BJesus

[DesignatedDriver]

his choice not ours.

[DesignatedDriver]

and by that i mean respect his decision and leave him be

(i don't mean we don't welcome him )

[Lil' God'rs]

He just did the most un Australian thing I could imagine.

Have you never heard the British triathlon team

[Ecmo]

BJ has made a really tough decision to decide to run for GB. The people he talked to about it know just how tough it was. It's a shame one fool fired off without understanding or recognising why he did it.

Funding for the sport in Australia has been cut to almost nothing and high quality leaders in coaching and administration are few and far between. We just can't offer the help and support that he needs to succeed. For him it was a really tough decision but I think definitely the right one. For Australian orienteering it's obviously very sad.

Having said that BJ's mates in oz, uk, Halden and everyone else will still be his mates and nothing much will change on that score. Hope the British team hires a cleaner to take on tour though.

Good luck

Eric

[Grant Bluett]

God you guys are Pussies, especially you Ecmo and Rob. I was the guy trying to stir up a bit of jobby about BJ to see what the response would be. Probably would have been better to put my name to it in hide site. If you guys think he has done the right thing then the UK is welcome to you guys also. I can start being like McCarthy (or whatever his name is) and start branding people poms instead of communists.

[Grant Bluett]

You guys are realy trying to make me look like an idiot! Butting "Jobby" in my last posting. who would use that word

[The Queen]

We are very pleased to hear that Mr Brickhill-Jones has decided to leave the convicts behind and instead race for the mother-country.

We also note that as a guest we can enter whatever username we like, even if we are not who we say we are.

Perhaps we would be taken more seriously if we actually registered under our real names.

[Les Patterson]

You guys are realy trying to make me look like an idiot!

Nah, - you're doing pretty well on your own.

[Jase McCrae]

I'm one of those crap administrators in Oz so thanks for that sledge EcMo.

Maybe I just don't have an elite-enough attitude but for me you do everything you can to be the best at something (in BJs case O) but there are some things that are non-negotiable. One of them is the country you are from and represent. Its part of who you are. BJ is Australian, always will be. But he's traded that for the money and some of us convicts, while recognising its a personal choice, are pretty dissapointed about it.

Cheers
Jase McCrae

[gross2006]

I remember many times trying to persuade various athletes to change sides from England to Scotland for the SHI's. Thinking about it I always had a lot of respect for those who stood by thier original country & didn't jump ship & join the Scots.... but was also very grateful & fully supported those who did...

There's always two sides to every story.... OZ orienteering will need to get on with things & BJ will need to train like nope to get in the GB team.

My suggestion would be to let the discussion rest... otherwise there's a danger of building some crisis that don't actually exist

[concerned Brit]

So is this likely to become standard policy now to poach orienteers developed by other countries instead of spending money and time developing our own?

[El]

I really don't think this is a discussion that's going to get resolved. In principle I'd say you should stick by your "native" country. However, from the little I know about BJ's situation, it seems like he's given it a lot of thought and that he believes it's the right decision for him. At the end of the day that's all that matters, and although other people might not agree with it, it's not their lives/orienteering careers.
And I would assume that equally, the British Squad gave due consideration to whether to allow him to run for us. I don't think there was any "poaching" involved - if BJ approached them, then surely the Squad had to consider the offer? They're not going to be putting any more money into him than anyone else and just because he's in the sqaud doesn't mean he's in the team.
Reckon the whole topic should be dropped - not much point calling each other names over a decision that's already been taken.

[concerned Brit]

Reckon the whole topic should be dropped - not much point calling each other names over a decision that's already been taken.

What a massive cop-out. I think it is crucial this sort of topic should be discussed openly as it comes down to what sort of philosophy BOF is going to run its elite programs with.

Its incredibly relevant to discuss how funds should be spent to ensure the LONG-TERM success of an elite orienteering program, should money be thrown at established high-performers (whether from the UK or not)who put their heart and soul into orienteering, but would probably get the same results with less funding, or put more money into the development of new talent to pressure the established high performers.

To suggest that BJ has just decided to run for us completely off his own bat is frankly ridiculous, obviously offers have been made to him at some point in the process to convince him he would have a 'better deal' running for us. So the price has been set to buy an athlete with a top 2 World Cup result, how much more are we willing to offer to another athlete with dual-citizenship who is a World Champion? a car? $10 000 every year for the rest of their life?

I don't blame BJ at all for taking BOF up on their generous offer, it is much better than what he could get from Australia, what I question is whether we should have made the offer in the first place.

[fell]

God you guys are Pussies, especially you Ecmo and Rob.

??? what?

Personally I think there might be some opportunity in looking for Tasmanian autonomy after their boys relay result at this years JWOC...

[BJesus]

Sorry i have kept out of this discussion for so long. But i just feel that i have made my decision, so to me it is done. I will now commit myself with everything to GBR. For the people that know me, they understand i dont do things half heartly. I made this decision for a few different reasons, but i do not want to go into them all. Essentially though, i now live in scandinavia permanently, and think that i can achieve better results running with GBR. Only time will tell if i was right or wrong. Just to make a few things clear though.

- This decision has been on my mind for more than a year, it was me that approached BOF, not the other way around.
- I have been offered nothing from BOF for changing countries (as a concerned brit suggested).
- I will be on the same level as all other brits, i will have to prove myself just as the other boys do, if i want to make the teams. I will get no special treatment, and would not want it either. If i can not make the GBR team of my own back, there is no way in hell that i will get the results at WOC that i am seeking.

To be the best you have to beat everyone.