Club Mgmt. Board of Directors as led by President Dave Barham - Statement from Barham addressing Merrett etc - 12/9

[Lore]

Spoiler: Timeline of events

• 15/8: President, Paul Brasher resigns, replaced by Dave Barham who foreshadows external review
  • Votes for Brasher: Peter Allen, Simon Madden, Sean Wellman
    Sean Wellman

    Age

    51

    Ht

    193cm

    Wt

    90kg

    Pos.

    Def

    Career

    Season

    Last 5

    D

    14.1

    4star

    K

    9.7

    4star

    HB

    4.5

    3star

    M

    4.5

    4star

    T

    1.0

    3star

    No current season stats available

    D

    8.0

    2star

    K

    4.4

    2star

    HB

    3.6

    3star

    M

    2.6

    3star

    T

    0.8

    3star

  • Votes for Barham: Andrew Muir, Dorothy Hisgrove, Melissa Green, Kate O’Sullivan, Kevin Sheedy
• 21/8: Senior Coach, Ben Rutten
  Ben Rutten

  Age

  42

  Ht

  190cm

  Wt

  98kg

  Pos.

  Def

  Career

  Season

  Last 5

  D

  13.4

  3star

  K

  6.3

  2star

  HB

  7.0

  4star

  M

  5.3

  5star

  T

  1.3

  3star

  No current season stats available

  D

  10.6

  3star

  K

  6.2

  3star

  HB

  4.4

  4star

  M

  3.6

  4star

  T

  1.0

  3star

  sacked
• 24/8: CEO, Xavier Campbell resigns
• 24/8: Directors to resign
  • Paul Brasher, immediately
  • Simon Madden, immediately
  • Sean Wellman, after new football director is appointed
  • Peter Allen, after AGM & finance portfolio handover in December
• 26/8: Details of coaching selection committee appointment
  • Sub-committee of 6: Josh Mahoney
    Josh Mahoney

    Age

    48

    Ht

    180cm

    Wt

    83kg

    Pos.

    Fwd

    Career

    Season

    Last 5

    D

    11.3

    3star

    K

    6.8

    3star

    HB

    4.5

    3star

    M

    3.5

    4star

    T

    1.6

    4star

    G

    0.9

    4star

    No current season stats available

    D

    9.2

    3star

    K

    5.4

    2star

    HB

    3.8

    3star

    M

    2.2

    3star

    T

    1.6

    4star

    G

    0.4

    3star

    (Chair, GM-Footy), Robert Walls, Jordan Lewis
    Jordan Lewis

    Age

    39

    Ht

    186cm

    Wt

    86kg

    Pos.

    D/M

    Career

    Season

    Last 5

    D

    23.5

    5star

    K

    12.1

    4star

    HB

    11.5

    5star

    M

    5.5

    5star

    T

    2.7

    4star

    MG

    310.5

    4star

    No current season stats available

    D

    15.0

    4star

    K

    6.8

    3star

    HB

    8.2

    5star

    M

    4.8

    5star

    T

    2.8

    5star

    , Simone McKinnis OAM, Andrew Thorburn and Dorothy Hisgrove (board member).
• 26/8: Details of external review process
  • Ernst & Young to coordinate with support from Andrew Thorburn, working closely with Nick Ryan (Acting CEO) & Dorothy Hisgrove (board member)
  • Focusing on four areas: (1) Board effectiveness & composition, (2) a review of leadership, operations and culture including the footy department, (3) the senior coach appointment and (4) the new CEO appointment.
• 26/9: Andrew Welsh appointed to the board of directors, replacing Simon Madden
• 29/9: Brad Scott appointed as Senior Coach
• 30/9: Kevin Sheedy claims decision to appoint Brad Scott was 6-1 against him
• 3/10: Andrew Thorburn appointed as CEO - alternative link
• 3/10: “External review to be handed to the board next week”: Andrew Thorburn, Crichton Medal Address
• 4/10: Andrew Thorburn resigns as CEO
• 11/10: External review preliminary findings
• 24/10: External review preliminary findings II
• 2/11: Dan McPherson appointed as General Manager of Performance & Cam Roberts as Head of Development
• 11/11: Dean Rioli appointed to the board of directors, replacing Paul Brasher
• 14/11: Tim Roberts & David Wills appointed to the board of directors, replacing Sean Wellman and Paul Allen respectively
• 28/11: Dorothy Hisgrove announced as first female vice-president (at the Essendon Women's Best and Fairest night)
• 1/12: Craig Vozzo appointed as CEO
• 13/12: Board director election results: Andrew Welsh and Andrew Muir elected
• 15/5: The club's First Nations Advisory Council established, to be led by Dean Rioli (chair, Indigenous board member), and including: Leanne Brooke (EFC EGM – Community & The Long Walk. Essendon FC), Dorothy Hisgrove (EFC VP and National Manager Partner KPMG), Kane Ellis (CEO of Illawarra Aboriginal Medical Service), John Evans (Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Engagement at Swinburne) and Che Cockatoo-Collins (EM, Indigenous Affairs NBN, EFC Past Player)
• 16/5: Board of Directors declare support for the First Nations Voice to Parliament, after consultation with the new First Nations Advisory Council
• 28/8: EGM - Football, Josh Mahoney has accepted a role as GM Football Operations at the AFL
• 10/10: GM - Performance Daniel McPherson, and Head of AFLW/AFL Operations Manager Aysha Ward have been elevated to the club executive as joint leaders of the club's football department, as GM-AFL and GM-AFLW respectively

 

[The Donners]

Every time this prick is mentioned I think “ * me, he follows Essendon “

I’m not sure when it became popular for sports journalists (print) to get their faces on TV and their voices heard on radio but at least Caro stays in her lane (most of the time). Wtf does Robbo know other than being a nuffty AFL supporter? Perhaps that’s his role, to be representative of footy nuffties?

 

[Vander18]

There is a world where we can both acknowledge that XC was a very poor CEO and that Sheedy is also a destructive relic who is an impediment to the club. He doesn't deserve any credit for this petulant, continued sniping from the shadows.

What is this magical world you speak of?? Take me there!

 

[Vander18]

I thought the controversy was with comments made in a sermon that occurred when he wasn't even there?

Why would EY care about comments not made by him at a church he wasn't going at the time?

Is it not now obvious why they should have cared mate? It’s called foresight.

 

[Godzke]

meh ... we will have a new CEO in <1 mth, and this whole saga will be completely forgotten about by Xmas

The issue is less about sacking him and more about 1) the lack of background DD that Hisgrove and those EY idiots conducted, and 2) then allowing him to interview for the role afterwards. Absolutely mindless. But what's done is done, i'm not fussed we have no CEO at the moment.

There was an urgency in hiring a senior coach to facilitate (limited) opportunities during trade week, list planning and offseason prep, but there is no urgency in hiring a CEO. Let Nick Ryan continue to act in the role and he can use plethora of ppl as sounding boards if needed, including Brad Scott given his intimate knowledge of the AFL administration.

 

[TheGrizz]

Is it not now obvious why they should have cared mate? It’s called foresight.

Well of course it is obvious now after looking at the fallout. That so much is clear.

But as a general rule, I try not to apply all knowledge gathered from hindsight as automatically something that should have been done with foresight. At least not without knowing all the facts available to the people making decisions at the time.

I am not disputing the appointment was an unmitigated disaster though, to be clear.

 

[EnolaGay]

Honestly it’s pretty basic stuff. He’s chairman of the church, has made no secret of that.

It’s clearly not your “normal” church, so it should have been researched.

I dunno who’s fault it is but it’s very basic and a joke it wasn’t picked up.

Exactly. You are quite literally paying a truckload of money to "experts consultants" to find this stuff out. Could've saved ourselves some cash and just paid an intern to do some Google detective work and got more insight.

 

[Lore]

Exactly. You are quite literally paying a truckload of money to "experts consultants" do find this stuff out. Could've saved ourselves some cash and just paid an intern to do some Google detective work and got more insight.

Or just outsource it to twitter apparently

 

[DERO]

I wonder whether it was buried because the CEO was exposed in some way?

 

[Lore]

I wonder whether it was buried because the CEO was exposed in some way?

Good thing about Barham is he seems quite willing to wear his mistakes at the cost of his personal reputation, rather than doubling down. It’s been a long time, perhaps ever, since anyone at Essendon had enough humility to admit a mistake

 

[MiguelM]

Robbo's article makes it sound like Scott had little contact prior to his interview.

I suspect that wasn't the case.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

It’s like the trauma from the saga still haunts us. Sheedy and Robbo still seeking Hird redemption. Hird seems only interested in coaching us a form of redemption.

Initially appointing Worsfold was right decision but we kept him on too long because he was calm, quiet ..safe. Rutten was safe so we appointed him without a process.

Scott and maybe even Barham feel like a new start and we screw up appointing CEO…whilst under pressure from Sheeds manipulation on his road to seeking redemption. It’s ****ing us badly and we need to cut it out completely. Sheedy has to go.

 

[EnolaGay]

Well, I think I'm now totally onboard with Barham's scorched Earth strategy. We've been an embarrassing ****-up of a club for years before the last 3 months (which people seem to have forgotten), so more carnage in quick time is not the worst thing if we come out the other side with a functional, aligned football club with significantly reduced influence from outside parties.

Dominoes fallen:

Campbell era over (incl. two below)
Brasher
Rutten
(Madden?)
(Wellman?)

Hird returning put to rest

Coteries sidelined

External review outcomes still to play out

Dominoes to fall:

Sheedy
Dodoro

Good-bye to the Boy's Club - the same "club" that has contributed to us achieving absolutely **** all for 20 years.

 

[Lore]

Robbo's article makes it sound like Scott had little contact prior to his interview.

I suspect that wasn't the case.

It obviously isn’t the case but Barham did mention in the Scott presser last week (feels like a lifetime ago) that he was amazed about how he’d been having conversations with people and none of it had been leaked and how great that was.

Sheedy being overseas and those on both ends of the call not blabbing about it to him or anyone else is probably why Sheedy couldn’t tell Hird about it and both felt a bit blindsided.

Although I don’t think Hird or the board generally was necessarily privy to a full list of applicants or the entire interview timetable either. That’s why there was a sub-committee.

 

[boncer34]

Said it somewhere else and it applies here. Classic ****ing Sheedy. Thinks we'll go through a process, ignore it and let him Captain pick his mate into the job.

 

[Vander18]

Well of course it is obvious now after looking at the fallout. That so much is clear.

But as a general rule, I try not to apply all knowledge gathered from hindsight as automatically something that should have been done with foresight. At least not without knowing all the facts available to the people making decisions at the time.

I am not disputing the appointment was an unmitigated disaster though, to be clear.

I feel like you are confusing the application of competence with the application of hindsight.

When your prospective CEO declares his chairmanship (or you find it out yourself) of a non-mainstream church….you do a little digging into what they believe.

 

[ghostdog]

Well, I think I'm now totally onboard with Barham's scorched Earth strategy. We've been an embarrassing *-up of a club for years before the last 3 months (which people seem to have forgotten), so more carnage in quick time is not the worst thing if we come out the other side with a functional, aligned football club with significantly reduced influence from outside parties.

Dominoes fallen:

Campbell era over (incl. two below)
Brasher
Rutten
(Madden?)
(Wellman?)

Hird returning put to rest

Coteries sidelined

External review outcomes still to play out

Dominoes to fall:

Sheedy
Dodoro

Good-bye to the Boy's Club - the same "club" that has contributed to us achieving absolutely * all for 20 years.

I wouldn't comfortably say the coteries have been sidelined. So many people with so much influence, any of whom could run for a board position in future... Something would need to change in the club's constitution for that to be the case.

 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

I wouldn't comfortably say the coteries have been sidelined. So many people with so much influence, any of whom could run for a board position in future... Something would need to change in the club's constitution for that to be the case.

They seem to have been temporarily sidelined.

 

[ghostdog]

They seem to have been temporarily sidelined.

...at least. The leaks not getting out at least might have signalled to Barham who he can and can not trust.

 

[Darealrath]

They seem to have been temporarily sidelined.

Might have been on the boat with Sheedy.

 

[The Donners]

Robbo's article makes it sound like Scott had little contact prior to his interview.

I suspect that wasn't the case.

Sounds like someone was fed a whole heap of crap. Remind me which paper Sheedy contacted to make sure the country knew he voted for Hird???

 

[Happyskeret]

I think Barham’s intentions are good but his executions (pardon the pun) are s**thouse.

 

[DERO]

I think Barham’s intentions are good but his executions (pardon the pun) are s**thouse.

Can he execute Sheeds?

 

[EnolaGay]

Can he execute Sheeds?

 

[Old Campaigner]

It’s like the trauma from the saga still haunts us. Sheedy and Robbo still seeking Hird redemption. Hird seems only interested in coaching us a form of redemption.

Initially appointing Worsfold was right decision but we kept him on too long because he was calm, quiet ..safe. Rutten was safe so we appointed him without a process.

Scott and maybe even Barham feel like a new start and we screw up appointing CEO…whilst under pressure from Sheeds manipulation on his road to seeking redemption. It’s ******* us badly and we need to cut it out completely. Sheedy has to go.

Yeah, and unfortunately until start to see some onfield success it's always going to linger in the minds of a lot of supporters.

 

[Doss]

Yeah, and unfortunately until start to see some onfield success it's always going to linger in the minds of a lot of supporters.

There is a small sub-section of the supporter base who have basically put themselves in a kind of self-imposed deep freeze since August 2015.

Yes they might still have watched and gone to games, but ultimately everything that’s happened in the last seven years has just been filler. Just a placeholder until the return of the prodigal son.

These are the supporters that Sheedy’s antics appeal to.