Malthouse apology too little, too late
Roar Guru By Justin Rodski, 12 Apr 2010 Justin Rodski is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- AFL, Collingwood Magpies, Mick Malthouse, St Kilda Saints, Stephen Milne
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Mick Malthouse talks to his team at 1/4 time during the AFL Round 03 match between St Kilda Saints and the Collingwood Magpies at Etihad Stadium, Melbourne. Slattery Images
Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse might have apologised for his explosive comments towards Stephen Milne, but the way he blatantly denied the outburst in his post match press conference questions his integrity as a coach.
The fact that an AFL coach is making personal sledges towards opposition players is bad enough, but to then publicly rebuff the allegations, Malthouse has not only brought the game, but also the Collingwood Football Club into disrepute.
As he went into hiding over the weekend, St Kilda demanded the truth come out. An enraged Stephen Milne had clearly been vilified by Malthouse, whose verbal tirade included labelling Milne a ‘f@#king rapist’
Malthouse left a mess he could have easily cleaned up directly after the game, but instead chose not to.
The pictures from the coverage clearly showed the words coming out of Malthouse’s mouth, but instead of admitting his error of judgement or taking the opportunity to defuse the issue, Malthouse vehemently denied any wrong doing.
As a result, the football public and media wanted answers, and in chasing them on Saturday, key club stakeholders were left in a vulnerable position. Magpies President Eddie McGuire had egg on his face as his story contradicted Mick’s, while captain Nick Maxwell was put in the unenviable position of having to defend his coach on moral grounds.
If anything else, the explosive quarter time scuffle, has also highlighted sledging is as rife as ever in the AFL.
For the most part, it has managed to stay on the field, but when the cameras are rolling, it cant be forgotten anything that happens is open to discussion and judgement.
This is an important point, Milne has been portrayed as the victim, but if the vision also showed Milne’s remarks, would he be so forthcoming with the complaint?
After a day of tense negotiations on Sunday, the Magpies sent through the apology to St Kila with a catch. In return, Collingwood wanted Milne to accept he provoked Friday night’s ugly incident by calling Malthouse ‘an old c@#t’ and wrongly accusing assistant coach Paul Licuria of being ‘homosexual’.
It feels to me like the Collngwood hierarchy almost bullied St Kilda into accepting the apology, in a bid to broker peace before the Saints lodged a formal written complaint in the hope they might then refrain. St Kilda has accepted the apology and decided against a formal complaint, but the AFL must still decide if it will conduct its own investigation into the matter.
Either way, if you think about it, Collingwood actually has a point. I’m not for a second condoning the Malthouse spray, but you have to admit, Milne has managed to escape scrutiny because his comments weren’t captured on the broadcast.
Of course St Kilda would have been reluctant to drag Milne through an AFL investigation that stems from an alleged sexual assault claim back in 2004.
Mick Malthouse said in part: “It was only after the match that I reflected fully on the events and my actions at quarter time.”
“I apologise to Stephen Milne for comments I made in the heat of the moment, which were wrong and I retract them. I accept that after 27 years as a coach I should know better than to respond to incidents like this.”
Better late than never yes, but how can we ever take Mick Malthouse seriously again?
He made himself and the Collingwood Football Club look stupid by not having the foresight to answer the question put before him after the match honestly.
I know AFL clubs and players often play mind games with each other and the media, however this is much more serious than team selection. At one stage Milne and his management were considering taking legal action for defamation!
The passion and emotion AFL evokes is on display every weekend, that’s why we love the game so much. Its unfortunate this issue has taken the limelight off another intriguing and bruising round of action, let alone overshadowing a potentially season ending hamstring injury to Nick Riewoldt!
But at the same time, who isn’t looking forward to round 16 when the two teams meet again?
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- AFL, Collingwood Magpies, Mick Malthouse, St Kilda Saints, Stephen Milne
April 12th 2010 @ 4:46pm
Redb said | April 12th 2010 @ 4:46pm | Report comment
Probably right Richard but don’t ruin a good story
April 12th 2010 @ 5:16pm
Marshall said | April 12th 2010 @ 5:16pm | Report comment
Just saw the press conference Mick had after the game where he lied staight faced to the media. He deserves more than just a fine!
April 12th 2010 @ 5:27pm
Richard said | April 12th 2010 @ 5:27pm | Report comment
Yeah, they should spank him and give him a smaller Lexus.
April 12th 2010 @ 5:56pm
Hansie said | April 12th 2010 @ 5:56pm | Report comment
Malthouse has lost a lot of credibility. His lying and evading after the match was worse than his comment, which was unacceptable anyway.
April 12th 2010 @ 8:40pm
Richard said | April 12th 2010 @ 8:40pm | Report comment
You must be a model of rectitude Hansie, as you are obviously highly qualified to comment when the mighty show they’re human after all. Good for you. Keep up the good work.
April 12th 2010 @ 6:30pm
Marshall said | April 12th 2010 @ 6:30pm | Report comment
Did I hear right that Malthouses punishment is a $7500 fine? That’s nothing for Collingwood
April 12th 2010 @ 8:42pm
Richard said | April 12th 2010 @ 8:42pm | Report comment
You have missed the point Marshall. It’s not the money, it’s the embarrassment which is the punishment. And what a pity Mick Malthouse, a terrific coach and mentor to many, has now been personally embarrassed by his response to an innocent comment by a fine upstanding young citizen like Stephan Milne.
April 12th 2010 @ 10:00pm
Marshall said | April 12th 2010 @ 10:00pm | Report comment
It’s actually $7000.
April 12th 2010 @ 7:58pm
Baz35 said | April 12th 2010 @ 7:58pm | Report comment
Malthouses statement to members….i refer you to my previous posts…maybe, to satiate the moral thirst of the key board warriors in their pursuit of truth and righteousness, we should hook coaches up to lie detectors in the post match conference?
“When asked if I was directing comments at St Kilda players or my own players, I chose the latter option basically under the old code of what happens on the field stays on the field.
I largely took this decision based on my belief that, if I had said I was directing comments at a St Kilda player(s), this would lead to follow up questions such as “who were you talking to?”, “what did you say?”, “were you responding to provocation?”, etc etc. This would in turn create unnecessary angst and controversy for both clubs, and individuals from both clubs.
However, having seen that St Kilda and their players were obviously aggrieved the next day, and with St Kilda wanting to take the matter further, and having reflected on my involvement in the verbal exchange, I felt it was necessary for me to acknowledge the inappropriate nature of my comments, and to offer the subsequent apology.
I strenuously object to being branded a liar. I acknowledge my original position has caused me much embarrassment and my family great distress, but the reason I reacted to the question the way I did was because at that moment, I felt it was the best outcome not to drag the two clubs and a number of individuals into an obvious controversy.”
April 12th 2010 @ 8:15pm
justin Rodski said | April 12th 2010 @ 8:15pm | Report comment
The fine is not enough in my mind and the league has missed a golden opportunity to make a serious statement.
This is a soft penalty for an issue that had no precedent
Mick hasn’t won any friends and if he’s not careful he’ll lose his job as well..
Just imagine if the Magpies miss the eight or lose the next 5 games in a row, i can hear the jungle drums beating Bucks’ name from here…
lock it in now Eddie!!!
April 12th 2010 @ 8:38pm
Richard said | April 12th 2010 @ 8:38pm | Report comment
Oh listen to the anguished howels of the baying dogs of vengeance. Someone throw them a bone, please. You, Justin Rodski, are no loss to Collingwood.
April 12th 2010 @ 9:40pm
Steve said | April 12th 2010 @ 9:40pm | Report comment
OMG Richard…. After reading your numerous comments on this issue it seems that Collingwood is home to a list of avid churchgoers and assorted do gooders!
With your description of Milne as “a very unpleasant little man” (have you met him?) I wonder with great anticipation what you consider of the great Collingwood superstar, Dane Swan, who has a conviction for serious assault (kicking a defenseless man while he was lying on the ground). What about Alan Didak & his exploits with Christopher Hudson in the hours before he murdered an innocent man. Maybe the young recruit Ryan Cook who broke a man’s jaw after being called a… metro sexual! There is a long and infamous list of recent troubles Collingwood has had with the law.
While your club is very wealthy (although those troublesome hotels may cause some issues), has great facilities, 50k members, strong admin, etc you must understand that you have the same number of premierships in the last 50 years as the club that you sneer at. Collingwood is not a successful club in the modern era, try to get that into your disillusion of grandeur.
By the way, can you provide the details of Milne’s conviction for sexual assault? You know, the date the verdict was handed down, his sentence, etc.
April 12th 2010 @ 10:44pm
Richard said | April 12th 2010 @ 10:44pm | Report comment
No doubt you saw the sneering Stephen Milne on the TV. I’m not going to defend lawless behaviour by anyone. They are not the issue here however. Question is what sparked the unpleasantness. We all know the answer to that one. They have all been fined, they have all apologised, they have all accepted each others apology. So be it. A fitting end. And get off your high horse Steve.
April 12th 2010 @ 10:59pm
Baz35 said | April 12th 2010 @ 10:59pm | Report comment
Haha, very well researched on Collingwood there Steve. Spend a bit of time thinking about them?
April 12th 2010 @ 11:05pm
crazy horse said | April 12th 2010 @ 11:05pm | Report comment
Who cares, Ballantynes $900 fine for giving Ablett a nipple cripple was much more newsworthy.
It possibly would have been cheaper for Ballantyne to hire a hooker.
April 13th 2010 @ 9:15am
Redb said | April 13th 2010 @ 9:15am | Report comment
Best one I heard today on SEN, “Ballantyne fined for pinching Ablett” Reply: “I thought Gold Coast were trying to do that”
April 13th 2010 @ 10:51am
Marshall said | April 13th 2010 @ 10:51am | Report comment
Speaking of Abletts and Gold Coast, not a good start for Nathan with GC in the VFL.
April 13th 2010 @ 11:06am
Redb said | April 13th 2010 @ 11:06am | Report comment
I only read bits of the review of the game in the paper, he is probably a bit under done and not overly motivated perhaps?
April 13th 2010 @ 11:33am
Richard said | April 13th 2010 @ 11:33am | Report comment
Very good.
He does look good in the red strip too.
April 13th 2010 @ 11:37am
HawksLiverpool said | April 13th 2010 @ 11:37am | Report comment
I always have the feeling opposition players really want to whack Milne every game he plays. Ofcourse if an opposition player did whack him, I wouldn’t support that behaviour.
I do hope a AFL media outlet would do one of those anonymous player polls like they do in the NRL. I really want to see what percentage of the vote Milne gets on the Who is the most unpopular player? question and if it’s what I think would be.
April 13th 2010 @ 9:33pm
B.C Queenslander said | April 13th 2010 @ 9:33pm | Report comment
Milne reminds me of a person I knew some years ago, confident yet unpopular, he does things that annoy most of us but supporters admire it.
I think every team has a player most supporters from other teams love to hate, more often than not because they are good.
That is why I don’t like him as a player, because he can be damaging.