Wow.
I am clearly missing something here.
On the best case possible as presented by the media and club, originally, Fremantle wanted to change the name on the medal and have Glendinning removed (purportedly). This was done without raising any public discussion on the matter.
The Slime (quite rightly) objected to the removal (note - removal) of Glendinning's name. He is a WA great, and a club legend for them, and has been associated with the medal for nearly 2 decades. They also held the high ground (tactically) in that they had status quo on their side, so why would they concede that easily to their closest rival?
So Fremantle had a tanty 7 days before the game and said they wouldn't present any medal at all then so there. (except the reason they gave for the tanty was the loss of sponsorship, which they - for some bizarre reason - thought was a better reason than the renaming reason). The timeline on previous discussions between Freo & Slime on the matter is difficult to determine, but the fact that neither of the egos involved could come to a compromise position reflects poorly on both sides. But why you would try to hide the medal non-award behind sponsorship instead of using it for leverage in a public discussion on name change is mystifying. And if this had been an ongoing situation, why wait until a week before the game to go public on pulling the pin on the medal?
So the WAFC stepped in and said that the medal could be renamed to include our inaugural skipper and long time club servant, Ben Allan. Which is apparently what Fremantle wanted at some point anyway (but possibly not the name they wanted - although it's impossible to tell because, as mentioned, there has been no prior public discussion or consultation on the matter).
So we got what we (apparently) wanted. Just not this game, because we left it too late to bring the naming matter to a head by deploying our machiavellian gambit of pretending to dump the medal because of a sponsorship lost months ago. (yeah, I know, right?)
The whole episode reflects poorly on both club executives, and certainly doesn't imply that the process was thought through or prepared for in any meaningful way by Fremantle either. So you can have your conspiracy theories and make your "watershed moment" comments, but really, two spoilt kids were arguing in the sandpit, and dad stepped in and sorted it out.
If you don't like the name chosen, and/or admire the "backbone" shown by the club in standing up to "our oppressors" in the media, Slime & WAFC, think about how it might have been handled in a mature, thoughtful manner, commencing in the pre-season with a community & member survey and a respectful submission of the results to the Slime & WAFC with a preferred additional name for consideration to be added to the medal for the upcoming Fremantle home derby.
Just putting it out there ...
