SACKED podcast: Stewart Crameri lifts lid on the Dogs’ ‘handball club’ and the believed Talia brother’s collusion

Stewart Crameri snuck through to the 100-game mark at his third AFL club. Then it was all over in a flash and the former Bomber, Bulldog and Cat could not have been more relieved.

Stewart Crameri has revealed the genesis of the Western Bulldogs’ famous “handball club” was the same losing final in which the Dogs suspected the Talia brothers had shared game-sensitive tactics.

Crameri also said the mental toll of the Essendon supplements saga was so damaging he nearly hugged coach Chris Scott when he delisted him during his third stint at an AFL club.

Crameri missed the 2016 premiership with the Western Bulldogs because of a 12-month ban when the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld WADA’s appeal after the Essendon players were caught up in the peptides scandal.

But a year earlier he played his first and only AFL final for the Dogs against Adelaide in the 2015 elimination final.

The Dogs lost that game by just seven points on the MCG, but the lessons learned saw coach Luke Beveridge set up the famous “handball club” which saw his Dogs’ lightning exchanges in close bamboozle rival onball units.

Crameri told the Herald Sun’s Sacked podcast he loved playing under Beveridge even if the famously complex coach could blow hot and cold.

“I think we were probably the better team but we just let it slide,” he said of that final against the Crows.

“I thought we were going to win (from eight points up early in the last term) and they just beat us in the end. What happened in the final quarter is we missed a lot of handballs and then we developed the handball game.

“That was the birth of (the handball club). As soon as we started pre-season, we were going to work on that because we missed so many opportunities in the handball. So that was where it all got started and look, that’s probably what helped as well in that grand final 2016.”

Stewart Crameri enjoyed his time playing for Luke Beveridge. Picture: Colleen Petch.

In that final, several tactical moves from the Dogs seemed to be anticipated by Adelaide. Daniel Talia played for the Crows but his brother Michael Talia didn’t play for the Bulldogs.

The league ultimately cleared the Talias of exchanging sensitive game-specific information, but the Dogs said in the aftermath of that AFL review they were “troubled” by the findings.

The AFL found that the Talia brothers discussed the game and Daniel Talia’s likely match-up on Jake Stringer, but said the evidence didn’t support intentional or improper leaking of sensitive information.

And while there were text messages and a phone conversation in the week leading into the match, Michael Talia subsequently lost his phone in Bali before the investigation.

Asked why the Dogs believed sensitive tactics had been leaked Crameri said: “It was one set play. He’s lining up with him and you think, ‘That’s odd’. I don’t know for a fact, but I am sure they would have spoken. (In the end) it doesn’t matter. It’s not going to change (the outcome) of the game.”

Dogs believed game tactics were leaked by own player Michael Talia. Picture: AAP Image/Julian Smith

To his Crows brother Daniel Talia. Picture: Tom Huntley

Crameri returned after his 2016 ban and played a final year at the Dogs in 2017 but injured his hip in the pre-season and played only two matches.

Asked for his views on the combative Beveridge he said: “I really admired ‘Bevo’ and a lot of his coaching attributes. I took a lot from that, even in the workforce as well, and he was always a very knowledgeable man. And look, if you’re on the right side of Bevo, it would be great. If you’re on the wrong side, you are off a cliff, but that’s OK. That’s football and that’s the reality of it.”

What side were you on?

“I was mostly on the good side and then I finished on the bad side,” Crameri said.

That 2017 pre-season saw him attempt to return to the game after a 12-month absence. He battled motivation issues even before he tore his hip joint.

“I came back in 2017 and I remember even the first session, I was really battling because I’d had the year off, not completely but questioning do I still want to do this? And I got through all that,” he said.

“In February 2017, I kicked the ball about 60 metres, I kicked a goal in a training drill.

And 10 minutes later, my hips started hurting. And I thought, that’s odd. It didn’t go away and I didn’t know it then, but that was the end of my career, pretty much.

“I pretty much ripped off the cushioning around the (hip) bone in that one kick, just because I had been deconditioned that year off. I played a few games but I was in pain the whole time.”

He said he is in awe of Bulldog Tom Boyd’s ability to be so open about his mental health and admitted he ignored the pain of the Essendon saga at times to his detriment.

“I swept so much under the rug,” Crameri said. “It didn’t necessarily spill out, but it was always there. You know, the ASADA stuff sits under there and all the hard times sit under there. And this comes back to mental health and trying to be proactive with it.

“You know what Tom Boyd is trying to do is really good. It’s just one of those things you’ve got to be constantly aware of, if there’s too much under the rug. You make sure that you address it.”

Crameri was relieved when the Cats delisted him. Picture: AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy

Crameri played a final season – and reached his long-awaited 100-game milestone – at Geelong, but said he was keen to retire even before the Cats came calling.

“I just probably wanted to give up, but I was fortunate to get another lifeline with Geelong and push through,” he said.

Eventually when he was delisted by Scott a wave of relief washed over him.

“I think I already had a bit of a plan (when I went in for that meeting). I thought if he’s not going to say it, I will say it. And he said it first and he said, ‘Look, thank you for everything you’ve done. I appreciate it. We’re going to let you go’.

“And I said, ‘Thank you so much. I appreciate even getting to the four games I played’. And yeah, it was a great little moment. And then you walk out and then you feel like the world lifts off your shoulders and you go, ‘I’m free’.”

Originally published as SACKED podcast: Stewart Crameri lifts lid on the Dogs’ ‘handball club’ and the believed Talia brother’s collusion