Andrew McLeod will break his silence on his ‘unwelcome’ claims on his podcast with 36ers legend Brett Maher
Andrew McLeod will clarify his comments about the Adelaide Football Club on his podcast with 36ers legend Brett Maher, after the dual premiership champion said he no longer feels welcome at the Crows.
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Crows legendary dual Norm Smith medallist Andrew McLeod will “set the record straight” as early as tomorrow after making shock revelations that the Adelaide Football Club is not a place where he and other past players feel welcomed.
The notoriously media-shy McLeod will tonight record a prepared statement addressing the controversy and release it on his podcast Bunji and Brettster, most likely on Thursday.
It comes as Adelaide CEO Andrew Fagan stuck by the club star calling him: “one of our absolute greats (who) will forever hold a special place in our hearts”.
In the sixth episode of Bunji and Brettster, which McLeod records with longtime friend and Adelaide 36ers legend Brett Maher, the three-time Crows club champion dropped a bombshell saying he didn’t feel comfortable walking back into West Lakes.
While McLeod, 43, did not return calls from The Advertiser, Maher said the 340-game superstar was ready to break his public silence.
“I’m going over to his house tonight; he’s prepared a statement, so we’re going to add that into the podcast and try and release it tomorrow so we can get it all sorted,” Maher said.
“It was not so much an off-the-cuff remark, but just in general conversation that he said it, I’m a little bit shocked that it’s blown up like that, but obviously clubs take this pretty seriously, which is fair enough, and I think that’s why he wants to address and set everything straight.”
McLeod remains heavily involved in the Adelaide Football Club through his indigenous football academies and has been the Crows women’s midfield coach since 2018, but has been stood down from both roles during the coronavirus shutdown.
When asked whether McLeod was okay, Maher said: “Yes … he’s obviously a fairly private person. The quicker we can put it to bed, it will be best for everyone.”
Adelaide will be more than happy to put the issue to bed, after a COVID-19 shutdown where it also had to deal with Tyson Stengle’s drink-driving charge and its Barossa Valley training infringement.
Crows’ All-Australian AFLW midfielder Ebony Marinoff has been coached by McLeod for three seasons since 2018 and has developed a special bond with him.
“He wouldn’t be a part of our team if he didn’t enjoy it,” she said.
“He always says: ‘I just love you girls’.
“There’s got to be a reason behind it and hopefully the club can get to the bottom of it … you don’t want one of your best-ever players, who’s a great bloke and has the best knowledge about the game feeling that way.”
Teammate Courtney Cramey, who also sits on the Crows Past Players and Officials board, said she was surprised by the comments and had reached out to McLeod, who was a valued member of the women’s program.
“He’s a club legend and we do our best to engage all past players and officials of the club through a number of initiatives,” she said.
Chairman of the Crows Past Players organisation, Rod Jameson, agreed: “We love him and adore him and we’re sorry he feels the way he does.”
But Jameson said he had also received many messages of support from past players and officials for the work the organisation does.
“I’m really proud of what we’ve established through the Adelaide Football Club … to be able to say that what we do to engage our past is exceptionally good,” he said.
Fagan meanwhile said McLeod’s achievements spoke for themselves and few could lay claim to having had the influence on not just our Club but the game in general.
“Andrew has and continues to be an inspiration to many people, whether it be our members and fans through to some of the younger staff who have worked alongside him and our women’s players,” he said.
Crows board member Mark Ricciuto described McLeod’s revelations as “the last thing the football club needs”, while two-time premiership captain Mark Bickley has called it a catalyst to improve the club’s culture.
Bickley, who is also a board member of the Crows Past Players and Officials club, said the Crows now needed to use McLeod’s comments to get better.
“If any player feels uncomfortable or feels that the club could be more welcoming, you’d be a fool not to sit down and listen,” he said, while encouraging other past players who felt similarly to speak up as well.
“This should be seen as an opportunity to get better.
“I think the surprising part was most people thought Andrew’s experience with the club has been a positive one for a long period of time.”
Among the functions the club organises for past players is an invitation to home games, where a 200-person capacity room is set aside, there are also Christmas functions and catch-ups organised for those living interstate.
Ricciuto didn’t mince words on Triple M saying: “I’m really disappointed in him for saying that publicly … this is the last thing the football club needs when they’re trying to survive in the biggest financial crisis in the history of football, when people are pledging their hard-earned money just to keep the club alive.”
Inaugural Crows coach Graham Cornes alluded to a sense of unease for past players in a tweet on Tuesday: “It’s not unusual for legends of a club to feel excluded after they retire. There is a hesitancy to return, a self-consciousness to walk into the change-rooms.”
However Cornes’ son, and media personality, Kane, described the comments as “another fire that the Adelaide Football Club needs to put out”.
Originally published as Andrew McLeod will break his silence on his ‘unwelcome’ claims on his podcast with 36ers legend Brett Maher
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