THE guarded approach AFL clubs take towards protecting players from the media is laughable sometimes.
This week one of my colleagues sent a request to the Carlton Football Club asking to speak to former South Mildura player Lochie O’Brien, but was quickly knocked back.
The club’s media manager responded by saying: “Lochie is playing well in the reserves matches and pushing for selection in the senior side. We’d be best to hold on to this just for now until hopefully he is back in the team … hopefully soon.”
As a community in Sunraysia we are proud of the achievements of our many talented athletes and we are all genuinely interested in what they are doing.
My colleague’s motivation for wanting to speak to O’Brien was purely to see how he was coping with hub life.
Anyone who follows footy is more than aware he has struggled to break into the Blues senior side this year.
The intent of the article wasn’t to hammer him on his form, it was to get an insight into the bizarre set of circumstances he and other AFL players find themselves in because of COVID-19.
O’Brien is a top-10 draft pick and an exceptional athlete who has plenty of good footy left in him at the highest level.
The opportunity to speak to him about the circumstances in which he finds himself, we felt, would have made for great reading when locally we are starved of sport.
Whether he is playing in the reserves or seniors, the story was always about the situation he finds himself in.
Nothing sinister, his form is irrelevant and by playing one game of AFL footy, let alone the 20-odd senior matches he has already racked up, makes O’Brien a star in my eyes.
But for some reason, AFL clubs are obsessed about trying to control the media and their players.
And even when they do allow the players to speak their answers are so scripted it provides little insight to who they really are.
We all know football and sport in general is full of cliches, but on the rare occasions when we do get the opportunity to hear an athlete speak uninhibited, it is so insightful.
Clubs are so obsessed about controlling the media.
You only have to look at how many people now work in footy club media departments to know the value they put on getting what they believe is the right message across to the public.
The Blues had that opportunity this week had they allowed O’Brien to speak to us at Sunraysia Daily.
But in saying that, Carlton’s lack of co-operation is no reflection on O’Brien.
When allowed, he is always very generous with his time.
Let’s hope he is back in the Blues line-up soon and we eventually get to have that chat with him.
Like me, I’m sure everyone out there in the community would love to hear how he is going.
