'Rude' AFL supremo 'blocked' Tassie bidPeter Hanlon
The Age
March 22, 2012HAD there been a sliding doors moment, this week's spotlight might have been on them, and the people who drove Tasmania's push to secure the AFL's 18th licence remain convinced their bid was doomed from the outset because of the prejudice of one man - Andrew Demetriou.
As Greater Western Sydney prepares for Saturday night's historic debut, key members of the steering committee that piloted the Tasmanian bid in 2008 have recalled meeting every criteria asked of them by the AFL, only to be treated with contempt by the league's chief executive as he pursued an inevitable course of installing a team in a rugby league heartland.
''Quite frankly, it's time [to speak up] - the way that he dealt with it was less than becoming of a person in his position,'' Paula Wriedt, who was then Tasmania's minister for economic development and tourism, told The Age.
''The AFL were blocking it, and when I say the AFL I mean Andrew Demetriou.''
Wriedt recalled visiting AFL headquarters with the state's then-premier, Paul Lennon, to present their case, and being ''dismissed as if we were unimportant'' by the league's chief executive, whose behaviour she described as unprofessional and rude.
In contrast, she said AFL commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick had been ''very cordial'' and ''really, really positive'' in their dealings.
''I've never seen anyone speak to a premier like he [Demetriou] spoke to Paul Lennon,'' Wriedt said.
''[It was] to the point of actual bad manners. You don't get the premier of a state to come to AFL headquarters, not advise your front desk, and leave them waiting at the front desk for 15 minutes while the media are filming through the glass while we're hanging around like Paul was nobody.''
Read more and full article at: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/rude-afl-supremo-blocked-tassie-bid-20120321-1vkbt.html#ixzz1pldruzLW
