The Rendell Fiasco

[Dolemite]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

How can I let the AFC and AFL know i am extremely pi**ed off with this? They are gutless, mindless, pathetic PC robots, who need to know that towing a safe political line has consequences. Unless there are facts we don't know about, Trigg you should be ashamed of yourself. I think coward is a fair enough way to describe you and Demetriou.

 

[JP Sauce]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

Pathetic is a good word to describe Trigg.

 

[latinoheat]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

I wouldn't have thought any recruiter was racist. They would simply pick the best talent available. I can't see any recriuter passing up a McLeod/long/rioli like talent if available at their pick. Having said that we passed on c rioli because he didn't want to be here. Had he been keen to move I have no doubt we would have drafted him.

 

[spenze]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

I wouldn't have thought any recruiter was racist. They would simply pick the best talent available.

They aren't and Rendell isn't.

Remember that Simpsons episode where marge was learning to sell real estate and Lionel Hutz said " there is the truth and then there is the Truuuuuth"?

Well at the moment there is racism and then there is the truth but the line between them is very blurred for the general public.

What he said was silly and left his position untenable

 

[rayven]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

the crows are the most gutless club in the entire afl.

agreed!

 

[seanoff]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

why all the hate at Trigg and Vlad

Rendell said something incredibly racist and stupid to an employee of the AFL. what do you expect might happen?

Trigg had no choice. none. he was left with one option. If he comes out and tries to defend it, he'd be gone as well. and AFC get the reputation as a racist org, then you get no indigenous players and probably lose current and future sponsors who'd run like Usain Bolt in 30X fast forward.

same as the AFL.

this is a very large and extremely public organisation, it can't been seen to be even remotely allowing this sort of stuff to go on.


and if a Few Good Men's post is correct about the recruiting, then Rendell probably needed a break anyway. take the best available player, not white, private school boys from SA,with decent marks. it really limits the talent.

Have some confidence that your organisation is good enough to retain people. what was posted smacks of inferiority complex. you guys are, and should be, better than that. you are one of the biggest clubs in the AFL, grow a pair and act like it!

 

[DaftPunk]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

agreed!

x2 The club is run by suits and their every move makes the club seem and feel plastic.

 

[rayven]

The Yes man that is Steven Trigg

I remember the day in the mid 90's when David Pitman was returning from injury and was required to play for his SANFL side norwood!

Norwood decided to play him on the bench, they said at the time that he was a disruption to the redlegs side and that was the priority(the redlegs side without crow players despite our heavy financial contribution to this league) and would be fitted in, if he could be be.
Steven trigg was an ABC commontator at the time and i remember vividly the outburst (someone could provide footage?) he made against the AFC in support of the decision to treat Pittman (Maynard got similar treatment) like shit ( a required and senoir AFC player) like this amongst various other examples...

Pittman was a hell of a ruckman and CHB((shut down Lowe in the 97 GF), Graham Cornse could back this up menatilty if he was inclined to be transparent...So Could Robert Shaw.
Trigg decided what matters it seems is his loyalty to the adminstation despite the truth, thus a YES MAN.

The Vince and now Rendell fiascos would offer no different evidence?> disagree?

Our CEO has no loyalty to SA ?

 

[Lordcrud]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

It seems that being biased towards a certain ethnicity is completely acceptable in Jurrah's case, but honest feedback to a question in a supposedly private setting is not.
Really ashamed with how the club and the AFL has handled this.

 

[Elder van Berlo]

Ive been stewing over this a lot, thinking about how to put what Im thinking into words. Today is as angry as I have ever been as a Crows fan. You know that moment when a coach absolutely loses you, and in your mind there is just no coming back? For me with Neil Craig, it was when he had Brent Reilly trailing Daniel Wells all over Etihad while Andrew Swallow got about a million possessions last season. Well that moment has now come with the current administration of this footy club.

First of all, I want to make it clear that I have no idea what Rendell actually said, so I'm reserving judgment on the actual merits of the decision for him to go. There seem to be two schools of thought - the AFL and media seem to be saying that he "would only recruit a player if they had one white parent". His own story is that he said something along the lines of "if we don't do something about it, this is where we will end up". The man's own recruitment history, including giving up the farm for Tambling, and picking players such as Tony Armstrong and Tim Milera, suggests the former was not a philosophy he adhered to. So I will assume he never made a comment in such bluntly racist terms.

But this is the first problem I have with all this. We don't know. And frankly, given that a senior figure within the club is being sacked effective immediately, and his reputation is shot regardless, I think we as supporters deserve to know exactly why. I think it shows us a tremendous lack of respect to not tell us what was said that means this well respected and popular figure is now jobless. What is to be gained by the evasiveness?

Now, the bigger issue and one that has been touched on above. On the information given, inconclusive as it may be, you could argue that on Rendell's story, he has done nothing wrong. Nothing. Given that the reason provided to the paying public for Rendell's dismissal is that "even though he was misinterpreted, having the club associated with that view is unacceptable", even Trigg avoided actually saying that Rendell had racist views or made overtly racist comments. So defend the poor bastard! Call a presser and put forward your side of the story and emphatically deny any wrongdoing. Read also the boxer short incident of 2012. Our administration is so bleeding spineless and beholden to the media, the AFL and public perception, that at the first sign of trouble, they crumble and throw someone under the bus to "protect our brand". And Trigg calls us pathetic?! Now I don't aspire to be like Collingwood, but you would never see Eddie McGuire apologizing and sanctioning over nothing incidents the way Trigg does. The weakness is evident from incidents ranging from the stupid Bernie Vince thing, to more serious incidents like this, to the way we are constantly silent regarding on-field issues. The administration is more worried about our brand than our football club.

You might say that Demetriou would have seen to it that Rendell was sacked anyway. And he well might have. But make him do it. Make him do it over howls of protestation that he is forcing a man out of a job who is trying to advance the cause of indigenous footballers. Show him for the fool that he is. For God's sake Trigg you are employed by the Adelaide Football Club, not by Andrew Demetriou. How about you look after your employees and act in our best interests for once, not do what you're told by the slugs at AFL house.

Trigg even talked today about the work we do in the APY Lands and with Aboriginal communities being part of our "core business". Now get f-d, surely our core business is WINNING BLEEDING FOOTBALL GAMES? It's great that we do nice things for other people, but surely describing this as our core business means the focus is in the wrong area? Again, brand first, football club second.

So the board has completely lost me. I couldn't renew my membership this year anyway for logistical reasons but I was planning on getting one of those 3 game memberships. Well that won't be happening. And I don't plan to rejoin while these apologistic (is that a word? I doubt it but you get my point) invertebrates are in charge. I love my club but for the first time ever, I have to agree with Port fans that it has become a soulless corporation.

Last point, have to agree with those who have said it's easier to scapegoat Rendell and call him racist than actually deal with any issues in terms of Aboriginal pathways and recruitment. The AFL hold a forum and ask recruiting managers for advice, but when they get honest (albeit possibly not PC) feedback, they squeal about it and stage a public character assassination. What a joke of an organization.

/rant

 

[dylan123]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

why all the hate at Trigg and Vlad

Rendell said something incredibly racist and stupid to an employee of the AFL. what do you expect might happen?

Well considering it was a private meeting I'd assume what happens in a private meeting stays in one. Rendell has already said this has been taken out of context, whilst the quote we've seen doesn't paint a great picture, who knows exactly what it was regarding (and he mentions our club isn't the only one either...). If it was bad enough to offend them so deeply, why wasn't this dealt with behind the scenes in mid/late January when the meeting took place?

Trigg had no choice. none. he was left with one option. If he comes out and tries to defend it, he'd be gone as well. and AFC get the reputation as a racist org, then you get no indigenous players and probably lose current and future sponsors who'd run like Usain Bolt in 30X fast forward.

Would have liked to have seen him defend him in any way, even if he was still given the flick. Just saying Rendell and Co have recruited indigenous players in the past and we don't believe Rendell is raciest but those sort of comments cannot be said etc.

and if a Few Good Men's post is correct about the recruiting, then Rendell probably needed a break anyway. take the best available player, not white, private school boys from SA,with decent marks. it really limits the talent.

Both Dangerfield and Talia come from Victoria so it's incorrect (we picked Dangerfield over the "home grown" Ebert).

Have some confidence that your organisation is good enough to retain people. what was posted smacks of inferiority complex. you guys are, and should be, better than that. you are one of the biggest clubs in the AFL, grow a pair and act like it!

Like our club grew a pair to defend Vince over one BS email?

 

[relapse]

Re: The Yes man that is Steven Trigg

The Vince thing was soft as butter

However on Rendell regardless of how well he did with our selections, he made a horrible comment that cost him his job. Whether that comment was reflective of his mindset or was just a gaffe is irrelevant, for the club to keep it's integrity he could no longer remain with the club.

To support Rendell would mean that the club endorses his comment/actions. The club made the only decision it could under the circumstances.

 

[seanoff]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

Well considering it was a private meeting I'd assume what happens in a private meeting stays in one. Rendell has already said this has been taken out of context, whilst the quote we've seen doesn't paint a great picture, who knows exactly what it was regarding (and he mentions our club isn't the only one either...). If it was bad enough to offend them so deeply, why wasn't this dealt with behind the scenes in mid/late January when the meeting took place?
this should be answered, i agree.


Would have liked to have seen him defend him in any way, even if he was still given the flick. Just saying Rendell and Co have recruited indigenous players in the past and we don't believe Rendell is raciest but those sort of comments cannot be said etc.
once it became public tho, Trigg was left literally between a a very large rock and a very hard place. He's probably been told to just play it as he has and try to kill the story as quickly as possible. ie don't say anything that could be interpreted as supporting the view as reported.


Both Dangerfield and Talia come from Victoria so it's incorrect (we picked Dangerfield over the "home grown" Ebert).

as i said, if what was written was true. i have no idea if that was the thinking


Like our club grew a pair to defend Vince over one BS email?
yeah, Vince didn't do much wrong. the club probably should have said, we've smacked his wrist and actually done nothing. appeases those very few who were "outraged" and dished out the appropriate punishment, ie nothing

i just sense a lack of organisational confidence. you guys should be a superpower of the AFL. occasionally you guys need to act it. The Eagles possibly had a bit too much and it got away from them.

 

[RocknRoll]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

Geez the chickens are really coming home to roost here.

People who made comments about Petrenko's and McLeod's parentage being white (Ukrainian and Scottish) and hence "acceptable" for Aussie Rules should be completely ashamed of themselves. Since when were Ukrainians and Scots Australians? What about Polish peasants who do not even speak English and have never left their country? Is it more acceptable for their children to play Aussie rules than Indigenous Australians who invented the game? They are white so it is better, yeah? They would understand the Aussie Rules culture becaue they are white. It is completely logical. NOT!

Just a reminder. Marn Grook was played before Tom Wills even thought of it in 1858 (after seeing Marn Grook games). Check your history.

I have analysed data where I compared success of players in the game who classified themselves as indigenous to those who did not. I got this data directly from AFL. Guess what? The former group (indigenous) were statistically significantly more successful overall as a group than the latter at the game. I bet nobody else who reads this has done this.

There is so much negative stuff written about just a few indigenous players the assumption is that they are a risk. My objective analysis (based on real data than supposition) shows there should be even more indigenous recruits rather than less.

As I said, the chickens have come home to roost. And if you dont recognise that quote maybe you should google it.

PS. In case you have not guessed, I think Rendell's comment was completely unacceptable. It is irrelevant whether he made that comment privately or otherwise. So its OK to be a racist amongst friends as long as you make the right noises to the press? Please!

 

[Covertackle]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

andrew macleod has one white parent.

the AFL has lost about 35 indigenous players of 1st grade standard, whom returned back to ouback or rural areas in the last few years. i guess some clubs find the cost not worth the risk..

when are people going to look at the problem instead of hiding behind political correctness and refusing to discuss the problem?



,

 

[noddy]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

Defended their man, just even a little bit? We're always happy to throw people under the bus.

How the heck could they defend a comment like?

If they had said one tiny little bit of supportive language for Matt in regards to what he said then that would have left the club wide open for the title of Racist club of Australia.

The AFC/Rendell have done the right thing & no matter if that comment was taken out of context Rendell should have known better, now he has to live with that for better or worse.

A stupid stupid comment to make in the inner sanction of the AFL

 

[Covertackle]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

How the heck could they defend a comment like?

If they had said one tiny little bit of supportive language for Matt in regards to what he said then that would have left the club wide open for the title of Racist club of Australia.

The AFC/Rendell have done the right thing & no matter if that comment was taken out of context Rendell should have known better, now he has to live with that for better or worse.

A stupid stupid comment to make in the inner sanction of the AFL

he made an observation that kids with 1 white parent are better prepared to cope with a white domminated society such as AFL. which probably means the parents have over the years banished the money bludging hangers on, the bad influences, brought he child up with some white values, attitudes and diciplines that are demanded in our society.

surely you cant hang a bloke for making those observations? is political correctness too powerful?

 

[noddy]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

he made an observation that kids with 1 white parent are better prepared to cope with a white domminated society such as AFL. which probably means the parents have over the years banished the money bludging hangers on, the bad influences, brought he child up with some white values, attitudes and diciplines that are demanded in our society.

surely you cant hang a bloke for making those observations? is political correctness too powerful?

This is what he said "he would be unlikely to draft an Aboriginal player unless he had a white parent.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/rendell-quits-over-race-row-20120316-1vb0c.html

 

[jenny61_99]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

AFL community engagement manager Jason Mifsud, who is of Aboriginal and Maltese heritage, revealed the comments in an interview reported in The Age yesterday.
''A recruiter from one club told me that 'unless they have a white parent we are not going to draft an Aboriginal player and our club would not be alone in that','' Mifsud said.
It was revealed yesterday that Rendell had been the recruiter. Mifsud and Rendell were assistant coaches together for a season at St Kilda under Grant Thomas.
Rendell said in a statement last night that he accepted responsibility for the comment but disputed how it had been interpreted.
''I believe the comments in a meeting with Jason were taken out of context. They were misunderstood. I have a strong track record of recruiting Aboriginal players. My comments were about where recruiting could finish up without pro-active work. I was trying to help,'' Rendell said.
''However, knowing the implication of such reports, I've decided to stand down. To stay would attach those comments to the club, which is not the case either.''
Adelaide chief executive Steven Trigg said it was ''untenable'' to have the comments associated with the club.
''Our club has a strong and proud history of recruiting, fostering and developing Aboriginal players, and it fully intends to keep doing so in the future,'' Trigg said.
''There has never been a discussion in any forum at the club suggesting changes with respect to that continuing philosophy of selecting and nurturing young Aboriginal talent.''


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/rendell-quits-over-race-row-20120316-1vb0c.html#ixzz1pJYaPfjx

 

[budget]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

We are becoming so precious in Australia its becoming rediculous. I have been all over the world and our country would be amongst the most fake countries in the world. Its just so political in everyday life. People just say what they think is politically correct and fits the company line. No one says what they think here and as soon as honest cultures speak their
mind we jump all over them. At least we know these people are real.

Firstly I think if this was a private meeting this should not have made its way to a footy show and secondly I'm sure that there are other recruiters think much like Rendell they are just more politically correct and would not say it. In view of the issues with aboriginal players lately what Rendell has said does not mean he is anti aboriginals in any way but rather
appreciated the risk in drafting aboriginals with the huge cultural differences they face.

There is so much discreet racism in this country. How many aboriginals does Rob Chapman employ in the bank and of all the highly qualified people in this country of other cultures from Europe etc how many of these do we see in high managerial positions. Im sure that most people have noticed that most people in these positions are of Anglo -Saxon
background and in many cases of lesser qualifications.

What your seeing here is no different to what rendelll has done in a way.
Lets ask all of the Indian Engineers driving taxis, and aboriginals in normal employment outside football, or other cultures struggling in this very Anglo dominated country.

Now dont get me wrong this happens all over the world as unfortunately it is human nature.

The other thing that we are forgetting here and is annoying me today is all these comments on the news re how Rendell has supported Aboriginal
drafting etc . Andrew Mcleod has come up and so has Patrenko. This is a silly example as here we have two players who are only half aboriginal. Patrenkos father is Ukranian and McLeods father is Scottish.

These journalist need to investigate what they are writing or putting out in the media rather than beating everything up. lets not forget that most of the aboriginals actually drafted in the AFL have one parent of white origin in some way or another, not because they are racist but because it is reality that these guys handle the lifestyle alot better.

This sums it up perfectly ,well said. It is a pity that most of the other posters didn't think before they put pen to paper. Again well said ,it's great to see someone with the "b:::/lls" to say it .

 

[noddy]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

This sums it up perfectly ,well said. It is a pity that most of the other posters didn't think before they put pen to paper. Again well said ,it's great to see someone with the "b:::/lls" to say it .

A fair bit of what afc1991 said is spot on but how the heck could the AFC however remotely stand up for MR on those comments without someway not leaving itself open to being painted with the same brush.

 

[moogerfooger]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

Rendell was caught voicing what a lot of other recruiters are saying and thinking but instead of promoting open dialog about the broader issue, the AFL's actions are just going to drive the whole thing underground. The same clubs will still steer clear of indigenous players but they won't dare say why.

No winners in this sorry affair.

 

[Mark Dreher]

Re: The Yes man that is Steven Trigg

I don't understand what else he was supposed to do. Plain and simple Rendell F**ked up and had to jump or be pushed. If he did not resign or we did not sack him we would have been the laughing stock of the League and would have just invited front and back page ridicule until something did happen and then the internal working of the crows would have been more questioned than they are now. Therefore taking the focus away the whole reason the Adelaide is in existence to play footy for our enjoyment.

Sponsorship is hard enough to come by as it is and as has been stated we continue to struggle with it. What new sponsor would want its name attached to a club that is always in the media for the wrong reasons.

Trigg has his faults , as we all do, but he can not be blamed for some one else being an idiot.

 

[SydCrow]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

Morning all. Been a quiet old night for the AFC.

My 2 cents worth:

What happened to the three strikes policy? (Sorry, couldn't help that.)

Matt obviously misread Mifsud (try saying that in a hurry). He should have known that everything he was saying was being taken down and could be used against him (and the club).

Vlad is a heavy handed autocrat (Clive Palmer come on down, FA has nothing on the AFL). It is disappointing that this could not have been handled in-house - we are not talking about actual racism here but a potential change in recruiting approach - and any club that chooses players purely on race would be stupid (as Sheedy says - send them over here, we'll take them).

How about Vlad picks up the phone, calls Trigg and says I want a meeting with you, Rendell and Mifsud. Put the comments to Rendell and ask him to explain. If he can't, he is gone.

Once it was out there (thanks to the AFL), in defending Rendell or the comment (and Rendell will now forever be associated with the comment), the club risked making itself look stupid. They had no choice but to act. Even Eddie would have done the same thing.

Overall, a complete debacle. Rendell loses his job, the AFC is tarnished (can't wait to check out the Bay) and Vlad adds another skull to his throne.

 

[DoubleBlue2]

Re: Rendell Says the club will only recruit Aboriginals that have one white parent

You have to wonder if he says stupid racist crap like he did to the person who deals with this type of thing...imagine what he would say in private!!!

Glad he is gone, no place in society for this type of crap. There is certainly no place at Adelaide for it, how people can defend him is beyond me. Even if you don't think it particularly racist (which it is), it is certainly utterly unprofessional.