Michael Talia arrested and charged with possession of a prohibited substance

[Auntie.Gerald]

Ludwig

Fascinating argument

The potential to kill someone and or himself ie drink driving and hodge no suspension !!!!!

Talia......Coke a small amount obviously and a taxi home if he wasn't caught and he probably will miss the remainder of the season minimum if not loose his contract

Let's be honest and super truthful a 1.5 tonne vehicle with a drunk behind the wheel is a weapon and if hodge hit someone and hurt or killed them wow....... He probably would have got two years ........but no he got a small fine

Completely illegal

[RogueSwan]

Listening the Exchange Podcast one the presenters made an insightful comment, we would all like to be known for the many good things we do rather than the one bad thing. That is not it exactly, he said it better but I am sure you can understand the sentiment.

[Ajax]

Well said. The 52,000 members of the Swans signed up, forked out their hard-earned for the right to be part of our community, share our values and support our team. It ts a brand thing. The Swans community and team understand the expectations of agreed behaviours. This is built on a foundation created by Skilton, Carter, the Morwoods, Goodes, Kirk, and numerous heroes from earlier ages.

What Talia allegedly did was to @@@@ on those values. It is more than an aberration. He is most likely to have ingested illegal drugs previously. Chances are he will want to do it again. When Paul Roos famously said that he would fire any player involved with drugs, including Barry Hall, it felt like our coach and club clearly had a line on what was acceptable at the Swans. That Talia will be allowed to stay on says much about how our values have been eroded. The players who work so hard in recovery and injury management to get into the side must be gutted by Talia. He doesn't have the 'it' to make it at our club. He is dead to me.

A couple of things:

1. Just wondering how many of those 52,000 have ever done a naughty drug thing.

2. Re the bit about 'He is most likely to have ingested illegal drugs previously...Chances are he will want to do it again.' ....sounding just a tad lynchmobish and possibly libellous - do you have any of that really valuable stuff they call 'evidence' to back up your allegations? Have you run these online comments past your legal team?

[liz]

I confess I buy my membership and attend games largely because I like watching football (and am passionate about watching it being played in red and white). Sure, I like the fact that the club espouses strong values that I mostly relate to, and is a well-respected, professionally run organisation. But that's more of an ancillary benefit for me, than a major one. Even if they were less admirable off-field, I don't believe that would persuade me to stop buying a membership or go to games. Even if they became an onfield rabble, I don't think my support would wane (though my enjoyment might).

Furthermore, when I think about the values that the club espouses that I respect the most, "not taking illicit drugs" isn't very near the top of the list. That doesn't reflect my personal views towards illicit drugs - I think they do pose a challenge for society but I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all response to them either. Without being anything close to an expert, I don't think all illicit drugs are the same, and suspect that use in moderation of some illicit substances is no more damaging or dangerous than many other of life's temptations or evils that are not illegal (notably alcohol and tobacco). I fully support the efforts of the AFL and the clubs to educate and protect young men in their charge who may be particularly at risk of abuse of substances due to their relative wealth and the time they sometimes have on their hands, but I am not going to condemn someone who occasionally dabbles if it doesn't affect their ability to ply their profession (noting that they are of an generation amongst which the use is far more prevalent than it is/was amongst my generation).

While I don't dispute that Talia was somewhat foolish to get himself into the situation he's in (especially given he is rehabilitating from a long term injury), I am also conscious that it's far eaiser to condem his behaviour and demand strong action against him than if this was certain others players on the club's list (who I am far from confident are all the clean skins we would all, ideally, like to think they are).

[aardvark]

Talia deserves a chance.......but only one.

[barry]

We are not here to rewrite the laws of the land. Cocaine is illegal and the are penalties for possession of it. Fact.

The question raised by the AFLPA is whether he should be penalized (stood down ) before his day in court. All bombers players played through the investigation.

[Swanny40519]

I don't know, but perhaps it is the cynic in me.

Why is the story that GWS have spoken to their players about the Sydney Swans player caught with possession of illegal drugs a big story that had to be covered by the Sydney press.

I would expect that all clubs do this but why does it need to be reported GWS have done it again.

Are GWS trying to suggest to the Sydney public "look at us - we are a clean cut team with players who would never do anything like this "

Strange it needs to be reported the way it was.

[jono2707]

Didn't know the GWS meeting had become a story but I'd expect all clubs to issue a timely reminder to their players on this. It'd be kinda ironic for GWS to take a high moral ground on something given they've developed into a bunch of mouthy little grubs on the field....

I don't have an issue with the club standing him down for this - I'd expect them to do it if he'd been on the booze or committed some other sort of indiscretion anyway given he's meant to be recovering from a pretty serious injury.

[AnnieH]

We are not here to rewrite the laws of the land. Cocaine is illegal and the are penalties for possession of it. Fact.

The question raised by the AFLPA is whether he should be penalized (stood down ) before his day in court. All bombers players played through the investigation.

As Tom Harley said, it's a decision that the club made, not based on whether he is innocent or guilty, but based on the minimum standards set by the club.
Obviously, the bombers have lower standards than we do.

[Plugger46]

I confess I buy my membership and attend games largely because I like watching football (and am passionate about watching it being played in red and white). Sure, I like the fact that the club espouses strong values that I mostly relate to, and is a well-respected, professionally run organisation. But that's more of an ancillary benefit for me, than a major one. Even if they were less admirable off-field, I don't believe that would persuade me to stop buying a membership or go to games. Even if they became an onfield rabble, I don't think my support would wane (though my enjoyment might).

Furthermore, when I think about the values that the club espouses that I respect the most, "not taking illicit drugs" isn't very near the top of the list. That doesn't reflect my personal views towards illicit drugs - I think they do pose a challenge for society but I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all response to them either. Without being anything close to an expert, I don't think all illicit drugs are the same, and suspect that use in moderation of some illicit substances is no more damaging or dangerous than many other of life's temptations or evils that are not illegal (notably alcohol and tobacco). I fully support the efforts of the AFL and the clubs to educate and protect young men in their charge who may be particularly at risk of abuse of substances due to their relative wealth and the time they sometimes have on their hands, but I am not going to condemn someone who occasionally dabbles if it doesn't affect their ability to ply their profession (noting that they are of an generation amongst which the use is far more prevalent than it is/was amongst my generation).

While I don't dispute that Talia was somewhat foolish to get himself into the situation he's in (especially given he is rehabilitating from a long term injury), I am also conscious that it's far eaiser to condem his behaviour and demand strong action against him than if this was certain others players on the club's list (who I am far from confident are all the clean skins we would all, ideally, like to think they are).

Sums up my thoughts on it all. Just put far more eloquently than I could have

[Doctor J.]

Listening the Exchange Podcast one the presenters made an insightful comment, we would all like to be known for the many good things we do rather than the one bad thing. That is not it exactly, he said it better but I am sure you can understand the sentiment.

The One Goat theory!!

[RogueSwan]

The One Goat theory!!

I just read that, Monty Hall Problem, and now I need to have a lay down

[Meg]

While I don't dispute that Talia was somewhat foolish to get himself into the situation he's in (especially given he is rehabilitating from a long term injury), I am also conscious that it's far eaiser to condem his behaviour and demand strong action against him than if this was certain others players on the club's list (who I am far from confident are all the clean skins we would all, ideally, like to think they are).

If it had been one of our star players in this situation, I would have felt exactly the same disappointment and anger about him damaging the club's reputation and possibly his own career. But I would also have thought that, as a proven key player, he had contributed a lot to the club and for that reason he should be given a second chance.

Talia has contributed zero to the club. He was recruited following a strained relationship with the Bulldogs and could have been expected to be giving 110% to prove himself at the Swans. Of course it's not his fault that he was injured during his first match but from that moment on he should have been doing everything he could to get back on the field. What he did Saturday night/Sunday morning shows he was flippant about this responsibility. I have no sympathy for him.

(I totally share the opinions expressed by Ludwig, MP, Liz and others above about the double standards in regard to alcohol, gambling etc. compared with (illicit) recreational drugs. But that is irrelevant to Talia's situation - he knew the rules and the standards that were expected).

[Maltopia]

I absolutely agree that Tahlia has let the team down.

However, the Swans will assess whether he can still add to the team's overall (on and off field) success in the longer term.

Yes the club markets itself re its strong culture, but ultimately it is still a business so the conversations about morales, what he owes the club, community expectations etc are great discussion topics for us, but would not be the most important elements that inform their final decision.

Now re the morality/values side of the discussion (which is very interesting), what would you say if Tahlia was your son or younger brother? Would you still say he should be delisted/traded, or would you see him more as a human being capable of making both good and bad decisions and able to learn from this?

[Meg]

Further to my post above, I referred to "star players" because names of star players had been listed earlier as examples of where we might take a different approach (hypocritically I think was being suggested) to that taken for Talia. My attitude outlined above is the club owes its support to those who are proven contributors to the club. This would also apply to the many "servants of the club" who are not amongst our star players. Talia is not one of those.