Reds sack devastated Bedgood from their dressing room

[travelling_gerry]

Reds sack devastated Bedgood from their dressing rooml

• Wayne Smith
• From: The Australian
• January 20, 2010 12:00AM

THERE is no room for sentiment in professional football, which means there is no longer room in the Reds' dressing-room for a proud 70-year-old who represents the heart and soul of Queensland rugby.



For the past seven seasons David Bedgood has been one of the Reds' hard-working gear stewards. But he was far more than that.
A captain of Queensland in the late 1950s and an uncapped reserve for Australia against the Lions in 1959, Bedgood was invited to come on board the Reds by former coach Andrew Slack to act as a father figure to the younger players. And just by being there, he also served as a human link to the traditions of past Queensland teams.
Much of what Bedgood did went unseen. Certainly that was the case when he stayed behind on game nights to clean up the dressing-room long after everyone else had headed off to the post-match reception.
Yet his most valuable contribution was in lending a non-judgmental ear to any player who needed to talk.


"You'd be surprised who walked through that door," Bedgood recalled yesterday.
When Berrick Barnes was wrestling with the decision of whether or not to leave the Reds last year, he and his grandfather made the trip to Bedgood's home on the Gold Coast for advice.
But a knock on the door from team manager Lonnie Toia this week and suddenly Bedgood was being told his services were no longer required.
Toia, to be fair, said that breaking the news was the hardest thing he has had to do in his job. "Every person in the dressing room has to have a specific role. The dressing-room belongs to the players and we're looking to make that room as professional as we can."
He attempted to soften the blow by offering Bedgood free tickets to the Reds' home matches but it's not an offer the veteran intends to take up.
"I'm devastated," Bedgood admitted. "He kept telling me the Reds were short of money but I didn't cost them anything. I was never paid."


http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1225821384406

[Burgs]

Ahh yeah, that's the reason they have been losing, shame Reds shame.
And as for the insult of "but here's some tickets?!
FFS!!!
Queensland is, or at least portrays itself as being, about heart and soul, things like this make it pretty hard to swallow.

[fulvio sammut]

Well, that's one side of the story. If this is the whole story, then as Burgs suggests, it's a disgrace.

But there is seldom only one side, I'll reserve judgment until I hear what QRU have to say.

Sometimes personal expectations don't match practical realities, and people are disappointed and disaffected.

That doesn't necessarily make a management decision wrong.

[Thequeerone]

On the face of it though you would have thought that QR would have needed all the help they can get at the moment and that perhaps that the lessons that need to be learnt from Quades incident is that more stability and maturity is required - the Force had have had issues too and seem to have created a better player group culture to try and manage high jinks/media probs

[James]

Well, that's one side of the story. If this is the whole story, then as Burgs suggests, it's a disgrace.

But there is seldom only one side, I'll reserve judgment until I hear what QRU have to say.

Sometimes personal expectations don't match practical realities, and people are disappointed and disaffected.

That doesn't necessarily make a management decision wrong.

Yeah there is probably more to it.

Berrick Barnes went to David Bedgood for advice? I wonder what he said. I'd be more than a little bit upset if a person who is there to support the players in anyway endorsed a star player to defect. Might be something along those lines that lead to his sacking.

Wayne is bored he needs something to get on his high horse about.

[laura]

You'd think that if his opinion meant so much for Berrick & his grandfather to go see him, the players obviously respect him & his decisions.
Stalwart's like that are what makes clubs and keeps tradition going. Its a shame they felt the need to get rid of him & insulting to offer a few tickets..surely a life membership would be more worthy.

[TOCC]

well really it is one side of the story, what did he actually do in the dressing room, as a 70yr old he couldnt have been to helpful, yeah he might love the Reds but if you dont have a job then you have no place been in the dressing room.

[Burgs]

Well, as the Gear Steward, he would have basically done all the shitty jobs that professionals don't want to do, like laying out the jersey's, setting up the chairs for the Coach, cleaning shit up while the first half is playing so they have a clean room at half time, giving a rub down when the Physio is too busy with a more serious case etc etc.
Yes, I accept that it is one side of the story however, if there was anything too dramatically wrong you would have thought they would have worked it out in the past six seasons.
As for a 70yr old being too helpful, I know of 80 year olds who run full scale operational farms on their own so I wouldn't rush to conclusions based on his age.

[GIGS20]

I agree with Burgs. If it's a simple case of "He doesn't do anything useful, he shouldn't be in the dressing room" that doesn't make sense from the club that says the most about prid, tradition, history. He's there as history, He's there to remind the players what they play for...that's enough.

I don't want to make too strong a statement, because there might be a lot more to the story, but if that's the reason, it's bullshit!

---------- Post added at 14:50 ---------- Previous post was at 14:50 ----------

Wow, glad I didn't make a strong statement!

[tic]

He was sacked because he had an old man smell about him.

True.

[palitu]

He was sacked because he had an old man smell about him.

True.

formaldahyde?

[The Man]

He was sacked because he had an old man smell about him.

True.

Well , that was the Reds Smell!!!

Or should that be DEAD TEAM WALKING!

[TOCC]

phh, i guees we should just believe everything we read then

[SleazyWineBaas]

I'll get Choppy close onto it
QUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENSLANDER