Michael Talia arrested and charged with possession of a prohibited substance

[Go Swannies]

Idiot. He should have followed Ben Cousin's example and saved a few lines for the finals so "he could just run and run until he threw up". Such a tainted flag.

On the subject of flogs - so what's the Hawks' view "nothing to do with us, he was at least a metre away from the dope"? Nothing to see here. Play on.

I lol-ed at #freecokeHawthorn

[giant]

I'm very disappointed with this. I enjoyed our status as cleanskins and cranky as heck that a young recruit can blow that away in his first year. If he turns out to be in the wrong, I hope he's sent into exile for the rest of 2016 and told to present for pre-season only if he's dinkum about being a Swan.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Wow
It does sound like from some forum members that if one makes a serious mistake from now on the Macquarie dictionary will state u are a dickhead

I've always referred to my friends who make a serious mistake as a "Bloody Idiot" not a "dickhead"

If one of my ex team mates did what Talia did I would also call that person a "bloody idiot"....he did something idiotic

If he did it again then I would call him a "dickhead"

I would most certainly give some one of his charge a period to redeem the self before throwing them in the "dickhead" category.....The reason I would do this if he was a team mate of mine and if this was a suspected one off .....he could become a stronger person from this experience and a team member that ascends previous value to the team.

One would at this stage suspect this was an isolated incident otherwise the Swans probably never would have offered a contract in the first place after all background checks.

If u were Luke Parker or Josh Kennedy do u think u would seriously call ur team mate a dickhead for this one off incident ?

If ur colleague at work was charged the same charge as Talia what would u say to their face? And do u think ur opinion if as harsh as calling them a "dickhead" would be productive for their rehabilitation ?

I think think it was an act of idiocy !!!!

Therefore an idiot !!

But not beyond rehabilitation

Wayne Carey was a dickhead

[Auntie.Gerald]

Longmire stands by Talia - sydneyswans.com.au

Interesting read

[azzzr]

they should send this bloke for a week with that afl tv show the recruit see if Reality sets in and he figures out how good he has it and how hard some people would work to be in his position
cant help but feel like his taking all of it for granted

[Mug Punter]

Longmire stands by Talia - sydneyswans.com.au

Interesting read

He's not one for hysterics is he?

For one I suspect he has a pretty good handle on the real extent of drug use in the afl having been at North who under Carey were legendary for their off field play hard antics. He knows damn well what a joke the AFL drugs policy is and that it is only there for PR purposes and that there would probably have been 50+ AFL players doing the same thing. And if anyone thinks O'Rourke wasn't damn close to also getting done they are just deluded.

He'll do what he always does and that's bring a healthy dose of perspective combined with an overriding concern for the players welfare.

What this bloke did was incredibly dumb and he's clearly got a question mark over his future but I'd give him a second chance.

Having said that I think that provided he is found guilty he should play no further part of our season.

[Meg]

Having said that I think that provided he is found guilty he should play no further part of our season.

I note that on the injury list Talia has gone from '3-4 weeks' as was shown a week ago to 'indefinite'. So I think you might well have your wish granted on that.

And that is the consequence of Talia's stupidity/self-indulgence that makes me angry. He did this Sat. night, immediately after a serious injury to Jones, a fellow defender, and when he himself was back in training within sight of a playing return. We could have done with a fit Talia, at least as a selection option for the senior team, in the coming weeks. He has badly let everybody down.

[Mug Punter]

I note that on the injury list Talia has gone from '3-4 weeks' as was shown a week ago to 'indefinite'. So I think you might well have your wish granted on that.

And that is the consequence of Talia's stupidity/self-indulgence that makes me angry. He did this Sat. night, immediately after a serious injury to Jones, a fellow defender, and when he himself was back in training within sight of a playing return. We could have done with a fit Talia, at least as a selection option for the senior team, in the coming weeks. He has badly let everybody down.

I don't get too outraged from a drug use perspective. Anyone that drowns 8 schooners on a decent night is probably doing as much if not more to their body than Michael would have snorting a couple of lines and I guess the legitimacy of alcohol in this whole drug debate is something than isn't worth discussing here.

And I do not buy the role model issue. Anyone who is saying that AFL players should be a role model for their kids is just an F-wit of a parent imo because they are looking at their own kids' biggest role model (by a million miles) in the mirror every morning.

For me it is just the unprofessionalism. You get paid a very large salary for your age playing a game you love plus all the perks. All you need to do as part of your side of the bargain is stay off the illegal drugs. It shouldn't be that hard but for some I guess the lure is too strong.

[Meg]

Totally agree with your post MP, particularly 'it is just the unprofessionalism'.

[Mug Punter]

Totally agree with your post MP, particularly 'it is just the unprofessionalism'.

On a bigger picture I just find the AFL's policy on this issue so hypocritical.

As if the AFL has any real concern for any social issues. The AFL cares about one thing and one thing only, protecting and growing it's power and it's own self interests.

It's why it talks about indigenous players and racism but when faced with one of the most sickening episodes in recent memory with Adam Goodes it sat on itrs hands and did nothing, too afraid to call out the rednecks as racists.

It's why it talks about White Ribbon Day but lets Eddie get away with his remarks plus the terribly offensive misogyny on the Footy Show.

It's why the AFL is a walking and talking advertisement for gambling in Australia, and surely we are just at the tip of the iceberg re that social issue as a generation of kids growing up thinking of sport in terms of odds and not score.

And it's why it has a drug's policy that stands for nothing. It's why they talk about player welfare yet the clubs are the last to know.

I actually don't have an issue with social drugs being excluded from the Drugs testing regime I think it's an incredibly judgemental approach from a society that basically allows alcohol to ravage our communities yet be a commercial partner of the AFL at every level. If I was a player I'd be saying to the AFLPA that surely the gold standard of drugs testing is the Olympics so why should the AFL testing regime be tougher and more intrusive than that, and I think it's a fair question.

And as I've said the role model argument is a whole pile of horse @@@@ as far as I'm concerned.

The AFL drugs policy is nothing less than a PR Sham and as usual they treat us like idiots. It has he pretence of a drugs policy yet nobody ever gets convicted. It's only when someone like Talia and O'Rourke do something really silly like buying drugs down an alleyway at a renowned drug pub that anyone ever gets caught.

Apologies for the rant

[Ludwig]

I agree too, MP. The risk of getting caught is pretty low (unless you're dumb enough to video yourself doing it), but whatever it is, you just shouldn't do it.

It's been around 25 years since I've been to any of these kind of clubs that Talia went to, but when I did it seemed like almost everyone was on either coke or speed. I never heard of police checking patrons for drugs, although surely they would have been easy targets. I just didn't think the police bothered with small time users.

Maybe someone from Talia's generation can inform me if this kind of police swoop is common these days. A small time drug possession bust like the one on Talia is not one you hear about often. Maybe the cops were looking for dealers and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong thing.

We all know by the out of season drug testing that there's a high percentage of players that do drugs, but only a few get caught. And the penalties are severe if you do. There's something wrong with the AFL's drug policy when it's more a matter of bad luck than anything else if you're the one that pays for the crime of many.

[barry]

I doubt this is the first time talia brought drugs. I mean what are the chances of being caught first time?

Also, players are role models whether you like it or not. And whether they like it or not.

But i agree on the hypocrisy of the AFL as Paul says above.

[AnnieH]

Wayne Carey was a dickhead

Perspective.

We don't get arrested at this club... this club has more brownlow medal winners than any other club - that's the type of people we are.
Buddy wanted in on our culture (which says a lot for the lack of culture at Hawthorn).
Managers are touting their goods around saying "we're in talk with the swans"... everyone wants to come here.
Talia signed up, knowing full well the "higher" expectations that are put on you as a swan. These higher expectations are "player driven".
All of this is well documented.
He's going to have to work extremely hard to win back the trust of the players and the fans, if he were to continue at the club.

[AnnieH]

The AFL drugs policy is nothing less than a PR Sham and as usual they treat us like idiots. It has he pretence of a drugs policy yet nobody ever gets convicted. It's only when someone like Talia and O'Rourke do something really silly like buying drugs down an alleyway at a renowned drug pub that anyone ever gets caught.

Apologies for the rant

Unless O'Rourke was the dealer... they weren't "buying drugs down an alleyway".
There was no third person involved at the scene.
He could have bought it anywhere, or, like he claims, it could have been given to him.

[grarmy]

Perspective.

Talia signed up, knowing full well the "higher" expectations that are put on you as a swan. These higher expectations are "player driven".
All of this is well documented.
He's going to have to work extremely hard to win back the trust of the players and the fans, if he were to continue at the club.

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.