Jon Anderson examines the rise and temporary fall of Simon Lethlean
IN SPEAKING to a variety of people about Simon Lethlean, descriptions such as mentally agile, hard to get to know, driven and extremely confident followed. But who is he really?
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THAT Simon Lethlean was nicknamed “Jars” during his playing days with amateur club Old Xaverians was testament to his sublime kicking — “Jars” was in deference to Adelaide maestro Darren Jarman.
That the nickname was self-anointed explains some of who Lethlean is, a whip-smart commercial transactions lawyer turned football administrator with an extremely healthy self-belief.
Until his public belittling last week, when news of an extramarital affair with another AFL staffer broke, Lethlean’s life had been one of constant achievement.
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Sure, he didn’t crack it for the big time with the Hawks in the mid-1990s but five premierships as a player and two as coach of Old Xaverians in A Grade placed him in rarefied VAFA air.
His working life had gone from strength to strength, deservedly so according to even his harshest critics, and the former Camberwell Grammar boy does have critics.
“He doesn’t have respect for people who don’t agree with him and he can be very cutting with his tongue,” said one person who worked with him closely during those VAFA days. “Against that, he proved in his short time as operations boss at the AFL that he was born for such a role,”
That the source in question initially was happy to be quoted before calling back to request anonymity says much about the powerful world in which Lethlean has lived and worked. That includes Melbourne’s biggest football boys’ club, Old Xaverians, a breeding ground for alpha males.
Lethlean slipped seamlessly into the red and black environment of the Old Xaverians, who boast among their alumni AFL heavy hitters like Paul Connors, Andrew Dillon, Craig Kelly and Dan Richardson.
For much of his 165-game career, Lethlean’s playing ability stood out, and was good enough to see him reach State level in 2001, when he was named vice-captain alongside captain and great mate Gillon McLachlan.
The story goes that McLachlan played in only one of the two State games that season but took his place in the photo shoot before informing selectors he wouldn’t be fit to play.
It remains a point of laughter between the two, whose friendship was highlighted when they met up at Toorak Park to watch University Blues and Old Xaverians last Saturday, before reportedly sharing dinner at McLachlan’s nearby home.
That Lethlean attended that game surprised some onlookers, although for long-time friend in former 3AW boss Shane Healy it was in character.
“I thought it said plenty about him that he turned up at Toorak Park,” said Healy, now director of media for the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. “It took a bit of courage because everybody would have been talking about him and looking at him.
“I spoke with ‘Lethers’ to say I was thinking of him and that I hoped he could work his way through it. While Simon clearly got it wrong and made a stupid, idiotic mistake, the general feeling and one that I share is the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.
“Now it’s left with him and his wife Sarah to work their way through it. He would be hating the public nature of his actions because he is a private person.”
At times last Saturday, Lethlean showed signs of the stress that goes with such a public fall, becoming emotional and breaking down when receiving support from familiar faces.
His work at Xavier as a player and coach resulted in life membership and, in 2007, the Michael Rush Perpetual Trophy “as a player who exhibited the outstanding qualities that made Mick Rush such a great man and integral part of the Old Xaverians Football Club”.
But his playing career didn’t always go to script. Tim O’Shaughnessy, a one-time national junior 1500m track champion, coached Lethlean at Old Xaverians between 1998-2002.
“He was just a really smart footballer, one of the smartest I’ve coached,” O’Shaughnessy said. “I coached him in flags in 1998-99-2000 and he was one of those players whose counsel I would seek during and after games.
“In 2002 I actually dropped him during the year and, while he wasn’t happy at the time, he told me after he started coaching how it was easier for him to understand.”
“Wasn’t happy at the time” was nothing compared with Lethlean’s fury the following season when he was dropped for the 2003 VAFA grand final that resulted in a premiership under Michael Sholly, more recently the VAFA chief executive for 12 years.
“He went up to Sydney with his work and came back during the year,” Sholly said. “I didn’t pick him in the 2003 finals series not because he didn’t have the ability, but due to his fitness not being as good as it could have been.
“He didn’t take it very well. I spoke to him a lot about it and I understood it was a difficult situation for a Victorian representative and prominent player in the competition to swallow not being picked.”
On-lookers at that grand final after-match recall Lethlean continually confronting Sholly about his non-selection, action that seemed strange in the celebratory atmosphere.
“It went on for longer than it should have and things weren’t great between them for a fair while after that,” one source said.
According to Sholly, his relationship with Lethlean these days is fine.
“I find him challenging and enjoy talking to him,” Sholly said. “I don’t think he cares what people think of him because he believes he’s right. You have to be on your toes because he’s as sharp as a whippet and has a very good radar for bull----.”
Healy agreed Lethlean had a healthy dose of self-belief.
“But I like that in him and see it as one of his great traits,” he said. “He’s massively capable with incredible drive. Yes, there is arrogance, but not the Jeff Kennett-type.
“I would be staggered if he doesn’t run a footy club or end up back in the AFL. The longer time goes, the more there will be acceptance of him again. But it’s about Sarah and his family and that will be his one and only aim — to repair the damage he has caused.”
Speaking to a variety of people about Lethlean prompted descriptions such as mentally agile, hard to get to know, driven and extremely confident.
On the way up, his personality at times ensured that there are now some people revelling in his public embarrassment. Everyone had nothing but the utmost respect for his wife Sarah, a “universally liked and loved” figure as she was twice described.
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Lethlean, the former general manager, football operations at the AFL, has made it clear to friends that his sole objective now is to repair his relationship with his wife.
Time will tell if he gets that chance.
jon.anderson@news.com.au
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