Smoooothy
TAKE THAT BACK!!
- Jan 12, 2005
- 24,302
- 22,266
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Other Teams
- North Adelaide; ConeyIslandWarriors
Members just received this email - beautifully written IMO. Addresses a lot of what has happened in the past fortnight
The AFL industry moves at a rapid rate and while the Grand Final is still fresh in our minds, we have had no choice but to quickly immerse ourselves in the trade period and other post-season duties.
Like all of you, it will take players, coaches and staff more than a week or two to move past our inability to get the job done on the big day. But we will be stronger for it. As I said at the time, we confronted a Tigers team riding a wave of momentum and playing well, not just in the Grand Final but right through September.
I contacted Richmond CEO Brendon Gale post-match and offered him, on behalf of our Club, our sincere congratulations as deserving Premiers. They had a magnificent year. We will unpack why we performed below our usual standard on the day and use those learnings to drive further growth and improvement in all facets of our program in 2018. However, despite it not ending as we would have liked, I remain extremely proud of all our players and coaches for what they were able to deliver in recent months. I know we are resilient, talented and well coached and will enter next season with a steely optimism to do the work necessary to put ourselves in contention once again.
We are fortunate to have wonderful leaders within our team environment. Pykey continues to drive improvement with his calm, analytical and measured approach and focus on developing deep and trusting relationships. Brett Burton has been exceptional in identifying improvements and new initiatives across each element of the football program so we can continue to work towards our goal of delivering the leading program in the AFL. Tex has more passion, loyalty, honesty and commitment than just about anyone I know. Make no mistake, these three, along with all other leaders and everyone else at the Club have an intense desire to get better and deliver the ultimate success that we all crave.
As a Club, we will not let one bad result push to one side the positives of the year, including claiming our second McClelland Trophy as the AFL’s minor premiers and winning the inaugural AFL Women's Competition premiership. But we acknowledge we missed an opportunity to make it an historic year.
There has also been a host of other off-field achievements, including record Crows membership of more than 80,000, widespread and meaningful community involvement headlined by our Growing with Gratitude schools program (visiting 100,000 students), a rapidly expanding Club media platform that is amongst the largest in Australian sport and industry leading trials of new technology. The popularity of our hospitality and corporate offerings continue to buck the national trend and for good measure we even became the first club in Australian sport to purchase an eSports franchise!
Most of this growth, either directly or indirectly, is built off the back of our deepening engagement with our 600,000 plus fan base. Thank you for enabling us to grow in a way that helps us invest back into the team, fans and broader Club programs.
While there are no longer games and results to dissect, the thirst for AFL news and content has never been greater and this has been evident over the past two weeks. There has been plenty of discussion and debate, especially on social media platforms. Having been involved in elite sport for more than two decades, I can assure you that unless you are inside the four walls of a football club then you cannot say with conviction or total accuracy what is happening.
With more people providing comment across more platforms, we are all confronted daily with more opinions than ever before and in many cases they are based on a series of assumptions. Some of these are wrong and this is where it gets tricky. We are always focused on keeping our loyal members and supporters informed of the inner workings and true positioning of the Club as much as possible, however, it is simply not possible nor appropriate to respond to each one of the rumours and other innuendo, much of which is portrayed as fact as opposed to opinion. Sometimes we must refrain from commenting because we deem the subject matter to be confidential or providing competitive advantage.
In the last week or so, there has been plenty spoken about which is simply incorrect, relating to conversations that did not take place, contract offers at various values that were or were not made, event invitations that were or were not provided and trade positions that had not been reached.
I want to make something very clear so it cannot be misinterpreted. Traditional media plays a very important role in our game. Together with AFL and club platforms, the commentary and opinion provides valued coverage, analysis and engages fans in the game that we all love. They also have an incredibly tough job trying to decipher fact from fiction and interpret the logic behind club decisions without access to the wealth of information that remains confidential.
As fans, I know this can be frustrating at times. All I can suggest is that you always clarify whether what you are reading, watching or listening to is based on fact or opinion. If it is the latter, it will either be proven correct or incorrect given the fullness of time. Sometimes we will be able to respond immediately, other times we won’t. The timing of our response won’t always be based on the accuracy of the opinion, but rather more strategic matters, like successfully completing a trade, negotiation or welfare reasons.
We won’t be dragged into responding to every incorrect report, nor will we necessarily confirm every correct report. I assure you that in the clear majority of cases, the moment something of note transpires we will be sure to let you know straight away.
One thing that was finalised this week is a trade for Jake Lever that positions us well for the future. On behalf of everyone at the Club, I thank Jake for his contribution and wish him all the best for the remainder of his career. There is still a bit to play out before the trade period concludes on Thursday and we will continue to work to balance what is best for the Club in both the short and medium term.
Finally, I would like to sincerely thank you for the support you have provided across the highs and lows of Season 2017. The AFL is a tough competition and it is the passion, enthusiasm and loyalty of people like you that makes our Club great. I can easily recall a host of special moments, particularly at Adelaide Oval, that will live with me forever. You should be very proud. I know that I am. And never forget that ‘We Fly As One’!
Cheers,
Andrew
The AFL industry moves at a rapid rate and while the Grand Final is still fresh in our minds, we have had no choice but to quickly immerse ourselves in the trade period and other post-season duties.
Like all of you, it will take players, coaches and staff more than a week or two to move past our inability to get the job done on the big day. But we will be stronger for it. As I said at the time, we confronted a Tigers team riding a wave of momentum and playing well, not just in the Grand Final but right through September.
I contacted Richmond CEO Brendon Gale post-match and offered him, on behalf of our Club, our sincere congratulations as deserving Premiers. They had a magnificent year. We will unpack why we performed below our usual standard on the day and use those learnings to drive further growth and improvement in all facets of our program in 2018. However, despite it not ending as we would have liked, I remain extremely proud of all our players and coaches for what they were able to deliver in recent months. I know we are resilient, talented and well coached and will enter next season with a steely optimism to do the work necessary to put ourselves in contention once again.
We are fortunate to have wonderful leaders within our team environment. Pykey continues to drive improvement with his calm, analytical and measured approach and focus on developing deep and trusting relationships. Brett Burton has been exceptional in identifying improvements and new initiatives across each element of the football program so we can continue to work towards our goal of delivering the leading program in the AFL. Tex has more passion, loyalty, honesty and commitment than just about anyone I know. Make no mistake, these three, along with all other leaders and everyone else at the Club have an intense desire to get better and deliver the ultimate success that we all crave.
As a Club, we will not let one bad result push to one side the positives of the year, including claiming our second McClelland Trophy as the AFL’s minor premiers and winning the inaugural AFL Women's Competition premiership. But we acknowledge we missed an opportunity to make it an historic year.
There has also been a host of other off-field achievements, including record Crows membership of more than 80,000, widespread and meaningful community involvement headlined by our Growing with Gratitude schools program (visiting 100,000 students), a rapidly expanding Club media platform that is amongst the largest in Australian sport and industry leading trials of new technology. The popularity of our hospitality and corporate offerings continue to buck the national trend and for good measure we even became the first club in Australian sport to purchase an eSports franchise!
Most of this growth, either directly or indirectly, is built off the back of our deepening engagement with our 600,000 plus fan base. Thank you for enabling us to grow in a way that helps us invest back into the team, fans and broader Club programs.
While there are no longer games and results to dissect, the thirst for AFL news and content has never been greater and this has been evident over the past two weeks. There has been plenty of discussion and debate, especially on social media platforms. Having been involved in elite sport for more than two decades, I can assure you that unless you are inside the four walls of a football club then you cannot say with conviction or total accuracy what is happening.
With more people providing comment across more platforms, we are all confronted daily with more opinions than ever before and in many cases they are based on a series of assumptions. Some of these are wrong and this is where it gets tricky. We are always focused on keeping our loyal members and supporters informed of the inner workings and true positioning of the Club as much as possible, however, it is simply not possible nor appropriate to respond to each one of the rumours and other innuendo, much of which is portrayed as fact as opposed to opinion. Sometimes we must refrain from commenting because we deem the subject matter to be confidential or providing competitive advantage.
In the last week or so, there has been plenty spoken about which is simply incorrect, relating to conversations that did not take place, contract offers at various values that were or were not made, event invitations that were or were not provided and trade positions that had not been reached.
I want to make something very clear so it cannot be misinterpreted. Traditional media plays a very important role in our game. Together with AFL and club platforms, the commentary and opinion provides valued coverage, analysis and engages fans in the game that we all love. They also have an incredibly tough job trying to decipher fact from fiction and interpret the logic behind club decisions without access to the wealth of information that remains confidential.
As fans, I know this can be frustrating at times. All I can suggest is that you always clarify whether what you are reading, watching or listening to is based on fact or opinion. If it is the latter, it will either be proven correct or incorrect given the fullness of time. Sometimes we will be able to respond immediately, other times we won’t. The timing of our response won’t always be based on the accuracy of the opinion, but rather more strategic matters, like successfully completing a trade, negotiation or welfare reasons.
We won’t be dragged into responding to every incorrect report, nor will we necessarily confirm every correct report. I assure you that in the clear majority of cases, the moment something of note transpires we will be sure to let you know straight away.
One thing that was finalised this week is a trade for Jake Lever that positions us well for the future. On behalf of everyone at the Club, I thank Jake for his contribution and wish him all the best for the remainder of his career. There is still a bit to play out before the trade period concludes on Thursday and we will continue to work to balance what is best for the Club in both the short and medium term.
Finally, I would like to sincerely thank you for the support you have provided across the highs and lows of Season 2017. The AFL is a tough competition and it is the passion, enthusiasm and loyalty of people like you that makes our Club great. I can easily recall a host of special moments, particularly at Adelaide Oval, that will live with me forever. You should be very proud. I know that I am. And never forget that ‘We Fly As One’!
Cheers,
Andrew
