Tanking back on the radar

[Ricochet]

and now Fev puts his 2 cents in.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/brendan-fevola-admits-carlton-tried-not-to-win-back-in-2007/story-e6frf33l-1226508043021

saying

Fevola said it was "obvious" to the players Carlton were not maximising their chances to win, which would have jeopardised a No.1 draft pick.

But Fevola said players were never given directions not to give their best.

yeh i saw this too, this will stir the pot

Star goalkicker Fevola had played for a month with a broken little finger, but was put in for surgery with two weeks to go.

[Capper]

Connolly might be in deep shower

AFL investigators are exploring claims Melbourne's football department, including its coaches, were threatened with dismissal if they did not employ tactics to tank during the 2009 season.

In a revelation that will rock the foundations of the league's oldest club, several Melbourne employees have told investigators that their livelihood was jeopardised by then Demons general manager of football operations Chris Connolly in July 2009.

According to the employees, Connolly used aggressive language in a brief appearance in front of about 10 Melbourne football people at a review meeting and demanded: "Make this happen, or you'll all get sacked."

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-investigates-claims-demons-football-department-were-told-they-would-be-sacked-if-team-did-not-tank/story-e6frf33l-1226508909123

[ossie85]

I'm for everybody involved in this getting sacked and/or fined. Or even criminally charged.

But I think the current Melbourne administration is just about entirely new, new coaches, new players. Stripping them of picks or massive fines seems to be punishing the wrong people and honestly the Demons might not survive harsh penalties.

Just goes to show losing for short-term gain causes long-term pain. Shattered the culture.

[Grazz]

I'm for everybody involved in this getting sacked and/or fined. Or even criminally charged.

But I think the current Melbourne administration is just about entirely new, new coaches, new players. Stripping them of picks or massive fines seems to be punishing the wrong people and honestly the Demons might not survive harsh penalties.

Just goes to show losing for short-term gain causes long-term pain. Shattered the culture.

Tend to agree with that ossie, now could be a good time to have a suspended penalty. Repeat it and you go for that and what occured in the past. I dont want to see the club penalised to the point of extinction. Its a tough one .

[TeeJay]

I'm for everybody involved in this getting sacked and/or fined. Or even criminally charged.

But I think the current Melbourne administration is just about entirely new, new coaches, new players. Stripping them of picks or massive fines seems to be punishing the wrong people and honestly the Demons might not survive harsh penalties.

Just goes to show losing for short-term gain causes long-term pain. Shattered the culture.

Thats just to bad for melbourne unfortunatley mate.
If a team were found to have broken the salary cap 20 years ago they would still have to take away those premierships from the club despite there not being anyone left at the club from that era. Its the club that gets punished, not just individuals.

[fidou]

Why would a club tank a whole season for the sake of one pick. They get the pick, is it going to be beneficial or not, Scully who leaves anyway, or Kruezer who has been good but injury prone and not the be end all that was the drama of the kruezer cup. Or just a dud that does not make it. The advantage of the one pick  is not enough to throw games when the pick will not justify the reasons you went about trying to get it. Lets forget about 2009 and move on. The AFL has changed the rules move on......

[ossie85]

I'm for everybody involved in this getting sacked and/or fined. Or even criminally charged.

But I think the current Melbourne administration is just about entirely new, new coaches, new players. Stripping them of picks or massive fines seems to be punishing the wrong people and honestly the Demons might not survive harsh penalties.

Just goes to show losing for short-term gain causes long-term pain. Shattered the culture.

Thats just to bad for melbourne unfortunatley mate.
If a team were found to have broken the salary cap 20 years ago they would still have to take away those premierships from the club despite there not being anyone left at the club from that era. Its the club that gets punished, not just individuals.

Well the AFL has never taken Premierships away yet, so not sure on your precedence there. Essendon had salary cap breaches in 1993 and only had a slap on the wrist.

This is different though to salary cap cheating. Most teams that get caught are teams that are well off. Carlton, though on the field had a poor record, were never going to fold. And the AFL even offset some of there fines by giving them special assistance. Look over to the NRL and the Melbourne Storm, and they had two flags taken away but every player and official involved still believe they won them, and they recovered so quickly they won a flag only 2 years later. So was that even a real punishment?

If the fines and draft picks taken away are severe, Melbourne could fold. That's hundreds of jobs gone, from the President, to the players to the cleaners. The vast majority of which had nothing to do with anything. Careers would be ruined, people out of a job, for what? To punish people who could be punished by some other means?

Punishing hundreds of careers and thousands of fans for the actions of a few would be cruel and unusual.

[Justin Bieber]

BREAKING NEWS (yesterday)

A THIRD player from Melbourne's wooden spoon winning team in 2009 has come forward last night to back up claims that Melbourne deliberately lost games in order to secure priority pick.

The said player claims that Dean Bailey called a player meeting to signal a sudden change in tactics midway through the 2009 season.

The player yesterday told the Herald Sun - on the condition of anonymity - that Bailey demanded no one ask questions about unusual positional changes in the second half of the season.


Today

According to a former Melbourne Sponsor, A senior football club official openly boasted that the club was tanking in 2009 for Draft Picks.