Get rid of the bubble around AFL players Will Brodie
The Age
February 17, 2014 - 12:11PM ... And two days into the faux season, the first reminder that Melbourne, and Aussie Rules, needs some perspective: the Jack Riewoldt 'media ban'.
Riewoldt's Richmond coach Damien Hardwick had this to say about this major issue:
"I think we've probably got to lay off some guys a little bit. These guys live in a bubble and it's very hard, a lot of people don't understand how people feel within these situations," he said.
Blimey. It is February. Jaromir Jagr is scoring goals for the Czech Republic at the Olympic Games. Here are the names tearing it up on NAB Challenge fields: Langdon; Miles; Michie.
I know we all love our footy, but let's take a deep breath.
Let's skewer, pierce, slash, explode that terrible 'bubble' constricting our footy players! Who created it? Who wants it? Get rid of the bubble!
It is February. It is 25 degrees at night. Do we really need this level of angst over a 'leadership group' demotion now? Or at any time? Have we all lost our collective sports minds?
If Jack Riewoldt thinks he is so poorly served by those obliged to stick a mic under his nose, maybe we need to re-appraise this whole venture.
What was the media's crime in this instance?
According to Jack's reported words, they did not pay enough attention to Troy Chaplin being placed in the Richmond leadership group (possibly at Jack's expense).
If Jack is actually aggrieved at not being in this treasured posse, it would have been just as efficient, media-wise, for him to have said so.
(We'll include his quotes on the matter in full at the end of this article in case you think we're being unfair.)
All that has occurred instead is an annoying news story for the Tigers, and a reminder for the rest of us that we really DO need to be paying attention to some matters other than AFL. Clearly, the AFL has succeeded too well in becoming Melbourne's major sports news focus for 11 months of the year.
Jack's rationale for going mute is that he doesn't like how he has been portrayed in the media over the past year. This said in his weekly slot on Gold 104.3, a gig he will now jettison, after three years. An outgoing, lively personality, Jack had also been a fixture on TV's Footy Show.
Via the media, I have this image of Jack: He appears to be a happy, well-adjusted, well-paid individual who occasionally displays his on-field disappointment. He seems to enjoy the spotlight without being a braggart or attention-hog. My image of him is of a good bloke, a passionate teammate, someone the team might roll its eyes at once or twice a year, but who they respect and enjoy having around. I don't think that I am alone in possessing that sense of the Tiger full-forward.
Does such a depiction serve him so badly? Has the media, which he has apparently enjoyed working in and profiting from, really become such a dreadful imposition on his life?
I'd like to take Jack's initiative a step further. How about every well-paid, over-sensitive, well-coached media performer in AFL ranks be relieved of the onerous duty of public speech? How about we place a blanket ban on reporting anything an AFL player has to say until the first premiership match commences? Would the world really stop spinning?
I think we'd cope.
And for the rest of the 2014 season, here's a suggested AFL media policy:
If you have nothing to say, don't say it.
If you have something to say, and you say it, don't blame the medium if it is reported.
JACK RIEWOLDT'S LAST WORDS"Something I've really struggled with over the last year and certainly the last week is really how I've been portrayed in the media," Riewoldt told Gold 104.3.
"I've taken it upon myself to make my own decision that if I can't be portrayed the way I want to be portrayed, then, I'll give it a miss."
"I find it hard to deal with those sort of things, that the main focus was on the individual, on me not making it into the leadership group obviously," Riewoldt said.
"I felt sorry for a guy like Troy Chaplin, and it just shows the character of that guy, who I would have right up there as one of our best leaders, if not the most natural-born leaders, at the moment of our football club.
"He didn't get the recognition that he deserved from the media and the outside world. That was the thing that cut me a little bit deep.
"We have five very, very capable blokes there and they are going to lead this club to some really big success this year."
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/get-rid-of-the-bubble-around-afl-players-20140217-32v5n.html
