Nathan Bock

[AndrewP6]

I know it's not "Bulldog Business" but just wanted to gauge people's views on Nathan Bock's recall to the Crow's side. I for one, can't believe they could suspend him "indefinitely" and then put him in 2 weeks later (not sure if 2 weeks is exact!)... if that club was serious at all about the so-called suspension, they'd keep him out. What sort of message does it send out to victims of abuse, when they claim they're going to take a stand, and then simply give him a week off? Puts a bad taste in my mouth...:mad::mad::mad:

[Sockeye Salmon]

I loved Steven Trigg's speech when he was announcing it to the press.

I paraphrase but it was something like:

"We are aware this may not be a popular decision but we believe strongly that violence towards women is wrong and the right attitudes towards women are very important to us".

Yeah, sure. Just not as important as having last years B & F back in the team when you're playing Geelong.

[The Underdog]

Agree with both. Really surprised. I assumed indefinite would be reasonably sustained period. Absolutely pissweak and send out a really awful message.

[LostDoggy]

after 97 i hate the crows

[immortalmike]

Interesting that Bock's story got nowhere near the press of a chicken video that could have passed as a bad joke on Family Guy or Southpark.

Disgraceful by the Crows (I may be biased after 97) this was not a stand it was an empty gesture and a thinly veiled one at that.

[Go_Dogs]

Good for my Supercoach team though.

[The Underdog]

Good for my Supercoach team though.

How's the decision gone down in Adelaide? Any negative press at all or is it all ok through those Crows coloured glasses the press wear?

[ledge]

I never heard the full story on his misbehaviour, i did hear the story open though on SEN, it was very vague and things do get blown out of proportion in the press , does anyone know what the truth was and how bad it was?
Must say after reading the Steven Trigg statement sounds exactly like he was guilty as sin but they forgive him because they feel they need him in the side.
Player bigger than the team syndrome? In the end that backfires as players do things wrong and point back to that event and how little he was sentenced.
Honestly I would have thought Neil Craig one of the most toughest coaches on that sort of thing, I am very surprised.

[The Pie Man]

This is one of the rarte ones where the NRL could lay claim to being tougher on these issues - not the NRL clubs but the actual league - giving Brett Stewart from Manly 4 weeks off for being a drunken tool at a season launch.

Assaulting one's girlfriend could arguably be a far worse crime, and to get a week and a world of embarassment isn't cutting it for mine.

Seriously p_ss week

[LostDoggy]

I wonder what the great Phil Cleary has to say on this issue....he certainly had plenty to say about Boris the rooster....Anyway it just goes to show how much of a backward town Adelaide is, a clear message from the top...it's ok to get pissed and give the missus a clip when she tells you that you have had enough and it's time to go home!! :mad:

[LostDoggy]

He missed one game, disgraceful.

[The Adelaide Connection]

I wonder what the great Phil Cleary has to say on this issue....he certainly had plenty to say about Boris the rooster....Anyway it just goes to show how much of a backward town Adelaide is, a clear message from the top...it's ok to get pissed and give the missus a clip when she tells you that you have had enough and it's time to go home!! :mad:

I don't know what is more small minded and disappointing, the crows token effort to discipline a player who has committed a serious crime, or your labelling an entire city as backwards and assuming that we endorse the actions of one person. Thinking which I feel is, quite ironically, a little backward.

[LostDoggy]

Pretty soft but thats the crows. The Adelaide media wouldn't be as supportive of an interstate club. Then again Collingwood would have swept it under the carpet first and dealt with the repercussions later.
When was the last time a dog was in this sort of trouble besides Minsons gaff?

[Go_Dogs]

How's the decision gone down in Adelaide? Any negative press at all or is it all ok through those Crows coloured glasses the press wear?

Yeah, quite a bit of negative press. The general consensus seems to be that it was a soft penalty, and he has been brought back too soon.



FWIW I think he should have missed another week or two, but from what I hear, the whole incident has been blown up (surprisingly :rolleyes: ) but that's a whole different issue. Bock does seem like an upstanding young man (prior to this incident) so hopefully he learns to control the drink, another incident, and he'll be gawn.

[LostDoggy]

Surely this particular issue is a personal issue and will be sorted out through the right channels.
A football club is a business and they are still paying his salary. Why would a club suspend a player from playing for a non football related incident when they are still paying him?
Whilst I certainly don't condone what he has allegedly done but surely for these incidents the punishment should be meted out by police/courts and not the football club.

I couldn't see my place of employment having any authority to punish me for a non work related incident.

[ledge]

You will find most places of work have a code of conduct outside the work place also.
I was recently employed by Woolworths and the induction included behaviour outside the work place on your own time.
Mostly on if your wearing work clothes and go out,(but also including not) surprisingly an example was made of going into other shops with the Woolworths logo on and making sure you conduct yourself in a proper manner.
Being sacked was a big impression i got if i did misbehave.

Being an AFL footballer, apart from probably having to wear club gear or sponsors gear all the time, you are known, thus outside the work place you must be behaved or it comes back at the club and sponsors.
Dont forget they are paid very well and no doubt this is part of the contract they sign.

[LostDoggy]

You will find most places of work have a code of conduct outside the work place also.
I was recently employed by Woolworths and the induction included behaviour outside the work place on your own time.
Mostly on if your wearing work clothes and go out,(but also including not) surprisingly an example was made of going into other shops with the Woolworths logo on and making sure you conduct yourself in a proper manner.
Being sacked was a big impression i got if i did misbehave.

Being an AFL footballer, apart from probably having to wear club gear or sponsors gear all the time, you are known, thus outside the work place you must be behaved or it comes back at the club and sponsors.
Dont forget they are paid very well and no doubt this is part of the contract they sign.

Fair call. Didn't really think about the wearing of sponsors/employers logo etc.

[ledge]

Fair call. Didn't really think about the wearing of sponsors/employers logo etc.

Of course i have no idea what you do for a living but check your workplace agreement, these things seem to creep in when unions deal with getting pay rises or you might find the company added it in small print in your latest agreement.
Seems to have been the "in thing" the last 3 to 4 years in a lot of places.

[LostDoggy]

I wonder what the great Phil Cleary has to say on this issue....he certainly had plenty to say about Boris the rooster.......

Cleary's issue is not only violence against women but the defence of provocation when that violence ends in death. It arises from the murder of his sister by her former de facto who then pleaded, successfully, that he was provoked by Vikki's leaving him ! Have a bit of sensitivity when you criticise Cleary. I imagine Cleary's attitude would be like that of most of us.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Yeah, quite a bit of negative press. The general consensus seems to be that it was a soft penalty, and he has been brought back too soon.



FWIW I think he should have missed another week or two, but from what I hear, the whole incident has been blown up (surprisingly :rolleyes: ) but that's a whole different issue. Bock does seem like an upstanding young man (prior to this incident) so hopefully he learns to control the drink, another incident, and he'll be gawn.

Only if the 'incident' is the murder of Andrew McLeod. Anything less and it will be a $5000 fine.

[LostDoggy]

Only if the 'incident' is the murder of Andrew McLeod. Anything less and it will be a $5000 fine.


Oh god SS. I think you're getting funnier - I laughed pretty hard at this one.

[The Pie Man]

I know crowd behaviour can be a sensitive topic with AFL games, but I thought it unwise of Neil Craig to label Melbourne fans booing of Nathan Bock 'poor taste'

The guy has allegedly assaulted his girlfriend - I'm pretty comfortable assuming he's guilty given what we've heard and the suspension handed out. I think the length of said suspension was 'poor taste' and that Bock will just have to cop it (Bock needing to cop it was also conceded in Craig's press conference)

Thoughts? If we were to play the Crows at home in the next few weeks, I probably couldn't be bothered actually booing, but I wouldn't shake my head and think it in poor taste when it happens.

[Mofra]

I know crowd behaviour can be a sensitive topic with AFL games, but I thought it unwise of Neil Craig to label Melbourne fans booing of Nathan Bock 'poor taste'

The guy has allegedly assaulted his girlfriend - I'm pretty comfortable assuming he's guilty given what we've heard and the suspension handed out. I think the length of said suspension was 'poor taste' and that Bock will just have to cop it (Bock needing to cop it was also conceded in Craig's press conference)

Thoughts? If we were to play the Crows at home in the next few weeks, I probably couldn't be bothered actually booing, but I wouldn't shake my head and think it in poor taste when it happens.
I found it strange too - I would expect Bock will now get booed everytime he plays in Melbourne given the coach saw fit to mention it - might effect his performance.
If Bulldogs fans boo him I couldn't care less, and if it put him off his game even slightly it's a win for us.

[AndrewP6]

I won't boo him, but couldn't care less who does...

[LostDoggy]

Slapping your missus would seem poor taste to me rather than those who deride him. Not that I would do it at a game to Bock but I might bring it up for the smug 7 goal winning score tools here in the adelaide office...

[Desipura]

What's most bizarre is that Craig said it was "poor" for the crowd to boo him. As opposed to how the Adelaide crowd behave?
What was poor was how he apologised to Maric for how he reacted in front of the cameras only to drop him from the side the following week.

[Go_Dogs]

What's most bizarre is that Craig said it was "poor" for the crowd to boo him. As opposed to how the Adelaide crowd behave?
What was poor was how he apologised to Maric for how he reacted in front of the cameras only to drop him from the side the following week.

Yeah, a bit hypocritical.


Also, what did he expect? Of course people are going to boo Bock.

[The Pie Man]

http://au.sports.yahoo.com/afl/news/article/-/5528071/craig-wrong-bock-boos

Craig has it all wrong on Bock boos
Sportal / Paul Gough - April 28, 2009, 11:54 am

What is Adelaide coach Neil Craig thinking?

Craig is one of the smartest coaches in the AFL not only in terms of his on-field tactics but also in terms of handling himself off-the-field with his performances in the media and his usual spot-on sensing of the public mood.

But when it comes to his star defender Nathan Bock, Craig has got it all wrong.

It was bad enough that Adelaide only suspended Bock for one match after he was charged with police for assaulting his girlfriend and bought him back as soon as the club faced a difficult match - against Geelong - after only suspending him only for the match against competition easybeat Fremantle.

But now Craig is complaining that Melbourne fans - the best behaved fans in the competition - had the temerity to boo Bock every time he touched the ball during Sunday's match at the MCG.

It was the first match for Bock on 'foreign' soil since the incident with his girlfriend so what did Craig expect - a guard of honour from women's groups as his star defender ran out onto the ground.

If anything Bock got off lightly - a few boos from a crowd of 14,000 is a far cry from the kind of personal abuse and direct obscene mass chanting that players receive in England from soccer crowds when they transgress off the field.

That is not to say we encourage fans abusing players but surely a bit of booing is the least that the Crows and Bock could have expected from opposition fans in the circumstances.

And if fans are prepared to pay their money to attend games - particularly games played in freezing conditions at the unfriendly time of 4.40pm on a Sunday - then surely they are entitled to boo an opposition player, if they please.

Hasn't that been part of the game since Tom Wills invented the sport?

Craig described the behaviour of the Melbourne fans as 'in poor taste' and later Adelaide chief executive Steven Trigg said Bock 'probably doesn't need to be the subject of that sort of behaviour.'

But one wonders how the Crows are going to react this week when Bock steps in to a far more hostile arena against fierce local rival Port Adelaide in the first of this year's showdowns at AAMI Stadium.

The match is a Port home game - meaning there will be more Power fans in attendance than Crows' fans - and Bock can expect plenty of stick.

But again as long as the Port fans don't go overboard, what is the problem?

However incredibly Port president Brett Duncanson showed the same naivety this week when he warned Power supporters not to boo Bock.

"It's not my role to tell our supporters what to do but I'd encourage them to concentrate on our guys and getting them across the line," Duncanson said.

Surely in Port's position, the last thing Duncanson should be doing is preaching to Power fans about how to behave at the football.

Instead he should just be thankful they want to come and concentrate on growing his club's crowds given Port's much-documented financial problems and inability to make a profit at home games due to their poor crowds.

Duncanson instead should be rallying as many Port fans as possible to attend Sunday's game and make the atmosphere as intimidating as possible for Adelaide and again there is nothing wrong with that as long as Power fans don't break any laws.

But it seems the prospect of Port fans booing Bock is all a bit too much for some over-sensitive Adelaide fans, who regularly flood talkback radio with complaints about the behaviour of Port fans at showdown matches.

Unfortunately it seems years of attending matches mostly with no opposition supporters have made Adelaide fans a little soft and one can only wonder how they would cope in Victoria where banter between opposition fans is a way of life where matches between teams from the same city are a common occurrence.

But perhaps maybe it's not that surprising Adelaide fans have that attitude given the comments of Craig and Trigg this week.