Basically. We turned Shocktober into a premiership in spite of what he did, not because of what he did. I hate relitigate this as an annual thing. But here goes:
- He voluntarily took the captaincy. There was no gun to his head.
- BMac was a shit coach and created a shit environment.
- He was pissed, and said as much to the club bosses.
- He told them it was fixed with him and he was staying.
- He goes on holiday, and by chance finds Talia's missing mobile phone which has Leon Cameron's phone number in it.
- He then drops the bomb, he's walking out of the club.
- He doesn't at the time say it's for anything too specific, but only nominates one club. Not a refresh of his career at any club. Just GWS.
- The club is in a dangerous spot off field.
- Not only is it GWS, he refuses to take a pay cut in the process.
- GWS offer us bugger all.
- BT has to come in and clean up his mess and arranges Tom Boyd to strike a blow at their heart then, and in 2016.
- He heads over to GWS and forgets to bring out medical records and then wants the club to hand them over.
- He gets his full wage.
Our response after I delivered Boyd, a premiership player was to turn the disaster of Shocktober into a draft success of premiership players. Gryphone>Boyd. Jones>Daniel. Tutt>Cordy. Higgins>Dale/McLean. Cooney>Biggs, Hamilton. Hamling. -- Gryphone gets no special mention. His betrayal lead to a situation that BT, JMac & Dal had to mop up and we did outstandingly.
Now he wants to re-write his legacy. That's fine for him to do, good to luck to him if lots of people believe it. He's still not answering the questions about what happened, and why to the dot points above. I've been watching a fair bit of Richard Nixon post resignation, and it sounds the same to me... Well I'm doing it for the good of the Western Bulldog people who voted me in and have stood by me... What's happened is too complicated and people will think what they want... Well, you see, it's not betrayal if the captain does it... I don't believe his nonsense for a second more than I care to believe Richard Nixon either.
I don't love the guy, I don't hate the guy. Only thanks to the 2016 premiership am I even ok with it. God forbid he was lower and stronger than Clay Smith at the end of the third or got more than 5 kicks that night his name may be a curse word. Sadly he killed his career and he killed a blooming legacy. He just dead to me. This article as it relates to us simply seeks to rewrite history and change the narrative now he's retired. That's his right. It's my right to say I think it's horseshit. If next time he actually says why he did what he did and explain it to us all, then I may come completely around and say that maybe BMac and maybe Garlick hold equal or more responsibility. Until then, enjoy retirement, have a great life with the missus and enjoy all the photos of premiership reunions of Bulldogs players flowing into your Facebook and Insta for all eternity.