- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The drinking ban that Gold Coast Suns coach Rodney Eade placed on his team after their first win of the year against Brisbane last weekend has backfired in a big way.
Although well intentioned and seen by many as a step in the right direction for the struggling club, it has inadvertently led to three players being suspended and rumours that several others also had a sneaky frothy or two.
As a result, instead of galvanising the team and proving their seriousness in getting their ailing season back on track, it has brought discord to the group and all manner of problems to the selection table as the club desperately tries to cobble together a side for this week’s game against Adelaide.
Any momentum gained by last week’s win has instantly evaporated thanks to the foolish actions of Harley Bennell, Brandon Matera and Trent McKenzie.
Eade must be pulling his hair out, especially as the trio are repeat offenders.
But while most were shaking their heads and tut tutting in disbelief at the trio’s lack of self discipline, one former player was decrying their loss of personal liberty.
Campbell Brown, once considered a bad boy himself, tweeted – “Can’t have a bet. Can’t have a beer. Thank Christ I don’t play footy anymore.”
Can't have a bet. Can't have a beer. Thank Christ I don't play footy anymore
— Campbell brown (@Browndogg_30x) May 5, 2015
While I don’t totally agree with Brown’s sentiments, I can at least see where he is coming from.
Up to what point should a football club control a player’s personal life?
Obviously, if a player’s actions are going to be detrimental to his preparation, and the condition he presents himself in at training or on game day is below what is expected of a league footballer, then the club has every right to intervene.
According to an article by Caroline Wilson in The Age earlier this week, Bennell turned up for work on Monday morning still reeking of alcohol. It is little wonder the club acted to suspend him. No workplace around the country will stand for that – or if they do, they shouldn’t.
But putting Bennell aside for the moment, does that also give a club the right to dictate to a player that he can’t have a beer at a BBQ the day after a game? Or that he can’t have a glass of wine at a family dinner? As long as he presents himself in the best possible shape when at the club, does it even matter?
I understand that the Gold Coast players broke a team rule and some form of punishment needed to be handed down. That is not in dispute. What I am questioning is whether a club has the right to impose such a blanket ban on any sort of activity if it doesn’t have a direct impact on its players’ performances?
A couple of years ago I wrote an article criticising Collingwood for sanctioning Dane Swan for doing an interview with The Footy Show.
He was fined after not getting permission from his club to do the interview, even though the topic in question had little to do with the club and was primarily a personal one. To my mind it was a case of a football club wanting complete control of its player. I felt that Collingwood had over stepped the mark and interfered with Swan’s right to manage his own affairs.
And it is not always the expectations of the club that cause a player angst. When Adelaide’s Taylor Walker was spied drinking a beer while watching a footy game back in 2011 some commentators went into over drive.
The fact that Walker had already played his game the night before and was not breaking any team rules seemed lost on the likes of Tony Shaw and Gerard Healy, who screamed hysterically that his actions were “silly” and would “affect the whole fabric” of the group.
For once the club didn’t overreact, with football operations manager Phil Harper stating, “He’s down there watching his mates, we don’t have a problem with that. He’s allowed to have a life.”
Harper’s comments were a refreshing breath of common sense across an industry that seems increasingly primed to overreact to even the most minor infractions.
While the Suns were right to take a tough stance on its players (although apparently not all who were found guilty of the breach were punished), what would have happened had Eade not initiated the ban in the first place?
What if he had said something along the lines of, “Well done fellas, a good win today. It feels good to win doesn’t it? Enjoy it, suck it up. Go home tonight and have a couple of quiet ones with your mates but look after yourselves, stick together, keep the feeling alive, and we’ll front up Monday morning raring to go.”
If anything it would have stopped players from drinking behind the club’s back. Perhaps it would have even put the responsibility back on the players to manage their own condition. At least the club would know for certain who was fair dinkum and who wasn’t!
While most players would look after themselves if placed in that position, there would always be a player like Bennell who would take things to excess and effectively ruin it for everyone else.
Whether that behaviour is sparked by a lack of respect for the club, teammates or the privileged position of being a league footballer, I’m not sure – it may even be a lack of self respect – but it has the potential to bring down a football club.
While I sympathise with Campbell Brown’s lament and indeed at times agree that the constraints placed on players today can be strangulating, they still need to follow the rules, especially if they want their teams to achieve true greatness.
When it is all said and done, the onus is on the player to present himself in a fit and ready condition when he fronts up to training. If he doesn’t then there must be consequences.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.