Martin Flanagan is a shining light at the Age newspaper and is one of the few reasons why I regret that I no longer subscribe to the newspaper these days. He writes stories about the people of the game and his article about Chris Connolly yesterday (difficult to find on line via the iPhone but worth the search) is sheer brilliance - A good man to fill a silence.

It touches the heart, essence and personality of the man who was much more harshly treated than the salary cap cheating CEO of Adelaide and who obviously took an enormous hit for the club he loves.

Flanagan -

I wrote in a column a couple of years ago that Connolly was the sort of bloke who might otherwise be running a pub in country Victoria. There's no question he knows footy well and can speak of it with authority but what Connolly has, in a word, is personality. He is to a footy club what a warm hearth used to be to homes in the depth of a cold northern hemisphere winter.

There's lots more in Flanagan's magical writing and I understand the man has his detractors (and I'll come back to this later) but I feel that for the time being we should just reflect on the above and ask why such a dedicated person and a hero of the club has been made to pay such a heavy price for being loyal.

It is always the most loyal who pay the heaviest price when an organisation gets fingered.

MF wrote a beauty on how Tassy is being bullied by ignorant writers with no knowledge of the place. The comparison was drawn between the European union. WA was cast as Germany and Tassie as Greece (economically at least).

Back to CC:

He and Schwabby made a concerted effort to reunite the club with Demons people from the Eighties after the Gardner /MacNamee fiascos.

He has stepped on the most toes, probably forced the most retirements and departures.

Looked at the draft for the meat market that it is and manipulated it to our advantage.

Lets not dress it up.

Someone had to do it and I'm glad he did.

Loyalty is important to him , so wankers off the field who now work elsewhere or not at all and think it's a revolving door of AFL mates can think again when it comes to us - BP,Flack ,Pauolo, etc

There is more to the bleatings of the Jnr McDonald faction than is let on I reckon-and his supporters are covered in egg.

The tail was wagging the dog at this club.

I saw it myself when I watched the boys train at the beach.

Rivers just stopped for a drink and a chat with the coaches before walking back to it (I was shocked).

I dont trust a man who hasn't made any enemies .

So I trust CC and I hope he enjoys his paid leave.

I dont trust a man who hasn't made any enemies .

This -

"Connolly's the individual around whom people gather. He's the one with whom the campaign began to restore Melbourne that led to Jim Stynes being pushed into the presidency and the subsequent elimination of its debt."

He should never have said what he said, joking or not. After all, it was the only piece of evidence the AFL had as it was the only evidence that showed there may have been a motive to "tank".

He should never have said what he said, joking or not. After all, it was the only piece of evidence the AFL had as it was the only evidence that showed there may have been a motive to "tank".

Suggest you watch the Liberatore footage....

Suggest you watch the Liberatore footage....

good point. lots of "comedy" comments at carlscum too apparently

but they seem to be untouchable at the moment for some strange reason

He should never have said what he said, joking or not. After all, it was the only piece of evidence the AFL had as it was the only evidence that showed there may have been a motive to "tank".

Let's face it, the shoulda, woulda, coulda stuff is not "evidence"' but rather a load of bs concocted by the parties to get a negotiated result to save everyone the cost of a Supreme Court stoush that would have cost far more than $500k and damaged some reputations irreparably. The fact of the matter is that the both the AFL and the MFC held the opinions of senior legal counsel that no case of tanking against us could be sustained. The top brass of the AFL have admitted they can't define tanking. Chris Connolly and to a lesser extent, Dean Bailey, were the patsies.

I hope when the dust settles, Chris gets the rumoured gig at Casey so that he can gainfully fill the time till 1 February 2014 doing valuable work for the Scorpions within the Casey community which will also ultimately benefit the club he loves.

He should never have said what he said, joking or not. After all, it was the only piece of evidence the AFL had as it was the only evidence that showed there may have been a motive to "tank".

If you apply that standard to yourself, you'd never post again. EVER.

Actually, if you applied that standard to this board, no-one would eve post again.

Let's face it, if people got judged on the stuff they say, then the race would have ended a long time ago.

If you apply that standard to yourself, you'd never post again. EVER.

Actually, if you applied that standard to this board, no-one would eve post again.

Let's face it, if people got judged on the stuff they say, then the race would have ended a long time ago.

I'm fine with that.

We live in a democracy and are entitled to say what we think and even make jokes.

Chris Connolly paid a heavy price for telling a joke.

He should never have said what he said, joking or not. After all, it was the only piece of evidence the AFL had as it was the only evidence that showed there may have been a motive to "tank".

Do you think a Coach has ever said anyhting to the players they regretted?

It was said in a private meeting and but for a bs investigation would never have seen the light of day. He even said to the AFL it was a joke and he is the only one who can know that for certain. It was used as convenience, to put a bloke out for 12 months when a salary cap rorting Crows CEO got 6 months. Go figure.

I wonder if a Coach should be investigated and charged with attempted murder for saying to his players, go out and murder these bums. Some things don't really mean what they seem to.

I feel aggrieved for Connolly. I know that he has made mistakes but to me the good easily outweighs the bad. There is no doubt that he has been made a scapegoat for the tanking affair. Unfortunately for Chris he has paid a high price for having a personality.

It's a funny old world we live in these days isn't it.....

One where you cannot call a black man black as it might upset him ...but you can call a white man white

One where you cannot have christmas carols at pre school or schools because it may cause non christians offence

One where if you say something about Islam....there are riots around the world

One where women can have a swimming pool for women only but if men did this they would be yelling sexual discrimination.....

One where a person makes a joke at the expence of his footy club and is banned for 12 months

Yep it's a funny old world.....

It's sad but that remark showed why Chris was probably suited to the role he was in before the suspension. He is a ripping bloke by all accounts but in the environment he was in (lots of past players had the knives out for him due to the 'list management' strategy), he needed to be a little more considered in what he said. I have always said that he, and other clubs officios, were bloody stupid to say the things they did. Is being stupid a crime? Not really but it usually does have consequences due to the actions inspired by stupid thinking. As much as we would like football clubs to be all fun and games, the sniping and behind the scenes shenanigans can be more venomous than federal politics (John Elliott himself said so). CC probably should have realized this.

I'm a little conflicted over the MFC not standing up for Chris to a greater extent. I really wanted the club to draw a line in the sand and support 'our people' (Dean Bailey included) as I feel we haven't done this in the past. However, in the washup, I'm just glad it's over and I hope CC jumped for the sake of the club and that he wasn't pushed.

If you apply that standard to yourself, you'd never post again. EVER.

Actually, if you applied that standard to this board, no-one would eve post again.

Let's face it, if people got judged on the stuff they say, then the race would have ended a long time ago.

We're not in positions of power within the football club. What we say means nothing, I don't understand where you are going with this.

Martin Flanagan is a shining light at the Age newspaper and is one of the few reasons why I regret that I no longer subscribe to the newspaper these days. He writes stories about the people of the game and his article about Chris Connolly yesterday (difficult to find on line via the iPhone but worth the search) is sheer brilliance - A good man to fill a silence.

It touches the heart, essence and personality of the man who was much more harshly treated than the salary cap cheating CEO of Adelaide and who obviously took an enormous hit for the club he loves.

Flanagan -

There's lots more in Flanagan's magical writing and I understand the man has his detractors (and I'll come back to this later) but I feel that for the time being we should just reflect on the above and ask why such a dedicated person and a hero of the club has been made to pay such a heavy price for being loyal.

Good onya Jack.

.... our culture will be rebuilt on Old Aussie Values like taking care of our friends in times of need.

If CC's comment wasn't serving as a circuit breaker then who knows where this would have ended? The AFL needed some blood, they were never going home empty handed once AA made this career ending decision.

They were always going to come down hard on whatever they could find. CC was the pressure valve.

And we thank him.

And the 'loyal' former Demons that take the treat of Zulus seriously...

My hope is that the reality of his punishment is not so severe. That is, he will still be paid, he will still maintain some role of importance at the club during his suspension (how closely are the AFL going to monitor it, really..), and those in football's inner circle do not judge him too harshly for something in which he was made the fall guy.

It is frustrating not being privy to the nature of the negotiations, and to what extent Connolly felt it best that he take the bullet.

So... Chris Connolly is batman?

Went to the Demons shop on Fridiay to get my 2013 guernsey

CC was there tidying up some things as it was his last official day at the Club

First thing he said was to thank ME for supporting the club

Told him how I felt and how he was a scapegoat

He has always put the Club first

He said he was going to do a bit of study and media work for the year

I made a joke about giving Caroline Wilson the No 1 ticketholder at MFC

He is not a fan

Went to the Demons shop on Fridiay to get my 2013 guernsey

CC was there tidying up some things as it was his last official day at the Club

First thing he said was to thank ME for supporting the club

Told him how I felt and how he was a scapegoat

He has always put the Club first

He said he was going to do a bit of study and media work for the year

I made a joke about giving Caroline Wilson the No 1 ticketholder at MFC

He is not a fan

Now there is a surprise.

Hope she does not step in front of him in any car parks late at night.

For that matter any demon fans

Now there is a surprise.

Hope she does not step in front of him in any car parks late at night.

For that matter any demon fans

I didn't see nothin, if you didn't see nothin.

This -

"Connolly's the individual around whom people gather. He's the one with whom the campaign began to restore Melbourne. that led to Jim Stynes being pushed into the presidency and the subsequent elimination of its debt."

............and in doing that ( and in pushing fading players out the door) he made enemies. Hopefully those enemies will now feel that their man has had his punishment.

In the late 80s , we won the pre-season premiership. I can recall acting captain , Danny Hughes, jumping up on the dais to accept the cup announcing that the team wanted to "dedicate the win to their teammate Chrissy Connolly who had just gone into hospital for more knee surgery" . He has always been a personality and a presence.

Chris wanted the coaching job - it must have hurt when he was passed over for a rookie in Bailey. Though I thought it was a good move at the time putting him above Bailey as Operations Manager was a recipe for conflict.

Only a month or two before McLean fed Wilson the dirt she had been craving, I was at an Institute of Directors function on bequest funding ............. and who do I see in the corner but CC. He couldn't have been more friendly - " We've got the oldest supporters and the richest supporters - bequests is where its at he told me"

He's certainly is a passionate Melbourne man.

I didn't see nothin, if you didn't see nothin.

see what!

Cuddles will come back by the sounds of it. Good bloke to have.

Now there is a surprise.

Hope she does not step in front of him in any car parks late at night.

For that matter any demon fans

I have a feeling Chris won't need to be bothered by her.

I think she will be the one to worry, about her ongoing footy journo career.