Monday 4 August 2014

The Halftime Spray #18 (2014)

Call me old-fashioned, but if someone told me something in confidence and in private, that's where I'd leave it.
People calling Gorden Tallis ‘honest' for claiming Robbie Farah said Wests Tigers coach Mick Potter can't coach, some 15 months ago, are deluded beyond belief. It's not honest to breach a person's trust or reveal something they said in private.
On Monday night, Tallis revealed that he felt compelled to stick up for his mate Potter when news reports began surfacing some weeks ago that Potter's position could be terminated early.
Rumours about Potter's future were coupled with allegations that there was a player revolt against him. This revolution has been reported as being just one man to as many as ‘the senior playing group' (also known as a wild guess).
‘Honest' Tallis criticised Farah for being quiet while rumours of player unrest towards Potter were fuelling speculation Potter would be sacked. However the week before Tallis made this claim, Farah was reported as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald "There is no player discontent."
Potter backed this up by saying "I have not had one issue about the players."
He also spoke of the uncertainty about his career at the Tigers as being "a little distracting."
Hardly the words of a man who needs any PR assistance.
Tallis decided to reveal his big story anyway, despite it being over a year old and quite very possibly entirely irrelevant.
Did ‘honest' Tallis bother to confirm if Farah's alleged beliefs were still true? No.
After the drama on Sunday at the Tiger's post-match press conference, Farah clearly stated that "Mick has the support of the playing group and will continue to have the support of the playing group, that has never been an issue." Shortly after, the Tigers board agreed to not sack Potter, but to let him see the season out.
Given that Tallis suggested his interest was in defending Potter, one has to wonder how ‘honest' that statement is, given that 24 hours after Potter was saved from the sack, Tallis continued pushing his agenda.
Surely if Tallis was trying to look after Potter, then shutting his gob would help to take the pressure off Potter. His courageous crusade to try and help a bloke (who never asked for his assistance) should have ended when it was announced that Potter would get to see out his contract.
Instead Tallis ironically decided to carry the story on. The ‘honest' Tallis said to Farah after a recent game "Robbie you can have your say, it doesn't worry me."
Yet Tallis is the only one of the two constantly bringing this story up and dragging it out. Clearly it worries Tallis.
‘Honest.'