Two associations within the AFL are trying to find a voice
You hear voices. Which might explain a lot. Some loud, some soft. Some sensible, some stupid. They come with advice, a portion of which it would be wise for the -nation to heed, others with propositions so banal and predictable they haunt suggestion boxes around the world.
Essendon Football Club have many weaknesses but none as critical as their approach to finding a coach. That the club did not have to find one for the best part of 30 years when Kevin Sheedy led the club to four premierships might be some sort of excuse.
But Sheedy has gone and come back again since he left at the end of the 2007 season. He is now apparently the club mascot. Since Sheedy was sacked under then president Ray Horsburgh there have been two more club leaders. David Evans took over from Horsburgh. 
Evans then gave way to Paul Little, who thought he had an inspired idea how to quicken and clean up the ASADA investigation which was threatening James Hird's career as coach and holy saint. That was back in 2013.
Since then Hird has been removed as coach, his halo at the very least misplaced, and the ASADA and WADA investigation is still far from complete. The charade of a search for Hird's replacement now appears over before it began.
Essendon have always wanted former West Coast premiership coach John Worsfold to replace Hird. They even flew a special mix of players and officials in Little's private plane to Adelaide where Worsfold had been asked to help the Crows after the shocking death of coach Phil Walsh.
Initially, it was thought Essendon intended kidnapping Worsfold but apparently they settled on whispering sweet nothings in his ear. It was enough for Worsfold to walk away from the Crows and state his interest in coaching the Bombers next season.
If you are wondering about the much hyped process for selecting Hird's replacement then no doubt so are those coaches who believed they were short-listed for a decent chance to put their case.
Amid all this confusion a voice was heard in the distance. It was Mark Brayshaw, chief executive of something called the AFL Coaches Association, a body of which Worsfold was once chairman.
This week Brayshaw said: "John's decision to explore the Bombers' role comes after his three month stint at Adelaide, during which time he whetted his appetite for life as an AFL coach. We wish him well as he meets with Essendon. If he decides to formally apply for the role, we would wholeheartedly endorse his application.
"John stepped aside from his role as chairman of the AFLCA during his time at Adelaide ... he will continue to be removed from AFLCA business until the Essendon process runs its course," Brayshaw said.
Questions. Who is Brayshaw to say just who might be a good coach for Essendon? And how does that advice help all the other coaches Brayshaw's association is presumably representing?
The coaches association might be well intentioned but its voice exists for helping junior clubs find coaches. The big boys in the AFL are best left to look after themselves. Never can a voice have looked as irrelevant.
Then there was Paul Marsh from the players' association. The AFLPA chief executive found voice over accusations that the Western Bulldog player Michael Talia gave his brother and Adelaide defender Daniel inside information about the Bulldogs prior to the elimination match featuring both clubs.
"We are aware of the alleged sharing of sensitive club information and have spoken to all parties, including officials and players at the two clubs," Marsh said.
"The players (the Talia brothers) involved have informed us that they categorically deny the sharing of any sensitive club information.
"From the perspective of the players, this is nothing more than two brothers having a general conversation about football as they do every other week.
"We believe we have done our due diligence on the issue and respect the right of the Western Bulldogs to investigate the matter and understand that as part of this process, they have felt it important to inform the AFL." This is hardly a matter for input from the players' association. They are not in any way an investigative body of the league. Exactly what protocols the association has in place to hold an integrity probe is questionable.
It appears, just like the coaches association, as another group within the AFL industry trying to find a voice and influence where they have none and should never have any.
The AFLPA has an important role to play but it does not include questioning the right of the Bulldogs to refer concerns the club may have over possible leaking of what might have been critical game-day information.
The Bulldogs are right to alert the AFL integrity department to the concern over the circumstances surrounding the Bulldogs-Adelaide final. It is not an admission of guilt but a check that every game is a fair contest. On the basest level the AFL cannot take money from betting organisations without relentless checking on the sport's on-field propriety.
There is a voice that needs to be listened to and encouraged. And that is the federal Sports Minister Sussan Ley, who this week spoke about her concern for footballers, drugs and the protocols that guide investigations.
The minister also underlined her commitment to have more children participate in sport but in a competitive way.
Ley told The Australian this week it made "perfect sense" for sport and health to live together in the same portfolio, as Australians who were active and playing sport were also more likely to lead healthier and happier lives.
"Being Sports Minister can't be just about photo opportunities - despite the fact that's how it's undoubtedly been perceived in the past. It needs to also be about good policy and I believe giving it a place at the cabinet table gives us the best chance to deliver that.
"I'm determined to get more of our kids playing organised sport as not only does it keep them active but they also learn important life skills like being part of a team and learning to lose.
"I believe this bottom up approach is also the best way to build a strong foundation to develop elite success after decades of giving out participation ribbons to every child." Ley had taken a liking to the portfolio despite the position often being reserved for a junior minister and the outer cabinet. She had successfully protected sport from the efficiency cuts forced across government.
Australian sport needs a strong voice as much now as it ever has. The picture of sport painted in the days when nearly all games and codes were in large part amateur competitions does not reflect society now.
The voice given to sport by the likes of Donald Bradman, Herb Elliott, Dawn Fraser, Harry Hopman and a team of others has fallen silent.
Betting and its sidekick corruption grow by the day as more platforms and easier access to punting are made available.
A champion footballer like Adam Goodes is booed for a season, mostly because of the colour of his skin.
In the AFL three players missed the season because they breached performance-enhancing drug regulations. The Essendon peptide probe is still unfinished nearly three years after it began. Cocaine use appears widespread after then Gold Coast Sun-contracted Karmichael Hunt and other league players were charged earlier in the year. Two young NRL players were rushed to hospital this week having overdosed on prescription painkillers. We are told abuse of prescription pills is the latest menace in Australian sport.
Elsewhere Australia is forced to stand down Nick Kyrgios, its most promising tennis player, from the Davis Cup semi-final because his behaviour was uncontrolled and offensive.
Racing of all varieties face some of their biggest challenges, none more alarming than the use of cobalt in the thoroughbred business. Australia is seen by many to play cricket in an almost grotesque way such has the notion of winning been placed above sportsmanship and traditional etiquette.
Somehow the Matildas go on strike so the Socceroos can earn more money. That's obscene.
As sports claw for space in a bulging and burgeoning market, sport is babble.This tower of Babel is in danger of losing its Australian soul; that sense of spirit that made competition fierce but played with a glorious flair and intrinsic fairness. We need a new voice to follow. It might just be the member for Farrer.