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

[Lore]

Spoiler: Timeline of events

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

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

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

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

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

 

[brain taylor]

Much like how smoking is just highly correlated with lung cancer I suppose.

pokies are gross and bad but this isn’t a great comparison. smoking = cancer is pretty straightforward but there are lots of moving parts when it comes to stuff like rates of DV in particular suburbs with a number of root causes that need to be addressed.

 

[P Money]

Are we then looking to ban alcohol which causes just as much family violence and public violence and injury?

On top of that footy clubs getting out of them is not solving the issues . All it is doing is making the clubs look warm and fuzzy. Not like the machines go. Someone else just runs them.
In all honesty the racing clubs should be the venues with pokies given they are a gambling industry .

I have no issues with poker machines going. Do not play them and if they went so be it . I fully understand the issues but t is a double edged sword as these clubs do provide a crap load of revenue to the government and employment as well.

Alcohol is actually a very good case study for this issue. The alcohol industry has used advertising and sponsorship to very successfully infect us all with mental associations from a young age. Watching the footy? Grab a beer! Celebrating good fortune? Crack open the bubbly! Been a rough day? Pour yourself a glass of scotch. Working hard? Ice cold beer! BBQ? Beer! Holiday? Cocktails! etc etc etc.

I think of myself as being pretty self-aware and conscious of when I'm being marketed to, but I definitely fall for each of these marketing tactics. I wouldn't dream of inviting mates over to watch the footy without having a slab of beer in the fridge. Because footy = beer.

The gambling industry is following suit and the younger generation (in fact I even see it with some of my own generation) won't be able to think about sport without also thinking about (or partaking in) the punt.

 

[The Prosecutor]

Alcohol is actually a very good case study for this issue. The alcohol industry has used advertising and sponsorship to very successfully infect us all with mental associations from a young age. Watching the footy? Grab a beer! Celebrating good fortune? Crack open the bubbly! Been a rough day? Pour yourself a glass of scotch. Working hard? Ice cold beer! BBQ? Beer! Holiday? Cocktails! etc etc etc.

I think of myself as being pretty self-aware and conscious of when I'm being marketed to, but I definitely fall for each of these marketing tactics. I wouldn't dream of inviting mates over to watch the footy without having a slab of beer in the fridge. Because footy = beer.

The gambling industry is following suit and the younger generation (in fact I even see it with some of my own generation) won't be able to think about sport without also thinking about (or partaking in) the punt.

Yeah only have to hear tradies telling anecdotes about their apprentices being most excited about being able to Sportsbet account when they turn 18 rather than going to the pub/getting their license to understand just how culturally ingrained gambling is becoming from a young age.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Alcohol is not a good analogy. You can buy it anywhere. Pokies need a venue and Essendon deliberately targets poorer suburbs to exploit. Socially irresponsible and quite pathetic

 

[Kong]

If we're going down the moral police route, the league should:

• Remove any alcohol sponsorships and ads
• Remove any gambling ads, financial ties, or any mentions of. (Any betting that happens should be ignored by the league)
• Have a rehabilitation program for any players reported and/or found for mistreatment of women, minorities or LGBTIQ people. That includes "locker room bants". Failure to adhere after rehab results in termination
• Removal of people such as Wayne Carey and Campbell Brown
  Campbell Brown

  Age

  42

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  14.1

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  8.9

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  5.2

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  5.0

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  2.0

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  0.5

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  D

  11.8

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  6.4

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  from any media coverage (their employment is passive acceptance of violent behaviour, and sends a message to impressionable people that you can act like that and still be glamorised)

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Absolutely shameful that the club won't commit to getting out of pokies entirely even if alternative revenue streams are established.

I'm not.

Can't afford to lose money on gambling? dont do it. Be adults with your money like everything else in life. Plenty of ways people can get help with addiction these days.

This nanny state crackdown on gambling is ridiculous IMO. I'm all for better and always improving regulation, but just woke removal of them? nah.

When Coles & Woolworths stop selling obese people snickers, i might buy into it a little more.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Are we then looking to ban alcohol which causes just as much family violence and public violence and injury?

On top of that footy clubs getting out of them is not solving the issues . All it is doing is making the clubs look warm and fuzzy. Not like the machines go. Someone else just runs them.
In all honesty the racing clubs should be the venues with pokies given they are a gambling industry .

I have no issues with poker machines going. Do not play them and if they went so be it . I fully understand the issues but t is a double edged sword as these clubs do provide a crap load of revenue to the government and employment as well.

Obesity causes more issues for the economy and health in general than gambling does, and i dont see any type of crack down on fat people being allowed to buy candy bars.

Why is it always pokies that's brought up as the big social bad guy.

 

[faible]

but just woke removal of them

 

[HirdsTheWord]

If we're going down the moral police route, the league should:

• Remove any alcohol sponsorships and ads
• Remove any gambling ads, financial ties, or any mentions of. (Any betting that happens should be ignored by the league)
• Have a rehabilitation program for any players reported and/or found for mistreatment of women, minorities or LGBTIQ people. That includes "locker room bants". Failure to adhere after rehab results in termination
• Removal of people such as Wayne Carey and Campbell Brown from any media coverage (their employment is passive acceptance of violent behaviour, and sends a message to impressionable people that you can act like that and still be glamorised)

Thats great and all but you now no longer have a league.

This argument is akin to people who keep saying "no more oil!" until they actually realise the shoes they were wearing is made of it.

 

[Beerfish]

I'm not sure fat people buying chocolate is a great equivalence. You can't lose your and/or your family's life savings in a very short time by eating too much of the wrong thing and getting fat even if you are an obsessive compulsive eater.

I mean I get the argument. Where does it all end? If you ban x then you have to ban y! Well, you don't have to all at once. Let's just ban gambling advertising and pokies and see how we go. We can ban snickers as part of the next 5 year plan.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

I'm not sure fat people buying chocolate is a great equivalence. You can't lose your and/or your family's life savings in a very short time by eating too much of the wrong thing and getting fat even if you are an obsessive compulsive eater.

I mean I get the argument. Where does it all end? If you ban x then you have to ban y! Well, you don't have to all at once. Let's just ban gambling advertising and pokies and see how we go. We can ban snickers as part of the next 5 year plan.

Maybe as a direct comparison to the home life it's not but the cost to the economy from obesity is massive, not to mention the strain on the health system which inturn has costs

Remove all the vices from life and we are going to have very very boring lives. The far majority of people can have a punt responsibly and within their means, banning it just because a minority can't is stupid.

I'm not on board to ban anything. Regulation is better than banning IMO.

Pubs and Clubs should be made to adopt the same level regulation that Casinos have.

 

[Vindicater]

So are we happy with the board at the moment?

 

[jmoo wan]

So are we happy with the board at the moment?

as long as they lay off the snickers, then sure

 

[Kong]

Thats great and all but you now no longer have a league.

This argument is akin to people who keep saying "no more oil!" until they actually realise the shoes they were wearing is made of it.

I did say "if we're going down the moral police path". I didn't say I expect it or am pushing for it to happen.

I agree that most people contradict themselves at times, but for me personally, I would be okay if the league tried to do the right thing (or woke, if that helps you) and went under.

 

[Kong]

as long as they lay off the snickers, then sure

less wokies, more pokies.

 

[Squeaky]

less wokies, more pokies.

Put it on the banner.

 

[Ambrosia]

Not too fussed about the club owning pokies (feel the pressure should be on the government to legislate against them) but jeez you’d think our club president would have enough media training not to score such an own goal

Just an extremely poorly run club through and through

 

[Beerfish]

Maybe as a direct comparison to the home life it's not but the cost to the economy from obesity is massive, not to mention the strain on the health system which inturn has costs

Remove all the vices from life and we are going to have very very boring lives. The far majority of people can have a punt responsibly and within their means, banning it just because a minority can't is stupid.

I'm not on board to ban anything. Regulation is better than banning IMO.

Pubs and Clubs should be made to adopt the same level regulation that Casinos have.

I don't really disagree with much of that except I wouldn't call pokies having a punt. They are nothing but cash removal machines. People who want to have a real punt can do so without having to have absolute advertising saturation about it. Just like people can smoke and drink. We know it's there. We don't need to hear about it every 30 seconds.

 

[Vander18]

I'm not sure fat people buying chocolate is a great equivalence. You can't lose your and/or your family's life savings in a very short time by eating too much of the wrong thing and getting fat even if you are an obsessive compulsive eater.

I mean I get the argument. Where does it all end? If you ban x then you have to ban y! Well, you don't have to all at once. Let's just ban gambling advertising and pokies and see how we go. We can ban snickers as part of the next 5 year plan.

Listen to Klaus Schwab over here….

 

[Vander18]

Sheedy remaining on the Board is insanity.

He’s a fossil in terms of footy expertise and brings no administrative or commercial acumen. I am baffled as to who voted for him.

 

[I Remember Bluey]

Sheedy remaining on the Board is insanity.

He’s a fossil in terms of footy expertise and brings no administrative or commercial acumen. I am baffled as to who voted for him.

James

 

[yodellinhank]

Sheedy remaining on the Board is insanity.

He’s a fossil in terms of footy expertise and brings no administrative or commercial acumen. I am baffled as to who voted for him.

Sheedy invented commercial acumen.

 

[ant555]

Alcohol is not a good analogy. You can buy it anywhere. Pokies need a venue and Essendon deliberately targets poorer suburbs to exploit. Socially irresponsible and quite pathetic

My point is if you want to stand on your soap box and denounce Pokies because of family violence then you can not stand by and say alcohol is not as bad. Has nothing to do with where it you can get it or social responsibility.

 

[jmoo wan]

Sheedy invented commercial acumen.

and the country game - don’t forget the country game…

I guess Sheeds is a country member

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

If we're going down the moral police route, the league should:

• Remove any alcohol sponsorships and ads
• Remove any gambling ads, financial ties, or any mentions of. (Any betting that happens should be ignored by the league)
• Have a rehabilitation program for any players reported and/or found for mistreatment of women, minorities or LGBTIQ people. That includes "locker room bants". Failure to adhere after rehab results in termination
• Removal of people such as Wayne Carey and Campbell Brown from any media coverage (their employment is passive acceptance of violent behaviour, and sends a message to impressionable people that you can act like that and still be glamorised)

No not the same. The pokies is specific targeting by the club

My point is if you want to stand on your soap box and denounce Pokies because of family violence then you can not stand by and say alcohol is not as bad. Has nothing to do with where it you can get it or social responsibility.

That’s not the point of my post. Was addressing a few who have used the alcohol analaogy.