Malthouse Has High Hopes Of Redemption
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday August 16, 2008
COLLINGWOOD coach Mick Malthouse is used to being the first to arrive at the Magpies' training centre of a morning.
So he expected a little quiet time at the Lexus Centre to steel himself on the Monday following Collingwood's round-18 loss to Hawthorn. Instead, Malthouse came upon football manager Geoff Walsh with player Heath Shaw, and knew immediately there was a big problem. "I walked in last Monday morning thinking it was bad enough we just lost our third in a row, but [at least] my family are all safe," he said yesterday. "I just saw this young man with our football manager and I thought, 'Oh no, I don't like this."' What was revealed on that Monday put Collingwood in the eye of a media storm that left the future of three players in doubt.As a keynote speaker at yesterday's YMCA breakfast in aid of rehabilitating young criminal offenders, Malthouse spoke candidly for the first time about the suspension of Shaw, 22, and teammate Alan Didak for the rest of this season for lying about a drunken car crash. Shaw's brother Rhyce was also suspended, for two matches.It was a disillusioning episode for Malthouse, who sees himself as a life coach and sometimes a father figure to his players. Malthouse is founding patron of the Bridge Project, which seeks to intervene in the lives of youths in custody and stop them from reoffending, through job training or steady employment. The program began two years ago.Malthouse regularly takes rookie Magpies to interact and play ball games with boys in custody, including a recent volleyball match with offenders aged between 10 and 14 years old."The reason why I'm involved is that I believe in second chances, quite frankly," he said. "When we look at our own life it's generally when we have a hiccup, when we are at our lowest ebb, that we take stock and try to work out which way to go." Malthouse has copped plenty in the past for what some saw as a soft approach to off-field indiscretions by players such as former Magpies goalkicker Chris Tarrant. Yesterday, he defended Didak and the Shaws, despite the heavy penalties imposed by the club. "None of those kids are bad," he said. "It's an error of judgement. They are terrific kids. They all know what they've done ... We have got to be careful we don't murder them for that mistake." He said the media failed to see that many wayward AFL players were dealing with difficult personal lives. "You've got to understand the background of where these kids come from, some of the problems these kids have got," he said. "We've elected to be pretty harsh on [Shaw and Didak]. This is one of the harshest penalties ever. We hope it will have a great effect on those kids. Do you think that even one player is now going to even look at a glass of beer? No way. So it's had a profound effect, I believe, already, on those kids and on the rest of the group. By showing that sort of strength and fairness, we think we'll get those players back in the fold."Whether that means Didak and the Shaws will be given a second chance to play at the club next season, he did not say. Indeed, it may not be up to him. But if any AFL coach believes in redemption, it is Malthouse.
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
