Been reading this post and pondering it for a couple of days.
As a father of two developing young men in their early teens who I am trying to guide into adult life, this repeated behaviour from our club and the AFL football Management in general is depressing. It created conflicts in the way I think about the club and the senior management, the way I view the mentoring by the club of the young men (who my boys look up too), by the people who appear to not consider the implications of their decision making or their value propositions. Sadly. I was hoping Peter Bell was going to add some spine to our club, as he has a young family, and my interactions with him and his young girls gave me the impression we would see some changes in the FFC leadership and culture. Sadly, it seems he has not had this effect yet. We don't need anymore of the St Kilda Culture at our club, but this latest appointment smacks of RL having more control of our club hierarchy and culture than I realised. The sooner we are rid of this disease the better, it really is going to take a honest clean out, starting right at the very top and a complete reset of the values the organisation is willing to stand for. Alas I can not see that happening in the short term. This latest appointment does not surprise me, it makes me sad and somewhat disillusioned. It feels like we are sinking to the levels of the mob up the road and I never thought we would give them a run for their money like we are now.
