AFL playing the schoolyard bully

[beige]

AFL's reputation as the schoolyard bully on Australia's sporting landscape has been enhanced by its decision to prevent a Port Adelaide employee from volunteering to help A-League club Adelaide United find a new coach.

Darren Burgess, the highly respected strength and conditioning coach who worked with the Socceroos and English giants Liverpool before returning home to work with Port Adelaide in the AFL, was seconded by the board of Adelaide United to contribute to a panel formed to recruit the Reds next coach.

Burgess's role was to be purely voluntary. He has a real affinity with football and has experience in the game at the highest level that would be hard to find anywhere else in Australia.

Given his understanding of elite team sport and the role of the coach therein, it seemed a reasonable thing for the Reds to seek his opinion in choosing a permanent replacement for John Kosmina.

But those plans were scuppered when the AFL hierachy personally and directly intervened, instructing Port Adelaide that Burgess was not to have involvement with Adelaide United on any official basis.

Technically, the AFL commission might have a right to dictate those sort of terms to its member clubs, but the question is why they chose to do so.

What are the AFL worried about?

The only explanation is the obvious one, which is that the AFL is the biggest kid in the schoolyard and is looking to exact total dominance over the marketplace.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/football...-1226611974086

[GIGS20]

The Reds should employ him as head coach just to stick it up the GayFL

I know nothing about soccer and he may be a total fucktard as a coach, but the 'stick it in your ear' points would be brilliant!

[shasta]

The AFL are completely paranoid about international football codes. The thing they seem to crave the most is to have people "converted'' and to convince them that they have the greatest football code on the planet. They have deep pockets and their strategy of investing big bucks in junior development will probably pay dividends in the long term. But their short term paranoia, as in this instance, just makes them look total wankers.

[jargan83]

Their deep pockets sure is working wonders in Western Sydney

Their fake participation numbers in the Rugby states are hilarious

[shasta]

Their deep pockets sure is working wonders in Western Sydney

I'm talking about the long game. The money they are investing in junior development in Western Sydney and other areas. We won't see the results for quite a few years yet. Possibly when it hits us between the eyes.