PETER Dean played 248 games as a defender for Carlton between 1984 and 1998, including the 1987 and 1995 premierships. He worked as a VFL assistant coach with the Northern Bullants and the Vic Metro and Vic Country under-18 squads. Dean was the senior coach of the Murray Bushrangers in the TAC Cup in 2006-07, before joining the Western Bulldogs as backline coach for the 2008 season.

What actually happens when a player is involved in an off-field indiscretion?
There can be a knee-jerk reaction with media coverage that has it plastered across the back or front pages of newspapers, radio, websites and television.

Ultimately a club takes responsibility for 'one of its own'.

Everyone involved in a club, whether they like it or not, is a representative of that club on and off the field, 365 days of the year.

AFL clubs are now corporations that rely heavily on membership and sponsorship. An indiscretion by a player, coach, official or support staff member can impact heavily on how the club raises its finances. Committing driving offences (speeding, drink driving) affects a sponsor such as TAC, which plays a role in trying to stop such offences in the wider community.

Sponsors align their product with the product of their chosen club and this product is generally associated with its culture.

Football clubs would prefer to deal with a situation internally as it doesn’t just affect the person involved. The indiscretion ripples through the organisation and affects everyone who is part of the club in some way.

The AFL can bring down a penalty on the player and/or club but wisely they prefer the club to deal with the situation internally. It is a system that allows for the club to get its shop in order and tighten minimum standards for its employees so it does not happen again.

Players are human. They come from all walks of society, different upbringings and life experience. The AFL system can insulate them from the real world for a number of different reasons. This is not an excuse. It is a fact.

The culture of each club varies and some are stronger than others. Standards vary from one club to another and the culture is ultimately maintained and watched over by the leaders: president, CEO, committee, coaching staff, senior players and so on.

The process varies slightly from club to club, but the process is generally similar. It is not swept under the rug.

The playing group of every club plays to the standard of the senior coach's values. Adelaide would not have taken their decision on Nathan Bock lightly. It is a well-run football club and coached by a man who is a fierce competitor and of high moral standards.

As a coach he would take the indiscretion personally and wonder how it happened with the standards he had set. No doubt he would question himself and the player’s motives.

My personal belief is that players generally play the way they lead their lives and vice versa.

But people are not perfect and mistakes are made.

If the same mistakes are made multiple times on the field and there is no intent shown by the player to remedy them, he is in danger of losing his position in the team and ultimately the club.

Time will tell, but there was a huge amount of peer pressure felt by the player in that situation. Most come through it a better person. Some don’t.

Football is a game, but it is also an environment in which young men enter a club, are moulded to its values, complete their tenure and exit that club a more rounded individual with the ability to cope with situations that life throws at them.

EMAIL YOUR QUESTIONS
Do you have something you’ve always wanted to ask a coach? Drop the coaches an email at coachsbox@afl.com.au. Each week, one assistant coach from an AFL club will dip into the mailbag and answer a handful of the best questions.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.