Brian Cook

[Brasil2007]

Went to the RACV club today to listen to B Cook talk about "business leadership" or some such. Big turnout, about 300 by my estimate, maybe more, and it was mentioned that there were 85 on the waiting list. This was the biggest audience the club had had this year (equal to Jeff Kennett).

Themes of Cookie's talk:

Didn't talk about 2007 much particularly, talked instead mostly about values and culture. Mentioned that the club's attitude was that players (coaches etc) meet with the values or leave. The club was happy to help people to meet the values. The goal was to produce good citizens (not necessarily role models) as well as good footballers. Mentioned that Frank is big on values (his company has 48 core values - lots).

Said that there were six monthly surveys of members which indicate there are six (or maybe it was seven) things they are concerned about but the main indicator was how they felt about on field performance - if this went up, then all other indicators went up (duh). A pass was 70/100 but it has been as low as 38 in his time at the club.

Mentioned he gets 200 emails on Monday after they lose. Joked that there aren't many people who get 200 emails after a bad week at work.

Commented on the dvd given to players after each game which includes their key moments. Most of the time this runs between 20 seconds and two minutes and that's basically what the 40+ hours training a week and 100 staff add up to: a maximum of two minutes per player.

Said he'd left West Coast before he was pushed, he thought the team should go in one direction and the board had a different view. He implied that it was about values. Said he had a lot of respect for Aylett for resigning from North.

In response to a question (from Douglas Wood incidentally) he said that Nathan is probably two or three weeks off making a decision
In response to a question said that he would never do a review like last year's again by himself. Implied it was a lot of work but said that he found it hard to be impartial. In particular he mentioned that there were 40 (?) changes made as a result of the review including moving on 13 (?) staff some of whom he "loved". Said that the first five or six people he spoke to in the review all had the view that Bomber was an outstanding coach and the question became how do you allow him to focus on coaching. He went through the questions, there were two but interestingly neither was "should Bomber be the coach"or anything similar.

Didn't say that he'd be at the club forever, but did say that he used to be ambitious but was now just enjoying his job.

Said that Neil Balme was a major addition to the club. A top communicator, could talk to anyone, his door was always open and he had a calming effect on the club.

Terrific group there today - aside from Douglas Wood there was Barry Stoneham and M. Mansfield (at the next table) and Doc Larkins. Definitely worth the $50.

 

[Rosso]

Must admit I love listening to Cookey whenever he's interviewed. We should consider ourselves very lucky that he is still at our club, he was very nearly the boss at the AFL a few years back.

 

[FoxC]

Thanks for the excellent report Brasil. Sounds like a really worthwhile event to attend.

The thing I admire most about the club this year, more than winning the ultimate prize, is the exemplary conduct displayed by everybody from Frank Costa, Brian Cook, Neil Balme, Mark Thompson down to Tom Harley and all the players. Values such as unity, determination, teamwork, decency and humility not only made us proud to be Geelong supporters but also won the heart of the opposition and the football world in general.

I think some players spoke after the grand final about Bomber's three-quarter time address where he reminded the players of the need to maintain the club's image and respect of the football world by not showboating.

I noticed also how, throughout the year, the players showed much more restraint when they celebrated scoring a goal or winning each match. Perhaps deep down they felt, like the supporters did, that the job was unfinished and there was still more work ahead. Only after the last siren sounded that they did open up and show unbridled joy.

I used to hate Robert Walls when he criticised that Geelong players went over the top with their celebrations in years past, but I think he did have a point. This year Walls was one of the first to comment on the change in attitude of our players which ultimately brought handsome rewards. Congratulations must go to Walls for his balanced and objective commentaries.

As a fan, it's very reassuring to know that Brian Cook is now enjoying his job. Let's hope for the club's sake that he stay on for many more years to come. His will be big shoes to fill when he does leave.

Likewise let's hope our players continue to display the hunger which drove them to achieving the ultimate goal. I have no doubt that in Harley we have the best possible leader who is prepared to take a pay cut to help keep the current group together for more triumphs.

Life couldn't be better for Geelong fans. Go Cats!

 

[someday-somehow]

I've always said we have been blessed to have Brian Cook and even more so to have him on board for this many years. Good to read the comments about Bomber too, while I have been a critic in the past regarding his game day tactical nouse (which he really hasn't needed this year) I've always thought his player development was outstanding.

Good post Brasil...thanks

 

[OldStyle2007]

Thanks for the excellent report Brasil. Sounds like a really worthwhile event to attend.

I used to hate Robert Walls when he criticised that Geelong players went over the top with their celebrations in years past, but I think he did have a point. This year Walls was one of the first to comment on the change in attitude of our players which ultimately brought handsome rewards. Congratulations must go to Walls for his balanced and objective commentaries.

I do like Walls but I think he is a bit of a free rider at times. He is always paying big compliments to the premiers (so how could he be wrong?) while savaging teams that miss out on finals and get eliminated. It's all very easy to praise the victors and trash the losers

I think he misread the signs of a still young, immature but growing geelong outfit in 2004-5. The cats deserved a serve in 2006 but Walls was a massive critic of Geelong in 2004/5 when they deserved better

 

[Brasil2007]

No worries, they seem to have a lot of these sorts of things. They had a Collingwood one earlier this year (from memory) and last year they had an Essendon themed one. The speakers were supposed to be Tim Watson, Bomber, and someone else (might have been a Madden, can't recall). It was about this time of year and it was the week before the results of the review were due, so Bomber was on hols in Queensland - Neal Daniher substituted, and talked a fair bit about how sorry he felt for Bomber (he was an excellent speaker). Funny how it turned out this year.

I can take guests to these things, next time they advertise one I'm happy to advertise. They are generally $50 or so which includes a two course meal and drinks.

 

[thegrach]

Just like to say that I think Cook has been fantastic for Geelong, and he was a very good operator at WC as well. Seems very astute and probably recognises that even though footy is a business now, there is still a lot of passion involved by both players and supporters.

In my opinion he should have landed the AFL CEO job before Dimetriou, I am sure we would have some of the issues the league is facing now (North, drugs, etc.)