In light of Geelong's ability to target and successfully recruit yet another high-profile player to the club in Bailey Smith, I would like to examine the conjecture which surrounded not just Bailey's acquisition, but those of all his predecessors in the last decade.
Scrolling through BigFooty and social media in the last few days really got me reminiscing about some of the crazy conspiracy theories that have been bandied around by opposition supporters towards Geelong for the better part of fifteen years.
I think I first began to notice some rumblings on Facebook as Geelong became very successful in the late 2000s. Much was made in the media about Geelong players' vaunted taking unders for success initiative to explain how such a talented group could remain together for so long. A claim that was met with cynicism by some pundits.
However, once we lost Ablett to the newly formed Suns in 2010, the heat came off a bit, despite winning the flag the following year. Most neutrals saw us as being merely lucky to have snagged one more flag in 2011, as the oldest side in the competition, and that surely the "too old, too slow" Cats wouldn't be "too good" for a very long while, either.
As someone who lives in Adelaide, when Chris Scott and Jimmy Bartel were spotted at Adelaide airport and questioned by Channel 9 reporter, Tom Rehn, in 2012, after a suspected courting of Travis Boak, it wasn't just Port fans who were a little miffed. Crows fans, too, were a little on edge about the prospect of one day, Patrick Dangerfield, heading back to the motherland of Moggs Creek.
The attempted heist was as daring as it was brazen, but ultimately proved unsuccessful. However, as quickly as Travis Boak's admirable loyalty to Port Adelaide was accepted, the rumour mill swiftly turned to when, not if Geelong would be back to West Horsham to make a play for Patrick Dangerfield.
And, sure enough, with those seeds of fear planted in the minds of the Crows' faithful, the cynicism and toxicity within that supporter base - who were reeling from the very recent defections of players like Phil Davis to GWS, Kurt Tippett to Sydney, and Jack Gunston to Hawthorn (just to name a few) - was starting to foment by the year's end.
As much as this isn't about the Adelaide Crows, I feel that it was the pursuit and eventual success of managing to obtain the signature of Patrick Dangerfield that really set things of a conspiratorial nature in motion.
I especially recall some of the crazy things that Adelaide supporters were saying in the early days about Mardi Harwood, daughter of ex-Mayor of the City of Greater Geelong, Bruce Harwood. Some wild accusations were made around the influence that Mardi had over Patrick, and her ability to manipulate him vis-à-vis Bruce's influence and standing within the Geelong community.
It's been claimed, without evidence, that Mardi "refused" to start a family until they moved back to Geelong, and that Bruce, along with the late Frank Costa, were pulling strings behind the scenes to facilitate a move to the Geelong Football Club
Bruce himself didn't escape the ire of the Adelaide faithful where, on one occasion, the Geelong Football Club facilitated hosting the extended Dangerfield family with something like "thirty seats" at Simonds Stadium being made available. This was said to have been orchestrated by Mr. Harwood using his influence within the coterie club, and was done so with the express intention of undermining the Adelaide Crows.
Accusations were also levelled at Frank (as well as tropes about being "connected" owing to his Italian ethnicity) about his influence in the region. These include but are not limited to, "providing employment to Patrick's mother and aunt by hiring them to clean his Surf Coast palazzo" as well as other promises to set up Patrick in Geelong post-AFL, should he decide to make the move home.
We all know how it ended; Geelong got its man, and the rest is history.
However, what didn't end, is the continual conspiracy theories being thrown around by opposition supporters regarding Geelong's "bottomless salary cap" and how Geelong "must be rorting the system" to keep being able to afford to have a crack at - and successfully lure - star players from other clubs.
Many believe that in order to obtain the signature of Jeremy Cameron, very little had to do with Jezza's stated desire to move back to regional Victoria and everything to do with offering a "free farm" as well as other undisclosed "perks" (Ford Rangers and the like).
More recently, it seems as though Nigel Austin, founder and managing director of the Geelong-based clothing company Cotton On - a major sponsor of the Geelong Football Club - has also been in the gun for his apparent influence over luring players to the club.
It's been stated that Cotton On, as both a major sponsor of the GFC, and an individual sponsor of players, i.e. Bailey Smith, is displaying a conflict of interest because of the unfounded claims of having heavily contributed towards convincing Bailey to choose Geelong.
One only needs to observe the furore that was Bailey sitting in the stands amongst Geelong players at the preliminary final between Geelong and Brisbane as an example. This was done so at the behest of the Cotton On founder himself, or so it was reported.
It's been posited that the many influential people, both in the inner sanctum of the club and those business heavyweights on the periphery, are able to work in unison to covertly influence and facilitate a move for many star players to Geelong by having access to a network of Visy-style perks.
It has been stated by many (ahem, Richmond) supporters on here that Steve Hocking is extremely influential at AFL House, owing to his years served there, and knows the systems so well that he can and has devised a clandestine operation whereby the club is offering a suite of perks that covertly subvert the TTP (Total Player Payment) cap.
So, along with farms, miscellaneous plots of land at Armstrong Creek, subsidised Simonds homes built on said plots of land, Ford Rangers, lucrative Cotton On endorsements, as well as a CEO well-connected at AFL House, and a bevvy of influential local businessmen... what other parts in this sum have I missed which makes up the nefarious illuminati that is the only plausible explanation for Geelong's on and off-field success?
Scrolling through BigFooty and social media in the last few days really got me reminiscing about some of the crazy conspiracy theories that have been bandied around by opposition supporters towards Geelong for the better part of fifteen years.
I think I first began to notice some rumblings on Facebook as Geelong became very successful in the late 2000s. Much was made in the media about Geelong players' vaunted taking unders for success initiative to explain how such a talented group could remain together for so long. A claim that was met with cynicism by some pundits.
However, once we lost Ablett to the newly formed Suns in 2010, the heat came off a bit, despite winning the flag the following year. Most neutrals saw us as being merely lucky to have snagged one more flag in 2011, as the oldest side in the competition, and that surely the "too old, too slow" Cats wouldn't be "too good" for a very long while, either.
As someone who lives in Adelaide, when Chris Scott and Jimmy Bartel were spotted at Adelaide airport and questioned by Channel 9 reporter, Tom Rehn, in 2012, after a suspected courting of Travis Boak, it wasn't just Port fans who were a little miffed. Crows fans, too, were a little on edge about the prospect of one day, Patrick Dangerfield, heading back to the motherland of Moggs Creek.
The attempted heist was as daring as it was brazen, but ultimately proved unsuccessful. However, as quickly as Travis Boak's admirable loyalty to Port Adelaide was accepted, the rumour mill swiftly turned to when, not if Geelong would be back to West Horsham to make a play for Patrick Dangerfield.
And, sure enough, with those seeds of fear planted in the minds of the Crows' faithful, the cynicism and toxicity within that supporter base - who were reeling from the very recent defections of players like Phil Davis to GWS, Kurt Tippett to Sydney, and Jack Gunston to Hawthorn (just to name a few) - was starting to foment by the year's end.
As much as this isn't about the Adelaide Crows, I feel that it was the pursuit and eventual success of managing to obtain the signature of Patrick Dangerfield that really set things of a conspiratorial nature in motion.
I especially recall some of the crazy things that Adelaide supporters were saying in the early days about Mardi Harwood, daughter of ex-Mayor of the City of Greater Geelong, Bruce Harwood. Some wild accusations were made around the influence that Mardi had over Patrick, and her ability to manipulate him vis-à-vis Bruce's influence and standing within the Geelong community.
It's been claimed, without evidence, that Mardi "refused" to start a family until they moved back to Geelong, and that Bruce, along with the late Frank Costa, were pulling strings behind the scenes to facilitate a move to the Geelong Football Club
Bruce himself didn't escape the ire of the Adelaide faithful where, on one occasion, the Geelong Football Club facilitated hosting the extended Dangerfield family with something like "thirty seats" at Simonds Stadium being made available. This was said to have been orchestrated by Mr. Harwood using his influence within the coterie club, and was done so with the express intention of undermining the Adelaide Crows.
Accusations were also levelled at Frank (as well as tropes about being "connected" owing to his Italian ethnicity) about his influence in the region. These include but are not limited to, "providing employment to Patrick's mother and aunt by hiring them to clean his Surf Coast palazzo" as well as other promises to set up Patrick in Geelong post-AFL, should he decide to make the move home.
We all know how it ended; Geelong got its man, and the rest is history.
However, what didn't end, is the continual conspiracy theories being thrown around by opposition supporters regarding Geelong's "bottomless salary cap" and how Geelong "must be rorting the system" to keep being able to afford to have a crack at - and successfully lure - star players from other clubs.
Many believe that in order to obtain the signature of Jeremy Cameron, very little had to do with Jezza's stated desire to move back to regional Victoria and everything to do with offering a "free farm" as well as other undisclosed "perks" (Ford Rangers and the like).
More recently, it seems as though Nigel Austin, founder and managing director of the Geelong-based clothing company Cotton On - a major sponsor of the Geelong Football Club - has also been in the gun for his apparent influence over luring players to the club.
It's been stated that Cotton On, as both a major sponsor of the GFC, and an individual sponsor of players, i.e. Bailey Smith, is displaying a conflict of interest because of the unfounded claims of having heavily contributed towards convincing Bailey to choose Geelong.
One only needs to observe the furore that was Bailey sitting in the stands amongst Geelong players at the preliminary final between Geelong and Brisbane as an example. This was done so at the behest of the Cotton On founder himself, or so it was reported.
It's been posited that the many influential people, both in the inner sanctum of the club and those business heavyweights on the periphery, are able to work in unison to covertly influence and facilitate a move for many star players to Geelong by having access to a network of Visy-style perks.
It has been stated by many (ahem, Richmond) supporters on here that Steve Hocking is extremely influential at AFL House, owing to his years served there, and knows the systems so well that he can and has devised a clandestine operation whereby the club is offering a suite of perks that covertly subvert the TTP (Total Player Payment) cap.
So, along with farms, miscellaneous plots of land at Armstrong Creek, subsidised Simonds homes built on said plots of land, Ford Rangers, lucrative Cotton On endorsements, as well as a CEO well-connected at AFL House, and a bevvy of influential local businessmen... what other parts in this sum have I missed which makes up the nefarious illuminati that is the only plausible explanation for Geelong's on and off-field success?
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