Big Bad Barry

[GoSouth33]

BBBBHall was good for us, and we were good for him. He gave us the media coverage, albeit for his mis-deeds as well as his good deeds. Lots of NRL people I know could name a few Sydney Swans players. BBBBHall was always one of them. I spoke to Primmy during the game and she said that she was over him. Fair enough. I told her we'd be clapping him off the ground at the end of the game which we did. There were a few others that raced over towards the Bulldogs race at the end of the game. There were no boos as he walked through the race only cheers. He didn't acknowledge anyone and the whole Bulldogs team was quite dejected as they left. Season over for them by the looks of things.
Immediately after the full time siren Tadhg went to him and there was an embrace. Others joined in but not all. ROK, Eski, Shawy, Macca, Teddy, Stewie, Josh and Sam were there.
I think what he said at the Press conference catered to his current employer. I'm sure in time when he assesses his whole career his views will mellow. Impossible to think he'll be so dismissive of the time he was a Swan.

[SwansFan1972]

BSA5 pretty much sums it up here. But I have always felt like this about Wilson, and her brother is just as full of crap as she is. One of the many reasons why I don't watch Sunrise any more.

I'd hope the others include because of Mel and Kochie! Look up the dictionary for 'dumbed down television' and they will be grinning out at you!

[Bas]

It becomes really painful to listen to a person (many over the years) tell other people how to behave as a supporter. Gems from the past-

Your'ne not a real supporter if:
1. You have missed a home game since 1933;
2. You weren't one of the loyal ones in 1982-84;
3. you boo past players;
4. You leave the game early when the Swans are getting flogged;
5. Half a dozen players don't know you by your first name......etc etc etc

Top 40, if I have to read your opinion one more time then I'll "to quote Ron Barassi" throw up!

What gives you the right to tell other people what to do? Everyone supports the Swans in THEIR OWN WAY AS THEY SEE FIT.

I didn't boo Hall yesterday. I sort of cringed when he got the ball the first time and others did. Quite frankly I couldn't care less if people booed or not. Freedom of choice.

The Swans sacked him because of what HE had done. Otherwise he would have retired a Swan. I support what a number have already said about captains that year. He was lucky to do something that Plugger, Ablett, Kelly etc never did but were far more worthy to do.

He's a dumb man Barry. Either that or he has listened to dumb advice. He's trying to flog a book he hasn't released yet then he goes out to say a dumb thing last week.

There is not going to be many Saints or Swans fans buying it. Certainly secured sales to Bulldogs fans but that's about it. History will remember him as a Swan then Saint.

He got 5 yesterday, didn't acknowledge either Swans fans or the mob behind the goal posts. Tada, back to Footscray!

True Swans supporters know who they are and follow the Swans the way that feels best to them.

PS - My best thread response was Erica's. The man did her wrong and he can mosey off into the sunset!

[Bas]

I'd hope the others include because of Mel and Kochie! Look up the dictionary for 'dumbed down television' and they will be grinning out at you!

Don't get me started on that ambulance chaser. If I put the telly on in the morning, I have it on Diagnosis Murder. Give me Dick Van Dyke any day.

[longmile]

Personally im quite glad he's gone. His final years for us werent the best, and if he stayed, nothing would of changed.
All he did was flap his arms about in anger and cause destruction and disarray in our forward line without the help of the opposition.

[SwansFan1972]

It becomes really painful to listen to a person (many over the years) tell other people how to behave as a supporter. Gems from the past-

Your'ne not a real supporter if:
1. You have missed a home game since 1933;
2. You weren't one of the loyal ones in 1982-84;
3. you boo past players;
4. You leave the game early when the Swans are getting flogged;
5. Half a dozen players don't know you by your first name......etc etc etc

Top 40, if I have to read your opinion one more time then I'll "to quote Ron Barassi" throw up!

What gives you the right to tell other people what to do? Everyone supports the Swans in THEIR OWN WAY AS THEY SEE FIT.

I didn't boo Hall yesterday. I sort of cringed when he got the ball the first time and others did. Quite frankly I couldn't care less if people booed or not. Freedom of choice.

The Swans sacked him because of what HE had done. Otherwise he would have retired a Swan. I support what a number have already said about captains that year. He was lucky to do something that Plugger, Ablett, Kelly etc never did but were far more worthy to do.

He's a dumb man Barry. Either that or he has listened to dumb advice. He's trying to flog a book he hasn't released yet then he goes out to say a dumb thing last week.

There is not going to be many Saints or Swans fans buying it. Certainly secured sales to Bulldogs fans but that's about it. History will remember him as a Swan then Saint.

He got 5 yesterday, didn't acknowledge either Swans fans or the mob behind the goal posts. Tada, back to Footscray!

True Swans supporters know who they are and follow the Swans the way that feels best to them.

PS - My best thread response was Erica's. The man did her wrong and he can mosey off into the sunset!

should be good to shift around 37 copies - if all of them buy one. Not quite enough to go into re-print, and will be on the remaindered shelves pretty quickly (if there are any bookstores left to stock it).

Ditto re: Erica's comment. He walked away, not us.

[jono2707]

Saying I am "Holier than thou" and "on a soap box", (an extraordinary irony noting this website is ALL ABOUT people on soap boxes via an internet website!), represents personal mudthrowing. It is attacking the person not the ball

NOT ONCE, NOT ONE SINGLE TIME have I made judgmental, personal and nasty attacks against individuals who have contributed to this particular thread. Not once have a got down to the mud and been "personal" it were, simply because I do not agree with one's comments.

Once this debate gets personal and nasty, it becomes an unnessary exercise for everyone!

I took the "you're not a true supporter..." line rather personally - it's like a red rag to a bull to me and I get disappointed and offended when that judgement is passed on a forum such as this....

I had fun booing Bazza, although I respect him and am eternally grateful that he was one player who helped us to the 2005 victory. I wasn't spiteful or nasty and I warmly applauded him after the game. I also think it's a pretty good stance to not boo at the footy and I greatly respect those who chose not to. I guess it just shows that we Swannies supporters are a broad church.

Can I continue to boo Darren Jolly? I don't want to open a can of worms or anything but I don't have any time for him whatsoever after he left us for that awful black and white mob...

[AnnieH]

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[longmile]

Can I continue to boo Darren Jolly? I don't want to open a can of worms or anything but I don't have any time for him whatsoever after he left us for that awful black and white mob...

You're not allowed to stop.

[Cpt. Kirk]

And I stand by the view that booing is childish. We are taught as children not to boo. I booed Ray Chamberlain last week. I was angry and emotional, but conduct doesn't make it proper and mature. It was still silly, unpractical, unproductive, and yes-childish, based purely on negative emotions.

Top 40, in one of your earlier posts you said that you booed ray chamberlain last week as well.

Isn't it a bit hypocritical to say to others that what they did was wrong when they perhaps could feel just as emotional or angry as you were about the Barry Hall issue.
I honestly don't have a problem with Hall even though he completely disregarded all the things the swans did to make him better as a player and a person, and to get the man a premiership.
He was a great player and the game will be worse off without him, a great power forward who had bad injuries in his last 2 years at the swans and perhaps at the bulldogs.

[BSA5]

I guess a lot of it is perception, but to me, it seemed that Hally went out of his way to make it clear he is a dog for life. Was that neccessary in the circumstances? Of course his loyalties are curently to the bulldogs (would expect no less), but would it really have hurt him to say 'sure, the premiership was a highlight and he'll never forget it'? That he was at pains to leave all reference to it out indicates that he still harbours bitterness, even with all the public 'i'm fine with him, he's fine with me' namby pamby stuff. The forthcoming book will sure make interesting reading!

As for comparing the situation to Mummy, Shaw or Kennedy - well, as comparisons go, that is real apples and oranges stuff. I doubt anyone could point to many similarities in the circumstances under which each was moved on from their clubs (along with pretty much all the other trades that take place in the AFL). The only comparable situation I can recall in recent seasons is Fevola. In both of these unique cases, neither club really wanted to part with the player, but ultimately the price of keeping them became too high.

Hall was moved on because he couldn't be trusted to keep his hands to himself - if that is what is regarded as his ability to perform. He was damaging the club's reputation, as well as its onfield performance by being a loose cannon and ultimately proving too big a distraction for his presence to be beneficial. Whose fault is that, by the way? He has only half put his hand up for it, and he has had swipes at Roos - a bit like a naughty child who knows deep down it has done wrong, but still wants to blame mum or dad a bit.

There is no doubt - absolutely none - that if Hall had been able to control himself on-field (like nearly every other footballer in the competition), he would have finished his career at the Swans. Maybe he just didn't want to admit he wanted out and so forced the hands of those who ultimately had to fire him? Who would know? Either way, responsibility is clearly not something he fronts up to as fully as he would have people believe.

And memories are short - he had issues when he left St Kilda and he also some early indications after coming to Sydney that managing him was not going to be as easy as it would be for most other footballers. His agression on field was so much of what made him great as a player, but clearly he lost sight of where the line was and ultimately crossed it too many times. Did this create headaches for his club? You bet it did.

Granted, he controlled himself for a large part of his time at the Swans and will be forever remembered, but he was not peter perfect, and if a journo wants to call him out on a few things - especially in a week when it has been all puff pieces, sycophancy and warm and fuzzy romance on his life as a dog - then that is closer to balance than pathetic in my book. And you'd hope Baz would be the first to say it is all water of a duck's back anyway.

Throwing all this around is good fun though and we will all have differing feelings on the enigma that is BBBH, who will always hold a special place as one of only four (so far!) of our beloved club's premiership captains. Good luck to him post footy - hopefully he has a happy retirement and can eventually look back over his whole career (rather than just the last two years) and feel satisfied and fulfilled.

Hall has taken responsibility for what he did! He has said that it was his doing! The idea that he hasn't is a completely media-driven lie! Everybody knows Hall was in the wrong in that situation, it's not like Hall is trying to blame the Swans. He's just trying to move on, and good on him. He shouldn't have to pander to both the Swans and the Dogs. He's a Bulldog, he needs to focus on that. He can talk more about his time at the Swans once his playing days are over.

Journalists are of course entitled to talk about his bad behaviour on field, and they do. But trying to construct some sort of rift between him and the Swans beyond the simple fact that he acted badly and the Swans couldn't rely on him is quite simply pathetic journalism. Rebecca Wilson is by no means the only person guilty of this, but it's certainly one of the worst examples.

[swannielady]

Sorry but it is not the journalist but Barry himself, he was on the channel nine footy show and spoke about how good the ball was getting to him now with the Bulldogs, that they were most superior to the Swans middle etc. That is unnecessary and uncalled for, his press conference was a great disappointment to me. He is not very smart, but by far and large his own words about the Swans supporters were his worst. I for one stood and clapped him when he did the farewell on the back of a ute at the SCG and had a tear! I always liked him and think he is a great footballer. It was a smack in the face to me as a supporter when he described us all as irrelevant and like the Collingwood supporters. His bitterness goes to far. I didnt boo him not my style. He is responsible for what he says, there were no jounalists translating for him. Very poor behaviour and the book will continue his sulking.

[Bloody Hell]

I am hoping the title of his book is "I was a failed blood brother"

I keep hearing about this book and would be interested to read it.

[stellation]

i am hoping the title of his book is "i was a failed blood brother"

i keep hearing about this book and would be interested to read it.

I'm working on it, I'm working on it! The problem is that every time I sit down to interview Josh Willoughby I get a little flustered and forget what I was there for.

[BSA5]

I just can't believe people expect him to stay loyal to us while a Bulldog! If somebody asks why he's kicking more goals than at the Swans, he's going to say it's a team effort, and the extension of that is that the ball is getting to him better now than it was at the Swans! Am I the only one not at all bothered by that?

Hall is no longer a Swan, we have to accept that. It's not insult to praise the Dogs. It's no insult to say he has moved on. It's totally, 100% appropriate. I can't believe the petulance of some supporters.