Adelaide: What the hell is going on?

[J_Moore]

My memory might be deserting me in my advancing years, but weren’t they paying Tippett under the table when they could’ve fit him in the cap?

 

[J_Moore]

I love Adelaide, but in terms of art and culture it's got absolutely nothing on Sydney and Melbourne.

There’s nothing the average 23 year old footballer loves more than art and culture.

 

[the PILL]

I believe you sort of have to of lived in Adelaide to understand the bubble/fish bowl the Crows live in...

They compete much better with an us versus them mentality and insecurity from heavy scrutiny, but when that switches to a bit of success a ridiculous arrogance comes over them and their reality becomes off until they crash again in a cycle.

Phil Walsh was a special kind of coach that was able to stimulate both sides of this and turn it advantageous but once he wasn't there anymore the boys clubs thing seems to of tipped them clean over to their own bath water drinking ways.

Blight was kind of similar to Walsh in this way... He could command the power of an "us against them" mentality but also keep them very grounded as momentum grew.

 

[weetert]

I personally think Taylor Walker is creating a rather hostile work environment.

Explain

 

[Toump Ass]

There’s nothing the average 23 year old footballer loves more than art and culture.

Pretty broad terms in a general comment, but I'd have thought there'd be a lot of 23 year olds into music & films regardless of whether they were footballers or not.

 

[RUNVS]

Explain

Just look at how he reacted to Lever leaving. He reacted with aggression and hostility. Bosses who behave like that when things don't go their way do not generally create happy working environments. It would be like a boss, upon hearing you are leaving to get a new job yelling "good luck ever getting a reference from me you ******* traitor"

 

[Magma]

Normally that's an optimistic phrase, but coming from a Crows fan it could mean that it'll be Doedee's turn to want out.

and then someone else replaces him.

collective minds was a disaster, and it has been a flow on effect from what was an absolutely shambolic pre season. we tried to get that extra edge and it failed horribly. plus whatever fitness regime was put in place failed massively.

there are heaps of problems at the club from the boys club leading it and whatnot, but this is the first season in a while were on field was really badly affected.

 

[weetert]

Just look at how he reacted to Lever leaving. He reacted with aggression and hostility. Bosses who behave like that when things don't go their way do not generally create happy working environments. It would be like a boss, upon hearing you are leaving to get a new job yelling "good luck ever getting a reference from me you ******* traitor"

Ok apart from the Lever example, around which the details are still fairly murky, what else has he done to create a hostile environment? We've had a few players leave under his reign, why not the same reaction?

His teammates absolutely love him, that's for sure.

 

[Jim Prideaux]

In response to the OP's question, a few people found this post I made useful. Now updated:

Ricciuto has a lot of questions to answer. He is to the club as Bill Shorten was to the Labor Party during the Rudd-Gillard era - doesn't have a formal big title but is a powerbroker behind the scenes.

He first joined the board in 2014 and was reportedly instrumental in the replacement of Sanderson with Walsh as senior coach and the replacement of Steven Trigg with Andrew Fagan as CEO. At that time, there was a widespread perception that Ricciuto was muscling in to break up the old boys club.

We liked what we heard from Fagan (who intended to build 'the best football department in Australia') and Walsh (who intended to make the Crows 'an authentic football club'). Walsh died, we made the eight and replaced him with Pyke.

Fagan's promise of the best footy department is looking distinctly hollow. Pyke is our senior coach - he's from WA and the jury is still out on him. He got us to a grand final but there are big question marks surrounding his apparrent rock-like stubbornness with structures.

Our midfield coach is Scott Camporeale and our ruck coach Matthew Clarke. They've been there like stalagmites since Neil Craig was coach in 2010. None of the other seventeen AFL clubs has so much as hinted at poaching them. Our rucking is poo and our midfield vacillates between fairly good (2017) and going completely missing (numerous games since 2010).

Our forward coach is Josh Francou, a former tough forward of Port Adelaide. Jury's out on him as he's been there a short time and many of our best forwards have missed many games. Update: he has now walked out of the club, one year into a three-year deal.

David Teague, our old forward coach left the club at the end of last year and is now at Carlton. James Podsiadly, our defence coach, left the club at the same time and is now the Stakeholder Manager af AFL House. We replaced him with Ben Hart, excellent Crows premiership player. There's a catch though: Ben Hart failed in Neil Craig's coaching box, failed in Nathan Buckley's coaching box, and couldn't get a job with any other club so started doing a poxy radio and TV show. But we then stuck him in the defence coach role because he is one of the boys. Update: Hart sacked. Good start.

And the real beauty: Brett Burton. We reportedly tried to demote our good fitness coach, Nick Paulos, because Ricciuto wanted to bring in his good mate, Burton, from Brisbane. At the time, Burton and his young understudy Matt Hass were presiding over an injury disaster at Brisbane. Paulos left, Burton replaced him as head of fitness. To be fair, in Burton's first year as fitness coach we had a very good run with injuries but many think that is due to the after-effects of the previous regime. People with a fitness background will be able to clarify that 'lag'.

Then David Noble, head of football, was poached by the AFL to fill that role in Brisbane. We then searched far and wide for a new head of football and what do you know? The best candidate was the fitness guy. Burton, totally unqualified for such a job, was promoted to head of football. Matt Hass became head of fitness. Update: an internal review is underway, yet Brett Burton and Matt Hass have been assured they will be retained.

This year we have not only been destroyed by injuries but Burton is reportedly behind this Collective Minds corporate pseudoscience sham which is fracturing the playing group. Update: the club and Collective Minds have terminated their contract. Recently contracted key players like Eddie Betts and Mitch McGovern reportedly want out just months after signing contracts. That's bad. Update: Betts still a Crow as far as we know, but McGovern is walking just one year after re-signing.

As some posters have said, Mark Ricciuto looked like he would finally break up the boys club that had wallowed in mediocrity. Instead he is fast becoming Chief Old Boy.

General update: the club's management is unaccountable, sitting in their ivory towers and counting the membership and matchday ticket money. A Richmond 2016-style cleanout is needed but is unlikely given the culture of the club which sticks to its comfort zone, protects boys club members and embraces mediocrity. Crows fans such as myself are emotionally checking out.

Thanks for taking the time to post that, always good to get a reasoned post from a club supporter in threads like this. It’s strange to think that a relatively new club could have such a strong old boys culture. Is it an Adelaide thing? I’ve been quite a few times and always enjoyed being there thoroughly (a bit too thouroughly last time), but it is a smaller city - so is it big fish small pond issue?

 

[FrankDrebin]

Pretty broad terms in a general comment, but I'd have thought there'd be a lot of 23 year olds into music & films regardless of whether they were footballers or not.

We have a drive in movie theatre at Gepps Cross.

 

[juss]

Club needs an overhaul and a rebuild.

 

[2000HP]

No answers to any of the questions being posed, just some facts...

• Have never received the benefit of an AFL father-son selection, draft concession, priority pick, or bailout/handout.

• Lost almost a dozen talented and experienced players to expansion and rival clubs over last few years - players that have gone on to become captain, Brownlow Medallist etc.

• Assistant coach passed away early 2014.

• Senior coach murdered mid-season 2015.

• Numerous recent baffling off-field decisions by AFC board and management - Collective Minds etc.

• Only club in the AFL to not have a player selected in the top 10 of the draft in recent years. Every other club has multiple top 10 players.

I am amazed Adelaide managed to finish minor premier and reach the 2017 GF!

 

[Boxhead_31]

We have a drive in movie theatre at Gepps Cross.

And the Cross Keys hotel

 

[FrankDrebin]

And the Cross Keys hotel

Plenty of culture there!

 

[iameviljez]

No answers to any of the questions being posed, just some facts...

• Have never received the benefit of an AFL father-son selection, draft concession, priority pick, or bailout/handout.
• Lost almost a dozen talented and experienced players to expansion and rival clubs over last few years - players that have gone on to become captain, Brownlow Medallist etc.
• Assistant coach passed away early 2014.
• Senior coach murdered mid-season 2015.
• Numerous recent baffling off-field decisions by AFC board and management - Collective Minds etc.
• Only club in the AFL to not have a player selected in the top 10 of the draft in recent years. Every other clubs has multiple top 10 players.

I am amazed Adelaide managed to finish minor premier and reached the 2017 GF!

Me too - in fact, it's kind of my point. The sort of player exodus that Adelaide has had is the kind of thing that you associate with sides who have been down and out for years, with players being forced to choose between loyalty and having a shot at September. After two relatively open years in 2016 and 2017, you can't help but feel that Adelaide could have challenged for a dynasty of flags if they'd kept their team together.

 

[The Casey Cat]

Yea this is the interesting thing. Always pretty good on field. Rarely around the bottom or middling about for long. Yet good players keep leaving.

Is their culture crap? They are reasonably consistent without being amazingly successful. One of the better teams since the AFL began really

Sent from my XT1572 using Tapatalk

 

[Johnny Karate]

In response to the OP's question, a few people found this post I made useful. Now updated:

Ricciuto has a lot of questions to answer. He is to the club as Bill Shorten was to the Labor Party during the Rudd-Gillard era - doesn't have a formal big title but is a powerbroker behind the scenes.

He first joined the board in 2014 and was reportedly instrumental in the replacement of Sanderson with Walsh as senior coach and the replacement of Steven Trigg with Andrew Fagan as CEO. At that time, there was a widespread perception that Ricciuto was muscling in to break up the old boys club.

We liked what we heard from Fagan (who intended to build 'the best football department in Australia') and Walsh (who intended to make the Crows 'an authentic football club'). Walsh died, we made the eight and replaced him with Pyke.

Fagan's promise of the best footy department is looking distinctly hollow. Pyke is our senior coach - he's from WA and the jury is still out on him. He got us to a grand final but there are big question marks surrounding his apparrent rock-like stubbornness with structures.

Our midfield coach is Scott Camporeale and our ruck coach Matthew Clarke. They've been there like stalagmites since Neil Craig was coach in 2010. None of the other seventeen AFL clubs has so much as hinted at poaching them. Our rucking is poo and our midfield vacillates between fairly good (2017) and going completely missing (numerous games since 2010).

Our forward coach is Josh Francou, a former tough forward of Port Adelaide. Jury's out on him as he's been there a short time and many of our best forwards have missed many games. Update: he has now walked out of the club, one year into a three-year deal.

David Teague, our old forward coach left the club at the end of last year and is now at Carlton. James Podsiadly, our defence coach, left the club at the same time and is now the Stakeholder Manager af AFL House. We replaced him with Ben Hart, excellent Crows premiership player. There's a catch though: Ben Hart failed in Neil Craig's coaching box, failed in Nathan Buckley's coaching box, and couldn't get a job with any other club so started doing a poxy radio and TV show. But we then stuck him in the defence coach role because he is one of the boys. Update: Hart sacked. Good start.

And the real beauty: Brett Burton. We reportedly tried to demote our good fitness coach, Nick Paulos, because Ricciuto wanted to bring in his good mate, Burton, from Brisbane. At the time, Burton and his young understudy Matt Hass were presiding over an injury disaster at Brisbane. Paulos left, Burton replaced him as head of fitness. To be fair, in Burton's first year as fitness coach we had a very good run with injuries but many think that is due to the after-effects of the previous regime. People with a fitness background will be able to clarify that 'lag'.

Then David Noble, head of football, was poached by the AFL to fill that role in Brisbane. We then searched far and wide for a new head of football and what do you know? The best candidate was the fitness guy. Burton, totally unqualified for such a job, was promoted to head of football. Matt Hass became head of fitness. Update: an internal review is underway, yet Brett Burton and Matt Hass have been assured they will be retained.

This year we have not only been destroyed by injuries but Burton is reportedly behind this Collective Minds corporate pseudoscience sham which is fracturing the playing group. Update: the club and Collective Minds have terminated their contract. Recently contracted key players like Eddie Betts and Mitch McGovern reportedly want out just months after signing contracts. That's bad. Update: Betts still a Crow as far as we know, but McGovern is walking just one year after re-signing.

As some posters have said, Mark Ricciuto looked like he would finally break up the boys club that had wallowed in mediocrity. Instead he is fast becoming Chief Old Boy.

General update: the club's management is unaccountable, sitting in their ivory towers and counting the membership and matchday ticket money. A Richmond 2016-style cleanout is needed but is unlikely given the culture of the club which sticks to its comfort zone, protects boys club members and embraces mediocrity. Crows fans such as myself are emotionally checking out.

Great post. Thanks for your insight. Ricciuto comes across as a campaigner (not in a good way) seems like he is a big part of the problem. I loved Jimmy Stynes as a player and think what he did to erase our debt was fantastic but unfortunately a hugely popular former player with a lack of football admin experience can be a recipe for disaster in creating boys club fiefdoms.

 

[00Stinger]

Tex in trouble for drunk texting Lever?

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Jeff76]

And the Cross Keys hotel

Even the talent in there has declined.

 

[STFU Donnie]

Tell me what's wrong with Adelaide.
And no, I don't live there.
Been there quite a few times and found it to be a very nice city.

It's a very liveable city. Major roadworks everywhere at the moment are a pain though!

 

[Great8]

Players tied up nude to trees at camp. Jacobs being mentally tormented over his recently deceased brother, WTF is going on here and why haven’t the AFL stepped in and had a look?

 

[STFU Donnie]

Pretty broad terms in a general comment, but I'd have thought there'd be a lot of 23 year olds into music & films regardless of whether they were footballers or not.

Posting nude selfies doesn't really qualify as 'film', does it?

 

[Freomaniac]

Me too - in fact, it's kind of my point. The sort of player exodus that Adelaide has had is the kind of thing that you associate with sides who have been down and out for years, with players being forced to choose between loyalty and having a shot at September. After two relatively open years in 2016 and 2017, you can't help but feel that Adelaide could have challenged for a dynasty of flags if they'd kept their team together.

Imagine if they won their last home game vs West coast in 2016. They would of finished 2nd rather than 6th

 

[boltsbabyblues]

Burton looks and sounds like a junky you see in the city, "hey bro spare some change or a ciggie?"

 

[iameviljez]

Players tied up nude to trees at camp. Jacobs being mentally tormented over his recently deceased brother

You are kidding me. Is that serious or sarcasm?