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Fools leave heavy stench hovering over AFL
17mar04
STEPHEN MILNE was interviewed on Monday morning. His voice was thick and he sounded a little fuzzy. On Saturday night his team had won the Wizard Cup and on Sunday afternoon they met their fans at their club oval. On Sunday night they celebrated their win at a Brighton hotel.
Milne told the morning crew on Melbourne sports radio station SEN 1116 exactly this: "As last year was disappointing, you know, I let myself down and the club down, so I'm really going to change that this year and hopefully this year's going to be exciting ... exciting times for the club."
Exciting was not quite the right word. Devastating is.
Less than 12 hours after that Monday morning interview, Milne and team-mate Leigh Montagna were under police investigation after two women made serious sexual allegations against them. The two men had been with the women in the early hours of Monday morning.
For the moment these remain allegations and no judgment can be made other than both men acted foolishly. Utterly so. The sport environment is raw after allegations about Canterbury Bulldogs players. The football community was put on notice. Sadly, these two players' senses, or some of them, were blunt when they needed to be razor sharp. It is more damning given that St Kilda counselled their players immediately after NSW police began their investigation of the Canterbury scandal.
Milne is 24 with a child. Montagna is 20. Time will tell if he has a future.
Money, fame and success seem to make some footballers believe they are invincible -- that normal standards do not apply to them or, at the very least, they will not be held to account. AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou would say later and would say it grimly: "No one is above the law, let alone our players."
St Kilda president Rod Butterss and his chief executive Brian Waldron fronted a media conference late yesterday. There were 11 camera crews and more than 25 journalists. They did the best they could considering the humbling circumstances. They looked nervous and drained.
Both men, along with coach Grant Thomas, have tried to rebuild St Kilda. The culture was one that preferred partying to success. Pretty boys who achieved pretty much nothing. The Butterss administration has been criticised and ridiculed for its controversial theories on football and its management but at least they appeared to have been making some headway. This team is said to be one of the most exciting to emerge for a decade. All of that is now lost or at the very least in limbo.
Allegations, proven or otherwise, scar.
The men addressed the news conference with their sponsor's sign as a back drop. This could prove a costly business to the club. It did to Canterbury.
Both Waldron and Butterss were as transparent as legal limitations allowed. They named the two players, in part because Channel Seven had wrongly involved another player in an afternoon report. Legal action is pending there. This way, too, there is no innuendo surrounding other players.
Defiantly they stood by the two players under investigation. Innocent until proven guilty. But you looked at both men and you sensed they feared their dream of a resurgent St Kilda was gone.
Rugby league is on the nose. And rightly so. We have seen its culture and it appears repulsive.
Now there is a heavy stench hovering over the AFL. A television program last night reported an alleged rape by a prominent AFL player.
When the Canterbury Bulldogs were exposed as salary cap cheats 18 months ago, the AFL all but chuckled. It couldn't happen on their patch. It did and spectacularly so at Carlton.
When news broke that Canterbury was under investigation for an alleged gang rape, the AFL held its breath.
Football is turning blue.
There are two lasting images from the Wizard Cup. Milne jumping into the arms of Fraser Gehrig when the big forward had kicked the sealing goal.
The second is coach Thomas and his skipper Lenny Hayes looking glum, almost forlorn, as they held aloft the Wizard trophy. It was contrived. A pre-season victory had to be kept in perspective.
There is nothing contrived any more about the gloom that hangs over St Kilda and AFL football.
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