shines a new light on many situations over 2000- 2007
Rod Butterss, former St Kilda president, speaks about alcoholism and return to society
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> He was a practising alcoholic for a decade before finding the strength in 2009. And for a decade, which included his tenure as St Kilda president, Butterss wore masks every day of his life.
Today, he’s approaching five years sober and the masks have disappeared.
So has the fame, shame and money, the self-loathing and the selfishness and, most importantly, the denial.
“We wear masks, all of us,” he said. “You know, what part are we playing today? For me, every day or occasion was a different mask, but behind the mask was this incredibly pathetic alcoholic.”
He hated himself, he said.
“At the end I loathed myself, I could barely enjoy my own company.
>>>>>>>>>>>>It is the first time he has spoken to the Herald Sun about his alcohol abuse - and other substance abuse - after three rejections. “I feel ready,” he said.
The coming out, so to speak, came after his son, Campbell, invited him to speak at Campbell’s Inside Out program a fortnight before the Grand Final, which is “a social hub that is designed to provide people an environment to come and find their passion and purpose and deal with issues”.
Butterss told his story for the first time.
“I became aware of my alcoholism about 10 years before I got clean, that’s when I became conscious of it,” he said.
“It’s a mental illness and there’s a lot of denial around it. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“I used other stuff, but the point is if I didn’t have a couple of drinks in me I would never ... how can I say it, I had to change my thinking or alter my line to make that decision.”
Butterss became St Kilda president in 2000 on the urging of Grant Thomas.
They were great mates - the dynamic duo - when Butterss the president and Thomas the coach took the Saints on a terrific ride.
Butterss was filthy rich, flamboyant, confident, the very essence of St Kilda’s 1980s party-boy image. Thomas was the Zen master and quirky. He was sometimes belligerent, always confident and forthright, and arguably his strength was his greatest weakness, that is while his drive and initiative could be spellbinding, but too often beat to his own drum when a football club required an orchestra.
They do not talk now.
At the end, Butterss and the board sacked Thomas and the terrific ride crashed and burned at the end of 2006.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
He went to one game this year, Lenny Hayes’ farewell game at Etihad. He sat in the outer with his son and former Saints chief executive Brian Waldron - the same Waldron who orchestrated the salary cap cheating at Melbourne Storm - and thoroughly loved it.
“It was lovely, it was nice,” he said. “You know, I don’t miss football. It was a part of my life which consumed me, but it came to an end. We didn’t see it coming and I felt like it was an act of treachery because we had given so much, but that’s just my self interest.
“As I said, everything comes to an end.”
Shents?????
