Alex Rance, 2:15 press conference

[Bitter but optimistic 22,279]

I don't condone violence. ( Unless it's a jolly good flogging) . However, there has been a fair amount of bull  shite over this issue.

Rance did  a stupid act. He apologized, admitted it was stupid and didn't want young players to follow his example. He copped two weeks for this.

End of story IMO.

I still cant get over that [censored] that Merrett  did to Pedo a couple of years ago and got away with.

When I played suburban/country footy getting " a whack behind the ear:" was standard practice. I remember one occasion when the coach instructed me to " give one " to an oppo player  who was killing us. I duly followed his instructions at the first opportunity and received a quick 15 back.. The bastard was a TV ringside boxer!!

A bit after that I worked as a barman/bouncer at a Port Melbourne and a Richmond pub. Copped a few. One night a bloke hit a fellow barman with a stool and the jumped the the bar to finish him. I grabbed a big cordial bottle and hit the [censored] between the eyes. That was in Port Melbourne. I [censored] of immediately and never went back to collect my pay.;

As I said, you do stupid things.

[daisycutter 29,795]

Just now, Bitter but optimistic said:

I don't condone violence. ( Unless it's a jolly good flogging) . However, there has been a fair amount of bull  shite over this issue.

Rance did  a stupid act. He apologized, admitted it was stupid and didn't want young players to follow his example. He copped two weeks for this.

End of story IMO.

I still cant get over that [censored] that Merrett  did to Pedo a couple of years ago and got away with.

When I played suburban/country footy getting " a whack behind the ear:" was standard practice. I remember one occasion when the coach instructed me to " give one " to an oppo player  who was killing us. I duly followed his instructions at the first opportunity and received a quick 15 back.. The bastard was a TV ringside boxer!!

A bit after that I worked as a barman/bouncer at a Port Melbourne and a Richmond pub. Copped a few. One night a bloke hit a fellow barman with a stool and the jumped the the bar to finish him. I grabbed a big cordial bottle and hit the [censored] between the eyes. That was in Port Melbourne. I [censored] of immediately and never went back to collect my pay.;

As I said, you do stupid things.

was the cordial bottle sarsparilla, bitters? i hope it wasn't and was the cheap pub lemon squash. couldn't waste sars on a bogan thug

[stuie 7,374]

5 minutes ago, Bitter but optimistic said:

I don't condone violence. ( Unless it's a jolly good flogging) . However, there has been a fair amount of bull  shite over this issue.

Rance did  a stupid act. He apologized, admitted it was stupid and didn't want young players to follow his example. He copped two weeks for this.

End of story IMO.

I still cant get over that [censored] that Merrett  did to Pedo a couple of years ago and got away with.

When I played suburban/country footy getting " a whack behind the ear:" was standard practice. I remember one occasion when the coach instructed me to " give one " to an oppo player  who was killing us. I duly followed his instructions at the first opportunity and received a quick 15 back.. The bastard was a TV ringside boxer!!

A bit after that I worked as a barman/bouncer at a Port Melbourne and a Richmond pub. Copped a few. One night a bloke hit a fellow barman with a stool and the jumped the the bar to finish him. I grabbed a big cordial bottle and hit the [censored] between the eyes. That was in Port Melbourne. I [censored] of immediately and never went back to collect my pay.;

As I said, you do stupid things.

You've been lucky then to be honest, and sounds a little bit like you're still glorifying it to an extent. ("Ah the old days when you could wack someone" etc...)

There's a family called the Cronins that might not agree this sort of thing is not a big deal and I'm glad he's copped it for being such a weak dog.

The "coward punch" is a legitimate issue at the moment, and who do you think young blokes look up to more than footy players?

 

 

[Little Richard 6,265]

1 hour ago, Akum said:

Agree, although there was a bit of "wouldn't want this one mistake make anyone think badly of me".

The main reason for the presser was to try to protect his reputation.

You can't know that for sure. Maybe he was genuinely remorseful and felt so bad that he needed to call the presser to alleviate his guilt?

Didn't seem like the latter though.

[chook fowler 19,657]

I think he was genuinely remorseful and is a decent bloke - 2 weeks seems fair. Time to let it be.

[Little Richard 6,265]

I'm just happy that Watts was fine, and Viney and Vince weren't cited.

[Moonshadow 17,678]

50 minutes ago, stuie said:

You've been lucky then to be honest, and sounds a little bit like you're still glorifying it to an extent. ("Ah the old days when you could wack someone" etc...)

There's a family called the Cronins that might not agree this sort of thing is not a big deal and I'm glad he's copped it for being such a weak dog.

The "coward punch" is a legitimate issue at the moment, and who do you think young blokes look up to more than footy players?

 

 

I'd be fairly confident that when posters say "Ah the good old days..." they are tongue in cheek referring to their advancing age and the eras of football they've seen rather than condoning or glorifying violence on the field.

Of course the Cronin family would be upset by any violence given their son/sibling died from a coward's punch, no one is denying that. Using them in an emotive rant is tasteless.

I don't think Rance is a "weak dog" as you put it. I certainly see the irony in faceless people behind a keyboard calling him that, especially after he fronted the media, apologised and took full blame. What he did was stupid, out of character and could have had far worse consequences. Thankfully it didn't. There are no excuses for violence, people make mistakes, sometimes bad ones, nobody is perfect, he has been penalised by the AFL and we move on. 

I do not like what Rance did one bit and it sends a poor message to kids about actions on the footy field. He has made significant effort to apologise and condemn violence, which will make some difference and should be accepted in good faith. Would the Cronin family be please to hear of Rance's public contrition? 

Edited April 26, 2016 by Moonshadow

[Sir Why You Little 37,239]

A simple text message to Jack Watts should have been enough....

[Little Richard 6,265]

Just now, Sir Why You Little said:

A simple text message to Jack Watts should have been enough....

A call would be better WYL. 

[Bitter but optimistic 22,279]

1 minute ago, Sir Why You Little said:

A simple text message to Jack Watts should have been enough....

Yes correct SWYL and he did exactly that!! And apparently Jack replied and cleared the air.

[Sir Why You Little 37,239]

1 minute ago, Django said:

A call would be better WYL. 

Jack may still have a headache...

[daisycutter 29,795]

1 minute ago, Sir Why You Little said:

A simple text message to Jack Watts should have been enough....

i suppose sexting him would be a bit too much though 

[Bitter but optimistic 22,279]

55 minutes ago, stuie said:

You've been lucky then to be honest, and sounds a little bit like you're still glorifying it to an extent. ("Ah the old days when you could wack someone" etc...)

There's a family called the Cronins that might not agree this sort of thing is not a big deal and I'm glad he's copped it for being such a weak dog.

The "coward punch" is a legitimate issue at the moment, and who do you think young blokes look up to more than footy players?

 

 

It was a different world then Stu. You would actually " step outside". However, in retrospect we were dick  heads!

[picket fence 17,727]

59 minutes ago, Bitter but optimistic said:

I don't condone violence. ( Unless it's a jolly good flogging) . However, there has been a fair amount of bull  shite over this issue.

Rance did  a stupid act. He apologized, admitted it was stupid and didn't want young players to follow his example. He copped two weeks for this.

End of story IMO.

I still cant get over that [censored] that Merrett  did to Pedo a couple of years ago and got away with.

When I played suburban/country footy getting " a whack behind the ear:" was standard practice. I remember one occasion when the coach instructed me to " give one " to an oppo player  who was killing us. I duly followed his instructions at the first opportunity and received a quick 15 back.. The bastard was a TV ringside boxer!!

A bit after that I worked as a barman/bouncer at a Port Melbourne and a Richmond pub. Copped a few. One night a bloke hit a fellow barman with a stool and the jumped the the bar to finish him. I grabbed a big cordial bottle and hit the [censored] between the eyes. That was in Port Melbourne. I [censored] of immediately and never went back to collect my pay.;

As I said, you do stupid things.

I alway thought Uncle Bitters that you were a man of honour and this proves it!! Agree somewhat! FWIW Rance knows that the damage which Could have been inflicted could have been much much worse! Thank Christmas it wasn't but in this day and age the one punch, reckless action can maim or even kill! I Reckon although clearly he has viewed the incident with many regrets, I can't help feeling that even though I think he is genuine either himself or club though a bit of PR wouldn't go astray!

We all do things in the heat of the moment and gee did I have  "White Line Fever" Shheit I did some terrible things but always was able to attone in some ways.

I'll  give Rance the benefit of the doubt although as said the outcome could have been a lot worse!!

Mistakes happen lets all move on!

[John Crow Batty 8,879]

Have listened to the apology. Has about the same level of sincerity as when I apologised to the headmaster after I deliberalty flooded the toilets when at high school.

Edited April 26, 2016 by america de cali

[beelzebub 23,384]

Let's please put this in perspective. Here we have a bloke having a bad day as his team gets done. Yes he's frustrated...poor diddums.

Does he A) play harder/better and try to turn things

Does he B) Take out frustrations by say punching the ground 

Or does he C) give a player laying face down under him a good whack to the back of the head...just to feel better 

It's C ... How appropriate 

[biggestred 5,183]

He sent wattsy a text. Classy guy. Takes real balls to do that.

/endsarcasm

[censored]

[monoccular 17,607]

6 hours ago, Outside fifty said:

Hats off to you ADC. The one thing every good footy forum needs is Biblical quotes, sad to say it but Demonland has been lacking in this regard. You have righted the ship. Well played Sir.

 

6 hours ago, mo64 said:

Exactly. He could have just posted a tweet, or had the members of his cult drop a pamphlet in people's letterboxes.

 

 

John 18:22

When He had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jack Jesus, saying, "Is that the way You answer the high priest

[grazman 7,499]

I think people just need to move on. It was a dumb act, but hardly from the Leigh Matthew's School of thuggery or even in the same league as some of our own have meted out over the years. 

 

Many of us playing bush footy would have seen and experienced far worse than this.

[monoccular 17,607]

19 minutes ago, america de cali said:

Have listened to the apology. Has about the same level of sincerity as when I apologised to the headmaster after I deliberalty flooded the toilets when at high school.

The classic apology : "I am really truly sorry (under breath-that I was caught)"

Politicians, adulterers, drug cheats, etc etc

[Nasher 33,617]

23 minutes ago, grazman said:

Many of us playing bush footy would have seen and experienced far worse than this.

While I agree with the "move on" sentiment graz, I've never been a big fan of "I've seen worse" being used as a reason for mitigation.

[grazman 7,499]

16 minutes ago, Nasher said:

While I agree with the "move on" sentiment graz, I've never been a big fan of "I've seen worse" being used as a reason for mitigation.

Agree Nash. Not arguing mitigation, but some of the reactions are over the top. What he did is hardly a hanging offence in the annals of footy violence was the point I was attempting to make.