If the Casey ticket gets up, will Steven Wright be forced to resign?

[CJH]

With Greg Miller having a position on the board, Steven Wright is in the untenable position of having one of his direct reports having a significant say on whether or not he is fired.

Greg Miller's role with the club is purely operational. He is a salaried employee, responsible for administering the football operations. In this role, he also reports directly to the CEO.

As a board member AND an operational employee, he will lack the objectivity needed to make decisions at this level. Decisions may need to be made that benefit the greater good of the Richmond Football Club but may not benefit Greg Miller, Football Operations Manager. It is this conflict that is untenable.

As has been pointed out in the papers, he also will report to CEO, Steven Wright in his operational role but have Wright answerable to him in his board role.

This situation greatly compromise's Wright's ability to do his job to the best of his ability and I would not be surprised if Wright is forced to resign on a matter of principle.

 

[itsintheblood]

You mark my words, Greg Miller will hand over the board position to rex hunt. Who the hell will oppose this????? No one.

Smart operator is Greg M. Will have his cake and eat it too.

 

[gustiger12]

You mark my words, Greg Miller will hand over the board position to rex hunt. Who the hell will oppose this????? No one.

Smart operator is Greg M. Will have his cake and eat it too.

Apparently he said at a function in Tasmania today that he will offer his position on the board to Rex if he wins. This came from someone on another forum who was there.

 

[droppuntkick23]

Wright was employed by the Casey ticket, silly topic this one. He stays !

 

[gustiger12]

So was Ian Campbell - Gone

Wright will not allow himself or his position to be compromised. It will very much depend on how they manage it IMHO.

If he goes god help us.

 

[mellowyellow]

Apparently he said at a function in Tasmania today that he will offer his position on the board to Rex if he wins. This came from someone on another forum who was there.

Got a link to that forum & thread gus?

 

[gustiger12]

It was posted on Tiger-Talk but dont have the link. Will try and get it for you.

 

[gustiger12]

Mellow here a copy of it/ Hope Ian doesn't mind me posting it here,

This afternoon I attended a forum at the Burnie Football Club with guest
speaker Greg Miller. An interesting couple of hours with the revived NW
Tasmania supporters group. Probably 60 or so turned up which was more than I
expected.

Some of the points I can remember ….

Miller spoke very well and was obviously very keen to speak on the positives
of new recruiting and the future. When questioned on board and election
issues he was not so keen to say too much. I asked why there was a focus on
having to start all over again if a new board is elected. His response
seemed to focus more on such things as relationship with the AFL and
sponsors rather than direct footy department issues. It would appear to me
he feels the club will do much better with the AFL with Casey there than
with a new board. I do wonder what that all means though.

He suggested that Peter Welsh has been pretty active in influencing other
past players to support the alternate ticket and would not acknowledge a
major anti Casey push amongst past players in general.

Captaincy would be announced at a player dinner in February (I think). There
are a number of candidates and while Kane Johnson is a front-runner he may
not be ideal in some areas (eg talking to media).

Greg is keen to hand his board position to Rex is things pan out like he
hopes. I thought he appeared reasonably confident of keeping his job (Casey
winning) and I rather think most members there would vote for him and the
Casey ticket. There was little questioning of the past board performance
either in the group questioning or direct with him afterwards. I think most
will be clinging to the hope of the future and going with the present
administration.

Greg was a swans supporter as a kid (his father played for them?) and of
course he played for them - but he really does not like the current Sydney
or the way the AFL treats them. He also alluded to his feelings towards
Essendon and Sheedy.

They have decided on their selection in the rookie draft - but would not say
who - he described him as a Melb kid who is a CFB.

He commented on many things so if anyone wants to ask I might be able to
comment further. Obviously a lot of what he said has been covered in the
media.

I did get to spend a bit of time with him – partly cos me and another guy
with Tiger shirts on were asked to go and get our pics taken with Greg for
the local rag. An interesting guy to chat with over a beer He does come
across well and would no doubt win over many people.

Regards,

Ian

 

[tigerT]

wots a CFB?

 

[mighty tiges]

A poster on the yahoo tiger talk site has listed the number of executive directors for the ASX 20 (top 20 Australian companies). Virtually all of them have one and not just the CEO.

AWC Alumina Limited = 1 (of 5)
AMC Amcor Limited = (too difficult to work out because of current
upheaval and crappy website)
AMP AMP Limited = 1 (of 7)
ANZ Australia And New Zealand Banking Group = 1 (of 9)
BHP BHP Billiton Limited = 3 (of 11)
CML Coles Myer Limited = 1 (of 10)
CBA Commonwealth Bank Of Australia = 1 (of 10)
FGL Foster's Group Limited = 1 (of 7)
NAB National Australia Bank Limited = 3 (of 13)
NWSLV News Corporation Inc (NonVoting CDI)= 6/7 (of 14)
NWS News Corporation Inc (Voting CDI) = assumed as above
QBE Qbe Insurance Group Limited = 1 (of
RIO Rio Tinto Limited Australia = 3 (of 13)
SGB St George Bank Limited = 1 (of 9)
TLS Telstra Corporation Limited = 1 (of 9?)
WES Wesfarmers = 4 (of 13)
WDC Westfield Group = 4 (of 13)
WBC Westpac Banking Corporation = 1 (of 9)
WPL Woodside Petroleum Limited = 1 (of 10)
WOW Woolworths Limited = 1 (of 7)

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/tiger-talk/message/62525

On the Wesfarmers board (of which Macek is a director) the business development manager sits alongside Macek and the CEO. Oddly Macek doesn't have a problem with this sort of relationship amongst executive directors at Wesfarmers but he does at the RFC.

Wesfarmers would have the same conflict of interest with a subordinate employee on the board even though in this case the CEO is also on the board. What happens when the board discusses the CEO's performance? Does the business development manager at Wesfarmers leave the boardroom as well as the CEO when this occurs because he answers to the CEO as well as the board? Presumably you would expect Miller to not be involved in discussions about Wright. He should step out of the boardroom when this occurs. Miller would be there to play his role on the football subcommittee.

In any case, this issue would become irrelevant if/when Miller does indeed step aside for Rex.

 

[Punt_Road_Roar]

mighty tiges,


your talking too much sense and adding too many truths


please leave

 

[1980]

A poster on the yahoo tiger talk site has listed the number of executive directors for the ASX 20 (top 20 Australian companies). Virtually all of them have one and not just the CEO.

AWC Alumina Limited = 1 (of 5)
AMC Amcor Limited = (too difficult to work out because of current
upheaval and crappy website)
AMP AMP Limited = 1 (of 7)
ANZ Australia And New Zealand Banking Group = 1 (of 9)
BHP BHP Billiton Limited = 3 (of 11)
CML Coles Myer Limited = 1 (of 10)
CBA Commonwealth Bank Of Australia = 1 (of 10)
FGL Foster's Group Limited = 1 (of 7)
NAB National Australia Bank Limited = 3 (of 13)
NWSLV News Corporation Inc (NonVoting CDI)= 6/7 (of 14)
NWS News Corporation Inc (Voting CDI) = assumed as above
QBE Qbe Insurance Group Limited = 1 (of
RIO Rio Tinto Limited Australia = 3 (of 13)
SGB St George Bank Limited = 1 (of 9)
TLS Telstra Corporation Limited = 1 (of 9?)
WES Wesfarmers = 4 (of 13)
WDC Westfield Group = 4 (of 13)
WBC Westpac Banking Corporation = 1 (of 9)
WPL Woodside Petroleum Limited = 1 (of 10)
WOW Woolworths Limited = 1 (of 7)

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/tiger-talk/message/62525

On the Wesfarmers board (of which Macek is a director) the business development manager sits alongside Macek and the CEO. Oddly Macek doesn't have a problem with this sort of relationship amongst executive directors at Wesfarmers but he does at the RFC.

Wesfarmers would have the same conflict of interest with a subordinate employee on the board even though in this case the CEO is also on the board. What happens when the board discusses the CEO's performance? Does the business development manager at Wesfarmers leave the boardroom as well as the CEO when this occurs because he answers to the CEO as well as the board? Presumably you would expect Miller to not be involved in discussions about Wright. He should step out of the boardroom when this occurs. Miller would be there to play his role on the football subcommittee.

In any case, this issue would become irrelevant if/when Miller does indeed step aside for Rex.

Bloody h ell MT. You're still comparing apples and oranges

With Wesfarmers the CEO sits on the board. At the RFC, Wright is not nominated nor will he sit on the board.

The problem is that Miller will sit on the board and the CEO he reports to does not.

Casey should pay you a commission for the PR

 

[Bojangles17]

You mark my words, Greg Miller will hand over the board position to rex hunt. Who the hell will oppose this????? No one.

Smart operator is Greg M. Will have his cake and eat it too.

listening to Rex Hunt, I actually think there is some fight left in the old dog...stay out of crossfire and make an appearance once all subsided...

 

[IDGAF]

listening to Rex Hunt, I actually think there is some fight left in the old dog...stay out of crossfire and make an appearance once all subsided...

Pal ............. you don`t have to be Einstien to work out that was the plan all along , Greg Miller has played the bad cop , while Rex has shut his mouth and played the good cop .

Greg Miller was always going to be the ace up Casey`s sleave because while this has been the most divided this club has been in many a year , about the only thing most at punt rd. have agreed on is the value to the RFC Greg Miller is , no one wants to see him go .

"When" he gets his position on the board , i have no doubt what so-ever he will step aside for Rex , which i regard as a win-win for the club . This is the only outcome possible anyway because as much as i like Greg Miller , it would be impossible for him to serve on the board and maintain his current position in the club .

You think membership is rolling along nicely now .............. just wait till Rex is on board

 

[1980]

Pal ............. you don`t have to be Einstien to work out that was the plan all along , Greg Miller has played the bad cop , while Rex has shut his mouth and played the good cop .

Greg Miller was always going to be the ace up Casey`s sleave because while this has been the most divided this club has been in many a year , about the only thing most at punt rd. have agreed on is the value to the RFC Greg Miller is , no one wants to see him go .

"When" he gets his position on the board , i have no doubt what so-ever he will step aside for Rex , which i regard as a win-win for the club . This is the only outcome possible anyway because as much as i like Greg Miller , it would be impossible for him to serve on the board and maintain his current position in the club .

You think membership is rolling along nicely now .............. just wait till Rex is on board

I think it would have saved us all a lot of trouble if Casey stepped down for Rex. He didnt offer this. He should have.

 

[Wrenny]

Apparently he said at a function in Tasmania today that he will offer his position on the board to Rex if he wins. This came from someone on another forum who was there

So would that mean that greg wouldnt be on teh board and he would just do his football department business thing? If so thats a good situation

 

[tigerforever]

So was Ian Campbell - Gone

Wright will not allow himself or his position to be compromised. It will very much depend on how they manage it IMHO.

If he goes god help us.

miller discussed his decision with wright and wallace before he nominated both gave him there blessing ..if wright had a problem with it he would have mentioned it then..

 

[kipp]

Like the rest of you I have no doubt that Miller within 6-12 months will step aside for Rex. I then think Casey will step down and hand the reigns over to Rex, inside a year.

A year on the Board as a director would give Rex an opportunity to understand the internal working of the club and its relationship with the AFL.

Why does this theory appear plausible. Well Rex has alot more time on his hands since signing off at channel 7, and I'm certain he wants to maintain brand R.E.X. Being an AFL President in Melbourne is a pretty high profile role that draws alot of media and public attention. Clearly, ego is not a dirty word in the Hunt household. And nor should it be.

I also dont think Casey wants to be President for ever and a day. But the reason why he hasn't conceded to Macek, is because he doesn't think they can move the club forward, plus bad blood. I'm pretty confident he believes that Rex has all the necessary ingredients to be a successful president.

Anyhow, this is even more reason to vote for the Casey ticket.

 

[1980]

Like the rest of you I have no doubt that Miller within 6-12 months will step aside for Rex. I then think Casey will step down and hand the reigns over to Rex, inside a year.

A year on the Board as a director would give Rex an opportunity to understand the internal working of the club and its relationship with the AFL.

Why does this theory appear plausible. Well Rex has alot more time on his hands since signing off at channel 7, and I'm certain he wants to maintain brand R.E.X. Being an AFL President in Melbourne is a pretty high profile role that draws alot of media and public attention. Clearly, ego is not a dirty word in the Hunt household. And nor should it be.

I also dont think Casey wants to be President for ever and a day. But the reason why he hasn't conceded to Macek, is because he doesn't think they can move the club forward, plus bad blood. I'm pretty confident he believes that Rex has all the necessary ingredients to be a successful president.

Anyhow, this is even more reason to vote for the Casey ticket.

Well quite obviously you're a rocket scientist that just happens to follow the footy in between working on NASA projects and satellite systems on the planet Jupiter.

If this was the case, Casey would have said he will hand over to Rex in a year and the election would be off because everyone on either side would vote for Rex.

Stick to building spaceships

 

[cub]

Miller will step down when Caseys ticket wins and Rex will take his spot

 

[Crumden]

This is part of Maurice O'Shannassy''s post on PRE. I hope I'm not treading on anyone's toes by reposting it here. I think Maurice makes some good points and my own experience of senior executives (in the public and private sectors) suggests they all have pretty big egos and aren't likely to roll over and be yes men.

3) Greg Miller running for the Board. There have been lots of questions on this one.

I have always wondered why footy clubs don't have Executive Directors (EDs), when companies (listed and otherwise) do. In the case of listed corporations, typically it is the CEO and one or two more executives of the company who are on the Board. Thus Boards that have one, two or more EDs are all quite common. The most common is probably two.

There are many reasons to have EDs on the Board and I won't go into them all here but it does help if the people responsible for implementing the strategy of the company are also part of the formulation and voting of that strategy.

Someone has asked whether Board members are voted in and the answer is yes, the shareholders vote Board members.

Questions have also arisen with respect to conflicts of interest on Boards and how they are handled. This is particularly pertinent in this case. It is common for Boards to solve such issues by having Board members abstain from voting and often leave the room when certain issues are being discussed. It also common to have committees comprised only of Non Executive Directors (NEDs) when reporting on certain issues, particularly compliance and audit.

What is critical in my view is that the NEDs far out weigh the EDs, so they are able to bring them into line if need be or in the extreme, dismiss them. What is also important is that the NEDs are strong enough and have a diverse skill base to confront conflicts of interest and any other sensitive issue.

Potential conflicts of interest are quite common in organisations. The important point is having the mechanism and protocols to deal with them.

So how does the GM situation sit?

Personally, I believe that both the CEO and the Director of Football should sit on the Board. Apparently, there may be issues with our constitution in appointing the CEO to the Board but that is something I think we should look at going forward.

What about the conflicted reporting lines? Again, we need to have established protocols going forward. There are many examples in organisations where there are dual reporting lines and sometimes grey or even ambiguous reporting lines. Again, it is important that there are protocols to deal with any conflicted situations.

The overriding theme is the strength and quality of the NEDs to deal with these and any other issues. Some people have mentioned the potential problem with the Board being full of 'Yes' men. This is an extremely important issue. When things go very wrong at companies it is often the case that the Board is unworkable because of infighting etc. or the NEDs are not strong enough to stand up to the few or even an individual who is really running the show. Effective Boards recognise there is a fine balance between "interfering and letting them get on with it' depending upon the issue.

My answer to the Yes men charge is, from what I have seen, it is simply not true. It also doesn't make sense. These people are successful in their own right, why would they suddenly become yes men? I know it is not true of myself. As people who know me will attest, I have more than a few faults but being a yes man is not one of them. This is irrespective of how well I know the individual(s) concerned.

However, if you believe that either the Casey or the alternative ticket contain an abundance of Yes men (and some of you do believe that from what I read here) then you should not vote for those people (and that includes me) or the ticket. I don't think there is much more I can say on this particular point. Some people are going to believe me and some not. The beauty is we are having an election so you get register your opinion in the best way possible.

 

[Fishfinger]

After reading O'Shannassy's imformative appraisal I would think the answer is obviously "NO", Steven Wright will not be forced to resign if the Casey ticket gets up.

O'Shannassy is of the opinion that BOTH the Director of Football and the CEO should sit on the board. The same perceived conflict would exist. Having mechanisms and protocols to resolve any possible conflicts of interest makes good common sense.

 

[kipp]

1980 very funny. I suppose time will be the judge. I will say in my defence, that it's generally agreed that Rex will join the board at some point. More likely sooner than later.

And I can't see him signing up as a director, if there wasn't some kind of an understanding that he would move into the Presidents role, when Casey steps down. Why else would he want to join the Casey ticket, particularly since most former players are lining up with Macek?

As you would acknowledge, it wouldn't be right to just throw him into the role of the President, without first giving him time to sit on the Board. You might be able to do this, if he had some background in running a footy club, but most of his experience is in the media.

Anyway, I'll just go away and build space rockets with my mates down at the ACTU. While you and Laurie Oakes, have lunch at The Flower Drum.

 

[1980]

1980 very funny. I suppose time will be the judge. I will say in my defence, that it's generally agreed that Rex will join the board at some point. More likely sooner than later.

And I can't see him signing up as a director, if there wasn't some kind of an understanding that he would move into the Presidents role, when Casey steps down. Why else would he want to join the Casey ticket, particularly since most former players are lining up with Macek?

As you would acknowledge, it wouldn't be right to just throw him into the role of the President, without first giving him time to sit on the Board. You might be able to do this, if he had some background in running a footy club, but most of his experience is in the media.

Anyway, I'll just go away and build space rockets with my mates down at the ACTU. While you and Laurie Oakes, have lunch at The Flower Drum.

Well fingers crossed. Rex would be the biggest PR machine for the club.

And I dont think any members would object.

But I doubt Casey wants to handover to anyone.

We'll see.