Andrew McLeod says he loved Adelaide like ‘family’ in 2015 so why has so much changed now?

Andrew McLeod fought back tears on stage speaking of what the Adelaide Football Club meant to him in 2015. So the question surrounding his stunning criticism of the place is not so much why, but why now?

Andrew McLeod in his playing days at the Crows.

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The big question surrounding Andrew McLeod’s criticism of his football club which is playing out like yet another off-field public soap opera starring the Crows is not so much why, but why now?

Why now, after a 16-year playing career – widely celebrated as the club’s greatest ever player and among the first inductees into its hall of fame five years ago – has he unloaded?

Why now after spending the past seven years as an employee of the place has he trashed it so publicly? Slammed its leaders, criticised its culture and saying he does not feel a connection or welcome?

McLeod’s claims cannot be questioned. If that is how he feels then no one can argue and his comments must be taken seriously by everyone at West Lakes.

But what can be questioned is his timing. Why now?

Has McLeod felt like this for years? There was no indication of it when he choked back tears at his hall of fame induction at the Entertainment Centre in 2015.

“I’ve spent more time at the Adelaide Football Club than I have in Darwin, so I guess the Adelaide Football Club to me is family,” McLeod said.

“I remember Goody (Simon Goodwin) giving a speech a few years ago when he was captain and he talked about the footy club being a family and he went through the people involved, the thing that resonated with me was the fact that it was all about the people.

Former Crow Andrew McLeod in action in 2006 against the Western Bulldogs.

“The people includes everybody, not just the inner sanctum or the different levels of hierarchy, the thing for me that stood out when Goody talked about that was the people and the people made the football club.

“I sat there and thought’ you’re right, Goody’, … it made me think about the football club and what it means to me and I’ve been in a fortunate position that I was afforded the opportunity as a young, snotty nosed 18-year-old to play the game that I love.

“I’m very proud and I’m very comfortable where I sit amongst the football fraternity, I don’t see myself as anything special, just a kid who had a dream and was able to pursue that.”

He thanked his family before again the club.

“I thank the Adelaide Football Club and the people of the Adelaide Football Club for allowing me to be a part of your family.”

That was April 29, 2015.

So what has changed since then? Or has this been simmering away the whole time? In his latest podcast he said he’d had several meetings with club chiefs and felt they were “fruitless”.

The Crows beg to differ and say they were stunned to learn so publicly that he was upset.

What has changed is that McLeod is now speaking freely and he has no reason to protect the club or his job because three months ago he was stood down like 80 per cent of staff at West Lakes.

Adelaide Crows footballer Andrew McLeod wearing the Norm Smith Medal after the 1997 AFL Grand Final. Picture: Dodd Karen.

Last year the Federal Government told the Crows it would no longer fund the indigenous and community programs which McLeod was responsible for delivering.

Adelaide funded the programs itself and paid McLeod according to a contract.

In late March when the coronavirus hit, McLeod was told that like the game, the club’s financial situation was so dire that his contract was being put on hold and there was no date on when he or the programs would return.

It could all be related or it could be a complete coincidence.

Adelaide can try to defend itself but it cannot be critical of its games record holder because no matter who swung the first punch, it is fighting a PR battle it cannot win, but private talks don’t appear to be working either.

Three weeks after McLeod’s first bomb, board member and former teammate Mark Ricciuto said the situation was “not any better than when he first said it”.

“I’ve tried to get in touch with him five or six times – I want to sort it out. He says he loves the club, I do too, and all our members and supporters want it sorted out too,” Ricciuto said on Triple M.

Crows coach Matthew Nicks was asked about it as well. And like Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley’s response to Heritier Lumumba’s concerning claims he was a victim of racism at the Magpies, Nicks said he wanted to find a way forward for McLeod and all past players.

“That’s embracing our past players and using the expertise that we have … constantly seeking to keep in touch with those guys,” Nicks said.

“I’m an ex-player from my footy club (Sydney) and I know what it means when you go back to the cub you played for for a decade, if the doors are open and you feel welcome it’s a great place to be and that’s what we’re going to do moving forward.”

So now the ball is in McLeod’s court. If he genuinely wants the place to change, when will he have those conversations with his “family”?

Next week? Next month? When he is an employee again? When the leader of its “front office” CEO Andrew Fagan and chairman Rob Chapman are both gone?

They were both in charge in 2015 when McLeod spoke of what the club meant to him so what’s changed since then and why are we only hearing about it now he’s no longer there?

Originally published as Andrew McLeod says he loved Adelaide like ‘family’ in 2015 so why has so much changed now?