Bazza becomes a Melbourne icon

[royboy42]

It's amazing how people in Melb have changed their attitudes towards Bazza. AS soon as he crossed the Murray , it's as if he is anointed Victorian again! Today's Hun had a survey asking if his penalty was too harsh..results?? 75% said yes! Imagine if he had worn the red and white in that incident...bet he would have got more...and been torn to bits by the very same paper.
AFL | AFL News, Results and the Scores | Herald Sun

[ScottH]

He seems to have been put on a bit of a pedastal, this year.

[KirkysSocks]

yeah its tiring how predicable melbourne people are. And they wonder why i see through their crap and accuse me of being anti melbourne.

This provincial way of thinking down here is embarrassing and i knew exactly this was the case with barry. When they were chanting his name at the NAB cup final it was one of the most embarrasing things i have come across..it truly was.

[Melbourne_Blood]

You guys are overlooking the fact that the Barry Hall story is a great one. The guy has gone from a young thug with a mountain of untapped potential, to a Champion player at a new Club, with All Australian honours ( Could of beeen a Coleman medalist if he wanted it, but played overly unselfish footy to personify the team ethos) and Captain of one Premiership side ( very nearly two) , to a disgraced champion with major anger and self control issues. His career in Footy looked set to finish on that sour note, and then he goes to a new club aged 33, and regains some of the brilliant form that captured poeples imaginations all those years ago.

You guys are foolish if you think the media are not going to jump on this and pump up Barry while he is doing well. The treatment he copped on the weekend he's got to expect but i dont think pushing him over when he is tying his laces up is in the spirit of things, and i applaud Bazza for not punching Thompson's teeth though the back of his head ( Let's face it he K.O'd Staker for a lot less). If and when Bazza has a serious brain fade ( which i hope he doesn't) you watch how quickly the media turn on him like Vipers. There wont be a shred of sympathy then, quite the opposite.

For the moment however, this year has been another great chapter in what has been a colourful career full of breathtaking highs and shameful lows for Barry Hall. No matter what he does he's always going to be in the papers, but it can't always be for the wrong reasons.
Does my being from melbourne ( Despite my devotion to the swans) cloud my judgement when it comes to Bazza KirkysSocks?

[SwansFan1972]

You guys are overlooking the fact that the Barry Hall story is a great one. The guy has gone from a young thug with a mountain of untapped potential, to a Champion player at a new Club, with All Australian honours ( Could of beeen a Coleman medalist if he wanted it, but played overly unselfish footy to personify the team ethos) and Captain of one Premiership side ( very nearly two) , to a disgraced champion with major anger and self control issues. His career in Footy looked set to finish on that sour note, and then he goes to a new club aged 33, and regains some of the brilliant form that captured poeples imaginations all those years ago.

You guys are foolish if you think the media are not going to jump on this and pump up Barry while he is doing well. The treatment he copped on the weekend he's got to expect but i dont think pushing him over when he is tying his laces up is in the spirit of things, and i applaud Bazza for not punching Thompson's teeth though the back of his head ( Let's face it he K.O'd Staker for a lot less). If and when Bazza has a serious brain fade ( which i hope he doesn't) you watch how quickly the media turn on him like Vipers. There wont be a shred of sympathy then, quite the opposite.

For the moment however, this year has been another great chapter in what has been a colourful career full of breathtaking highs and shameful lows for Barry Hall. No matter what he does he's always going to be in the papers, but it can't always be for the wrong reasons.
Does my being from melbourne ( Despite my devotion to the swans) cloud my judgement when it comes to Bazza KirkysSocks?

I think there are two issues here. Your summation of his career above is one issue, the newfound adoration in Melbourne is another.

When he was with the Swans, the 'support' for him in Victoria (whatever part of his 'story' - good or bad - prevailed at the time) was non-existent, and he was routinely slayed by the media there.

Now, as the great pale hope of a key AFL strategic interest club, he has a newly minted halo and a brand new glee club singing his praises and defending him. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised, but it also shouldn't be surprising that many of us find it a bit of a turn off.

Like you, I hope he keeps it together for his own sake. If he does manage it all season though, there will be a little bit of annoyance (for me at least, and I suspect many others) that he said he couldn't control himself up here and wasn't sure why, but miraculously can manage to in Melbourne!

[Melbourne_Blood]

I think there are two issues here. Your summation of his career above is one issue, the newfound adoration in Melbourne is another.

When he was with the Swans, the 'support' for him in Victoria (whatever part of his 'story' - good or bad - prevailed at the time) was non-existent, and he was routinely slayed by the media there.

Now, as the great pale hope of a key AFL strategic interest club, he has a newly minted halo and a brand new glee club singing his praises and defending him. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised, but it also shouldn't be surprising that many of us find it a bit of a turn off.


Like you, I hope he keeps it together for his own sake. If he does manage it all season though, there will be a little bit of annoyance (for me at least, and I suspect many others) that he said he couldn't control himself up here and wasn't sure why, but miraculously can manage to in Melbourne!

I dont know where you get the idea that Barry was regularly slayed by the Victorian media in his swans days. He only ever copped it by media here for doing the wrong thing. What did he cop it for other than Smashing people ?

I can understand your distaste at his newfound reverance by the Vic media, but perhaps i like Bazza too much to get too upset by his sudden rise in popularity. I suppose from a Sydneysiders point of view this would be pretty annoying

It's fair that you would be annoyed if he managed to keep it together at the doggies after saying he could'nt with us, but i guess we can count oursleves lucky that we got a lot of good service out of the guy before his issues ( whatever the hell they may be) resurfaced and he started swinging

[KirkysSocks]

I dont know where you get the idea that Barry was regularly slayed by the Victorian media in his swans days. He only ever copped it by media here for doing the wrong thing. What did he cop it for other than Smashing people ?

I can understand your distaste at his newfound reverance by the Vic media, but perhaps i like Bazza too much to get too upset by his sudden rise in popularity. I suppose from a Sydneysiders point of view this would be pretty annoying

It's fair that you would be annoyed if he managed to keep it together at the doggies after saying he could'nt with us, but i guess we can count oursleves lucky that we got a lot of good service out of the guy before his issues ( whatever the hell they may be) resurfaced and he started swinging

My experience with the melbourne media they don't have to say that much about a player, especially an interstate player, for the masses that eat breathe and poo footy to believe the scribes. When you get supporters from various sides confess that all of a sudden they have taken to barry, the same that would have no hesitation in the past to brand him a thug, then it grates. I have no issue with doggies supporters as we did the same with plugger, that comes with supporting a team, it's the other knuckle draggers like pie, essencum and carlton fans who now consider him a decent bloke that irks me.

Also the media in several occasions this year in trying to fill content and stir the pot tried to get barry to admit that he has a massive issue with the swans and on many occasions barry said he didn't. That kind of bs from the melbourne media left a sour taste in my mouth. In a way it came across as barry the melbourne boy is back where he belongs and was in a baaaad environment at the swans.

[hot potato]

I'm completey over Hall now, he helped us win a Granny. But saying he can't even recall the game now, that's plain antipathy for the Swans.
His reaction to the Thompson prank was so over the top, nearly asphysiating the poor bugger.
Maybe someone like Karmichael Hunt will asphysiciate him some time soom.

hp

[CureTheSane]

Just remember that Hall was ripped apart by the media when he was at the Saints, before the Swans
Everyone is fickle to a degree

[bodgie]

Remember when Lockett smashed Cravens face only to join the Swans shortly after? I guess it works both ways.

[ScottH]

Remember when Lockett smashed Cravens face only to join the Swans shortly after? I guess it works both ways.

Far too true that!!

[Big Al]

Remember when Lockett smashed Cravens face only to join the Swans shortly after? I guess it works both ways.

Not true!!!

It was Caven who viciously head butted Pluggers Elbow.

[Triple B]

Remember when Lockett smashed Cravens face only to join the Swans shortly after? I guess it works both ways.

It's not really a valid comparison.

Certainly the attitude of Swans fans changed towards Lockett, but this argument is not about the fans, it's about the media. The same media who loathed Hall when he was a Swan for his thumping of all and sundry over the past few years are now fawning all over him now that he is with a Melbourne club. Big Bad Scotty Thompson is the villian and his ruffian teammates.

But Lockett was perceived the same way by the media pre and post the Sydney move, perhaps with a little softening towards the end of his great career.