Disgraced Adelaide chief executive Steven Trigg is thankful for a second chance, but says the harsh AFL penalties on the Crows have one more sting to come.
Trigg returned after a six-month AFL ban on Monday, saying he won’t respond to critics including former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett who believe he should have been sacked.
“What is the point? What I need to do is knuckle down and let my actions speak louder than words,” Trigg told reporters on Monday.
Trigg was suspended for his role in Kurt Tippett’s 2009 contract with the Crows which broke AFL salary cap rules.
“I realised that there was a problem with it,” Trigg said of the shady Tippett deal.
He was also fined $50,000, the Crows were fined $300,000 and lost draft picks, and Tippett was suspended 11 matches.
Trigg said he was determined to help the Crows overcome the penalties, particularly in the draft.
Adelaide lost their initial two picks in this year’s draft, and gave up their top two selections in last year’s draft in a plea bargain with the AFL.
“The task I have is to try and overcome those obstacles. There are ways of doing that,” he said.
“It’s a stinger, don’t worry about that.
“But at the same time … if we give the recruiting guys all the resources in the world they need, I think we can overcome it.
“It depends on what we can do in the trade and the free agency.”
The salary cap scandal emerged as Tippett walked out on Adelaide in a bitter split last October, to join Sydney.
“At the time, I was pretty angry about the whole thing. They (the Tippett camp) were angry as well,” Trigg said.
“But is there any point in keeping that?”
The AFL penalties also included bans for Adelaide’s past and present football operations managers.
“I actually think the penalties were harsh all round,” Trigg said.
“And there are different views on that.
“I genuinely felt that, like the rest of us, Kurt copped a harsh penalty and I am not being overly generous.”
Trigg said he would always regret the Tippett deal.
“You could curl up in a corner and feel sorry for yourself or actually stand up and say `I have stuffed it up, and need to make good on it’,” he said.
“There have been many great people who have supported me … and the sense of obligation to repay that faith is probably the most prevalent one on my mind this morning, that is the most overwhelming emotion.”