Three votes: Collingwood president Eddie McGuire, for saying after the Heath Shaw drink-driving incident: “We are angry. We are furious. We’ve had enough.”
50-metre penalty: Collingwood and McGuire, for not suspending Shaw until after it became known he and Alan Didak lied about the incident, when both were outed for the rest of the season and Shaw’s brother Rhyce for two weeks. Apparently the club reckons telling porkies is worse than slamming into parked cars when you’ve had a skinful.
Winners: Cats by 45, Blues by 17, Hawks by 49 at their Tasmanian Fortress (where they should move permanently), Pies by 16, Swans by 3 (if they’re lucky), Doggies by 14, Tigers by 2 (huge game, this), Bombers by 12. I’m still sticking to the six-games-ahead tips I made before round 17, which could look very nasty in the final few games, but worked out OK last week with six right, making 91/144 overall.
If all my remaining tips were to get up, the final points ladder, with games won out of the final six in parentheses, would be:
Geelong (5 wins) 80 points
Western Bulldogs (5) 74
Hawthorn (4) 68
Sydney (3) 54
St Kilda (4) 52
Collingwood (4) 52
North Melbourne (4) 50
Richmond (5) 50
Brisbane (1) 40
Essendon (4) 40
Adelaide (2) 40
Carlton (2) 36
Port Adelaide (1) 24
Fremantle (2) 20
Melbourne (1) 12
West Coast (1) 12
So percentages wouldn’t decide the final eight, but could be vital in determining who finishes where between fourth and eighth.
A draw between Collingwood and St Kilda this week would really set the cat among the pigeons, wouldn’t it?
Bruce Walkley
Guest
You're quite right, Searly. My point was that the club did a big about-face when it found out the players had lied to it. Before then the club had stuck to its principles (much the same as yours), on which it had set precedents after earlier incidents. The club's change of mind made them complete hypocrites.
Michael C
Guest
Yeah, I tend to agree with Searly. The club was allowing that H.Shaw was facing the wrath of the law, public humiliation and an employer imposed fine of $10,000. That's a hefty hit in anybodies language for a 22 yr old. Didak, at that point was NOT known to be the passenger. It might be that after learning of the lies, that the subsequent penalty is harsh by comparison to the day before - - however, to lie and ALLOW your coach, captain, president etc to all be publicly humiliated - - it's self evident that niether Heath Shaw nor Didak was considering the 'club' ahead of themselves. The player leadership group imposed the penalty - - and, obviously, the big picture of the whole incident as well as any other 'issues' (public or not) regarding these players and known to the 'leadership group' would have been considered. SO - a bit harsh for us to stand in judgement. Reality is, people stuff up - - but, this at least should serve as a warning that you need to be up front, Heath Shaw's manager didn't know about all this until he saw a footy program on tele on Monday night!!! Collingwood might actually find themselves moving forward a whole lot (in the bigger picture) on the basis of this apparent 'backward' step (in the quest for 2008 finals). Good luck to them.
Searly
Guest
I can't agree with your 50-metre penalty Bruce. If truth be told (which nobody seems willing to do about these types of incidents - instead people just want to get all caught up in righteous indignation) drink driving and crashing your car in your own personal time generally has absolutely nothing to do with your employer. That aspect of the matter should be left to the police and the criminal justice system, and that's what Collingwood sought to do initially (although still felt obliged to rant in righteous indignation about something which has nothing to do with them). From the perspective of Shaw and Didak's employer (i.e. Collingwood FC), the matter of far greater seriousness was the undermining of the footy club itself through their willingness to lie about the incident to their teammates and coaches and hence a far more serious footballing punishment was imposed once that became apparent. If anyone wants them punished harshly for drink driving then they should direct their petitions to the police. Collingwood Football Club should not be made responsible for dishing out criminal justice at the whim of the media and a seething public. What has that got to do with them? They manage a football club and have suspended them for footballing reasons. And so they should. If I were the President of Collingwood, as soon as I found out I'd have come out and said "We don't condone the behaviour, but this is a matter for the police and we'll be leaving it to them. In the meantime, as members of Collingwood's playing roster, Shaw and Didak will be available for selection this weekend." Full stop. Simple as that.