Caroline Wilson's descent into gutter journalism

[dees189227 12,373]

Why she is just saying what everyone else is thinking. Dwayne Russell compared Stynes to Lance Armstrong which I think is more disgusting. Unfortunately people are going to drag Jims name up but it seems that former members just cant stop talking. Im waiting for another player to speak up.

It seems a lot of jounos have an issue with Schwab. I wonder why. There was a reason we dumped him int he 1st place,

However i do take issue with the manipulating results. I thought the secret player said we were never told to lose games. They were just told they would be put in different positions. So the players didnt manipulate. Also now an ex sponser has comeout and said we boasted about getting draft picks. Great in future I say watch what u say. Anyway im more worried about the outcome because Andrew D would be furious that he has been proven wrong yet again. He didnt believe Lewis when he said there is a drug problem in the AFL. I just hope we can drag this out past the draft.

[scarlett 247]

can anyone remember terry wallace saying before one game how he felt the game was in trouble because he knew his team was better off to lose? but i bet in his stomach he would of be trying to win, or libba stateing that there was a vibe at carlton and everyone knew it that they didnt want to win, but at the same time can you imagine players wanting to lose? can anyone spot the difference? if it was happening to carlton or collingwood or eagles most of us would probably be reading with keen interest of her opinion. thats what she is also paid to do, its a opinion piece, i dont see any quotes or sources, so she has clearly got some information and is building from that, but the source isn't reliable or can not be named due to legal reasons to bring into it.

she fails to mention that time and again A.D has described tanking as players instructed or going onto the field of play to lose. some players may of picked up on the vibe like fev and whitnel(spelling?) but were they ever told not to win, i doubt any player would choose to lose over winning. if any of our players didnt try they're hardest to win, then we should be punished, the players that are still in the team should be punished for letting that happen, and anyone to do with the club should be punished. i doubt any player went out wanting to lose. i've had similar experiences with cricket where if we lost to my best mates team they would of made the finals, i wanted them to make the finals but at the same time did everything i could to win. i suspect all people that play sport would be the same. tell me that Frawley or Warnock wouldnt of been trying they're hardest in the forward line?

i cant remember exactly but i think robertson got moved into the centre square towards the end of the tigers match, if memory serves he actually won a centre clearance which was tapped down to him by miller in the ruck, tell me if they weren't trying to win then why were they doing that?

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

Biased reporting is OK with you ?

Then why are you complaining ?

What? There is bias everywhere, I don't care about political persuasion is all I'm saying.

[pantaloons 2,019]

She is just a disgusting human being. Surely nobody reads this tripe and thinks she's making a level-headed case. She comes out as incredulous that Melbourne and its "more rabid supporters", which I assume means she's either been reading Demonland or had the phone ringing constantly with irate Melbourne supporters, are staunch in our defence. She has provided nothing new in the latest handful of manure she's lobbed at the club, only an increase in vitriol and bitterness. I thought the witch was usually the one being hunted.

Edited November 2, 2012 by pantaloons

[Born to Run 204]

This is an opinion piece from Wilson and she's entitled to have opinions although many might ask, given that she holds these particular opinions, whether she is capable of reporting the facts on the issue of the Melbourne Football Club objectively.

Personally, I don't think she is but I won't hold my breath waiting for the newspaper's editor to do what's morally right and take her off this case.

On the other hand, I think it would be not only helpful, but fair if the Age gave space for someone to provide an opinion piece giving the opposite viewpoint.

Finally, while I give credit to her for her work from time to time as a journalist, she needs to brush up on her skills when writing op eds.

Martin Flannigan actually did write a piece saying that we did not tank but we were just ordinary that year. So there has been one age article in support.

Caro really wants this story to be hers though.

[mjt 640]

Patrick Smiths piece in the Australian today sums it up, we didnt tank, the players didnt throw the game, someone paste it.

[DeeGee 177]

I agree with the overall sentiments on this thread about that article. Very ordinary journalism in my opinion.

It seems to me we need a number of Demonland contributors to write to the letters section of The Age. Surely at least 1 letter would be published.

The letters should be well written with clear arguments and no vitriol. As someone said earlier, we aren't Collingwood supporters.

Who volunteers to write one?

[Thehardtackler 785]

This latest piece is overflowing with bias and venom. Wilson must be sued by Melbourne FC immediately.

[MadAsHell 4,212]

It's a left wing rag.

But whatever floats your boat.

I don't know BH, I think it's just that the Herald Sun and Australian are so far right, it can be difficult remembering where center is?

Having said that though I did find it funny reading Michael Warner's article in the Herald Sun that said there may be enough evidence for us to have a case to answer, while Caro in The Age simply says we will face heavy sanctions.

So we have one paperr saying we will be penalised without a right of reply and the other saying we still may not even have a case to answer......

It's these reasons like this as to why I'm still quietly confident that we'll be right. Seems nothing more then the agenda of some disgruntled ex players, coaches and people in the media with an axe to grind.

[Choko 493]

The more I hear, including the Herald Sun this morning, the more I think two things:

1. We were doing what the system let us do and we made a legitimate strategic decision based on the options before us and the rules in place. Whether that was a good strategic decision... Well Eddie admitted he would have done it, so it's at least not unreasonable.

2. We were doing it in a more amateurish fashion.

We should not get "done" for tanking, because if you look at the rule (Caro should do that some time) there is not only no evidence I have heard that we breached it, there is positive evidence to the contrary.

If we do get penalised, it will only be because of the way our club is managed. The lack of leadership, poor decisions, churning and burning of ex-employees, loose lips and unprofessional conduct. Where there's smoke, there's fire. 186 was a revolt, sponsors, officials and players are coming forward and the investigation is clearly continuing when the AFL has a clear agenda to deny and put it to bed.

McLardy is right to want natural justice. In a court of law, looking at the rules, I don't think we could be found guilty. But in the court of public opinion, we are copping a dose of our own amateurism.

[markc 975]

she is getting the reaction she wants here , I would g/tee she is reading here and for fixing mistakes as she done in previous articles

the tide seemed to turn with MFC responding and she didnt like what we said. so she came out with her latest rubbish , well thats my read on it

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

she is getting the reaction she wants here , I would g/tee she is reading here and for fixing mistakes as she done in previous articles

the tide seemed to turn with MFC responding and she didnt like what we said. so she came out with her latest rubbish , well thats my read on it

She said on 3AW that she is receiving loads of hate mail from "disillusioned" Melbourne supporters. No doubt it is a big middle finger to us, and it's working.

[Frenzy Mckenzie 61]

If she really wanted melbourne to be penalized running a vitriolic smear campaign against us isnt the right way to go about it. It will only further crystalise support for us in the main stream. She must really hate the mfc to put her journalistic integrity on the line the way she is at the moment. What have we done to you caro? Was CC or CS mean to you as kids?

[Lucifers Hero 39,603]

I thought we have been shooting the messenger up until now but this is totally over the top, she's throwing the toys out of the sandpit.

So did I. I even posted similar comment to this ealier in the week. But now, WOW! The latest is totally OTT!

I'm over defending the messsanger! Garry shoud find a "Caro's Arrow' and aim it in her direction.

[Older demon 2,741]

I really don't like Caro. So she never made a mistake or did something in her youth she now regrets, ha, what a hypocrite. What has she against Melbourne that she is happy to pour such vitriol on the club and write an OPINION piece not a factual piece written on a basis of good investigative journalism. IT is a bad combination to have a vindictive journo looking for something in a slow news month and a lot of [censored] off former employees.

Can the club take legal action against her now based on todays article? Will Gary Lyon have a quiet word and tell her to back off? And will all Melbourne supporters cancel their subscriptions to the Age in all forms and drop the promotions we get for cheap Age subscriptions.

[IWAP 170]

She said on 3AW that she is receiving loads of hate mail from "disillusioned" Melbourne supporters. No doubt it is a big middle finger to us, and it's working.

I thought the line referring to supporters who ask why other clubs aren't receiving the same treatment as 'feral' was the worst line in the lot.

Anyway, as others have mentioned, this comes off as a typical bigfooty-style troll. Whats the best way to deal with trolls, don't give them the emotionally charged reaction that they want. She knows the type of reaction the article would have generated, so the best response IMO is any that highlights any innacurracies in her reporting, anything that suggests her reporting skills are poor, that may embaress her. I'm sure we'll get other articles like this, and unless they are truly worthy of defamation cases, i think we are going to have to cop it.

[Lucifers Hero 39,603]

Compared to CW, Venom Denham is beginning to look rather tame...

[Waltham33 475]

Air of desperation to this latest piece, maybe CW should scream a little louder

[ILLDieADemon 804]

Its the off season and there is nothing better to write about.

Absolute rubbish, just trying to sell papers.

We need a good St.Kilda footballer scandal to keep the jernos off our backs for a bit.

[diesel 420]

I agree with the overall sentiments on this thread about that article. Very ordinary journalism in my opinion.

It seems to me we need a number of Demonland contributors to write to the letters section of The Age. Surely at least 1 letter would be published.

The letters should be well written with clear arguments and no vitriol. As someone said earlier, we aren't Collingwood supporters.

Who volunteers to write one?

Sorry mate, don't have the time to bother. Just voted with my feet in cancelling my Age on-line subscription. Hopefully they put the pay wall soon an like the Herald Sun I won't have to even stumble upon it. Unfortunately the ABC now looks like the only news resource in Australia to provide news reporting without a toxic mix of fiction and opinion.

[SidVicious 130]

She's a Richmond person and she's just landed in the gutter. What's new?

At least she's got Martin and Edwards in there for company.

[bush demon 2,038]

How fitting that the AFL use as their proxy commentator a person whose writings have always avoided the contest, in its place self-promoting headlines about off-field intrigues. With blokes this is called small man syndrome. That's what poison-pen journalist William Hammersley did to Tom Wills throughout his career.

[Hannibal 5,814]

She has breathtakingly hitched her wagon to MFC's guilt even though due process isn't completed and no findings submitted. It may be a long bow to draw, but should the MFC be found to have no case to answer her position in football would be just about untenable.

I find her inflammatory remarks and hasty judgment of the club prior to the completion of the investigation as disgusting as she finds the issue of "tanking".

[heartbeatstrue 57]

vile & vitriolic, oozing hatred for MFC

[Flying Cloud 152]

The HS going with a rep from an unnamed former sponsor claiming a club official made the comment that we "made sure" we got the priority pick.

Even with the assumption all of it is true, it could easily be the official's perception, or even revisionist history because they though it puts the club in a better light - i.e. we weren't really that bad; we meant to do that.

It is incredible the number of people with perfect memories of words spoken and meeting that took place well over 3 years ago. Just saying.