Good little read about Brad Green's thoughts on Dean Bailey. He states that it was an enormous mistake sacking Bailey after the Geelong loss. 

He goes on to say that now that he's in coaching, he can see that Bailey as a coach was 'before his time'. I always tended to think Bailey was too offense centric and our defense really suffered, so this is a very interesting article.

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2017/05/30/former-captain-opens-up-on-bailey-sacking/

Edited May 30, 20178 yr by Luther

Something in me finds it uncomfortable when a former player comments on a sacked coach, regardless of whether it's positive or negative. The players had the chance to redress things at the time.

And Brad needs to understand that there's more to being a head coach than tactical nous.

 

41 minutes ago, mo64 said:

Something in me finds it uncomfortable when a former player comments on a sacked coach, regardless of whether it's positive or negative. The players had the chance to redress things at the time.

And Brad needs to understand that there's more to being a head coach than tactical nous.

 

Agree why wait?? 

How many of the current players are still playing 

Jones? Watts? anyone else??

I blame the lights down at Kardinia Park. Only the Cats who were accustomed to playing at such a shithole could even see the pill after a while.

1 hour ago, Luther said:

I always tended to think Bailey was too offense centric and our defense really suffered,

That was the conventional wisdom sprouted at the time...I think it was all a bit more complex than that but the powers behind the scenes certainly had the media pushing the line.

Was a very ugly time for the club. Up there with the 1996 merger vote. I wasn't around for the Norm Smith sacking, but 186 and Bailey's departure set the tone for Neeld to come in and nearly ruin us.

Thank [censored] for PJ and Roos.

Will be interesting to hear the players talk about that time in years to come.That was a disgraceful epoch and everyone involved should have nothing but shame.

31 minutes ago, Moonshadow said:

Was a very ugly time for the club. Up there with the 1996 merger vote. I wasn't around for the Norm Smith sacking, but 186 and Bailey's departure set the tone for Neeld to come in and nearly ruin us.

Thank [censored] for PJ and Roos.

Agree.....Poorly managed from top to bottom...Poorly managed by Schwab

Would love to know exactly what the players were protesting about 

 

It would be a disgrace and those players should be ashamed of themselves for that game if that's honestly what they did?

On a side note Interesting that Scott Pendlebury said that Brad Green snub him at a school event, but I doesn't surprise me as he comes across as an up himself snob

These were dark times. The Geelong loss still erks me to this day.

RIP Deano.

He deserved better.

186 was untenable for Bailey and most of the playing list. 

Bailey was a good bloke no doubt tactically very good the way we ripped up Sydney was scintillating. However whatever took place on the day he should have been in control and stoped the bleeding.  

Now I never seen the game I refused to watch it but I can gurantee at 15 goals down he didn't bother sticking 3 or 4 extra guys behind the ball and watched another 15 sail through. 

I can't ever accept it. The lack of respect for the supporters needed consequences. The clubs integrity was held to ransom that day and the coaches, recruiters, management and players all had to go. 

Wilson said it was a players revolt: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/player-revolt-preceded-humiliation-20110731-1i6k6.html

To this day it breaks my heart Jim had to take time out of his battle to deal with this shite and that little pisser and his fat dad. 

Edited May 30, 20178 yr by Diablo Deemon

Forgive me if Im wrong, but my understanding of events was this.

In the days leading up to the game the president had had private meetings with the players to get to the bottom of rumours circulating. Upsetting routines and pre game meetings. The  players admitted in private that they had been upset with Schwabs undermining of Bailey as coach. It was felt by some in the upper hierachy that Bailey was " too close" to the players and to that mindset these admissions proved it. The players wanting to stand up for their coach, soon realised that by standing up for the man they went into combat for,  they may have deepened the issue.   

 In the lead up to the game Bailey wanted to take his players away from the trouble and stay overnight in Geelong and had offered to pay out of his own pocket for it. Rejected by Schwab. On game day the players were both demoralised.....and tired. 

We can rave on and on about the shame of 186 but the fact of the matter is even AFTER that game we were closer to the finals that we have been  since 2006. Maybe last year we were as close. My view is that the team leaders were forced by circumstances to take sides with the coach against schwab...and then hauled over the coals for it. The club got exactly what it deserved that day re 186. We were a rabble of a club off the field.  

Maybe Bailey WAS too offensive but the players loved him and had we simply brought in some tougher players and altered our style a little the other way we could have avoided the utter, unmitigated, and brutal disaster that followed. Green was a great player....tarnished by that game. Schwab gets away WAY too lightly imo from this whole thing. Personally Im way tired of blaming the players for being at, what was in reality, a fully crap club back then.

In the cold hard light of day it's all so long ago its forgettable. There are a couple of our legends coaching at the hawks and Brad has meandered through a coupla clubs too !

We've got 2 Richmond nobodys , one in particular whose been there way too long. Time to bring a few experienced home.

And if you want an example of what a club legend does for our system just look @ 24 Robbo !

I'm not even sure what to think of Brad as a person after Pendles said Green would not sign his poster as a kid just after a kids clinic.

Brad Green's version of the events is welcome as would be the versions of all participants in this troubling episode in the club's history. The story provides an insight into the events of the day but only partly helps us to understand how a team supposedly only "one game out of the eight" could perform in that way. If the players indeed did lay down and surrender to make a point about how the club was being administered or how they or Bailey were being treated, it seems to me to be a very strange way for them to act or to react. 

There are some very complex layers to the story and the day awaits when a historian examines what happened in full detail. I'm not sure that's ever going to happen. 

Thread needs more Whiteboard Wednsesdays.

Sadly it says to me that Brad Green was a fairly poor captain if he allowed players to "lay down" on that black day in support of the coach

Bails was always going to get the chop after that game. It's just a shame Schwab didn't leave through the same door

3 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Sadly it says to me that Brad Green was a fairly poor captain if he allowed players to "lay down" on that black day in support of the coach

Bails was always going to get the chop after that game. It's just a shame Schwab didn't leave through the same door

One benefit of that day was that WE demanded to know WTF was going on.

Chris Cuddles Connolly Looks fairly average in all this.

I know you are obsessed with CS but the whole club was rotten with self serving stake holders.

We were a club that you went to if you had nowhere else to go.

I watched them train on the beach prior to that year.Jared Rivers just pulled up stumps early and started joking with Barry P. 

The tails were wagging the dog.

 

We were a 'boyz'  club. A social venue for many over rated persons, at all levels living the dream. 

Our nightmare but a decent wicket for many.

On ‎30‎/‎05‎/‎2017 at 9:07 PM, deefella said:

It would be a disgrace and those players should be ashamed of themselves for that game if that's honestly what they did?

On a side note Interesting that Scott Pendlebury said that Brad Green snub him at a school event, but I doesn't surprise me as he comes across as an up himself snob

Edited June 1, 20178 yr by Bandwagner
brainfade, it's Moloney that plays with

25 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Bails was always going to get the chop after that game. It's just a shame Schwab didn't leave through the same door

100% Schwab should've gone the same day. I love Jimmy and remember him with great fondness but I feel like he protected Schwab because he was a mate, when in reality he was a huge part of the problem.

Like Whispering Jack said, it'd be a very interesting examination of how events can build up to the perfect storm. I feel it would make for a great episode of Open Mike to great a 3 way discussion of it between Brad, Schwab/Don McLardy, and maybe one of the assist coaches at the time. To hear all the layers of the build up to that week, and the feelings going through those layers. We were such a fractured club back then.

Horrible as it was, we well and truly hit rock bottom, but have now built ourselves up again almost as a completely new club. Very few players and administrators are still at the club now.

Edited May 30, 20178 yr by Pates

Firing Bailey wasn't good, but hiring Neeld was a hell of a lot worse.  We talk about some players being coach killers, Neeld rightly or wrongly destroyed a lot of players.

Plan and simple the type of player we drafted through that period was wrong for were the game was heading.  We drafted outside runners that didn't have the skill set required at AFL level.  Trengove was an exception, he could run but also was able to play inside and prior to his feet issues kicked the ball really well.

We forget that despite some terrible losses, DB coached us to some significant wins; e.g Sydney and Brisbane when they were up and about. I won't name names, but DB was for the chop before 186 happened and certain people within the club wanted it that way.  Clearly Jimmy was very ill when the end came for DB and his judgement was clouded.

Regardless of whether Brad Green should have or could have done something as skipper is immaterial, given the white ants had already eaten well and truly into the club's structure.  

DB did not deserve what he got from the MFC.  A very sad chapter in our history.

1 hour ago, Biffen said:

One benefit of that day was that WE demanded to know WTF was going on.

Chris Cuddles Connolly Looks fairly average in all this.

I know you are obsessed with CS but the whole club was rotten with self serving stake holders.

We were a club that you went to if you had nowhere else to go.

I watched them train on the beach prior to that year.Jared Rivers just pulled up stumps early and started joking with Barry P. 

The tails were wagging the dog.

 

I don't know to this day what Cuddles Job actually was. 

Schwab was an interfering CEO

52 minutes ago, iv'a worn smith said:

We forget that despite some terrible losses, DB coached us to some significant wins; e.g Sydney and Brisbane when they were up and about. I won't name names, but DB was for the chop before 186 happened and certain people within the club wanted it that way.  Clearly Jimmy was very ill when the end came for DB and his judgement was clouded.

Regardless of whether Brad Green should have or could have done something as skipper is immaterial, given the white ants had already eaten well and truly into the club's structure.  

DB did not deserve what he got from the MFC.  A very sad chapter in our history.

Unfortunately as you noted, Jimmy was unwell and the easy option was DB getting the chop (even without the white ants). The players from that time were totally bereft of leadership and games like 186, the Bombers drubbing etc happened to often.

Seeing PJ speak, act and turn our club around compared to $chwab is planets apart. We are in good hands and thank f for that.