List Mgmt. Archer, Brady & The Board

It would be suicidal to do so and she’d become the earpiece for supporter frustration, making Crapper’s brief time here seem like speed dating in comparison. Hence “can’t”.
Let's agree to disagree. I believe you mean "shouldn't".
 

Colbys Boots

Premium Gold
Oct 3, 2017
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You are right and in that context Buckley’s letter stressing financial viability is a thinly disguised defence.

There is nothing in your post that makes any sense to me whatsoever. When attacks are made based on the financial viability of the club, it is incumbent upon the Chairman to present the facts based on the financial viability of the club. He just did that. It's not a thinly disguised defence it's a ******* righteous and justifiable strategy of standing your ground and sticking up for the club. Is that not what we have demanded of our Chairman? He openly defended our financial viability.

FFS, people around here... scream for the board to say something in response to media attacks and then when they say exactly what we want them to say, we turn on them and agree with the media.
 

The Dingrel

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Jun 25, 2013
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There is nothing in your post that makes any sense to me whatsoever. When attacks are made based on the financial viability of the club, it is incumbent upon the Chairman to present the facts based on the financial viability of the club. He just did that. It's not a thinly disguised defence it's a ******* righteous and justifiable strategy of standing your ground and sticking up for the club. Is that not what we have demanded of our Chairman? He openly defended our financial viability.

FFS, people around here... scream for the board to say something in response to media attacks and then when they say exactly what we want them to say, we turn on them and agr

My point is that Buckley’s letter goes to great length to stress the financial strength of the club at such an extent that it appears to be attempting to deflect attention from the onfield performance. And to be blunt, as someone who has contributed several thousand dollars to the debt reduction campaign all I want to see is players, coaches, and officials who BLEED for the club and who are passionate about delivering success.
 

justroyal

Premiership Player
Jul 1, 2014
4,077
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North Melbourne
My point is that Buckley’s letter goes to great length to stress the financial strength of the club at such an extent that it appears to be attempting to deflect attention from the onfield performance. And to be blunt, as someone who has contributed several thousand dollars to the debt reduction campaign all I want to see is players, coaches, and officials who BLEED for the club and who are passionate about delivering success.
I guess for the past week we didn't hear about the Shaw noise in the media. It was only about clubs like North who should be worried, and may potentially be axed from the comp or to relocate. That statement was somewhat good to address that the club is in a decent financial position to not warrant that call... we're just s**t on-field.

The next thing is, well maybe Buckley and Archer are the types that bleed for the club. But are they making the right calls?
 
Jul 6, 2006
1,969
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North Melbourne
My point is that Buckley’s letter goes to great length to stress the financial strength of the club at such an extent that it appears to be attempting to deflect attention from the onfield performance. And to be blunt, as someone who has contributed several thousand dollars to the debt reduction campaign all I want to see is players, coaches, and officials who BLEED for the club and who are passionate about delivering success.

Totally disagree, I think he highlighted a number of times how disappointed they were with the onfield performance and the results, the financial retort was exactly to address the specific (false) criticisms of how the club was being financially managed.
 
North Melbourne powerbrokers Brady Rawlings and Glenn Archer hit back at Wayne Carey comments
Powerbrokers Brady Rawlings and Glenn Archer have rubbished claims the embattled club is an “absolute shambles” and detailed their plan to rebuild North Melbourne in an exclusive interview with Mark Robinson.
Mark Robinson, News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom


similars

North Melbourne powerbrokers Brady Rawlings and Glenn Archer have chipped club great Wayne Carey for calling the club “catastrophic’’ and “cancerous’’.

Archer, who is North’s football director, called Carey after Carey launched a tirade against his former club on Triple M three weeks ago.

“Obviously, the comments were very frustrating,’’ Archer said.

Carey was critical of the club’s lack of communication surrounding the situation with former coach Rhyce Shaw.


“When things are going bad like they are for North and I think bad is a kind word to use for North at the moment, it’s catastrophic,’’ Carey said

“The place is an absolute shambles.

“If you believe what we’re told, this place has got cancer running right through the footy club. It is really concerning.”

Glenn Archer phoned former teammate Wayne Carey after his radio comments about North Melbourne’s culture.

Glenn Archer phoned former teammate Wayne Carey after his radio comments about North Melbourne’s culture.


In a wide-ranging interview with the Herald Sun, Archer and Rawlings dismissed Carey’s comments point blank.

Archer was so incensed he called Carey.

“He said that he said it because he cares,’’ Archer said.

“Like I said to him, I show care for the footy club in a different way, I wouldn’t show care by doing that in a public forum.

“If I cared, if I really, really cared about my football club, I’d ring up and ask if there’s anything I can do to help.’’

Archer said several former players, including premiership player David King, had contacted the club to offer help.

“Kingy is a good example. He rings every now and then and says ‘if we need help, need anything and I can help, just give me a call’. That’s support. That’s caring.’’

Wayne Carey and Glenn Archer during their playing days.
Wayne Carey and Glenn Archer during their playing days.


Archer said it wasn’t an awkward phone call with his former skipper.

“I got it off my chest and we then spoke normally and it ended well.’’

Rawlings, who is the head of football and overseen major decisions in recent weeks, including the sacking of 11 players and most of the coaching staff, said all the decisions were club-made decisions.

“Comments like catastrophic … is it based on decisions we made? They are all our decisions, we made the decisions to cut the 11 players, not our players walking out on us,’’ he said.

“What’s catastrophic about that?

“We had a coach who was unwell, so I’m too sure where catastrophic is coming from?’’

Archer also dismissed media commentary criticising the club’s management and leadership as ill-informed and ‘’lazy journalism’’.

“Every decision you make in a football club and because it’s so public, you’re never going to keep everyone happy,’’ he said.

“If we didn’t put Paul Roos on the coaching panel and put Denis Pagan on the panel, someone would criticise us for it.

“Unfortunately, in the journalistic world, the job is: How can I make this story sell.’’


Archer urged members to listen to club representatives and not media people with an agenda.

“I know it’s been hard for us to communicate a lot because of the sensitivity surrounding (former coach) Rhyce Shaw, but the club will communicate with members as much as we can,’’ he said.

“They need to trust the people who are in place and understand everyone involved are ultra-passionate about succeeding.’’

Archer also rejected commentary he was making all the football decisions.

“If people believe what they read, that I’m running around doing whatever I want, we look like a basket case. It makes us look bad. It’s just not true.’’

[PLAYERCARD]Brady Rawlings[/PLAYERCARD] is overseeing North Melbourne’s rebuild as football boss.
Brady Rawlings is overseeing North Melbourne’s rebuild as football boss.

EXCLUSIVE Q&A: ROBBO CHATS TO RAWLINGS, ARCHER

The Kangaroos are under siege and the media commentary paints the club as a basket case. It could not be further from the truth, according to club powerbrokers Brady Rawlings and Glenn Archer. Mark Robinson spoke to the two of them about what’s happened and what’s ahead.

MR: So, here is the puppet and the puppeteer …

GA: (Laughs). That’s come up a little bit and that’s always our response, we laugh. It could not be further from the truth.

BR: If people realised what actually happens, they’d be laughing as well. I get nothing but support from everybody at board level. To see comments like that, well, it’s just not the truth.

GA: If the inference is I go off and do my own thing, it’s completely illogical. We’ve got a board, an executive, a footy department and I’m an ex-player who has a couple of small businesses. Just picture this, I walk into the board room and there’s a bloke who running a $2 billion business and has thousands of staff, there’s Brady Scanlon, Julie Laycock, who is one of the heads of 7-Eleven, there’s Ben Amarfio, Ben Buckley, Brady … and I go in there and punch the table and say this is what we’re doing and everyone just agrees. It’s illogical.

MR: The accusation is the club is a basket case. Your response?


BR: It’s simply not the truth. There’s a lot of comments out there and I don’t listen to them anymore because it couldn’t be further than what actually happens. I feel for our members and I really hope they don’t listen to the stuff which has been said. We are making a lot of changes to get back to where we belong and that’s among the strong clubs in the competition.

GA: The advice I’d give to members is, if you hear something or read something, analyse who is saying and who is writing it and look at what they’ve done. So, if they’re having a comment about club management, ask yourself: Have they ever worked at a footy club? Do they know the workings of a footy club? Have they ever been involved in a business? Do they know how to manage a business? The answer would be no for nearly every journalist who writes about footy.

MR: Are they personal attacks against you?

GA: I don’t read all that much, but I was curious so did go back and read stuff. It reads like it’s personal, but I don’t know why it would be. The only thing I can think of is other people are feeding them information that maybe does have an agenda against me. What’s liberating for me and it’s taken me ages to work it out, but I don’t get offended anymore. I run the logic. Who’s saying it? What’s their background? What’s their credibility? They can’t offend me because they don’t know, they have no idea. Where are they getting their information from? It’s not coming from the club because no one in the club likes them. Actually, I do get frustrated when it affects the members.

MR: Another allegation, Brady, was you fell out with Archer?


BR: We couldn’t be closer. The constant communication, the support Arch provides me and others … I use Arch to bounce things off and there’s never a time where he’s trying to impose on me.

MR: How difficult was the sacking of your brother, Jade, who was an assistant coach?

BR: It was difficult. When I took this job and when his name got brought up to come across as assistant coach, we knew at some point one of us wasn’t going to be here.

MR: Not after just 12 months, though

BR: It came earlier than we predicted no doubt, but there’s certainly no fractures with my brother at all.

MR: Was that decision made above your head?

BR: All decisions made are collaborative. There’s not one person making decisions. Everything goes through a process, just like at match committee, not everyone is going to agree on selection that week, but once it’s decided, everyone in the room is behind the decisions.

MR: Your club delisted 11 players, put others up for trade and then scuttled the coaching department. What exactly is the direction?

BR: Going into 2020 we had the most 26-plus players in the competition and we finished 17th on the ladder, so clearly we needed to make change. We needed to change the list demographic. Going into 2021, we’ll probably have the most 22 and unders in the comp, which is exciting.


MR: Arch, the belief is Brad Scott said ‘we need to rebuild’ early in 2019, but the club said ‘no we don’t’.

GA: No, he said that in 2016, and that’s when the rebuild was supposed to start, but the rebuild wasn’t a rebuild.

MR: Where did it go wrong?

GA: What you do with the senior coach and football manager and list manager is you put your faith in them to do their job. The list management during that time wasn’t very good. It’s no one’s fault, we’re not pointing the finger or anything. Every decision they made they thought was the right decision, but unfortunately you get some right and get some wrong and we got a few of them wrong. At the end last year, and in one swoop, the CEO, the coach, coaching staff, list manager, head of development and some subsidiary people all got moved out at one time.

MR: But now, 12 months on, you need another new coach and new coaching staff.

GA: We’re never going to apologise for trying to get better. You can apologise for mistakes.

MR: You concede mistakes were made.

GA: Yes. The one thing about mistakes, I think mistakes can be a positive. As long as everyone is honest with themselves about what went wrong, then we won’t make them again.

MR: How difficult was the hub living in Rhyce Shaw’s situation?

BR: They were difficult for everyone in some shape or form. Some clubs handled it brilliantly. When you’re losing and have so many injuries, and you’re dealing with a four and five-day break, the losing and the injuries took more of a toll on us and it affected morale. But I thought our young players handled it terrifically. They said they loved it up there.

MR: Did you detect issues with Rhyce?


BR: There were certain times he found it harder than other weeks. Rhyce is such a passionate person and when we don’t win, obviously he’s going to be flat and disappointed. When we did lose like we did, his response was to work harder and harder.

MR: Did the game plan fall apart because it looked at times, there was no game plan?

BR: The way we performed some games it’s easy to say that happened. Our execution of our game plan obviously wasn’t there, but to say the game fell apart I don’t think that’s correct.

MR: Why did the majority of coaching staff get moved on after only 12 months in the role?

BR: We finished 17th and as Arch said, we’re not going to apologise for trying to get better. We need to put a group around our players which is going to take them to the next level, We feel we need to give that right mix of coaches to support our senior coach.

MR: The process to hire Rhyce, which again you were criticised for Arch, came after almost everyone said Rhyce deserved the job. How will the process be different this time round?

GA: Yes, it will definitely be different. You learn from your mistakes. Our process last year wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. It was mediocre. We didn’t have a former coach on the panel and if you’re going to have a panel, you need someone who’s been there done that, someone who knows intimately the rigours of that job. We’ve got an organisational psychologist …

MR: You didn’t have that person last year for Rhyce?

GA: No.

MR: Did Rhyce do any psyche/personality testing at the club?

GA: Yes.

MR: Any red flags?

GA: No.

MR: How wide is the coaching net?


GA: As wide as you possibly can go and don’t worry about birth certificates. You’ve to find the best candidate.

BR: We’ll look at four different types. We’ve got the experienced former coach, that’s one category, we’ve got assistant coaches with 10-15 years’ experience, we’ve got the inexperienced assistant coaches who come with high credentials, and we’ve also got a category which is a bit left field, maybe they haven’t coached in the past year or two. I think this will be different because last year we had an interim coach that potential candidates might not have wanted to interview against because they might’ve thought he already had the job. This year, we’re the one team looking for a senior coach and we’re not discriminating against age or experience.

MR: Have you stated interviewing?

BR: No, but we have started to contact some candidates to register interest.

MR: They’d also want to do their due diligence on North Melbourne. The finances? The incorrect reporting North Melbourne will play seven games or more in Tasmania next year?

GA: Again, the media absolutely does my head in. They are so lazy with their journalism. For them to point the finger at us about finances … we are as strong as any club in the competition. Debt is just about nothing, we’re posting profits every year, a profit this year and expect another profit next year.

MR: I have been told some old North board directors are critical of Ben Buckley because he’s living in Sydney. Your thoughts?

BR: I’ve been in the game for 22 years and he’s the most involved president I’ve seen. Once again. unbelievable support. I actually feel sorry for him because he’s doing that much work.

GA: He’s got business interest as well and some days he is 12 hours, 14 hours on the footy club. The guys talking probably didn’t have a mobile phone when they were running the club. This is 2020, we can all work remotely and we’ve proved that this year. We’re doing it right now with Paul Roos who is the coaching panel and who is in Hawaii.

MR: Where’s the Tasmania situation, Arch, because recent commentary would be concerning for members and fans.

GA: Again just being lazy, not doing your homework on the financial stability of the business. We’ll be playing four games. Locked in. There’s absolutely zero talk at our board table about going to Tasmania. We’re at Arden St. We’re just about to be part of one of the biggest urban developments the city has ever seen. And we are going to be a major part of it. It’s scaremongering commentary. And if you’re the coach coming in, you’ve got a terrific young list which I don’t think we’ve had the potential talent since the early 1990s, we’re financially stable and we will be part of the massive urban precinct which will set up the club forever, and Roosy will be there to help when needed.

MR: Did you ask Roos if he wanted to coach?

GA: No.

MR: How much weight does Roos’ opinion carry when selecting the coach?

GA: He’s one of seven, but we’ll definitely listen loudly to his opinion.

MR: So, casting the coaching net … does that include names such as Sam Mitchell, Adam Kingsley, David Noble, Mark Williams for examples?

BR: It’s wide because we feel we’ll have the right support to provide any type of senior coach.

MR: When will he be appointed?

BR: By the end of November.

MR: Next season, will North Melbourne be paying Brad Scott, paying Rhyce Shaw and at the same time paying the new coach?

GA: No. We’re not paying Brad

MR: You don’t know the size of the list just yet, but how many players do you anticipate bringing into the cub during this trade/free agency/draft period?

BR: I think the least we would be bringing in is 10 and we need to have a range of players. We can’t be bringing in 10 18-year-olds. We’ll be looking at delisted free agency and trades. We think the future is genuinely exciting.
 

Thewlis Dish

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GA: The advice I’d give to members is, if you hear something or read something, analyse who is saying and who is writing it and look at what they’ve done. So, if they’re having a comment about club management, ask yourself: Have they ever worked at a footy club? Do they know the workings of a footy club? Have they ever been involved in a business? Do they know how to manage a business? The answer would be no for nearly every journalist who writes about footy.

Nice little clip for Barrett and Wilson here.
 

Psicosis

Brownlow Medallist
May 7, 2012
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North Melbourne powerbrokers Brady Rawlings and Glenn Archer hit back at Wayne Carey comments
Powerbrokers Brady Rawlings and Glenn Archer have rubbished claims the embattled club is an “absolute shambles” and detailed their plan to rebuild North Melbourne in an exclusive interview with Mark Robinson.
Mark Robinson, News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom


similars

North Melbourne powerbrokers Brady Rawlings and Glenn Archer have chipped club great Wayne Carey for calling the club “catastrophic’’ and “cancerous’’.

Archer, who is North’s football director, called Carey after Carey launched a tirade against his former club on Triple M three weeks ago.

“Obviously, the comments were very frustrating,’’ Archer said.

Carey was critical of the club’s lack of communication surrounding the situation with former coach Rhyce Shaw.


“When things are going bad like they are for North and I think bad is a kind word to use for North at the moment, it’s catastrophic,’’ Carey said

“The place is an absolute shambles.

“If you believe what we’re told, this place has got cancer running right through the footy club. It is really concerning.”

Glenn Archer phoned former teammate Wayne Carey after his radio comments about North Melbourne’s culture.

Glenn Archer phoned former teammate Wayne Carey after his radio comments about North Melbourne’s culture.


In a wide-ranging interview with the Herald Sun, Archer and Rawlings dismissed Carey’s comments point blank.

Archer was so incensed he called Carey.

“He said that he said it because he cares,’’ Archer said.

“Like I said to him, I show care for the footy club in a different way, I wouldn’t show care by doing that in a public forum.

“If I cared, if I really, really cared about my football club, I’d ring up and ask if there’s anything I can do to help.’’

Archer said several former players, including premiership player David King, had contacted the club to offer help.

“Kingy is a good example. He rings every now and then and says ‘if we need help, need anything and I can help, just give me a call’. That’s support. That’s caring.’’

Wayne Carey and Glenn Archer during their playing days.
Wayne Carey and Glenn Archer during their playing days.


Archer said it wasn’t an awkward phone call with his former skipper.

“I got it off my chest and we then spoke normally and it ended well.’’

Rawlings, who is the head of football and overseen major decisions in recent weeks, including the sacking of 11 players and most of the coaching staff, said all the decisions were club-made decisions.

“Comments like catastrophic … is it based on decisions we made? They are all our decisions, we made the decisions to cut the 11 players, not our players walking out on us,’’ he said.

“What’s catastrophic about that?

“We had a coach who was unwell, so I’m too sure where catastrophic is coming from?’’

Archer also dismissed media commentary criticising the club’s management and leadership as ill-informed and ‘’lazy journalism’’.

“Every decision you make in a football club and because it’s so public, you’re never going to keep everyone happy,’’ he said.

“If we didn’t put Paul Roos on the coaching panel and put Denis Pagan on the panel, someone would criticise us for it.

“Unfortunately, in the journalistic world, the job is: How can I make this story sell.’’


Archer urged members to listen to club representatives and not media people with an agenda.

“I know it’s been hard for us to communicate a lot because of the sensitivity surrounding (former coach) Rhyce Shaw, but the club will communicate with members as much as we can,’’ he said.

“They need to trust the people who are in place and understand everyone involved are ultra-passionate about succeeding.’’

Archer also rejected commentary he was making all the football decisions.

“If people believe what they read, that I’m running around doing whatever I want, we look like a basket case. It makes us look bad. It’s just not true.’’

[PLAYERCARD]Brady Rawlings[/PLAYERCARD] is overseeing North Melbourne’s rebuild as football boss.
Brady Rawlings is overseeing North Melbourne’s rebuild as football boss.

EXCLUSIVE Q&A: ROBBO CHATS TO RAWLINGS, ARCHER

The Kangaroos are under siege and the media commentary paints the club as a basket case. It could not be further from the truth, according to club powerbrokers Brady Rawlings and Glenn Archer. Mark Robinson spoke to the two of them about what’s happened and what’s ahead.

MR: So, here is the puppet and the puppeteer …

GA: (Laughs). That’s come up a little bit and that’s always our response, we laugh. It could not be further from the truth.

BR: If people realised what actually happens, they’d be laughing as well. I get nothing but support from everybody at board level. To see comments like that, well, it’s just not the truth.

GA: If the inference is I go off and do my own thing, it’s completely illogical. We’ve got a board, an executive, a footy department and I’m an ex-player who has a couple of small businesses. Just picture this, I walk into the board room and there’s a bloke who running a $2 billion business and has thousands of staff, there’s Brady Scanlon, Julie Laycock, who is one of the heads of 7-Eleven, there’s Ben Amarfio, Ben Buckley, Brady … and I go in there and punch the table and say this is what we’re doing and everyone just agrees. It’s illogical.

MR: The accusation is the club is a basket case. Your response?


BR: It’s simply not the truth. There’s a lot of comments out there and I don’t listen to them anymore because it couldn’t be further than what actually happens. I feel for our members and I really hope they don’t listen to the stuff which has been said. We are making a lot of changes to get back to where we belong and that’s among the strong clubs in the competition.

GA: The advice I’d give to members is, if you hear something or read something, analyse who is saying and who is writing it and look at what they’ve done. So, if they’re having a comment about club management, ask yourself: Have they ever worked at a footy club? Do they know the workings of a footy club? Have they ever been involved in a business? Do they know how to manage a business? The answer would be no for nearly every journalist who writes about footy.

MR: Are they personal attacks against you?

GA: I don’t read all that much, but I was curious so did go back and read stuff. It reads like it’s personal, but I don’t know why it would be. The only thing I can think of is other people are feeding them information that maybe does have an agenda against me. What’s liberating for me and it’s taken me ages to work it out, but I don’t get offended anymore. I run the logic. Who’s saying it? What’s their background? What’s their credibility? They can’t offend me because they don’t know, they have no idea. Where are they getting their information from? It’s not coming from the club because no one in the club likes them. Actually, I do get frustrated when it affects the members.

MR: Another allegation, Brady, was you fell out with Archer?


BR: We couldn’t be closer. The constant communication, the support Arch provides me and others … I use Arch to bounce things off and there’s never a time where he’s trying to impose on me.

MR: How difficult was the sacking of your brother, Jade, who was an assistant coach?

BR: It was difficult. When I took this job and when his name got brought up to come across as assistant coach, we knew at some point one of us wasn’t going to be here.

MR: Not after just 12 months, though

BR: It came earlier than we predicted no doubt, but there’s certainly no fractures with my brother at all.

MR: Was that decision made above your head?

BR: All decisions made are collaborative. There’s not one person making decisions. Everything goes through a process, just like at match committee, not everyone is going to agree on selection that week, but once it’s decided, everyone in the room is behind the decisions.

MR: Your club delisted 11 players, put others up for trade and then scuttled the coaching department. What exactly is the direction?

BR: Going into 2020 we had the most 26-plus players in the competition and we finished 17th on the ladder, so clearly we needed to make change. We needed to change the list demographic. Going into 2021, we’ll probably have the most 22 and unders in the comp, which is exciting.


MR: Arch, the belief is Brad Scott said ‘we need to rebuild’ early in 2019, but the club said ‘no we don’t’.

GA: No, he said that in 2016, and that’s when the rebuild was supposed to start, but the rebuild wasn’t a rebuild.

MR: Where did it go wrong?

GA: What you do with the senior coach and football manager and list manager is you put your faith in them to do their job. The list management during that time wasn’t very good. It’s no one’s fault, we’re not pointing the finger or anything. Every decision they made they thought was the right decision, but unfortunately you get some right and get some wrong and we got a few of them wrong. At the end last year, and in one swoop, the CEO, the coach, coaching staff, list manager, head of development and some subsidiary people all got moved out at one time.

MR: But now, 12 months on, you need another new coach and new coaching staff.

GA: We’re never going to apologise for trying to get better. You can apologise for mistakes.

MR: You concede mistakes were made.

GA: Yes. The one thing about mistakes, I think mistakes can be a positive. As long as everyone is honest with themselves about what went wrong, then we won’t make them again.

MR: How difficult was the hub living in Rhyce Shaw’s situation?

BR: They were difficult for everyone in some shape or form. Some clubs handled it brilliantly. When you’re losing and have so many injuries, and you’re dealing with a four and five-day break, the losing and the injuries took more of a toll on us and it affected morale. But I thought our young players handled it terrifically. They said they loved it up there.

MR: Did you detect issues with Rhyce?


BR: There were certain times he found it harder than other weeks. Rhyce is such a passionate person and when we don’t win, obviously he’s going to be flat and disappointed. When we did lose like we did, his response was to work harder and harder.

MR: Did the game plan fall apart because it looked at times, there was no game plan?

BR: The way we performed some games it’s easy to say that happened. Our execution of our game plan obviously wasn’t there, but to say the game fell apart I don’t think that’s correct.

MR: Why did the majority of coaching staff get moved on after only 12 months in the role?

BR: We finished 17th and as Arch said, we’re not going to apologise for trying to get better. We need to put a group around our players which is going to take them to the next level, We feel we need to give that right mix of coaches to support our senior coach.

MR: The process to hire Rhyce, which again you were criticised for Arch, came after almost everyone said Rhyce deserved the job. How will the process be different this time round?

GA: Yes, it will definitely be different. You learn from your mistakes. Our process last year wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. It was mediocre. We didn’t have a former coach on the panel and if you’re going to have a panel, you need someone who’s been there done that, someone who knows intimately the rigours of that job. We’ve got an organisational psychologist …

MR: You didn’t have that person last year for Rhyce?

GA: No.

MR: Did Rhyce do any psyche/personality testing at the club?

GA: Yes.

MR: Any red flags?

GA: No.

MR: How wide is the coaching net?


GA: As wide as you possibly can go and don’t worry about birth certificates. You’ve to find the best candidate.

BR: We’ll look at four different types. We’ve got the experienced former coach, that’s one category, we’ve got assistant coaches with 10-15 years’ experience, we’ve got the inexperienced assistant coaches who come with high credentials, and we’ve also got a category which is a bit left field, maybe they haven’t coached in the past year or two. I think this will be different because last year we had an interim coach that potential candidates might not have wanted to interview against because they might’ve thought he already had the job. This year, we’re the one team looking for a senior coach and we’re not discriminating against age or experience.

MR: Have you stated interviewing?

BR: No, but we have started to contact some candidates to register interest.

MR: They’d also want to do their due diligence on North Melbourne. The finances? The incorrect reporting North Melbourne will play seven games or more in Tasmania next year?

GA: Again, the media absolutely does my head in. They are so lazy with their journalism. For them to point the finger at us about finances … we are as strong as any club in the competition. Debt is just about nothing, we’re posting profits every year, a profit this year and expect another profit next year.

MR: I have been told some old North board directors are critical of Ben Buckley because he’s living in Sydney. Your thoughts?

BR: I’ve been in the game for 22 years and he’s the most involved president I’ve seen. Once again. unbelievable support. I actually feel sorry for him because he’s doing that much work.

GA: He’s got business interest as well and some days he is 12 hours, 14 hours on the footy club. The guys talking probably didn’t have a mobile phone when they were running the club. This is 2020, we can all work remotely and we’ve proved that this year. We’re doing it right now with Paul Roos who is the coaching panel and who is in Hawaii.

MR: Where’s the Tasmania situation, Arch, because recent commentary would be concerning for members and fans.

GA: Again just being lazy, not doing your homework on the financial stability of the business. We’ll be playing four games. Locked in. There’s absolutely zero talk at our board table about going to Tasmania. We’re at Arden St. We’re just about to be part of one of the biggest urban developments the city has ever seen. And we are going to be a major part of it. It’s scaremongering commentary. And if you’re the coach coming in, you’ve got a terrific young list which I don’t think we’ve had the potential talent since the early 1990s, we’re financially stable and we will be part of the massive urban precinct which will set up the club forever, and Roosy will be there to help when needed.

MR: Did you ask Roos if he wanted to coach?

GA: No.

MR: How much weight does Roos’ opinion carry when selecting the coach?

GA: He’s one of seven, but we’ll definitely listen loudly to his opinion.

MR: So, casting the coaching net … does that include names such as Sam Mitchell, Adam Kingsley, David Noble, Mark Williams for examples?

BR: It’s wide because we feel we’ll have the right support to provide any type of senior coach.

MR: When will he be appointed?

BR: By the end of November.

MR: Next season, will North Melbourne be paying Brad Scott, paying Rhyce Shaw and at the same time paying the new coach?

GA: No. We’re not paying Brad

MR: You don’t know the size of the list just yet, but how many players do you anticipate bringing into the cub during this trade/free agency/draft period?

BR: I think the least we would be bringing in is 10 and we need to have a range of players. We can’t be bringing in 10 18-year-olds. We’ll be looking at delisted free agency and trades. We think the future is genuinely exciting.

Okay now I’m good. They don’t need to say anything more!!!
 
North Melbourne powerbrokers Brady Rawlings and Glenn Archer hit back at Wayne Carey comments
Powerbrokers Brady Rawlings and Glenn Archer have rubbished claims the embattled club is an “absolute shambles” and detailed their plan to rebuild North Melbourne in an exclusive interview with Mark Robinson.
Mark Robinson, News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom


similars

North Melbourne powerbrokers Brady Rawlings and Glenn Archer have chipped club great Wayne Carey for calling the club “catastrophic’’ and “cancerous’’.

Archer, who is North’s football director, called Carey after Carey launched a tirade against his former club on Triple M three weeks ago.

“Obviously, the comments were very frustrating,’’ Archer said.

Carey was critical of the club’s lack of communication surrounding the situation with former coach Rhyce Shaw.


“When things are going bad like they are for North and I think bad is a kind word to use for North at the moment, it’s catastrophic,’’ Carey said

“The place is an absolute shambles.

“If you believe what we’re told, this place has got cancer running right through the footy club. It is really concerning.”

Glenn Archer phoned former teammate Wayne Carey after his radio comments about North Melbourne’s culture.

Glenn Archer phoned former teammate Wayne Carey after his radio comments about North Melbourne’s culture.


In a wide-ranging interview with the Herald Sun, Archer and Rawlings dismissed Carey’s comments point blank.

Archer was so incensed he called Carey.

“He said that he said it because he cares,’’ Archer said.

“Like I said to him, I show care for the footy club in a different way, I wouldn’t show care by doing that in a public forum.

“If I cared, if I really, really cared about my football club, I’d ring up and ask if there’s anything I can do to help.’’

Archer said several former players, including premiership player David King, had contacted the club to offer help.

“Kingy is a good example. He rings every now and then and says ‘if we need help, need anything and I can help, just give me a call’. That’s support. That’s caring.’’

Wayne Carey and Glenn Archer during their playing days.
Wayne Carey and Glenn Archer during their playing days.


Archer said it wasn’t an awkward phone call with his former skipper.

“I got it off my chest and we then spoke normally and it ended well.’’

Rawlings, who is the head of football and overseen major decisions in recent weeks, including the sacking of 11 players and most of the coaching staff, said all the decisions were club-made decisions.

“Comments like catastrophic … is it based on decisions we made? They are all our decisions, we made the decisions to cut the 11 players, not our players walking out on us,’’ he said.

“What’s catastrophic about that?

“We had a coach who was unwell, so I’m too sure where catastrophic is coming from?’’

Archer also dismissed media commentary criticising the club’s management and leadership as ill-informed and ‘’lazy journalism’’.

“Every decision you make in a football club and because it’s so public, you’re never going to keep everyone happy,’’ he said.

“If we didn’t put Paul Roos on the coaching panel and put Denis Pagan on the panel, someone would criticise us for it.

“Unfortunately, in the journalistic world, the job is: How can I make this story sell.’’


Archer urged members to listen to club representatives and not media people with an agenda.

“I know it’s been hard for us to communicate a lot because of the sensitivity surrounding (former coach) Rhyce Shaw, but the club will communicate with members as much as we can,’’ he said.

“They need to trust the people who are in place and understand everyone involved are ultra-passionate about succeeding.’’

Archer also rejected commentary he was making all the football decisions.

“If people believe what they read, that I’m running around doing whatever I want, we look like a basket case. It makes us look bad. It’s just not true.’’

[PLAYERCARD]Brady Rawlings[/PLAYERCARD] is overseeing North Melbourne’s rebuild as football boss.
Brady Rawlings is overseeing North Melbourne’s rebuild as football boss.

EXCLUSIVE Q&A: ROBBO CHATS TO RAWLINGS, ARCHER

The Kangaroos are under siege and the media commentary paints the club as a basket case. It could not be further from the truth, according to club powerbrokers Brady Rawlings and Glenn Archer. Mark Robinson spoke to the two of them about what’s happened and what’s ahead.

MR: So, here is the puppet and the puppeteer …

GA: (Laughs). That’s come up a little bit and that’s always our response, we laugh. It could not be further from the truth.

BR: If people realised what actually happens, they’d be laughing as well. I get nothing but support from everybody at board level. To see comments like that, well, it’s just not the truth.

GA: If the inference is I go off and do my own thing, it’s completely illogical. We’ve got a board, an executive, a footy department and I’m an ex-player who has a couple of small businesses. Just picture this, I walk into the board room and there’s a bloke who running a $2 billion business and has thousands of staff, there’s Brady Scanlon, Julie Laycock, who is one of the heads of 7-Eleven, there’s Ben Amarfio, Ben Buckley, Brady … and I go in there and punch the table and say this is what we’re doing and everyone just agrees. It’s illogical.

MR: The accusation is the club is a basket case. Your response?


BR: It’s simply not the truth. There’s a lot of comments out there and I don’t listen to them anymore because it couldn’t be further than what actually happens. I feel for our members and I really hope they don’t listen to the stuff which has been said. We are making a lot of changes to get back to where we belong and that’s among the strong clubs in the competition.

GA: The advice I’d give to members is, if you hear something or read something, analyse who is saying and who is writing it and look at what they’ve done. So, if they’re having a comment about club management, ask yourself: Have they ever worked at a footy club? Do they know the workings of a footy club? Have they ever been involved in a business? Do they know how to manage a business? The answer would be no for nearly every journalist who writes about footy.

MR: Are they personal attacks against you?

GA: I don’t read all that much, but I was curious so did go back and read stuff. It reads like it’s personal, but I don’t know why it would be. The only thing I can think of is other people are feeding them information that maybe does have an agenda against me. What’s liberating for me and it’s taken me ages to work it out, but I don’t get offended anymore. I run the logic. Who’s saying it? What’s their background? What’s their credibility? They can’t offend me because they don’t know, they have no idea. Where are they getting their information from? It’s not coming from the club because no one in the club likes them. Actually, I do get frustrated when it affects the members.

MR: Another allegation, Brady, was you fell out with Archer?


BR: We couldn’t be closer. The constant communication, the support Arch provides me and others … I use Arch to bounce things off and there’s never a time where he’s trying to impose on me.

MR: How difficult was the sacking of your brother, Jade, who was an assistant coach?

BR: It was difficult. When I took this job and when his name got brought up to come across as assistant coach, we knew at some point one of us wasn’t going to be here.

MR: Not after just 12 months, though

BR: It came earlier than we predicted no doubt, but there’s certainly no fractures with my brother at all.

MR: Was that decision made above your head?

BR: All decisions made are collaborative. There’s not one person making decisions. Everything goes through a process, just like at match committee, not everyone is going to agree on selection that week, but once it’s decided, everyone in the room is behind the decisions.

MR: Your club delisted 11 players, put others up for trade and then scuttled the coaching department. What exactly is the direction?

BR: Going into 2020 we had the most 26-plus players in the competition and we finished 17th on the ladder, so clearly we needed to make change. We needed to change the list demographic. Going into 2021, we’ll probably have the most 22 and unders in the comp, which is exciting.


MR: Arch, the belief is Brad Scott said ‘we need to rebuild’ early in 2019, but the club said ‘no we don’t’.

GA: No, he said that in 2016, and that’s when the rebuild was supposed to start, but the rebuild wasn’t a rebuild.

MR: Where did it go wrong?

GA: What you do with the senior coach and football manager and list manager is you put your faith in them to do their job. The list management during that time wasn’t very good. It’s no one’s fault, we’re not pointing the finger or anything. Every decision they made they thought was the right decision, but unfortunately you get some right and get some wrong and we got a few of them wrong. At the end last year, and in one swoop, the CEO, the coach, coaching staff, list manager, head of development and some subsidiary people all got moved out at one time.

MR: But now, 12 months on, you need another new coach and new coaching staff.

GA: We’re never going to apologise for trying to get better. You can apologise for mistakes.

MR: You concede mistakes were made.

GA: Yes. The one thing about mistakes, I think mistakes can be a positive. As long as everyone is honest with themselves about what went wrong, then we won’t make them again.

MR: How difficult was the hub living in Rhyce Shaw’s situation?

BR: They were difficult for everyone in some shape or form. Some clubs handled it brilliantly. When you’re losing and have so many injuries, and you’re dealing with a four and five-day break, the losing and the injuries took more of a toll on us and it affected morale. But I thought our young players handled it terrifically. They said they loved it up there.

MR: Did you detect issues with Rhyce?


BR: There were certain times he found it harder than other weeks. Rhyce is such a passionate person and when we don’t win, obviously he’s going to be flat and disappointed. When we did lose like we did, his response was to work harder and harder.

MR: Did the game plan fall apart because it looked at times, there was no game plan?

BR: The way we performed some games it’s easy to say that happened. Our execution of our game plan obviously wasn’t there, but to say the game fell apart I don’t think that’s correct.

MR: Why did the majority of coaching staff get moved on after only 12 months in the role?

BR: We finished 17th and as Arch said, we’re not going to apologise for trying to get better. We need to put a group around our players which is going to take them to the next level, We feel we need to give that right mix of coaches to support our senior coach.

MR: The process to hire Rhyce, which again you were criticised for Arch, came after almost everyone said Rhyce deserved the job. How will the process be different this time round?

GA: Yes, it will definitely be different. You learn from your mistakes. Our process last year wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. It was mediocre. We didn’t have a former coach on the panel and if you’re going to have a panel, you need someone who’s been there done that, someone who knows intimately the rigours of that job. We’ve got an organisational psychologist …

MR: You didn’t have that person last year for Rhyce?

GA: No.

MR: Did Rhyce do any psyche/personality testing at the club?

GA: Yes.

MR: Any red flags?

GA: No.

MR: How wide is the coaching net?


GA: As wide as you possibly can go and don’t worry about birth certificates. You’ve to find the best candidate.

BR: We’ll look at four different types. We’ve got the experienced former coach, that’s one category, we’ve got assistant coaches with 10-15 years’ experience, we’ve got the inexperienced assistant coaches who come with high credentials, and we’ve also got a category which is a bit left field, maybe they haven’t coached in the past year or two. I think this will be different because last year we had an interim coach that potential candidates might not have wanted to interview against because they might’ve thought he already had the job. This year, we’re the one team looking for a senior coach and we’re not discriminating against age or experience.

MR: Have you stated interviewing?

BR: No, but we have started to contact some candidates to register interest.

MR: They’d also want to do their due diligence on North Melbourne. The finances? The incorrect reporting North Melbourne will play seven games or more in Tasmania next year?

GA: Again, the media absolutely does my head in. They are so lazy with their journalism. For them to point the finger at us about finances … we are as strong as any club in the competition. Debt is just about nothing, we’re posting profits every year, a profit this year and expect another profit next year.

MR: I have been told some old North board directors are critical of Ben Buckley because he’s living in Sydney. Your thoughts?

BR: I’ve been in the game for 22 years and he’s the most involved president I’ve seen. Once again. unbelievable support. I actually feel sorry for him because he’s doing that much work.

GA: He’s got business interest as well and some days he is 12 hours, 14 hours on the footy club. The guys talking probably didn’t have a mobile phone when they were running the club. This is 2020, we can all work remotely and we’ve proved that this year. We’re doing it right now with Paul Roos who is the coaching panel and who is in Hawaii.

MR: Where’s the Tasmania situation, Arch, because recent commentary would be concerning for members and fans.

GA: Again just being lazy, not doing your homework on the financial stability of the business. We’ll be playing four games. Locked in. There’s absolutely zero talk at our board table about going to Tasmania. We’re at Arden St. We’re just about to be part of one of the biggest urban developments the city has ever seen. And we are going to be a major part of it. It’s scaremongering commentary. And if you’re the coach coming in, you’ve got a terrific young list which I don’t think we’ve had the potential talent since the early 1990s, we’re financially stable and we will be part of the massive urban precinct which will set up the club forever, and Roosy will be there to help when needed.

MR: Did you ask Roos if he wanted to coach?

GA: No.

MR: How much weight does Roos’ opinion carry when selecting the coach?

GA: He’s one of seven, but we’ll definitely listen loudly to his opinion.

MR: So, casting the coaching net … does that include names such as Sam Mitchell, Adam Kingsley, David Noble, Mark Williams for examples?

BR: It’s wide because we feel we’ll have the right support to provide any type of senior coach.

MR: When will he be appointed?

BR: By the end of November.

MR: Next season, will North Melbourne be paying Brad Scott, paying Rhyce Shaw and at the same time paying the new coach?

GA: No. We’re not paying Brad

MR: You don’t know the size of the list just yet, but how many players do you anticipate bringing into the cub during this trade/free agency/draft period?

BR: I think the least we would be bringing in is 10 and we need to have a range of players. We can’t be bringing in 10 18-year-olds. We’ll be looking at delisted free agency and trades. We think the future is genuinely exciting.
How do you listen loudly Glenn? :p
 
That was such an excellent interview.

I like that they said this:

GA: We’re never going to apologise for trying to get better. You can apologise for mistakes.

MR: You concede mistakes were made.

GA: Yes. The one thing about mistakes, I think mistakes can be a positive. As long as everyone is honest with themselves about what went wrong, then we won’t make them again.
 
North Melbourne powerbrokers Brady Rawlings and Glenn Archer hit back at Wayne Carey comments
Powerbrokers Brady Rawlings and Glenn Archer have rubbished claims the embattled club is an “absolute shambles” and detailed their plan to rebuild North Melbourne in an exclusive interview with Mark Robinson.
Mark Robinson, News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom


North Melbourne powerbrokers Brady Rawlings and Glenn Archer have chipped club great Wayne Carey for calling the club “catastrophic’’ and “cancerous’’.

Archer, who is North’s football director, called Carey after Carey launched a tirade against his former club on Triple M three weeks ago.

“Obviously, the comments were very frustrating,’’ Archer said.

Carey was critical of the club’s lack of communication surrounding the situation with former coach Rhyce Shaw.


“When things are going bad like they are for North and I think bad is a kind word to use for North at the moment, it’s catastrophic,’’ Carey said

“The place is an absolute shambles.

“If you believe what we’re told, this place has got cancer running right through the footy club. It is really concerning.”

Glenn Archer phoned former teammate Wayne Carey after his radio comments about North Melbourne’s culture.

Glenn Archer phoned former teammate Wayne Carey after his radio comments about North Melbourne’s culture.


In a wide-ranging interview with the Herald Sun, Archer and Rawlings dismissed Carey’s comments point blank.

Archer was so incensed he called Carey.

“He said that he said it because he cares,’’ Archer said.

“Like I said to him, I show care for the footy club in a different way, I wouldn’t show care by doing that in a public forum.

“If I cared, if I really, really cared about my football club, I’d ring up and ask if there’s anything I can do to help.’’

Archer said several former players, including premiership player David King, had contacted the club to offer help.

“Kingy is a good example. He rings every now and then and says ‘if we need help, need anything and I can help, just give me a call’. That’s support. That’s caring.’’

Wayne Carey and Glenn Archer during their playing days.
Wayne Carey and Glenn Archer during their playing days.


Archer said it wasn’t an awkward phone call with his former skipper.

“I got it off my chest and we then spoke normally and it ended well.’’

Rawlings, who is the head of football and overseen major decisions in recent weeks, including the sacking of 11 players and most of the coaching staff, said all the decisions were club-made decisions.

“Comments like catastrophic … is it based on decisions we made? They are all our decisions, we made the decisions to cut the 11 players, not our players walking out on us,’’ he said.

“What’s catastrophic about that?

“We had a coach who was unwell, so I’m too sure where catastrophic is coming from?’’

Archer also dismissed media commentary criticising the club’s management and leadership as ill-informed and ‘’lazy journalism’’.

“Every decision you make in a football club and because it’s so public, you’re never going to keep everyone happy,’’ he said.

“If we didn’t put Paul Roos on the coaching panel and put Denis Pagan on the panel, someone would criticise us for it.

“Unfortunately, in the journalistic world, the job is: How can I make this story sell.’’


Archer urged members to listen to club representatives and not media people with an agenda.

“I know it’s been hard for us to communicate a lot because of the sensitivity surrounding (former coach) Rhyce Shaw, but the club will communicate with members as much as we can,’’ he said.

“They need to trust the people who are in place and understand everyone involved are ultra-passionate about succeeding.’’

Archer also rejected commentary he was making all the football decisions.

“If people believe what they read, that I’m running around doing whatever I want, we look like a basket case. It makes us look bad. It’s just not true.’’

[PLAYERCARD]Brady Rawlings[/PLAYERCARD] is overseeing North Melbourne’s rebuild as football boss.
Brady Rawlings is overseeing North Melbourne’s rebuild as football boss.

EXCLUSIVE Q&A: ROBBO CHATS TO RAWLINGS, ARCHER

The Kangaroos are under siege and the media commentary paints the club as a basket case. It could not be further from the truth, according to club powerbrokers Brady Rawlings and Glenn Archer. Mark Robinson spoke to the two of them about what’s happened and what’s ahead.

MR: So, here is the puppet and the puppeteer …

GA: (Laughs). That’s come up a little bit and that’s always our response, we laugh. It could not be further from the truth.

BR: If people realised what actually happens, they’d be laughing as well. I get nothing but support from everybody at board level. To see comments like that, well, it’s just not the truth.

GA: If the inference is I go off and do my own thing, it’s completely illogical. We’ve got a board, an executive, a footy department and I’m an ex-player who has a couple of small businesses. Just picture this, I walk into the board room and there’s a bloke who running a $2 billion business and has thousands of staff, there’s Brady Scanlon, Julie Laycock, who is one of the heads of 7-Eleven, there’s Ben Amarfio, Ben Buckley, Brady … and I go in there and punch the table and say this is what we’re doing and everyone just agrees. It’s illogical.

MR: The accusation is the club is a basket case. Your response?


BR: It’s simply not the truth. There’s a lot of comments out there and I don’t listen to them anymore because it couldn’t be further than what actually happens. I feel for our members and I really hope they don’t listen to the stuff which has been said. We are making a lot of changes to get back to where we belong and that’s among the strong clubs in the competition.

GA: The advice I’d give to members is, if you hear something or read something, analyse who is saying and who is writing it and look at what they’ve done. So, if they’re having a comment about club management, ask yourself: Have they ever worked at a footy club? Do they know the workings of a footy club? Have they ever been involved in a business? Do they know how to manage a business? The answer would be no for nearly every journalist who writes about footy.

MR: Are they personal attacks against you?

GA: I don’t read all that much, but I was curious so did go back and read stuff. It reads like it’s personal, but I don’t know why it would be. The only thing I can think of is other people are feeding them information that maybe does have an agenda against me. What’s liberating for me and it’s taken me ages to work it out, but I don’t get offended anymore. I run the logic. Who’s saying it? What’s their background? What’s their credibility? They can’t offend me because they don’t know, they have no idea. Where are they getting their information from? It’s not coming from the club because no one in the club likes them. Actually, I do get frustrated when it affects the members.

MR: Another allegation, Brady, was you fell out with Archer?


BR: We couldn’t be closer. The constant communication, the support Arch provides me and others … I use Arch to bounce things off and there’s never a time where he’s trying to impose on me.

MR: How difficult was the sacking of your brother, Jade, who was an assistant coach?

BR: It was difficult. When I took this job and when his name got brought up to come across as assistant coach, we knew at some point one of us wasn’t going to be here.

MR: Not after just 12 months, though

BR: It came earlier than we predicted no doubt, but there’s certainly no fractures with my brother at all.

MR: Was that decision made above your head?

BR: All decisions made are collaborative. There’s not one person making decisions. Everything goes through a process, just like at match committee, not everyone is going to agree on selection that week, but once it’s decided, everyone in the room is behind the decisions.

MR: Your club delisted 11 players, put others up for trade and then scuttled the coaching department. What exactly is the direction?

BR: Going into 2020 we had the most 26-plus players in the competition and we finished 17th on the ladder, so clearly we needed to make change. We needed to change the list demographic. Going into 2021, we’ll probably have the most 22 and unders in the comp, which is exciting.


MR: Arch, the belief is Brad Scott said ‘we need to rebuild’ early in 2019, but the club said ‘no we don’t’.

GA: No, he said that in 2016, and that’s when the rebuild was supposed to start, but the rebuild wasn’t a rebuild.

MR: Where did it go wrong?

GA: What you do with the senior coach and football manager and list manager is you put your faith in them to do their job. The list management during that time wasn’t very good. It’s no one’s fault, we’re not pointing the finger or anything. Every decision they made they thought was the right decision, but unfortunately you get some right and get some wrong and we got a few of them wrong. At the end last year, and in one swoop, the CEO, the coach, coaching staff, list manager, head of development and some subsidiary people all got moved out at one time.

MR: But now, 12 months on, you need another new coach and new coaching staff.

GA: We’re never going to apologise for trying to get better. You can apologise for mistakes.

MR: You concede mistakes were made.

GA: Yes. The one thing about mistakes, I think mistakes can be a positive. As long as everyone is honest with themselves about what went wrong, then we won’t make them again.

MR: How difficult was the hub living in Rhyce Shaw’s situation?

BR: They were difficult for everyone in some shape or form. Some clubs handled it brilliantly. When you’re losing and have so many injuries, and you’re dealing with a four and five-day break, the losing and the injuries took more of a toll on us and it affected morale. But I thought our young players handled it terrifically. They said they loved it up there.

MR: Did you detect issues with Rhyce?


BR: There were certain times he found it harder than other weeks. Rhyce is such a passionate person and when we don’t win, obviously he’s going to be flat and disappointed. When we did lose like we did, his response was to work harder and harder.

MR: Did the game plan fall apart because it looked at times, there was no game plan?

BR: The way we performed some games it’s easy to say that happened. Our execution of our game plan obviously wasn’t there, but to say the game fell apart I don’t think that’s correct.

MR: Why did the majority of coaching staff get moved on after only 12 months in the role?

BR: We finished 17th and as Arch said, we’re not going to apologise for trying to get better. We need to put a group around our players which is going to take them to the next level, We feel we need to give that right mix of coaches to support our senior coach.

MR: The process to hire Rhyce, which again you were criticised for Arch, came after almost everyone said Rhyce deserved the job. How will the process be different this time round?

GA: Yes, it will definitely be different. You learn from your mistakes. Our process last year wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. It was mediocre. We didn’t have a former coach on the panel and if you’re going to have a panel, you need someone who’s been there done that, someone who knows intimately the rigours of that job. We’ve got an organisational psychologist …

MR: You didn’t have that person last year for Rhyce?

GA: No.

MR: Did Rhyce do any psyche/personality testing at the club?

GA: Yes.

MR: Any red flags?

GA: No.

MR: How wide is the coaching net?


GA: As wide as you possibly can go and don’t worry about birth certificates. You’ve to find the best candidate.

BR: We’ll look at four different types. We’ve got the experienced former coach, that’s one category, we’ve got assistant coaches with 10-15 years’ experience, we’ve got the inexperienced assistant coaches who come with high credentials, and we’ve also got a category which is a bit left field, maybe they haven’t coached in the past year or two. I think this will be different because last year we had an interim coach that potential candidates might not have wanted to interview against because they might’ve thought he already had the job. This year, we’re the one team looking for a senior coach and we’re not discriminating against age or experience.

MR: Have you stated interviewing?

BR: No, but we have started to contact some candidates to register interest.

MR: They’d also want to do their due diligence on North Melbourne. The finances? The incorrect reporting North Melbourne will play seven games or more in Tasmania next year?

GA: Again, the media absolutely does my head in. They are so lazy with their journalism. For them to point the finger at us about finances … we are as strong as any club in the competition. Debt is just about nothing, we’re posting profits every year, a profit this year and expect another profit next year.

MR: I have been told some old North board directors are critical of Ben Buckley because he’s living in Sydney. Your thoughts?

BR: I’ve been in the game for 22 years and he’s the most involved president I’ve seen. Once again. unbelievable support. I actually feel sorry for him because he’s doing that much work.

GA: He’s got business interest as well and some days he is 12 hours, 14 hours on the footy club. The guys talking probably didn’t have a mobile phone when they were running the club. This is 2020, we can all work remotely and we’ve proved that this year. We’re doing it right now with Paul Roos who is the coaching panel and who is in Hawaii.

MR: Where’s the Tasmania situation, Arch, because recent commentary would be concerning for members and fans.

GA: Again just being lazy, not doing your homework on the financial stability of the business. We’ll be playing four games. Locked in. There’s absolutely zero talk at our board table about going to Tasmania. We’re at Arden St. We’re just about to be part of one of the biggest urban developments the city has ever seen. And we are going to be a major part of it. It’s scaremongering commentary. And if you’re the coach coming in, you’ve got a terrific young list which I don’t think we’ve had the potential talent since the early 1990s, we’re financially stable and we will be part of the massive urban precinct which will set up the club forever, and Roosy will be there to help when needed.

MR: Did you ask Roos if he wanted to coach?

GA: No.

MR: How much weight does Roos’ opinion carry when selecting the coach?

GA: He’s one of seven, but we’ll definitely listen loudly to his opinion.

MR: So, casting the coaching net … does that include names such as Sam Mitchell, Adam Kingsley, David Noble, Mark Williams for examples?

BR: It’s wide because we feel we’ll have the right support to provide any type of senior coach.

MR: When will he be appointed?

BR: By the end of November.

MR: Next season, will North Melbourne be paying Brad Scott, paying Rhyce Shaw and at the same time paying the new coach?

GA: No. We’re not paying Brad

MR: You don’t know the size of the list just yet, but how many players do you anticipate bringing into the cub during this trade/free agency/draft period?

BR: I think the least we would be bringing in is 10 and we need to have a range of players. We can’t be bringing in 10 18-year-olds. We’ll be looking at delisted free agency and trades. We think the future is genuinely exciting.

This is a great way to respond. So much better than Pyke and Burton in front of the media. We also get credit with Robbo perhaps. Those interested will read and the potential for this hub blowup... to blowup further is minimised. Very good medium to handle this.
 
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