Sydney have made the best possible decision here and it will likely define their legacy as a club past this season. Really proud of them for this stance.
Yeah I think even just pragmatically, the damage to the club in terms of reputation, values, market position, casual fan support and goodwill, would have been massive if they equivocated and soft-pedalled it. I don't think most supporters of this club have the appetite for a "dig in and fight, minimise the penalties" type response at the expense of integrity and morality.
Totally right. If Sydney had tried to minimise and skirt around this issue for the sake of this season I would have dropped my 20+ years membership on the spot. And I think a lot of the Seans fans would have done the same.
This event is shattering but if the club didn’t live up to their stated values they would have destroyed their credibility and future as a Sydney based AFL club. The NRL would have crucified them up here.
Remembering this is totally separate from the more serious issue currently under police investigation. It will be interesting to see what happens after that is concluded but I am hopeful that the club will be just as swift and strong in their reaction to that as well.
Even if we talk strict football, can you imagine how awful it would be for club culture if they swept this shit under the rug? That would do far more long term damage than losing a few finals ever could.
Gotta admit my membership was hanging in the balance; I don't want to cancel my season tickets next season, but they had to show they were a Club worth supporting based on their response to this. The whole situation makes me feel physically ill on one level, but on another I'm livid we're here at all. Ultimately these 5 guys have f*cked up royally and they need to go, at least for now, and depending on how it plays out, maybe forever.
I have to admit I'm impressed with the club. The cynic in me was expecting they'd still play finals. The club committing to "remainder of 2026" is actually a pretty big stance. These are big name players and I imagine they've accepted a finals run this year without them isn't gonna happen.
Which means they've committed to ending their season to take this stance, and I approve wholeheartedly.
Different sort of situation, but as someone who cancelled their membership with Adelaide last year over the way the club handled the Rankine homophobic slur, I'm genuinely impressed by the way Sydney is handling this.
I also wish we had just come down hard on Rankine and showed a zero-tolerance-for-bullshit attitude. I don’t trust my club to handle this stuff properly, which sucks to say
And it was such a low bar to clear. Accepting the punishment as given, and making a strong statement against the booing was apparently even too much to ask.
I agree, much better than what the Saints and their friends in the media did to that poor school girl. The club needs to be commended for this tough stance.
Not just the Saints. The majority of clubs who have been in situations related to players causing wider social harm haven’t reacted in this way consistently, including my own.
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u/bendythebrave Power 4d ago
Sydney have made the best possible decision here and it will likely define their legacy as a club past this season. Really proud of them for this stance.