Shaw and Didak Succumb to the Plague of the Modern AFL Footballer
August 4th 2008 21:14
If curiosity killed the cat, then what is it that’s killing the careers of modern AFL footballers?
The postmortems of recent times will tell you it’s sex (think Wayne Carey), drugs (Cousins), alcohol (Shaw) or violence (too many to mention). But these are all symptoms, not the cause.
When you dig a little deeper – and not too deeply mind you – it really comes down to three things:
• Ego
• Testosterone
• Clear and utter stupidity
All three factors came into play on Sunday night when the Collingwood Football Club was deeply embarrassed by the serious misconduct of two of its respected and talented footballers, Heath Shaw and Alan Didak.
Shaw admitted his car had collided with a stationary car in Kew at 11:30 pm on 3rd August. More disturbing was the fact that he returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.14 when breath-tested by police at the scene. Still more disturbing was the fact that he lied to the media, falsely stating that Alan Didak had not been in the car with him at the time of the accident. The latter factor – clear and utter stupidity – had once again reared its ugly head at the Collingwood Football Club.
Shaw's indiscretion is the latest of a handful of alcohol-related incidents to have plagued Collingwood off the field in recent years.
In 2006, Chad Morrison was charged with drink driving, and later that year his teammates Ben Johnson and Chris Tarrant - now at Fremantle - were involved in a brawl outside a nightclub.
Last year Didak was threatened with the sack after accepting a ride home with Christopher Wayne Hudson, who subsequently pleaded guilty to killing a man and wounding two others in Melbourne's CBD shootings last year.
In January this year, Collingwood lost its sponsorship deal with the TAC after young midfielder Sharrod Wellingham was also charged with drink driving.
Following the incident, Shaw was punished by being thrown to the media wolves by captain Scott Burns and the Collingwood leadership group. He got off lightly. Meanwhile, Collingwood continues to mourn the death of former champion Darren Millane, whose decision to drive after drinking cost him his life in 1991.
The postmortems of recent times will tell you it’s sex (think Wayne Carey), drugs (Cousins), alcohol (Shaw) or violence (too many to mention). But these are all symptoms, not the cause.
When you dig a little deeper – and not too deeply mind you – it really comes down to three things:
• Ego
• Testosterone
• Clear and utter stupidity
All three factors came into play on Sunday night when the Collingwood Football Club was deeply embarrassed by the serious misconduct of two of its respected and talented footballers, Heath Shaw and Alan Didak.
Shaw admitted his car had collided with a stationary car in Kew at 11:30 pm on 3rd August. More disturbing was the fact that he returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.14 when breath-tested by police at the scene. Still more disturbing was the fact that he lied to the media, falsely stating that Alan Didak had not been in the car with him at the time of the accident. The latter factor – clear and utter stupidity – had once again reared its ugly head at the Collingwood Football Club.
Shaw's indiscretion is the latest of a handful of alcohol-related incidents to have plagued Collingwood off the field in recent years.
In 2006, Chad Morrison was charged with drink driving, and later that year his teammates Ben Johnson and Chris Tarrant - now at Fremantle - were involved in a brawl outside a nightclub.
Last year Didak was threatened with the sack after accepting a ride home with Christopher Wayne Hudson, who subsequently pleaded guilty to killing a man and wounding two others in Melbourne's CBD shootings last year.
In January this year, Collingwood lost its sponsorship deal with the TAC after young midfielder Sharrod Wellingham was also charged with drink driving.
Following the incident, Shaw was punished by being thrown to the media wolves by captain Scott Burns and the Collingwood leadership group. He got off lightly. Meanwhile, Collingwood continues to mourn the death of former champion Darren Millane, whose decision to drive after drinking cost him his life in 1991.
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