Story misrepresents media policy
The Adelaide Football Club does not make a habit of responding every time we have an issue with something Michelangelo Rucci writes in The Advertiser.
However, this club could not allow last week’s Rucci’s Roast column item, headlined Iraqi Chicken, to go unchallenged.
To write that during our pre-season media brunch “the Crows boldly declared that at times this season ‘WE WILL TELL YOU LIES’” is ridiculous and a gross misrepresentation of the club’s intentions. This was never said – publicly or privately.
The fact is, during the session with about 20 media representatives it was stated that the club’s media policy was to be transparent and be as open and accessible as possible.
Our media policy is quite clear. We encourage players and coaches to talk to the media as a way to promote the Adelaide Football Club and provide important information to our many thousands of members and supporters.
While the Club, by Board policy, shall be open, honest and transparent in dealings with the media, it should be recognised there may be critical times where confidentiality is required. There is a clear difference between lying and not divulging all information for a specific reason.
Our members and supporters understand that there are rare occasions when the Adelaide Football Club needs to keep details “in house” to avoid giving opposition clubs an advantage. But the Adelaide Football Club will continually strive to be a competition leader with its media philosophy so we give our members and supporters the information that they deserve.
This season there have been a couple of rounds when we have held back the release of our final 22 until the day of the match. This is not lying. It is in fact complying with the AFL rules. We have also provided regular information about injuries and the progress of players. The status of players on the injury list does change so if the club says a player should be ready to play in two weeks and then isn’t, that is not a lie.
And if a player misses training and is in some doubt, advising that we are giving the player until late in the week to prove his fitness is not a lie.
So to our many thousands of supporters and members – these are the facts.