Toast James Sicily - Hawthorn captain 2023 - AA 2023!

[Dewyyyyy]

It wasn't a particularly offensive thing to say.

It wasn't even an inaccurate thing to say.

But it was a dumb thing to say give who our sponsor are.

I'm sure the club has had words to James about it, he will learn from it.

Still that's one of the things that makes Sic, Sic. He is a bit of a ratbag but that's not always a bad thing in a captain (Hodgey was no Saint after all).

 

[Billyc]

It wasn't a particularly offensive thing to say.

It wasn't even an inaccurate thing to say.

But it was a dumb thing to say give who our sponsor are.

I'm sure the club has had words to James about it, he will learn from it.

Still that's one of the things that makes Sic, Sic. He is a bit of a ratbag but that's not always a bad thing in a captain (Hodgey was no Saint after all).

Agree. Thoughtless impulsive comment, nothing more. Quick apology for PR purposes is all that is required.

He is right though about young people and Tassie. That is going to be a big challenge for the new club. I say that as someone who absolutely loves Tassie and Hobart myself and would happily live there myself. But I am pushing 40, not 21.

 

[Billyc]

How hard is it to take the short flight to Melbourne if you want to go to a concert or some such?

A lot harder than jumping on a train for 15 minutes.

 

[threesixpio]

It’s not hard to drive from Canberra to Sydney to go to a gig either - the Raiders still haven’t signed a marquee player from Sydney in decades if at all. We’ve only ever lured blokes from Brissy pre-Broncos and now it’s generally Kiwis and the odd Pom who we get. We’ve constantly developed great kids who invariably piss off to Sydney. This will be a very present problem for the Devils.

I find it hard enough waltzing out of my Northcote hipster bubble let alone drive somewhere to do something. Getting a latte 100 meters away is often quite a journey for me

(I’m not actually joking )

 

[The Spirit of Cricket]

Honesty and personality are fine. However being honestly ignorant is not indicative of personality - and is not a good look in a captain.

he's being ignorant in ur opinion

I'm pretty sure he's correct though. Tasmanias team will very likely have a retention problem and lots of young ppl from Melb in their mid-20s think it's slow and boring without much of a night life. Doesn't mean they're right but doesn't change what they think.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

I find it hard enough waltzing out of my Northcote hipster bubble let alone drive somewhere to do something. Getting a latte 100 meters away is often quite a journey for me

(I’m not actually joking )

I remember when the 5km radius thing came in during lockdown and thinking ‘there are things beyond a 5km radius of Richmond??’.

 

[Lotus]

Agree. Thoughtless impulsive comment, nothing more. Quick apology for PR purposes is all that is required.

He is right though about young people and Tassie. That is going to be a big challenge for the new club. I say that as someone who absolutely loves Tassie and Hobart myself and would happily live there myself. But I am pushing 40, not 21.

Agree, if anything he's actually concerned for the new team. It's just unfortunate that the wordings come out like that.

I was very lucky spending my summer uni break in Hobart years ago. We're staying in front of the waterfront casino. I love the quietness, but my other 3 friends don't.

Hopefully the club have Communication and media training for everyone. So that we can avoid something like this in the future.

 

[MrPremiership]

Sis having a mare. Slagging off the major sponsor 5 games into your captaincy aint it.


Doesn't matter if he's telling the truth, or what we're all thinking. It's just not on

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Sis having a mare. Slagging off the major sponsor 5 games into your captaincy aint it.


Doesn't matter if he's telling the truth, or what we're all thinking. It's just not on

Upside is they probably won’y be our sponsor after 2025 anyway now. Let’s just hope he doesn’t tee off on fried chicken restaurants, comfortable shoes or mid-range car companies.

 

[Slainte]

If it is that tough living in Hobart, how are we going to go with players having to train at Dingley?

 

[BIGHAWK23]

Geez there are some pile on merchants here

Sicily is saying what we are thinking as well as majority of the league

The fact the AFL didnt even pass out the entire business case speaks volumes

 

[BIGHAWK23]

If it is that tough living in Hobart, how are we going to go with players having to train at Dingley?

Majority of our players have moved bayside, so no issue

 

[KermitJagger]

If it is that tough living in Hobart, how are we going to go with players having to train at Dingley?

Holy mother of false equivalence Batman! It's almost 30x times the distance, man.

 

[MrPremiership]

People missing the point. It's not that Sis's comments were true. It's that he shouldn't have said it.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

If it is that tough living in Hobart, how are we going to go with players having to train at Dingley?

Quite possibly one of the worst points of argument I have ever seen on Bigfooty in 10ish years - and that's saying something.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

People missing the point. It's not that Sis's comments were true. It's that he shouldn't have said it.

I think everyone admits it was silly of him to do it. However it is a logical talking point stemming from it given the Tassie team is days/weeks from being green-lit.

 

[TazHawk15]

It was a flippant thing to say as well as being a dumb thing to say, he has apologised and we move on.

 

[MrPremiership]

I think everyone admits it was silly of him to do it. However it is a logical talking point stemming from it given the Tassie team is days/weeks from being green-lit.

Let the media commentators talk about it then.

Not the captain of the club getting $5m from the government

 

[The Spirit of Cricket]

People missing the point. It's not that Sis's comments were true. It's that he shouldn't have said it.

nah we all know that now. but he ****ed up, acknowledged it and apologised. not much else he can do, not much point in continuing to admonish him. hopefully he learns his lesson and shuts his mouth on sponsor-related issues in the future.

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Let the media commentators talk about it then.

Not the captain of the club getting $5m from the government

Almost everyone likely agrees. But we aren't captains of the club so we can talk on here about Hobart's lack of nightlife and not risk the club's sponsorship.

 

[TazHawk15]

Let the media commentators talk about it then.

Not the captain of the club getting $5m from the government

Just to nitpick because it is one of my pet hates.

The Hawks are not getting a red cent off the Tasmanian government, they are however getting a heap of money off the Tasmanian tax payers.

I ****ing go ape shit when I hear “The government is funding this and funding that” sure they decide where the money goes but they NEVER fund it.

 

[HedgeFund]

Sis having a mare. Slagging off the major sponsor 5 games into your captaincy aint it.


Doesn't matter if he's telling the truth, or what we're all thinking. It's just not on

Come his halfway mid-season review, Sic will have a fair few RFIs to address.

Both on-field and off-field it would seem.

 

[KermitJagger]

People missing the point. It's not that Sis's comments were true. It's that he shouldn't have said it.

Eh, not the most diplomatic thing to say but I really don't have any issues with him saying it. I want players to show more of their personality, if that means the occasional foot in mouth moment like this then so be it.

Plus, his saying it wouldn't be an issue if it wasn't 100% true.

 

[Philhawk]

Also, am I missing something. What's the population difference between Hobart and Geelong?

 

[Ned Ryerson]

Eh, not the most diplomatic thing to say but I really don't have any issues with him saying it. I want players to show more of their personality, if that means the occasional foot in mouth moment like this then so be it.

Plus, his saying it wouldn't be an issue if it wasn't 100% true.

Yeah people get way too precious about where they live. My mates in Brisbane constantly shit on Melbourne to me and I just laugh along because at the end of the day I can go to a supermarket if I need something late at night, I can go to a restaurant that doesn't close at 7PM and it's not perpetually 1995 here. I have put up with an almost non-entity NRL side since I was about 13 because they are based in Canberra and it is painstakingly bloody hard to get young blokes to want to live in Canberra. I lived in Canberra - I'm not precious about that fact. Hoping the Tassie Devils higher ups are far less sensitive and far more pragmatic about their recruiting because relying on 'it's not that bad!!!' really won't cut it.