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Originally Posted by Axe Man
I'd argue my case but I've been accused of being oppositional in the last week (although i KNEW that it was North Korea and NOT South Korea that lost to Brazil 1-0 in 2010 that I just can't be bothered. Ironically some people just won't listen...*
*not you, the nurse at the detox. Just. would. not. listen. ;)
I used to like when I still thought news was news. I don't know if I've just had my eyes opened by recent events that directly effect me, or if I've just got older and more able to see through the crap.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eastdog
News isn't news. It's opinion influenced by corporate/political overlords. It's total garbage.
Politics isn't though. I mean sure the objectivity of news is drastically varied depending on the level of corporate sponsorship driven towards it, but relax, it's just not the same for our political parties that irrespective of huge corporate donors lining their pockets can put us good citizens first in all matters...…….Quote:
Originally Posted by EasternWest
PS, that's not a political post.
I watch Aljazeera everynight and prefer it to any of the local stuff. I like to listen to the 7:45am news on ABC Radio Melbourne, and basically the nightly news doesn't report much more than that.Quote:
Originally Posted by EasternWest
Malthouse on Laidley
Dean Laidley’s former coach and colleague Mick Malthouse has opened up about the “terrific bloke” he knew during their time together in footy and suspects the pressures of AFL coaching have taken their toll on the 53-year-old.
Ex-North Melbourne premiership player and coach Laidley was arrested outside a home in St Kilda on Saturday night and will remain in custody until May 11 after not applying for bail, having been charged with stalking and other offences.
Victoria Police has suspended a Senior Constable and is investigating further after photos of Laidley in custody were leaked. One image shows him wearing a long, blonde wig and a black dress while another picture appears to be of a computer screen displaying Laidley’s official mug shot.
Malthouse coached Laidley after arriving at West Coast in 1990, and hired him as an assistant coach when he moved to Collingwood and later Carlton.
In an interview today with 3AW’s Neil Mitchell, Malthouse gave an insight into Laidley’s personality and also outlined some of the difficulties he’s faced over the years.
According to the legendary coach, Laidley was ferociously competitive as a player and “very loyal”, but took a while to warm to people.
“He would stop, assess, wait and then form a judgment before he was able to open up, and that was just his mannerism,” Malthouse said.
“He just didn’t accept people until he worked them out.”
Malthouse said his last “good conversation” with Laidley was when they had lunch shortly after the veteran mentor was sacked as Carlton coach in 2015. Laidley, considered a brilliant tactician during his time in charge of the Kangaroos from 2003-2009, was working alongside Malthouse at the Blues after stints at Port Adelaide and St Kilda, but left the AFL system at the same time and never returned.
Malthouse tried to keep in touch with Laidley, but the phone calls only ran one way. He added Laidley was, for a time, “quite ill”, which was compounded by the stress of looking after his son Kane, who The Australian reports had “endured his share of legal troubles in recent years”.
“I spoke to him on the phone a couple of times but then it just dried up. (I) Left messages, but there was nothing in return,” Malthouse said.
“He was quite ill there at one stage. I don’t know exactly what it was but he was in immense pain and I remember him saying that he was on these painkillers and it was quite debilitating.
“Of course he had issues with his son so he’s been through a hell of a lot.”
The Herald Sun reports Laidley’s lawyer told Melbourne Magistrates’ Court the footy icon was suffering from a psychiatric illness after his arrest on the weekend. Malthouse said he wasn’t aware of such a condition, but could understand how Laidley would have been carrying a heavy emotional burden.
“The pressure that he was under both physically, mentally, at home with one of his children and the fact he was trying to make ends meet and he had this disease, I wouldn’t have thought that would have done the mind any good at all,” Malthouse said.
“As it grabs hold of you, coaching, it’s more relentless and it’s more demanding. You’ve got to have a really good partner, good family and an understanding family otherwise you’re trying to … please those at home, those at the football club, those in the media.
“You do get very isolated very quickly in coaching.”
Although Laidley has been out of AFL circles for several years, he returned to coaching with suburban club Maribyrnong Park last year and said in a recent podcast for the Essendon District Football League he was enjoying holding the clipboard again in a more relaxed environment.
“I made sure that they (semi-professional players) didn’t have the opinion or view of this psycho who used to coach in the AFL, because I was way past that,” Laidley said.
“Out of my 32 years of senior professional football, I reckon last year was probably in the top five or six years that I had … I just enjoyed it so much.
“It was a great playing group, very coachable, probably too coachable and too nice, so we have a bit of work to do there.”
When asked if there is enough support offered to coaches, Malthouse, who was a top-level instructor for more than 30 years, said although the AFL Coaches Association tries its best, it has “limited resources”.
He added he had seen so often during his lengthy career how coaches can be chewed up and spat out by the system that constantly demands results.
“They (coaches) just absorb it, the family absorbs it and then something cracks, something gives way,” Malthouse said.
“I can categorically tell you the number of coaches that I know who have come in and gone out of the game, and I look at them and they age very, very quickly. They become old men quickly.”
The AFL Coaches Association and North Melbourne, along with the AFL Players Association, have said they will work together to try and help Laidley.
Former Western Bulldogs and Richmond coach Terry Wallace says he is “seriously disturbed” by what’s happened with AFL coaches in recent years. Ex-Geelong mentor and Essendon assistant Mark Thompson, who was caught up in the Bombers’ supplements saga, faced court last year on a drug trafficking charge that was eventually dismissed, but was fined for drug possession.
Essendon icon James Hird, who was a central figure in the supplements scandal, overdosed on sleeping pills in 2017 and spent time in a mental health facility for depression.
Port Adelaide legend Kane Cornes called on the AFL and the Coaches Association to do more to help coaches when they fall on hard times.
“The AFL needs to take some responsibility (as does the) the Coaches Association to make sure we are supporting these coaches who do lose their job in the industry, and there’s going to be more of them, to make sure that they are OK,” Cornes said on Footy Classified on Monday night.
It is all quite distressing to read.
In the sensationalism about his state of mind, it can't be overlooked that he has been charged with indictable offence - the most serious type of charges. We don't of course know the details but let's hope when it does all emerge, the right balance is found about concerns for his mental health AND the impact on those he is accused of stalking. Because in all the 'looking after our footy mate' stuff what they may have been going through shouldn't be overlooked either.
The fact that coaches aged in their 50s, who've led 'apparently'** successful lives are hooked by the sort of illegal drugs that overall we assume are associated with younger people in the community is really troubling. I keep thinking of Mark Thompson, then still coach of the Bombres, turning up smashed at their B&F, delivering a weird embarrassing and rambling speech. It's not exactly what you'd be hoping for if your 18 yr old son had just left home to play footy and was witnessing this behaviour of the so-called leaders and mentors.
I tend to agree on some help for coaches and players for that matter
Alarm bells for me was when Wayne Brittain years ago said he’d wake up at 3 am every morning and watch video of games
Stress levels must be incredible
How good was it seeing Laidley back at North and being comfortable in his own skin. Was a great day for the club being debt free and putting an arm around a former employee.
It was really good to see.Quote:
Originally Posted by chef
I was watching the news with my mum and they'd had a story featuring Brad Scott and rule changes just before the North story. Mum pointed at Brad Scott and said "does he ever smile? He always looks like a slapped cat's arse" then the next story was the North story and Brad Scott was smiling!
It's a massive step for Dani. To be able to step out in public like that after everything that's happened.Quote:
Originally Posted by Twodogs
I don't think I've ever been as ashamed and angry as I was when I heard about her treatment while in custody.
Yep it was a pretty ordinary act taking and sharing a photo like that at a pretty low ebb for her. Something similar happened just recently at the spring carnival too didn't it?Quote:
Originally Posted by westdog54
Still it's good to see that she seems to be in a better place now.
It's great to see Laidley out and about and looking happier. It will be even better when the media don't make a carnival out of it and it's not considered a novelty.
I always admired him as a footballer. Rake thin, tons of guts. And it shows in the world outside football too. It's a good news story
As long as he's ok inside, I couldn't give two knobs of nanny goat shit what he wants to look like outside.
Was great to see.Quote:
Originally Posted by jeemak