MY CALL: TEAM COUNSELLING PLAN IS YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF WALLER'S SUPERB MANAGEMENT SKILLS

By David Fowler | Tuesday, February 19, 2019

David Fowler is the principal thoroughbred caller for Radio TAB. David, who is a keen form student and punter, has enjoyed a lifetime involvement in the racing media. His personal blog, ‘My Call’, appears exclusively on HRO.

Older readers will resonate with the expression, "count to ten".

It translates to pause, ponder, think … or all of these before reacting to a certain situation whether it be positively or negatively.

The older I get the more I appreciate the value of those three words.

It wouldn't surprise me that many of you, like me, read the story of potential counselling for "team Winx" after her retirement and shook your head.

I'm happy to put my hand up.

For those who immediately thought it was a whizz bang idea, congratulations, you're smarter than me!

My first reaction was "give me a break" and I seriously considered it as a discussion piece on my PRESS ROOM program on RadioTAB yesterday.

That's when I "counted to ten" and framed two significant points in my mind.

The first was that the news piece emanated from Chris Waller.

A cardinal rule of journalism is to evaluate the worthiness of your contact before embarking on a story.

In other words, if Chris Waller is making a comment, I should be listening and, possibly, learning.

The second was to broaden my horizons about the concept of counselling.

I fell for the simple trap that counselling solely emanates as a result of grief.

I'm sure many of you were, or are, in the same boat.

But counselling can travel many paths and in the case of Winx it's her absence after her retirement.

Obviously this is not grief per se but how those who have intimately worked with the champion deal with their lives after she has departed the racing stage.

The very fact that Waller has brought this into the public domain suggests that he may well be looking into the mirror.

I get it … but I needed to think about it first.

It's a somewhat similar situation to retirement from the workforce.

Most yearn for the last day at the office and then after the lunches, dinners and rounds of golf, what's next?

Often nothing.

And that's just an analogy of the average Joe,

Do all super athletes or major figures seamlessly transfer to a new life after their expiry date arrives in their respective fields.

At least for "team Winx", it's not the end of the road in terms of their lifestyle.

A swag of horses will have to be worked and cared the very day Winx walks out the door

Some will continue like nothing has happened but some could be potentially vulnerable.

Mark up another case of Waller's superb management.

David Fowler