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

 

[Bunk Moreland]

So Hird and Bomber the messiahs weren’t training them hard. Or I recall they were trained too hard and hence fell to pieces halfway through each season.

Or maybe Worsfold didn’t train them hard enough. So we re-signed him.

Then Rutten came in and the players loved the fact they were getting ridden harder. I recall that too.

Turns out that was all bullshit? Because our training standard are actually poor.

Honestly it’s just all words at this point and has been for some time. I couldn’t give a **** how they train. That’s up to you useless ****ers at the club to work out. You obviously have no idea what’s going on and I’ve got no reason to believe this is any different.

 

[Doss]

Man I remember the days in 2010 when it was identified how unfit we were.

Glad the last 12 years have been so constructive and that we’ve fixed that problem.

 

[faible]

So Hird and Bomber the messiahs weren’t training them hard. Or I recall they were trained too hard and hence fell to pieces halfway through each season.

Or maybe Worsfold didn’t train them hard enough. So we re-signed him.

Then Rutten came in and the players loved the fact they were getting ridden harder. I recall that too.

Turns out that was all bullshit? Because our training standard are actually poor.

Honestly it’s just all words at this point and has been for some time. I couldn’t give a * how they train. That’s up to you useless *ers at the club to work out. You obviously have no idea what’s going on and I’ve got no reason to believe this is any different.

Training smarter might be the go, not necessarily harder.

We’ve seen lots of instances of players breaking down over the preseason, I doubt it’s through lack of effort on the training track, but perhaps it’s a lack of effort off the training track.

Elite runners do something around 80% of their running at very low, easy intensity so they can recover for their harder work. Things like our players learning how to recover appropriately can be massive for the cumulative fitness they build.

 

[Zach Package]

Man I remember the days in 2010 when it was identified how unfit we were.

Glad the last 12 years have been so constructive and that we’ve fixed that problem.

If our conditioning was a 2/10 and we come back ‘twice as fit’ it’s still only a 4/10.

 

[TheFrenchCut]

My take on the review:

 

[Yoda_]

Interesting the review mentions trading standards. Have been told some of the fitness issues are related to a lack of precision in recovery and the basics which was why Murphy mentioned the players needing to learn how to train at the level.

A few not ticking all the boxes .

training standards imho is an indirect reflection of list management. Not having the second tier of guys pushing the first tier of guys is firmly on Dodoro and his list management


The Dylan Shiel omission earlier this year feels like a regular occurrence at a mid / top tier club but because these guys get a free pass and don't get held accountable it is big news at EFC.

 

[Falcon27]

I remember Murphy saying a while ago that the players need to learn how to train at the level. Maybe some more support in this area .

Does this club check the IQ levels of the players. We have consistently had messages that players had to learn any one of how to play football, learn the game plan and now learn how to train.

Learnings, learnings, learnings......it never ends.

 

[Lore]

Does this club check the IQ levels of the players. We have consistently had messages that players had to learn any one of how to play football, learn the game plan and now learn how to train.

Learnings, learnings, learnings......it never ends.

Not sure if it's IQ levels or a total lack of professional environment at Essendon.... ever?

Insofar as professional standards are way different now than they were in 2000 and I don't think we ever made that leap

 

[Falcon27]

Not sure if it's IQ levels or a total lack of professional environment at Essendon.... ever?

Insofar as professional standards are way different now than they were in 2000 and I don't think we ever made that leap

Don't disagree with that. But it is mind boggling the amount of people this club has recruited/employed from other successful clubs/systems, yet no one over the journey has stood back and gone "wait a minute, we ain't doing this right?"

 

[Zephyr Effekt]

Lots to like in the external review findings as obvious as they seem.

Wait and see I guess.

Every day somebody doesn't get hired and fired within a 12 hour period is a good day at Essendon.

 

[Lore]

Don't disagree with that. But it is mind boggling the amount of people this club has recruited/employed from other successful clubs/systems, yet no one over the journey has stood back and gone "wait a minute, we ain't doing this right?"

I'm sure some of the ones that came across commented on the standard of training

Not to say that the players are super bright or anything either but yeah. Lots of factors

 

[Lore]

 

[Godzke]

If anyone manages to get their mitts on the EY report, please PM it to me.

Thanks

 

[EnolaGay]

Elite runners do something around 80% of their running at very low, easy intensity....

That's what we do every game!

We're ahead of the curve. Learnings.

 

[Old Campaigner]

Interesting the review mentions trading standards. Have been told some of the fitness issues are related to a lack of precision in recovery and the basics which was why Murphy mentioned the players needing to learn how to train at the level.

A few not ticking all the boxes .

I have suspected poor standards when it comes to recovery might be behind some of our injury woes too. Murphy should know what the standards should be, I wonder why he hasn't been able to set those standards among the players?

Does this club check the IQ levels of the players. We have consistently had messages that players had to learn any one of how to play football, learn the game plan and now learn how to train.

Learnings, learnings, learnings......it never ends.

They check if they can spell 'gatorade' backwards, what more do you want?

 

[Vindicater]

We all knew the fitness was shut when Nice Martin trained by himself all offseason and came into the team as the fittest guy.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Lame bath water-drinking

Our lane round 1 showings in recent years… just not ready.

All while talking about how hard the preseason was

“We went through the saga.. and now we have to break ourselves? For this fn club?”

Be the fittest. Run hardest. Even without exceptional talent you win a bunch of games ..but most notably, even when you lose you almost never get punished.

 

[TheFrenchCut]

We all knew the fitness was shut when Nice Martin trained by himself all offseason and came into the team as the fittest guy.

To be fair, Martin's kms per game were right up there amongst the top of the comp. Think he was no.1 for average kms around the halfway mark of the year. But I agree with your point.

I'll also add; that Martin has been able to get himself so fit whilst outside the system shows that though it's obviously tough, it's very possible with hard work.

 

[Lore]

To be fair, Martin's kms per game were right up there amongst the top of the comp. Think he was no.1 for average kms around the halfway mark of the year. But I agree with your point.

I'll also add; that Martin has been able to get himself so fit whilst outside the system shows that though it's obviously tough, it's very possible with hard work.

And motivation

 

[Arctic fox]

Well on the surface we are setting ourselves up for success.

Oh grasshopper, what is this thing called "success"?

 

[Howard Moon]

I know it's chicken and egg but maybe it's still saga recovery insofar as we lost so much money the club were hellbent on paying off the debt and righting the ship again financially... So we became about money rather than football? Then you had the oh shit, we can't push these guys too far we just put them through a saga and they might sue us..

I know people will say it's been like this since pre saga and it probably caused the saga but I'm just working in increments, plus the saga to me is like the BC/AD moment, coulda been, shoulda been ground zero but who knew it could get worse not better

 

[thebigboy]

I know it's chicken and egg but maybe it's still saga recovery insofar as we lost so much money the club were hellbent on paying off the debt and righting the ship again financially... So we became about money rather than football?

Think that’s exactly what happened. The club has felt like the “Essendon Commercial Club ft. Football” for the best part of a decade or longer. Not that getting us out of debt is a bad thing, but the balance was well as truely skewed too far toward that.

 

[Howard Moon]

Think that’s exactly what happened. The club has felt like the “Essendon Commercial Club ft. Football” for the best part of a decade or longer. Not that getting us out of debt is a bad thing, but the balance was well as truely skewed too far toward that.

I still remember the eSports was the tipping point, half of us in here we're like enough is enough! The other half we're like you have no idea how huge this is, we are diversified blah blah.

We are a football club.

 

[ghostdog]

So, Dave Barham's lot refused to align with the Prez, coach etc., then his own external review finds there is disunity and no shared vision.

Players unfit. No joke? After the 2014 elimination final Drew Petrie

Drew Petrie

Age

43

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197cm

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12.3

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8.6

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5.4

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2.7

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1.3

5star

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5.2

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4.0

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1.2

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said something along the lines of 'we knew we were fit enough to come over the top.'

The absence of any comment on Dodoro's mismanagement of the list in the summary of findings is extraordinary. Why is he being protected? The trade period is over. We can draft without him.

The G rated version of the review isn't good enough. If they don't want leaks they need to release the full findings.

At least there is acknowledgement that the findings of previous reviews will be looked at re: governance, but how finance could have trumped governance at all after the drugs saga is beyond belief. For the explanation to be casually ignored and buried is just f****** typical.

 

[ghostdog]

I know it's chicken and egg but maybe it's still saga recovery insofar as we lost so much money the club were hellbent on paying off the debt and righting the ship again financially... So we became about money rather than football? Then you had the oh s**t, we can't push these guys too far we just put them through a saga and they might sue us..

I know people will say it's been like this since pre saga and it probably caused the saga but I'm just working in increments, plus the saga to me is like the BC/AD moment, coulda been, shoulda been ground zero but who knew it could get worse not better

Good logic, but we lost a playing list for a year, then lost the hearts and minds of a lot of that list for years as well. I can't help but think the key way that we could have restored that would have been through a focus on reforming structures and procedures for improved governance. Instead we sat on our hands and cried foul (which is not to say we weren't rorted). Why did we not focus on both? Again, that explanation has been buried by the report summary.