was removed from the leadership group. That aside surely you're not suggesting Bradley for Pick 23 (mayne) was a bad trade? He won our B&F last year and always put 100% effort when on the ground. His form returning from injury has not been great but in 2017 we saw what he can offer.

This is one of my biggest gripes, and thank you for bringing it to the table, Brad is another player bought into the tent with "baggage" it was mooted that Hawthorn did not stand in his way, for a number of reasons, one being his off-field exploits.

But again, being promoted to a leadership position and then spitting it back in the face of the club by getting arrested in the first 18 months of employment suggests acts like this don't seem to be a deterrent, why would they, he is still playing, still has a contract and like JOhnson, may find himself back in the leadership group down the line.

Sylvia and Yarren both low cost - high risks calls and both didn't work out. Every club makes calls like these that don't work out.

Bennell - I don't remember any Freo supporter at the time suggesting this was a bad trade. Quite a lot of hindsight heroes like to rant about it now though.

Now line them all up.

Matera - He started the season well and isn't going great lately - Funny that, a small forward does well when the team/midfield is doing well and struggles when the team struggles. Early days to be calling this a bust.

Mzungu and Deboer were both delisted, again only hindsight heroes are complaining about this one. Almost all were in agreement that it was time. Barlow - no doubt this one stings.

Thoughts on Hamling pick and Wilson pick? I think most supporters are pretty happy with what Lloyd and Brad have managed of the last few trade periods. No team has even close to 100% success. Got to take some duds with the wins.

Geez there is plenty I am unhappy about but you whole rant seems off base. Standards are being set high and the leadership group and Freo management seem to be upholding them.

We're all entitled to an opinion, but if you don't think there is a link to off-field incidents and a cultural hole we will have to agree to disagree. I also do not subscribe to this theory of "every club" makes decisions to recruit players with consistent patterns of poor off field behaviour, nor that their individual behaviour does not affect those around them, especially in a critical rebuild phase.

I find it astounding and frankly a little disrespectful to the clubs fans and admin that Bennell has been garaunteed a contract renewal by the coach given his application over the past 3 seasons. It's a joke.

I'm not sure what West Coast's contractual discussions with Sam Mitchell have to do with my gripes?

 

[Unique Name]

Explain to me how players entering an AFL high performance environment are not versed on club alcohol protocols, especially in their first years as footballers, and if they are, why they thought they would go ahead and do it anyway?

Also, both gents turned up in a disheveled state to a Monday morning recovery session, let's not kid ourselves on the amount consumed.

Cam Mcarthy came out after the incident, fronted the media and said he didn't know what the club alcohol policy was!



Well, as it turns out Blakely feigned an illness to go for a surf down south. Initially, his captain told him he would cover his absence, then decided to make an example of him.



It's good that they were made examples of, however, the fact that so many instances of poor behavior have been evident over a sustained period speaks to players either not caring, or not being aware of the standards, either way it is a failure of leadership and a sign of a less than ideal culture.



It's not his first act of poor behavior. He had previously been referred to a drug diversion for ecstasy possession as well as a charge for possession of cocaine, an act said to have been committed when highly intoxicated.

Would seem to indicate that he's either very mistake prone, unlucky, or hasn't learned any lessons on player behaviour and standards over the course of a 10 + year career.



This is one of my biggest gripes, and thank you for bringing it to the table, Brad is another player bought into the tent with "baggage" it was mooted that Hawthorn did not stand in his way, for a number of reasons, one being his off-field exploits.

But again, being promoted to a leadership position and then spitting it back in the face of the club by getting arrested in the first 18 months of employment suggests acts like this don't seem to be a deterrent, why would they, he is still playing, still has a contract and like JOhnson, may find himself back in the leadership group down the line.



Now line them all up.




We're all entitled to an opinion, but if you don't think there is a link to off-field incidents and a cultural hole we will have to agree to disagree. I also do not subscribe to this theory of "every club" makes decisions to recruit players with consistent patterns of poor off field behaviour, nor that their individual behaviour does not affect those around them, especially in a critical rebuild phase.

I find it astounding and frankly a little disrespectful to the clubs fans and admin that Bennell has been garaunteed a contract renewal by the coach given his application over the past 3 seasons. It's a joke.

I'm not sure what West Coast's contractual discussions with Sam Mitchell have to do with my gripes?

Oh, ok you just wanted to say the exact same thing again and not actually take in anything I said.

Carry on ranting olddocker.

 

[Freoforever86]

You have forgotten Josh Simpson and the other Harley. Both high risk / high reward.

Ugh josh Simpson. Did not want. Was super keen on Paparone (hadn’t done a whole lot but solid enough)

Grundy going a pick later leaves a bad taste

 

[Rion]

Culture is a buzz-word that's essentially just media-speak. I wouldn't pay any attention to it.

 

[danstar]

my god our injury management is the worst in the AFL, time to cut ties with harley bennel and let him lose in the middle of the desert. We are dead set donkeys for ever recruiting him

 

[Purpletown]

Hello all, I have been a member of this club since inception, I am an old man, but I’d like to think I know my way around a few professional organisations both in the sporting field and the world of business. I was pointed here by a family member who posts frequently and thought my insight might be appreciated, I will let other decide on the quality post message.



I would like to preface my following remarks by stating that I thoroughly enjoyed our period of relative success in the 2012-2015, it was enjoyable to follow a team that was honest, professional, for the most part and lead well by a man who showed the club unbelievable loyalty. This was a period of harmonious performance, I was proud to follow Fremantle and enjoyed making my way to Subiaco every second week during winter.

That feeling is gone, and whilst that period was good to be a part of, I believe it spawned a toxic element that has been slowly poisoning the club and left us in the position we now find ourselves in. Success can often lead to hubris, humility cast aside for arrogance, and even the most meticulous individuals can be lulled into believing the sun shines out of every orifice. I believe this is entirely prevalent with our football department. We started to take short-cuts, lower our standards and make allowance in the pursuit of the ultimate prize to the detriment of the club as a whole. The worst part about this current period, is a total lack of accountability for poorly executed decisions and out failure as an organisation to create an effective indigenous player management program.



I understand this may ruffle feathers and I will no doubt be accused by some as being disloyal, but that is simply not the case, my only wish is that the club re-discover its identity and develop into an environment that attracts and retains the right people. At this point in time, we, as a club, have failed dismally in this function.

I am of the opinion that the current recruitment, list management and development team needs to be cleansed. This is a unit, who over the past 5 seasons has seen fit to actively recruit Colin Sylvia, Shane Yarran, Harley Bennell, Cameron Mcarthy, Brad Hill, Josh Simpson and Brandon Matera. I find it absurd that the club failed to screen the inherent character flaws associated with each of these particular players, recruited said players and at the same point in time, discarded Michael Barlow, Matt Deboer and Tendai Mzungu. Every single one of the players recruited were infinitely more talented than the three players I note were cast aside, however they all represented individuals with patterns of behaviour not aligned with high performance.


Colin Sylvia was recruited in a quest for more scoring power and hardness around the ball, these were the selling points at the tail end of 2013. Prior to his arrival Sylvia had been associated with multiple off-field misdemeanours including violence toward his partner, excessive drinking and failing to arrive for compulsory recovery sessions. These incidents were spread across multiple years and demonstrated a pattern of behaviour which did not align with a high performance culture. Sylvia lasted 1 and half seasons before the club realised the error of its ways despite stating and I quote

“we're really comfortable that we knew what was coming through the door”

Colin Sylvia was let go after demonstrating an inability to meet the expectations of a professional environment, failing to attend compulsory recovery sessions and enjoying himself over the off-season with excessive alcohol intake and being unable to complete a post Xmas time trial. The club allowed this to happen by failing to accept his attitudinal problems and behavioural issues were systemic, was it hubris?

Shane Yarran, may his soul rest in peace, was bought to the club on the back of a failed 2015 finals campaign, with a lack of goal scoring options cited as justification for his recruitment. Yarran was imprisoned for a violent home invasion and sentenced to prison for a number of years. Shane Yarran retired after one season having been involved in multiple off-field incidents involving alcohol and violence and post his retirement accused the club of having an off-field culture problem with wide spread drug use. In his court documents he reveals he was exposed to a plethora of narcotics in his short lived AFL career. Following his retirement his lawyers noted he had developed an addiction to meth amphetamines. This is what the club said following his recruitment. Hubris?



“We did our background on Shane and spent a significant amount of time with him”

In the very same post season, the club also decided to recruit Harley Bennell. A player of immense & undeniable talent but a player with clear and consistent pattern of behaviour that was completely misaligned with the expectations of professional athletes in the AFL. Bennell was captured snorted a substance as an employee of the Gold Coast football club, had attempted to fight a media identity at the Brownlow after consuming too much alcohol, been involved in nightclub brawls with security staff and was closely aligned with Carmichael Hunt. Fremantle’s hierarchy saw fit to carve out a list spot for a man with a demonstrated pattern of behaviour that is not acceptable for high performance and culturally sound organisations. Since his arrival at Fremantle, we have managed two games from Harley, an incident involving consuming too much alcohol on a flight to the Gold Coast, a fight with a bouncer on the eve of this pre-season and rumblings of other associated off-field behaviour unbecoming of a professional athlete. Perhaps the most disappointing element of Harley’s recruitment is the fact that we lost another Harley due to his troubles off-field. Not only that, during the recruitment process, Richmond backed out of its courtship after Dustin Martin advised that he was “too loose” – Our club, did not believe this was an issue ruling a line through Bennells recruitment, Hubris?


Cam Mcarthy is now at our club having taken a year off and not wishing to honour his contractual agreement with GWS citing homesickness. There is a medical element here and I understand his return to his home state was necessary for his mental health. What I see from Cameron, and everything I hear is that he is a nice enough young man, but simply does not present well, work hard enough to get the best out of himself and is rather image conscious. The club again, I believe, has failed to do the necessary due diligence on his character and we are now seeing a talented young man cruise through a career and demonstrates a lack of dedication to his craft, and he is allowed to continue in this manner.

Since 2015 we have seen the following off-field incidents.

- Yarran, multiple issues

- Bennell, multiple issues

- Brad Hill – alcohol, police involvement for supplying a fake name.

- Michael Johnson, alcohol, violence in Leederville

- Brennan Cox - alcohol

- Luke Ryan – Alcohol

- Connor Blakely believed he was able to skip training to surf



If there were one or two, I would not be concerned, these are young men with a lot of spare time and disposable income. But they are not isolated and the fact that there are multiple instances of disregarding club protocol and societal norms suggests to me that the environment is not acceptable, not even close to high performance and emits an unaccountable theme. And how could it not come across that way when Michael Johnson, a senior player punches a man in the face at 3am and still has a contract after his previous history? How could it not come across that way when the club sees fit to recruit a player with multiple off-field discretions related to drugs an alcohol but is undeniably talented and allows him to stay on the list?


How can it be an accountable, professional and high performance environment when the people associated with recruiting these players are not held accountable for their failings, if it is good enough for the off-field staff, why wouldn’t the players test the limits. I feel we are culturally rudderless and this point has only been exacerbated by the fact that our head coach was associated with some rather unpleasant commentary and is the chief architect of the cultural setting the club operates in. Lyon operates in an untouchable environment, he is beyond reproach, that is the example he sets and passes down the line, there is arrogance in large portions of his delivery, an undeserved attitude on the back of almost performance and the undeniable presence of coaching hubris.


I have observed a number of high performance organisations at close hand over a number of years. We are not even close to replicating the environment required for peak performance, in fact, I have resigned myself to another decade of irrelevance because I simply do not believe the club is equipped with the off-field staff to drive on-field performance. How we have arrived with the current list position is an embarrassment. We entered this year as the club with most 30 year old plus players, and gave away most of our draft picks in a draft mooted to be one of the best in recent years. Our second pick with 75 + in the draft.



My only hope is that board completes a root and branch review of the entire football department, request an external investigation team to measure the club culture and turn over elements within the club that are limiting on-field performance. I sincerely believe the heart of the problems that are prevalent at our club revolve around culture and accountability. Our house is clearly not in order off-field and this is reflected in no uncertain terms on field. We deserve better and I expect better, if there is not significant change at seasons end, I like many others will not be renewing my membership.

All this has been discussed and melted over here for years but a fair first post all the same.

 

[Leslie_Chow]

my god our injury management is the worst in the AFL, time to cut ties with harley bennel and let him lose in the middle of the desert. We are dead set donkeys for ever recruiting him

It was definitely a risk worth taking, his best is better than Fyfe - we like to blame Gold Coast for ruining his calves, though they were somehow able to get at least 15 games out of him a season. We manage two in three.

 

[yoong]

Hello all, I have been a member of this club since inception, I am an old man, but I’d like to think I know my way around a few professional organisations both in the sporting field and the world of business. I was pointed here by a family member who posts frequently and thought my insight might be appreciated, I will let other decide on the quality post message.

[deleted to keep the quote short]

Hi Oldman Docker, welcome to the board.
That was an amazing first post!

While it has the elements of a rant, it’s very well reasoned and thought out.
I find it thought provoking.

When we made the 2013 grand final, we had the hardest working in the afl. Our game plan back then demanded it, the players responded with 110% and we were able to grind out victories against more talented opponents. Our demolition of Sydney in the semis through sheer pressure is still something I remembered fondly.

However, after being comprehensively beaten by a much more talented, and equally hardworking Hawthorne, and others top teams seemingly finding a way to navigate through our high intensity game style, I suspect the Freo management team figured out we need to change something and bring in more talented players.

I guess you are right that there is an over confidence in our culture when we bring in Collin Sylvia, and expect to be able to turn him around. Then we keep making punts after punts with high risk high rewards kind of players, which mostly didn’t work out. It can be argued that we do not have much to work with, considering we don’t have high draft picks and no one really wants to move west to join us back then. This, coupled with the departure of our less talented but very professional and hardworking group of DeBoer, Barlow, Mzungu and Mayne (yes) meant that we have badly eroded the workmanlike culture we are renowned for in our successful years.

Being absolutely honest, while we had a few good moments, but our on field results the past years have been horrible. After this loss to Hawthorne, I have this genuine fear that we may descend into Brisbane, Carlton level where we are constantly rebuilding year after year, despite having a decent looking list that “will be ready to explode” next year.

While there are still gaps, I think our list is coming together quite nicely. What we need to do as part of the rebuild is to reestablish the discipline, game plan and professionalism to compliment our list of talented young players.

 

[Unique Name]

Weber's contract must be the first reviewed.

 

[yoong]

Weber's contract must be the first reviewed.

What the...

I just got out of this thread, went into the Bennell thread, and made a beeline back here again.

I really want to know how Harley can re-injure his calf after all the caution, precaution, and extra extra precaution that were supposedly put in place???!!

 

[nurries]

What the...

I just got out of this thread, went into the Bennell thread, and made a beeline back here again.

I really want to know how Harley can re-injure his calf after all the caution, precaution, and extra extra precaution that were supposedly put in place???!!

Just cut him. No contracts just go

 

[kingswood71]

We entered this year as the club with most 30 year old plus players, and gave away most of our draft picks in a draft mooted to be one of the best in recent years. Our second pick with 75 + in the draft.

2017 draft?
We had picks 1,5,44,59,65,69,73 and then 75....
Our second pick was pick 5...Cerra!