Sacked Podcast: Mark Williams on why Shaun Burgoyne left Port Adelaide
Mark Williams admits Shaun Burgoyne challenged the norms at Port Adelaide but believes the club could have kept them, had they made one easy decision. LISTEN TO FIND OUT
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Mark Williams believes Port Adelaide’s failure to endorse Shaun Burgoyne as its captain was one of the key reasons he left the club to become a Hawthorn triple premiership player.
Williams was determined to install Burgoyne as captain in 2009 but says the decision was blocked at a higher level, with the players instead choosing Domenic Cassisi.
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Burgoyne eventually left in 2010 to play 217 games and counting at the Hawks, with premiership coach Williams predicting an even brighter future post-career for the silky indigenous utility.
He told the Herald Sun’s Sacked podcast that, like himself, Burgoyne challenged ideas of leadership in a way that didn’t sit as well with some players as it did with Williams.
“I think Shauny could be something big in any field. Whatever we see in his football career his life after footy will be even better,” he said.
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“Without any emotion I thought he was the best person to be captain of Port Adelaide at the time.
“I didn’t get supported by it and it disappointed me.
“In the end what he’s shown and with what everyone has seen over here, maybe I was right.”
Burgoyne was seen as a more headstrong, opinionated leader in those days who was still working on his professionalism, with Cassisi strongly winning the player vote.
Williams liked the way he called out issues within the club, but a new leadership group instead backed in a process that empowered different ways of leadership.
“Some people don’t understand people who have options. They think they have to be right all the time,” Williams said.
“I see them as outliers who want to make a difference. Maybe I have been put in that category a lot of times as well but I could see Shaun, he would stand up for what he thought was right and wrong.
“We had a leadership group come to the club that gave the players a bit of empowerment in regard to telling people what they should and shouldn’t do and I know it affected Shaun greatly. I was really disappointed.
“One of the proudest things is on his 350th (milestone) he invited me, Andrew Russell who was the fitness guy and Clarko (Alastair Clarkson) and the physio and our wives to an intimate dinner to say thanks. And Shauny is all class.”
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