Crisis managers called in to dole out brutal advice to wayward AFL stars

When wayward AFL players need some tough love Melbourne’s crisis managers are called in to put out the flames of a scandal.

In the sporting world the art of the apology has become part of the business.

Just this month in AFL we have seen two very different examples of how to execute the mea culpa. One spectacularly good, the other, think train wreck.

Bulldog star Bailey Smith’s upfront admission of cocaine use was honest and on point, nipping the scandal in the bud.

As for Jordan De Goey’s Bali bender debacle, it lurched from one mistake to another.

First the Instagram blame-the-media-post stunned everyone including his football club, and then playing the mental health card in his Collingwood statement using ADHD as an excuse for tugging at a woman’s breast in a nightclub had the spin doctors scratching their heads.

Crisis management is big business and there are some heavy hitters in Melbourne who crave this sort of scandal.

They are the ones the manager calls at the eleventh hour, parachuting them into the fold to dole out the “brutal advice.”

Bailey Smith benefited from a quick and sincere apology.

Jordan De Goey failed to put out the flames fast enough after his Bali bender.

“It’s all about getting the right tone and shutting it down,” one told Page 13 on the condition of anonymity. These types like to lurk in the shadows.

“Admit it, move on and whatever you do don’t provide another storyline.”

Smith’s manager, the Jerry Maguire of the AFL, Paul Connors has veteran spinner Anton Staindl on his speed dial for such indiscretions, which he has had plenty to deal with over the journey.

The St Kilda Football Club has been known to call on TV guru Steve Carey when a brouhaha erupts, while former journos turned crisis managers Simon Pristel and Mark Hawthorne are in hot demand when the proverbial hits the fan.

The problem for De Goey was his inner sanctum might be better at fighting fires than putting out media flames.

Simon Pristel is one of the crisis managers in hot demand.

Steve Carey in on call for St Kilda should trouble strike.

The Collingwood midfielder is managed by his brother-in-law, Melbourne firefighter Ryan Vague. While his father, firefighter Roger, was also at some stage in charge of his affairs.

This lack of expertise clearly hurt De Goey in his attempt to spin his way out of his latest controversy.

Page 13 understands psychologist Jacqui Louder has been the one working closely behind the scenes with the troubled inked up badboy.

On Friday, which marked a week from when the scandal broke (dogs years in crisis management) De Goey finally apologised in an 80 second grab on the Collingwood website.

The one positive spin off from the De Goey drama has been for the influencer who played a starring role in the nightclub video.

Bolted on Sydney starlet Remy Jackson had 15,000 followers when she first came into contact with “Jordy” last week. Fast Forward and she has found almost 7,000 extra followers and counting. Page 13 is calling it now, don’t be surprised if she bobs up on the next round of the reality circuit. Surely celebrity agent Max Markson, a spinner of a different kind, will be on the blower soon.