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To try or not to try, that is the question

The Swans insist that it is all much ado about nothing; the AFL is keen to protect the integrity of the competition; Roos thinks that he is being unfairly persecuted and that the AFL have a vendetta against him; Andy Demetriou says that it's "nothing personal", he's even in the Telegraph counselling restraint. Aker (being Aker) just can't keep out of any argument and reckons the pre-season comp should be scrapped. The people of Sydney are in uproar! In The Age, Carro reckons that it is a farce and is holding the fort for her good mate Snooze; in the Hun noted hack Mark Robinson thinks that it's all the fault of the league; yet also in the Hun chief footy scribe Mike Sheehan disagrees and thinks that Roos has come out looking soiled, and that the AFL's point is valid.

It should shock no-one that I agree with Sheehan. The competitive spirit within me cannot accept that football can tolerate actively trying to lose a game. As I said in an earlier post and feel strongly enough to reiterate, it's all very well to pick a reserves outfit, have your best players on the bench or dawdle over interchanges, but it is surely a far graver action to send out instructions to cease trying.

Nonetheless, it could all be far worse; all I've heard from the weird and whacky world of thugby league is bullets, brothels, booze and brawls through Sydney's red light district. So maybe Roosy's indiscretions are minor in comparison.

Comments

Man that would not go over well here in the States. Not only do we not like quitters in our sports, but we like to get our money's worth as well. I hope no one brings down Aussie Rules with a scandal, or Rugby for that matter. They're two of may favorite sports; I have Setanta sports channel just so I can watch them.

If I was a sports commissioner, and found that someone had thrown a game, they would be out on their ass the next day.
Kris McCracken said…
There is a real chance of that happening here. It doesn't look good. Roos may have weathered the storm if he explained why he approaches the pre-season 'competition' the way he does, but first he treats it as a joke, then he lies, and now the lawyers are involved.

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