AFL recruiting guru warns ‘massive alarm bells’ for jailed Richmond youngster Sydney StackDecember 23, 2020
by DAVID ZITA
FOX SPORTSAFL recruiting guru Michael Ablett believes Sydney Stack may’ve played his last game for Richmond following his alleged breach of Western Australia’s quarantine laws.
Stack will spend Christmas behind bars after being arrested on Saturday and refused bail, with police alleging the 20-year-old breached the state’s quarantine laws, which were triggered when his flight from Victoria made a stopover in Adelaide.
Ablett, who served as the AFL National Talent Football Manager for six years before becoming WA’s Talent Pathway Manager until recently, helped make Stack a member of the national academy before he was drafted in 2019, but admitted the Tigers now faced a difficult call.
“We selected him out of the under-16 championships into the national academy because we just thought he was an elite talent. His talent was never questioned, but we were aware of the challenges we faced in terms of getting things right off-field,” he told foxfooty.com.au.
“The tough position that Richmond are in is that they know he’s an elite talent probably in their best 26 to 28 players, but it’s bigger than that now.
“Football clubs are a business and we’re in a tough economic climate where sponsors are hard to retain.”
Stack’s alleged quarantine breach could mark the second time this year he has flouted strict rules, with he and teammate Callum Coleman-Jones fined, banned for 10 games and sent home from Queensland’s AFL hub in September after getting into a fight outside a strip club.
Ablett said the biggest question mark around Stack had always been his off-field behaviour and the possibility he had broken strict rules twice “would be ringing massive alarm bells”.
For Ablett, the most pressing concern for Richmond, other than Stack’s welfare, would be the cultural ramifications at the club and any impressionable young teammates.
“The question you have to ask yourself is, ‘Are they going to take anyone else down with them and if so how many?’ That’s the greatest concern - you’ve got the commercial aspect and the other aspect is how much damage are they going to do to other players,” he said.
“I think the club is in a very difficult position. If it was a one-off I think you forgive and try and educate, but when it could be now twice I’d be really concerned and with the type of culture they’ve created I don’t think they’re going to stand for much more.”
Stack, whose manager Paul Peos described as “very distressed and very upset” outside court on Monday, has received support from the AFL’s former head of diversity Jason Mifsud via social media.
Mifsud, who left the AFL for a role in the Victorian state government in 2016, questioned the decision to incarcerate Stack rather than trying to educate and support him, labelling it “unimaginative and unnecessarily punitive”.
Richmond released a brief statement on Sunday afternoon acknowledging it was aware of the allegation against Stack, but refrained from making further comment.
Peos told The Age on Tuesday that “Richmond have been providing considerable behind the scenes support for Syd’s welfare”.
Stack has played 26 games since being taken as a pre-season supplemental signing in 2019.
His matter was adjourned until January 6.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-news-2020-sydney-stack-arrested-broke-quarantine-court-date-richmond-sacked-video-fight-mick-ablett/news-story/b2305cc73ef72eb930bd4a10ca869040
