Crucially,the Tigers are looking for a new boss to oversee their player leadership program after Gerard Murphy left in some acrimony mid-season.

If the club is also looking for another strong voice in football,surely the role required is director of coaching,given Damien Hardwick's performance this season,his refusal in the past to change some of his assistants,the holes in development and strategy and the fact this will be a largely new group in 2017.

This latest group of rebels,and let's face it there have been plenty of those over the past 12 months,support Gale and have no plans to release Hardwick from his contract. While the new structure around O'Neal's board and its nominations committee has turned it into something of a closed shop,this challenge is politically naive and potentially more damaging.

They have no official connection to Neil Balme but want him back at the club,an announcement which reportedly embarrassed Balme,who appears increasingly likely to remain at Collingwood.

The group includes premiership players Bryan Wood and Bruce Monteath,who have been linked to challenges before – Wood officially when Charles Macek unsuccessfully took on Clinton Casey in 2004 – and should know better.

Although their timing was good,coming early on a Monday after a football-free weekend,they offered no solutions,no clear plan and no real point of difference. And yet,as Gale well knows,strong successful clubs don't fall out with their former players as this exercise has indicated.

To their credit,they have put a name to their challenge and anyone who has watched the Tigers this season could sympathise with their frustration. But that does not justify such old-fashioned destructive blood-letting.

Even if Gale and O'Neal have taken too long to perform some bloody tasks of their own.