AFL
2 months ago
"Tiptoeing around": How Cats boss handles Bailey Smith
By SEN
Geelong CEO Steve Hocking has revealed he was forced to hand over his mobile phone and laptop as part of the extensive audit over third-party payments.
An investigation that looked over a six-year period found that the Cats had issued a number of infringements regarding third-party payments and they were this week fined $77,500.
The club was found to have not exceeded any rules surrounding the AFL’s total player payments limit or player movement rules, with the AFL discovering that the club simply failed to disclose payments across both the AFL and AFLW.
Of the $77,500, $40,000 will be suspended pending further breaches, however the club will now be slapped with tighter restrictions over a two-year period.
In an exclusive interview with SEN, Hocking lifted the lid on how extensive the investigation had been, describing it as “one of the more trying things he has been through”.
“There's a feeling of letting (people) down, you don’t want to get caught up in these items,” Hocking told SEN Breakfast.
“I would start with the fact this has been extensive. As far as vindication goes, I’m not sitting here saying ‘you beauty’.
“This has been six months worth of work.
“They (mobile phone and laptop) were taken for four hours; they went through those and they have an AI search that went though things.
“It was that intensive.
“There will be a range of people out there that think this is a cover up and that because I have a relationship with the AFL Geelong are receiving favours. It’s not the case, this is one of the more trying things I have been through.
“The reason those devices were taken was to make sure they could research all areas.
“They chase down and try to reveal any movement of players or discussions relating to sponsors, player managers etc.
“There's always been this question about how do Geelong continue to get the big players?
“Players want to come down here. We have to make sure it’s done appropriately and above board.”
AN EXAMPLE OF A BREACH
"I can’t go into all of them because it would be getting very personal around our people. An example would be that an associate, a sponsor of the club, a individual in that group or business has access to a holiday house or a farm and a player or staff member goes and stays there for 1/2/3 nights, that is seen as a breach of the soft cap policy because there is a value attached to that.
"All that has to happen is the player or staff member has to declare that at the end of the year. You need to declare where you have been but there is grey area.
"In the fine print the AFL has said they will be tightening the policy up. It is on us to educate our people better in this area but that is an example of something that is classed as a breach.
"When I say staff member that’s people within football. The soft cap governs football."
NOT TAKING IT LIGHTLY
"When I say staff member that’s people within football. The soft cap governs football.
"What we have to be mindful of, is not to try and minimise what has gone on here.
"The reality is we have copped a fine. Some will say it’s light, but the reality is, if people understood the time and effort that has gone into this. We have been open and compliant throughout.
I’m not going to sit here and try to justify what we have or haven’t done. We’ve done it
"At the end of each year you join forces with the AFL and there were some red flags for us. Other clubs were starting to question how we get access to these players.
"They don’t understand how frugal we are. We identified this and we handed ourselves in. We had to stand up and take responsibility."
DO THEY NEED TO SIT DOWN AND TALK TO BAILEY SMITH?
"If you’re referring to Mad Monday, it’s on all of us. There is a range of people that were part of that. There’s certain individuals that dressed up inappropriately. We have apologised for that, particularly to Caro (Caroline Wilson), it was unacceptable how that was rolled out and treated.
"In regards to Bailey, we have absolutely welcomed what he has done on field. He finished third in the Brownlow. It’s an amazing comeback off the back of an ACL.
"When you come off-field, the interest in him is just unbelievable. He has a different relationship with social media than our age profile. I don’t understand it at all, but he works that exceptionally well.
"There will be a time in my view this will involve all of us in the off-season where by we need to (talk to him).
"It’s not about tiptoeing around someone like Bailey but more about tailoring it accordingly.
"I always talk about barnacles on a boat, if you end up with too many it’s only going one way, we have to remove some of those."
