McGuire stepping down as President of Collingwood

[Happy Days]

Re: McGuire stepping down as President of Collingwood

Between the Saints being shown to be pedophile nazis and this Joffa news, its been a seriously odd week.

[jeemak]

Re: McGuire stepping down as President of Collingwood

Between the Saints being shown to be pedophile nazis and this Joffa news, its been a seriously odd week.

What's this?

[Axe Man]

Re: McGuire stepping down as President of Collingwood

What's this?

Not sure about the Nazi part but there is this:

Player advocate Peter Jess says St Kilda abuse scandal ‘beyond belief’, could end up in courts

Key points:
- ABC Sport revealed paedophile coaches infiltrated the St Kilda Football Club for a decade in the 1960s and 70s
- The coaches were involved with the St Kilda Little League team
- Player advocate Peter Jess believes the scandal could end up in court, and that hundreds of children may have suffered abuse

The St Kilda Little League child sexual abuse scandal is likely to end up in the courts, according to veteran player advocate Peter Jess.

Jess, who has been representing former player Rod Owen in discussions with St Kilda, said there would need to be "some fairly significant change" in the AFL and St Kilda's response to the issue to avoid legal action.

"The only contemporary scenario we have that mirrors this is the child abuse in the Church and in some of the (children's) homes," Jess says.

"At the end of the day, the only way that true justice could be found was via the courts, and that's possibly going to be the case here.

"There has to be an end game where all of these issues are resolved, and unfortunately compensation is one of those."

Former St Kilda star Rod Owen revealed to ABC Sport in April that he was sexually molested by longtime St Kilda Little League coach Darrell Ray and team manager Albert Briggs. Dozens of other survivors have since spoken to the ABC about sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of the paedophile ring that infiltrated the team in the 1960s and 70s.

"There could be hundreds of kids that we actually find from this," Jess says.

"All have similar stories to Rod. Some of the worst outcomes are guys who committed massive self-harm, and some of them have even taken their own lives."

Jess has criticised the lack of decisive action from the AFL and St Kilda.

The Saints are yet to make a decision on the life membership statuses of Briggs and Trevor Gravell, the latter a convicted paedophile who remains a life member at St Kilda. The ABC does not suggest that Gravell had any involvement with the club's Little League team or its players.

"This is an issue that needs strong leadership and at this stage I'm not seeing that," Jess says.

"It should have been a very simple process, rather than the convoluted process of going through a [integrity] committee. You're either a convicted paedophile or you're not, and if you are, then you have no place inside that sporting club.

"Under your general banner, you must come out and make a profound statement. You can't just think it's going to go away.

"True leadership demands that you come out and say, 'Look, if it has happened under our watch, many many years ago, then we have to deal with it in a proper and sensitive way."

in a statement on Tuesday, St Kilda CEO Matt Finnis said: "I want to again say how devastating it is for our club and community to hear these reports of abuse.

“The club's integrity committee, led by a respected retired judge, is managing the issue of life memberships and that is progressing. The club is also consulting with the committee, the AFL’s integrity unit and Victoria Police on how it can most appropriately support those affected.

“On matters that should be investigated, the club has been advised to encourage people to speak with representatives of a Victoria Police sexual offence and child abuse investigation team, and we will offer our full support to anyone wishing to do so.”

In a statement provided to ABC Sport, Owen said he was "enraged" to learn the extent of the abuse by Saints Little League coach Darrell Ray, who led the team for 11 years, and Ray's brother-in-law Gary Mitchell, a convicted paedophile who was described by other Little League players as a team "hanger-on" who drove boys to and from games.

"After 37 years of addiction and suffering that flowed from sexual abuse by St Kilda Little League coach Darrell Ray and team manager Albert Briggs, I found it liberating to confront my abusers and tell my story," Owen said in the statement.

"I'm now on a path to rebuilding my life, and finding a sense of inner calm, but it enrages me to know that so many other St Kilda Little League players suffered abuse.

"In recent weeks, I've learned that my courage has inspired a similar fearlessness in others. Their stories need to be heard. But some men didn't make it, and I join their families to ask why nothing was done to protect us.

"As boys, our only crime was to love football and want to wear the St Kilda jumper. No child should experience what we went through."

Having represented Owen during his time as a senior AFL player, decades before Owen had revealed his abuse, Jess said he previously struggled to comprehend Owen's anger and mood swings.

"He was at war with the world, and I just didn't understand it," Jess says.

"The situation changed when I then started seeing similar things happen with guys out of the Church abuse system. The light bulb went on straight away that there was something happening here.

"It was only of late when we then got the cause of this that it all made sense to me, and it all made sense to a lot of other people who had been hurt by Rod along the way, where he just didn't have the skills to deal with it."

Jess said that among the questions that needed to be answered by the AFL and St Kilda was how offenders could go undetected for so long.

"It's beyond comprehension. It's absolutely beyond belief that there was no pathway for these kids to actually warn and have this stopped. This went on for 11 years, which is unbelievable.

"The problem that I have is there was no oversight by the club or the AFL, as it was then the VFL. The scope of [the offending] is breathtaking in its extent, its deviousness, and how they were groomed via the Little League.”

Jess says a pillar of the AFL's response should be updated protocols to ensure that football never sees a repeat of the abuse that took place at St Kilda.

"We need a central database across all sports to make sure the appropriate people with the appropriate training and clearances are coaching children," Jess said.

"From AusKick right through to senior football, parents need to be assured of the suitability of the people caring for their children."

Owen and Jess are establishing a support group for survivors of abuse in the St Kilda Little League. Jess said many former players "still feel as though they don't have a proper voice".

"When you're a victim of sexual abuse, it's a very, very lonely place to be, because part of it is enshrined in secrecy between the adult and the child, and there is this constant blurring of lines, and it's just a horrible way that these guys have to deal with their lives in the dark and in the grey of this abuse system."

On Tuesday, ABC Sport asked the AFL whether a formal investigation would be conducted into the Little League's operations in the 1960s and 70s.

An AFL spokesperson responded: “The AFL takes extremely seriously the distressing reports of sexual assaults having been suffered during the period outlined. The Victoria Police are the appropriate authority to investigate these claims of criminal activity and the AFL will provide further support and welfare for those wanting to come forward.”

The AFL declined to comment on when it first became aware of child sexual abuse within the St Kilda Little League team.

[Happy Days]

Re: McGuire stepping down as President of Collingwood

What's this?

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/apology-after-hitler-used-as-example-of-leadership-in-childrens-seminar/news-story/7a318f99dd5ea666087e75063d27d618

Sorry for the Australian link but wow. Bet they’re just interested in that era of history.

[EasternWest]

Re: McGuire stepping down as President of Collingwood

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/bre...7e75063d27d618

Sorry for the Australian link but wow. Bet they’re just interested in that era of history.

Well Hitler was certainly persuasive and tapped right into the undercurrent of belief that a lot of people were too afraid to show themselves BUT I wouldn't say he was a great leader.

He invaded Russia in winter ffs.

Oh and also, WTF.

[Grantysghost]

Re: McGuire stepping down as President of Collingwood

Well Hitler was certainly persuasive and tapped right into the undercurrent of belief that a lot of people were too afraid to show themselves BUT I wouldn't say he was a great leader.

He invaded Russia in winter ffs.

Oh and also, WTF.

Mussolini's to thank. Couldn't handle the Greeks so the Germans intervened delaying Barbarossa.

Also WTAF!

[Ghost Dog]

Re: McGuire stepping down as President of Collingwood

Incredible that a convicted person could continue to be a life member. This seems highly irregular.

[Twodogs]

Re: McGuire stepping down as President of Collingwood

Not sure about the Nazi part but there is this:

Player advocate Peter Jess says St Kilda abuse scandal ‘beyond belief’, could end up in courts

Key points:
- ABC Sport revealed paedophile coaches infiltrated the St Kilda Football Club for a decade in the 1960s and 70s
- The coaches were involved with the St Kilda Little League team
- Player advocate Peter Jess believes the scandal could end up in court, and that hundreds of children may have suffered abuse

The St Kilda Little League child sexual abuse scandal is likely to end up in the courts, according to veteran player advocate Peter Jess.

Jess, who has been representing former player Rod Owen in discussions with St Kilda, said there would need to be "some fairly significant change" in the AFL and St Kilda's response to the issue to avoid legal action.

"The only contemporary scenario we have that mirrors this is the child abuse in the Church and in some of the (children's) homes," Jess says.

"At the end of the day, the only way that true justice could be found was via the courts, and that's possibly going to be the case here.

"There has to be an end game where all of these issues are resolved, and unfortunately compensation is one of those."

Former St Kilda star Rod Owen revealed to ABC Sport in April that he was sexually molested by longtime St Kilda Little League coach Darrell Ray and team manager Albert Briggs. Dozens of other survivors have since spoken to the ABC about sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of the paedophile ring that infiltrated the team in the 1960s and 70s.

"There could be hundreds of kids that we actually find from this," Jess says.

"All have similar stories to Rod. Some of the worst outcomes are guys who committed massive self-harm, and some of them have even taken their own lives."

Jess has criticised the lack of decisive action from the AFL and St Kilda.

The Saints are yet to make a decision on the life membership statuses of Briggs and Trevor Gravell, the latter a convicted paedophile who remains a life member at St Kilda. The ABC does not suggest that Gravell had any involvement with the club's Little League team or its players.

"This is an issue that needs strong leadership and at this stage I'm not seeing that," Jess says.

"It should have been a very simple process, rather than the convoluted process of going through a [integrity] committee. You're either a convicted paedophile or you're not, and if you are, then you have no place inside that sporting club.

"Under your general banner, you must come out and make a profound statement. You can't just think it's going to go away.

"True leadership demands that you come out and say, 'Look, if it has happened under our watch, many many years ago, then we have to deal with it in a proper and sensitive way."

in a statement on Tuesday, St Kilda CEO Matt Finnis said: "I want to again say how devastating it is for our club and community to hear these reports of abuse.

“The club's integrity committee, led by a respected retired judge, is managing the issue of life memberships and that is progressing. The club is also consulting with the committee, the AFL’s integrity unit and Victoria Police on how it can most appropriately support those affected.

“On matters that should be investigated, the club has been advised to encourage people to speak with representatives of a Victoria Police sexual offence and child abuse investigation team, and we will offer our full support to anyone wishing to do so.”

In a statement provided to ABC Sport, Owen said he was "enraged" to learn the extent of the abuse by Saints Little League coach Darrell Ray, who led the team for 11 years, and Ray's brother-in-law Gary Mitchell, a convicted paedophile who was described by other Little League players as a team "hanger-on" who drove boys to and from games.

"After 37 years of addiction and suffering that flowed from sexual abuse by St Kilda Little League coach Darrell Ray and team manager Albert Briggs, I found it liberating to confront my abusers and tell my story," Owen said in the statement.

"I'm now on a path to rebuilding my life, and finding a sense of inner calm, but it enrages me to know that so many other St Kilda Little League players suffered abuse.

"In recent weeks, I've learned that my courage has inspired a similar fearlessness in others. Their stories need to be heard. But some men didn't make it, and I join their families to ask why nothing was done to protect us.

"As boys, our only crime was to love football and want to wear the St Kilda jumper. No child should experience what we went through."

Having represented Owen during his time as a senior AFL player, decades before Owen had revealed his abuse, Jess said he previously struggled to comprehend Owen's anger and mood swings.

"He was at war with the world, and I just didn't understand it," Jess says.

"The situation changed when I then started seeing similar things happen with guys out of the Church abuse system. The light bulb went on straight away that there was something happening here.

"It was only of late when we then got the cause of this that it all made sense to me, and it all made sense to a lot of other people who had been hurt by Rod along the way, where he just didn't have the skills to deal with it."

Jess said that among the questions that needed to be answered by the AFL and St Kilda was how offenders could go undetected for so long.

"It's beyond comprehension. It's absolutely beyond belief that there was no pathway for these kids to actually warn and have this stopped. This went on for 11 years, which is unbelievable.

"The problem that I have is there was no oversight by the club or the AFL, as it was then the VFL. The scope of [the offending] is breathtaking in its extent, its deviousness, and how they were groomed via the Little League.”

Jess says a pillar of the AFL's response should be updated protocols to ensure that football never sees a repeat of the abuse that took place at St Kilda.

"We need a central database across all sports to make sure the appropriate people with the appropriate training and clearances are coaching children," Jess said.

"From AusKick right through to senior football, parents need to be assured of the suitability of the people caring for their children."

Owen and Jess are establishing a support group for survivors of abuse in the St Kilda Little League. Jess said many former players "still feel as though they don't have a proper voice".

"When you're a victim of sexual abuse, it's a very, very lonely place to be, because part of it is enshrined in secrecy between the adult and the child, and there is this constant blurring of lines, and it's just a horrible way that these guys have to deal with their lives in the dark and in the grey of this abuse system."

On Tuesday, ABC Sport asked the AFL whether a formal investigation would be conducted into the Little League's operations in the 1960s and 70s.

An AFL spokesperson responded: “The AFL takes extremely seriously the distressing reports of sexual assaults having been suffered during the period outlined. The Victoria Police are the appropriate authority to investigate these claims of criminal activity and the AFL will provide further support and welfare for those wanting to come forward.”

The AFL declined to comment on when it first became aware of child sexual abuse within the St Kilda Little League team.

I read this article the other day. It's heartbreaking and compelling all at the same time. Especially when you find out who it is chasing Owen down Bay Street.



Owen only remembers that he was off his head again and letting people down. Back then, he'd say so in tearful, self-lacerating tirades: "I know I'm insane … I know I'm on another planet … I know you're sick of me …"

So there he was on another lost afternoon, feeling more desperate and disturbed and other-planetary than ever before. Only now he stood on the brink of total catastrophe, pacing around town with a knife down his pants.

But he hadn't counted on the figure approaching him from behind.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-03/written-off-as-an-addict-afl-star-rod-owen-hiding-dark-secrets/13255584

[jeemak]

Re: McGuire stepping down as President of Collingwood

I read this article the other day. It's heartbreaking and compelling all at the same time. Especially when you find out who it is chasing Owen down Bay Street.



Owen only remembers that he was off his head again and letting people down. Back then, he'd say so in tearful, self-lacerating tirades: "I know I'm insane … I know I'm on another planet … I know you're sick of me …"

So there he was on another lost afternoon, feeling more desperate and disturbed and other-planetary than ever before. Only now he stood on the brink of total catastrophe, pacing around town with a knife down his pants.

But he hadn't counted on the figure approaching him from behind.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-...crets/13255584

That's an amazing read TD. Thanks for posting.

[Twodogs]

Re: McGuire stepping down as President of Collingwood

That's an amazing read TD. Thanks for posting.

It is amazing. That is exactly the right word for it. Hopefully Rod Owen has driven his demons away.

There's a song called Another Girl, Another Planet by the Undertones and it has a lyric "Space travel's in my blood There ain't nothing I can do about it" the very first time I heard it I knew exactly what he was on about.

[merantau]

Re: McGuire stepping down as President of Collingwood

That is a very difficult story to read. Rod Owen has done a mighty job to turn his life around. Sad that he had to endure so much indifference from people who should have had his back.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: McGuire stepping down as President of Collingwood

Now Eddies replacement, Korda, is stepping down next year.

Collingwood two presidents in 3 years. Just appointed a coach. Salary cap still a mess.
Essendon no finals win no sooner than 6560 days. WADA/ASADA.
Carlton 86 coaches in 14 years. Without one right now.
Hawthorn sacked one of the most successful clubs and paid him out $1,000,000 which ripped the club a part
Geelong perpetually clogging up their list and finals. No flag since 2011 despite all their advantages.

………,

[jeemak]

Re: McGuire stepping down as President of Collingwood

Now Eddies replacement, Korda, is stepping down next year.

Collingwood two presidents in 3 years. Just appointed a coach. Salary cap still a mess.
Essendon no finals win no sooner than 6560 days. WADA/ASADA.
Carlton 86 coaches in 14 years. Without one right now.
Hawthorn sacked one of the most successful clubs and paid him out $1,000,000 which ripped the club a part
Geelong perpetually clogging up their list and finals. No flag since 2011 despite all their advantages.

………,

It's a bit rough to lump those three with Carlton and Essendon, I mean I get two of them are having a shitty patch but Carlton and Essendon are literally the pits and the epitome of dinosaur cultures that haven't adapted in any way to the new order.

That's not to suggest I don't wish the same fate befalls those three, hopefully it's just a matter of time until it does, but they have a few credits in the bank before we can credibly lump them with the terrible two.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: McGuire stepping down as President of Collingwood

It's a bit rough to lump those three with Carlton and Essendon, I mean I get two of them are having a shitty patch but Carlton and Essendon are literally the pits and the epitome of dinosaur cultures that haven't adapted in any way to the new order.

That's not to suggest I don't wish the same fate befalls those three, hopefully it's just a matter of time until it does, but they have a few credits in the bank before we can credibly lump them with the terrible two.

You are kind to Collingwood. 2 presidents in 3 years. Sacked the coach. Sacked two assistants. Gave away Phillips & Stephenson because of salary cap incompetence. Compounded by paying Treloar $1.5M to leave for not much trade capital. Then used Buckley to tell the world it was because the senior players didn’t like Adam and Adam would be distracted having his family In Queensland. Which is morally bankrupt. Traded away Pick 2 this year for magic beans, while meant to be rebuilding. Sacked Ned Guy. Still got salary cap issues. Racism investigation that was an disgusting indictment on the club. Etc. Etc.

[jeemak]

Re: McGuire stepping down as President of Collingwood

You are kind to Collingwood. 2 presidents in 3 years. Sacked the coach. Sacked two assistants. Gave away Phillips & Stephenson because of salary cap incompetence. Compounded by paying Treloar $1.5M to leave for not much trade capital. Then used Buckley to tell the world it was because the senior players didn’t like Adam and Adam would be distracted having his family In Queensland. Which is morally bankrupt. Traded away Pick 2 this year for magic beans, while meant to be rebuilding. Sacked Ned Guy. Still got salary cap issues. Racism investigation that was an disgusting indictment on the club. Etc. Etc.

Yeah it's a patch, a shocking one but still a patch (inherent racism excluded). They were a kick away from a premiership in 2018 and won one in 2010. Essendon and Carlton are in a different league.

But I take your point.