Mariner stuff not worthy of a whole thread

[JoyfulPenguin]

 

[bikinigirl]

It was basically a whinge fest until MM came out.

..... which served as a distraction to avoid moving onto further questions

- Reads and answers the most common or obvious questions submitted beforehand.
- Open floor for further questions but not dwell on those already answered

..... this is actually the way it was structured last time (if I am remembering the correct edition)

. but unfortunately the em-cee was not given time to prepare and in trying to be fair just started reading the questions without any vetting/consolidation - hence the repitition

 

[BrisRecky]

Could be worse...we could be on here ...a lot

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

 

[VicMariner]

YAY!

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Tragic tale. Was a solid footballer. I hope our system takes a leaf out of the book of the NRL on this.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

I watched Bozzas plea video in that article. Can anyone expand on the what’s going on with the state bodies? Sounds like he believes they’re actively sabotaging the HAL?

 

[Ozhammer]

Tragic tale. Was a solid footballer. I hope our system takes a leaf out of the book of the NRL on this.

Not sure I agree with that tbh FP, drug use (recreational or otherwise) has no place in professional sport imo.

That said, I do feel for Hearfield given the circumstances of his transgression and it is disappointing that no-one was prepared to offer him a second chance but drug use surely has to be discouraged in the strongest terms.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Not sure I agree with that tbh FP, drug use (recreational or otherwise) has no place in professional sport imo.

That said, I do feel for Hearfield given the circumstances of his transgression and it is disappointing that no-one was prepared to offer him a second chance but drug use surely has to be discouraged in the strongest terms.

You think that would discourage someone from dropping a pinger? Cheaper than booze and easier to get.

 

[Ozhammer]

Having shelled out my hard-earned for a membership and been there to get behind my team home and away, is it too much to expect players to be the best they can be by exercising good judgement with their lifestyle choices?

I think not....

 

[Ancient Mariner]

If the AFL or the NRL banned players for their first positive they would have no players.

End of problem.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

I agree on keeping drugs out of sport. But I think there’s a lot more middle ground here OH. Big spectrum between young men making mistakes and getting caught up by party culture, addicts, and wilful drug cheats.

No issue with him copping some length of a ban because I believe in consequences. but I do think for recreational drugs, a warning, fine and counselling would be a far better first offence approach. Consequences are important, but two other foundations that western society is built on are redemption and forgiveness. Troy Hearfield was clearly repentant and the level of his wrong doing should not equal an end of his career imo,

So I don’t find it hard to have empathy for him. Just a 25 year old whose brain has only just even fully formed, that’s been running around paddocks and kicking balls since he was a little kid - clearly his whole life and all he knew - manages to make it all the way to pro level but then makes a silly mistake which had no great external consequences but it’s all over. And then his life falls apart...

Like I said. I think there’s a middle ground here between persona non grata and making a mistake, making amends and growing from it.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

If the AFL or the NRL banned players for their first positive they would have no players.

End of problem.

Yeah almost made this joke. But it’s partly true. Which is why they have it right imo.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Having shelled out my hard-earned for a membership and been there to get behind my team home and away, is it too much to expect players to be the best they can be by exercising good judgement with their lifestyle choices?

I think not....

I agree. It isn’t. But to my mind the argument isn’t: should drug cheats or party culture be accepted, or players allowed to simply get away with it. It’s one of punishment fitting the crime and redemption etc

 

[Ozhammer]

I agree. It isn’t. But to my mind the argument isn’t should drug cheats or party culture be accepted or players allowed to simply get away with it. It’s one of punishment fitting the crime and redemption etc

Not disagreeing with your reasoned thinking FP but for me, no elite athlete can ever hope to perform at their best possible level if they have drugs and/or excessive alcohol in their system.

They are privileged to be able to pursue the dream when many others will never get the chance and as such, I believe that they owe it to themselves, their Club and the fans that pay their memberships to be the best they can be.

 

[pjennings]

I am a little in both camps. From the account it seems it was accidental but he also admits he was stupid as a professional athlete 1) to be drinking and 2) to drink from someone else's glass.

When I went to school ( a selective one) the first time anybody stepped out of line they got the lecture from the Headmaster. You are one of the few selected - there is a list of over 2000 people that want to be here. If you step out of line again we can help you out of here. That quickly focused the mind of not only those who were on the receiving end but the rest of us. Playing professional football is a rare privilege in Australia and the way professional footballers should treat that privilege is with respect.

That said, after he had served his time, I question how much effort Rallis put in pleading his case when he could drop in another player in front of him without the hassle.

 

[Wombat]

Drug taking is never accidental.
Troy was a solid player without being top drawer but would have solved our RB problems this year.
The penalty was too harsh imho. Surely Mitch Nichols was treated much more kindly.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Not disagreeing with your reasoned thinking FP but for me, no elite athlete can ever hope to perform at their best possible level if they have drugs and/or excessive alcohol in their system.

They are privileged to be able to pursue the dream when many others will never get the chance and as such, I believe that they owe it to themselves, their Club and the fans that pay their memberships to be the best they can be.

I agree again, huge privilege, but for a young Tamworth boy i think this is where culture, family influence and mentoring or the lack thereof comes in to play.

 

[turbo]

They are privileged to be able to pursue the dream when many others will never get the chance and as such, I believe that they owe it to themselves, their Club and the fans that pay their memberships to be the best they can be.

They are, no question about that but let’s not forget that many of them are still quite young and being talented doesn’t necessarily mean being bright. On top of that plenty of young talents grow up being told how good they are and never cop the reality check they need. None of this is exclusive to football or even Australia of course.

 

[Insertnamehere]

I can say that the OSC is reaching out to its Members asking for questions to be asked on the night for those that can’t be there or are not comfortable about voicing their concerns themselves. If anyone on this forum has questions that they would like to be asked, feel free to add them to this thread, so that they can be collated along with any OSC Member responses.

As far as we know, the Club hasn’t advised a specific format for the evening, so the assumption is that it will be an open floor, which could be interesting or a bit of a shamozzle like last time. Surely it is time for all fans to hold the Club accountable for a situation which seems to have no obvious end in sight? At previous events, the Club has been given too much of a free pass imo, which does nothing to impress how disillusioned is fans really are.

The OSC Committee will be meeting with Anton Tagliofero before the forum to sound him out on his involvement, which should be interesting but the noise coming out of the Club still suggests that underinvestment is the basic strategy and we all know where that leads don’t we?

Much appreciated Oz.