IT’S been a week since AFL Victoria made the decision to make long-time football administrator Trevor Ryan’s position redundant, but still we haven’t heard anything.
No press release, absolutely nothing, just speculation and rumour around why Sunraysia and other regions across the state were stripped of their football development manager.
Put the emotion to one side for a minute.
Sure it is sad Ryan lost his job, but that isn’t the point here.
I completely understand sometimes organisations and businesses need to make decisions that not everyone agrees with or likes.
But tell us why?
Don’t leave us all guessing and speculating.
All that does is create rumour and innuendo.
If we got a legitimate reason to why the decision was made then maybe it would be a little easier to swallow.
Cutting this number of staff is not something you do on a whim.
It’s happened for a reason and, at the moment, those reasons are only known by AFL Victoria officials.
I’m sure in time we will receive an email with a carefully worded press release.
It’ll thank all those, including Ryan, for their wonderful contribution to the game over their many years of service.
In effect it will tell us no more than we already know or assume we know.
What’s wrong with being upfront and laying the facts on the table.
We don’t need all the details, but we need a lot more than what we are currently getting.
Cutting this number of staff surely means there has been a shift in focus or direction by AFL Victoria.
If there has, then let us know what it is and the reasons behind it.
Don’t leave us hanging.
I am continually hearing all the problems with footy in this region and what needs to be done to fix them.
Maybe I’m naive, but I think things are rolling along plenty well in this part of the state.
The league’s balance sheet is one of the healthiest in country footy, clubs are making money and the standard of the competition is on the improve.
Sure junior numbers continue to be a problem, but show me where they aren’t.
But despite all the positives, for some reason, AFL Victoria is still questioning the job we are doing running footy in this part of the world.
Country footy invested a lot of faith in the AFL when they handed over the administration to it.
We deserve a lot better than what we are getting at the moment.
