How the Talia investigation made the Western Bulldogs lose faith in the AFL

THE Dogs got off to a flying start in the elimination final, booting the first three goals of the night. But for Western Bulldogs officials in the MCG coaching box, something didn’t seem right.

Disappointed Bulldogs players walk off the MCG after their 2015 Elimination Final loss. Picture: Michael Klein

• Kyle Cheney’s ‘joking’ defence deemed “implausible”by Dogs
• Search for truth turned up more questions than answers
• Western Bulldogs savage AFL over alleged Talia leak

THE Dogs got off to a flying start in the elimination final, booting the first three goals of the night. But for Western Bulldogs officials in the MCG coaching box, something didn’t seem right.

As the game went on, one voiced his surprise at Adelaide’s anticipation of the Bulldogs’ forward-line tactics.

Then, the morning after the Crows’ seven-point defeat of the Dogs, a Sunday breakfast catch-up between two former Hawthorn teammates firmed that surprise into a suspicion, triggering a full-blown investigation.

At the centre of that probe was one crucial question: Was the elimination final compromised by the leaking of inside information to the Crows?

That September 13 meeting in a Melbourne cafe was between Adelaide defender Kyle Cheney, who had played for Hawthorn the previous season, and his former Hawks teammate Ben Stratton.

Stratton was taken aback when Cheney told him that before the match, Michael Talia had passed “game-sensitive information” to his brother, Daniel.

Daniel was Adelaide’s star defender; Michael had been left out of the Bulldogs team for the knockout final.

Troubled by what he heard, Stratton sounded out Hawks teammate Josh Gibson for advice.

Gibson, Cheney and Stratton had all played under Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge during his days as a Hawthorn assistant coach.

All three had a deep respect for Beveridge, whose first season in charge at the Dogs had ended with the narrow Adelaide loss.

Gibson, fully appreciating the seriousness of what he was doing, phoned Beveridge the next day to tip him off about the Cheney-Stratton conversation.

This was no laughing matter.

Beveridge immediately contacted Dogs president Peter Gordon, a formidable international lawyer and businessman. Gordon, like Beveridge, was alarmed, but expressed caution.

Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge. Picture: Colleen Petch.

These were potentially devastating allegations, and if the AFL were to be alerted, more information would be required.

On the Tuesday (September 15), at his scheduled end-of-season exit meeting at Whitten Oval, Michael Talia was grilled by Bulldogs chiefs.

According to documents obtained by the Herald Sun, at that meeting Talia admitted he had spoken to his brother, Daniel, on the day before the game, and had sent him two text messages. The documents assert that he admitted discussing the Jake Stringer-Daniel Talia match-up.

It is also asserted that he agreed that if Daniel Talia had told his teammates about an “unusual role” that Dogs forward Tory Dickson would play in the match, it was possible his brother had learned the information from him during a phone call the previous Friday.

But he denied “transmitting any confidential information” and denied telling Daniel he was annoyed at being excluded from the team.

Other Bulldogs officials caught wind of the explosive allegations when Michael Talia was told not to attend the Tuesday meeting of all players before their departure for their off-season break.

Incredulous, Dogs assistant coach Steve King fired off a text message to Crows backline coach Darren Milburn — an old Geelong teammate.

According to testimony provided by King, he asked Milburn: “What’s Michael gone and done?”

King said Milburn replied: “Not much” … or “Not all that much.”

Documents reveal that the Dogs argued Milburn’s response showed he understood immediately that the “Michael” to which the text referred was Michael Talia, and that it related to the allegations of leaking.

Milburn would later dispute King’s version of events, claiming that King had referred specifically to Michael Talia in his text.

An enduring mateship was tested.

The content of the messages has never been confirmed, because both assistant coaches were later accused of deleting them — an act the Dogs said had probably been done “collusively” when the pair learned an AFL investigation was likely to be launched.

The decision to allegedly wipe those messages was ultimately slammed by the Dogs as obstructing the investigation.

But their very existence would still form a key part of the Bulldogs’ submission that the Dogs-Crows final had been compromised.

The day after the texts were exchanged, a deeply concerned Beveridge got on the phone to Stratton to test what Gibson had said.

Beveridge told investigators that Stratton had confirmed what Gibson had relayed about the Talias.

Hawthorn defender Josh Gibson Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Shortly after, Beveridge received a call from Cheney.

If the whole story was intended as a practical joke, surely this was the “gotcha” moment. But the conversation, according to Beveridge, was far from funny.

Documents reveal that the Dogs coach told investigators a contrite Cheney told him he was “fearful about his position” at the Crows “if any complaint went ahead” and he “felt bad about being involved in the leak”.

Beveridge advised Cheney to report the matter to Adelaide football boss David Noble, assuring the Crows defender that he had done nothing wrong.

Cheney acted on the advice — but Noble told investigators that Cheney had told him that the allegations of leaking were “all false”.

Then came another bombshell.

Bulldogs list manager Jason McCartney told the club about a conversation he had that morning (Wednesday, September 16) with the father of Crows defender Jake Lever.

According to McCartney, Al Lever told him about a second Adelaide player who was aware of and uncomfortable about Daniel Talia’s revelations. His son, Jake Lever, had been named as an emergency for the final.

On Thursday, September 17, Beveridge called Cheney back. The Dogs coach relayed the Lever conversation and assured him he was now not the only Adelaide player to express concern.

Beveridge would later tell investigators Cheney thanked the Dogs coach for the call.

According to Beveridge, in this conversation Cheney had in no way backed down from his initial claims.

Crows player Kyle Cheney. Picture: Mark Brake

Five days later, interrupting their list management and trade plays, the Bulldogs formally asked the AFL to investigate the ugly matter.

This was definitely no laughing matter.

In October, Gordon told the AFL: “Raising an integrity matter against one of our own players is a difficult matter for any club.

“We have no vested interest in doing so … indeed, the controversy has eroded our trade position.

“We are entitled to expect from the AFL that the matter will be properly investigated and adjudicated, and not be sidetracked by extraneous circumstances.”

But by that time, the Dogs had already lost faith in the probe.

Just days after the AFL had entered the fray, and two weeks after the elimination final, Cheney had dramatically changed his story.

His confessions to Stratton and Beveridge were intended as a “joke”, Cheney told Adelaide football boss David Noble on September 25.

His new version of events was formally repeated to AFL investigators on October 1.

The Dogs, flabbergasted, asserted it was an “implausible” explanation that Cheney had “invented” after he “had the opportunity to receive advice from one or more of a number of people/organisations with vested interests”.

The truth, according to the Bulldogs, was what Cheney had initially told Stratton and Beveridge. He had been deeply worried that his knowledge of the Talias’ conduct would land him and the club in trouble, they said.

The intrigue shifted to the investigation.

It emerged that crucial texts between the Talias had also been deleted.

Michael Talia told investigators he had lost his phone in Bali. And Daniel had removed texts from his phone.

Documents reveal the Bulldogs were “mystified” by the AFL’s “lack of intrigue”.

Talia investigation timeline

They were stunned when an AFL integrity investigator told the club “he thought nothing of it”.

In a letter to the AFL in October, Gordon said: “The destruction of evidence in anticipation of legal proceedings may be a civil and indeed a criminal act ...”

The Dogs were equally outraged by the AFL’s preparedness to accept Cheney’s new story. Relationships soured further.

The Dogs at one stage demanded AFL legal counsel Andrew Dillon take charge of the investigation.

Concerns were flagged that almost three weeks into the official probe, neither Jake Lever nor his father had been quizzed about McCartney’s claims.

There was more anger at Whitten Oval when Jake Lever’s father later accused McCartney of “fabricating the story”.

“McCartney stands by his account,’’ the Bulldogs told the AFL.

“WBFC has no reason not to believe McCartney’s version.”

Another month passed before the AFL released a carefully drafted “summary of findings”, in which it cleared the Talias of wrongdoing.

The statement was preceded by days of wrangling.

The Dogs put out their own statement, saying they were “troubled” by aspects of the league investigation.

But that did not tell half the story.

Only a year later, after claiming their first premiership in 62 years, have the Dogs’ real views on the Talia saga come to light.

And for some club insiders, the question lingers over how far they might have gone in 2015 had confidential information not been leaked.