Dogs' boss says Melbourne is copying their ideas
Melb footy club stealing our ideas.....
Dogs' boss says Melbourne is copying their ideas
The Herald Sun
Mark Stevens | June 04, 2009
TENSIONS between the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne have boiled over, with claims the Demons are copying ideas hatched at Whitten Oval. The Bulldogs, already willing to fight for their turf in Darwin despite Melbourne's interest, were surprised on Friday to learn the Demons had joined forces with the Victorian Women's Football League.
"Leaders are always copied. The best form of flattery is someone takes your idea and claims it as theirs," Bulldogs chief executive Campbell Rose said.
Rose said the club had spent several years supporting the VWFL after president Debbie Lee knocked on his door in 2004 in search of a job in football.
But Rose said Lee was "poached" by the Demons late last year and he was disappointed to see an article in the Herald Sun on Friday spruiking a Melbourne-VWFL partnership.
"If they (Melbourne) think it's a massive coup or a game of one-upmanship, they've got it terribly wrong," Rose said.
"I am terribly disappointed in Debbie Lee. After five years of work in this area, I learnt of a new relationship with Melbourne via newspapers and a cryptic letter.
"I would have thought she could have picked up the phone and called."
The latest development comes almost five months after the Dogs beat the Demons to sign major sponsor Mission Foods.
There was angst at the time, but Melbourne chief executive Cameron Schwab last night denied the club had gone to the AFL to raise its concerns about the process.
But with the Dees now openly eyeing Darwin and joining with the women's league, Rose conceded he had wondered if there was lingering resentment because of the close call with Mission.
"There is not a skerrick of animosity or resentment towards Melbourne in any fashion from our president, myself or our club, however I've often wondered if those sentiments have been reciprocated," Rose said.
The Dogs won a deal worth $4.5 million over three years with Mission Foods and Melbourne was forced to keep searching, finally coming up with joint sponsors.
Melbourne last week confirmed it saw Darwin as a good fit for up to two home games, but the Dogs are willing to fight on that front if they have to.
Schwab strongly disputed the "copycat" claims.
"Our club admires what the Bulldogs have done to build their club," Schwab said.
"We've got a little saying we use, which is what we do is special, not unique.
"You learn a lot from other clubs. The special will be the application to our club."
Schwab said there was no connection between Mission, Darwin and the VWFL arrangement.
He said there was no lingering resentment over Mission.
"There's a lot of competition in our sport. We went a long way down the track with Mission and they made a choice -- we ended up with two fantastic sponsors," Schwab said.
Schwab also defended the partnership with the VWFL.
"We've formed a group called the Women of Melbourne and the initiative came through there," Schwab said.
"We have a board member, Karen Hayes, who chairs that group.
"Debbie Lee has been a real important figure in women's football and runs our community programs."
Schwab said Lee was recommended to the Demons and the club approached her to run the community programs in the City of Casey.
The Dogs had allowed the women footballers to train at Whitten Oval and used Lee to run their Spirit West community program.
Re: Dogs' boss says Melbourne is copying their ideas
Quote:
Originally Posted by
BulldogBelle
The Bulldogs ... were surprised on Friday to learn the Demons had joined the Victorian Women's Football League.
Just corrected the article ...
Didn't realise that Melbourne were playing that badly over the last couple of seasons ... they had to go and join another league :p
Re: Dogs' boss says Melbourne is copying their ideas
Not something I want to read in the papers, especially the way the Herald Sun beats the story up with the headlines & photo's.
I thought we had said in the past that this year was our last in Darwin, but due to the fact the stadium deals are still poor we are now thinking about re-negotiating to extend our stay. In the meantime Melbourne have decided they want a piece of the action in the NT. Good luck to Melbourne if they want to take a share in the pie, as although we have done some good work up north we were more than willing to walk away once the current contract had expired.
Re: Dogs' boss says Melbourne is copying their ideas
We haven't helped our position with Darwin by allowing nonsense about playing games at Adelaide Oval, Skilled Stadium and Launceston to be reported in the press.
Whilst that might have been an ambit claim against Etiad, it would not have sat well with the NT Government.
We have done some good promotional work in Darwin and we should look to consolidate our position there
Having said that, just why Melbourne would want to look at playing in Darwin when all their members are up at Thredbo is beyond me
Re: Dogs' boss says Melbourne is copying their ideas
Quote:
Originally Posted by
BulldogBelle
"We've formed a group called the Women of Melbourne and the initiative came through there," Schwab said.
They forgot to mention that the dogs have had a group called the Women of the West for a couple of years.
Re: Dogs' boss says Melbourne is copying their ideas
If I was Melbourne the last thing I'd want to do is be seen as potentially a better option as an interstate club.
A basketcase on and off the field, debuting a Year-12 kid is a sign of desperation, they're not going anywhere fast.
I've said this many, many times: I cannot believe that Dean Bailey hasn't come under the same scrutiny as Knights, Harvey or Laidley. He is BY FAR the worst of the lot, by so far it's not even funny, and Melbourne haven't gone anywhere in two years and are aiming for successive wooden spoons hanging out for early draft picks. Ask Carlton how that strategy is going.
Re: Dogs' boss says Melbourne is copying their ideas
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Lantern
A basketcase on and off the field, debuting a Year-12 kid is a sign of desperation, they're not going anywhere fast.
What about Callan Ward?
Re: Dogs' boss says Melbourne is copying their ideas
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Hill Show
What about Callan Ward?
A top three team blooding kids in a winning team is very different from a basketcase team heading for successive wooden spoons expecting Jack Watts to come in from school with little to no VFL form and fix their non-existent forwardline.
