Captaincy / Leadership group

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Hollow Knight said:
I don’t think they have “played the mental health card”. That’s lazy cliched criticism. Their first response was to condemn what he said and apologise. Melbourne didn’t want to take it any further and were satisfied with the club’s handling of it.

Moving forward the club has a professional responsibility to look after the well being of its staff, Zorko included. While the situation Zorko is in is essentially all self-inflicted, the media furore would definitely be putting him under significant emotional stress and the club is obligated to ensure he is okay.

“Playing the mental health card” has always meant using mental health as a way to explain, mitigate or excuse bad behaviour. That is clearly not what has happened here, and it doesn’t help anyone to claim otherwise. At no stage have Zorko or the club tried to rationalise, minimise or excuse Zorko’s deplorable comments.

A little bit of vigilantism disguised as morality going on. Ultimately this is an issue between Zorko, Petty, the Lions, the Demons and the AFL. All of those parties appear to feel the issue has been resolved appropriately amongst themselves and they don’t want any more of it to play out publicly in a media that cares only for clicks.

Zorko will pay a significant price in a range of ways. He clearly will not be captain next year, will lose endorsements and he has drastically limited his post-playing career options at clubland and in the media.

As fans we can have opinions and express them but we aren’t entitled to anything beyond that.
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That was an exceptional post.
 
Toffee Lion said:
We are talking about a 33 year old man. He certainly knew what he was doing, do not act like he is a child playing under 14's. There is no free pass for what he said, white line fever or not.

To be the captain of a professional football club and saying things like that, is totally unacceptable and any social "pile on" is totally warranted when it's hardly the first incident either. He has lost the faith of our supporter base and quite frankly I'd be worried if he hasn't lost the faith of the playing group & club.

He should be ashamed, he should be embarrassed and he should hand over the captaincy immediately after the finals is over.
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We know.

What else would you like to see happen. Besides extrapolating everything as you have there string him up by the nearest tree for something he said on the footy field ?
 

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LIONS08 said:
I am in no way condoning what Zorko said but it is sounding more like it was a back and fourth which led to Zorko saying what he did…. Hence why both clubs are so keen to move on from it
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That is actually 100% correct. It'd been going on from the first bounce.

If Petty hadn't had a cry no one would've been the wiser.

Zorko as no one is surprised by went too far and he'll suffer the consequences. But don't think he's the only one in the AFL who's said that or similar things.
 
What annoys me about Zorko is the fact he doesn't believe any of the crap he carries on with. He belts blokes, headlocks them, wrestles, sledges and carries on all with a stupid smile on his face, cracking jokes and so on. I'm sure he would be more well liked and respected if he showed genuine aggression and didn't back away from it with a stupid smile and a joke, pretending its the oppositions problem they cant handle it.
 
martinson said:
We know.

What else would you like to see happen. Besides extrapolating everything as you have there string him up by the nearest tree for something he said on the footy field ?
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Twenty thousand dollar fine donated to Cancer Council would be a start.
Lions have lost heaps of respect in the public arena.
 
scoman said:
What annoys me about Zorko is the fact he doesn't believe any of the crap he carries on with. He belts blokes, headlocks them, wrestles, sledges and carries on all with a stupid smile on his face, cracking jokes and so on. I'm sure he would be more well liked and respected if he showed genuine aggression and didn't back away from it with a stupid smile and a joke, pretending its the oppositions problem they cant handle it.
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Crikey. Give him a break. He's a little guy who's been battered from pillar to post ever since the opposition realised he had exceptional talent.

He had to be tough to get where he is.
 
McIvor said:
Scott Pendlebury should be the standard both on and off the field and Zorko is absolutely miles off. Looking at the list of captains cross the league in the aflpa awards 2022 AFLPA MVP Nominees announced Zorko in my view is by far the worst representative of what a captain should look and act like. On reflection, how is it that our past 3 captains have all been really average blokes that shouldnt be anywhere having captain next to there name.
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2013
 
Daemon said:
I don't want to outlive my welcome here so I'll make this my last post and you can agree or not.

They are playing the mental health card to shut down any further ramifications or debate on what Zorko said, and how the club has responded. Imo they are now trying to sweep it under the rug and move the narrative on. In 2022, the mental health card is a perfect strategy to use for such things
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Anyone who uses the term 'playing the mental health card' instantly loses all credibility, but thanks for sharing Dr Daemon.
 
NOBBYS said:
Twenty thousand dollar fine donated to Cancer Council would be a start.
Lions have lost heaps of respect in the public arena.
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I agree with that.

But there's more to this story than Zorko just being a dick and saying what he did out of nowhere.

Melbourne have said categorically they accept the apology want to move on.
 
Hollow Knight said:
I don’t agree again with your misunderstanding of the “mental health card”.

I do agree that the Lions want to move on. So does Petty and the Melbourne FC.
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This is the crux of it.

Among all the outrage and hype this morning on SEN (and no doubt on other media platforms) it took Nathan Buckley to voice the most salient point here.

That is that

1) why did the specifics of what Zorko said have to get aired at all? He said he (Buckley) didn't need to know and didn't know why anyone else needed to know.

and

2) the longer this gets played out the more hurtful it becomes for the injured party, Harrison Petty, who as he pointed out, had accepted the apology and just wanted to move on. So why can't the offended and outraged respect the wishes of the victim?

Potting Bucks for his perceived "treachery" in leaving the Bears 28 years ago has been a recurrent theme on this board but I for one, enjoy his insights and commentary on issues such as this.

It's disrespectful to Petty himself to keep dragging the issue through the public court of outrage

Zorko made an abhorrent remark and I am disgusted by it as anyone.

But can we please express our disgust/anger/displeasure with the deed rather than crucifying Zorko himself.

Somewhere on this Forum someone came up with the theory that Dane Zorko was suffering from "Small man syndrome"

Just have a think about that comment. It's the very essence of vilification. Instead of addressing the issue of the poor behavior, the focus became the physical stature of Dane Zorko, as if that was the reason for the behavior itself. Ridiculous!

Short people everywhere are now being labelled as more likely to be suffering from some kind of "syndrome"

If Dane was tall and Indigenous, would anyone be so bold as to attribute his comments as ""tall black guy syndrome"?

I'm 67 years old and I've said and done many things that I've not only regretted but been downright ashamed of. It's part of being human. We all make gross and grievous errors and misjudgments so before getting on our moral high horses, put yourself in another persons shoes and try to understand how in the heat of the moment we are all susceptible to foot in mouth disease.

Lest my comments be misinterpreted, let me say I think it's time we moved on from Dane's captaincy .He is ill disciplined and prone to brain explosions but that is entirely a different issue.

The real challenge is to find a suitable club captain who will lead by example in word and in deed.
 
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luthor said:
This is the crux of it.

Among all the outrage and hype this morning on SEN (and no doubt on other media platforms) it took Nathan Buckley to voice the most salient point here.

That is that

1) why did the specifics of what Zorko said have to get aired at all? He said he (Buckley) didn't need to know and didn't know why anyone else needed to know.

and

2) the longer this gets played out the more hurtful it becomes for the injured party, Harrison Petty, who as he pointed out, had accepted the apology and just wanted to move on. So why can't the offended and outraged respect the wishes of the victim?

Potting Bucks for his perceived "treachery" in leaving the Bears 28 years ago has been a recurrent theme on this board but I for one, enjoy his insights and commentary on issues such as this.

It's actually disrespectful to Petty himself to keep dragging the issue through the public court of outrage

Zorko made an abhorrent remark and I am disgusted by it as anyone.

But can we please express our disgust/anger/displeasure with the deed rather than crucifying Zorko himself.

Somewhere on this Forum someone came up with the theory that Dane Zorko was suffering from "Small man syndrome"

Just have a think about that comment. It's the very essence of vilification. Instead of addressing the issue of the poor behavior, the focus became the physical stature of Dane Zorko, as if that was the reason for the behavior itself. Ridiculous!

Short people everywhere are now being labelled as more likely to be suffering from some kind of "syndrome"

If Dane was tall and Indigenous, would anyone be so bold as to attribute his comments as ""tall black guy syndrome"?

I'm 67 years old and I've said and done many things that I've not only regretted but been downright ashamed of. It's part of being human. We make gross and grievous errors so before getting on our moral high horses, put yourself in another persons shoes and try to understand how in the heat of the moment we are all susceptible to foot in mouth disease.

Lest my comments be misinterpreted, let me say I think it's time we moved on from Dane's captaincy .He is ill disciplined and prone to brain explosions but that is entirely a different issue.

The real challenge is to find a suitable club captain who will lead by example in word and in deed.
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All true.

Seem to be plenty who don't mind casting the first stone.
 
luthor said:
This is the crux of it.

Among all the outrage and hype this morning on SEN (and no doubt on other media platforms) it took Nathan Buckley to voice the most salient point here.

That is that

1) why did the specifics of what Zorko said have to get aired at all? He said he (Buckley) didn't need to know and didn't know why anyone else needed to know.

and

2) the longer this gets played out the more hurtful it becomes for the injured party, Harrison Petty, who as he pointed out, had accepted the apology and just wanted to move on. So why can't the offended and outraged respect the wishes of the victim?

Potting Bucks for his perceived "treachery" in leaving the Bears 28 years ago has been a recurrent theme on this board but I for one, enjoy his insights and commentary on issues such as this.

It's disrespectful to Petty himself to keep dragging the issue through the public court of outrage

Zorko made an abhorrent remark and I am disgusted by it as anyone.

But can we please express our disgust/anger/displeasure with the deed rather than crucifying Zorko himself.

Somewhere on this Forum someone came up with the theory that Dane Zorko was suffering from "Small man syndrome"

Just have a think about that comment. It's the very essence of vilification. Instead of addressing the issue of the poor behavior, the focus became the physical stature of Dane Zorko, as if that was the reason for the behavior itself. Ridiculous!

Short people everywhere are now being labelled as more likely to be suffering from some kind of "syndrome"

If Dane was tall and Indigenous, would anyone be so bold as to attribute his comments as ""tall black guy syndrome"?

I'm 67 years old and I've said and done many things that I've not only regretted but been downright ashamed of. It's part of being human. We all make gross and grievous errors and misjudgments so before getting on our moral high horses, put yourself in another persons shoes and try to understand how in the heat of the moment we are all susceptible to foot in mouth disease.

Lest my comments be misinterpreted, let me say I think it's time we moved on from Dane's captaincy .He is ill disciplined and prone to brain explosions but that is entirely a different issue.

The real challenge is to find a suitable club captain who will lead by example in word and in deed.
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This was Zorko's last year as Captain without doubt in any case. There'll now be a debate as to whether we keep him as a player.

Unlike others I believe he was a champion player and a good captain who took over the mantle when we were on our knees and led by example. He helped get us off the bottom of the ladder to a significant degree.

It's sad that he'll probably go out like this and sadder still the scant regard that most Lions supporters on this blog seem to have for him.
 
martinson said:
This was Zorko's last year as Captain without doubt in any case. There'll now be a debate as to whether we keep him as a player.

Unlike others I believe he was a champion player and a good captain who took over the mantle when we were on our knees and led by example. He helped get us off the bottom of the ladder to a significant degree.

It's sad that he'll probably go out like this and sadder still the scant regard that most Lions supporters on this blog seem to have for him.
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No he didn't, he took over mid-way through 2018 when the sun was starting to shine with young talent and a new head coach. He's had it pretty good ever since. Great player at his best, not remotely close to the champions this club has seen though.

He doesn't lead by example either, his antics on field have been an issue for many years. Multiple scuffles and 50's given away. We all looked the other way though for a long time and admittely he never really crossed the line too much but he lived on that line. The Touk Miller incident was also a great example of poor sportsmanship and poor captaincy.

If people wish to forgive his actions, move on etc, that's totally fine. I just hope he is not captain next year and leave it at that. Frankly he has about 1 year left in him anyway as his body is failing him, I do hope he plays out next year and goes out with grace & humility.
 
I’m my opinion Neale should be the captain for the next 2 years. Basically just warming the seat because no one else is ready to take the mantle. Hopefully in a couple of years time, a few blokes would have stepped up.

Had locked in Harris a year or two ago as the successor, but his leadership seems to have gone backwards.

I’m a massive Berry fan, but he misses a lot of games. Starce and Hugh the other younger candidates. Would be too much pressure on Cam imo, just let him focus on continuing to progress from his year off in 2021.

The other bloke I would consider is Big O. One of the most professional blokes at the club, leads by his actions and would be supportive, approachable and humble. Would be a good face of the club. Not sure if he has the personality type or not and seems like a quiet bloke. It’s against the norm, but not every leader needs to be an extrovert.

Will be an interesting watch, but either way Zorko’s position is absolutely untenable.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
luthor said:
This is the crux of it.

Among all the outrage and hype this morning on SEN (and no doubt on other media platforms) it took Nathan Buckley to voice the most salient point here.

That is that

1) why did the specifics of what Zorko said have to get aired at all? He said he (Buckley) didn't need to know and didn't know why anyone else needed to know.

and

2) the longer this gets played out the more hurtful it becomes for the injured party, Harrison Petty, who as he pointed out, had accepted the apology and just wanted to move on. So why can't the offended and outraged respect the wishes of the victim?

Potting Bucks for his perceived "treachery" in leaving the Bears 28 years ago has been a recurrent theme on this board but I for one, enjoy his insights and commentary on issues such as this.

It's disrespectful to Petty himself to keep dragging the issue through the public court of outrage

Zorko made an abhorrent remark and I am disgusted by it as anyone.

But can we please express our disgust/anger/displeasure with the deed rather than crucifying Zorko himself.

Somewhere on this Forum someone came up with the theory that Dane Zorko was suffering from "Small man syndrome"

Just have a think about that comment. It's the very essence of vilification. Instead of addressing the issue of the poor behavior, the focus became the physical stature of Dane Zorko, as if that was the reason for the behavior itself. Ridiculous!

Short people everywhere are now being labelled as more likely to be suffering from some kind of "syndrome"

If Dane was tall and Indigenous, would anyone be so bold as to attribute his comments as ""tall black guy syndrome"?

I'm 67 years old and I've said and done many things that I've not only regretted but been downright ashamed of. It's part of being human. We all make gross and grievous errors and misjudgments so before getting on our moral high horses, put yourself in another persons shoes and try to understand how in the heat of the moment we are all susceptible to foot in mouth disease.

Lest my comments be misinterpreted, let me say I think it's time we moved on from Dane's captaincy .He is ill disciplined and prone to brain explosions but that is entirely a different issue.

The real challenge is to find a suitable club captain who will lead by example in word and in deed.
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What complete nonsense. This is without doubt the most idiotic sentence I’ve ever read on Bigfooty. Was he possessed by evil spirits at the time? Was it an Alien doppelgänger that made this ‘abhorrent’ remark? No. Your captain is the only one responsible. He deserves to be crucified. So does your GM of football. To their credit, the vast majority of Lions supporters agree.
 
SackLunch said:
What complete nonsense. This is without doubt the most idiotic sentence I’ve ever read on Bigfooty. Was he possessed by evil spirits at the time? Was it an Alien doppelgänger that made this ‘abhorrent’ remark? No. Your captain is the only one responsible. He deserves to be crucified. So does your GM of football. To their credit, the vast majority of Lions supporters agree.
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I don’t agree with Luther’s post for the most part, I’m disappointed in Dayne and the clubs inaction.

But whilst we are getting smashed in every aspect and in every media, after watching our season go to shit on Friday, we have one little corner of the earth to huddle together and make sense of it - this thread.

Do you really have to come here and throw your weight around further, telling us what to say and do? Do you think in this little corner of the earth, we need further clarification from a Dees fan about how shit it all is?

It’s not the main board, I’m not going over to moderate your board after the Steven May incident or the Pies thread about Degoey. Just resist the urge.
 
SackLunch said:
What complete nonsense. This is without doubt the most idiotic sentence I’ve ever read on Bigfooty. Was he possessed by evil spirits at the time? Was it an Alien doppelgänger that made this ‘abhorrent’ remark? No. Your captain is the only one responsible. He deserves to be crucified. So does your GM of football. To their credit, the vast majority of Lions supporters agree.
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find this very hard to believe considering danster posts on your team board
 
SackLunch said:
What complete nonsense. This is without doubt the most idiotic sentence I’ve ever read on Bigfooty. Was he possessed by evil spirits at the time? Was it an Alien doppelgänger that made this ‘abhorrent’ remark? No. Your captain is the only one responsible. He deserves to be crucified. So does your GM of football. To their credit, the vast majority of Lions supporters agree.
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So no less than a public stoning then?


 
It sounds like the players voted in the leadership group last year, so it'll be interesting to see if they take this approach again, and who they end up selecting.

Andrews was unanimous choice for VC (Zorko was for C as well), so you'd think Andrews would probably be the players' choice.
 
Look, we absolutely should not be insulting Zorko. Calling out his actions absolutely but not insulting him.

Given the pile on, we/the club should absolutely be providing mental health support to Zorko and ensuring his welfare.

I actually think that removing him from the captaincy and potentially leaving him out of the team for the rest of the season might be one of the best things we can do to support him so that he doesn’t have to deal with the backlash publicly until he has had time and space to process everything that’s happened.
 

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