I have lots of empathy for anyone with ADHD, whilst also confessing to not be overly educated on the condition.
If Oliver's ADHD is as bad as you're suggesting and is the main reason for the situation he finds himself in now then I'm not sure you can simultaneously argue that the club is doing the right thing by him. If his condition is that serious then publicly airing the dirty laundry between him and the club and hanging him out to dry would be an extremely poor move from us.
Yeah I think it's straight PR management.
Yeah I also think there's a fine line between being understanding of mental health issues and infantilising people who have those issues. When it gets to a point where people start to suggest any mental illness means someone isn't in control of their actions it's dangerous.
If the ADHD was the overriding factor in it we wouldn't try trade him. It's like saying hey fix your ADHD or else! It doesn't even make sense. We've told him to fix something he can fix, be like if a club tried to trade someone for being depressed they'd be in so much legal trouble let alone the clubs image be in tatters
Not saying he can't function or it's "that bad" that he can't function and shouldn't play. In fact he still played fine when he came back but other parts of his life dropped off which is completely normal for ADHD. And anyone with it will tell you the same thing. I'm explaining that it is something that will fluctuate when you have challenges and you can take longer to overcome things. Unless you actually have the condition or are a doctor you're probably not qualified to understand how someone with its brain works. Just because people function highly with it doesn't mean they don't struggle every single day and have to put in ten times the effort to be at the standard of a neurotypical person.
I'm not arguing with you about what ADHD does. What I'm telling you is if that's the case then you believe we threatened to trade him to Adelaide because he has a medical condition he can't control. The fact that we told him to shape up means it's about something we know he can change. That's a fact.
Maybe he wasn't following expert advice related to his medical condition? Not taking medications, inadequate rest, mixing cholesterol-lowering statins with grapefruit, all kinds of things that are within Oliver's control to change.
That's definitely possible, what I'm saying is I don't have any sympathy for him. Whatever it is it's something he's chosen to do as an adult and he can't hide behind a bullshit excuse.
There are some at Melbourne who still shudder at the sight of Lachie Neale in full flight. The Demons had two third-round picks (52 and 54) and were keen on Neale but instead made a late change for delisted Adelaide defender James Sellar. That allowed the Dockers to swoop on the South Australian teenager who‘d played senior football with Glenelg and been best-on-ground in a losing side in the U/18 SANFL Grand Final. The knock on him from recruiters was his size but there was no doubting Neale’s ball-getting ability.
Hey, journos only get to trot out 'who did Melbourne miss in previous drafts' articles once a year! It's a tough gig.
Everyone is on ADHD medicine now. It's all the rage.
I don't know what the **** I was watching but apparently ADHD cases up are 40% in the last 10 years
It's not the rage, it's because medication has become more easily available, plus cheaper and with the population growth, more people are being diagnosed. Would have been a huge amount undiagnosed before medication became readily available. My son had to go to a gp, a paediatrician and a psych for diagnosis and to get medication. Even though medication is more available and cheaper, its still an effort to get diagnosed and medicated. It's not easy. It's genetics, nothing else. I have 3 kids in my class on medication and it affects each of them differently, however they are virtually uncontrollable without it. They aren't naughty kids, they are dealing with a disorder that's confusing and hard to manage. It's not imaginary.
