Tag Archives: dean-bailey

Friday musing – Higgins, Bailey, Smith, AFL…..

March 14, 2014 sportzfan Leave a comment

Well it was quite a sad week with the passing of Roy Higgins and Dean Bailey.

Roy Higgins was a jockey everyone knew and it didn’t matter if they followed racing or not. He was one of the first, if not the first jockey to have a media profile. Roy clearly knew his stuff and had a good sense of humour. I heard a recent interview with him replayed last weekend and he indicated that his favourite horse was Light Fingers. This was also reflected in a very good article about him in the Herald Sun written by the doyen of racing writers, Les Carlyon. He said that the only photos of horses in Higgin’s house were of Light Fingers. His post riding aim was to be a little fat man and he was also successful in that regard! He won 108 Group 1 races in a time when
there were less Group 1 races and with a heavy weight jockey, he also had a smaller pool to choose from. One of the greats!

Dean Bailey’s death was probably more tragic given that he was only recently diagnosed with cancer and 47 at the time of his death. I saw him play his first game for the Bombers down at Geelong and he kicked goals with his first two kicks in league football. He wasn’t a great player, but probably got the best out of himself and often these types of players make good coaches. He certainly had a good CV as an assistant coach and his time at Melbourne as a senior coach came to an unfortunate end. I also think he was harshly dealt with in the tanking saga. To his credit he never tried to push the blame onto anyone else and took his lumps. Universally liked and his sacking at Melbourne was not something that came from losing the players.

Taken too soon!

On a brighter note it was great to see Cameron Smith re-sign with the Melbourne Storm. He is not only the club captain, but also the captain of Queensland and Australia, so it would be hard to have a better CV. With him staying with the Storm it will be easier to attract and retain players. A coup of some proportions given the obvious interest from the Brisbane Broncos. He capped it all off last weekend by leading the Storm to a stirring victory with his first drop goal in the NRL.

The AFL starts back tonight and I am looking forward to sitting back with a few cold ones watching Fre(dis)mantle Collingwood. Fremantle are my tip for the premiership and if they are to fulfil my prediction, they have to win tonight.

Have a great weekend.

Podcast

Sportzfan Radio 7 August 2011 #213.2

August 10, 2011 @packers4 Leave a comment

7 August 2011 213.2 – John O’Callaghan joins the Panel and says the AFL are becoming like the AOC with their skullduggery and non accountability to stakeholders. He says Andrew Demetriou should not be running the AFL. John cites tanking as an example and refers to Dean Bailey’s press conference during the week. He also talks about the clear breach of the AFL rules in the signing of Phil Davis by Greater Western Sydney. Nicole Chvastek joins the Panel to talk about Dean Bailey’s revelations on tanking and the way the AFL has dealt with it. They also discuss Jeff Kennett’s comments about Garry Lyon taking on the Football Director’s role at Melbourne for only a short period of time. Paul Dalligan talks about what is happening in the world of rugby league and this week’s round of NRL matches. In addition, he discusses the article written about him by Fred Sherman that appeared on Yahoo Sports following his recent trip to see the LA Dodgers.

Podcast

Sportzfan Radio 31 July 2011 #212.2

August 2, 2011 @packers4 Leave a comment

31 July 2011 212.2 – Mark Fiorenti continues talking about the draw for World Cup 2014. He thinks the group with Spain and France in is the ‘Group of Death’. There is a discusson of Dean Bailey’s tenure as coach at the Melbourne FC and whether he should be sacked or not. This is followed by Glenn Hampson talking about whether the AFL are getting bang for their buck from the signings of Karmichael Hunt & Israel Folau. Sportzfan Stan says their is no loyalty for clubs these days, just players going for the money. The Panel talk with Paul Dalligan about NRL players involvement in AFL and his duties serving champagne at his lovelies baby shower. He also talks Melbourne Storm’s shackle tackle. Paul also discusses the NRL round in depth. The Gelding calls in to talk horse racing and the results from Caulfield. The Professor talks about using Daniel’s method of selecting horses and picked Mr Griswold for a nice collect. The Gelding even awards an S-hit ride to Keiran McEvoy for his ride on Scarf that upset his all up bet. He also saw Danish Rock’s jump out and says the horse was a bit green and reminded him of a lawyer going to his first conference – all over the place. Glenn finishes off with a discussion on the controversy about Australian cricket contracts. Sportzfan Stan again calls for the sacking of the Australian selectors.

Podcast

Sportzfan Radio 31 July 2011 #212.1

August 2, 2011 @packers4 Leave a comment

31 July 2011 212.1 – Sportzfan Stan starts the show ripping the Melbourne FC saying they are a ‘team of the past’ and don’t deserve to be in the AFL. He doesn’t think Dean Bailey should be sacked though and that Melbourne should wait until the end of the season before making a move. Daniel Eade comes on to talk about the NBA lockout – he thinks games will definitely be lost and playing won’t commence until December at the earliest, the chances of Patrick Mills playing in the NBL this season and the coming international matches between the Boomers & Opals and New Zealand at the Cage. He also talks ice hockey with the AIHL finals to be played in Melbourne on 3 -4 September. Sportzfan Stan looks at performance enhancing drugs in sport again and the prevalence of their use. Glenn Hampson makes his debut as a member of the Sportzfan Radio panel and joins the discussion on Alberto Contador. Mark Fiorenti talks soccer and the World Cup 2014 preliminary draw and reviews the Asian section group. He feels the Socceroos should make it through the first round of qualifying.

News, Sports

Would 11 Championships save a coach from the axe?

May 11, 2011 @packers4 Leave a comment

We all joke on Sportzfan Radio about resident panelist Sportzfan Stan being quick to suggest sports coaches, administrators, teams & players being sacked. Most recently he called for the sacking of Melbourne Football Club coach Dean Bailey (podcast #200.1). This despite the Demons being in the top eight and with the best start to a season for many seasons. By the way the Demons have since beaten Adelaide by more than 90 points!

My feeling is that we are too quick to pull the trigger in today’s sporting world. Even having excellent records in the recent past is not enough to save a coach or player. One only needs to look at the way the Melbourne Tigers behaved after their season didn’t turn out the way they thought it should. Two NBL Championships and four trips to the playoffs in as many seasons couldn’t save long time servant and coach of the club, Al Westover. On our show, Daniel Eade urged restraint and argued a case for Westover’s retention. History tells us that Al was sacked mid season. If one compares Westover’s coaching record to that of Lindsay Gaze, Westover had more success in a much shorter time but even that comparison couldn’t save him.

It seems that today’s ‘must have now’ phenomenon pervades all areas of sport. Being in the USA now and with the NBA finals series in full flight, I am amazed at the reaction of the media to the LA Lakers whitewash at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. Let’s remember that the Lakers were the two time defending champion and have been one of the most successful franchises of all time with 11 championships (5 since 2000 and runners-up twice). Yet today, we are greeted with the media saying the Lakers are a ‘train wreck’…’the locker room needs massive repair’…’fractured franchise’. There have been calls to trade anyone but Kobe…meaning one of last season’s best players, Pau Gasol is on the block because the Lakers failed to win for a third time in a row. Reality check – the NBA is one of the most competitive competitions in all of sport and the Lakers have been to the big dance in each of the last three seasons. Is there really a need for ‘massive’ change?

Memo to the sports media of the world….have some patience. I find support for this proposition in the example provided by my fellow Sportzfan Radio panelist, Mark Fiorenti when he spoke recently of Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United fame. Early on in his tenure and with not much success, the media and fans were calling for his sacking (a la Sportzfan Stan). The club, to their credit, and eternal satisfaction, stayed the executioner’s hand and one only needs to look at the stellar record since, that has put United at the forefront of soccer in not only Europe, but the world. They are in line this season for the Premier League/Champions League double.

One lucky person is the former coach of the Lakers, Phil Jackson. His retirement after the Lakers last loss at least means we won’t have calls for him to be sacked by all and sundry including Sportzfan Stan. Goodness knows his 11 NBA championships may not have saved him in this ‘need it now’ world.

Restraint is what I will be preaching on Sportzfan Radio from now on!