Joel Bowden in line for AFLPA president

[one-eyed]

New blood for AFL Players Association
Samantha Lane
The Age
March 20, 2007

PETER Bell and Nathan Buckley have stood down as figureheads of the AFL Players Association, and one of Joel Bowden, Adam Goodes, Tom Harley, Brett Burton and Darryl Wakelin — all executive members — is expected to become the new president of the union on Thursday.

Though the official vote will not take place until Thursday afternoon at the association's annual meeting, the president is likely to be outspoken Richmond player Bowden, Adelaide's Burton or dual Brownlow medallist, Sydney's Goodes.

Harley recently has taken on the Geelong captaincy and Port Adelaide's Wakelin is 32.

While the new president and vice-president conceivably could be one of the new executive members, an experienced member of the team is likely to be favoured.

Bowden became an association alternate delegate in 2000 and joined the executive in 2005. Goodes joined the executive in 2004 after becoming a delegate in 2000. Harley joined the executive in 2004, Burton in 2005 and Wakelin in 2000.

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2007/03/19/1174152970397.html

[torch]

joel is doing very well for himself ...

hopefully he starts hitting targets on the field !

[one-eyed]

Joel got the gig 

[letsgetiton!]

onya joel

what the result ever in doubt 

hopefully this will
give the tigers more exposure

[Stephanie]

Congrats Joel 

[mightytiges]

It's interesting that we've been critical of our on-field leadership for a years yet when it comes to leading the AFLPA another Tiger is voted in as president by his peers from other clubs. Joel is one of the best speakers though.

[DallasCrane]

Joel is one of the best speakers though.

I agree although he sounded a little bit like Mr Mackey from South Park on SEN this afternoon.

Drugs are bad mkay. 

[Ox]

.

[1965]

.

Well said.

[one-eyed]

We'll resist a quick fix
24 March 2007   Herald-Sun
Joel Bowden

AS AFLPA president, I don't proclaim to be the spokesperson for every individual player, but I do have a responsibility to promote the collective interest of players.

Discharging this responsibility is not easy, particularly when tackling issues which have the potential to divide player opinion, let alone that of the broader public.

The AFL's policy on illicit drug use within football is one such issue.

Let me say clearly that there is no place for illicit drug use in the AFL or indeed within society. We can all bear witness to the terrible toll that use of illicit drugs can take.

We are not so naive to suggest illicit drug use does not occur within the AFL. We know it does. The reason we know is because our players voluntarily agreed to be drug tested.

Our view is that one positive test is too many. But to suggest our policy response to illicit drug use has failed because such players have not been named, shamed and removed from the competition is naive and out of step with accepted best practice in this area.

AFL players have agreed to be tested for illicit drugs in a manner which goes further than any other sport because if a player has an issue, his teammates want him to have the confidential counselling and treatment and support needed to change his behaviour.

The system we have is not about covering up or hiding identities. It is about implementing an intervention strategy which experts such as the Australian Drug Foundation tell us is the best way to protect the mental and physical health of players.

If there was no confidentiality we wouldn't have a system and wouldn't know for certain that there are players who have used illicit drugs.

In my view, players have been unfairly criticised for having the courage to try and rid the game of illicit drugs.

As AFL players, we are not experts in drug prevention strategy. Neither are our club coaches, presidents or AFL administrators. That's why we rely upon the advice of people who deal with this complex issue every day.

As recently as this week, representatives of the Australian National Council on Drugs, VicHealth, and Turning Point have commended our approach and urged us to resist pressures for "quick fix, confrontational, naming and blaming responses".

We respect the right of all people to express their views on this emotive issue. But we also hope people respect the AFL's right to develop and implement a policy which is consistent with government, judicial, police and health expert opinion.

While our course might not be the popular one, we do not apologise for it.

AFL players enjoy a remarkable level of public support,and this is not lost on any of us. Young people look up to us for more than our athletic talents and this attracts a high responsibility in the way we conduct ourselves.

But in addition to being role models, AFL players are a part of our society. We are your sons, brothers, fathers and neighbours. We do not live in a bubble.

We have attended the same schools and live and work in the same towns and cities as all Australians.

Unfortunately, we are subject to the same risks as other young people and do not always make the right decisions.

Notwithstanding the mistakes which some of our number have made, I have the upmost faith in the commitment of AFL players to support one another and the broader community in opposing drug use.

I hope that we can receive your support.

Joel Bowden was appointed ALFPA president this week.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,21436473%255E19742,00.html

[one-eyed]

More than one goal
John Harms
The Age
March 24, 2007

.... many players are happy to live in a world of football alone. Football is life for them. These are the stars, the indestructibles, the self-absorbed, the egos. They are the type of young men author Richard Ford describes in his brilliant novel, The Sportswriter. His protagonist, journalist Frank Bascombe, observes: "(An athlete) may be thinking about a case of beer, or a barbecue, or a lake in Oklahoma he wishes he was waterskiing on, or some girl, or a new Chevy, or a discotheque he owns as a tax shelter, or just simply himself. But you can bet he isn't worried one bit about you or what you're thinking."

But that is only one type of footballer. There are also plenty of AFL footballers who have a sense of perspective. Footy is just a part of their lives. One of these players was elected president of the AFLPA on Thursday.

Joel Bowden is the sort of bloke who takes an interest in you. In fact, he is genuinely interested in the people around him, and that's why he is already considered to be a natural leader. Sit with him and you quickly discover that he has substance, a sense that he is forever learning and reassessing his understandings and that education is paramount.

Bowden acknowledges that being a footballer in this day and age is incredibly demanding. "It just consumes you," he says.

He's not convinced that the nine-to-five approach is necessarily the most effective way of getting the best from footballers. It is, however, quantifiable so that coaching staff can show boards that the time has been put in.

"They can tick a few boxes, with this (approach)," Bowden explains. "A typical day might be: get to the club at 9, training from 10 to 11.30. Then stretch, ice bath, physio, hydrate, lunch on Swan Street. Weights session mid-afternoon, massage and, sometimes, yoga. Day after day. And don't ever be late. It is too much … footballers play well when they're happy. And the day-in-day-out slog can get on top of you. It should be about quality, not quantity.

"Players have to have opportunity to develop as people," he says. "It's part of the mission statement at Richmond. It's the key part of the AFLPA mission statement. It's what we hear from the AFL. And it's not about just saying it, it's about clubs being fair dinkum in making it happen."

The weekly day off to which footballers are entitled is essential. "I just stay away from the club," says Bowden. "And I say to the young blokes, 'Don't go in on Thursdays. Go and do something else.' But they don't. You see them in there. They have been so focused on footy for so long … So they're in there on Thursdays doing extra sessions. Skills. Physio. Whatever might help."

Bowden loves the game — "for two hours on Saturday" — and is happy to acknowledge that the position of footballers is confusing. Footy is a game. It's young men at play. And Richmond is a footy club. In part, it has the values of a traditional club. But it is also an employer in what is consistently referred to as an industry.

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2007/03/23/1174597890230.html

[bluey_21]

Joel is one of the best speakers though.

I agree although he sounded a little bit like Mr Mackey from South Park on SEN this afternoon.

Drugs are bad mkay.