Collingwood president Eddie McGuire can not seriously be surprised the Sydney Swans hierarchy, along with coach John Longmire, are a little bit narky.
Narky is probably not the right word.
Pissed off, offended, insulted, and fed up, sums it up better, and for good reason.
McGuire’s public haranguing of John Longmire has become the icing on the cake, after 18 months worth of sustained attacks on the club over the Cost of Living Allowance and the academy.
New Swans chairman Andrew Pridham berated the Magpies boss by calling him the AFL’s equivalent of Clive Palmer and a self appointed spokesperson acting out of self-interest.
After McGuire chipped Longmire for turning down an assistant coaching position for the International Rules team, which McGuire manages, the Magpies president expressed his disappointment in a statement on Channel 9’s AFL Footy Show on Thursday night, saying the Swans coach should not let “petty club issues” get in the way of “national interest.”
It seemed lost on Eddie McGuire the issue had become a lot more than “petty.”
While McGuire has not been an entirely lone voice, with Carlton coach Mick Malthouse and Western Bulldogs chairman Peter Gordon also taking digs at the club, the Magpies boss has been the most prominent voice, and it’s all based upon the hysteria swept up over the club signing Kurt Tippett and Lance Frankiln on the back of winning the 2012 premiership.
All the Swans have been hearing is that the only reason club has been successful is because the AFL has given the club major advantages with the Cost of Living Allowance, easy draws, and the academies.
It is not because of the hard work of the clubs administrators, coaches, recruiting staff, and players.
All the hard work of Richard Colless, initially along with Ron Barassi, did not account for any of the clubs success.
Getting Tony Lockett to the club, combined with his deeds for not only the Swans, but for the game in the Harbour City, accounted for nothing.
All the hard work of Paul Roos and Andrew Ireland, in building a team list which ended the clubs 72 year premiership drought in 2005, accounted for nothing.
It seems forgotten the 2005 Sydney Swans were accused of playing an ugly brand of footy.
The 2012 premiership, which the Swans virtually won from nowhere, was not as the result of a perfectly executed and innovative coaching plan, or first class recruiting, it was as a result of the COLA, even though Sydney did not have a “marquee player” in their Grand Final team.
The team had a derided ex-Canadian international rugby player, high draft picks, has-beens, rejects and outcasts from other clubs, and a son of rugby league legend.
Very few tipped the Swans to make the top 8, let alone the top 4, and some even predicted the club would finish in the bottom 4.
For the Swans, it has become insulting and offensive because only 21 years ago, the club was declared dead, an embarrassment to the code, and were the laughing stock of Australian sport.
Only 20 years ago, the club was in the process of achieving its third consecutive wooden spoon.
The Sydney Swans Football Club, just like it was as the South Melbourne Football Club before relocation, was not taken seriously in Melbourne or Sydney, it had no respect. They were no hopers.
Even now, as the Swans stand as premiership favourites with record membership numbers and respect, it does not mean the club has suddenly won the code war in the Harbour City for the AFL – far from it.
It’s not like rugby league, a code which has a rich 106-year-old history in Sydney, has suddenly buckled and faded away.
McGuire, who was once the boss of Channel 9 – the TV rights holder for the NRL – knows this.
It seems McGuire has had the Sydney Swans Football Club in his sights, effectively declaring it his own personal business to try destroy what the club has been working hard at building up.
And he wonders why the Swans are angry.
Warren Cooper
Roar Guru
Gene - what is lost in the inane hysteria is that the COLA Sydney gets never stopped Geelong being successful.
Warren Cooper
Roar Guru
No Kev, stop putting words into my mouth, and twisting them. And I'm only clearly a rookie because you're wanting to win, so I'll let you win. It is true Andrejs Everitt was squeezed out, he also said after he was traded to Carlton,"It is pretty expensive to live up in Sydney, just the rent, everything to do with Sydney. I'm not sure what the figures are but I do think it [COLA] is pretty necessary," he said Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/former-swan-andrejs-everitt-backs-sydneys-cost-of-living-allowance-20140216-32trt.html#ixzz37dPsgsDh I've already answered the question of why didn't Jolly stay, which is actually proof the COLA doesn't keep players if they choose to leave the club. Futher more Kev, have a proper read of what I said, I said Darren Jolly is a case in point, not a prime case, or even the crux of my "argument for the COLA." I also said the primary reason he moved back to Melbourne was so he and his wife could closer to family. I said in other comments, the COLA is outdated, and that Sydney will be better off for having it going. I do agree with rent assistance for all clubs. The Sydney clubs have a genuine case for it.
andyl12
Guest
I don't oppose the academy the way Eddie does. But I do oppose the idea that only those clubs can access the academy. After all, Sydney and Brisbane can- and do- raid other states for players any time they want. Which goes back to my original argument that promoting a national competition shouldn't mean giving advantages to one or two clubs. Yes Sydney have to survive in a non-AFL state, but at the same time there are 10 teams in Melbourne who compete for Victorian talent.
Cat
Roar Guru
Discussing *only* Darren Jolly and no one else (since you made his case the proof of concept) Warren do you *honestly* believe that Darren Jolly on $400k a year contract could not afford postpartum depression treatment/services in Sydney? or anywhere in the world for that matter?
Maggie
Guest
"There are other ways to promote the game in Sydney, like putting more money into junior development." Which is exactly what the Swans and Giants academies are doing (as are the Brisbane and Gold Coast academies in Queensland). Yet McGuire has attacked the Swans' Academy in recent outbursts. I'm pleased to read that Gillon McLachlan has strongly supported the academy system today saying: "the academy system is a critical part of supporting and growing the AFL". http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-07-16/end-the-slanging-match-gil
Kev
Guest
Warren - Yes and your opinion is factually and logically incorrect. You're clearly a rookie as demonstrated by your persistence in playing a game of deflection and your refusal to address any of my counterarguments. You claim that Darren Jolly moved back to Melbourne as a result of financial distress and that apparently is the crux of your argument for the COLA. Well answer me this, the COLA was in place at Sydney when he moved back here so why didn't he stay for the extra cash? Andrejs Everitt didn't leave Sydney because of cost of living pressures, he left because he was squeezed out of the Sydney list due to salary cap pressures as a result of the Lance Franklin deal. Stop making up stuff just to suit your own arguments.
Warren Cooper
Roar Guru
Gene, I have said the rental assistance should be available to all clubs. And there are Swans fans, including myself, who believe the COLA is outdated and needed to be replaced with something that was the real issue of living in Sydney. If West Coast Eagles and Fremantle need a food assistance allowance because of high food prices in Perth, I'm all for it.
Warren Cooper
Roar Guru
Take a chill pill Kev, I'm not going to get involved in a personal game of tit for tat with you. It's an opinion and discussion, not a competition. The fact is it is extremely expensive to rent in Sydney, due to the fact of high competition for rental property in the Sydney CBD. Not all 38 players on the Swans list are on $400K contracts. Post-Natal Depression is a seriously crippling mental illness, and financial stress, is just another stress. Those who are suffering from it, simply can not cope with living with kids and themselves, but I wouldn't know because my wife doesn't talk to me about her work. It is true Jolly moved back to be with closer to family because of the PND. And as Andrejs Everitt requested a trade back to Carlton because of Sydney's high cost of living, it is not unreasonable to suspect financial stress played a part in Jolly's move back to Melbourne.
Cat
Roar Guru
"For the Swans to do as you say Gene would be unethical." Not breaking any rules, how is it 'unethical'? How would it be any different from a player manager telling a club that for their player to sign with the team it will take 400k a year, the team comes back and says we can't afford 400k under the cap but what we can do is get you 350k with an ASA of 50k to get you to the 400k you want. "Plus impossible considering AFL auditors oversee each contract." Again COLA would be in the contract, nothing illegal about it. "Also, player managers stipulated the COLA must be in the contract." Once again no where did I say it wouldn't be in the contract, its just a matter of whether that additional money was used as part of the lure, which, once again, would not be illegal. "And Gene … the COLA is going." Yes, for something thats far more reasonable, assistance for those who actually need it, I am sure the COLA applied to 80% of the Sydney list was never needed to exist, surly Tippett, Franklin, Goodes etc. all can afford to pay their rent/mortgage on the multi-million dollar contracts they have/had. Why should it only be limited to Sydney based teams, why can't a player from any club apply for it and the AFL judge it on its merits?
Cat
Roar Guru
Well said Kev, lost in all the inane hysteria is the fact that people making in excess of 100k hardly need a hand up.
andyl12
Guest
Matt, it is true that the Swans never wanted a second team in Sydney- they always argued that the market wasn't ready. They also requested that the Swans logo be used in any promotional programme that the AFL ran in NSW, which is typical of their inability to tell the difference between club and code. The Swans had 25 years to recruit members from Western Sydney but they always saw themselves as a Chardonnay Socialist club from the Eastern Suburbs.
andyl12
Guest
Addo, I think the problem is that whenever the Swans are outside the 8, their club management says it is bad for the national competition. People need to be more mature than that and realise that every side has a stint at the bottom sometimes and that you deal with it the same way any other club would. Brisbane are dealing with that right now and they haven't cried "too big to fail" or anything like that.
andyl12
Guest
Warren, what you keep forgetting is that there is a difference between creating a national competition and bending the rules to help one or two clubs. There are other ways to promote the game in Sydney, like putting more money into junior development and getting better deals with the media there. I disagree with much of what Eddie McGuire says but he'd be right if he said that the AFL have adopted a 'too big to fail' attitude towards the Swans- the club has successfully pushed a view that if they're struggling the entire AFL is struggling. I would've thought the people of Australia's largest city would be more mature than this.
Kev
Guest
Warren - You discredit yourself by claiming that player's on 6 figure salaries need rental assistance. You discredit yourself by claiming that someone earning $400,000 a year is on struggle street but if they had an extra $40,000 in their pocket, they wouldn't feel as "stressed". You still haven't even come close to proving that the Darren Jolly case was a prime example justifying the COLA. All you've said so far is this, his wife had post natal depression, Collingwood got a sniff of this, Collingwood enticed him to come back to Melbourne therefore that proves there's a need for the COLA. Then again, I shouldn't be surprised about this lack of logic given that you've also said, my wife works with mothers who suffer from PND therefore, I know about PND. The only instance in which a COLA is justified, is for players on less than $100k a year but even then, it's not like they are having to choose between eating dinner and paying rent.
Warren Cooper
Roar Guru
For the Swans to do as you say Gene would be unethical. Plus impossible considering AFL auditors oversee each contract. Also, player managers stipulated the COLA must be in the contract. And Gene ... the COLA is going.
Jack Smith
Roar Guru
Compliant umpiring? I have been to every home game except one and have seen all others. Swans get as many poor decisions as any other club. I think Longmire is right with the umpiring and their standard needs to improve. I will once again say that favourable draws are a myth and only a favourable draw can be determined in hindsight once the season has started. Liz, how many club presidents can you name without looking them up? Seriously, stupid comment.
Warren Cooper
Roar Guru
Nonsense. Those predicting doom and gloom for the Swans as a result of Lance Franklin need to a little research. One of the Swans list and likely retirements in the next 5 years, and two, of the salary cap being increased.
Warren Cooper
Roar Guru
How do I discredit my own stance Kev? It's an opinion. How is the COLA and player welfare seperate, if the COLA helps ease stress of players in an expensive city? Parramatta in itself is expanding at a rapid rate and is just about as expensive as the CBD. Those who say Swans and Giants players on lower contracts should live in "cheaper" suburbs really do not have a clue about, one how big the city of Sydney is, and two, how expensive it generally is right across the city - north, south, east, and west. Plus the COLA is going ... and in my opinion, the Swans will be better off for it going, and they will survive well and truly with out it.
Phil from Perth
Guest
Look i am a Swans supporter and do think COLA is out-dated and no one can say that an extra million dollars to spend is fair. It's not fair at all. But all i can say is that there is no denying that Sydney Swans are very good at looking after there list management. Have a look at how Sydney spent in the past two years. There's a hell of a lot players retiring, hence providing room for Tippett & Buddy. If you look at our recruitment the past two years, we have only ever picked up one or two people max. Have a look at this picture from Fox Footy with JD. https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t31.0-8/s960x960/10257531_795966193758943_1457473938993605083_o.jpg
Warren Cooper
Roar Guru
Kev - those people living on a 50 or 60k salary, obviously are not living near the Sydney CBD. Some of the first years and rookies Swans and Giants players share a unit. Considering only 10% of the Swans / Giants lists are local, and the rest come from interstate, it can not be expected first year players coming from interstate live in lowly suburbs. Walking around Parramatta last week, its easy to forget how big the city of Sydney is.