Hall Quits

[Primmy]

I think everyone is relieved. BBB looks like a weight has been lifted. Roosy doesn't have to make the type of call which goes "damned if I do, damned if I don't". The leadership group can now say "that's how you maintain dignity boys". The kids can see there's cause and effect no matter who you are or how high up the ladder you get.

And we the people can relax a bit knowing he isn't going to be targetted on the field again and stress out wondering when he was going to explode.

I shall miss the big dope. I have cheered him on and moaned and groaned. I have wanted to slap him and give him a big hug so many times now. Now all I have to do is line up and give him the hug. So I am relieved.

Of course all the backs in the competition will give a sigh as well.

So, rebuilding phase do you think?

[RogueSwan]

There is one other finals team that has desperately needed a strong key position forward, that previously recruited a champion disgraced forward who had been forced from his club by a player revolt. The Crows. The ultimate irony.

After the weekend, I thought you were going to say the Cats!

[Dalai Lama]

Absolute gold

more bronze than gold?

[Jeffers1984]

Absolute gold

Don't you loose it.

[connolly]

After the weekend, I thought you were going to say the Cats!

They have the worst sniper and late hit merchant playing in the comp - Mooney.

[Alibi Monday]

What I will say though is how appalled I am with the way Paul Roos and Brett Kirk handled this whole thing. Some of the quotes from the two against a club veteran and a close mate are just despicable and didn't need to be aired out to the media and fans. The bloods ethos (both on and off the field) has definately fallen by the wayside since about mid 2007 imo.

I'm a little confused why so many are complaining about the way the club's handled this and that they've made Hall some kind of pariah. I think Roos, Kirk et al are trying their very best to preserve the bloods ethos but holding players, irrelevant of their playing stature, accountable. This is a demonstration that in fact it hasn't deteriorated. Behaviour of senior players is very influencial to the culture of the club and plays a big part in the shaping the attitudes of the younger teammates. Hall knows that. Kirk knows that. ROK knows it. Vez knows it. Roos knows it.

Hall's provided the absolute best outcome for the club from the position he'd alone placed them in. It shows tremendous character that he's managed to navigate out of the tricky position where the club would have had to oust one of their favourite sons. If the club didn't take action and Hall chose to remain, then the Bloods ethos would be in disrepute by choosing to accept Hall's behaviour. If it's discipline is toothless, then it would be disrespected internally. Hall has also managed to avoid the indignity of being asked to leave which would have left a lasting bitter taste for the rest of his life and a ghost forever haunting the club's 2005 premiership success. It's for this alone that I stand up and salute Barry Hall for his courage and leadership. Make no mistake, Barry Hall has just pulled off his toughest and most outstanding leadership role since he's been at the club.

However, please don't mistake this as Hall coping one on the chin to save Roos and Kirk. They've been just as strong. In the face of adversity they've managed cement the principles this club stands for both privately and publicly. They didn't ask for this. No one would want this. There's genuine emotions there. They were forced to face it by Hall's inability to match his commitment with his instincts. Actions from Hall that placed his mates in the terrible position of choosing between his welfare and the club's welfare.

Whilst the whole tale is one of sorrow, Hall, the club and the ethos are all still intact when at nearly every other club, at least one of them would capitulated under this pressure. That's the sign of a very strong club building very strong leaders.

It's just such a personal shame for the guys and Hall that they don't get to pull on the boots one last time together at the SCG. He's deserves a standing ovation for everything he's done for everyone of us here. A true hero who genuinely deserves to be chaired off the ground by his mates.

One of the greatest I've seen play for the club. Thanks for the memories and good luck.

[connolly]

Agree - Roos is thrilled that he didnt have to make the final decision, Baz lept before he was pushed, the pressure got too much, - was Kirk at the press conference? - I didnt see him in the crowd,perhaps he was at the shops buying a new box of affirmations to put on the bedside table. I saw Money bags O'Keefe sitting there, and he was the third member of the leadership group (or a team within a team) to make his public statement indicating that they didnt need Hall - he was probably sitting there thinking " yay!!! now Baz has gone there is more money that they can give me".
MOL is the only player who has come out publicly and backed Hall - the others probably too scared of the leadership group to express their own opinion.
I'm sure he will have an ally in Eades, afterall, if there is anyone who know's how it feels to be pushed out of the club by Colless & Co (and dont think for a second that Roos was an innocent bystander during that episode) then Eade is Bazza's man.
Good luck Baz am looking forward to the book.

He was pushed. He was "squeezed out". Employer makes the working environment so hostile the person resigns. In employment law the term is constructive dismissal. The employer constructs a situation where the will of the employee is over riden by pressure. For people to be claiming that Hall "resigned" is risible. Todays Australian gives a hint.

Captain Brett Kirk suggested last week the forward was a man he would trust with his kids but not one he could trust on the football field, his coach suggested he might retire immediately. Hall raged against such talk. After much anger and denial, he has finally admitted that his mate was right and that he cannot even trust himself to play a farewell game when his suspension ends.

If Hall took this on it would have a good chance of a finding of unfair dismissal. He didn't break his contract. Are there any takers on this one? Hall was constructively dismissed. For anyone who says that he was paid out on his contract the fact remains that he was dismissed. The principal remedy in unfair dismissal is reinstatement (specific performance) not compensatory damages.

[caj23]

I shall miss the big dope. I have cheered him on and moaned and groaned. I have wanted to slap him and give him a big hug so many times now. Now all I have to do is line up and give him the hug. So I am relieved.

Haha great call Primmy, probably sums up the feelings of most of us I reckon

[johnno]

They have the worst sniper and late hit merchant playing in the comp - Mooney.

God, ain't that the truth? Not only is he crap and arrogant beyond disbelief, but what he gets away with time and time again just amazes me to no end.

[Lucky Knickers]

He was pushed. He was "squeezed out". Employer makes the working environment so hostile the person resigns. In employment law the term is constructive dismissal. The employer constructs a situation where the will of the employee is over riden by pressure. For people to be claiming that Hall "resigned" is risible. Todays Australian gives a hint.

Captain Brett Kirk suggested last week the forward was a man he would trust with his kids but not one he could trust on the football field, his coach suggested he might retire immediately. Hall raged against such talk. After much anger and denial, he has finally admitted that his mate was right and that he cannot even trust himself to play a farewell game when his suspension ends.

If Hall took this on it would have a good chance of a finding of unfair dismissal. He didn't break his contract. Are there any takers on this one? Hall was constructively dismissed. For anyone who says that he was paid out on his contract the fact remains that he was dismissed. The principal remedy in unfair dismissal is reinstatement (specific performance) not compensatory damages.

Probably not. I would think that appropriate workplace behaviour does not include punching colleagues. Wouldn't the swans have to demonstrate they had done everything they could (counselling, anger management, colouring in with Willo's kids), provided him with formal warnings (as had the tribunal) in terms of 3 strikes. First is verbal, "Baz, punching Maguire was not appropriate", second "Baz, punching Staker was not appropriate, this is your second warning", "Baz, you punch Ben Rutten...."
As for unfair dismissal, why bother, it's a long road and his salary puts him over the limit for which he can claim protection under legislation. He would need to take another road?

[Mr Magoo]

Love Hall but situation got unneccassarily out of control and something had to give.

Good luck barry , I love you toughness and hard at it attitude and if plugger had been around with todays politically correct environment he would have been driven out of the game before we would have even seem him at Sydney.

From a wholistic perspective, this wont make one bit of difference to our season other than providing the opportunity for generation next. St Kilda, Geelong or the Bulldogs are way ahead of us at this time so would be worth blooding whoever they see holding key forward roles down in the next few years.

[Plugger46]

He is out of contract, so we won't get anything for him anyway. Take your dribble and go elsewhere.

DST

Why? Because he/she doesn't agree with you? Get over yourself. It's a messageboard, everyone's entitled to their opinion.

Since the PL in 06, where he was brillant, I haven't see a great match from him since.

You must have missed some footy then. Not the player he was in '05/'06 but still played some great games. The two finals last year, game against Geelong at ANZ last year to name a few.

[Lohengrin]

Barry Hall was a marketing knock-out for Aussie Rules | Article | The Punch

The mysterious feature of Hall?s aggression is that it was in no way a permanent feature of his game - he could play for months without incident - but sure enough, Bad Barry would eventually flare again, and he?d be rubbed out after another king-hit.

Often his aggression was born out of frustration at two things - being double-teamed or even triple-teamed by defenders, and being ignored by the umpires, who seemed to covertly conclude several years ago that Hall should never get another free.

That episode shed a bit of light on a guy who has obviously struggled to be at some kind of peace with himself, perhaps because he expects too much, and is unable to deal with his own frustration when he doesn?t perform well.

Indeed all his brain-snaps have generally come at a time when the run of play is against him or the club, when the umpires have been giving him a raw deal, and when despite several months of peace, Bad Barry will suddenly re-emerge and someone will wind up having a bit of an extended lie-down.

But for these momenets, footy is still the richer for his contribution, the Swans are more popular than they would otherwise have been, and the AFL is more entrenched as a code in Sydney than it was 10 years ago. Our thoughts now should probably be with the first mug boxer who comes up against him at his debut fight.

[Lohengrin]

He was pushed. He was "squeezed out". Employer makes the working environment so hostile the person resigns. In employment law the term is constructive dismissal. The employer constructs a situation where the will of the employee is over riden by pressure. For people to be claiming that Hall "resigned" is risible. Todays Australian gives a hint.

Captain Brett Kirk suggested last week the forward was a man he would trust with his kids but not one he could trust on the football field, his coach suggested he might retire immediately. Hall raged against such talk. After much anger and denial, he has finally admitted that his mate was right and that he cannot even trust himself to play a farewell game when his suspension ends.

If Hall took this on it would have a good chance of a finding of unfair dismissal. He didn't break his contract. Are there any takers on this one? Hall was constructively dismissed. For anyone who says that he was paid out on his contract the fact remains that he was dismissed. The principal remedy in unfair dismissal is reinstatement (specific performance) not compensatory damages.

This is just so off the mark as to be pointless to even raise.

[connolly]

This is just so off the mark as to be pointless to even raise.

Really? You do understand employment law? Hall is not a footy player running around a park. He is an employee. With protection at law from unfair dismissal (including constructive dismissal). You do understand the legal concept of contructive trusts, constructive dismissal? Whether Hall chose to exercise his rights at law is his business. I was pointing out what was done to him. I'll wait for your reasons as to why my opinion is so far off the mark legally. (Thinking music playing)