Club Mgmt. Board of Directors as led by President Dave Barham

[Lore]

Tom Morris, 9 News via Fox Sports:

“A major board challenge is imminent at Essendon. In the wake of an off-season of turmoil, key powerbrokers - including at least one former player - are preparing a movement which would oust David Barham as president, and other directors too,” he said on Nine News.

“I’ve spoken to one of the key powerbrokers tonight, who says this is not coterie-driven, and it’s just a manner of when and not if the challenge takes place.

“There’s a view the club has been left rudderless and the Barham era has left a legacy of division, instability, player drainage and lost opportunity from this group of people.”

‘Rudderless’ Bombers facing more off-field chaos as club boss set to be challenged

‘Rudderless’ Bombers facing more off-field chaos as club boss set to be challenged

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[Sleepwalker]

Dear Members,

I am writing to you all today following the conclusion of our 2025 AFL Season and to address the recent industry speculation that surrounds our club.

I understand this has been a source of frustration and anxiety for many of you. As President, I want to be as clear and direct as possible.

2025 has been a very tough year. Tough on everyone connected to Essendon - members, supporters, from the injured players to our older players, the young blokes coming through, our coaches, our administration, everyone.

Tough on everyone to go to the footy knowing we were missing so many of our best players through injury, which made it hard to win.

To all our fans and members, thank you for your support; we couldn’t have gotten through this without you. There are no tougher or more committed supporters in the league than us. We are very grateful.

Let me be clear. Zach Merrett is contracted to our football club and our position is clear, he is not for trade.

Zach has been an outstanding player for Essendon over a long period and will go down in history as one of our best ever players. We are committed to him, and we expect his commitment to our club to continue.

This club, with its proud 153-year history, is bigger than any single player, coach, or administrator. While champions have come and gone, the club has always endured and that will continue for the next 153 years. No one is bigger than the club.

[PLAYERCARD]Jordan Ridley[/PLAYERCARD] is contracted and is not for trade. We acknowledge his frustration in recent years with his body – we share these frustrations. We’ve now made fundamental changes to our high performance and medical team as we strive to provide our players with a world-class High-Performance Program and Team, led by Mathew Inness – I will touch on this further below.

Whilst understanding the AFL’s Free Agency system, we are still very disappointed to lose Sam Draper. We are incredibly proud of the work the club put in to help him become the player he is today, taking him on as a rookie with minimal football experience, training and supporting him through a knee reconstruction before he had even played a game. We wish Sam all the best.

Our club is being led by two outstanding individuals in Brad Scott and Craig Vozzo. They are determined men, who will lead this club to the success we all desire. We are lucky to have them both, and we will give them all the support and help they need to make us successful again. I ask you to do the same.

To address the immense challenges we faced with player availability, we are very excited with the recent appointments we have made in our high-performance department with Mathew Inness and David Regan. They are both outstanding professionals who are very highly regarded in their areas of expertise. We are confident that they will over time, transform this critical area of our club, so as to provide our players with the very best programs and environment for success.

We are delighted with the ongoing hard work of our List and Recruiting Team led by Matt Rosa. Their strategy, insight, and decisiveness in the 2024 Player Movement Period, has set us up for an exciting Exchange and Draft period, where we can bring in a substantial amount of young talent. We currently have at least four picks under 25, to take maximum advantage of the draftable talent available this year. We wish the Team well as they approach their Finals period of October and November.

We will continue to make changes to our list, be aggressive and uncompromising, to bring in the best available talent to our club.

We are objecting in the strongest possible way to any potential removal of the Father Son rule. We are doing this at an administration and AFL Commission level. In our view, removing this rule goes against the spirit of this game. Great sports like the AFL, don’t take away elements that are truly unique, like this longstanding rule. We understand the need for a review of the DVI system that sits behind the AFL Draft and each of the Northern and NGA Academies, and Father Son Rule, so as to better achieve fair value payment under each mechanism.

To all those members that have shown enormous grace and courage under pressure to contact either myself, Craig Vozzo or Brad Scott with positive messages of support, THANK YOU! This is a tough time for everyone, but a poor us attitude, it’s not fair attitude, will just hold us back.

We have together, all of us, done so much hard work to invest and improve all areas of the club over the past three years. We now have a foundation for growth, a platform to build for sustained long term success.

Our AFLW team is flying. I urge everyone to get behind them, they are an outstanding group of players, closely bonded by a terrific coaching and admin staff led by Aysha Ward and Natalie Wood. I encourage everyone to get out to Windy Hill and watch them play, it is a great day out and you will really enjoy getting back to Windy Hill where we all have such great memories.

Thank you for reading all of this, but it is important that I try and keep you up to date with what is going on, without at the same time bombarding you with constant messages.

After a tough year, I look forward to the draft, to see who the next stars of the Essendon Football Club will be, as well as an exciting AFLW season ending in finals wins.

Our commitment remains. To build a club that you can all be proud of, one that is built on a foundation of stability and clear direction. I can assure you that the board, our executive team, and our coaching staff, led by Brad Scott, are completely aligned on this vision. Every decision we make is deliberate and in the best interests of the club's long-term future.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Your belief in our club is what drives us, and we are working tirelessly to build a team that will deliver the success you deserve.

Go Bombers

Dave

 

[jmoo wan]

Let me be clear. Zach Merrett is contracted to our football club and our position is clear, he is not for trade.

Zach has been an outstanding player for Essendon over a long period and will go down in history as one of our best ever players. We are committed to him, and we expect his commitment to our club to continue.

translation: Pony up biatches!

 

[ydc55]

I hope the club have learnt from the Joe Daniher fiasco.
Keeping star players against their will is unlikely to work.
Furthermore, Zac is at the peak of what he is worth right now.
I would have preferred the letter say we will do whatever is best for Essendon FC and leave it at that.

 

[ant555]

I hope the club have learnt from the Joe Daniher fiasco.
Keeping star players against their will is unlikely to work.
Furthermore, Zac is at the peak of what he is worth right now.
I would have preferred the letter say we will do whatever is best for Essendon FC and leave it at that.

Sort of a generic AFL club thin really. When it is a very good player under contract every club comes out with " he is not for trade under any circumstances".

 

[Doss]

Sort of a generic AFL club thin really. When it is a very good player under contract every club comes out with " he is not for trade under any circumstances".

The broader context is not only Merrett trying to break a contract with two years left, but also Ridley making noises of doing likewise when he has no less than four years left.

No one should be surprised that the club at least outwardly is taking the ‘he’s contracted’ line, because if they don’t they’re sending the message that any contract between EFC and its players is not worth the paper it’s written on.

 

[ydc55]

Sort of a generic AFL club thin really. When it is a very good player under contract every club comes out with " he is not for trade under any circumstances".

We didn’t do that with Joe.
Would have got a lot more a year earlier.

 

[ant555]

We didn’t do that with Joe.
Would have got a lot more a year earlier.

Agree we did the same thing with Joe and it was a circus. Just saying that it is the standard AFL club response. None of them jump early and say okay we will start looking for a good trade. I think you can guarantee Rosa has already met with Tom Petoro since this has all blown up and the initial discussion around what the Hawks starting offer could look like.
We will really only know once trade week kicks in and the dance will go on a bit if history is any indication.
Personally I think we are at a stage where if players want out and are not committed then we do it however I do not expect the board to be signing that song straight up. I expect them to dig their heels in a bit and see what is actually on offer.
How it plays out ? well that is still very much up in the air.

 

[ydc55]

Agree we did the same thing with Joe and it was a circus. Just saying that it is the standard AFL club response. None of them jump early and say okay we will start looking for a good trade. I think you can guarantee Rosa has already met with Tom Petoro since this has all blown up and the initial discussion around what the Hawks starting offer could look like.
We will really only know once trade week kicks in and the dance will go on a bit if history is any indication.
Personally I think we are at a stage where if players want out and are not committed then we do it however I do not expect the board to be signing that song straight up. I expect them to dig their heels in a bit and see what is actually on offer.
How it plays out ? well that is still very much up in the air.

I think your post is extremely thoughtful and well reasoned and smart.
I am not sure our board is.

 

[MiguelM]

Agree we did the same thing with Joe and it was a circus. Just saying that it is the standard AFL club response. None of them jump early and say okay we will start looking for a good trade. I think you can guarantee Rosa has already met with Tom Petoro since this has all blown up and the initial discussion around what the Hawks starting offer could look like.
We will really only know once trade week kicks in and the dance will go on a bit if history is any indication.
Personally I think we are at a stage where if players want out and are not committed then we do it however I do not expect the board to be signing that song straight up. I expect them to dig their heels in a bit and see what is actually on offer.
How it plays out ? well that is still very much up in the air.

Are we allowed to trade him anywhere even if he doesn't like it?

Not sure the Hawks have much unless we ask for a Meek, Day etc.

IMO, Picks don't cut it.

 

[Zach Package]

Are we allowed to trade him anywhere even if he doesn't like it?

Not sure the Hawks have much unless we ask for a Meek, Day etc.

IMO, Picks don't cut it.

No, he has to agree. And any players involved also have to agree.

Then, my understanding is his contract is torn up and another one is implemented, so I’m assuming he will actually be earning less, unlike a Grundy type situation where Collingwood is still paying a portion so Sydney are getting a bargain because they were desperate to move him.

The mechanics are complex if we even decide this is a discussion. We may well decide that it’s not even a discussion.

I also suspect Newcombe will be the subject of NWM like offers next year, well into the 1.5 mil a year range. Potentially from us but not really as a retaliatory measure, just that he’s really good and someone will try and bust their cap like Port have done to St.Kilda this year.

 

[MiguelM]

No, he has to agree. And any players involved also have to agree.

Then, my understanding is his contract is torn up and another one is implemented, so I’m assuming he will actually be earning less, unlike a Grundy type situation where Collingwood is still paying a portion so Sydney are getting a bargain because they were desperate to move him.

The mechanics are complex if we even decide this is a discussion. We may well decide that it’s not even a discussion.

I also suspect Newcombe will be the subject of NWM like offers next year, well into the 1.5 mil a year range. Potentially from us but not really as a retaliatory measure, just that he’s really good and someone will try and bust their cap like Port have done to St.Kilda this year.

Players have way too much power.

 

[Zach Package]

Players have way too much power.

In this case, the club has all the power

 

[BrunoV]

Really powerful stuff from Barham, there.

I feel so much better about everything.

Maybe he could no do something useful and start talking about how both he and Scott have the full support of the board.

 

[Zach Package]

Really powerful stuff from Barham, there.

I feel so much better about everything.

Maybe he could no do something useful and start talking about how both he and Scott have the full support of the board.

I’m waiting for a statement FROM the board stating they have the full support of themselves.

 

[Corleone]

I’m concerned we’re looking at a Paul Little led coup being plotted behind the scenes at the moment.

They’ll be getting ready, we start the year off poorly and they will come. If I had to guess; it would be installing Welsh as President, Little in a VP role and you know who being made coach.

Be prepared, it’s going to be mental.

 

[windyhill]

I’m concerned we’re looking at a Paul Little led coup being plotted behind the scenes at the moment.

They’ll be getting ready, we start the year off poorly and they will come. If I had to guess; it would be installing Welsh as President, Little in a VP role and you know who being made coach.

Be prepared, it’s going to be mental.

100%.
You can see it a mile away. He is besotted with hird.

 

[joey_jo_jo]

100%.
You can see it a mile away. He is besotted with hird.

that cooker Mick Warner basically kicked off the Hird/Little campaign a couple of days ago in the Sun.

 

[windyhill]

that cooker Mick Warner basically kicked off the Hird/Little campaign a couple of days ago in the Sun.

It was slobbo's job (hird mouthpiece)

 

[Lore]

Warner just wants us to have a black tie dinner and invite everyone to heal the wounds and move forward together. Doesn’t really matter how many times you celebrate them pregame there’s always another exclusive dinner you could organise for $500 a ticket…

He loves tearing into poorly administered organisations, wrote the book on it. The boys club isn’t a bad read.

 

[yodellinhank]

I’m concerned we’re looking at a Paul Little led coup being plotted behind the scenes at the moment.

They’ll be getting ready, we start the year off poorly and they will come. If I had to guess; it would be installing Welsh as President, Little in a VP role and you know who being made coach.

Be prepared, it’s going to be mental.

Well if they don't want that to happen, they should try being good.

 

[justlookingaround]

Firstly, I’m not going to bother to google this just so I can believe it for a second, but is Paul Little not 800 years old by now?

Secondly, it’s been clear as day the Hirdy coaching comeback has been in the pipeline for about a year now. Obviously it started before that, but the proper campaign materialised in the last ~12 months.
He gets back into the swing of clubland through Port Melbourne, rehabs his public image through channel 9 and also builds media connections who can glaze him in the press - just a few weeks ago I heard Tom Morris say something like ‘anyone you speak to who was at Essendon in 2011/12 will tell you Hird was destined to be a generational coach’. Previously he would only ever get propped up by Robbo, who lets be real doesn’t exactly have much clout in 2025.

I’m not sure if Hirdy has a footy manager, but this has been a very logically structured process if the starting point you verbalised was ‘I want to be a head coach again’. If he doesn’t have a manager who’s organised all this, the logical explanation would be that it’s being pushed along by a shadow board.

IMO, the next logical step for Hird to get into a position to posture as a head coach without having to be an assistant would be to coach Victoria in its upcoming State of Origin game(s). There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the VIC list will absolutely wipe the floor with any other state representative team, they could get Scoops to coach them and be fine. But it’d do a lot of good to get him back to his previous standing imo.

I’m not saying I want him back at Essendon, but the guy has obviously got it all and wants nothing more to be in the fold of his greatest passion, and for that I can’t fault him at all.

 

[zigipop]

Merrett is a largely non confrontational kinda guy that's been given assurances at every turn that the club will turn itself around soon. Now as he enters the twilight of his career the club has not turned itself into an elite competitive organisation, in fact it's actually managed to get worse on and off the field to the point we're probably as low as the post ASADA days in terms of our near future outlook.

If Zach asks to leave nicely, he'll be asked nicely to stay. Zach needs to burn his bridges and make his place at the club untenable in order to force a trade. It's not about cash. He's gone.

The club naturally needs to squeeze every bit of value from Merrett and any one else that wants out so as to maximise our draft and trade hand before Tassie jump in and clean out years of young talent.

The knock on Brad Scott and cutting too deep is a valid one but in this instance the cuts are self inflicted. That being said, Bradley will pay the price and the old Essington will usher in the messiah when next season very predictably becomes and absolute blood bath on field.

As for the board and the factions old and new. I wonder if these scumbag campaigners have ever considered that their self serving agendas are a significant element of why the club is such a dumpster fire? Have they contemplated that using the club as their very own personal plaything has in fact rendered it hopelessly directionless?

 

[fairbump_playon]

The on field results this year were very bad, but injuries were absolutely catastrophic.

In one way it really couldn't have been a better year for a club trying to fast track a rebuild - except that senior players led by the skipper have totally freaked out. We got games into a thousand youngsters, got a stack of high picks.

I don't think things are nearly as bad as they seem right now. Keen to move Merrett on and get more picks / emerging talent, and think he will go. But even if he doesn't, I think we will have the platform to get better across the next 3 years.

 

[Lore]

Firstly, I’m not going to bother to google this just so I can believe it for a second, but is Paul Little not 800 years old by now?

Secondly, it’s been clear as day the Hirdy coaching comeback has been in the pipeline for about a year now. Obviously it started before that, but the proper campaign materialised in the last ~12 months.
He gets back into the swing of clubland through Port Melbourne, rehabs his public image through channel 9 and also builds media connections who can glaze him in the press - just a few weeks ago I heard Tom Morris say something like ‘anyone you speak to who was at Essendon in 2011/12 will tell you Hird was destined to be a generational coach’. Previously he would only ever get propped up by Robbo, who lets be real doesn’t exactly have much clout in 2025.

I’m not sure if Hirdy has a footy manager, but this has been a very logically structured process if the starting point you verbalised was ‘I want to be a head coach again’. If he doesn’t have a manager who’s organised all this, the logical explanation would be that it’s being pushed along by a shadow board.

IMO, the next logical step for Hird to get into a position to posture as a head coach without having to be an assistant would be to coach Victoria in its upcoming State of Origin game(s). There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the VIC list will absolutely wipe the floor with any other state representative team, they could get Scoops to coach them and be fine. But it’d do a lot of good to get him back to his previous standing imo.

I’m not saying I want him back at Essendon, but the guy has obviously got it all and wants nothing more to be in the fold of his greatest passion, and for that I can’t fault him at all.

I googled it three hours ago, he was born in 47

 

[Old Campaigner]

I googled it three hours ago, he was born in 47

18 or 19?