Peter’s to-do list for this week.
1. Lots of talk this week about amending the rules so Freo’s Nat Fyfe can be eligible for this year’s Brownlow Medal despite suspension. Fair enough, but first things first. Time to right an historic wrong and award Chris Grant the Brownlow everyone knows he won. His entitlement was stripped by a flawed tribunal decision initiated by a flawed tribunal process later amended by the AFL to bring its judicial system into line with modern legal standards. There’s been no fairer and better player in the game than Grant and it’s time the competition recognised it properly. Letter to Mike Fitzpatrick and to Gill … let’s make this right.
2. Had a chuckle with Simon Garlick in Launceston (or was it just our teeth chattering?) at the latest rumour (courtesy of Wayne Carey) that we’d offered GWS’s Jonathon Patton $5 million for five years to come to the Bulldogs. It isn’t true and Simon denied it on SEN. But then I thought: “It’s not as if we aren’t and won’t be, active in this trade period. What if someone stumbles on the right mail about a trade discussion?” Memo to Simon, Graham and Jason: “From now on, our position on any rumoured trade is, ‘We don’t discuss trades unless they are done’.” It does no good and prevents our fans from one of the true joys of fandom – speculating about what the club might be about to do!
3. I know it wasn’t our finest game but going by the stats posted on the Launceston electronic scoreboard during the breaks, you’d think we never got a kick and never scored a point. They put up only the Hawthorn stats as some breathlessly parochial announcer lauded the local team. Memo to (ground manager) “Captain” Robert Groenewegon: “This is your president speaking. Hope you enjoyed your three-course lunch. It’ll be the last involving a Western Bulldogs game in Launceston if that keeps up!”
