2021 pre-season general footy chat

[Meg]

And here a very good, scathing opinion piece:

‘It would have been a laughable display from the Collingwood president if the issue at hand wasn’t so serious: one of the biggest AFL clubs, one of the biggest sporting teams in Australia, found to be woefully inept in dealing with racism in their organisation.’

Eddie McGuire's trainwreck of a spin job only reinforces damning Collingwood report

[bloodspirit]

You're being quite generous to them with that observation (snipped from your longer post but not - I hope - to the extent of removing context).

Lumumba's allegations go back a few years. Collingwood have spent that time denying them, or saying they were in the past, or otherwise distancing themselves. I suspect that it's only because Lumumba launched legal action against them (or at least threatened to) that they finally got around to seeing if they was substance to his allegations. Not sure that's much to be proud of.

You are not unfairly quoting me out of context, thanks Liz.

And while it's true that CFC could have acted years earlier, and chose to do so at least partly because they were under pressure, I don't agree it's because Lumumba sued, or threatened to sue them. They could have not done the review, or made it less independent, or made it less meaningful by choosing different reviewers or terms of reference or by underfunding it or otherwise undermining the review or setting it up to fail.

Instead they have commissioned, and paid for, a hard hitting and genuinely independent report, they are moving on their CEO, and they are committing to implementing the report's recommendations. That's good stuff and I say fair play to them, at least to the Board. Can't say the same for Eddie. They have put society ahead of some big headed and powerful individuals and the club will ultimately be better for it.

Incidentally, I hope Titus writes something about this. Plenty of ammo.

Really Collingwood's PR and communications set up needs an overhaul andto learn how not to treat the footy public as such complete idiots.

Ned Guy: this was not a fire sale.

Eddie Maguire: this is a proud day for Collingwood.

Seriously? Is that the best they can do?

[bloodspirit]

From the report:

The fact that the Collingwood Football Club, through its Integrity Committee, commissioned an
independent review of its processes of dealing with racism reflects the realisation from within the Club
that something fundamental needs to change. It needs to be noted and underlined that, in undertaking
this review, the Club was unflinching in holding up a mirror to itself. It was a brave first step that few
would have the courage to take and shows the seriousness with which the Club takes the issue.

[bloodspirit]

Here's some more cherry picked excerpts:

"Reconciliation Action Plans, cultural awareness, multicultural ambassadorships and striving to recruit
more First Nations and African employees are not on their own capable of countering systemic
racism. ‘Inclusion’ is not a substitute for thinking about race and racism and needs to be reinforced by
anti-racism being a clear core value. That requires a rethink of how Collingwood operates, not only
internally, but in the broader landscape of AFL, media, and the Australian public.

All of this comes back to the leadership of the Collingwood Football Club — particularly its Board —
and the need for them to set the vision and values of the Club and to drive structural change within
the organisation. The changes need to be driven from the top if they are to address racism and set
the tone for the culture within the Club.

...

Given the key leadership role the Club's Board plays in relation to the formation, dissemination and
adoption of Club values, it must be clear – through word and behaviour – that the Board embodies
those values. When understanding how critical the values work of the Board is, it is also apparent that
thought needs to be given to its membership. Do the members of the Board embrace the Club’s
values? Do they show a commitment to those values in how they behave? Are they willing to be held
accountable to those standards?

...

Similarly, the values need to be active. As a set of statements that sit within governing documents will
have little influence. Strategies need to be proactively discussed, integrated and normalised
throughout the Club. This active strategy of dissemination is also a process that builds collegiality and
cohesion within the Club, bringing everyone on to the same page.
Importantly, as this must be a Board-led project, the Club’s leadership must live up to those values.
That has been a problem in the past. To this end, there should be an audit of the Board’s current
membership to ensure that personal views are consistent with the values of the Club.

...

As the Club learns, grows and improves by learning from the past, it also needs to take a proactive
approach in making amends to those who have been hurt by the Club and its actions. It must seek to
acknowledge what people have experienced within the Club and to atone for that behaviour. This
proactive approach is more sincere and, although it may be difficult for the Club, is a better way to
address those past wrongs. To date, there is no evidence that unresolved issues from the past go
away; they continue to haunt the Club and to cause harm to those who have been aggrieved by its
treatment of them.
In relation to this, the Club should consider a reparative justice model, where the goal is not bringing
an end to public declarations of racism or exonerating the Club of it, but airing it, acknowledging it and
making material gestures to righting and healing the harm that occurred. This includes proactively
making amends that could include, but aren’t limited to: reparations, compensation, public apology,
and commitments to reform. Such actions that seek to make amends and atone for past failures are
not acts of weakness by the Club but rather are acts of strength and should be embraced as such."

I think all clubs, including ours, can learn a lot from this. I hope our Board is paying attention, learning, and will implement some of these recommendations too.

This report makes it clear that it is a key reason for Eddie's departure. (I referred to him as CEO earlier but he's actually President (or Chairman?) of the Board. I think the release of this report may well hasten his departure. It would not surprise me to see him gone by the time the season starts or even sooner, especially after his press conference today where he demonstrated that he still doesn't get it.

[KTigers]

I saw that on the news.....it floored me. Only Eddie could put that sort of Trumpian spin on this deplorable situation.

The guy is just a complete idiot. He's not smart enough to read the room and to know when to stop talking, which of course is virtually
impossible for him to do. He is like Trump (fortunately he hasn't killed as many people as Trump did) in that he has to be the centre of
attention all the time. There is no one at Collingwood to tell him to just "shut the @@@@ up", because he IS Collingwood.
Sometime today I expect we'll hear the "this is not who we are" spiel from him. He is never going to get any better. It's just beyond him.

[mcs]

The guy is just a complete idiot. He's not smart enough to read the room and to know when to stop talking, which of course is virtually
impossible for him to do. He is like Trump (fortunately he hasn't killed as many people as Trump did) in that he has to be the centre of
attention all the time. There is no one at Collingwood to tell him to just "shut the @@@@ up", because he IS Collingwood.
Sometime today I expect we'll hear the "this is not who we are" spiel from him. He is never going to get any better. It's just beyond him.

Yet amazingly there are people that will continue to defend him to the hilt it seems, no matter how outlandish or stupid he is. Was interesting reading last night some of the comments of one of his media buddies on a facebook thread - defending him to the hilt and suggesting it medication that caused Eddie to use the infamous King Kong line - that he was having horrendous side effects from some super strong drugs and that caused his lack of judgment..... each to their own but the implausibility is getting right up there now.

[KTigers]

Let's not forget that it's been seven or so years since McGuire's racist "King Kong" comment about Adam, and there have been
countless offensive statements (usually referred to as "gaffes" by his apologists) since then, and yet he is still there. Imagine if
the CEO of a major company had said this stuff. They'd be out the door by close of business on the same day.

[bloodspirit]

The Collingwood BF thread is almost all saying Eddie has had his day. He was good for a time but now he is embarrassing and has to go.

The thing I wanted to highlight from the parts of the report that I extracted, is that the report pretty clearly tells the club (at least) Eddie has to go from the Board (without actually naming him). I gather the club's AGM is tomorrow. There will be more headlines, whatever happens.

[barry]

This is a classic case where the AFL step in and take control of the club. They have done it to other clubs for far less serious reasons (eg economic).

But combating racism is not in Gill's KPI's, and like the diligent CEO he is, its all about maximizing his bonus, so no need to be sidetracked by anything like this which has no bearing on his pay packet.

[neilfws]

Yet amazingly there are people that will continue to defend him to the hilt it seems, no matter how outlandish or stupid he is.

Including The Age, at the end of last year.

Eddie McGuire’s Collingwood legacy more than black and white

These lapses of judgment, though, should be weighed up against his substantial achievements.

"Lapses of judgement".

My impression is that the club's attitude has been "we just want this to go away" ever since Lumumba went public.

[stevoswan]

I may have broken the thread with my last post.....hope this fixes it.

This line in particular pretty much sums up Maguire's stupidity and lack of awareness.

"Sometimes you just don't get it until you get it," McGuire said, sounding a lot like someone who didn't get it at all.

[CowFos]

Does anyone know what the exact training schedule is at the moment? Is it Monday and wednesdays? There’s likely to be a match sim tomorrow right? What times do training sessions normally start?

I went to a few of the match sims last year but I’ve forgotten what the timings of them normally are.

[stevoswan]

Of course, Titus nails it:

Eddie McGuire: No need to thank me for ending racism globally - Titus O'Reily | Don’t have faith in yourself

In regard to my previous post that has now been thankfully removed because an ABC link stuffed up the thread, check the ABC website and read Russell Jacksons article headlined "Trumpian bullet points, deflections and denials. This was Maguires Four Seasons Total Mansplaining." It's very good.

[chalbilto]

With Tom Scully announcing his retirement, the transfer of Issac Smith and the strife that Patton is in I wonder how Hawthorn are going to fare this year?

[Markwebbos]

With Tom Scully announcing his retirement, the transfer of Issac Smith and the strife that Patton is in I wonder how Hawthorn are going to fare this year?

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