Rod Owen

[kosifantutti]

By Russell Jackson who wrote the article on Robbie Muir.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-03/ ... s/13255584

[ace]

Ian Stewart looking after player's welfare was like having Chris Mainwaring looking after the welfare of Ben Cousins.
Stewart's heavy drinking was so well known that a work colleague (Carlton supporter) would regularly suggest that the best way to get Stewart to play a great game was to feed him drinks at the intervals.

[terry smith rules]

Oh that is so tragic, I am in tears reading that

I hope those who revere those so called “good old days’ may reconsider that just maybe it was not that good

I also hope that St Kilda have revoked the life membership of that POS in charge of his little league team

I wish Rod and his family well on this journey he now undertakes

[leighsaintsince66]

One of the most talented players I ever saw.

I seem to remember that Rod was viewed as a better prospect than plugger (who also played Little League) when they started their careers.

Incredibly sad account.

Rod, may your future years be your best years...

[WellardSaint]

So the club's support of Ryder makes sense now...

[Winmore]

Incredibly sad read.
I remember his early games and a few sad later ones. Some old bloke in the crowd at Princes Park said Rocket coulda bin anything, and we all knew what he meant.
I hope he now finds peace and A fulfilling life.

[mcadam05]

First thing the club should do is take Albert Briggs life membership off him

[saint64]

Incredibly sad. I remember when he started and how we all had such high hopes for him as a player. Life has dealt him a tough hand, unfortunately it seems that the culture at the Saints at the time was the opposite of what he needed.

[Sanctorum]

A real indictment of the culture that pervaded at St Kilda in that era, a really shameful episode and so tragic for Rod Owen, his mother, ex-wife and children.

The administration of StKFC has an inexorable obligation to take this poor bloke under their wings and do all that is necessary to ensure his rehabilitation is guaranteed!

How good would it be if he does help others facing serious life challenges to get back on track through the Danny Frawley Centre at Moorabbin....

[farquhar]

Such a sad story.
The welfare of players by the club was pathetic.

[Moods]

One of the saddest stories I've ever read. Our club should be deeply ashamed of its past treatment of these players (Robbie Muir as well) and scumbags like Ian Stewart should be forced to apologise or not be welcome at our club ever again. What a POS! Waits for his dad to be buried then pounces on him like a piece of meat and throws him to the wolves. I wouldn't blame Rod Owen or his family if they never forgave the Saints. Very few times I'm embarrassed to be a Saints supporter, but this article made me squirm.

[saynta]

First thing the club should do is take Albert Briggs life membership off him

I second that. f****** disgraceful.

[saynta]

One of the saddest stories I've ever read. Our club should be deeply ashamed of its past treatment of these players (Robbie Muir as well) and scumbags like Ian Stewart should be forced to apologise or not be welcome at our club ever again. What a POS! Waits for his dad to be buried then pounces on him like a piece of meat and throws him to the wolves. I wouldn't blame Rod Owen or his family if they never forgave the Saints. Very few times I'm embarrassed to be a Saints supporter, but this article made me squirm.

Calling Ian Stewart a scumbag is way way over the top ffs.

[Moods]

One of the saddest stories I've ever read. Our club should be deeply ashamed of its past treatment of these players (Robbie Muir as well) and scumbags like Ian Stewart should be forced to apologise or not be welcome at our club ever again. What a POS! Waits for his dad to be buried then pounces on him like a piece of meat and throws him to the wolves. I wouldn't blame Rod Owen or his family if they never forgave the Saints. Very few times I'm embarrassed to be a Saints supporter, but this article made me squirm.

Calling Ian Stewart a scumbag is way way over the top ffs.

If the cap fits. Just because he was a brilliant footballer does not make him a good person.

A scumbag is someone who breaks a promise to a dying man about his teenage son and does the opposite of what he says he will do - to the detriment of the young man involved. Basically ruined his life, and when the mother tried to intervene he tells the mother to f*** off! Talk about defending the indefensible.

[saynta]

One of the saddest stories I've ever read. Our club should be deeply ashamed of its past treatment of these players (Robbie Muir as well) and scumbags like Ian Stewart should be forced to apologise or not be welcome at our club ever again. What a POS! Waits for his dad to be buried then pounces on him like a piece of meat and throws him to the wolves. I wouldn't blame Rod Owen or his family if they never forgave the Saints. Very few times I'm embarrassed to be a Saints supporter, but this article made me squirm.

Calling Ian Stewart a scumbag is way way over the top ffs.

If the cap fits. Just because he was a brilliant footballer does not make him a good person.

A scumbag is someone who breaks a promise to a dying man about his teenage son and does the opposite of what he says he will do - to the detriment of the young man involved. Basically ruined his life, and when the mother tried to intervene he tells the mother to f*** off! Talk about defending the indefensible.

I think the pedophiles had more to do with ruining Rod's life than Ian Stewart FFS, or didn't you read the article all the way through.

Certainly the drinking culture at the time didn't help.

I am in no way defending the indefensible and I find that comment as offensive as your original comment in relation to Stewart. We should at least hear from Stewart before condemning him on the words of a disgruntled mother who understandably would be feeling some guilt for not protecting her son from perverts and over ambitious football administrators.

[SAINT-LEE]

Yes, 30-50 years ago our club was run like a country league where discos, drink and drugs were not just ok but expected, even desired by players as a sign that they'd attained a certain status. Some clubs, not many were better during that era.

Its a terrible environment that pervaded ALL of Aussie culture, including schools, workplaces, families and sports in general.


I think Ian was a horrific influence for destruction IF a player CHOSE that lifestyle. No one is a robot on auto pilot. We all are free to choose. Certainly there are circumstances that support, pressure and encourage addiction but ultimately each person IS responsible.

Thankfully we now hold the person responsible ( unless they're clever and tap the mental distress button) not the club for the regular blow outs due to substance misuse disorders.

[ace]

First thing the club should do is take Albert Briggs life membership off him

I think the devil already has his life and toasting him in hell but the club can remove his membership retrospectively.

[ace]

One of the saddest stories I've ever read. Our club should be deeply ashamed of its past treatment of these players (Robbie Muir as well) and scumbags like Ian Stewart should be forced to apologise or not be welcome at our club ever again. What a POS! Waits for his dad to be buried then pounces on him like a piece of meat and throws him to the wolves. I wouldn't blame Rod Owen or his family if they never forgave the Saints. Very few times I'm embarrassed to be a Saints supporter, but this article made me squirm.

Calling Ian Stewart a scumbag is way way over the top ffs.

If the cap fits. Just because he was a brilliant footballer does not make him a good person.

A scumbag is someone who breaks a promise to a dying man about his teenage son and does the opposite of what he says he will do - to the detriment of the young man involved. Basically ruined his life, and when the mother tried to intervene he tells the mother to f*** off! Talk about defending the indefensible.

At the time a Carlton supporting colleague told me some unsavory stories about Ian Stewart and his regular court appearances.
He suggested these were why St Kilda was keen to move a two time Brownlow medallist on.
I wonder if these stories were true as I never investigated.
Does anyone know the truth.

[Vazelos]

An incredible difficult piece to read mirrors the feeling I had reading Robbie Muirs article we have had 2 high profile articles in 6 months.
I don’t believe any club was well equipped to deal with such things back then... football clubs treated their players like pieces of meat... commodities to be used when effective and tossed away when not... lose a yard of pace, do a knee etc and you were gone.
At that time we were probably one of the worst of all clubs but have no illusion the party culture at Carlton and Richmond etc was huge they just had strong winning teams to mask the what was going on...
This is no different a story than West Coast with Mainwaring and Cousins and Fevola at Carlton etc.. those clubs did nothing to change the destructive course of their players lives in fact West Coast tried to cover it up.... no different to Hawthorn and Buddy Franklin who was taking drugs and carrying on like a porn star for years..
This story is so much more damaging for Owendue to the sexual molestation in his primary school years and the fact it somehow entwined itself back into his life at Stkilda years later...
We were not a great club for Rod at that time and kids should always be made to finish school it’s imperative they are forced to set up their lives after footy.
I believe our CEO Matt Finnis is one of the stronger people in recognising our failures in the past and reaching out to him to try and assist in making some difference for him now.... the wrongs of the past cannot be changed but we can learn and we can do better....
I sincerely hope Rod finds his peace and can stay healthy and positive for his 2 daughters in the next phase of his life...
That’s what we all want as human beings..

[mr six o'clock]

A sad read
Can only hope that from this point on his life gets better.

[asiu]

Thankfully we now hold the person responsible ...

takes a village doesn’t it ?

... to raise a child i mean.

[Joffa Burns]

Some thoughts:

- Terribly sad, sad story
- Feel for Rod and his family, especially his kids
- All pedophiles should be publicly castrated and have their foreheads tattooed "PEDO"
- Some cannot handle the price of fame
- We like many other clubs failed to look after our own
- Very disappointed in the comment of Butterrs, we knew better and had the resources to assist by that era. If you don't want to help say nothing.
- Ian Stewart, hung out to dry without right of reply
- I find it hard to believe anyone encouraged a kid who'd just lost his father to leave school
- One side of the story
- There were many senior players at the club in the early 80's, then there was the experienced Carlton invasion in the mid to late 80's. Why didn't senior players get hold of him and help him of did they try and gave up when it was too hard?
- I hope he can enjoy the rest of his life with family and peace

[Moods]

One of the saddest stories I've ever read. Our club should be deeply ashamed of its past treatment of these players (Robbie Muir as well) and scumbags like Ian Stewart should be forced to apologise or not be welcome at our club ever again. What a POS! Waits for his dad to be buried then pounces on him like a piece of meat and throws him to the wolves. I wouldn't blame Rod Owen or his family if they never forgave the Saints. Very few times I'm embarrassed to be a Saints supporter, but this article made me squirm.

Calling Ian Stewart a scumbag is way way over the top ffs.

If the cap fits. Just because he was a brilliant footballer does not make him a good person.

A scumbag is someone who breaks a promise to a dying man about his teenage son and does the opposite of what he says he will do - to the detriment of the young man involved. Basically ruined his life, and when the mother tried to intervene he tells the mother to f*** off! Talk about defending the indefensible.

I think the pedophiles had more to do with ruining Rod's life than Ian Stewart FFS, or didn't you read the article all the way through.

Certainly the drinking culture at the time didn't help.

I am in no way defending the indefensible and I find that comment as offensive as your original comment in relation to Stewart. We should at least hear from Stewart before condemning him on the words of a disgruntled mother who understandably would be feeling some guilt for not protecting her son from perverts and over ambitious football administrators.

Yeah. I read the full article. The pedophiles are bottom feeders who prey on the vulnerable. Their role in this is the most obvious and easiest to condemn. And I of course despise them like no other group. It's the enablers I hate just as much though. For mine it's the betrayal of trust of the people/person who Rod and his family would have trusted the most is the most disappointing. A legendary ex footballer like a snakeoil salesmen waiting like a predator for 15 yr old boys father to die so he could move in and take advantage. Didn't YOU read the whole article? He basically convinced Rod to leave school making empty promises to him about captaincy and setting him up for life. Rod was a child. That means decisions he made back then aren't the same as an adult. Which means he was reliant on adults to look out for him. He was let down by the education system with pedophiles, and just as let down by the footy club. A club that allowed him to get blind drunk as an underager at their Friday night discos. How heart breaking to read that Melbourne treated him like a human being and our club couldn't.

And your last paragraph speaks volumes. Disgruntled mother, feeling guilt because she didn't protect her son. In other words you somehow manage to craftily blame her for the disgusting behaviour of our club playing a teenage boy behind her back and convincing him to leave school - all because we were a basketcase of a club at the time and were desperate for a hero.

So your suggesting that OWEN and his mother made the whole thing up? As well their closest family and friends? You believe what you want to believe.

[bangaulegend]

By Russell Jackson who wrote the article on Robbie Muir.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-03/ ... s/13255584

Thanks Kosi very sad ending to a bloke who had the world at his feet but injury & decision making pretty much sealed his fate but such a sad story

[saint6709]

I played junior footy with Rod and probably played the same day as a few of the shots in the article ( definitely at least 1) he was f#cken unbelievably good

He was always a very nice guy to me and an absolute gentleman to my parents whenever he saw them for decades later - it was well known locally that Saints f***ed up one of the greatest talents they might have ever had by taking him out of school and unleashing him on the Saints disco - he was way too young and his body responded accordingly - if his dad had not died things might have been very different - I did not know about the abuse and am absolutely devastated for him and really upset to learn it - it certainly puts some of his poor behavior into more perspective- I always blamed the club and his dad’s untimely death