The negative press that has come Richmond's way has been massive. There is no doubt people love to read negative stories – I even do – yet it's amazing how the media goes for the kill when people are under the pump. The media attempts to unearth every little detail on people and clubs in this type of situation. For players, it can be very hard.
But the reality is that football stories are either negative or positive – the players and teams in the middle are neither here nor there. They hardly get talked about.
I know the players at Melbourne read articles in the media.
Most players say they don't read the papers or what has been written on the internet or said on television or radio, but it is hard sometimes not to take things personally. You do get your back up when something negative is said or written, which can be difficult to deal with, but that's part and parcel of playing in the AFL.
It's how you deal with it and take it on that counts. It's one person's opinion. There are far worse things going on in the world than just one person's opinion.
At every footy club there are some people that enjoy doing media, some that are nonplussed about it and some that simply don't like doing it. At Melbourne, there are players that fit into all of these categories and a lot of it comes down to the type of person and personality that you are.
Some guys don't read the papers and they wouldn't know what's going on. Some players don't watch footy shows or even watch matches on TV, even though they play professionally, so it's interesting to see how some players embrace the football media and others don't.
On top of that, some players are worried that some journalists will take quotes out of context.
And there is no doubt some journalists do take quotes out of context. Some journalists will also use “off the record” quotes to write their articles. That's where some players have got to be careful with what they say, because then anything can be written or recorded.
But overall, I think our club as a whole has a good relationship with the football media. The way I read things, we seem to co-exist well and it's always a preferable option to get on with the media, because they can always turn back on you pretty quickly.
You look at the Hawthorn situation last round, with “Buddy” Franklin starring with nine goals. From my personal point of view, he was a great story and everyone wanted to talk to him. From purely a football fan, you wanted to hear what he had to say after the match.
Do players read positive stories? They probably do read about themselves. They'd like to read the positive stories about them. But if you're going to read the positive stories, you'll probably read the negative ones as well.
Looking ahead to Sunday's clash, The Bulldogs are coming back from Subiaco and traditionally teams have struggled after playing in Perth, but the Doggies are a fit team and that shouldn't worry them as much as other sides.
But it's a great opportunity for us to get onto the winners' board. The boys are obviously disappointed with how they finished up against Port Adelaide last round, so we need to come out and show our wares strongly this weekend.
