Rendell to talk on AFL racism storm

I agree that this is a huge price to pay for what may have been a careless comment. Surely someone is entitled to a little leniency George Orwell would have been impressed.

Jaceman mediation can only occur when it's one player against another. In this particular case, the Adelaide Football Club feels they couldn't have a statement associated with them that does not reflect their policy and philsophy.

We will wait for rendells take on it before I cast judgement....this is a guys career in footy we are talking about - he seemed to be hung, drawn and quartered in 24 hours - what happened to mediation in these matters that the players get - it appears a double standard but I await Rendells story first

Big Al - this may well be the case...

I've always thought the draft age was far too low - kids at that age should just be concerned about finishing school. Also the increase in the number of mature age drafts lately is interesting.

The Adelaide CEO has said that it's gone past that - the minute the comment was attributable to their club, they had to ask for Rendell's resignation because they could not have such a comment attributed to them, regardless of the context.

This is all very complex, but one aspect of it, for me personally, is a bit of an understanding on how witch burning became so popular and prevalent in the middle ages.

TomC if you watched EMT last night, they dealt with this issue more broadly - it's not about the colour of skin - it's about disadvantage and cultural backgrounds which make it very difficult for some draftees to adjust to life as an AFL footballer: the discipline, regimentation, etc, etc. Plenty of kids from a rural background, or poorer socio-economic backgrounds have been lost to the game because they couldn't fit the mould, and what EMT was saying last night is it's becoming even harder, and assistance has to be provided to certain groups before they get to drafting age. In fact, one of the suggestions is to increase the draft age - perhaps 18 is too young? For some kids, that will be the case.

brendan Let be clear, there is little doubt that Rendell made the comment, so from that perspective, the Crows were right to ask for his resignation, to quote the CEO: they could not have that statement attributable to the Adelaide Football Club, regardless of the context. My guess is that Rendell chose his words poorly to describe his experience as a recruitment officer in trying to second-guess the sorts of backgrounds that provide the better success rate - recruitment staff are involved in that activity right now. And yes, you are right in implying that a range of disadvantaged backgrounds will lead with a lower hit rate - the onus is now on the AFL to devise programs that assist potential draftees BEFORE they are drafted.

I know Matt personally- we do not see eye to eye on many things. But I know he is not racist. I can imagine him saying something like this but it will have come out wrong- not what he meant at all. How many times have you said something stupid that came out all wrong and not what you meant at all? Just feel lucky it didn't cost you your job. Matt has given his life to AFL- he has drafted and supported indigenous players. Give him a chance to defend himself.

If Rendell can show his comment was taken out of context, what is his redress to the AFL person that got him sacked...Surely he has a case...

He is going to have to have a good explanation for this.I am aware that recruiters do extensive research before selecting players.I read an article by Jason Mifsud recently outlining a comparison between games played by Aboriginals and other draftees and the averages were about the same.I think it is fair to say after white Australians Aboriginal Australians represent the next largest racial group in the game.Who knows for example Greek born ,Italian born might have a lower ratio of games played per player than others but no-one counts them.All i know when a bloke puts on a Geelong jumper i dont care if he is from the moon as long as he can play.Inadvertedly the comments attributed to Rendell ,which he says were taken out of context,may do more good than harm which is what i assume you are alluding too with your comments re Equal Oppurtunity etch.As an aside went to the practise match at Kardinia Park on Saturday and Motlop has so much poise and talent .Hopefully he ,Travis Varcoe , Allan Christensen and Matty Stokes can rival the telepathic brilliance of the Krakouer brothers this season.

I really don't know what the context is in which this comment would be acceptable. I don't understand why recruiters would even pay attention to the colour of the parents' skin. I don't like the way everyone has been so quick to give Rendell the benefit of the doubt, and assume that this comment must have meant something quite different in context. It's a shame that someone has to lose their job over something that was said in a meeting, but I'm a lot more worried about the impact on the motivation for young Aboriginal players than I am about Matt Rendell's career.

brendan The Crows have a pretty good history of recruiting indigenous players, so I accept that the club has never had such a policy or never thought along those lines in any way, shape or form. Adelaide, as a capital city, has as good a connection with central Australia as any other capital city - so I would not expect anything less. My guess is that Rendell, who has recruited indigenous players himself in the past, has provided some sort of example discussing a particular point, it has not come out quite right, and he has paid the penalty. For instance, only last night on EMT on Fox, they were discussing how AFL footy has perhaps become over-professionalised, over restrictive, almost like going back to school for many players - and draftees from certain backgrounds are a good chance to struggle in that environment (not just indigenous players, but players from a variety of backgrounds). People may not be aware that these days recruitment staff do extensive interviews with potential draftees and their families before draft day in an attempt to work out whether a certain kid has what it takes to survive in such an environment. In that sort of scenario, you can imagine experienced recruitment staff learn to pick where the odds are for success, and it's no surprise that kids from a certain background have less chance of success - I believe that Rendell would have made his comments in that sort of context (that's just my guess). This is precisely what Equal Employment Opportunity is all about - giving those from a disadvantaged background the ability to compete on an equal footing, and the AFL may need to start going down this track it if wants to see more indigenous kids making the grade. I note that Eddie also interviewed the MInister for Indigenous Health last night, really good, intelligent interview, and it's possible that the AFL and Commonwealth might combine to do something on this front - the AFL has a pretty good record with indigenous players, and we now know there is a strong link between kids being able to play more footy and staying at school longer - so it's an ideal partnership (potentially).

Lets hope your right The Cattery and that Matt Rendell can give his version of events and that ameliorates the fall out from this.Rendell has had a long career in the geme and has lost his job for comments attributed to him.Adelaide has taken the appropriate course of action and to Rendell's credit he was honorable enough to resign.As im sure your aware many great Aboriginal players from NT come down to Adelaide to play in the SANFL so there is a strong history in South Australia of indigenous representation at all levels of football.

I think it is possible to conceive of a context within which the comments may have been born, and it becomes a case of the story running away from him. Having said that, the Adelaide Football Club has responded appropriately, they have made it clear there is no such policy, never has been there has never been any such discussion and they did not wish to be associated with such comments regardless of whatever the original context was.

Obviously we have to hear Rendell's version before judging him however it is very hard to percieve how comments as definitive as alledged against himcould be taken out of context.Micheal Long was reported in another publication as saying these comments mean my children shouldn't be recruited which probably sums up how stupid these comments if true are.