A recording of the former coach repeatedly denying any wrongdoing to one of his victims on the day of his arrest.
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00:00was a, yeah, an ugly time in terms of allegations and things that were being
00:05levelled. I can sort of, I can say without a doubt that any of the
00:11allegations that were levelled at me were wrong, inaccurate and unfounded and I
00:16did not do any of the bits and pieces that were there. However, I did not do
00:21myself any favours either in terms of how I operated, how I coached, how I
00:27worked with the team. I really set myself up to be quite vulnerable in that space.
00:33And I spoke to the parents about that, sat down and talked to them
00:42about that and that was highlighted to me. I, you know, put it to the parents at
00:46that stage that, you know, if I needed to finish coaching or stop coaching, I was
00:52more than happy to do that. They were more than happy to pull their kids out. To a
00:56T, they didn't. However, the whole situation, I suppose, was pretty much
01:02untenable from that spot. There were, I suppose, allegations going around but
01:07there were also other complications around that environment or not the
01:13climbing environment but external to that that the other kids were exposed to
01:17as well, which I wasn't aware of. And that sort of, I suppose, put me in a position
01:23where I was potentially targeted. You know, I spoke at length to the police
01:28about that, did all those bits and pieces, was more than happy to cooperate with
01:33any investigations or things that were going on. They moved their line of
01:38inquiries down another avenue and another path and didn't require anything
01:44further from me, from my input. The coaching, to a certain extent, became
01:50untenable within rock climbing and also became untenable within, you know, just
01:56the total environment and things like that. And it wasn't something that I was
02:00going to put myself through or the rest of the guys. So we pretty much
02:04finished and wound up there. Yeah, the thing is, I remember things and so do the
02:10other girls though. So how do you account for that? Yeah, well, as I said, I don't.
02:19It's like, you know, what can I say? You could say sorry. I don't see that I have
02:32anything to apologize for. I mean, yeah, I was close to the other kids and the other guys
02:36but definitely there was never anything untoward that I did or attempted to do.
02:43But you did. I woke up when there were things happening that weren't okay. I
02:52don't know what to say. I just don't have any recollection of that sort of
02:58incidents. Yeah, well, I can't. I don't know what to say either. I just feel like
03:09that whole part of my life was a big lie. I don't think you were in it for the
03:17right reasons. Absolutely I was. I was in it for you guys and to do it. There was
03:22no other reason for me to be involved in that aspect of it and to deliver those
03:27results and to work with you guys. But then why when, like, I mean, I was at my
03:38peak and then you just, like, stopped talking to me, you know? You just dropped
03:47us and went, you know, to other younger girls every time. Like, it doesn't...
03:55That couldn't be further from the truth. I mean, look, I was still developing my
04:01coaching and things at that stage and I admit that, particularly in regards to
04:07yourself, there are things that I could have done better and should have done
04:10better in terms of the management and coaching, but that's a hindsight thing
04:13that I look back on now. But it was never, you know, in focus in terms of dropping
04:20people for other people. There was a perception that there was favouritism
04:23and, again, I probably set myself up, you know, at length for that as well. But it
04:29was never an intent to do that. I wanted everybody to achieve and succeed as
04:35best as they could. Like the other guys as well, like, he was doing all sorts of dodgy
04:40stuff. Like, the whole thing, you know? And if I hadn't heard of bits and pieces, I'd
04:49heard of stuff that was out there. But, yeah, I wasn't keeping track of all that
04:55somewhat naively, I suppose. And time over again, I would definitely, you know,
05:01run and handle things hugely differently in terms of how we did. But, yeah, I just
05:10don't have any further answers. But, like, the other girls, like, are you saying
05:17they're, you know, and me, are you saying that you don't remember any of these
05:21things? Like, there's lots of them, you know? Like, talking to the other girls,
05:25there were lots of times when we would wake up or something and, you know, like...
05:33I'm sorry, look, I don't know what to say. I mean, if it was, you know, I literally,
05:46I don't know what to say. I'm just floored and I was floored back then as well, you know,
05:50in regards to it. I was just flabbergasted that people would think that. Yeah. Well,
05:58I don't know what to say either. I'm really sorry that, you know, you're feeling these
06:05things and these emotions and it irks me, it really does. But, yeah, I just don't have any
06:15I just don't have any answers for you. I'm sorry. You know, we really, really trusted you.
06:22Absolutely. Absolutely. And you guys were brilliant at what you did and continue to do.
06:29All right, look, I gotta get off the phone because I'm getting a bit upset.
06:37Yeah, okay. But, yeah, I don't know what else to say.
06:46Do I? And look, I appreciate this is a hard call. It was a hard call for you to make.
06:50But I, yeah, I'm just struggling to figure out what further, you know, can be done to help you
06:59out or to resolve. Yeah. All right. All right. I'll catch you another time. All right. Bye.