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Sad to hear of the passing today of Dr Geoffrey Edelsten.
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Hard to know how history is going to look back on him, nor how we as Swans fans should consider his time owning the Swans.
But as with the passing of anyway, RIP Geoffrey - we all have our qualities and our faults, and he was no different in that regard. And while the legacy of his time at the swans is a matter for open judgement, it is an important part of our history."You get the feeling that like Monty Python's Black Knight, the Swans would regard amputation as merely a flesh wound." -
He was the man who helped create plenty of awareness of the Swans when he first became the “ owner “ of the Swans.
His flair for publicity was the perfect fit for a club struggling to gain a foothold in their new home. He was also responsible for getting Tommy Haley to the club which helped us pick up some absolute star players in the mid 80’s . It’s still a matter of conjecture how we could have gone if finals matches were allocated the way they are now rather than having to be played in Victoria,
Love him or loath him he made sure Sydney knew about us.Comment
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Geoff did a power of Good for the swans, and as time goes on, his standing only improves.Comment
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A slightly odd character but no doubt his involvement with the club helped raise awareness of footy in Sydney and that was a good thing.Comment
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The other side to the Geoff of course is that he was one of the pioneers in warp speed Medicare billing that has now been
corporatized that we're all paying for now through our taxes. But I guess if it wasn't him and his mates back in the day,
someone else would have thought of it...Comment
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I've been thinking about this since Friday arvo when I heard.
Given that he was little more than a short term figurehead (less than a year), he had almost no actual investment in the club. The money, such as it was, came from Powerplay (or at least those that Powerplay could acquire money from).
So was their any significance to his involvement? Can any achievements, problems really be ascribed to him?
The previous posters assume we can. So let's look at the whole picture.
On Field
The frankly deranged recruitment drive over the 85-86 off season certainly did bring us a lot of wins. Which we all enjoyed.
However salary cap issues, and the parlous state of Powerplay's finances played havok with our list management. After that first off season our recruiting quickly went from bad, through worse to grotesque - and next thing you know we'd lost 26 games in a row.
If we credit him for bringing Hafey, Williams, Healy and Co then we also have remember Capper, Hawke, Tim Barling, Craig Davis, Darren Morgan, Wayne Caey and the rest. On balance we're talking a huge debit.
Promotion
Yes he created plenty of awareness, but the attendance figures were as genuine as a $3 bill. Almost every kid playing underage aussie rules, including my kid brothers, could access free tickets. I on the other hand had to have a meal at Hungry Jacks in order to get my free double passes.
And then when the wins dried up, what value was all that promotion. We had even less people in the crowd than before the VFL sold the Swans to him, the Swans were still buying a half page in the Tele just to get some attention. I see no credit's there.
Character
His tattoo removal business, "colourful" business associates and bankruptcies - his character raises more red flags than the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Hell the AMA de-registered him, and they're renowned for looking after their own. All up a most insalubrious character.
The last word
The simple truth is that he was never really a Swans man. A Carlton member both before and after his brief period at the Swans. In his later years, he attested to this true allegiance and remarked that he only purchased the Swans because the blue bags weren't up for sale.Comment
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Pre G. Edelsten, it was pretty hard to find a Doc after 5.00pm for a sick person, he established Medical Centres that soon became a service ( opened by many others) all over the place that stayed opened for much longer hours.Comment
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Many people are very keen to see a bulk billing Dr
He pioneered pathology service
The Vale on the Swans website was an “interesting” tributeLast edited by 0918330512; 12 June 2021, 09:52 PM.Comment
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Yes, he was a passionate Carlton supporter- but he was instrumental in putting us on the map in Sydney. Don’t underestimate how difficult it was/is to break into Rugby territory. With Tom Hafey and the great players he brought to us gave us a lot of joy, after 40 years in the doldrums. It needed a lot of showmanship which he delivered in droves and I for one relished the footy we played. Unfortunately it didn’t last, and we did fall in a heap.
But thanks for the memories Geoffrey- you did your best for the Red and the White!Comment
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Writing the club article must have been very difficult but I think whoever wrote it did a masterful job.He had observed that people who did lie were, on the whole, more resourceful and ambitious and successful than people who did not lie.Comment
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Disappointed at the lack of armbands? Give it a break Roadrunner. I know you responded to my post, but it looks a bit like you only really took in the the last line.
My post was only a summary of course, I made no reference to Tim Barling, Jim Edmond, Maurice Rioli, 4 Corners, Tom Domican, Mr. Rent-a-Kill, the Great Expectations Foundation, bankruptcy or jail time - so I must have been feeling charitable when I posted.
I have mixed feelings about today's Medicare factories - yes it gives people greater access to doctors. But it's looking like a mixed blessing. In too many cases they shunt through 4 patients an hour, rack up large numbers of superfluous in-house and superfluous tests and take only the most superficial interest in patients.Last edited by Ruck'n'Roll; 14 June 2021, 10:07 AM.Comment
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