- Apr 22, 2004
- 3,174
- 8,288
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
Who'd be a football administrator? Can you imagine some of the club and a good deal of its supporters ever turning on Bont to the point that he feels alienated from the club? One of the greatest, if not THE greatest player to have ever played for us? It's unthinkable. So I am really feeling for Chris Grant this morning. He is a club legend, period, and the club has acknowledged this in their rankings.
Following on from Dougy Hawkins in the 80s, Grant was the beacon of light for the club in the 90s. A generational player who, like Bont, was robbed of at least one Brownlow. Remembering his first game as a 17 year old against St Kilda in 1990, it was clear to everyone present that the gangly teenager making his debut was going to be very special. I was in raptures. And for added context, his debut game in that first round fixture was our first match post-fightback campaign. So, not only were we NOT extinct as a football club, we now had this young fella who looked to be the cream of emerging talent - someone we could pin our hopes to in the new era of our miraculous second coming. Off-field, you could mount an argument that his rejection of Port Adelaide's enormous offer in the late 90s saved the club yet again - a decision that was made purely out of club loyalty...no more, no less.
Now, I might be totally incorrect in assuming that Grant has missed our various Centenary celebrations because he is, or at least feels he is, on the outer with the club. Last night, if he wasn't in attendance, he may have just had a bad cold. But we suspect differently. So, who'd be a football administrator? When we, as supporters, felt a need to criticize him or highlight his supposed shortcomings in his managerial role at the club...well, I'm not suggesting that some of those criticisms didn't warrant air-time and debate...but it just felt so wrong. Why must famous sons (and undoubtedly daughters in the future) become involved in the machinations of club business when the sun sets on their footy career? Let this be a cautionary tale...stay away, stay away. Be a supporter, come to club functions, give motivational speeches, be an ongoing part of the club's fabric - but don't get involved with the business. And don't coach. Do it somewhere else. We won't mind. Don't give us the opportunity to weaken, to take pot shots at your legacy, to second guess the adoration that we thought we had for you.
Chris Grant is in good company. The great Kevin Bartlett didn't take calls from Richmond for three decades because of the 'bad vibes' that went down during his coaching career. That's sad and confusing for supporters who had pictures of him on their walls. I'm getting a bit old to have pictures of Chris Grant on my wall - at least in the bedroom, where my wife would just not understand. Maybe I can sneak one into the rumpus room, next to the Premiership photo with Mitch Wallis's face superimposed onto Josh Dunkley (an apt illustration of just how immature and fickle football supporters can be). Anyway, the point of all of this is - Chris, if you're reading this...you will always be a part of the pantheon. Club royalty. You could stay away from the club for fifty years and it wouldn't make any difference. But I hope that you don't. You are family and, like all families, there is disfunction. The important thing is that families heal. You have given so much to our club. Please come back.
Following on from Dougy Hawkins in the 80s, Grant was the beacon of light for the club in the 90s. A generational player who, like Bont, was robbed of at least one Brownlow. Remembering his first game as a 17 year old against St Kilda in 1990, it was clear to everyone present that the gangly teenager making his debut was going to be very special. I was in raptures. And for added context, his debut game in that first round fixture was our first match post-fightback campaign. So, not only were we NOT extinct as a football club, we now had this young fella who looked to be the cream of emerging talent - someone we could pin our hopes to in the new era of our miraculous second coming. Off-field, you could mount an argument that his rejection of Port Adelaide's enormous offer in the late 90s saved the club yet again - a decision that was made purely out of club loyalty...no more, no less.
Now, I might be totally incorrect in assuming that Grant has missed our various Centenary celebrations because he is, or at least feels he is, on the outer with the club. Last night, if he wasn't in attendance, he may have just had a bad cold. But we suspect differently. So, who'd be a football administrator? When we, as supporters, felt a need to criticize him or highlight his supposed shortcomings in his managerial role at the club...well, I'm not suggesting that some of those criticisms didn't warrant air-time and debate...but it just felt so wrong. Why must famous sons (and undoubtedly daughters in the future) become involved in the machinations of club business when the sun sets on their footy career? Let this be a cautionary tale...stay away, stay away. Be a supporter, come to club functions, give motivational speeches, be an ongoing part of the club's fabric - but don't get involved with the business. And don't coach. Do it somewhere else. We won't mind. Don't give us the opportunity to weaken, to take pot shots at your legacy, to second guess the adoration that we thought we had for you.
Chris Grant is in good company. The great Kevin Bartlett didn't take calls from Richmond for three decades because of the 'bad vibes' that went down during his coaching career. That's sad and confusing for supporters who had pictures of him on their walls. I'm getting a bit old to have pictures of Chris Grant on my wall - at least in the bedroom, where my wife would just not understand. Maybe I can sneak one into the rumpus room, next to the Premiership photo with Mitch Wallis's face superimposed onto Josh Dunkley (an apt illustration of just how immature and fickle football supporters can be). Anyway, the point of all of this is - Chris, if you're reading this...you will always be a part of the pantheon. Club royalty. You could stay away from the club for fifty years and it wouldn't make any difference. But I hope that you don't. You are family and, like all families, there is disfunction. The important thing is that families heal. You have given so much to our club. Please come back.
