IN A fascinating, and at times tense, conversation as part of the latest In The Game podcast, Patrick Dangerfield has gone head to head with Damian Barrett over comments made recently about Luke Hodge's in-game interview with Channel Seven.
The two openly debate the role of players in the media landscape, and neither gives an inch in a deep dive into the relationship between those who play the game, and those who report and broadcast it.
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Here's a sample of the conversation:
Damian Barrett: All right. Media. The floor is yours. And go your hardest, please.
Patrick Dangerfield: My issue, on the back of your Sliding Doors article … was so bemusing to me because you are obviously a big part of media, and I was critical of you because you could be critical of Luke Hodge putting himself out there. I was so surprised you could go so hard at him knowing that, I think, this is the way to grow the game, media access. I've found out it's probably put a few players off side, and nervous to go out there and speak their mind.
DB: On the back of that?
PD: Because if you can hit Luke Hodge between the eyes, what hope has someone who has played 50 games or 100 games, when Luke Hodge gets it?
DB: I've explained it a few times, and as I've said, part of what I was said was wrong, because I said he had a contract (with Channel Seven), when what he has is a financial arrangement, that was wrong, but as a consumer I don’t find it enhances the coverage as a rule, because I feel it is contrived, regularly, when you know the cameras are on.
Dangerfield and Hodge were teammates during this year's AFLX tournament. Picture: AFL Photos
PD: But did you think, though, when you wrote it, and it obviously gets read by a half million people, that the players would look into it and go, 'gee, I'm going to be a bit nervous next time and I'm going to shut up shop'?
DB: No, I didn't think that at all, no.
PD: Because that, in the end, was the big thing for me, that it would put players off side, they'd be nervous in speaking, because if one of the greats of the game could be hammered for it. And, we are pretty good, as players, regardless of whether you have any idea about what is being written about you, somehow it always gets back to you.
DB: You guys never miss it when it's negative.
PD: That is so true. But that was my issue.
DB: But is it that big a deal? I am happy to concede that I had no idea it was going to have that impact. On the day, it was one opinion (I had) among 19 opinions in that column. Maybe I didn’t think deeply enough when I hit send on it, but I'm staggered to hear you say it could change behaviour. It's an opinion.
PD: I think when it is Luke Hodge, it's different, because of the figure he is in the game. I think that does change things. And it's put some nervous players out there who perhaps were thinking about doing more. I thought it was an unwritten rule that you wouldn't attack a player, and attack is the wrong word, for putting themselves out there, for an interview.
To hear how this chat ends, and for a whole lot more on the always-intriguing world of one of the all-time AFL greats, listen to this week's episode.
Episode guide
0:40 – Lessons from George
3:40 – The day Gary Jnr. put an end to a Malcolm Blight spray
5:50 – All that really matters
9:55 – Footy is not life
10:55 – The Shane Crawford approach
17:50 – 'I'm going to make a dick of myself in front of Leigh Matthews'
19:40 – Dangerfield v Barrett on media
33:10 – 'I've been smashed on this'
36:15 – Dangerfield's footy
39:35 – The loneliness of the Brownlow
40:55 – From the Crows to Tim Kelly
47:10 – Confronting finals failure
49:10 – A spectator on the field
51:00 – A great disgrace
