Elijah Taylor

[cherub]

Elijah is not a kid but he is a very young man. IF there is any substance to the allegations being bandied around, maybe the club could allow him to continue on on some kind of probation. It would be very humiliating for him and quite a commitment for the club but it could be the difference between a life being straightened out and a life going down a very black hole.

Agree rojo, but he might have burnt too many bridges. I'm actually proud of the club for taking a risk with a young man who they knew didn't have a background that made a transition to AFL easy. This is a much more socially responsible act than handing out RUOK stickers.
The only circumstance pertaining to aggravation in WA law that seems pertinent to the situation is " being in a domestic relationship". So, almost certainly his ex. Just plain dumb for him to join up with her. Without COVID, he would be with the team. Without the Covid breach, he'd be in the hub. 2020 has wrecked a lot of young dreams.

[giant]

When the Swans said this was a complex situation, I suspect not even they realised just how complex. Boggles the mind.

[707]

Let it play out, doesn't look good but the club might be able to help a troubled young man get his life in order and go on to better things through football.

Conjecture gets us no where, the ball is in Elijah's court, the club would be massively annoyed and angry but, if he's savable, they will do it.

[Ludwig]

Here's the deal... we don't know if it was his ex in the hotel room that these charges relate to.
All of the stories say it just a "a woman".

From previously posted links to articles:

This one does say it was the ex-girlfriend.

"The 19-year-old AFL rookie was charged with aggravated unlawful assault occasioning bodily harm relating to an alleged incident with his ex-girlfriend Lekahni Pearce in a Perth hotel on Sunday morning."

And from the ABC article:

"Police said Taylor assaulted an 18-year-old woman "who is known to him" at a hotel in Perth's CBD over a two-hour period from 6.00am to 8.00am yesterday."

Piecing things together, given the time of day, I surmise that an argument ensured following the words: ... you can get your own f---ing breakfast.

[aardvark]

Whisper from the West is it's not his ex this time. I'm guessing the AFL integrity unit will have a bit to say Re ET's footy future.

[Faunac8]

Sadly looking like a yet another example of a young man who could potentially have set himself up for life struggling to adjust to the discipline and structures of a professional sporting career. Very sad for all involved.

[bloodspirit]

Wow. These are really tough issues.

In general I favour giving people the benefit of the doubt and also letting the justice system take its course. But not always. There are some significant caveats I have to that approach. First, sometimes the justice system will be too slow and action needs to be taken more quickly. In that case, where there is enough evidence, you don't need to wait for the court system to decide. Second, the justice system understandably has a very high standard of proof (beyond reasonable doubt) which is appropriate when you are looking at criminal sanctions. However, with less serious, civil sanctions I don't think you necessarily have to require the same level of proof. Third, sometimes there will be actions that will be found to be non-criminal but may nevertheless not be acceptable.

My initial reaction to Captain's post was the same as most, let's wait and find out a bit more about the story. Also I am predisposed to working with troubled individuals to help them get past their problems. All of us are more than the worst things we have ever done. However, I am with you, Captain, in saying that there is no occasion for questioning what Elijah's ex-girlfriend (apparently her name is Lekahni Pearce) was doing spending time with him on Sunday. And also, it is a sad fact that victims of DV do often go back to abusive relationships. That most certainly does not make them culpable if they are assaulted. At the same time, what I have learned is that these relationships are often very messy and, in my view, it is not necessarily as simple as saying one person is the wrongdoer and the other person is the blameless victim (typically the person who winds up injured, most often a woman). By saying that I am not at all trying to condone violence or say that it is acceptable.

The things I think are relevant are:

(a) Elijah's admitted, deliberate and selfish disregard for the quarantine rules which imperilled not just the club, put also the entire AFL competition and public health;
(b) allegations on social media by Lekahni Pearce about high level physical violence perpetrated against her by Elijah Taylor
(c) the fact that there is enough credible material for police to have charged Elijah Taylor with aggravated assault
(d) Elijah's age - 19 years
(e) what he has to say for himself - we don't know
(f) the background he comes from - again we don't know. Some might say this shouldn't make a difference, but I think it does. Some people who have grown up with severe disadvantage just have not had the same chances to do the right thing as people who have grown up with lots of privilege. It's no answer to point to examples of some people who have grown up with similar disadvantage but have not made equivalently bad choices.

Overall, it looks to me like Elijah Taylor is likely guilty of some pretty serious wrongdoing. What should the Swans do about that? That is a hard question. Elijah's attitude is relevant but not determinative.

I think as a minimum there should be some pretty serious consequences for him. Quite possibly he should be sacked. What is achieved by this for him? Not much. We just wash our hands and move on. But then he is the author of his own misfortune and he has probably had a lot more support than he would have had if we didn't draft him and maybe he's not our responsibility? The alternative, I suppose, is we might pull him out of the limelight and invest in rehabilitating him while telling him he won't be considered to play AFL for an additional extended period of time e.g. all of next season. But, regardless of what we do, I hope we offer him some kind of support, if he's willing to take it, because it seems he certainly needs it and we may be in a position to help him. I fear we may have offered that to him and he has rejected it. I note that after he was ruled out for the season he didn't opt to come and train in Sydney but to return to his family. This is understandable but when it is followed up with more bad behaviour, it doesn't look good.

On balance, after all that extended thinking aloud (so to speak), I'm leaning towards your view, Captain. We sack him, lick our own wounds, and say there is no place for this type of unacceptable behaviour at our club.

(But I'm still not sure. It would help to know what he is saying.)

[barry]

I cut him a bit of slack on the covid breach, but domestic violence needs a zero tolerance policy. Swans must let him go. He has no place here.

[Wardy]

As the Swans had to sit him down prior to going to Perth - I’m convinced now more than before that they have had problems with him and probably GF Previously. As both were determined to get her get into the hub, They got caught etc. both had total disregard for the law & the club. (And my annoyance about it was well documented in the other thread and I as howled down by some.) Now We know she’s the ex GF a week or so later. Maybe the club gave him an ultimatum? she’s putting stuff up on Instagram (as those scorned do) making accusations. Is she Perhaps an immature WAG scorned? Was it her at the pub?? To put those things up on SM is an easy thing to do, it’s taken down And then the consequences snowball. If he has assaulted her then throw the book at him, if it turns out it’s the now ex GF causing trouble, I feel for him - will we ever know? Probably not but I’m with Annie H on this - the number 37 has been disrespected.

[Syd76]

Let it play out, doesn't look good but the club might be able to help a troubled young man get his life in order and go on to better things through football.

Conjecture gets us no where, the ball is in Elijah's court, the club would be massively annoyed and angry but, if he's savable, they will do it.

Totally agree. We all do not condone domestic violence. Infact this is as low as any self respecting man can go. This has unfortunately happened to my Mum.

BUT we do not know all the facts. And more importantly there is a judicial process to play out.

If ET was found guilty, maybe there is an angle to help BOTH of the people out. First thing is to show compassion and understanding to the woman - WHOMEVER it is, which is I'm sure what a brilliant club like the Swans will do, and to help ET redress the situation. Furthermore, it would be the easiest thing to cut ET adrift and let him deal with it. But you can win by educating someone, make him realise his mistakes arising out of his actions, have him work hard to earn back the respect of the community, and then that of the football club. The club has made a point of drafting him, it has a duty now to help him through to make him an upstanding member of our community. This is what gives our club moral fibre and integrity. Football in this case is a distant second. We will all win if ET works hard to win back respect. That is most important.

Having said all of this .. the above only applies if ET is not recalcitrant, and if found guilty wants to buy in.

[Ludwig]

The Swans management are complicit in the sordid affair. I was among a number of RWO members who thought that after the Covid violation the best thing for Elijah was to travel to Queensland and stay with the club until the end of the season. I don't know what kind of advice Tom Harley got on this, but I can't see how letting Elijah loose in the lolly shop would be helpful. It was pretty obvious that the club just let him go into an environment where he would be looking for trouble, regardless of the assurances they must have received from relatives and other well meaning people.

The club has to review what it's done and question how they supported Elijah, as they said in their post Covid violation statement. Seems to me that they abandoned him.

[crackedactor 01]

Really disappointed about how many supporters are ready to find Elijah guilty before the evidence has been presented. He broke COVID rules but he was young and there is a 99.5 % survival rate. The domestic violence still need to be investigated to see how serious it is or even if they was fabricated.

[Blood Fever]

The Swans management are complicit in the sordid affair. I was among a number of RWO members who thought that after the Covid violation the best thing for Elijah was to travel to Queensland and stay with the club until the end of the season. I don't know what kind of advice Tom Harley got on this, but I can't see how letting Elijah loose in the lolly shop would be helpful. It was pretty obvious that the club just let him go into an environment where he would be looking for trouble, regardless of the assurances they must have received from relatives and other well meaning people.

The club has to review what it's done and question how they supported Elijah, as they said in their post Covid violation statement. Seems to me that they abandoned him.

Very easy to criticize after the event. Culture of blame far too prevalent these days. Personal responsibility has to play a part somewhere along the line if and I say if he has offended this way.

[Ludwig]

Very easy to criticize after the event. Culture of blame far too prevalent these days. Personal responsibility has to play a part somewhere along the line if and I say if he has offended this way.

I'm not absolving ET of his responsibility. I'm just saying that the Swans' management made a very poor decision by allowing him to stay in Perth. I was among several posters who saw it the same way after the Covid incident.

[Blood Fever]

I'm not absolving ET of his responsibility. I'm just saying that the Swans' management made a very poor decision by allowing him to stay in Perth. I was among several posters who saw it the same way after the Covid incident.

Not sure why you are saying that he would be looking for trouble. Very presumptuous. Swans probably thought family environment was best after weighing it up. Can't control everything. Plus he is innocent until proven guilty.