Exclusive: Melbourne under fire for “concerning” conduct

By Tom Morris

The conduct of Melbourne Football Clubsenior leaders is under the microscope following a phone hook-up on February 5 which involved the girlfriends and wives of players.

The TEAMS meeting, which commenced at 7:30pm, was framed as an introductory session for partners of players to meet CEO Paul Guerra, coach Steven King, and footy boss Alan Richardson to address "a matter that impacts the football program".

There were approximately 15 partners on the call, but no psychologists or welfare officers.

A whistleblower who was on the call has claimed confidentiality obligations were breached regarding Steve May and his partner Sachi Dade’s personal situation, along with the sharing of inappropriate and inaccurate legal information.

SEN understands senior officials such as Tom Harley at the AFL and James Gallagher at the AFL Players’ Association are aware of concerns around the phone hook-up, which lasted approximately 20 minutes.

The AFLPA believed it was serious enough to refer the matter to the AFL following a complaint. The league has since referred it to Melbourne but has remained in close contact with the Demons as they navigate it behind closed doors.

Following a brief introduction, the meeting quickly pivoted into a discussion regarding premiership player May (who was on personal leave at the time) and his partner, Sachi Dade.

The situation related to a welfare check conducted at a private residence on January 29.

No charges were laid and the matter is now resolved, Victoria Police confirmed to SEN.

“This catch up was on the back of a conversation with some leaders in the wake of what’s happened with Maysie,” Richardson told attendees about the reason for the TEAMS call.

“They thought it would be good to catch up.

“What we do know is last Thursday the police were called to the family home.

“It was a combination of a welfare check because Sachi was concerned a bit about Steve, because he’s had some challenges. But clearly there’d been some challenges between Steve and Sachi. That’s pretty clear.

“There’s a lot of work to be done. Steven has agreed to do some personal growth work.”

SEN has chosen not to publish all of what was said, since some of the material is legally sensitive, personal, and unverified.

Disclosing delicate information in a forum of individuals with no contractual obligation to the club prompted a complaint to be made to the AFLPA, with the AFL then included in discussions at a high level.

“Can we all just make sure we keep this information to ourselves?” Richardson said in the meeting at one point.

“The reason that this is a little bit unusual – I don’t think I’ve ever done this before – we’ve had issues with Clayton (Oliver) and the like. Is that this is involving a partner.”

A source present on the call said: “It raises serious questions about whether the club understands or respects even the most basic standards of privacy and duty of care.”

The whistleblower, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, continued: “What is particularly concerning is that this disclosure did not occur in a controlled or necessary environment, but rather in a broadly attended group call that had been framed as a routine and welcoming introduction.”

SEN has obtained a text message sent from a Demons staff member to partners the night before, inviting them to the TEAMS chat.

“Hi all, I’m reaching out to invite you to join an online meeting with Paul Guerra (CEO), Steven King (Head Coach), & Alan Richardson (GM of Football Performance) tomorrow night at 7.30pm.

“They would like to introduce themselves and also have a conversation surrounding a matter that impacts the football program, and we want to ensure you are kept across the information as best we can.”

The source said: “There was no warning that such a delicate matter would be discussed, nor any opportunity to consent to being part of that potentially triggering conversation.

“A situation that should have been carefully managed instead became a platform for the dissemination of non-factual and highly sensitive information, with no apparent regard for the personal, legal or reputational implications for Steven, Sachi or their daughter.”

Guerra also spoke, declaring: “This (the May situation) will not be swept under the carpet.”

“We need to understand that our objective is that we have people living to the standards we want that work and operate inside the Melbourne Football Club… That’s everybody. If they can’t then we will have conversations with them about what that may look like for them going forward.”

King added: “I want our football club to be a welcoming place where everyone can come. Character is obviously a massive part of my values and what I look for in footballers and people as well… It’s really important we address with you tonight the Maysie stuff.”

Despite what appears to be well-intentioned by the club, some on the call have described the meeting as “deeply inappropriate”.

“They made him (May) sound guilty without any of the facts,” the source continued.

“Melbourne shared private and confidential information in a non-controlled, obviously not confidential setting. It was a group call. It felt totally inappropriate. You could feel how taken off-guard everyone was. Nobody was prepared to hear that information.”

Melbourne was contacted for comment

CAROLINE MORRIS !

Meh

The way I look at it is the club got on the front foot to address the matter and keep staff in the loop especially as their was media speculation around Steven May

I dont see any wrong doing here.

What i do have issues is clearly there are still snakes at the footy club whether thats player or partner. Get to the bottom of it, find out who it is and get rid of them.

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by dazzledavey36

Can this club a) hire a lawyer and b) sack Richardson.

Why is it even being discussed?

On the face of it the article does make you wonder why they thought that discussing the issue in this setting or even at all was warranted. This seems so obvious when you read it that it makes me think that surely there was a larger context to it that isn't being mentioned, for whatever reason.

A registered health professional doing this would face a formal AHPRA investigation. The regulatory framework may differ here, but the ethical breach is the same

Edited 8 hours ago8 hr by Engorged Onion

I assume the club wanted to reassure wives and girlfriends that they were taking the allegations against May seriously. They didn't want to be seen to condone the alleged behaviour.

That said, they shouldn't be disclosing legally sensitive information, if that is in fact what they have done.

We will end up paying for this one.

Why on earth would you invite players partners to such a meeting. Most of them would be friends with both May and his partner.

We will get what we deserve.

If these words are true, it's damming and Richo should go.

I understand the intent but the breach of privacy for a very sensitive matter like this is truly horrible.

You could say there are "snakes" at the club but really? Opening this sort of stuff up to such a wide group seems completely mad.

What did they think would happen?

i will say, I'm not sure how a whistleblower giving this story to the Herald Sun and drawing further attention to Steven May helps him, his partner and their daughter.

Yeah, I'm happy for a head or two to roll over this.

Basic breach of duty. Will discourage players from being candid with the club when it comes to any off-field issues.

Would you call Richardson to let him know your problems?

As for accusations of 'snakes' - when the club had this conversation with a bunch of randoms, that gave it all the 'inner sanctum' value of a press conference.

Appalling

Action must be taken

This is a strange one. Can we just have a season where we don't have these off field issues with players.

This does not help the new coach

Stupid actions seem to follow our club

If true and whilst we need to be careful here about its content ,

@Brownie agree “if these words are true, it's damming and Richo should go. I understand the intent but the breach of privacy for a very sensitive matter like this is truly horrible”

More media muckraking.

We have heard only one side of the story, from a so-called whistleblower.

I will reserve judgment until a much fuller context is provided.

1 minute ago, Dee-tonator said:

More media muckraking.

We have heard only one side of the story, from a so-called whistleblower.

I will reserve judgment until a much fuller context is provided.

Thanks for the best post on this issue so far.

23 minutes ago, Little Goffy said:

Yeah, I'm happy for a head or two to roll over this.

Basic breach of duty. Will discourage players from being candid with the club when it comes to any off-field issues.

Would you call Richardson to let him know your problems?

As for accusations of 'snakes' - when the club had this conversation with a bunch of randoms, that gave it all the 'inner sanctum' value of a press conference.

Interesting to see how Guerra handles this one… the fact he didn’t fire him at the time raises a question if this is slightly misrepresented.

Too late to fire him now.

Is it a coincidence that a player hasn't been at the club & since the nothing has been leaked, also the player knows this journo quite well & suddenly the player is mentioned & the story is leaked to this journo Mr Morris.

Whoever Morris spoke to needs to be spoken to.

Let’s hear the other side of the story

Morris is an ongoing problem for the MFC

47 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

The way I look at it is the club got on the front foot to address the matter and keep staff in the loop especially as their was media speculation around Steven May

I dont see any wrong doing here.

What i do have issues is clearly there are still snakes at the footy club whether thats player or partner. Get to the bottom of it, find out who it is and get rid of them.

I disagree, Dazzle.

Without knowing the details of what was said, it sounds like a highly uncontrolled and unprofessional event with no means of really knowing who might be listening in. Can you imagine the ramifications if someone had recorded the conversation? And that's still a possibility.

Apparently no welfare people involved, getting sidetracked and divulging highly sensitive information about alleged dv. It's a balls-up!

Was Sachi Dade made aware of the call beforehand? Did she consent?

Sounds like someone needs to get their rrse kicked.

Even a low grade manager in most workplaces would know this rings alarm bells, let alone senior management of a very public football club

While I don't usually like club leaks, in this case it's probably necessary to pull a few heads in. One person's leaker is another person's legitimate whistle blower.

If this is true, maybe it's time up for Richo?

I just want to know who the rat is and want to see them playing VFL football.

Wonder what Copilot says happened

3 minutes ago, Stiff Arm said:

One person's leaker is another person's legitimate whistle blower.

The AFLPA and AFL were made aware so it appears that the relevant authorities have been notified. that's fair enough

So why the need to tell the story to that grub Morris to publish in his s*it rag newspaper. that's someone with an axe to grind not someone with the best interests of steven Mays partner in mind.