Fevola Exposed | Thebigtip

Accountability is a big word in football. You’ll hear commentators talk of it while calling a game. Coaches often lament their players lack thereof during a press conference and yet on the eve of the AFL semi-finals the football public has been left to question the accountability of one the games most prodigious talents, albeit not for the first time.

In a year in which the AFL’s reputation has been marred by drug possession charges, booze culture, underage pregnancies and rape allegations, it was almost expected that serial offender Brendan Fevola would join the party sometime soon, but will it be for the last time?

One of the most talented and gifted footballers of his generation, Fevola has been indefinitely suspended by the Brisbane Lions after he allegedly indecently exposed himself to a female fan at a non-club function. This comes only 11 months after being put up for trade by his former club Carlton after the infamous Brownlow Medal street talk debacle.

The former Coleman Medallist has denied any wrong doing in the incident, but the damage seems to have already been done, with the Lions reportedly close to severing ties with the troubled forward in a bid to free up their salary cap. The AFL is said to be ready to step in pending a Queensland Police investigation, and if Fevola is charged it is likely he will be the second player in three years to be de-registered by the governing body.

The last player to be de-registered of course was Ben Cousins, who since then seems to have turned his life around off the field. The difference here is that Cousins has had the support of his family to help him through his troubles and it was through their love and support that Cousins was able to make his AFL return.  Fevola appears to have alienated himself from his family, and although he has the “support” of his team-mates, he has no support unit.

At 29 years old Fevola is no child, he’s been in the AFL system since being drafted at pick 38 by Carlton in the 1998 draft, where his time at the club was blemished by continuous drunken indiscretions, one of which saw him caught urinating on a window outside a Melbourne nightclub, which resulted in Fevola being dropped from Carlton’s leadership group and fined $10,000. The fact of the matter is for a footballer who earns over half a million dollars a year, fines of $10,000 are merely loose change, and so how is the lesson learnt?  

The tragedy of it all is that Fevola’s 623 goal career will be remembered more for his off-field indiscretions than his game winning exploits on the field which saw him become a dual Coleman Medallist. What is more tragic is that Fevola has seemingly gone through his whole career without being made to be accountable for his actions.

The Brisbane Lions knew what they were in for when recruiting Fevola, and if they didn’t they would have been rudely awoken when the Lara Bingle photo scandal broke earlier in the year. Fevola’s shallow apologies to the cameras do little to erase the damage he can inflict on a club’s brand and image and the fickle nature of the Brisbane football public means that poor recruitment can prove costly in terms of membership sales and attendances.

What amazes me is that neither Jonathan Brown nor Michael Voss could keep Fevola out of trouble. These are two of the most feared footballers to have ever played our game, so what does this say about the club’s leadership? In an era where footballer’s private lives are ever present on the front pages of the morning tabloids, surely the hierarchy at the Lions would have had the common sense to monitor their star recruit and ensure that he stayed out of trouble. Surely in a day and age where footballers are now considered to be multi-million dollar assets, Brisbane would have considered hiring a minder to make sure Fevola didn’t lapse into his old habits. But they didn’t.

Brisbane’s punt on Fevola has backfired in a massive way. In less than 12 months the Lions have gone from finishing 6th in 2009 to 13th in 2010, happily trading away talented youngsters for injury prone developed players. This is a club who promised so much at the start of 2010, with the top 4 a realistic target, but instead they will be watching the AFL finals series from the sunshine state.

Hindsight will tell you that Brisbane’s brash attempt to trade their way to a premiership has cost their brand severely, their lazy approach to list development has shut their premiership window, for now. But they can get back from this. The same can’t be said for Fev, who in 12 years of senior football has managed to escape any severe punishment partly due to his ability on the field, but this time it seems his luck has run out and this time he will be made accountable. If he doesn’t learn from this he never will.