One of my favourite sayings in the Channel Seven newsroom was, "Media opportunities are media distractions".
It was probably an exaggeration, but all-in press conferences with club coaches and players, where the answers to all your questions immediately go to all competitors, are usually ho-hum.
They distract TV journos from where they should be - acting alone, in search of exclusive vision and stories. Basically, being where the others ain't!
We also lived by the TV mantra that there are no stories in the office. Vision is king, so get out and shoot it!
Hence, that is why I was standing with a cameraman mid-afternoon at Collingwood headquarters in late August, 2017.
Nathan Buckley was under the pump as coach at the time, and a formal review of the football department was about to be presented to the board.
We stood back and started filming through the windows of the boardroom facing on to Olympic Boulevard, simply to get exclusive shots of shadowy figures discussing Buckley's future. Some nice overlay and added drama for a looming live cross.
That is when our own whiteboard moment suddenly emerged.
Geoff Walsh had conducted the review ... there was so much speculation about its contents ... then, suddenly, there it was. In all its glory!
We could see pretty much the entire PowerPoint presentation - it was clear someone was doing a test run before the board meeting.
The Collingwood board is tonight learning the findings of a review that could decide the fate of coach Nathan Buckley. @Stevo7AFL #7News pic.twitter.com/ZMyBnUGORQ
— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) August 22, 2017
The Auskick dad in Brisbane took a picture with his phone of the Lions' whiteboard. We started filming with the help of heavy-duty zoom.
Buckley, an iconic figure at Collingwood, was walking a tightrope and we could see the review which effectively saved him.
Some highlights of the recommendations list included:
Mentor for the coach required.
Players want head of footy to become "more visible".
Restructure roles in list management and recruiting department.
Players want more engagement in list management decisions.
Need to further emphasise skill development.
So what did we do? I spent some time grappling with it; you don't feel great about it.
But we ran the vision without overplaying it - and without extra mayonnaise. The live cross was cut and edited in a way viewers would have struggled to read the exact wording.
But we were there at the right place, at the right time, and used the information to build a live cross. It's a competitive world TV news, and you take the wins. It was impossible to ignore the wonders going on behind the window.
Collingwood no doubt learned a lesson, much like Brisbane has this week. Maybe it's best to pull the blinds.
Buckley survived, and after a raft of changes, he was oh so close to being a premiership coach the next year. Only a freak Dom Sheed goal robbed him.
And that day underlined one key motto: Always try and be where the others ain't.
