PIEGATE

 

Tess is so very disappointed…Didak!

Tess is wondering how anyone could be so inexcusably stupid

Tess is thinking that Ben Cousins will fit right in at Collingwood after all

Tess is wondering if there are any PR jobs going at the Collingwood Football Club

I played around with my facebook status a fair bit over the past two days. I changed it several times as I continued to watch the Didak/Shaw drama unfold in the media.

Full disclosure: I am a dedicated diehard collingwood supporter who has and will continue to believe that the premierships a cake walk.

Last Sunday night Heath Shaw smashed his car in two parked cars. His blood alcohol reading was close to three times the legal limit (0.14). When originally questioned about the incident by the CFC he allegedly advised the club that he was in the car with a ‘mate’. What he neglected to mention is that this ‘mate’ happened to be Alan Didak – a fellow star player at the club. Believing Shaws frosted version of events, the club spent the next day denying Didak’s involvement in the “minor accident”. They also insisted that Shaw would play against St Kilda next week. When it became crystal clear that Didak was indeed in the car the club was forced to do a complete 180. 

Around a year ago Saint Didak was involved in a wild joy ride of sorts after meeting now notorious biker Christopher Hudson at a King Street Strip Club. Didak failed to report the incident (which involved a high speed car chase and shots being fired over the Westgate Bridge) until several days later when Hudson made the news in a big way. A CBD shooting which left a Melbourne lawyer dead and two others near-fatally injured. After Didak’s association with Hudson was made public he conveniently suffered alcohol induced amnesia and unfortunately couldn’t really remember to any degree of certainty what happened that night.

After the Hudson saga Didak was place on behavioural restrictions which included a ban on alcohol and a curfew. Last month the restrictions were lifted and Didak signed a $800,000, two-year contract with the club.

The clubs initial handling of Heath Shaw was lenient to say the least. He was given a fine of $10,000 (relative to his income this is nothing) and the all clear to play next week. Once it came out that Didak was involved and that both players had lied to the club the penalties got more sever. Both players were suspended for the rest of the season (including possible finals) and Didak was fined $5,000.

Absolute PR nightmare – I’m sure if Gerry McCusker writes a follow up to Talespin: Public Relations Disasters he will owe Didak a beer…or perhaps a coke.

So how did they get it so (so so so so so so SOS) wrong?

Huge Mistake 1:The club not quadruple checking who Shaws ‘mate’ was. Why would they not account for the where-abouts and actions of every other player. It’s called due-diligence and should have been done before the crisis reached boiling point.

Huge Mistake 1.5:Sending Scott Burns out to the media without quadruple checking their facts and making their brilliant captain look like an idiot who now has to do a massive backpedal due to the clubs incompetence.

Huge Mistake 2:The club not putting one of those electronic ankle band things on Alan Didak. I think Lindsay Lohan has some devise attached to her leg that chews off her foot if she touches alcohol, drugs, knives, guns, trys to adopt African children etc.

Huge Mistake 3: The club was too lenient on Shaw to begin with, they should have made an example of him. He is a public figure (I wont go as far to say a role model because he is not part of the clubs leadership team) in a team that has had a history of alcohol abuse issues (channelling Chad Morrison, Darren Millane, Chris Tarrant, Ben Johnson).

Lets flip the paradigm for a second. Lets pretend that an elderly person or small child happened to be standing where Shaw crashed the car. Lets pretend they were killed when he drunkenly plowed them down.

Would his actions be different? No…he would still have been driving recklessly with a blood alcohol level of 0.14

Would the clubs reaction have been different? ummm….yeah…I imagine his contract would have been torn up before the police arrived on the scene.

Huge Mistake 4:Taking so long to decide Didak’s future…get him out now…be firm, actually take some radical and decisive action that shows the club will not tolerate or condone in any way shape or form any illegal activity.

The court of public opinion does not look kindly on people who lie. It defiantly does not look kindly on people who lie more than once. In this age of camera phones and citizen journalists there was absolutly no way he was ever going to get away with it…damn if you could put stupid in a shot glass!

I’m keen to see what happens next…

If Collingwood is smart it will not renew the contracts of either Didak or Shaw.

Didak’s days are numbered. I think Shaw will stay and be made an example of (its nice to have family in high places). The club will pay for alcohol counselling. He will spend his next 10 years at the club giving talks to school boys about the dangers of binge drinking. He will have the axe over his head and told it will swiftly be brought down if he so much as steps foot in a bar for the rest of his playing career (on/off season). Collingwood need to recruit someone with a squeaky clean James Hird-esk reputation to replace Didak (if they even think about touching Ben ’iceman’ Cousins…). Finally they have to be sincerely sorry. They have to come out and apologise for disrespecting the fans, the AFL, and most importantly the thousands of Australians who are touched by drink driving tragedies each year. This should be done of their own accord, unprompted and timely. A short apology should be made at the beginning of their next match.

Oh and I bet the TAC are thanking their lucky stars they ended their sponsorship deal with Collingwood in January when little known player Wellingham was done for drink driving!

Alan Didak models the new team uniform (sorry couldn't help myself)